Bioware at GDC Canada Day Two

Day One of the Game Developers Conference here in Vancouver was slow. Snail paced, even. But Day Two? Oh, baby. This is where the fun started. BioWare Brings the Beauty. A must-see for me was the panel by Clove Roy and Shane Hawco, two of BioWare‘s lead animators, both of which had worked on the epic RPG, “Dragon Age: Origins”. The panel, titled “Bringing Dragon Age to Life”, detailed the process that the BioWare Edmonton team went through in order to create a robust (and incredibly reusable) set of tools for creating and rendering all of the different characters (primary, secondary, and tertiary NPCs). I come from a computer science background; I’m firmly ensconced in all things code. To see how the artistry came together through a combination of talent and mathematics was enough to make my nerdy little heart soar. And then we saw demos. Demos and trailers and

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PAX East Preview: Alpha Protocol

Stealthyslyth and I had the pleasure of sitting in on the SEGA demo for their upcoming Spy RPG: Alpha Protocol.  Now, I went in not knowing much about the game, but with an open mind to be impressed.  First of all though, let me tell you that I had a long weekend over Easter and in that time I spent pretty much an entire day playing through Heavy Rain on the PS3.  And most of you will probably know what a huge Dragon Age fangirl I am.  When you mix those two ideas together, a more story-driven RPG surrounding a single character sounds like a pretty cool concept. And what we saw of Alpha Protocol seemed to fit that bill.  You play as Michael Thornton a spy part of an organization known as Alpha Protocol.  Typical to what we’re used to with Dragon Age or Mass Effect and to a

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Review – Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening

The title might be a mouthful, but even as I was plunking down the $40 for the expansion I was wondering how much game they were actually going to be able to fit in there to make it all worth the price. This review may contain spoilers for the game’s storyline. I’m keeping them at a minimum if I can, but fair warning. Rating: M (for Mature) Genre: Fantasy RPG Players: 1 Developer: Bioware Publisher: Electronic Arts Release Date: March 16th, 2010 BUY Let me get this out of the way first: Yes, I’m going to be a bit negative in this review, as there’s A LOT of glitchy issues with the DA:O – Awakening expansion, and there’s a lot of things missing or awkward. BUT, this game still rocks, it is worth the price of admission if you loved the first game and are itching to get your fingers

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Where to save money this week on games

March is a pretty exciting month for game releases. This week the big releases are Pokemon SoulSilver, HeartGold and God of War III. The line this morning was pretty long and I believe I was the only adult buying it for myself. But I’m okay with that. It’s Nintendo’s fault for making the Pokemon games so addicting. Here are the releases this week: Pokemon SoulSilver Pokemon HeartGold Spectral Force Genesis (DS) God of War III (PS3) Sonny with a Chance (DS) Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace Secrets of Kings & Queens (DS) Pizza Delivery Boy (Wii) Build a Bear: Friendship Valley (Wii) Fragil Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii) Command & Conquer 4 (PC) Resonance of Fate (PS3,360) Build a Bear Welcome to Hugsville (DS) Dragon Age Origins: Awakening (PC,PS3, 360) Sam and Max 2 Beyond Time and Space (Wii,PC) Infinite Space (DS) Metro 2033 (360, PC) Where to save

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Videogames are used by Satan to claim souls

The devil and video games is a theme that comes up every now and then when a conservative group feels like alarming parents to the harms of video games. This time it’s a group in Philadelphia that wrote the family paper The Bulletin, claiming video games are destroying Christian values. The article, ““Buyer Beware: Satanic-Themed Video Games Concern Parents”, intends to warn parents about the increase of satanically-themed video games that target God and Christianity. They also point out that the games “invite players to make pacts with the devil, and elevate Satan to hero status.” The examples given by 32 year old Lance Christian are very odd choices though: “I feel that the devil has a new tool to work with in this age of technology, and the majority of adults in a position of responsibility are left in the dark,” he told the paper citing the following examples”

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Dragon Age: Origins Goes Triple Platinum

To no one’s real surprise, Dragon Age: Origins has sold over 3.2 million units worldwide, making it officially triple platinum. The game has has won over 30 “Best of 2009” awards and has an average review score of 91, according to Metacritic. Dragon Age: Origins is the sixth consecutive blockbuster from BioWare. Most of this success is due not only to the game itself being so awesome, but the additional content packs (Warden’s Keep and Return to Ostagar). The latest expansion pack, Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is set to launch on March 16, 2010. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, BioWare’s next installment in the Dragon Age lore, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins. Players assume the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and tasked to uncover the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon.

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EA Financial Report Reveals Handheld Dragon Age, Confirms Console Versions of The Sims 3

Looks like EA has quite a bit up its sleeve for the next fiscal year, and their third quarter fiscal year 2010 report confirms the existence of a “hit-driven market” in its forward-looking statements. For instance, we can look forward to new installments of Tiger Woods Golf and “the world’s most beautiful game,” FIFA ’11, not to mention console versions of The Sims 3. EA is definitely taking its mantra of “fewer and bigger” to heart – it’s their version of quality over quantity, since their top 20 games amount to 80% of their sales numbers. Whereas normally that would just mean making the investors happy, this time, it looks like it means making gamers happy as well, with a new Dead Space installment and second Dragon Age title (both also bound for handhelds/mobile as well as consoles and PCs) on the way in the first few months of 2011.

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Dragon Age: Origins 360 Patch and DLC

Return to Ostagar, the twice delayed DLC for Dragon Age: Origins is FINALLY available. Not surprising, after the last delay, the DLC was leaked to some mixed reviews. According to Bioware, the leaked DLC was an earlier version, so hopefully the issues people with the leaked version have complained about may not be issues any longer. According the the @dragonage account on Twitter: Return to Ostagar is NOW available for Xbox 360. It will be coming later today for PC users and soon for the PS3. Check Xbox Live 4 details Also, today on the Grey Wardens blog, there’s news of a patch for the game for the Xbox 360. From Victor Wachter the Community Facilitator for Bioware: On January 13, there will be an update to the XBox 360 version of Dragon Age: Origins. This update will resolve an issue that caused the four achievements earned from the Warden’s

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Dragon Age: Origins Expansion Announced 3-16-09

Seriously, I’ll stop posting Dragon Age news when they stop having some. I’m just happy to know that while the DLC has been delayed, there’s only two months and a handful of days until I can play the Awakenings expansion. I don’t even know what all is going on in this video, but I’m looking forward to it anyway. From the Dragon Age website: Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will let players take control of the Grey Wardens and face off against a new intelligent breed of darkspawn. Featuring an increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations and items, plus five all-new party members, players can continue their adventures from Dragon Age, or begin with a brand new party Here’s what the expansion has in store: Rebuild the Grey Warden order and establish their base of operations at Vigil’s Keep All-new Complex Moral Choices: Embark on an epic story that

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Dragon Age: Origins Receives Mainstream Accessible Game of the Year Award

BioWare‘s epic RPG Dragon Age: Origins is AbleGamers.com’s 2009 pick for “Mainstream Accessible Game of the Year.” It received a 9.8/10 score for its bevy of options and graphics choices that make the game playable for gamers with disabilities. In fact, AbleGamers.com had only one criticism of the PC title (small font size), which was easily addressed by BioWare in an update. Dragon Age: Origins had the most impressive options out of any game this year, the organization said. BioWare included three levels of subtitles, gamers can pause the action during battle and issue commands on a delay instead of in real time, various control options are available for the camera and characters, and the game itself is even colorblind-friendly. The fact that all of the previous options are available and don’t hamper the gameplay is key. The accessibility options only enhance the gameplay for disabled gamers, and they don’t

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