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XBox (Games)

Mass Effect Has Gone Gold 48

Posted by Zonk from the omg-omg-omg-omg dept.
BioWare's sci-fi RPG epic Mass Effect has now 'gone gold'. Essentially, the game is done and is ready to be pressed onto discs in time for its November 20th launch date. "The Limited Collector's Edition of Mass Effect will include a wealth of background on the game. Foremost among the premium package's offerings is a pair of 36-page booklets, one of which offers a primer on the game's universe and timeline, and the other a collection of concept artwork. The set will also include a bonus DVD with documentaries on the making of the game, a look inside BioWare, 18 Xbox Live gamer pics, 16 dashboard themes, 10 songs from the soundtrack, and 600 concept images with commentary from the game's art directors. [Z: But sites have noted it is only available for purchase online.] On top of that, gamers who preorder ... will receive a bonus disc with an introductory documentary on the game, a dozen gamer pics, eight dashboard themes, three songs from the soundtrack, and various trailers."
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Mass Effect Has Gone Gold More

Mass Effect Has Gone Gold

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  • Goodbyeoware (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Quite possibly the last great BioWare game we'll see devoid of EA's vile corruption.

    • Re:Goodbyeoware (Score:5, Funny)

      by moderatorrater ( 1095745 ) on Monday October 22, 2007 @06:28PM (#21078375)
      Are you kidding me? What about Mass Effect 2008, NCAA Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Special Anniversary Edition, Mass Effect: March Madness, and Mass Effect: Preseason Highlights? I have to buy every one of them every year! The so-incremental-you-can-hardly-tell-they're-there improvements are amazing and the updated roster is worth every penny!

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by mingot ( 665080 )
        Don't forget that online play will be cut off after two years since EA pressured MS into owning the matchmaking servers instead of using live, thereby completely obsoleting all of your older titles! I * love * EA.
      • Don't forget the "The Sims2: Mass Effect" expansion.

  • Will be interesting to see if they can pull it off (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Liquidrage ( 640463 ) on Monday October 22, 2007 @06:52PM (#21078637)
    I typically don't like Sci-Fi themed RPG's.

    AK-47 or Rocket Canon just to do it for me like Holy Sword of Whoop Ass does in traditional setting RPG's. I just prefer pieces that have lore. Gauntlets of Mighty Strength were forged deep in a mine by some special dwarf. The +3 Str Implant just seems meaningless.
    KotOR worked for me because the force was enough of a cross-over (and I'm not a SW fan by any means) to bring in the "magic".

    But, if there's one company I trust to do it in a manner that's worth playing, it's them. It's #2 on my gamefly list right after Assasians Creed, and only because the order they'll be released in.
    • Nothing prevents a gun from having the same lore as magical swords. Just think to real life: Saddam Hussein's rifle, Hitler's pistol, etc. etc. There's no magic in reality, but the story behind these objects is certainly very interesting!

      There is no reason you can't have sci-fi with the same kind of lore behind objects. [Heck, even in KOTOR 1 and 2 - the Ebon Hawk had it's story built up, and that history stuck around for the second game.]
      • And yet in KotOR until you got the force, most of the items were just drab. It's just harder to do I suppose, since most games just don't do it. The implants were just implants. The guns were, for the most part, just guns. The crystals and other augments for the lightsabers were certainly more interesting. And my experience in the Fallout series is similar. There's a few items you get that really make you go "wow", but not many. Plus, you'd have to explain why Hitler's P-32 space modulator is better then an
    • "Sci-Fi themed RPG's"

      the only few that exist are all critically acclaimed and have won multiple awards across multiple categories.

      If the idea of another doesn't pique your curiosity, then you're nowhere near the demographic that they're targeting so I'd suggest going to hello kitty online adventures for your gaming instead. You can thank me later.
      • the only few that exist are all critically acclaimed and have won multiple awards across multiple categories.

        False. The few you know probably are. There are several flops. And there's a reason the genre isn't approached as often as fantasy, or without a fantasy-hybrid.


        If the idea of another doesn't pique your curiosity

        Great point. Only, you obviously didn't notice a few things. One, I posted in a topic about it. Two, I mentioned it's #2 on my gamefly list. Three, I mentioned my faith in the develo
        • I was responding to your first line, really. "I typically don't like Sci-Fi themed RPG's."
          Can you name for me, all those flops you're thinking of?
          I bet they're all MMO's.

          I can think of Fallout 1 & 2, the KOTOR series, System Shock and sequel, Anarchy Online, Tabula Rasa, Shadowrun, and many others and don't know a single sci-fi themed RPG that doesn't make the cut of great games. The "demographic" I was speaking of was the long list of people who loved those games and showed it. There are plenty of peo
    • I like Sci-Fi RPGs more than fantasy ones because of the settings. Though I prefer cyberpunk over everything. There are a few good sci-fi RPGs out there, but I think people like sci-fi less is because we, as players, ask a lot more questions while playing them and often don't find the answers.

      For example: If a Mage casts a magic fireball against the goblin. That's it. We know it's magic and it made that enemy dead somehow. How? Who gives a damn -- it's MAGIC! However, if a techno-wizard using a Mak
      • Yeah, +3 Str Implant would seem meaningless compared to +5 Gauntlets of Unrelenting Manliness but Longsword +2 seems rather crap compared to the Mako manufactured THX1183 Mag Rail Rifle, wouldn't you agree?

        Yes, I would. But I find that most games that aren't traditional D&D RPG's shy away from the +1's in a fantasy setting. It's just so easy to throw a few adjectives on a weapon or a piece of armor and make it "magic". And even the few traditional D&D CRPG's usually get away from the +1 and +2 st

      • For example: If a Mage casts a magic fireball against the goblin. That's it. We know it's magic and it made that enemy dead somehow. How? Who gives a damn -- it's MAGIC! However, if a techno-wizard using a Mako THX1138 Mag Rail Rifle to kill a cyber-enhanced stim junky, then we ask: "Well, how is that rifle powered? Who made it? What sort of round blew a hole six inches wide in that guy? What purpose does that piece of cybernetic hardware that's on his crotch have?" ect.

        I tend to be that way for fantasy or science fiction. When someone comes up with a character design, I want reasoning thrown in. At least with fantasy, you're simply adapting existing designs. Want it medieval? Research how the armor looks, draw character appropriately. I really liked the Warcraft designs from 1 and 2 but by the time they made 3 they want into crazyland with knights beefed up wearing armor that looked heavy for a Space Marine. The designs just didn't make sense.

        When we're talking imaginary

    • The issue with Star Wars games (And I LOVE KotOR and even KotOR2) is that Star Wars has fantasy elements. Magic. Swords. You use your mental powers to help forge a sword that defines who you are using magical stones you seek out. It's Sci Fi with Fantasy and lore. And, IMO, KotOR had everything that I like from fantasy RPGs combined with the Sci-Fi setting that I prefer.

    • KotOR worked for me because the force was enough of a cross-over (and I'm not a SW fan by any means) to bring in the "magic".

      I haven't read everything there is to read about mass effect, but from what I can gather, it'll be as much of a hybrid as kotor. The mass effect itself is supposedly something of a magical ability only done more scientifically.

      Also, the difference between an AK-47 and swords is that swords have more of a history and they come from a time when stories were the way to get information out; to a bronze age civilization, a steel sword seems magical. To us, the difference between an AK-47 and an M80 is purel

    • Then you MUST play Xenosaga, force your way through the boring parts and just follow the story for all three, and you will be amazed. It's probably one of the best Sci-fi RPG's I have EVER played.

  • Thanks for the update (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gamer4Life ( 803857 ) on Monday October 22, 2007 @09:42PM (#21080043)
    Thank you for updating me on the release dates your favorite games Zonk. Be sure to let me know when all the other exclusive titles go "Gold", such as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet and Clank, Haze... oh wait, wrong system.
  • Slashdot: Blurring the line between advertisement and news.

    How much did Microsoft pay for this piece?
    • This is the first triple-A title from what is widely considered the best American studio for console RPGs; it's set in an entirely new universe and it's been highly anticipated among people who loved kotor and nwn. While you personally may not like the game or the system it's on, it's at least deserving of some recognition. With all the shitty, biased and completely wrong stories that Zonk posts throughout the day, complaining about this may dilute the legitimate complaints about Zonk's stories.

  • When's the PC version due out? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mbourgon ( 186257 ) on Monday October 22, 2007 @10:56PM (#21080625) Homepage
    No PC, no buy. Thank you.
    • Agreed. I always love to sit and snicker when I see piles and piles of hype surrounding a console game. The game developers do a wonderful job of making the game look like it'll be more complex than it actually is, or ever can be on a console platform. The end result is a dumbed-down version of the same game we've been playing for years but with marginally improved graphics. See also every Halo game ever.

      The only sad part about the joke is that there's no punchline: the mediocre (read: crap) product get
  • How, exactly, did this get posted here? I understand that everyone's looking forward to Mass Effect -- I am, too, in fact -- but the game going gold is not news. Back in The Day, games being burned to a gold master disc was news because no developer worth their salt would give a specific release date for a game, thus the announcement that the game had gone gold meant that its release was nigh. Think of all the id games with the nebulous release date of "when it's done." Those were games where it made se

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