BioWare has finally released the full "Take Back Earth" trailer for Mass Effect 3, after teasing it then showing an abbreviated version a few days later. The trailer is particularly interesting in that it calls back the very first Mass Effect 3 trailer, featuring the sniper ensconced in the tower of Big Ben, sniping Husks.
The Mass Effect 3 page on Xbox Live Marketplace unexpectedly listed a "From Ashes" downloadable content, which allows the player to "unearth lost secrets from the past and recruit the Prothean squad member." For those players who haven't followed the series, the Protheans are a long extinct (50,000 years, to be exact) alien race who were instrumental in helping Shepard repel the first Reaper, Sovereign.
Nvidia has released the latest WHQL drivers for Geforce chipsets, boasting performance in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by "an amazing 44.5%" in some cases. Ambient occlusion now native. The manufacturer has posted a lengthy article exalting the latest 295.73 drivers and what improvements they bring to some of the latest titles. They've tweaked their PhysX platform too.
BioWare has announced that PlayStation 3 gamers in North America will be able to purchase the digital version of Mass Effect 3 on PlayStation Network on the 6th March, the same day as the retail release.
For those of you worried that BioWare sliced off portions of Mass Effect 3 to use as day one downloadable content, fear not. According to executive producer Casey Hudson, BioWare actually worked on the DLC after they were done working on the main game. Instead, they created the DLC while polishing the game and fixing bugs.
The first screenshots of the day one "From Ashes" downloadable content for Mass Effect 3 have been leaked, including one image of the new Prothean squadmate. The DLC will be available for free for those who bought the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition. The official description of the content describes states, "Unearth Lost Secrets from the past and recruit recruit a Prothean."
During a Reddit chat, BioWare's Jessica Merizan discussed the upcoming Mass Effect 3 release. She discussed how important the romantic options were, as well as hinted at the possibility of a high res texture pack for the PC version.
EA's crazy-bonkers marketing campaign of letting copies of BioWare's Mass Effect 3 lift into orbit before plummeting back down to Earth takes place in London this morning. The gimmick is you get to keep something that's been in space, and play the game early for nothing. Fans can track the launch via GPS. Three US cities have already launched.
Electronic Arts has announced that Mass Effect 3's preorder sales are well ahead of Mass Effect 2's pace, which would seem to indicate that a massive blockbuster is on their hands. This will also be the first time that the series has been released on all three platforms on the same day.
BioWare founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka explain that to really deliver a game to a player you have to "capture what they think is the possibility space." It's about granting freedom. You "can't block them" from doing things they think they "should be able to do." Mass Effect for all its content and features is "a big possibility space." It could inhabit other genres quite easily.
Terrible news for those with pre-orders for Mass Effect 3 from GAME in the UK because they won't be selling it. An internal memo reveals disappointment is inbound. The retailer is offering £5 in-store credit as an apology to those affected. GAME was the only UK store given the N7 Collector's Edition, but not any more.
The level of acrimony concerning the downloadable content situation with Mass Effect 3 has hit a breaking point with BioWare, who have instituted a strict new policy regarding "harassment of staff members".
The absence of BioWare's Mass Effect 3 from UK retailer GAME has hurt their shares by 5% so far and could cost them around £2.5 million in profit. One analyst issues a sell note. GAME is "potentially missing out" on around £6m-£7m of revenue, they claim. This could well snowball as consumers lose confidence and work to avoid "a similar inconvenience."
Capcom is reassuring gamers who have preorders of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City at UK retailer GAME that they won't have to worry about preorders. GAME's current financial troubles won't prevent them from stocking the game.
BioWare has started the Reaper invasion before Mass Effect 3 has even been released. Gamers who checked into Mass Effect 2 might have noticed a new Systems Alliance report announcing a mysterious invasion of the Batarian homeworld.
The Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 3 has been pirated and has joined the PC version on BitTorrent, at a 15.94GB file size.
GAME Group's woes continue as it seems that two major releases, Street Fighter X Tekken and Asura's Wrath, will not be available at the retail stores GAME or GameStation. Both games are published by Capcom, and will be released on the 9th March.
Electronic Arts has confirmed a troubling glitch for Mass Effect 3 gamers who are trying to import their Mass Effect 2 saves into the game: those who saved their ME2 games on a cloud server will not be able to import them to ME3.
BioWare's Mass Effect 3 on PlayStation 3 suffers a notable drop in frame rates during cut scenes and big theatrical moments, more so than on the rival Xbox 360 platform. Both are capped at 30 FPS but the PS3 is more likely to dip below that, unable to achieve the limit. Xbox 360 is likely to dip too but has been found to be less stutter-prone.
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello announced at the Wedbush Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference in New York that Mass Effect has sold around 890,000 retail units in the US in its first 24 hours of availability. "We anticipated it doing well, so we're happy. The tie ratio at the register is the highest in their history", stated Riccitiello.