BioWare has announced the first downloadable content pack for Mass Effect 3 which will focus on the multiplayer, including new classes like the Geth Infiltrator and the Asari Justicar. The DLC will also come with two new maps and three new weapons as well.
During BioWare's PAX East 2012 panel, fans brought up the "Indoctrination Theory" that posits that Shepard never made the final decision at all, and that all of the controversial ending of Mass Effect 3 was all in his or her mind, and that two of the decisions were controlled by the Reapers.
March Madness Revisited.
Gamers who were frustrated that their imported Shepard face from Mass Effect 2 was not able to make the transition can celebrate, as this week's Mass Effect 3 update will take care of that problem. The patch will be live on PC tomorrow on the 9th April, and consoles on the 10th.
Brace yourself for Force-related puns. The UK chart embraced the power of the motion side of gaming last week as LucasArts' Kinect Star Wars entered number one. A long, long time the Star Wars game for Kinect was unveiled but that new hope soon diminished with fans striking back it was going nowhere, but the return of the hype couldn't be stopped.
The Resurgence Pack DLC has been released for Mass Effect 3 on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However, a glitch had the DLC selling on Xbox Live Marketplace for 320 Microsoft Points. BioWare is warning users: "Please DO NOT purchase the 320 pt. 'Resurgence Pack' consumable on XBL dash. This was erronously uploaded & we are working to take it down!"
Electronic Arts shipped 3.5M copies of Mass Effect 3 to retailers, but Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz has announced during an investor call that the firm expects the game to have sold only 1.5 million in console sales during launch month. Creutz went on to say in the investor call that games released in March usually have a difficult time in retail sales.
Xbox 360 and PC owners of BioWare's Mass Effect 3 have been receiving Multiplayer Challenge weekends from the studio, but the PS3 crowd hasn't. Why? Sony has okay'd it yet. According to EA community manager Eduardo Vasconcellos, Sony has "not yet approved the promotion." They're continuing to "find a compromise" with them but no luck so far.
Those Reapers are at it again! The latest update from BioWare for the console version of Mass Effect 3 is causing the game to crash when loading up - mostly on Xbox 360. The issue has hit some PS3 owners. The 4MB patch can cause the main menu not to load, an endless load cycle trying to reach EA servers or just crash the console entirely.
With the near total extinction of specialist retailer GAME Group, the UK market took a decidedly large hit in trade during March. Sales of games were down to just 2.7 million. That's a 34% drop from the same period last year which cleared 4.1 million. Overall Q1 2012 physical sales lost 30% compared to Q1 2011. GAME couldn't source new stock.
US consumer watchdog the Better Business Bureau has offered its verdict on the case of fans complaining that EA and BioWare haven't fulfilled advertised promises for Mass Effect 3. They remark there's "no indecision" in an opening bullet point for Mass Effect 3 which states player decisions 'completely shape' the experience. The lesson? Be careful what you say.
EA once again dominates the UK chart by taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd with FIFA Street, Mass Effect 3 and FIFA 12 respectively. Then along comes Kinect Star Wars in 4th place. EA even have the cheek to pinch 5th with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 keeps 6th, while The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim climbs a few rungs of the chart to 7th.
Better late than never, as both Electronic Arts best-sellers Mass Effect 3 and FIFA Street are now available at GAME and Gamestation, both at retail and online. Mass Effect 3 is running at £30 (£25 online), while FIFA Street is £35.
A new challenge has been set up for Mass Effect 3 multiplayer gamers this weekend, starting on the 27th April at 6:00PM PST (the 28th April, 2:00AM GTM) and ending at 5:00AM PST on the 30th April (2:00PM GMT.)
Nintendo has released figures from Chart-Track and NPD that show BioWare's Mass Effect 3 for Xbox 360 dominated the US and UK software chart for sales for the first three months of 2012. In the US it beat Just Dance 3 for Wii, Modern Warfare 3 and NBA 2K12 for Xbox 360, and Modern Warfare 3 for PS3. In the UK it surpassed FIFA 12 for Xbox 360 and Just Dance 3 for Wii.
Activision's Prototype 2 from Radical Entertainment has resonated well with the UK gaming populace as it launched in first place, fighting off those dribblers FIFA Street and FIFA 12. The previous King of the chart was the slayer of Kings; The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition, which is now 6th. Mass Effect 3 and Kinect Star Wars trade places 4th and 5th respectively.
Star Wars: The Old Republic has reportedly dropped 400K from the 1.7M subscribers the MMO had in February. This was revealed in Electronic Arts' annual financial report, which showed the publisher earned a net annual income of $76M. Last year, EA lost $276M.
To make up for the lack of multiplayer weekend events for Mass Effect 3 on PlayStation 3, players are being given reward packs freely as an apology for their late arrival to PSN. Xbox 360 and PC gamers of Mass Effect 3 have been enjoying fortnightly bonus events since launch. Only until the recent Operation Exorcist has PS3 begun to take part.
Rebellion's long range shooter Sniper Elite V2 has kept its 1st place in the UK chart for another week, with Prototype 2 moving down from 2nd to 4th on the all format ladder. FIFA Street pinches 2nd while FIFA 12, Mass Effect 3, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, Kinect Star Wars, Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games and Battlefield 3 all stay still.
It seems the Asian PlayStation Network has gotten an early bird look at the next downloadable content for Mass Effect 3 - no, not the heavily anticipated Extended Cut - which is a brand-new multiplayer expansion set on Thessia, the Asari homeworld last seen overrun and devastated by Reapers.