Mass Effect 3 Message Board older than one year ago

I can’t wait for Mass Effect 3. I’m replaying ME2 to make sure I get the perfect starting point. I’m planning to buy the new Mass Effect: Deception novel and go through it making corrections in ANGRY RED PEN. I’m even pitching the official musical version of the story, featuring amazing lyrics like “Spectres don’t fear the Reapers. Nor do Garrus, Tali or Thane…”

What I’m not doing is watching any of the trailers or reading any previews. I want to dive in knowing as little as possible about the new plot, characters, locations, even guns. If you crave a pre-release hit though, good news! Bioware has released five brand new trailers, which I’ve embedded below while keeping my eyes shut. From the odd unavoidable glimpse, it does look as if they mostly feature some boring guy wearing Shepard’s armour, but fret not – there’s another coming where the real heroine of the series will finally get her spotlight…

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We expect Mass Effect 3 to have action, a rich story, customizable weapons, co-op mode and intelligent enemies -- but that doesn't mean we don't want to see these things in action, right now. With the launch of a new website, Mass Effect 3 is showing off some of its core features in five new videos, with "Adrenaline Pumping Gameplay" shown above, and the other four below.

If you weren't expecting Mass Effect 3 to have things like "a story" or "enemies," maybe don't watch the videos and save the surprise for the game's release. Also, retroactive spoiler alert.

Four new trailers were released by BioWare today for Mass Effect 3. Each is unique, but more importantly is the plethora of new details that we can see in each. New enemies from Cerberus including who we believe to be Kai Leng from the novels makes his first appearance, the amount of customization available to players is shown and the new abilities that Shepard will be wielding are displayed...

#masseffect Let's get that first niggling thought out of the way: this Mass Effect iOS game isn't going to feel like that Dead Space iOS game. More »

Assuming you haven't already hung a hand grenade on your console of choice, Calibur11 is ready to encase it with yet another game-themed vault. This time around it's a nod to Commander Shepard and friends with an "exclusive" Mass Effect 3 vault.

The vault sports Shepard's chest armor, complete with light up N7 logo, and the requisite controller cradle (what, no sweet ray gun?). Like other vaults, the unit is purported to actually improve airflow by lifting the console off the ground. The vault will be available in the UK starting March 9 for both the Xbox 360 and PS3, commanding a price of £70. The press release makes no mention of the North American release, though GameStop currently lists both versions for a March 1 release at $90.

Assuming you haven't already hung a hand grenade on your console of choice, Calibur11 is ready to encase it with yet another game-themed vault. This time around it's a nod to Commander Shepard and friends with an "exclusive" Mass Effect 3 vault.

The vault sports Shepard's chest armor, complete with light up N7 logo, and the requisite controller cradle (what, no sweet ray gun?). Like other vaults, the unit is purported to actually improve airflow by lifting the console off the ground. The vault will be available in the UK starting March 9 for both the Xbox 360 and PS3, commanding a price of £70. The press release makes no mention of the North American release, though GameStop currently lists both versions for a March 1 release at $90.

#masseffect Hard choices are going to have to be made in the final part of BioWare's sci-fi trilogy and the screen above seems to pose one such crossroads. The look on the male Commander Sheperd's face here seems to say "How do I choose?" Maybe he could just buy them both Twisted Metal and see what happens… But, before there can be any slo-mo null-gravity space love, there must be shooting. And lightning storms. Mass Effect 3: Space Opera for our times. More »

GameStop may have revealed the first piece of DLC for Mass Effect 3...

Reader Craig sent us this image of his GameStop receipt, where he purchased a code for some Mass Effect 3 DLC ahead of the game's March 6 launch. He reports that he paid $10 for it.

The DLC is called "FromDust" on the receipt -- not to be confused with the game by the same name. We're contacting EA to determine the details of this offer.

At an EA event in New York, the publisher revealed another iOS Mass Effect 3 tie-in, joining Infiltrator. "Mass Effect Datapad" is an iPad app that works with the console/PC game somehow. Details are currently slim on this one; we'll get you more info as we learn it.

But if you like Mass Effect and you have an iPad, this likely won't turn out to be bad news for you.

#masseffect In addition to the the upcoming iOS game Mass Effect: Infiltrator, BioWare also announced an app called "Datapad" that would allow you to "stay in touch with all of the info in Mass Effect 3," check the status of the war in the galaxy map, and even get messages from game characters. More »

The Mass Effect series is hitting iOS devices with Mass Effect Infiltrator, coming to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch soon, EA announced. Infiltrator is a third-person shooter featuring weapons and powers from the Mass Effect franchise, where players attempt to free prisoners from a hostile cerebrus base.

Players will receive awards for collecting evidence of cerebrus crimes in their mission, with each discovery and rescue increasing their Mass Effect 3 Galaxy at War Galactic Readiness rating. Actions in Infiltrator can affect the larger Mass Effect 3 storyline, and weapons unlocked in the mobile version can be used in Mass Effect 3.

Presumably, the universe will be saved at the end of Mass Effect 3, but it won't be the last we hear of the franchise, according to executive producer Casey Hudson. The staff at BioWare is "probably too busy to feel sad" about the end of its space-faring trilogy, Hudson recently told the UK's PlayStation 3 Magazine (via CVG). Not that there's anything to be sad about, as Hudson noted "there will be more Mass Effect for Mass Effect fans, I'm sure."

We know that a Mass Effect anime is in the works, though more games are certainly a possibility, as are more comics and (hopefully error-free) books.

#masseffect However you define "Nerdcore," I'd say that once a guy is dropping rhymes about the ins and outs of Mass Effect, he probably qualifies. But let's not get caught up in labels—these tracks, which premiered over at Destructoid, are a goofy good time. More »

The Mass Effect universe is one filled with a balance of subtle nuance and epic grandeur. Over the past two games, the team at BioWare has crafted a universe filled with rich cultures and some fantastic storytelling to drive forward the narrative. Each of the various races presented in Mass Effect b...

That first-run copy of Mass Effect: Deception you picked up may just be turning into an odd collector's item. Bioware has issued a statement on the slew of errors fans have found in the novel, stating that all will be fixed in future editions of Deception.

"The teams at Del Rey and BioWare would like to extend our sincerest apologies to the Mass Effect fans for any errors and oversights made in the recent novel Mass Effect: Deception," the apology post on Bioware's forums reads. "We are currently working on a number of changes that will appear in future editions of the novel."

Currently, there's no word on when the revised edition will be available.

We know you're used to coveting Mass Effect save files, so this should come as no surprise but you'll probably want to hold onto your Mass Effect 3 saves. In an interview with GamerZines, associate producer Mike Gamble said it "wouldn't be a bad idea" to keep them.

Of course Gamble didn't go into any specifics -- the save files could affect future DLC or any potential entries in the Mass Effect series beyond the third and final Shepard-focused game. Or maybe it's just so BioWare can forever track those monsters who decided to shoot Wrex in the face. You know who you are and you should be ashamed.

#masseffect While speaking with Gamerzines, Mass Effect producer Mike Gamble suggested that "it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep your ME3 saves." More »

BioWare may have mentioned once or twice that Mass Effect 3 is the closing of the trilogy. Now, obviously you’d have to be more naive than a tiny puppy to believe they’d not make any more games in the enormously popular universe, but it did feel reasonably safe to say this would be the last outing for Shepard. But perhaps not, after BioWare’s Mike Gamble told GamerZine that we should hang onto our save games. What does it meeeeeeeeaaaaaaan? We’ve speculated, and have some insights you will not read anywhere else.

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If you're a Silver subscriber on Xbox Live, downloading the Mass Effect 3 demo will allow you to cease being that one weirdo in your group who can't ever play with his friends online because he's a cheapskate. Upon downloading the demo, all Silver members will be automatically bumped up to Gold level until Mass Effect 3 launches on March 6.

The demo will be available on February 14 not only for Xbox 360 users, but also PC and PS3. Players will get a taste of the multiplayer component and sample the Reaper attack on Earth that opens the game.

Microsoft has launched a Facebook app called Mass Effect 3 Mission Command, that both serves as promotion for the upcoming Mass Effect 3, and an opportunity to get some in-game items. You "log in" to Mission Command (which grants EA access to your Facebook account and email), and then you have to fulfill missions like recruiting your friends, posting pickup lines for Liara, downloading the demo, or sharing movies of you pretending to be in the game.

The first prize on offer is an Xbox Live avatar prop of the Normandy (presumably the same one found in the Xbox 360 Collector's Edition), and later missions will give away an Xbox 360 console complete with the game and Kinect. Sure, doing missions for EA's promotional gain might not be quite as heroic as saving the universe from the reapers, but even Commander Shepard finds the time to sell out occasionally.

In addition to a taste of multiplayer, the demo will have a brief single player component, as well.

Ordinarily, if a multiplayer-focused demo went up on Xbox Live, you’d need to have a Gold subscription in order to shoot at your friends, but that won’t be the case with Mass Effect 3.

When the Mass Effect 3 demo goes live on February 14, Silver members will temporarily graduate to Gold, and get all the benefits that come with that, including access to Hulu Plux, Netflix, etc.

According to Microsoft, the temporary lift will last “for the time leading to launch.” Mass Effect 3 is scheduled for March 6, so that’s a few weeks of playing around with Microsoft’s enhanced service.

Of course, there are no such requirements on PlayStation 3 or PC, so when the demo launches on both of those platforms on the same day, it’s business as usual. There is a single player component to the demo, as well, and you will not be able to import your save or custom Commander Shepard.

When I first started playing Mass Effect, I set out to behave like a stony-hearted space-bitch. I was going to take the universe for everything it had: credits, loot, fame, blue ladies, the lot. It didn't last long. By the beginning of Mass Effect 2, my red-headed Shepard whom I'd designed to loo...

Mass Effect 3's demo will allow players temporary access to Xbox Live's Gold service, allowing them to experience the game's new online mode...

#masseffect The Mass Effect 3 multiplayer demo requires you to have a Gold subscription because, well, it's a multiplayer game and that's how Xbox Live rolls. Not to worry. Microsoft is giving away " a limited time Gold access" pass to everyone who downloads the demo, meaning we can all get in on the action. More »

#masseffect Every three months, game publisher EA tells the public that one of its upcoming games, Mass Effect 3 will be coming out for consoles (of course!), PC (expected) and "handheld/mobile" (huh?). More »

Words. Words need voices, or they’re just stupid, noiseless blobs. For example: what if I were to tell you that you’re now reading these words in the voice of Futurama’s Professor Farnsworth? Oh my, yes indeed. Bioware have just released a small teaser trailer showing you who is making their blobs into voices for Mass Effect 3. Now I know it’s the third game in a trilogy, so you’ll probably know who is making word things less blobby, but when I get the chance to link to President Bartlet Sheen, I take it. Join me below in a frankly embarrassing amount of hero worship.(more…)

Mass Effect: Deception is riddled with canonical errors, fans have found, and they're not content with letting them go under the guise of "artistic liberty." Some have started a shared Google document to chronicle every error, and have so far added more than 80 infringements, arranged by "Lore," "Timeline," "Characters" and "Oddities," complete with clarifying descriptions.

Some of the most egregious errors include Nick and Gillian aging six years in the three years since Ascension, two volus wearing clothes that would cause their immediate deaths, and [spoiler] "Anderson thinking that the Citadel trap had been sprung 'so successfully' they were still reparing damage -- The entire point of the first game was that you prevented that particular Reaper plan from succeeding."

There are plenty more on the list, which is available for public editing. The author of Mass Effect: Deception, William C. Dietz, is a video-game-novel veteran, having written Halo, Hitman and Resistance novels. He is not, however, the writer of the previous three Mass Effect novels (Drew Karpyshyn), nor is he J.K. Rowling, thus forbidding him this handy excuse whenever canonical inconsistencies spring up: "It's magic."

#masseffect Not the toys. And not the Michael Bay horror films. I mean the 1986 animated feature. More »

Just imagine a floating ball of light next to a brittle Seth Green.