[GAME] Mass Effect gets release date... MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Emperor]

Mark your calenders: Xbox 360 mega-RPG Mass Effect has a street date. The game will ship to retailers throughout North America on November 20, 2007.

 

Mass Effect, created by the team who brought you Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, has won more than 50 awards, including the 2007 Game Critics Awards for "Best Console Game," and that's without even having been released... imagine the accolades when people can play it!

 

Bioware describes the game as an "epic space saga for Xbox 360 that spans the entire galaxy. Combining RPG and tactical action elements, Mass Effect offers an engaging mix of gameplay set against a deep, multi-directional story."

 

[Werthead]

PC Gamer UK claimed to have info from an insider that the PC version is in parallel development and will ship at least 6 months after the 360 version (more likely 18 months though, parallelling the situation with Jade Empire).

[chillimous]

Do i choose to believe that very unreliable piece of information, or do i choose not to and not be let down. Though i did expect a PC port as Microsoft were a bit dumb releasing it only for the Xbox 360 and losing out on a VERY hardcore group in the gaming industry.

 

 

But le sigh, Mass Effect. ; ;

 

This is what i get for having a PS3 and Wii, like.. One of my most anticipated games gets released on the system i do not have nor have the money for. :P

[Werthead]

It will appear eventually. Bioware are now a big company but not so big they can afford to ignore hundreds of thousands, potentially millions, of sales from a PC edition of the game.

 

However, given the immeasurably more awesome and totally PC-focused Dragon Age will be out from Bioware next summer, I'm not too fussed about the situation with Mass Effect.

[Silver]

i'm quite scared of most ports from consoles. most of them usually suck with crappy controls and odd POVs

[chillimous]

I'm not sure what to think of Dragon Age, but i'm still interested and am quite looking forward to it. It's on the long list of games i'm going to get within the next year or so. :P

 

I doubt it'll be too much of a problem, the software is probably reasonably similar between a pc and the 360 but it IS Microsoft, so..

[SinisterDeath]

I'm not sure what to think of Dragon Age, but i'm still interested and am quite looking forward to it. It's on the long list of games i'm going to get within the next year or so. :P

 

I doubt it'll be too much of a problem, the software is probably reasonably similar between a pc and the 360 but it IS Microsoft, so..

 

There are differences. :P

PC software is built to work on a multidued of systems, highly customizable options to get a game to run better or worse on your system (looking worse or better respectively) the '360' version is like a computer game, built around only 1 pc model, with very specific specs. It takes full advantage of everything that pc has to offer, and with the dou or tri proccessor the 360 has, they can make it so certain aspects of the game, are being processed through specific processors, speeding it up.... Porting to the pc is not always so easy... they have to make it for the 'low end spectrum' of computers, and for the highest of the high end...

Most ports just do a basic low/mid/high texture/polygon/shadow/lighting/ect just enough to 'barely' get by, and not have a huge amount of options to make a game look like Vanguard, or like mario brothers. :P

 

If they are really going to make a True port, they have to do like they did with Oblivion.

They have to make the 360 version, the ps3 version, and the PC version side by side. (they did a fairly good job to, the ps3 version actually looks better then 360 version "it should", and the pc version looks better then the ps3 version.), though the controls are obviously made for a game pad. >_>

[chillimous]

Hmm, tri processors? Surely you mean quad. :p

 

But anyway, that's not what i meant. I understand that it's going to take a considerable amount of time for such a huge game and that they're going to have to recode a fair chunk of the game itself to. But in essence the xbox and ps3 are just very specific, high end computers. You can't just look at most ports also, for example; Bioshock (Taking a very recent game). They basically have a different experience for the Xbox and PC, according to multiple sources. Well, if we look at a game like Mass Effect which is highly anticipated by the majority of the gaming industry, fans and press alike, you can expect them to try and put out a quality port and really put the time and effort into making it just as good as the original.

[SinisterDeath]

Hmm, tri processors? Surely you mean quad. :p

 

But anyway, that's not what i meant. I understand that it's going to take a considerable amount of time for such a huge game and that they're going to have to recode a fair chunk of the game itself to. But in essence the xbox and ps3 are just very specific, high end computers. You can't just look at most ports also, for example; Bioshock (Taking a very recent game). They basically have a different experience for the Xbox and PC, according to multiple sources. Well, if we look at a game like Mass Effect which is highly anticipated by the majority of the gaming industry, fans and press alike, you can expect them to try and put out a quality port and really put the time and effort into making it just as good as the original.

 

Thought I read they used 3.

Either way the ps3, which has 'cell' which is 8 processors, only uses 6 or 7 of them. "one is locked".

[chillimous]

I read that it was quad, but it might be tri. I can't find anything on it's hardware anywhere.

 

Just read up on the cell processor, interesting that one.

 

Aye, reread. I was teh wrang.

 

3.2 GHz IBM PowerPC tri-core

[Werthead]

The easy thing to do is look at the previous X-Box/PC projects: Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2, and Jade Empire. The PC and 360 versions were made simultaneously, released first on 360, and then optimised heavily for PC. The same will happen for Mass Effect.

 

In all of these cases the game is actually made on PC, but released first on 360. To be pedantic about it, the PC version IS the original and the 360 version is the port. They're just released the other way around. The PC and 360 are also highly compatible in terms of programming and code. The PS3 uses a different system altogether, and is much more difficult to port to or from. The delay on GTA4 is because although the 360 and PC versions will be ready to go in October, they're having problems stabilising the PS3 version, and Rockstar's contract means that the two console versions have to be released simultaneously (irritatingly, the PC version won't ship until 6-12 months later, although it should benefit from having superior graphics and controls).

[SinisterDeath]

The easy thing to do is look at the previous X-Box/PC projects: Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2, and Jade Empire. The PC and 360 versions were made simultaneously, released first on 360, and then optimised heavily for PC. The same will happen for Mass Effect.

 

In all of these cases the game is actually made on PC, but released first on 360. To be pedantic about it, the PC version IS the original and the 360 version is the port. They're just released the other way around. The PC and 360 are also highly compatible in terms of programming and code. The PS3 uses a different system altogether, and is much more difficult to port to or from. The delay on GTA4 is because although the 360 and PC versions will be ready to go in October, they're having problems stabilising the PS3 version, and Rockstar's contract means that the two console versions have to be released simultaneously (irritatingly, the PC version won't ship until 6-12 months later, although it should benefit from having superior graphics and controls).

 

The ps3 Uses a different system in the fact that the programming has to take advantage of the cell processor, not 1, not 2, not 3 or 4 processors but 8. Its not 'that' difficult to program for, Its just most of the developers out there are 'pansies' and don't want to learn anything new. Look at all the 'great' games for the ps3 now, the developers said it was easy to prgram for, maybe not as easy as the pc, but certainlly not 'impossible'. Sony has also released new SDK kits to make it even easier.

 

That said, most of the reason the 'developers' are saying games are harder to develop for the ps3 are bunch of bull, because.. 'dun dun dun' they are being paid by microsoft to say so.

Don't believe me?

Technic spec wise, the Ps3 is argueably better in almost every way then the 360, yet all the 'multi-plat' games look and run better on the 360. How?

Because microsoft is purposely paying off these developers with large sums of money to.

A) Release the multi-plat games at the same time, or on the 360 first.

B) Make it look and run better on the 360, and spend less time optimizing for other systems.

C) EA is now basically being run by microsoft as an old employee of the microsft gaming department is now the head huancho of ea's gameing department.

 

 

 

That said, I thought GTA4 was going to be exclusive to ps3? At least for 6 monnths? :P

Either way, we know 360 is not getting the new MGS game. ;D