Tag Archives: Bioware

EA’s GamesCom Presentation: The Big Announcements

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EA have made several big announcements and revealed some impressive trailers during their presentation at GamesCom 2010.

The big news is that Mass Effect 2 will be released on the PlayStation 3 in January next year, while Bioware also showcased an impressive looking Dragon Age 2 trailer. Dragon Age 2 is due for release on March 11th 2011, will apparently be more responsive to players controls and will be featuring a revamped artistic direction.

EA also revealed that The Sims 3 will be released on the PlayStation 3 on October 26th and will include new ‘karma’ features and an achievement system.  Not only that, but The Sims Medieval, an all new stand alone Sims title is scheduled for release in March next year.

The Sims Medieval will allow life simulation enthusiasts to give their Sims quests and even partake in duels.

We also discovered that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be Kinect compatible. (Kinect’s UK launch date was earlier confirmed as November 10th) The announcement was made through making the guys who play the Weasley twins in the film demonstrate the game. The motion controller was used to cast different types of spells and looks like it could be the first ‘hardcore’ Kinect title on the Xbox 360. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released in November.

There were also gameplay Demos for Dead Space 2 and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit which were both rather intense. EA also showcased a Medal of Honor video which featured elite soldiers explaining how their work as consultants is helping develop the war themed first person shooter. Medal of Honor is released on October 15th 2010.

So Train2Game, that’s a quick round up of the big announcements from EA’s GamesCom presentation. What news stands out from the news? Is it Mass Effect 2 on PlayStation 3? Dragon Age 2? Or perhaps it’s The Sims Medieval or even Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being Kinect compatible!

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.

All Train2Game students should appreciate Dragon Age: Origins

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The first details of Dragon Age 2 have come to light today with US magazine Game Informer featuring some impressive artwork on its front cover. In this writers view Dragon Age: Origins was last years top RPG and it still continues to be a very impressive game. Why? The storyline, the setting, the characters and the dialogue are all extremely impressive, making Dragon Age a game that all Train2Game students – be they Games Designer, Games Developer or Games Artist & Animator – should take notice of. This is especially true of the Games Designers, the people who’ll be writing stories of future games. Though Games Developers and Games Artist & Animators, feel free to read on!

I’m a veteran of Japanese Role Playing Games; there isn’t a Final Fantasy title I haven’t played (Discounting handheld releases.) However, despite my interest in all things fantasy, until earlier this year I hadn’t played a traditional Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings style RPG. This is despite being rather tempted by World of Warcraft in the past.

I started Dragon Age: Origins for the second time last Friday – that’s six days ago now – and I’ve already managed to spend over 24 hours playing it at the time of writing. Why is this? Well, partially there’s the classic ‘Just one more level/dungeon/search for loot’ factor, but Dragon Age is massively helped along by the fact that the Bioware created Characters just seem so real. This isn’t necessarily graphically, but when it comes to their different personalities, emotions and beliefs, it really feels like you’re engaging in dialogue with a real person

Your companions react realistically when in conversation with your character, no matter what option on the expansive dialogue trees you choose. They can react positively or negatively to not only what you say, but your choices as to how you complete quests in the open world of Ferelden. The sheer amount of effort the Games Designers and writers must have put in to all of the different outcomes is amazing. Of course, we mustn’t forget the Games Artists & Animators who provided Dragon Age: Origins with its look, or the Games Developers that programmed the game.

As I mentioned above, I’ve played plenty of RPG’s but none of them have drawn me in as emotionally as Dragon Age. The clue is in the genre title really – Role Playing – and I’m playing the role of a human female (as opposed to an elf, or a dwarf, or a male) Rogue. I’m starting to think that because of Biowares excellent character development I’m currently being overly consumed by my role.

Don’t worry, I don’t think I’m a red haired noble woman who’s good with a sword and a dagger – If I did I’d probably be locked away in a ‘safe place’ right now, but the combination of the Dragon Age approval system, and  the characters emotions and morals,  mean I’m really having to think about what dialogue options I choose.

This has actually gotten to the point where interactions with one of my party, Alistair, have gotten somewhat awkward. The reason being that he approves so highly of my character he keeps trying to chat her up. And while party members can become engaged in Romance or *ahem* sex, I’d rather my character didn’t get too involved with Alistair. So why is this awkward? Well, to put it bluntly I want my character to let him down gently but at the same time I don’t want to make him feel bad. This is partially because a reduction in approval will make him slightly less use in battle, and partly because he just comes across as a real person with real feelings. Now I know how girls I’ve awkwardly tried to show interest must have felt like…

What was my point? Oh yes, the fact the characters just seem so believable. They really do draw you in.  Dragon Age: Origins really is a brilliant game, and the Games Designers really deserve all the accolades they receive. If you haven’t already, I really recommend playing Dragon Age yourself in order to witness how an epic game should be designed.

So you budding Games Designers (And Developers, and Artists & Animators) How important are characters and storylines to you? Do you think you’d like to attempt anything on the scale of a massive RPG like Dragon Age? Or would you prefer to produce smaller titles?

As usual leave your comments here, or on the Train2Game forum.

The PC – The ideal platform for Train2Game students?

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Dragon Age: proof of a popular PC game

My spiffing Train2Game colleague Gabe recently published a blog about PC gaming, and as what could be described as a ‘hardcore’ PC gamer myself, it got me thinking.

Gabe’s blog came following remarks from Bioware that the PC “is made for gaming” which seemed rather obvious to me. It should of course be obvious to anyone who’s played a Bioware Role Playing Game, be it Mass Effect or Dragon Age: Origins.

When it comes to these RPG’s, it’s the PC that’s king, and in an interview with CVG, Bioware designer and writing director Daniel Erickson says the numbers speak for themselves.

“Every two or three years we hear the announcement of fantasy being dead, PC gaming being dead and RPGs being dead, and yet, all of the biggest games that ever come out – that set the records – are nearly always PC games, and a lot of them are fantasy games.”

“The biggest game in the world is a fantasy, PC, RPG MMO. We all know the drawbacks of PC. We all scream at our boxes and try to make stuff work. But at the same time, the interface is made for games. The mouse/keyboard interface allows so much less restriction [Than consoles]”

Personally, I’ve not experienced Dragon Age: Origins on a console  – I play it on PC – but it’s certainly obvious to me how much easier it must be to play on a PC as you can easily access spells and talents using hot keys 1-9 and the space bar easily pauses the action. I’d imagine the whole process is a bit fiddler using a control pad, but if you can do so, feel free to prove me wrong!

The PC certainly gives Train2Game students, be they Games Designer, Games Developer or Games Artist & Animator, an opportunity to test their skills thanks to the number of games with large modding communities.  Half Life 2 and Fallout 3 are just two games that a loyal fanbase who are giving others the opportunity to try new weapons, new skins or even whole games.  Counter-Strike, one of the most popular online shooters of all time, started as a fan produced Half Life mod and shows that with the right ideas, modding a current game could provide a small studio with a big break.

Some developers even encourage the addition of community content to their games, with Valve perhaps providing the best example of this with Team Fortress 2. Valve have run numerous community competitions calling on fans to create items in the form of weapons and hats with the winners being able to see their creations in game. There seem to be a lot of talented Games Designers out there, and Valve are going to have a tough time deciding on a winner of the most recent contest!

The PC is the most popular gaming platform, partially due to the rise in the popularity of flash games which in itself provides even more opportunities for Train2Game students to create games.

So what do you think? Would you consider creating PC games? Have you already made mods? As usual, let us know here on the Train2Gameforum.