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Apparently we haven't seen everything Mass Effect 3 will have to offer. During today's EA investor conference call, they hinted at "new ways to play Mass Effect 3" and other innovations be revealed at E3. They also mentioned their plans for ME3 to appeal to an even wider audience. That recently announced delay, for instance, was because they are "purposefully shifting it to address a larger market opportunity." Mass Effect 3 will belong in both genres, shooter and RPG. As a die-hard Mass Effect fan I have to speculate what this means for ME3.
NEWS: Mass Effect 3 Delayed Into 2012
I imagine the "new way to play" and making the game appeal to a wider audience must be connected. Let's start with the obvious: multiplayer. Both competitive and cooperative multiplayer would be new to the series but BioWare has denied Mass Effect games would feature multiplayer in the pastt. However, Casey Hudson recently said a Mass Effect MMO "would make sense." Plus, what's more mainstream than a shooter with multiplayer? It makes the most sense but I personally think it would be a terrible idea.
Another option is kind of out there, so brace yourself. Nintendo is planning on launching a console in 2012 with HD graphics that will be able to compete with PS3 and Xbox 360. In the conference call EA said Mass Effect 3 would "launch simultaneously on all platforms." Could they mean Nintendo's upcoming console too? If that new console is capable of playing a game as powerful as Mass Effect, EA would have no reason not to publish this game for it if they want to expand their audience. Plus the Nintendo announcement came just a week before BioWare confirmed Mass Effect 3 was getting delayed. Coincidence? And how long does it take to make a port?
Mass Effect mobile games haven't been successful in the past but that doesn't mean EA is over the idea. Mass Effect Galaxy wasn't the iPhone RPG gamers wanted but according to a chart on EA's site a handheld or mobile Mass Effect property will be out by the end of the fiscal year. A mobile game, or even a 3DS game could be possible, although an interactive graphic novel might be more on par with the iPhone's capabilities. On the subject of 3D, Mass Effect 3D isn't far-fetched.
Both Xbox 360 and PS3 have motion sensing peripherals that for the most part go unused. BioWare could develop planet mining mini-games where you use your body and arm movements to mine planets for Palladium. Okay, I'm mostly joking, but they have expressed interest in taking advantage of the Kinect and Move's capabilities, motion Mass Effect is possible.
One of my fears is that when EA says they want to appeal to a larger market it actually means more shooter and less RPG. Mass Effect 2 lost many of the features that made ME1 a more hardcore RPG, such as inventory menus and character customizations like charisma. Mass Effect 2 on the other hand walked the fine line between RPG and shooter. The only way Mass Effect 3 could be less RPG is by taking out some of the dialogue and character choices, two defining features of the series. While all those words may not appeal to a more casual audience, it would infuriate the RPG fans who have carried the series from day one id they cut back.
We'll know for sure in a few weeks when E3 gets started and you can guarantee I will be talking about it.
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Comments
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Zeratul55
ME was the first game i got for my 360 its one of my favorite games of all time. bio-wares reputation to put out quality RPG's is something i don't doubt even after the semi failure of DA2. I think everyone needs to take a sec and examine the idea of multilayer from a more dungeon crawler/arena based systems. i think a pvp system containing a mix of wows arena system and gears of war would be ALOT of fun. I'm not talking about MW2 style, just small squad based skirmishes.. no more then 3-4 v 3-4 people..... it could work nicely
tamzisablackman
not to sure how i feel about this... i mean i didnt like rpg's till i played ME1 and then i got into other ones i was more a shooter kinda girl but if they make ME into more of a shooter im still going to be very unhappy
thedarkknight21
You guys do realize Bioware already promised that they're bringing back the RPG elements from ME1 and imputting them into ME3? (Read the ME3 game coverage from Gameinformer)
Kasai123
I first saw the title and my heart dropped so low, my feet felt heavy. If they casualize this, I refuse to get it. The point of this game is t be complicated. Its not supposed to be some stupid game where a 12 year old could pick it up and play. ME1 was amazing. I loved it. ME2 was ok, but nowhere as near as good as its predecessor. I can only pray that this is to make it not suck like what they did between DAO and DA2. And if they add motion control...words cannot describe how sad I would be. Please Bioware, don't F this up.
cyphi1
if they wanna expand the audience they need to release a 2-disc compilation of ME and ME2. Don't go messing up a good thing Bioware. I hope that they don't do like they did in Dragon Age 2 and recycle characters & environments and limit armor/weapon customization to a single character.
potentialflip
Guess we'll have to wait for E3. Have to admit this new piece of news are both exciting and scary at the same time.
My thoughts and takes on possibilities.
Multiplayer? Hated the idea. Even the thought of it makes me go "are you serious?"
New Platform? Don't know about Nintendo but what about the Mac?
3D? Maybe on movie land that is a consideration for delay but doubt it when it comes to gaming.
Motion Control? Believe it or not this was what I thought of when delay first came to mind.
JeeshusChrist
Greed=Destruction of Games
eticket109
No multiplayer. None.
If they want to make an ME MMO later then fine.
I can't see any way they can implement multiplayer without it either being a gimmick or hurting the single player experience.
permanent_nirvana
Why is everyone so quick to assume that they are waiting to release this on Nintendo's new console?
Maybe they pushed back the release date because they don't want the same thing happening to ME that happened to Dragon Age 2. I mean think about it, ME2 just came out last year. I was a little bit surprised when they announced that ME3 would be out by the end of this year. Seemed too soon.
Bioware probably delayed the release because they felt they couldn't deliver what fans of this series have to come to expect within that time frame.
KulasDevorn
Changing Mass Effect 3 "to appeal to an even wider audience" is a bad move in my opinion. Making it more "mainstream" will ruin it. Mass Effect works BECAUSE of what it is, start changing it and you'll loose me and many others. I have NO interest in it being "social" or "nintendoized". If this is why the game is delayed, My anticipation just dropped.
PCTech714
Two of the worst things anyone can say when about to release a game sequel are: "(for) an even wider audience" and "purposefully shifting it to address a larger market opportunity."
These two statements alone make me feel like they're going to simplify it even more. It happened with both this franchise and Dragon Age. Both sequels had improved combat and superior story lines, but the lack of customization in ME2 and DA2 was disappointing.
Since modern gaming systems are as complex as mid-range PCs, I don't see any reason why that complexity can't be reflected in these games.
Don't take this as complaining. I'm sure ME3 will be a fantastic game with a great story and intriguing character interaction (people often forget the importance of the "RP" in RPG), but there are a lot of people out there who are into the min-max, number-crunching aspect, too.
Ryuuk
Simple co-op that lets a player jump in as one of your squad mates or perhaps play a 4th from your ship was always a fun idea to me. Don't see how that could detract from the experience. Was the only feature I really liked in RE5.
Phategod
EA dont F this up.
lucidity
WOW, talk about seeing the world through the eyes of a twelve year old ^^^.
News flash, EA is a busness with employees to pay and shareholders to please. While new stuff has a chance of taking off, games like ME3 are a guaranteed huge success.
DPsx72
We've enough shooter/RPG's. This isn't going anywhere no matter what they try. EA needs to cancel this and other endless sequels and focus on some new material.
roman_f
lets hope its not another dragon age 2
cwbys21
Its kind of late to try to expand Mass Effect's market. This is a very story heavy game and you are about to release the third installment, anyone new to the series would be completely lost. Just budget the game for the market you have and wait to "expand the audience" until the trilogy is over.
Vyro
They won't take away dialogue options and choices, they don't hate their core fans. I trust BioWare, they have not disappointed me yet after 7 years of playing their games.
adamrclement
Multiplayer would lessin ME3 for me, the game i so focused on the single player that multiplayer would feel like a 5th wheel.
ktygerchylde
I pray that EA/BioWare is not stupid enough to try and turn ME3 into a casual gamer's rpg/shooter. They'd essentially be making it into Fable with a ME twist. I liked Fable, don't get me wrong, but Fable 2 and 3 were massive disappointments because they tried to dumb each successive iteration down. ME2 was more action-oriented than ME1, but they sacrificed some of the rpg aspects of the game to do it. The ammo system in ME2 is very annoying, as is the lack of real choices in weapons. I hope they mix the first two games to make the new one. It'd make for the game the best in the series.
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