Part 1 of 1, by Jay Watamaniuk
BioWare has been making story-based games for about 15 years; almost an epoch in the relatively brief history of video games. We enter a new and crazy medium for telling stories with Mass Effect Galaxy whose existence was leaked a tad early some weeks ago by a fan who has since been processed into Soylent Green.
Since BioWare has not done a sequel for about 700 years we are all very excited to see a single game expand into something well beyond the original story. BioWare spends enormous amounts of effort to create these new worlds (well…an entire new universe in this case) and this is our first chance to keep exploring what’s out there and tell more stories.
Mass Effect Galaxy is also a very cool leap into expanding the Mass Effect universe onto a new and innovative platform. I caught up with Executive Producer Kevin Barrett and Mass Effect Galaxy overlord a few questions on the game and its development:
What is the connection of Mass Effect Galaxy to Mass Effect 2?
Barrett: Mass Effect Galaxy tells the background stories of two characters that will be encountered by the player in Mass Effect 2. The events of Mass Effect Galaxy take place between the time of Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2, providing the player with more continuity for the ongoing story of the ME universe.
Why focus on Jacob Taylor’s story?
Barrett: Jacob is a Biotic-powered soldier in Mass Effect 2. We wanted to do a combat-oriented game on the iPhone/iPod touch, so Jacob was a strong candidate player character for us. He’s also a survivor of the geth attack on Eden Prime, so he’s an even more appropriate bridging character to link the events of ME1 with ME2.
What challenges did you encounter bringing a notoriously complicated BioWare game to this format?
Barrett: Our challenge was very much like trying to distill a full season mini-series down to a half-hour tv episode. Our response was to focus, focus, focus. Dialog had to be tight, the pace of conversations had to be quickened and our traditional “investigation dialog hubs” (where the player can ask questions about his current situation) were trimmed significantly. The resulting game has a very defined beginning, a middle with three branches, and an end sequence that takes the player to the final showdown with the game’s antagonist. The iPod touch and iPhone are pretty powerful game devices, but even so, we had to pick and choose how strongly we were going to pursue cinematics, voice over, special effects and so on. We figured that an animated 2D graphic novel-style presentation was the best way to tell our story on this device.
Thanks for the head’s up! When should we start looking for this?
Not at all long. Stay tuned!
Though I don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I have to say that I love the art style in this.
Yeah, I had seen it only a short time ago myself. Very clean look. -JayW
It makes me a bit sad that this will only be out for the iPhone, since I don’t have one and have no intention of buying one. Hopefully those of us who prefer the PC platform can still see the game in action and get the story somehow!
That is true but it does allow BioWare to see how one of our IPs work on a very different platform. Who knows what the plans are for the future however once we give this iPhone stuff a go.
I will buy this as soon as it hits the store. I am starved for ME content. I hope this is the first of many, I buy apps like crazy on my iPhone.
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Huh, this game looks pretty fun, but I wish it could also make it to the DSi.
The on-line gaming store would probably work just fine, and if the whole thing is touch control, it wouldn’t be that hard to port.
More Mass Effect is awesome, but I’m not all that into buying a whole new machine to play it. :/
Looks kinda sketchy but i like art style they went with. I don’t plan on getting an iPhone in the near future but it’s nice that they’re branching out with the Mass Effect IP.
I love Mass Effect i want Mass Effect 2 now, maybe this will calm my anxiety.
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I was wondering about the story presentation. You sayed you chose the graphic novel approach but will that also feature voice overs or will it just be text based? Whatever you chose I would like to complement you on the comic book art style. Its both refreshing but also seems to fit the universe.
Towards what Skipper was saying, Seeing this on DSi would be awesome. That online store needs something other than alarm clocks and excerpts from Master of Illusion.
cant wait for this! i’ll be buying it as soon as its ready. probably not the right place to put this but actually thinkinhg of editting my own machinima based around the mass effect universe. good idea or not?
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Wow. This looks fantastic! I just got to see some videos taken at E3 and I am extremely impressed. Great work on the game. Thanks for pushing the game development envelope on the iPhone platform. It’s inspirational =)
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Hey guys, is this game only for iPhone, or on Nokia n96 to?
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Will this also be for the ipod touch? because I dont want an iphone. But I would buy an ipod touch. And I would play this game lol.
I own an iPod Touch but have never bought a premium app.
This, I suspect, shall be my first
nice. i wish i had an ipod now
Great News, I just hope it will be released on Android =)
Agree – please release for Android! Mucho Thanks
This will work on the iPod touch. The only apps that don’t work use features of the iPhone the touch doesn’t have, such as . . . the phone. GPS or the microphone.
Bot
iPod Fanbot
I heard that the release date was on June 22nd, is this accurate at all?
I would go with ‘end of June’ as a better, if less specific, time frame. Either way it is not long in coming.
Anything happening with Andriod?
so bioware you decided to go multi platform so is the mac going to be one of them because the mac are raising rapidly as well as the iphone.the mac really need more games
I’m always excited to hear about new Mass Effect content, I’ve played the first game and recently read both books, but I’m unsure of this product. Mainly it’s the art style. It’s cartoonish, even childish, which seems like the opposite direction of where the franchise is going. I’ll download it regardless, but I’m curious why this style was chosen when ME2 is exploring the darker, grittier side of the universe.
I would be great, if Bioware would release games, based on Mass Effect, for PSP and/or NDS. Like Sonic Chroicles. I loved that game!
I mainly use my iPhone for playing games, it’s the best gaming machine ever imo.
i bought the app its a good game but the icon shows up as a pandora radio icon i have no idea y i uninstalled it and re installed it still no change if anyone knows how to fix this please tell me
Heey Bioware!
Could you please tell me if this is going to come out elsewhere? like xbox360/pc or something…
Because i’m thinking of buying an “iphone” just of playing ME galaxy.. im a huge fan, but im broke and worried ;S!
@pelly
I don’t know how good this game is, but i think it’s not worth bying an iphone….. I don’t think that u get really vital or important knowledge in this game u need in ME2. it’t optional..not a must-have…
bying an iphone just for this game? are u crazy?
^^
Any chance we could see this game ported to the Blackberry Storm?
Chok! How’s it going man? I am unsure of what the plans are for the game as we are a bit new to the iPhone business. I imagine at the moment we are gathering up some stats from how things are going with the game and will be basing any plans around those.
Understandable. I’m looking for a good game for my storm. Not interested in spending cash on a game by an unproven company or on a poorly-developed piece of I.P. With BioWare I don’t have to worry about either of those issues. In these lean financial times, you need to be more picky than ever about who you spend your entertainment dollars with. Quality is king when the economy is lean.
Thanks for your insights I couldnt agree more.,
Dont you think he is a little late for the game?,
great tips. I enjoyed reading this,
Will this game be made available outside the US? Because I live in South Africa and I am a HUGE ME fan, but unfortunately this game is not available on the SA iTunes Store. Alternatively, is there another location from which to obtain the app file for iPhone? Thanks very much in advance for any help.
Ok now I do have to get an iphone!!!!! Darn it. If it wasn’t for this I wouldn’t even concider it but I love ME
Well, I know a lot of people downplay the game but honestly I like it. It’s a good game for being on the IPhone. Jacob and Miranda are my new favorite characters….If only I could replace Shepard with Jacob in Mass Effect 2….Hmmmm..
Anyways, good job ME team! Didn’t expect any less though.
im a big fan of ME so im going to buy it for my iphone
it relley looks greet,
cant whait to try it^^
PLEASE!!! Anyone who knows a method to obtain this game in a country in which it is not available via the iTunes store, please post it here! I am not looking for a freebie, but only limited apps are available in South Africa, and this is not one of them! I really want to play this game BEFORE ME2 is released, and would appreciate anyone telling me how to get hold of this game!
Thank you in advance.
They should make a mass effect that is a 3d rpg on the iphone
Looks great! Any plans for an android release? That game would rock on the myTouch!
Why did they release this only for the iPhone? Only 1 of the 20 people I know that love this game have one and we would all like to play it.
Hope there’s a PC version of it coming soon! =)
Will you release a Windows Mobile version of the Game ? I’ve been using ppc way before iPhone came with its underpowered tool, and I’m really missing those kind of great games. Can’t understand why is iPhone getting so many great games when ppc hardly have any, while Windows Mobile devices are generally more powerfull -_-
i need it for PSP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This looks awesome – especialy since ME universe got me more addicted than Star Wars – I sure hope it will get way more expanded than only Mass Effect trilogy. Anywas – now I nead to get an IPhone… damn you.
Also – huge laughs at the Soylent Green reference. Watched it few times.
I resently buy ME Galaxy looks greaat!!!
Any plans for making this for Android phones?
Rather, they met members of the other camp. ,
B, with a typical tech fund being around $300M. ,
Never mind that it is trivial, in the big picture, even if it is true. ,
I dont know if you have been asked this yet but can you get the game for the ipod classic or just iphone and the itouch?
When will this game be availible at the dutch iTunes store? I’d love to play it.
Makes me wish I had an iphone…
I’m throwing in another vote for a non-iphone version of this game. XBL, PSN, PC (Steam). Heck, put it in the EA store. Thanks.
dang it would have been cool if they put this on xbox arcade so we could download it..
mass effect is one of my favorites games it would be nice if mass effect:galaxy was on window’s mobile (touch & non-touch),xbox arcade,zune and i’m ready for mass effect 2.
are you going to make this for the zune hd because im a huge mass effect fan and i love background info so i would like to know more about the characters that will be in mass effect 2
I also really like the art style and vote for an xbox arcade version.
Sucks that I can’t buy the game from the iTunes store here in Spain U.u ah, well.
Will this work on the Motorola/Google Droid…the IPhones alternative?
Any plans for a PC download. Because I had a choice (to do with money) between a mobile or the net and I chose this.
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How do you get the assault armor and m-490 blackstorm. because i cant find it
I’m also wondering if we might see this ported to other touch screen gaming devices, such as the droid? I’m a huge mass effect fan and I would love a portable version of it on my phone.
Any plans for other platforms?