Mass Effect Galaxy for iPhone / iPod Touch

[R Nilla]

UPDATE 2: MEG is now live on iTunes. You can purchase it for $4.99 from the iTunes Store here.

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UPDATE: Posted an interview below from BioWare with more details and screenshots (follow the link).

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There have been rumors of this popping up in the past couple days, but here's some info directly from BioWare.

Link

There have been a bunch of rumors and guesswork on what was some leaked information about a Mass Effect game coming for the iPhone and iPod touch. I've been checking into the details and making sure I have my facts straight and here are the real deal facts:

1 - Yes, this is not a hoax of fake story. BioWare is making a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch based in the Mass Effect universe.

2 - We were going to announce this, but one of the testers at a focus testing group broke the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and things were revealed before we had the chance.

3 - The game is going to be available for the iPhone AND the iPod Touch.

4 - The story of the game is not a "bridging" story between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. It is a cool little side-story about one of the upcoming Mass Effect 2 characters. It is not "required reading" to enjoy the core trilogy, but if a fun optional "extra" game.

5 - The development on this game is being done by a separate, dedicated team with no connection to any Mass Effect DLC development or patches so this is not "the reason there hasn?t been new DLC or patches".

6 - BioWare and the Mass Effect team want to branch out in a number of ways with the ME universe, and this is just one example of such branching out. We think the iPhone and iPod Touch are exciting new platforms for games, and this game was designed for these platforms from the ground up.

7 - More information about the this game is coming later this month. None of the info that was leaked is ?official? by any means ? it was research. We'll have much more information in the future.


So there you go. Hopefully this will answer some of the questions that have arisen around the game. As I said, this is just the start of the information on the iPod/iTouch game. It is also a part of the opening of the Mass Effect 2 floodgates with a heap of cool information that we'll be releasing in May and June. Make sure you stay tuned for more updates and more coolness.

Not really interested in gaming on the iPhone / iTouch, but if it's only a few bucks as rumored I'll probably check it out.

 

[TheVrolok]

I really don't understand why people want to game on an iPhone.. I guess it's just not my thing but man.. that's gotta be dull gaming. Still, a ME game would be cool.

 

[TheStu]

The same reason why people game on the PSP or DS. It fits in your pocket and gives you entertainment on the go.

 

[Illusio]

Originally posted by: TheStu
The same reason why people game on the PSP or DS. It fits in your pocket and gives you entertainment on the go.

That's pretty much the reason I game on my iphone. If I'm somewhere where I need to kill time, it's great to have a game on hand.

 

[mugs]

The only advantage of the iPhone as a portable gaming platform is that you always have it with you. The BIG disadvantage of the iPhone as a portable gaming platform is that it doesn't have any physical buttons that can be used by games. Because of this, developers have to use less than ideal control schemes. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it does not. I'd rather game on a DS or PSP any day.

 

[Kromis]

Sex with an alien...on the iPhone/touch?

Sign me up!

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: mugs
I'd rather game on a DS or PSP any day.

Agreed. I'd be much more excited for a Mass Effect DS title, but speculation seems to indicate that this game will probably be on the light side in terms of content. We'll see.

 

[R Nilla]

Interview from BioWare with Executive Producer Kevin Barrett:

(click the link to see screenshots of the dialogue system, galaxy map, and gameplay)

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 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. We also had to take into account the limitations of the platform. Now, 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.

 

[Pheran]

As much as I love Mass Effect, I'm not really interested in portable versions.

 

[R Nilla]

Mass Effect Galaxy is now live on the iTunes store for $4.99

Some mixed reviews so far. The gameplay sounds pretty lame, but it is an iPhone game. The presentation gets high marks, and maybe the dialog is interesting? But according to some reviews it basically plays itself which doesn't sound fun on any level.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Gaming on the iPhone...

:laugh:

:thumbsdown:

But seriously, no tactile controls means that games will be pretty-looking gimmicks, at best.

Why would BioWare throw away a Mass Effect title on the iPhone? At least make it on the DS or PSP (AKA real gaming platforms)! :|

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer
Why would BioWare throw away a Mass Effect title on the iPhone? At least make it on the DS or PSP (AKA real gaming platforms)! :|

This is probably the cheapest and quickest way to push out some filler before ME2. A DS or PSP title would probably take longer to develop and cost more. But that's just me speculating.

 

[warcrow]

"This application is over 10MB" :| Who gives a crap, download it anyways! This 10MB restriction is such BS.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: mugs
The only advantage of the iPhone as a portable gaming platform is that you always have it with you. The BIG disadvantage of the iPhone as a portable gaming platform is that it doesn't have any physical buttons that can be used by games. Because of this, developers have to use less than ideal control schemes. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it does not. I'd rather game on a DS or PSP any day.

Bring back old school adventure games, it's perfect for them!

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer
Why would BioWare throw away a Mass Effect title on the iPhone? At least make it on the DS or PSP (AKA real gaming platforms)! :|

This is probably the cheapest and quickest way to push out some filler before ME2. A DS or PSP title would probably take longer to develop and cost more. But that's just me speculating.

This, and because the iPhone is really, really easy to develop for.

And btw you can play games with no tactile controls or button easily. Some games just put button on the screen, and you press them to move your character around/attack.

After screwing around with my friend's iPhone for an hour or so, I was kind of impressed.