mass-effect-pc posts

BioWare just announced the details for their next paid downloadable content pack for their hit sci-fi RPG Mass Effect 2. It's called The Equalizer Pack and has you playing a character called Robert McCall who tries to help innocents in New York City who are being plagued by crime.

What? What's that BioWare? We are confusing the Equalizer Pack with the 1980's TV show? Oh. Well. Sorry. The Mass Effect 2 Equalizer Pack will add some new items for Commander Shepard, including a Capacitor Helmet, and Archon Visor, and Inferno Armor. It will be released Tuesday for 160 BioWare points.

By the way, how cool was The Equalizer? Are we right, fellas over 40?

Unless you have been under a rock for the last few weeks, you know that today is the day that Electronic Arts and BioWare ships Mass Effect 2, their sci-fi RPG sequel, to stores. The PC version of the game is also available to download via services like Steam, Impulse, Direct2Drive and GamersGate in both regular and Digital Deluxe versions.

As EA mentions in their own press release, Mass Effect 2 has already generated nearly unanimous praise from various media outlets including our own sister site Joystiq who played the Xbox 360 version of the game and called it "the best game BioWare has ever made and the best action RPG in history." We will have our own review of the PC port in the near future.

If you own the PC version of Mass Effect and downloaded the game via Valve's Steam service you might have encountered some problems installing the new Pinnacle Station paid DLC content that BioWare released earlier this week. Reports from BioWare's message board states that Steam owners get a "Mass Effect CD key not found" error when trying to install Pinnacle Station.

However it appears the bug is with the DLC file and not with Steam. In a response to the issues, BioWare's Jack Lamden states on the message board, "The PRC installer that works with the Steam version of the game should replace what's currently on the EA store tomorrow sometime. You would just need to redownload the PRC and attempt to install again." That post was made on Tuesday night so its possible that the new version that works should be available to download from the EA Store now.

BioWare teased us late last week with a brief trailer for Mass Effect 2, the sequel to their hit sci-fi RPG that's due out in the first quarter of 2010. However folks who already own the first Mass Effect game might want to hold onto the installation of the original, or at least the save game files.

In a post on BioWare's message board.QA team member Jack Lamden states simply, "Hang on to your Mass Effect 1 saves." That advice is repeated by two more BioWare teame members in the message board thread. So that should be a pretty big clue that having those save files could help you in the sequel versus someone who is playing the game without having played the original.'

[Via Joystiq]

Last week we reported that BioWare was hinting that more downloadable content was on its way for their sci-fi RPG Mass Effect. Now it appears that more hints have appeared about said content via a video uploaded to YouTube. The video comes from a new Xbox 360 Platinum Hits edition of the game that included a new documentary on the game.

The ShakyCam video clearly shows team members chatting about a future expansion that will be lighter in tone than the previous release Bring Down The Sky. It sounds like it will add some kind of combat arena for characters to fight in with the setting described as a "casino gaming fight club space station." There's still no work on when it will be released nor the previously announced new PC patch for the game.

[Via Joystiq]

Several days ago we reported that BioWare is working on a new PC patch for their sci-fi RPG Mass Effect. Today the Cinema Blend web site is reporting that at least one more downloadable content expansion is coming for the game as well.

The info came via a chat from BioWare community manage Jay Watamaniuk during the New York Comic Con but no other info on the DLC was revealed. BioWare released the first DLC for the game, Bring Down The Sky, for free about two months after the PC port was released in May 2008. The new patch for the PC version is still a ways away, with Watamaniuk saying it would be "a month or two" before the patch is ready. Meanwhile the full sequel has just been officially annouced with an early 2010 release date.

[Via Shacknews]

Gallery: Mass Effect

We had thought that BioWare might have forgotten all about the PC version of Mass Effect. The port of their acclaimed sci-fi RPG hasn't had a patch released in about six months, around the time they also released the "Bring Down the Sky" downloadable expansion.

But in a new post on the game's official message boards, BioWare community corrodinator Chris Priestly states, "BioWare is pleased to announce there will be a new patch for Mass Effect for the PC coming soon. " Info on what the patch will contain has yet to be revealed. There's also no word on if BioWare might release more downloadable expansions for Mass Effect.

[Via Voodoo Extreme]

Download Mass Effect Patch 1.01a

Mass Effect 1.01a Patch Notes:

• added some infrastructure support for additional downloadable content
• updated the image of the Batarian race in the codex
• fixed an issue where the center channel for hardware audio wouldn't play correctly sometimes
• fixed an issue where the hardware mouse pointer would disappear when first selected
• fixed an issue where Shepard did not auto-crouch when entering cover in some places
• fixed a tool-tip indicating a game restart is needed before enabling hardware or software audio if the option was changed
• fixed an issue where ambient conversation would not be heard from rear speakers sometimes
• fixed a text string to make it clearer on how to exit a vehicle
• fixed a text string so the tool top for dragging the map is clearer in French languages builds

Mass Effect Configuration Utility

• fixed a crash running on certain multi-core AMD systems
• fixed an issue where video RAM was not being reported properly on certain cards

The long wait is over, and gamers who own the PC version of Mass Effect can download the "Bring Down the Sky" content pack for free. Players must first register the CD key with the BioWare community site before the pack can be installed.

"Bring Down the Sky" brings an extra 90 minutes of gameplay to Mass Effect, the critically acclaimed sci-fi role-playing game, and introduces a new and deadly race called the Batarians. They've hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system and set it on a collision course for the nearby Terra Nova colony. Only Commander Shepard and and the crew of the Normandy can stop the Batarians and save millions of lives.

Register CD key with BioWare community site.

Download the Mass Effect "Bring Down the Sky" content pack (309 Mb)

Download the Mass Effect 1.01 stand alone patch (35 Mb)

When last we reported on this matter, Funcom's two versions (regular and Collector's) of their MMO Age of Conan were number one and three on the top 10 list of the best selling PC games in the US (as always the list is provided by the NPD Group). This time the list is for the week ending May 31 and it looks like the regular edition of Age of Conan managed to stay on top for the second straight week. It held off a strong showing from the PC version of BioWare's sci-fi RPG Mass Effect who managed to debut in the number two slot last week (the Collector's version of Age of Conan is not in the top 10 list, most likely because it sold out last week).

The rest of the list mostly has games that have been on board for the past several months. Indeed, Ironclad Games and Stardock's space strategy title Sins of a Solar Empire returns to the top 10 this week after dropping off the list last week for the first time since it was first released last February.

• 1. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - Funcom/Eidos
• 2. Mass Effect - BioWare/Demiurge/EA
• 3. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts
• 4. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest - Blizzard
• 5. The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff - Electronic Arts
• 6. World of Warcraft - Blizzard
• 7. The Sims 2 FreeTime - Electronic Arts
• 8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Activision
• 9. Sins of a Solar Empire - Ironclad Games/Stardock
• 10. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade -Blizzard

[Via IGN]