According to two separate, British sources, BioWare and Lucasart's Knights of the Old Republic MMO will finally have its first public showing later this month. CVG say it's "set to be 'officially' unveiled later this month", while a writer with British newspaper The Daily Star let slip that they're off "next month to file an exclusive report on the game". Promising. All that's left to do in the meantime is wait, and while waiting, build yourself an intricate series of overblown expectations that the final product can never hope to live up to!

KOTOR MMO to be revealed soon [CVG]

By John Gaudiosi

Hollywood Producer Avi Arad, 33, hopes the production studio he runs with his father, Avi (former head of Marvel Studios), Arad Productions, becomes the premiere home for game developers and publishers to work with. Having helped turn Marvel comic book franchises like Spider-Man and X-Men into blockbuster film franchises, Arad is now focused on doing the same for games.

Among the games he's bringing to the big screen as big-budget, studio tent pole films are Lost Planet, EverQuest, Mass Effect and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Arad attended E3 this year to announce that he is taking Capcom's hit Lost Planet game to the big screen with David Hayter writing the script and Warner Bros. distributing the picture.

"Lost Planet felt really original visually with the huge, snowy planet and the giant insects and the VF suits," said Arad, who's an avid gamer. "I really liked the art design, which made it look like a futuristic Jules Verne creation. There was also a lot of interesting story elements like Wayne, who's almost like a Top Gun pilot. You have a lot of different factions and everyone has a point-of-view. Some of the stuff we're working on with Eisenberg is really close to how he was in the game. But we have to make a credible argument of why he thinks he's right. Having spent a lot of time inside the game, I felt like there were a lot of characters I could build a story around."

Arad said he's played every one of BioWare's games over the years and he's had a great respect for the Edmonton-based game maker. When Mass Effect first came on the gaming radar two years ago he became very interested in it.

"Once I played the game, beyond this massive world, the story's almost structured like a spy movie like a Casino Royale or The Bourne Identity," said Arad. "You have this guy, the first human spectre, and he has all of this pressure on him to deliver for his species. Then he uncovers this plot that he has to chase down because he's a hero. I think that's a good central character for the movie."

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Avi Arad, the man behind the recent spate of good comic book movie franchises, is rumoured to have optioned the rights to Bioware's sci-fi role-playing game Mass Effect, Variety is reporting.

Both EA and Arad declined to comment, but Variety reports that numerous sources have confirmed their report and speculate that Arad is in the the throes of trying to land a writer, director and studio for his freshly-minted deal.

For some reason the game never totally won me over, but the prequel book was a real page-turner, and I'd have to think that any deal for the movie rights would include some of that prequel source material.

Mass Effect movie rights optioned by Avi Arad [Variety]

Only 2 weeks until we can get our hands on BioWare's rendition of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Of all the Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood trailers we've posted, these two are by far the best. They give us the most insight on what we can expect in terms of character abilities and environments. Second video after the jump.

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Sonic Chronicles — being the first Sonic game I've been excited for in years — is looking pretty solid. Bioware CEO Raymond Muzyka and President Greg Zeschuk give us insight into some of the things the team has been thinking about when combining a Sonic game and RPG-style play. The game will hit stores September 30th.

Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic developer BioWare is churning out RPG Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for SEGA. A Sonic RPG? Nothanks.jpg. But a BioWare Sonic RPG? Okay, we're at least receptive. When vaguely talking plot, the game's art director Joel MacMillan said:

I think this is obviously best left for the audience's first playthrough to find out. I will say that the overall story is broken up into two Acts, the first taking place in a very familiar Sonic World, and the second branching out into something we haven't seen yet, something a little darker (not just visually). I'm confident that what has been done with the story in Sonic Chronicles will be something that fans will remember for a while, and will hopefully be expanded in the future.

Sonic fans remember a lot that has happened to that blue hedgehog in the last few years, none of it good. Break the trend, BioWare, do it. Not for your own sake or SEGA's sake, but Sonic's.

Q&A: BioWare on Sonic Chronicles [GameSpot]

Is a KOTOR MMO coming? All signs point to "yes", but then, all signs are worth bupkis without official confirmation. Which this is not. What this is is an agreement between you and Amazon that, should BioWare be making a KOTOR MMO and it turn out to be real, and later goes on sale, that you'll be one of the first people to be notified of its availability. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic MMO [Amazon]

Now that BioWare revealed Dragon Age: Origins to the press at this year's E3, they're ready to take their show on the road, visiting three major gaming conventions over the course of the next week and a half. First off they are hitting up Gen Con Indy August 14th through the 17th, where they'll be presenting the game to the public for the first time. Then the Dragon Age tour splits in two, with one group heading to the Games Convention in Leipzig, where the press will get a behind-closed-doors look at "new details about combat, exploration, dialogue, the game's origin stories and a few other juicy surprises", while special invited members and fans will be able to experience a demo of the game in a special Dragon Age lounge.

Meanwhile, back in the states, BioWare will be showing off the game at PAX, with promises of a special stage demo that provides the world's first look at a special feature of the game. So many surprises! Hit the jump for full details on the Dragon Age: Origins tiny world tour.

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If you're going to make the move from PC and console epic RPGs to handheld titles, testing the waters with someone else's property is pretty smart smart way to do it. That's what BioWare is doing with Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, according to the game's lead designer Miles Holmes. The Sonic RPG will launch BioWare's handheld division, which could then explore the possibility of bringing Mass Effect, Jade Empire, and Dragon Age to the handheld.

"We have a lot of big plans for Mass Effect. Having a DS version would be an awesome way to keep interest alive and keep it going in addition to the next one [Mass Effect 2]", said Holmes.

While I myself am partial to their big production numbers, having handheld versions to keep me occupied between their larger efforts is a rather attractive prospect. Plus, the Nintendo DS can only make hot alien sex that much better.

BioWare liebäugelt mit einem Mass Effect für den Nintendo DS [Eurogamer.de via GamesIndustry.biz]

Don't know about you, but Bring Down the Sky was a little disappointing for this particular saviour of the universe. But never mind. BioWare will be bringing out more Mass Effect DLC, right? Right? Probably. Speaking with MTV, BioWare's Greg Zeschuk said "We're also looking at some other post-release content". When pushed a little further on the topic of DLC, he replied:

We're talking about that. You know how we are. We're always very circumspect until we can go "Aha! There it is!" With everything we build now, we want to have this long-term relationship with the customer and always have something for them to try. So we're definitely looking at that for "Mass Effect."

Wonderful!

BioWare 'Looking At' More 'Mass Effect' DLC [MTV]