Best feature of the New Xbox Experience isn't avatars, or a new UI, it's the ability to install games to the console's HDD. It was - in our wildest dreams, anyway - meant to cut down on two of the 360's biggest problems: loud DVD drives, and long waits for load times/disc caching. But does it? Eurogamer put a number of games to the test and found that...results vary. Some games, like The Orange Box, see massive decreases in load times, but others (like Halo 3) weren't much improved. Most depressingly, Mass Effect's famous elevator sequences were as nap-inducing as always. Turns out installing a game to your HDD does little for a game that wasn't coded to take advantage of one in the first place. Hopefully that's something we can expect to be rectified in the shining, glorious, post-NXE future.

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Once was a time you said something, or did something in a game, and it mattered. Games were primitive, they were punitive. But these days? With 2/3 of the industry chasing dog suits and Dogz for a cheap buck and the other 1/3 falling back on quicksaves and 6-hour campaigns, things have got...lighter. Easier. More meaningless. Something BioWare have had enough of, co-founder Greg Zeschuk is saying:

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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]

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]

While I from time to time gush over the superiority of the PC version of Mass Effect to its Xbox 360 counterpart, at least console owners have already had a chance to play through the downloadable content adventure "Bring Down The Sky". PC version owners such as myself have had to wait and wait until...right about now. BioWare has just announced that the DLC is now available for the PC version, allowing PC players to fight to save the colony world of Terra Nova from asteroid doom.

So yes, we've had to wait a bit, but look on the bright side; the PC version of the new content is free, my favourite price point next to "we'll give you $US 20 to take it off our hands", which is usually reserved for items carrying ancient gypsy curses.

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Obsidian Entertainment's Alpha Protocol isn't just similar to BioWare's Mass Effect in terms of interface, font, design, gameplay, and graphics - it's also got a sexy side. Agent Michael Thorton will have a bevy of ladies at his disposal throughout his mission, and depending on how he treats them he could very well get lucky with some, if not all the lovely ladies.

"It all depends on how you treat them," Rucinski said. If you have a strong relationship with female characters, they may help with missions. However, he told me that some of them are "bats-t insane" and can get you into trouble. "One may ask you to assassinate a high-level person," he added. "Maybe that's not something you want to do, but she's really hot. But there are obvious repercussions."

See? These are the sorts of decisions guys named Michael have to deal with every day. We don't want to kill, but the ladies are so hot! Alpha Protocol will let players get busy with women via Mass Effect style cutscenes, with achievements for being a total manslut as well as just saying no repeatedly. Achievements for having sex? Fox is going to have a field day.
'Alpha Protocol' Will Have Plenty Of Sex Scenes, 'Ladies' Man' Achievement [MTV Multiplayer]

Up until my visit to Sega at E3 this week, all I had seen of Obsidian Entertainment's spy thriller action RPG Alpha Protocol was a few screenshots. Yesterday I got a chance to see a demo of the game in action, and I can safely say that fans of BioWare's space epic Mass Effect should be extremely pleased. In fact, had the Obsidian folks at the demo not denied it, one could easily assume the two games were using the exact same engine, with a few tweaks in place to freshen things up a bit.

Rookie CIA agent Michael Thornton finds himself betrayed by his superiors and hunted by the U.S. government after a mission goes awry. In order to get to the bottom of a conspiracy, Michael initiates the Alpha Protocol, going undercover to clear his name and besmirch a few others in the process.

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One of the big issues creating something of a barrier for PC gaming is widespread piracy. As one of the biggest devs to express a commitment to the PC game biz, what does BioWare (getting set to show us some more Dragon Age tomorrow, by the way) feel is the best strategy for combating it?

MTV Multiplayer asked BioWare co-CEO Ray Muzyka, and he says the key is pretty simple: make it worth the customer's while to buy the product, with ongoing DLC releases, an enduring multiplayer experience and a good relationship with the players:

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