Canadian developers BioWare are best known for its console and PC role-playing games like Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic. Big rpgs that run on big hardware.
You can’t have a ginormous fantasy epic without at least three different races — elf, human, dwarf, etc. — and you can’t have elves and dwarfs without racism according to fantasy standard-setter J.R.R. Tolkien.
The first Mass Effect tried to play like a shooter, but never really got there. Still, felt like an RPG, just one you played over-the-shoulder. The sequel, though, is going to be different.
Some have given up on PC gaming and have already thrown it on the funeral pyre, but not BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka. He totally believes in it.
Former EALA studio head Neil Young is not the only one interested in iPhone games – looks like the BioWare team is “looking at” the possibility, too, as CEOs Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk recently spoke to MTV Multiplayer about it:
“We look at every platform that comes along. Obviously, something that’s as big a cultural and technical success as the iPhone is something you really got to take a close look at. Certainly, there’s nothing written in stone yet but we’ve got a lot of folks looking at it. It’s intriguing. I think one of the things that we’ll have to see how it shakes out is what type of consumer buys games on it and what type of experience they’re looking for. You want to always mash the consumer experience with what you’re building. We want to understand what people are going to do with it. Who knows. We’re definitely looking at every platform.”
They were speaking, by the way, as part of an interview in which they reiterated their fealty to the PC platform, calling the market “vibrant”. So are iPhone games about to become “the hot new thing”, or are they already? BioWare Confirms PC Support, ‘Looking At’ iPhone Development [MTV Multiplayer]
BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka sounded off to CVG recently about the “SeXbox” controversy centered on Mass Effect, calling it an “interesting experience,” and sticking by video games as an art form:
It’s very tasteful, but it is an emotionally intense scene, and there’s a number of similarly emotional scenes in the game, not just romances but across the board – different relationships between characters.
I see videogames as an art form, and they’re an emergent art form. They’re a commercial art form, but they’re still art regardless. And the good thing I think is the fact that people are talking about that kind of scene; it had an impact on them.
Denis Dyack didn’t break a sweat justifying the priorly planned Too Human trilogy, but could Bioware justify their plan for three Mass Effects beyond wanting to make three times as much money? Bioware co-founder Ray Muzyka had this to say on the matter:
With so much controversy around the sexuality in Mass Effect, I’m kind of surprised it was so long before Bioware provided their thoughts on the matter. But at GDC 08, BioWare’s General Manager Ray Muzyka gave his opinion on how proud he was of the team at BioWare, and the game they’ve created. We’re proud of the mature plots that we build into our games. They’re really appropriate for the type of story we’re trying to convey. And romance is part of that. It’s part of life. It’s part of an interaction — a healthy relationship with other people.
The full interview is in a video hosted by MTV, which means if you’re in one of the unlucky countries like me (that’s anyone with an IP in Canada, the UK, or Japan), you can’t see the vid. So check it out and let me know what other fascinating things he said!
Bioware Talks Video Game Romance In The Post-’SeXbox’ Era [MTV Multiplayer]
Develop Magazine has its list of 25 people who are changing the game industry. Number one shouldn’t be a shocker (it’s Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata). Luminaries like Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ray Muzyka, John Carmack and, yes, even Mark Rein. It’s a good list and worth checking out to see why these folks matter and how they’re reshaping gaming. Game Changers [devleop via DS Fanboy][Pic]
