Why is now the time for the series to have multiplayer?

•Being able to explore and fight alongside your friends in the Mass Effect universe has always been something we thought would be fun and compelling, and many players have asked for it for a long time as well.
•Mass Effect 3 is the best place for us to introduce multiplayer through co-op because of the premise of the game – all out galactic war.
•We also feel that Mass Effect 3 has the combination of world class combat and progression systems that will make for a fun, addictive multiplayer experience.

Why only co-op? Why not a versus mode?

•We have always maintained that we would only add multiplayer into the Mass Effect series if it made sense and did not compromise the power of the single player campaign. Fighting together against a common threat was the multiplayer experience that made the most sense for Mass Effect 3.
•The way we have designed co-op as a way to take control of key conflict zones in the galaxy is a natural extension to the premise of Mass Effect 3.

Why did you decide not to include it as part of the main campaign?

•Our priority and focus with Mass Effect 3 has and always will be to deliver a complete and satisfying single player experience.
•The Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system is meant to complement that amazing game and we’re excited we can give it to our fans as a bonus for those who want to experience Mass Effect in different ways.

How did developing multiplayer impact the single player game?

•BioWare is dedicated and focused on delivering an engaging, fun, and action-packed experience for Mass Effect 3, one that lives up the BioWare standard. To reach that level of quality, BioWare has a dedicated studio in Montreal that is home to designers, programmers, engineers, and other developers. Both studios work together as partners, lead by the core Mass Effect team, unified in a single vision. Under the direction of Casey Hudson and other team veterans, both studios make contributions to both the single player and multiplayer modes in Mass Effect 3. Rest assured that no compromises were made to either of these modes in the development of Mass Effect 3.

Which characters can I play in co-op multiplayer? Can I play as Commander Shepard?

•Commander Shepard’s part in the war will take place in the single-player campaign, as will that of other beloved characters in the franchise such as Garrus, Ashley, and Liara…these characters do not appear in the multiplayer missions.
•In multiplayer, players will create custom characters to fight on different and unique fronts in the war. This will include the ability to play as favorites like Turians, Krogans, Asari and more… each with their own unique set of abilities.

Including Elcor and Hanar?

•…Never say never…

What if I don’t like multiplayer – will my experience be negatively impacted?

•Mass Effect 3 is a complete, standalone game that will deliver a satisfying story experience, even if you choose not to try multiplayer.
•The Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system and all of the individual components are meant to complement that amazing game and can be enjoyed on their own or as part of the Galaxy at War experience.

What if I am not good at / do not like multiplayer? Will my readiness rating go down?

•ME3 is a story about a war against overwhelming force where the most you can hope for us survival. The more you do to fight that war, the more you can change that story into a more optimistic one.
•You can reach the highest levels of success in the single player experience alone, but Galaxy at War gives you alternative ways to get there.
•It’s about choice, and allowing players to find their own ways to stay immersed in the Mass Effect universe.
•We aren’t going into any specifics on numbers right now.

Will you be adding any additional maps or modes through DLC?

•We can’t comment on specifics right now, but can confirm that we are planning on having DLC for Mass Effect 3.

Do save games from ME1 or ME2 impact the co-op multiplayer missions?

•No.

Do characters level up in co-op multiplayer? What is the progression system?

•Character progression, weapon upgrading and leveling up is present in co-op. We’ll release more information on this topic in the months leading up to launch.

Is there more info about the other platforms of Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War?

•We are not going into details about the other components of the Galaxy at War at this time except to say we are designing each to make sense for that platform.
•Each component will be able to affect a player’s “Galactic Readiness” level in a different way.
•Again, participation in any or all ME3:GaW elements is entirely optional

Skyrim, an open-world game sporting a random quest generator, is shaping up to be the ultimate rpg, and well worth the late-night shenanigans for many.

While I am stoked to play the game, I have no desire to join the huddle – It’s cold and I always get trapped in awkward conversation with a crazy. Instead, I will leave 30 minutes before Gamestop opens tomorrow morning to pick up my reserved copy, stopping by McDonald’s first to obtain necessary gaming fuel, then proceed to immerse myself in the world of Oblivion once more. Thank you Bethesda!

As quoted on the book’s jacket: “Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.”

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published.

The book retails at $35.00 at most major booksellers; however, I purchased it at Walmart for $24.50 (too expensive according to my wife – we battled), and I found it on Amazon for as low as $17.50.

The book is currently #1 on Amazon’s Movers & Shakers list. Sales have increased by 42,000 percent since Apple announced Jobs’s death. The book moved from #424 to #1 on Amazon’s overall sales rankings, and is #4 at Barnes & Noble.

According to the author, Steve Jobs’s tale is “Instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values”.

Five tricks for writing a novel in a week

Okay, so I wrote a novel in a week. Now that I’ve had a week away from that task, here are a few key tricks that made it possible:

1. To capture lightning in a jar, bring a jar.

I had a stack of note cards filled with significant plot points for Burn Baby Burn. By the end of chapter one, I’d rendered half of them useless. But, while my efforts at outlining in advance weren’t terribly useful in the details, I did happen to create a structure that I maintained throughout the writing. I realized, based on my rough outline, that the book would unfold in four major acts. In part one, I’d introduce my supervillain protagonists and have them go on a crime spree. In part two, a team of superheroes would come after them. Part three would involve the supervillains trying to escape by finding sanctuary in a foreign country that had no extradition treaty with the US. In part four, the heroes would come after them anyway, and the resulting battle would place the world in danger. For reasons of simple symmetry, I decided that each of my four major acts would be built out of four chapters, and the target length for the chapters would be four thousand words. This would produce a novel sixty-four thousand words long.

By keeping this structure in mind, I never had moments where the immensity of the project overwhelmed me. I could just focus on the development of my current four chapter arc. Breaking the story telling down into these manageable components was a key factor in making me feel as if the work confronting me wasn’t particularly formidable. Deciding on the structure provided edges for the jigsaw puzzle of story I was going to assemble.

2. Now what? Then what? Then what?

This one is so simple I’m almost embarrassed to put it on the list. But, lots of times during the week I was writing Burn Baby Burn, I’d run my imagination dry. I couldn’t keep typing because I didn’t know what would happen next. On most of my previous novels, if I reached this point, I could just walk away and come back another day. By the third day of BBB, I was walking away, then waiting for twenty minutes while my brain answered the question, “Now what?” Then I’d go back and write the one event I’d imagined, and be stuck again. On days 4-7, I got past the horrible sensation of constantly running dry on ideas by walking away, thinking, “Now what?” and then, before I would go back to write, I’d figure out the next two “Then whats?” It worked! Thinking three events ahead is actually a rather modest goal, but it reduced the demoralizing moments when my imagination felt empty.

3. It can’t be that easy.

Another really obvious one, but probably the most important thought I had all week. It was fairly early in the book when I finally had the good guys face off with the bad guys. I was really happy to reach this chapter, since I’d already figured out how the bag guys would escape. So, I just cranked out the whole fight as I imagined it… and had 1000 words. Eek! I’d planned to fill a whole chapter with the fight! So, just when it looks like the heroes are thwarted and the bad guys are getting away, oh no! The toughest superhero, who’d had to run off to take an wounded civilian to a hospital, races back onto the scene. The fight continues! They run over him with a truck. He shakes it off! Etc., etc. The key thing to take away is that, for the rest of the book, any time I’d get a good idea for getting my protags out of a jam, I’d figure out how this good idea would go horribly wrong. It creates much more suspenseful action scenes, and, more importantly, it gets more words onto the page.

4. Never look back.

This is advice I always offer for first drafts: Never stop to read what you’re writing. If you’re writing fast, you’ll be making mistakes, and the temptation will be to stop and fix the mistakes. This will kill momentum. Obviously, correcting your errors and polishing your prose is key to producing a professional manuscript. But, the first draft isn’t the time to do this. The only thing you need to focus on is what comes next.

5. Take your foot off of the brake.

The most perverse fear a writer can possess is this one: “What am I revealing about myself?” If you’re dragging fifty thousand words out of your brain in a short period of time, it’s almost impossible to pull them out with out snagging a good bit of yourself. My characters, being human beings, have lusts and fears and crazy beliefs. Scrape aside the thin film of fiction, and you find my lusts and fears and crazy beliefs. But, I’m writing a book about people who can fly, or are bulletproof. I’m firmly in territory where an average person might justifiably think, “Well, that will never happen.” Fancy lies will catch people’s attention, but can only hold it for so long. Eventually, you have to put something true on the page. But putting true things on the page is risky. In order to function in society, most people spend the majority of time not being open and truthful. There are categories of things we regard as private and don’t want the world to know about us. But, in fiction, readers want to see these private moments. You could follow the safe route and simply recycle fictional private moments you’ve seen in movies or read in books. Plenty of writers do. You simply write cautiously, advancing carefully across the most dangerous terrain, your foot on the brake. But, when I was writing Burn Baby Burn, I didn’t have time to search my mental catalog for appropriate fictional moments to mimic. I just had to take my foot off the brake and write what I knew. What I really knew.

Was it worth it? I think so. I suppose readers will be the ultimate judges.

This action roleplaying game will feature a nonlinear, open-world gamplay like its predecessor, Oblivion. You can explore the world (on-foot or on horseback) at your own pace, and complete the quests at your leisure.

As you can see by the trailer below, this game looks to be a worthy addition to the series… See you at the midnight release!

]]> http://www.infiction.org/2011/10/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/feed/ 0 http://www.infiction.org/2011/10/the-last-airbender-the-legend-of-korra/ http://www.infiction.org/2011/10/the-last-airbender-the-legend-of-korra/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:59:13 +0000 jdhomesley http://www.infiction.org/?p=411 A spin-off to the wildly popular Avatar: The Last Airbender is currently in Production. Written by original co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the series (set 70 years after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender) will follow Korra, Aang’s successor.

The next Avatar, Korra, is described as Aang’s opposite. She is a hot-headed, rebellious young woman “ready to take on the world”. Hailing from the Southern Water Tribe, Korra has already mastered water, earth, and fire. The series follows Korra as she tackles an anti-bender revolt in Republic City while mastering air-bending from Tenzin, the son of Aang and Katara.

The creators decided to make the next Avatar female after receiving a strong, positive response to the headstrong female characters in the original series. They “felt it was time to have a big action franchise with a female in the lead instead of the traditional male role”.

Though an official release date has not yet been given, the series is expected to run for 2 seasons, totaling 26 episodes. Until then, the Official Trailer (below) will have to suffice.

The Kinect revelation has many fans in an uproar (including this one). While there is nothing wrong with Kinect games (they can be quite fun), it doesn’t feel like fable. Fans who’ve followed the series since the initial release back in 2005 have a deep connection to the game. We do not hate change as long as the essence of the game remains intact.

Both the game trailer and the interview are posted below. Decide for yourself if the newest addition feels like Fable!

Game Trailer:

Interview with Peter Molyneux: