dragon-age-origins
December 2nd, 2009 at 06:30pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
Sad that you missed all the Black Friday sales? Walmart wants to take advantage of that feeling of being left out, with a series of December sales and price drops. The most exciting offer: for one week (from December 5 -12), every Wii will come with a $50 gift card, effectively dropping the price to a ridiculous $150.
Walmart’s price drops on games are less dramatic, failing to reach the depths of, say, Amazon’s Black Friday weekend drops, but the list provided (after the break) does include a lot of hot games for less than MSRP — like The Beatles: Rock Band on Wii for $40 and Batman, Dragon Age, Left 4 Dead 2, and a lot more for $50 each. Walmart promises more price drops on its website and in stores. How can it afford to do this stuff?
Oh, right, by dominating the entire retail industry.
Continue reading Walmart offering $50 gift card with Wii purchase next week, cheaper games now
Walmart offering $50 gift card with Wii purchase next week, cheaper games now originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: dragon-age-origins, left-4-dead-2, sale, the-beatles-rock-band, walmart, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Walmart offering $50 gift card with Wii purchase next week, cheaper games now
November 26th, 2009 at 04:00pm
Under Xbox 360
Here’s a Thanksgiving treat from the vault – we’ve dug out the following interview with BioWare co-founder (and Group Creative Officer of EA’s newly formed RPG/MMO Group) Greg Zeschuk from earlier this year at PAX. But don’t let the date fool you! Our discussion of multiplatform console development, DLC strategies on future BioWare titles like Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, and Greg’s recommendation that everyone buy two copies of the game (one on console and one on PC) defies time. Read on!
Joystiq: Dragon Age is the first PS3 game that BioWare’s developed. Can you talk about that process?
Greg Zeschuk: We did partner with Edge of Reality, so we partnered with folks who have had the experience, and that was a good process where we actually had some folks that knew how to do it but also, in general, just worked together with them. A lot of it ended up being like we needed a lot of work to get done and a lot of stuff very fast and everyone was very busy on Dragon Age itself. Collectively, on the console, I would say it was very interesting and challenging to take the richness of the PC game of Dragon Age, with all these different powers and everything else, and actually try to transpose it to the consoles. And the interesting thing about that, or where it worked out really well, is that we literally set ourselves a goal: We didn’t want console players to fell like we ripped them off by taking anything away, by minimizing or simplifying. We want them to feel they have all the power at their fingertips, but it’s very accessible. It’s got the multiple rings that sort of have subsets to them, and you can actually pretty much access any power just a couple little joystick twiddles and button presses. And so with that experience, I think we succeeded there.
Another place where we succeeded on both the PS3 and 360 versions: it feels very different from the PC. Where the PC has got the traditional Baldur’s Gate top-down [perspective], the PS3 and 360 are over-the-shoulder and they do have that kind of, very KOTOR feel and that’s probably what I play, and that’s what I feel most familiar with is KOTOR — and it actually feels more action-y than the PC does, so I think people will find a very different experience. I recommend both platforms actually, PC and console versions.
Continue reading Interview: BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more
Interview: BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Interview: BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more
Tags: bioware, dlc, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea, electronic-arts, Greg-Zeschuk, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, rpg
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Interview: BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more
November 19th, 2009 at 01:58pm
Under Xbox 360
digg_url = ‘http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/19/dragon-age-origins-dlc-to-return-to-ostagar-this-holiday/’; Polish up your armor and prune your dialog trees: EA has announced a new Dragon Age: Origins DLC adventure, “Return to Ostagar,” is coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this holiday season for $5. The add-on will allow your hero to “revisit Ostagar, the site of the Grey Wardens’ darkest hour, to reclaim the honor and learn the secrets of Ferelden’s fallen king.”
Listen, we’re as big of fans of Dragon Age: Origins as you’re likely to meet, but we have to question the scheduling of this DLC release. It’s not that we don’t want it, but who out there has played so much DA:O that they’re bored of what’s on the disc? Seriously, the thing’s like 340 hours long!
Dragon Age: Origins DLC to ‘Return to Ostagar’ this holiday originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Dragon Age: Origins DLC to ‘Return to Ostagar’ this holiday
Tags: bioware, dlc, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea, release-date, return-to-ostagar
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Dragon Age: Origins DLC to ‘Return to Ostagar’ this holiday
November 13th, 2009 at 12:09pm
Under Xbox 360
EA has touted that Dragon Age: Origins has already brought in over $1 million in sales of its launch DLC. G4 reports on CFO Eric Brown’s presentation at a recent conference, where the EA exec revealed the figure and reiterated, “The game was designed at the outset to have extensive [paid DLC] at launch, as well through the next 12-plus months of its lifespan.”
Dragon Age players should remember to blame developer BioWare and its QA department if they felt obligated to pick up the launch DLC, which expands in-game storage space for items. As shady as that sounds, apparently it wasn’t enough to deter significant purchases of the optional content.
Dragon Age DLC has earned over $1 million originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Dragon Age DLC has earned over $1 million
Tags: bioware, dlc, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea, electronic-arts, sales
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Dragon Age DLC has earned over $1 million
November 4th, 2009 at 10:00pm
Under Xbox 360
In a written response to allegations from Fidgit that Electronic Arts had forced developer BioWare to remove features in Dragon Age: Origins with the intention of selling it as future DLC, BioWare lead systems designer Georg Zoeller says the parent company has “nothing” to do with the decision. At the crux of the argument is the game’s launch DLC, Warden’s Keep, which gives players a “storage chest” to help expand the in-game inventory, among other additions. Fidgit claims the DLC was pre-planned to “bilk users for more money.”
According to Zoeller, Dragon Age originally featured a small storage chest in the game’s party camp, but quickly became an issue due to story elements in the game that would change the camp’s environment; so the storage area was removed. “We decided that it was not really necessary anyway since the item limitation was rather generous compared to the initial designs at least,” Zoeller wrote. Later — during a brainstorm session — the team decided to include the chest in premium DLC, which was then made available at launch.
Zoeller claims “storage limitations” were never pinpointed as problems by the game’s quality assurance team, because “after all, it was part of the design.” While the Bioware designer doesn’t have an issue with anger toward the decision, he vehemently denies EA was involved for the sole purpose of getting more money out of players. With the DLC already available across all platforms (560
/ $7, or free to deluxe edition players), it’s up to players to make their opinions heard by voting with their wallets.
Don’t blame EA for Dragon Age’s inventory (or paid DLC) originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Don’t blame EA for Dragon Age’s inventory (or paid DLC)
Tags: bioware, dlc, downloadable-content, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea, electroinc-arts
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Don’t blame EA for Dragon Age’s inventory (or paid DLC)
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:20am
Under Xbox 360
digg_url = ‘http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/03/review-dragon-age-origins/’; Hearing the term “RPG” more than likely brings games such as Tales of Vesperia, Persona or, for some of you, Fallout 3 to mind. Not since the earliest days of this current console generation and a little game called The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion have we seen a fantasy role-playing game of this caliber rooted in swords and sorcery you’d find in The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons or even World of Warcraft.
The long wait for a true successor to the fantasy throne ends today with the arrival of Dragon Age: Origins. The latest title from Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic developer BioWare is a testament to the company’s mastery of the art of building the worlds, characters and stories that constitute a “classic” — and that’s exactly what this excellent experience is.
Continue reading Review: Dragon Age: Origins
Review: Dragon Age: Origins originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Review: Dragon Age: Origins
Tags: bioware, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea, electronic-arts, rpg
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Review: Dragon Age: Origins
October 31st, 2009 at 09:00pm
Under Xbox 360
The dust from the 24-hour Dragon Age: Origins Warden’s Quest tournament has begun to settle, and the sleep-deprived, blood-soaked winner has been declared: The team representing the nation of Hungary. The Hungarians trailed in the rankings until the fourth round of the contest, when they rallied to pass the BioWare Community team (who finished in second place). We guess you could say they were just Hungarier for victory than everyone else.
America, however, must have only been slightly peckish, ending up with a disappointing ninth place (or next-to-last place) finish, and getting eliminated in the third round of the competition. This might be a small blow to our egos, but hey — at least we’re still better at dragon slaying than the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Booyah!
[Via Kotaku]
Hungary spanks America in Dragon Age: Origins contest originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Hungary spanks America in Dragon Age: Origins contest
Tags: america, bioware, contest, dragon-age-origins, ea, hungary, tournament
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Hungary spanks America in Dragon Age: Origins contest
October 16th, 2009 at 09:00pm
Under Xbox 360
These days, it’s not enough that retailers offer pre-order bonuses for upcoming video games. No, nowadays every retailer needs its own specific bonus just so everyone involved can feel more special. Such is the case for Dragon Age: Origins, so we decided to do a little digging and gather up the various bonuses that will be available from different retailers. All the retailers below — apart from Amazon, for some reason — are offering the Memory Ring in-game item, which adds 1 percent to XP growth and also bestows players with an additional skill point. Several retailers also have an exclusive in-game item, though Impulse is only offering the Memory Ring. The store-exclusive bonuses are:
- GameStop: Feral Wolf Charm – Gives bonuses to armor and health regeneration
- Amazon: Lion’s Paw Boots – “Adds to armor, dodge, and evading missiles.” Amazon is also offering a $10 gift card for pre-ordering the standard edition
- Steam: The Wicked Oath – A ring, adds 10% to critical strike damage, improves armor penetration by 2 and adds +1 to combat stamina regeneration
The bonuses apply to the Collector’s and Digital Deluxe editions in most cases too, but be sure to check before placing any orders. We’re trying to find out if Amazon will be offering the Memory Ring as well, and will update this post as soon as we find out.
Retailer-exclusive Dragon Age pre-order bonuses revealed originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea, electronic-arts, pre-order
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Retailer-exclusive Dragon Age pre-order bonuses revealed
October 8th, 2009 at 07:40pm
Under Xbox 360
Two things came to mind when we first laid eyes on Dragon Age: Origins‘ gelatinous boss, the Brood Mother:
- Wow, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Blade
- Man, she really looks like Sting’s uncle
But, we digress. The new villain is gigantic in size, has a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and has more teets than the most horribly mutated cow. It’s, uh, pretty much a really disgusting thing.
Dragon Age: Origins’ Brood Mother looks like she’s from House Harkonnen originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, dragon-age-origins, ea, rpg
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Dragon Age: Origins’ Brood Mother looks like she’s from House Harkonnen
October 8th, 2009 at 10:40am
Under Xbox 360
EA has announced a selection of downloadable content for Dragon Age: Origins, which will conveniently be available right at launch. However, unlike most launch DLC, which elicits complaints of ripping off customers by holding back content that clearly could have been on the disc, most of this DLC is intended only to rip off people who buy used copies of the game.
The “Stone Prisoner” DLC, which includes a new Golem character, has been previously announced as free to new buyers and $15 to those who don’t have the code in the box, or buy it past the April 30 cutoff date. The “Blood Dragon Armor,” which offers a new suit of, well, armor, will also be included. No price is given for a non-bundled download of this armor. The “Warden’s Keep” download offers an entirely new “dungeon-exploring adventure” with exclusive items and even new player abilities. This will be $7 to download, or free to people who buy the “Digital Deluxe Edition” of the game.
The fact that no reference is made to the packaged collector’s edition, and the fact that it seems to have disappeared from both GameStop and Amazon make us question its status. We’re checking with EA about that — and thinking of something else to put on the wall where we had planned to hang that cloth map.
Dragon Age launch DLC detailed originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Dragon Age launch DLC detailed
Tags: bioware, dlc, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Dragon Age launch DLC detailed
