Mass Effect - Interviews @ GameZone, Wired

It's going to be the Mass Effect show at RPGWatch this week (unless you live outside NA, in which case it's next week).

GameZone has an interview with Demiurge about the PC conversion:

“We have a very talented team here, who have worked hard to make the PC version of the game as good as it can be.”

2007 was a huge year for video games, thanks to several high profile games that launched, not the least of which was BioWare’s Mass Effect. Mass Effect was a sci-fi RPG title that offered excellent gameplay and a deep storyline with tons of possible arcs throughout. Now the game is getting ready for its PC debut, courtesy of Demiurge. For the PC version, the game will have a new user interface, controls developed with PC gamers in mind, and the great added content of the Xbox 360 version. PC gamers will finally get a chance to enjoy what Xbox 360 gamers have been gloating about since last year.

GameZone recently had a chance to ask Demiurge studio director, Al Reed, a few questions about the development of the PC version, as well as working with BioWare on the project.

...while Wired gets Greg and Ray:

BioWare made a name for itself as a PC RPG developer, so the choice to release a major title like Mass Effect on the Xbox 360 first was jarring to many fans. Why was this decision made and does it lend credence to the idea that PCs are lagging far behind consoles as gaming machines?

Muzyka: Two other acclaimed BioWare titles for PC, Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire were both released on the Xbox first, and our fans seemed to really enjoy both the Xbox and PC SKUs based on the critical acclaim and commercial success of both games. I'm happy to challenge the comment that PCs are lagging behind other systems as gaming platforms -- I think the PC market is vibrant, and consumer tastes continue to evolve. Ultimately, our audience is smart and sophisticated on all platforms and it's up to us as content creators to make amazing games that they want to buy and play.

We certainly are making a tremendous effort to deliver an awesome, customized and optimized version of Mass Effect which launches on the PC May 28th in North America (June 6th in Europe) and then after that comes Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood -- a really fun younger-themed title we're developing for the DS with Sega, and then another big new IP title for BioWare, Dragon Age, which is shaping up to be a truly incredible fantasy experience -- it's the next-gen spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and we’re looking forward to showing more of Dragon Age to our fans later this year. I was just playing Dragon Age this past weekend on my home PC system and it's really fun!

Wired's interviewer needs to catch up with this century.