Mass Effect 2 - Roundup #3

A small collection of non-review Mass Effect 2 news.

First, EA has sent out the official release PR.  I'll just quote the beginning, because it isn't very interesting:

BIOWARE LAUNCHES MASS EFFECT 2 TO INTERGALACTIC ACCLAIM

One of 2010's Most Anticipated Blockbuster Videogames Ships to Stores Worldwide Today

Edmonton, Alberta (January 26, 2010) – Welcome back Commander Shepard. Prepare to fight for the lost! BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that Mass Effect™ 2, the sequel to the award-winning science-fiction phenomena Mass Effect, has begun shipping to retailers worldwide. Noted for its intense shooter gameplay and deep, hand-crafted story, Mass Effect 2 has received universal acclaim from top media outlets around the world, earning an average review score of 97 based on 29 reviews on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, making the game the second highest rated game for the platform of all time and 95 on PC.* This includes perfect scores from 360 Magazine (5/5), Destructoid (10/10), Eurogamer (10/10), Eurogamer Italy (10/10), Eurogamer Spain (10/10), G4 TV (5/5), Game Daily (10/10), Gamespy.com (5/5), GamesRadar (10/10), gamesTM (10/10), Official Xbox Magazine UK (10/10), TeamXbox (10/10), Total PC Gaming (10/10), VideoGamer.com (10/10) and X360 Magazine (10/10). Time Magazine says Mass Effect 2 is “the Avatar of video games – except it’s better written”, and USAToday.com says “Mass Effect 2 sets the bar high for 2010.”

MTV says the first DLC accidentally popped up earlier in the week but was quickly withdrawn.  Still, hints of what is to come:

An extra mission, which is presumed to be the DLC BioWare wanted to have available on January 26, appeared Monday morning with items and armor including a Sentry Interface visor, a M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle and Blood Dragon Armor, according to 360sync. A complete rundown listed on the site contains game spoilers, so click through that link fully aware. The items have since been removed.

Penny Arcade has a clarification from Chris Priestly on what happens in you don't have an old ME1 save.  I don't think the misinformation was widely read but just in case...

Hello Penny Arcade readers. My name is Chris Priestly and I am BioWare’s Community Coordinator.

This morning Tycho posted a quote I gave him from a discussion we were having about Mass Effect 2. Unfortunately, the information I gave him was not correct. I had told him that when creating a new character, you could go down a list of key decisions and set them manually. Unfortunately I was working from a test build used by our internal testing department. While there are choice made by the player, new games of ME2 will have a certain pre-disposed assumption of what happened to your new character in ME1. 

I apologize to Tycho for not fact checking the information I gave him, and I apologize to all of you who read what he, in good faith, posted today and have been misinformed.

• Gamasutra has an interview with Adrien Cho.
• Gamerlive.tv has an interview with Casey Hudson.

The History of BioWare at IGN:

The decision to make a multi-player, real-time game based on AD&D rules was controversial at the time, drawing skepticism and even mockery from hardcore RPG fans. Dungeons & Dragons had a rich tradition in computer gaming, strengthened during the days of SSI's "Gold Box" series, and fans had a set concept of how its rules should be interpreted for the digital realm. BioWare's more modernized take proved, however, to be more in line with the mass audience's tastes, particularly after Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo brought Western RPGs to a new breed of gamer.

Zaeed and Mordin character videos at the official site, as well as character updates on Liara, Ashley, Kaidan, Anderson and Joker.