'Bring Down the Sky'

Mass Effect fans who've run through the game a couple of times (don't laugh, I know a few who have) get another reason to play today.

The first downloadable content pack for the space epic released today.

“Bring Down the Sky” includes an uncharted world that introduces a new alien race: the Batarians. In the storyline, a Batarian extremist group has hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, and have set the asteroid on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova.

It's up to you, as Commander Shepard, to save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid impacts the planet.

The 90-minute download pack is available for 400 MS points via Xbox LIVE. You'll also be able to earn 50 new Gamerscore points.

I'm adding something to my "to do" list: find some time to play more Mass Effect.

GDC 2008: A note on the game of the year award

Last week, in my “Trigger Happy” column in the Georgia Straight, I wrote about how I believed that Super Mario Galaxy, while a very playable game, did not deserve a nomination for game of the year, and that Mass Effect was spurned by being left off the list of game of the year noms.

Tonight during the Game Developers Choice Awards, the five game of the year nominees - BioShock, Portal, Call of Duty 4, Super Mario Galaxy, and Rock Band - were announced throughout the evening. Then, at the end of the show, just before the winner was about to be announced, short clips of each of the nominees were played.

But here’s the thing. A clip of Mass Effect was played in place of Call of Duty 4.

Make of it what you will.

So much for Super Mario Galaxy

It's a very playable game, but I just don't think that Super Mario Galaxy was a groundbreaking enough game to warrant a game of the year nomination for the Game Developers Choice Awards.

At the same time, I think not giving Mass Effect a game of the year nod is a travesty.

I covered this in much greater detail in my "Trigger Happy" column in last week's Georgia Straight, and it seems that some Straight readers are taking issue with my opinion. They are actually leaving comments taking me to task about it.

Of course, the people speaking up so far are clearly fans of the game, which is par for the course when it comes to anyone being critical of Nintendo or their Italian plumber.

But there has to be someone out there who agrees with me, right?

Anyone?

New Mass Effect story coming soon

We knew it was going to be coming eventually, and now we know that the first downloadable content for Mass Effect is coming on March 10.

From the press release issued today:

“Bring Down the Sky” includes a new uncharted world that introduces the notorious and feared alien race of the Batarians. A Batarian extremist group has hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only Commander Shepard can save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid completes its deadly descent.

400 points gets you 90 minutes of extended story and a possible 50 Xbox Achievement points.

When I interviewed the developers at BioWare last fall, they told me that downloadable content will add to the overarching Mass Effect story, so playing through this expansion will enhance your overall Mass Effect experience.

I'm in. Anyone else excited about the potential of downloadable content as a way of extending and expanding upon stories?

Nominees for Game Developers Choice Awards

The nominees for the Game Developers Choice Awards were announced this morning.

BioShock and Portal lead the pack, each with five nominations, including Game of the Year.

I'm very pleased to see Mass Effect (Game Design, Writing, Audio, Innovation) and Everyday Shooter (Best Debut, Best Downloadable), two of my favourites of 2007, getting some recognition.

Notable titles missing from this list? Surprisingly, not much. Maybe Heavenly Sword (pictured here) for Visual Art. Maybe Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for Game Design. Looks like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune claimed the Sony Computer Entertainment quota.

And Vampire Rain. Kidding. I kid.

Mass Effect deserved a Game of the Year nomination, though. Certainly over Super Mario Galaxy, which was fine for what it was: a rehash of the franchise.

Anyone out there note any other glaring omissions?

Here's the complete list of categories and nominees, which will be handed out at GDC 2008 in San Francisco on Wednesday, February 20:

Best Game Design
BioShock
Call of Duty 4
Mass Effect
Portal
Super Mario Galaxy

Best Visual Art
Assassin's Creed
Team Fortress 2
Crysis
BioShock
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Best Technology
Halo 3
Crysis
Call of Duty 4
Portal
Assassin's Creed

Best Writing
Portal
God of War II
Mass Effect
Half-Life 2: Episode 2
BioShock

Best Audio
Call of Duty 4
Everyday Shooter
BioShock
God of War II
Mass Effect

Best Debut
Crackdown (Realtime Worlds)
flOw (ThatGameCompany)
The Witcher (CD Projekt)
Everyday Shooter (Queasy Games)
Aquaria (Bit Blot)

Innovation
Rock Band
Portal
flOw
Peggle
Mass Effect

Best Handheld Game
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Phase
Contra 4
Peggle (for iPod)

Best Downloadable Game
Pac-Man Championship Edition
Everyday Shooter
Peggle
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (XBLA version)
Flow

Game of the Year
BioShock
Call of Duty 4
Portal
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy

Mass Effect, part 2

Looks like the Mass Effect gang at BioWare Corp aren't taking much of a break.

Their million-copy selling RPG has already made numerous best-of-2007 lists, but lead writer Drew Karpyshyn has already sold the second novel about the world he and the other developers at BioWare created.

The first novel, Mass Effect: Revelation, was published earlier this year, a few months before the game hit shelves. It was a prequel to the game, and set the stage for the story that gamers would enter as Commander Shepard.

Karpyshyn announced last week that the second novel, Mass Effect: Ascension, is slotted for publication by Del-Rey this summer. It will be set in between the events of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, presumably in development.

At the Mass Effect community forum page, Karpyshyn wrote that the book will feature "some familiar faces, a few new ones, and get a much closer look at the culture of one of the alien species featured in Mass Effect. And, like Revelation, Ascension will be your first introduction to some key characters for the ME2 game. And we'll also get a closer look at biotics, and what humanity is doing to tap into the amazing potential in that field."

Note that this does not give us any indication of a potential release date for Mass Effect 2, but I think we can expect that the success of this first game means that a sequel is in development (the story was conceived of as a trilogy). I think it's safe to suggest that ME2 will hit some time in 2009. Granted, that's not much of a prediction, but what do you expect? Day and time of release?

I haven't had a chance to read Karpyshyn's first ME novel. Anyone out there who has? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments.