At Last weeks DICE Summit, the BioWare Co-Founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka gave a presentation to attendees entitled “The BioWare Method.” In this the doctors explained how it has been a long road to get to where BioWare is today, and share some of the knowledge they have learned through out the years in business. The most important lesson in releasing a successful game is recruiting and maintaining a strong team, and BioWare’s co-founders, Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Dr. Ray Muzyka, explain how it’s done. They alsoencourage long-term and forward thinking, always play games to continue learning, and maintain a positive team culture. One of the biggest components of keeping together a strong team is communication and honesty. Dr. Zeschuk and Dr. Muzyka admitted that Mass Effect 1 DLC didn’t go quite as well as expected, so going forward the Dragon Age and Mass Effect teams worked together to…
Bioware developer pops the question in Minecraft
Although we are a few days past Valentine’s Day, here is a noteworthy wedding proposal that is sure to warm the hearts of female video game geeks everywhere. A Bioware developer decided to pop the “big question” to his sweetie who is also a Bioware developer. For him, though, getting down on one knee and whipping out a ring in a box was simply too cliche’ to be employed. So what is a game developer to do in this situation? Well, the answer is to propose marriage to his girlfriend in a video game of course. So using his Minecraft building skills, he decided to build a castle along with some special terrain to ask for her hand in marriage. And as you will see in the following video, it was all worth it.
Facebook Image of the Week: The volcanic mountain ranges of Ord Mantell
This week, BioWare reached 250,000 “likes” on there Star Wars: The Old Republic fan site. In response to this, the BioWare team released a new Concept Art image of Ord Mantel. As far as I can see that makes it the second largest fan page for any MMORPG on Facebook, only toped by World of Warcraft with 342,919 likes. Due to this accomplishment, a new image will be released weekly via Facebook. In “250,000 Likes!“, BioWare said: This week, we reached 250,000 likes! Were honored to have so many enthusiastic fans, and to celebrate we will begin releasing a brand new Star Wars: The Old Republic image every week just for you. Thank you all for your support, and enjoy the very first Facebook Image of the Week!
BioWare’s Gordon Walton Leaves To Join Playdom Austin
Yesterday EA lost three heads from major studios Playfish and Bioware. BioWare Austin vice president Gordon Walton has left to take on an executive producer role at Disney-owned social game studio Playdom, while two founding members of Playfish, the social game developer EA bought in 2009, are also set to leave the company. EA said in a statement that it’s “business as usual”: “”It is business as usual at all BioWare studios, where we remain committed to creating, delivering and evolving the most emotionally engaging games in the world,” concluded the statement. Electronic Arts is the parent company of BioWare, which also develops the Mass Effect and Dragon Age role-playing franchises. Mobsters and Sorority Life creator Playdom, recently acquired by Disney for a handsome $763 million, is among the top developers of social games on Facebook. A 33-year industry veteran, Walton joins the ranks of many respected stalwarts, like Playdom’s…
EA: Star Wars: The Old Republic “going right at” World of Warcraft
In a presentation at an investment conference Tuesday afternoon, EA chief executive John Riccitiello noted some of the company’s up-coming releases for the year that he expects will boost the company’s share in two key areas of the video game market–first-person shooters and massive multi-player online, or MMO, games. EA has high hopes for Star Wars: The old republic expecting the game to come out sometime late in the calendar year 2011. Riccitiello compared the Star Wars: The old republic to “World of Warcraft,” the most successful MMO game in the market that is produced by Activision’s Blizzard unit. He praised “Warcraft” as one of the “greatest entertainment properties ever built,” but believes the “Star Wars” universe could topple it. “We want to take share,” he said of the MMO category. He added that SWTOR is being built on an improved technology platform that is going to look better than…
SWTOR fan art by Patrick Lamber
When ever BioWare send out a “fan Friday” update, we get to see talented artist showcasing the ( mostly ) amazing work they have posted on the official forums. Not all artist post there work on the forums, and it has been quite a while since BioWare’s last fan Friday. So we thought it was time to check out the art community. This time we will take a look at the work made by Patrick Lambert. We rally love his 3D drawings, and the small stories he writes to each picture. Remember to check out Patrick Lambert’s deviantart profile or his personal website for more amazing drawings, were he is creating every class of SW:TOR. Apprentice no longer: “Nooo!! *cough* Don’t do this! You aren’t ready yet, apprentice!” “I am your apprentice no longer. On this day, I am Darth Kali. This temple shall now be your tomb.” Sith Witch: An overzealous…
Revan almost appeared in last week’s episode of The Clone Wars
In a video commentary, on the Official Star Wars website, supervising director Dave Filoni explains how Darth Revan was supposed to appear in the episode of Clone Wars that was aired last week: “Ghosts of Morits”: We designed them. They are in The Clone Wars style. We modeled them in The Clone Wars style, and we shot the scene in the episode. The scene exists. But it never made it into animation, it only existed in layout. I was very apprehensive of this scene, as cool as it was, because the implication of it. Which is that, these Sith Lords could separate themselves from the Force, and somehow talk to the Son. George watches it, and he loved it, it was great. But eventually, I got a call from George. And he said, you know, I’ve been really thinking about this, and we should really take that scene out, with…
Know your Legends: Gav and Jori Daragon
In the latest Friday update BioWare interweaves the known lore of this first war between the Sith and the Republic and relates it to the events of Star Wars: The old Republic. We have already talked about Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh in earlier Know your lore articles. But two new names we haven’t talked about yet came up. The two hyperspace explorers Gav and Jori Daragon. So here we go. The characters of Gav and Jori Daragon was conceived and written by Kevin J. Anderson for the Tales of the Jedi comic book series and first appeared in Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith, Anderson’s second solo story arc following the conclusion of Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith. For the first five issues of The Golden Age of the Sith series, he was sketched by penciller Dario Carrasco, Jr., and black-and-white…
HeroEngine Owner Idea Fabrik Founds New US Dev Studio
Last year HeroEngine (which is being used to build Star Wars: The Old Republic) was bought from Simutronics by Idea Fabrik in Germany. Last week the Germans announced the creation of a new game development studio in Northern Virginia: Second Star Interactive. Headed by game industry veteran Darrin Hyrup, Second Star Interactive features a core team with decades of experience at major studios throughout the game industry, including Electronic Arts, Mythic, Bethesda Softworks and Sony Online Entertainment. “Developing our own games is a critical part of our efforts to expand and enhance our technology because it keeps us close to the HeroEngine user experience,” said Neil Harris, President of the U.S. operations and COO of Idea Fabrik. “Darrin and the Second Star team bring a wealth of experience and practical contributions to the table that will help us grow both as a technology provider and as a company.” Second Star…
The Volkswagen Vader commercial: The extended ‘Force’ footage
The Little Vader Volkswagen commercial already established its Sith dominance over all other Super Bowl commercials. But its awesomeness may have gotten even greater thanks to these outtakes. Little Vader’s masterful attempt to use the Force on an elliptical machine, as well as a dog, is something to behold. Ps. The Volkswagen polo is a nice car to! Please send one!
BioWare founders on why corporate humility matters
A few month ago we posted the story of BioWare. Now doing the DICE Summit in Las Vegas this week, the Founders of BioWare; Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk was honored in the gaming’s Hall of Fame for their contributions to the game industry over the past two decades. Venturebeat had a chance to sit down and speak about what the guys believe is the key behind BioWare’s massive success and to talk about their up comming games including Star Wars: The Old Republic. According to the doctors, their key to success comes from the corporate humility that is one of the foundations in their company philosophy. Muzyka and Zeschuk have a lot of old-fashioned values. They run their company as a meritocracy. They keep their promises. They communicate with a clear measure. They focus on quality. They are persistent in the face of adversity. In the interview below they…
Lego And Star Wars – You Can’t Go Wrong
Everyone knows that Lego is fairly damn awesome, and the Star Wars franchise is a huge influential part of “geek” culture. So when you mash these 2 things together you’re bound to get something amazing out of it. That’s exactly the thinking behind the Lego Star Wars series from LucasArts, and they have a new one lined up that’s about to drop. Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will see players to control many familiar characters within the Star Wars universe, with the game set during the animated Clone Wars series and also scenes from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Below is a trailer we’ve been sent which shows off a small piece of what people can expect. Released on 25 March for all formats, including the 3DS, the game is based on the (and ever improving) animated series. The latest trailer is just out and…
The Great Hyperspace War
Over the millennia, the Galactic Republic has faced no greater threat to its existence than the brutal invasion instigated by Sith Lord Naga Sadow. It was a time in history when the original Sith Empire had reached the height of its power, and the Republic was poorly prepared for a conflict of such magnitude. Master Gnost-Dural looks back at the Great Hyperspace War and identifies the controversial decision that drove the Sith into exile and set the stage for the Empire’s campaign of vengeance against the Republic. BTC 1347 – When two hyperspace explorers stumbled onto the remote world of Korriban, they never could have guessed the chain of events they were setting into motion. Over the previous centuries, the Sith Empire had grown in size and strength, and Korriban was the very heart of its dominion. The reigning Sith Lord, Marka Ragnos, had just died, sparking a brutal power…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Interview: Doctoring the Story
Gamespot.com did an interview with the two founders of BioWare Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Dr. Ray Muzyka. The interview is mainly about the forth pillar in SWTOR – the story. Not much new information is revealed, but it’s nice to hear them say that the game is in the “finishing stages.” Check it out below.
Insiders are Selling EA Shares
This properly doesn’t meen anything for Star Wars: The old republic, but if you are an invester like me, monitoring insider trades is a very important component to successful investing. We think you should be aware of these insider sales from the first week of February: Kenneth A Barker, SVP & Chief Accounting Officer, sold $99,704 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011 Stephen G. Bene, SVP & General Counsel, sold $707,087 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011 Peter Moore, President, EA Sports Label, sold $264,152 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011 and Gabrielle B. Toledano, EVP, HR, Corporate Services, sold $89,408 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011. Shares of (NASDAQ:ERTS) have increased by 10.26% year-to-date.
Editorial: MMORPG standards?
World of Warcraft did not define any type of standard. Blizzard made an MMO that people love to play, and everyone feels they can capitalize off of that success by making inferior, or direct copy, clones. The main problem here is that people are afraid to try anything new, and how can you really blame them? It takes time and money, possibly more so than a regular game, and the chance of failure is higher than normal since the market is just so saturated with free to play MMO’s, the juggernaut, and a handful of fairly successful paid MMO’s. As I see it, there are three kinds of games with three unique objectives: Mindless fun- You play this because it’s a diversion. I played Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory because it was absurdly fun. Didn’t learn anything, didn’t accomplish anything, but I stalked enemies for hours fucking with their heads and…
Episode IV retold using iconography
Digital designer Wayne Dorrington produced the below graphic that uses only icons to retell George Lucas’ Star Wars: A New Hope. For those already familiar with the plot, the graphic does a good job in presenting the film’s narrative in symbolic form. For instance, an X means “No”, a plus sign cues the introduction of characters and props, and important dialogs—“That’s no moon!”—are represented by speech bubbles on the respective characters.
Greg Zeschuk: World of Warcraft established the MMO standards
Co founder of BioWare Greg Zeschuk did a public Speaking at the DICE summit in Las Vegas yesterday. Here he confessed that World of warcraft has set the standards for any MMORPG. and that the developer’s own offering, Star Wars: The Old Republic, looks to it for “standards”. Furhtermore he doesn’t see SWTOR as a WoW-killer. The players will decide if SWTOR will become a succes: “It is a touchstone,” Zeschuk said of WoW, according to GamesIndustry. “It has established standards, it’s established how you play an MMO: “It is a touchstone,” Zeschuk told the audience. “It has established standards, it’s established how you play an MMO. Every MMO that comes out, I play and look at it. And if they break any of the WoW rules, in my book that’s pretty dumb. If you have established standards, WoW established them.” Zeschuk also admitted that it will be an “interesting challenge” to compete with…
Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker built from scrap computer parts
What’s the best way to recycle old computers? Send them to a recycling plant for a couple extra dollars? How about creating a Star Wars sculpture instead? Etsy user, TGNsmith must be a huge Star Wars fan, because only love could craft this sightly AT-AT. Weighing at roughly 15 pounds and made from a bunch of power supply boxes, floppy drive housings and scrap metal (costing of old computers and sheet metal), TGNsmith welded the whole foot high and foot long AT-AT by himself. Great job dude, it looks pretty sweet. If you want every Star Wars fan boy’s wet dream – a replica of the Imperial forces four-legged vehicle, the All Terrain Armored Transport better known as the AT-AT, you’d better hurry up. There’s only one of these AT-AT’s and it’s available on Etsy for a whopping $450. Grab it before some other Star Wars fan does.
Sith are evil?
On the official forums, Lead Writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic Daniel Erickson confronts the continuous question about the Sith philosophy – Are these guys evil or not? According to Mr. Erickson there is no doubt that Sith are in fact evil: “We can get into endless philosophical discussions about whether anything is actually evil or actually good but if we are speaking from our modern, western view on the concept of evil then the Sith clearly qualify.” However this does not meen that the Sith themselves look at it this way. The Sith see the republic as weak, without strong leadership and basically a bunch of mindless lemmings. Daniel Erickson also states that role players that chooses the Sith faction, has plenty of options to play as ambivalent or even helpful, should they choose to do so. Here is his post: Hey Folks, First of all, let me say that…
EA To Present At Goldman Sachs Technology And Internet Conference
At last weeks conference call, we learned that Star Wars: The old republic needs 500.000 subscribers to be profitable. Apart from that, only small amount of new information came out. Now we get a new chance to gather information about the game, as John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts will present at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 in San Francisco. Here is the press release I found in my mail box this morning: Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 in San Francisco, CA. During the course of this event, Electronic Arts may disclose material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. Listeners may access the presentation via a live audio webcast. Tuesday, February 15, 2010Presentation at 2:40 PM PT / 5:40…
SWTOR Combat Animations Compilation … so far!
Youtuber logun24x7 has created a awesome compilation video of all the combat animations we have seen in Star Wars: The old republic so far. It’s interesting to see how the animations have developed over the last few years – as Logun also points out: We often see people criticize the animations in SWTOR and true, some of the earlier animation still needed work however I think we have seen a continued improvement over the last year’n a half. What seems to fly under the radar is the sheer amount of animations in this game. Never mind the cinematics, and just looking at the combat Bioware has shown we have seen a huge number of animations, and I mean real animations not just a reused generic sword swings with a different colored particle effect attached. For my own amusement I pieced together every combat animation I could find into one video….
Winner: Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode III
In the pantheon of Star Wars material, my favorite movie is The Empire Strikes Back. My next favorites? The Robot Chicken specials. So I was thrilled to read that over the weekend the writers on Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III just won an Annie Award for Writing In A Television Production. The credited writers are Matthew Beans, Zeb Wells, Hugh Sterbakov, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Tom Root, Dan Milano, Kevin Shinick & Hugh Davidson along with one other guy: DC Comics’ Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns. Congratulation to all the winners! The Brewmasters at Cartoon Brew have all the details on all the winners. Be sure the read through the comments while you’re there!
Bioware bringing sexy back
We tend to look at other upcomming Bioware games these days, as it gives a pinpointer to what we can expect of Star Wars: The old republic. About a year ago the official SWTOR forums was on fire with a discussion about same sex interaction ( you know when role players makes out). It seems Bioware is taking Dragon Age II to a new level when it comes to sex – it seems the ESRB description of the content reveals that at least one sex scene features implied fellatio! According to the ESRB: “During the course of the game, characters sometimes engage in sexual dialogue (e.g., ‘Why is it always about sex with you?’ and ‘Sailing is like sex. Do it wrong, and it’ll make you sick.’). Players can also initiate brief cutscene sequences in which couples (male-female or same-sex) are shown kissing and embracing one another in a bedroom…