With BioWare's Mass Effect 2 fast approaching and the studio's latest, Dragon Age: Origins, having just arrived, digital distribution platform Steam has knocked 50% off the first Mass Effect--making the futuristic RPG just $9.99 in the United States. The discount will run through the weekend, providing you with plenty of time to tackle Shepard's initial galactic adventure before the sequel arrives on January 26.

Owners of both the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Mass Effect are having issues playing the new "Pinnacle Station" DLC.

On the Xbox 360, users with the Platinum Hits version of Mass Effect are reporting that the on-disc Bring Down the Sky DLC conflicts with the new Pinnacle Station pack, with the only current solution being to re-download Bring Down the Sky for an extra $5.

On the PC, some Steam users are receiving the following message when installing the DLC: "Mass Effect CD key not found. You must run the Steam version of Mass Effect at least once to have the CD key properly installed by Steam."

BioWare QA developer Jack Lamden said the PC error should be fixed today, with users only needing to re-download the DLC. The team is looking into the Platinum Hits issue, but Lamden offered no ETA on a solution.

The new "Pinnacle Station" DLC for Mass Effect is now available for owners of the PC version.

Interested parties can head to the EA Store, which is selling the DLC for $5. Players must achieve Spectre status in order to play through the 13 missions of combat.

Hot on the heels of leaked details yesterday, Mass Effect's new 'Pinnacle Station' downloadable content has surprisingly been released today for Xbox 360.

Pinnacle Station "includes a new land-able space station, 13 exciting combat scenarios, and approximately 2-3 hours of game play," says Microsoft, priced at 400 MS Points ($5).

Also now available are a wodge of Mass Effect garments for Live Avatars, with prices ranging from 80 MS Points ($1) for the cap to 320 Points ($4) for the swish armour.

PC Mass Effect players should not feel too left out, as the long-awaited Patch 1.02 was finally released yesterday, bringing scores of fixes to BioWare's RPG.

The long-awaited 1.02 patch for the PC version of Mass Effect was released tonight by BioWare.

The 70 MB patch addresses various crashes and problems, and is fully compatible with the Steam version of the game. Grab it now on FileShack.

New details on the upcoming "Pinnacle Station" Mass Effect DLC were leaked by way of the Swiss Xbox Live website, according to Eurogamer.

The DLC will offer 13 battle scenarios for players to blast through, which amounts to 2-3 hours of gameplay, according to fan translations.

"We wanted to be able to give people a much more combat-oriented, lighter-story kind of experience," said project director Casey Hudson of the DLC in February. "You're going to go to kind of a casino, gaming, fight club space station."

The date on the listing--now pulled--was incorrect, but the price of 400 Microsoft Points ($5) seems plausible.

BioWare has repeatedly cautioned players of the first Mass Effect to hold on to their save games for use in the upcoming sequel, and now we have a better idea as to why.

In a chat with PC World, lead producer Casey Hudson spoke at length about the hundreds of ways that actions from the first game, not just "big choices," can change things in the action-RPG sequel due on PC and Xbox 360 early next year:

When you're playing the first game, everything that you do is setting a variable so that as the story progresses we know that you did a certain thing on a certain planet, and then internal to the game, we can reference those things. Your Mass Effect save game contains all of that... Read more

Hot on the heels of yesterday's Dante's Inferno comic news--and in the run-up to Comic-Con--no less than three comic book adaptations of video games were announced today.

Mass Effect: Redemption by Dark Horse Comics will bridge the game between the first game and sequel Mass Effect 2, authored by ME2 script writer Mac Walters and drawn by Star Wars Legacy artist Omar Francia. The first issue will arrive on January 6 2010.

Raven Software's Singularity is to receive a graphic novel exploring the mysterious Cold War experiments which gave rise to the the shooter's time-shifting shenanigans. Coming from Twistory Studios and Image Publishing, it's due following Singularity's release--recently delayed until March 2010 to avoid competing with Modern Warfare 2.

Lastly, Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner is penning six new stories for a 128-page graphic novel which paves the way for Disney's upcoming movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. A variety of artists will illustrate the anthology, including Seaguy's Cameron Stewart and Tommy Lee Edwards of Marvel 1985.

The combat-centric theme of the next Mass Effect DLC pack was revealed by BioWare in a documentary included with the recent release of the Mass Effect Platinum Hits edition.

"We had something in Mass Effect 1 which we didn't have the time and we didn't think we would do well enough, which is a fight club arena," said principal lead designer Preston Watamaniuk in the video.

"We wanted to be able to give people a much more combat-oriented, lighter-story kind of experience," said project director Casey Hudson. "You're going to go to kind of a casino, gaming, fight club space station."

The developers also dropped a few details on the anticipated Mass Effect sequel.

"Any save game that you make from Mass Effect 1, you should be able to carry that same character into Mass Effect 2," noted Hudson.

Said Hudson of the anticipated sequel: "In the second game, you're actually going to go through a darker period where you're really looking for answers... there are a lot of twists and turns, and it's generally a much darker experience."

Despite the ongoing development of Mass Effect 2, BioWare apparently hasn't given up on supporting the first PC and Xbox 360 entry in the sci-fi role-playing franchise.

During a chat with CinemaBlend, BioWare community manager Jay Watamaniuk noted that another downloadable episode is on the way, but declined to offer any details.

The first and only bit of Mass Effect DLC released thus far, dubbed "Bringing Down the Sky," added a new alien race and roughly 90 minutes of gameplay last March.

In addition, Watamaniuk said a new PC patch should hit in "like a month or two."

Film producer Avi Arad has bought the film rights to Bioware's cinematic Xbox 360 RPG Mass Effect, according to a report today.

"Numerous sources have confirmed that producer Avi Arad has optioned the rights," reads the report on The Cut Scene. Arad is also producing the Lost Planet movie with his new production company.

Electronic Arts, publisher of Mass Effect and owner of the intellectual property, declined to comment on the report, but the development would fit with the company's plan to generate revenue by way of Hollywood and TV tie-ins.

Arad, who brought Marvel comic book franchises like X-Men, Spider-Man and Iron Man to the silver screen, has yet to attach a director, screenplay writer, or any stars to the adaptation, if he indeed has purchased the rights.

Mass Effect (PC, 360) developer BioWare is examining the possibility of further updates to its space-age RPG following the release of the first downloadable content pack earlier this year, studio president Greg Zeschuk revealed.

"We said it was a trilogy so there's some stuff happening," Zeschuk told MTV Multiplayer. "We're also looking at some other post-release content... You know how we are. We're always very circumspect until we can go 'Aha! There it is!'"

The executive added, "With everything we build now, we want to have this long-term relationship with the customer and always have something for them to try. So we're definitely looking at that for Mass Effect."

The company is currently at work on Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (NDS) in collaboration with Sega, but BioWare's Nintendo DS development may not end there. Sonic Chronicles lead designer Miles Holmes stated that the studio is... Read more

A Mass Effect patch is now available, updating the PC release of the BioWare sci-fi RPG to version 1.01. The 35mb download fixes several game bugs, and adds support for additional downloadable content.

That's helpful, because the Bring Down the Sky DLC has also been released. Instructions on how to install it can be obtained from this page.

Update 1.01

* added some infrastructure support for additional downloadable content
* updated the image of the Batarian race in the codex
* fixed an issue where the center channel for hardware audio wouldn't play correctly sometimes... Read more

Despite the first Mass Effect being billed as an Xbox 360 exclusive, famed developer BioWare tells Joystiq that it has "never confirmed any plans of Mass Effect exclusivity for the trilogy."

Though the sci-fi action-RPG later appeared on PC, the title is still considered an Xbox 360 exclusive in terms of the console market--meaning it has not appeared on rival systems PlayStation 3 or Wii.

Speaking on Mass Effect 2, BioWare senior manager Matt Atwood previously expressed his belief that the sequel would "be Xbox 360 exclusive for at least a short period of time," followed by a PC release "as quickly as possible."

Following EA's $860 million purchase of BioWare and Pandemic, many speculated that the PlayStation 3 would receive a Mass Effect game, especially given BioWare's plans to deliver at least three Mass Effect titles and the tendency of EA-published titles to hit both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Dragon Age, another one of the company's in-development titles, was originally slated to be a PC exclusive, though the company recently noted that the franchise will eventually hit consoles as well.

Several gamers have complained that the digital rights management software built into the PC version of BioWare's Mass Effect (PC, 360) only allows three lifetime installations, regardless of whether the user uninstalls the game.

According to consumer advocacy website The Consumerist, a tech support representative at publisher Electronic Arts confirmed to a user on the official Mass Effect forums that no additional activations are earned by uninstalling the game.

Those gamers who have reached their three install limit must contact EA technical support to request additional activations. Though the protocol is meant to guard against piracy, many affected users claim that hardware issues, operating system ... Read more

Service-oriented. Outsourcee. Bootstrapper.

There is no easy way to describe a studio like Demiurge. The video game industry is a tough one for small fries, but the company has taken an almost workhorse-style approach in the effort to keep its independence. No job's too big, no job's too small.

With many independent developers like Iron Lore--a company that once contracted Demiurge--shutting their doors or being bought up, Demiurge's strategy of solving other studios' problems has lead to increasing freedom and success. It's also gotten the team hands-on time with some of the industry's most valued properties, including BioShock, Medal of Honor, and now Mass Effect.

Recently I sat down for a chat with studio head Al Reed, fresh off the launch of the company's PC port of Mass Effect. We touched on the copy-protection controversy, the challenge of porting the game, flying rubber frogs, and the studio's... Read more

The PC version of BioWare's sci-fi RPG Mass Effect marches out to retailers this week, and to celebrate the company has delivered three new gameplay clips.

Co-developed by Demiurge, the Xbox 360-to-PC port sports a number of enhancements, such as free downloadable content and a redesigned interface.

For more on the version that made Shacknews editor Aaron Linde "anxious to play through the game again," check out our hands-on impressions.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Registered users can use the HD Stream.

Keep reading for the other two gameplay clips. ... Read more

As the release of BioWare's Mass Effect PC port approaches this week, company CEO Ray Muzyka recently stated that the company will maintain a fairly even balance between licensed properties and original development in future projects.

When asked of his preference between creating original universes for games and working on preexisting intellectual properties, Muzyka explained that there are benefits to developing from either angle.

"Both choices have their own unique appeal," Muzyka told Joystiq. "In the end, both are ends of the same spectrum, since successful new intellectual properties become licenses. In the case of Star Wars... so it really wasn't confining when ... Read more

It's been so long since I've invoked any hostility in defending PC-centric control schemes over console counterparts—I guess Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare changed me, or made me soft, or something.

But with Mass Effect's somewhat limited Xbox 360 control configuration transitioned to its reworked form on the PC, I'm on the cusp of becoming an elitist jerk again.

Sure, Mass Effect certainly looks great on the PC, but veterans and newcomers alike ought to be most interested in how it plays. Utilizing familiar FPS controls, the game allows you to pull up the tactical HUD by holding the space bar at... Read more

Fresh from EA's Spring Break event are a bonanza of screenshots from the publisher's lineup, including Mass Effect PC, Warhammer Online and more.

Be sure to scope out the full post, as there is simply far too much media to contain on the front page, and don't forget to check out the whole of our EA Spring Break coverage.

Left 4 Dead (PC, X360)
Valve, Turtle Rock Studios / November 2008

Battlefield Heroes (PC)
EA DICE / Summer

Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360)
EA DICE / June 23, 2008

... Read more