The World of Western RPGs is a new article exploring the evolution of the Western RPG. The piece is a companion to a previous article on Asian RPGs.

The author starts off by talking about how broad a term RPG is and how practically worthless it is for describing a game. He uses Bioware and Bethesda to make his point in that these developers are both know for their RPGs, but have very different styles. He then goes on at length defining what different concepts associated to the RPG mean to him personally so that the reader can be on the same page when he gets down to the meat of the piece.

Western RPGs were born from “numbers and dungeons” games inspired by pen and paper RPGs. Over the year they have added art and split into two basic types; world focused and story focused RPGs. The article will take from the infancy of the form to todays modern vastly differentiated RPGs. You find references to Wizardry, Ultima, Might and Magic and the Elder Scrolls as well as Fallout, Diablo, Gold Box and Mass Effect along the way. Just remember this one important piece of advice as you explore RPGs:

Keep in mind that the word “classic” is not a synonym for “good”.

I heartily recommend this work for gamers who are interested in game design or die hard RPG fans.

via Moby Games

BioWare has released a patch for the PC edition of the Mass Effect bringing the game up to version 1.01, which fixes a lot of issues.

Here are the release notes:

• 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
• Fixed an issue where the hardware mouse pointer would disappear when first selected
• Fixed an issue where Shepard did not auto-crouch when entering cover in some places
• Fixed a tool-tip indicating a game restart is needed before enabling hardware or software audio if the option was changed
• Fixed an issue where ambient conversation would not be heard from rear speakers sometimes
• Fixed a text string to make it clearer on how to exit a vehicle
• Fixed a text string so the tool top for dragging the map is clearer in French languages builds
• Fixed a crash running on certain multi-core AMD systems
• Fixed an issue where video RAM was not being reported properly on certain cards

For the patch, hit the badge below.

In addition, you will also be able to download Bring Down the Sky by hitting the badge below but you will also have to get a new CD key.

BioWare has revealed more of the storyline of its dark fantasy Dragon Age: Origins.
The studio is claiming the game embodies the spirit of classic RPGs. That would be a pleasant surprise, but not entirely unexpected considering BioWare’s reputation.

This latest trailer features King Cailan’s men and dogs of war of digging in for a desperate last stand against the savage darkspawn at the ruins of Ostagar. It begins with this ominous verse:

You can watch the new trailer on the Dragon Age: Origins website after hurdling the age gate. If you haven’t already seen it, you should also take a look at the E3 trailer for Dragon Age: Origins which boast three minutes of in-game footage on Gaming Today.

via Press Release

One of BioWare’s more recent RPGs, Jade Empire, has been released today on the Xbox Live Marketplace as a new Xbox Originals title. 1200 Microsoft points ($15) is the game’s price, which is a hair under the $8 that GameStop.com wants for a used copy of the Xbox version which is backwards compatible on the Xbox 360.

Either way, you’ll be getting a very highly reviewed action RPG that would be a good starting point for any Mass Effect fan who isn’t familiar with BioWare’s previous games.

BioWare demonstrates some of the gameplay features for Dragon Age: Origins in this video which is just over three minutes long. Being called the spiritual successor by the devs, I am thinking those are some big shoes to fill – in my opinion anyway, but if they can match the fun dungeon crawling experience of the original BG than it will be a good thing.They still need to put the finishing touches on the game, but they have more than enough time until release to shine it up.

Anyway, here are some features from the game along with the gameplay video.

• Epic Party-Based Combat – Dragon Age: Origins will introduce an innovative, scalable combat system, as players face large-scale battles and use their party’s special abilities to destroy hoardes of enemies and massive creatures.
• Powerful Magic – Raining down awesome destruction on enemies is even more compelling as players apply “spell combos,” a way of combining together different spells to create emergent unique effects.
• Deep Customization – Players will develop their characters and gain powerful special abilities (spells, talents and skills) and discover ever-increasing weapons of destruction.
• Your Story, Your Way – With its emotionally compelling story, players choose with whom they wish to forge alliances or crush under their mighty fist, redefining the world with the choices they make and how they wield their power.
• Origin Stories – Players will select and play a unique prelude that provides the lens through which the player sees the world and how the world sees the player. The player’s choice of Origin will determine who they are and where they begin the adventure, as they play through a customized story opening that profoundly impacts the course of every adventure.

Dragon Age: Origins is scheduled to ship for the PC in early 2009.

This has been rumored for quite a long time, but Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has given us the final word: a Knights of the Old Republic MMO is in development by BioWare.

“We’ve got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development,” said Riccitiello in an interview with Portfolio.com. The first title, based on the Warhammer property, will launch soon. “And the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about — in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it.”

The interviewer then asked if Riccitiello meant a KotoR MMO, to which he responded, “Yes.” Sweet.

Star Wars fans will be rejoicing across the world at this news, since they’ll finally be able to clinging to Star Wars Galaxies. As excited for this game as I am — I’ll absolutely be on board for the game’s first day online — I certainly hope this doesn’t mean we won’t get another proper KotoR game in the future. The first one remains my second favorite Bioware game (right behind Mass Effect), and I’d really be happy to see a third game released. Between the MMO and the Mass Effect sequels, though, it seems unlikely that KotoR 3 is in the cards.

Microsoft have announced that BioWare’s Jade Empire will be the next game coming to Xbox Originals via XBL Marketplace.  That is pretty good news for those that liked this RPG, which I for one did. In case you are unfamiliar with the game, here are the basics.

In the ancient, mysterious world of Jade Empire, train under your master’s watchful eye and learn powerful Martial Arts fighting styles and mystical powers while you travel across the world, from the harsh mountains of the Land of Howling Spirits to the lush gardens of the Imperial City. Face powerful human and supernatural foes, learn exotic and magical Martial Arts and discover the darkest secrets of the world. Alternate endings depend upon how you play the game and interact with NPCs. I ended up ruling the empire with the princess, woo hoo!

Jade Empire will be available on July 21, for 1200 MS Points.

Via: Gamerscore

Right off the bat, I was in a sour mood entering EA’s press conference. This was mostly due to the fact that they held it in the Orpheum Theater, which was several annoying blocks away from the main convention hall (whereas every other sane developer has chosen to hold their events near the main hall or at least provide shuttle service to their events). I warmed up a bit though after I got seated and was treated to some surprisingly good-looking games, along with a few duds. After an opening video running through most of their upcoming games, John Riccitello, the president of EA, kicked things off by pretty much getting on stage and saying that he was going to leave it to the developers to talk about their projects. From there, it was basically one impressive showing after another (with a few mind-numbingly dull ones just to remind us that it was a press conference). Read the full article »

As I am sure you are aware by now, our industrious E3 team is hard at work gathering scraps of info for your perusal. We’re adding something a little different this year for your enjoyment: a nightly podcast wrap-up of the day’s events.

Wondering what’s in this episode? In the words or your immortal host, Shawn Sines, “E3 2008 Day 1: Microsoft & EA talked a lot, we’re talking about their talking.. only with opinions, innuendo and veiled sarcasm. Will the new Live! changes make sense? Is Dragon Age the most disappointing trailer of the show? Listen and find out what we think about Day 1 (sort of) of E3!”

We’ll have a podcast coming your way from E3 every day this week, so make sure you check it out.

You can grab the pocast directly from this link.

As always, you can send comments, suggestions, or snide remarks to podcast@filefront.com. Our back catalog of episodes is available at http://podcast.filefront.com. The File-N-Forget Podcast is also available on the iTunes Music store.

This video for Dragon Age: Origins was released a few days before E3 via SpikeTV, and I have been waiting with loads of impatience to be able to bring it to you in a legitimate form. Finally, my nail biting paid off, because it is here.

The game will be featured as one of the premiere videogames this week during the E3 event, and in case you have missed our other posts about this highly anticipated title from BioWare, here is what he know so far about this upcoming RPG.

• Epic Party-Based Combat– Dragon Age: Origins will introduce an innovative, scalable combat system, as players face large-scale battles and use their party’s special abilities to destroy hoardes of enemies and massive creatures.
• Powerful Magic– Raining down awesome destruction on enemies is even more compelling as players apply“spell combos,” a way of combining together different spells to create emergent unique effects.
• Deep Customization– Players will develop their characters and gain powerful special abilities (spells, talents and skills) and discover ever-increasing weapons of destruction.
• Your Story, Your Way– With its emotionally compelling story, players choose with whom they wish to forge alliances or crush under their mighty fist, redefining the world with the choices they make and how they wield their power.
• Origin Stories– Players will select and play a unique prelude that provides the lens through which the player sees the world and how the world sees the player. The player’s choice of Origin will determine who they are and where they begin the adventure, as they play through a customized story opening that profoundly impacts the course of every adventure.

Being a fan of RPGs, especially ones of this style, I am pretty excited to see what they have to offer in the way of new goodies