Slashdot Mirror
The History of BioWare
It seems somehow appropriate, given the day, to link over to a historical perspective on the developer BioWare. Eurogamer took a look back at the house the doctors built to give us some insight on where the company came from, and where it's going. "The modding community had always rallied around Baldur's Gate, so Neverwinter Nights wisely shipped with the game's toolset available and ready for use by fans. Improved quests were soon blooming all over the internet, like so much role-playing lichen. BioWare also supported the game with their own official expansion packs, and later through smaller downloadable modules, while the game brushed seductively alongside the world of the MMORPG with a hefty multiplayer component that enabled players to join up across the internet to tackle the main story."
Fitting, since Mass Effect was the last game they'll release without the taint of the beast. I still have some hopes for them, but I've seen EA shit all over too many good games and studios to be truly optimistic.
Intro: Three guys want to make a game company.
Next paragraph: They made a game! Next paragraph: They made another game! Rinse, repeat.
This is merely a listing of each game they've made, not much of a "history" at all. How did they start they company? Who were the early employees? How did they come to work with Pyroteck? How did they raise the capital to start a company? How did they learn the basics of computer programming? What were their early influences? What was the role of each founder? What was their first office like? How did it change as they grew? What was/is the corporate culture like?
Simply list all the Bioware games, write a quick summary review of each game, and you have this article. History, my ass. Slashdot, why are you wasting my time with this crap? I have better article downstairs in my cat's litter box. Nice pick, there, Zonk.
The next Bioware game will add the following:
1) Warning message at the start "It's really not safe to use swords, leave it to the professionals (dude)!"
2) A menu system that whooshes and bangs through a million options with vibrating screen effects and explosions. That's just for configuring 'invert thumbstick'...
3) A tutorial system using the voice of an actor/actress from Nickelodeon. Surprised no-one released a fantasy roleplaying game that sounds like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie yet?
4) An attention deficit pop music sound track that alternates every 5 seconds from hip-hop to teenie-bopper punk depending on menu depth. Orcs dig Jay-Z!
5) Unlock radical new shields, armor and helmets to make your characters uber cool.
This is the furthest I've ever got through an EA game before I removed the DVD from the console and stomped all over it in fury. So I can't think of any more examples yet...
You seriously expect every bit of dialogue to have an impact on the outcome of the game? In what alternate reality do you think BioWare, or any developer, has the magic wand to make that happen?