Dragon Age: Origins - Gone Gold!

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Dragon Age: Origins - Gone Gold!

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

Dragon Age: Origins has gone gold.

And not only that, but it has gone gold on all three platforms (PC, Xbox360 [i:3au9n1cw]and[/i:3au9n1cw] PS3). While the PS3 version was originally delayed, it too will now launch on November 3rd... in North America at least. Unfortunately it looks like the European version will [i:3au9n1cw]not[/i:3au9n1cw] be released on the 6th (as the other two versions in Europe) but sometime later in November. I suspect that this has to do with either localization, or just the difficulty of launching it in so many countries at once.

Anyway, [url=http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRel ... 3:3au9n1cw]here is the press release[/url:3au9n1cw]:

[quote:3au9n1cw]All Versions of Dragon Age: Origins to be Available November 3 EDMONTON, Alberta--(Business Wire)-- Leading video game developer BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced today that the PlayStation3 version of Dragon Age: Origins will be available on November 3, 2009 in North America. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game have "gone gold" in North America and are currently in manufacturing ready for their November 3 launch date. At launch, Dragon Age: Origins will be available on all three platforms with several packs of downloadable content (DLC) including The Stone Prisoner, the Blood Dragon Armor and Warden`s Keep; each further enriching the gameplay experience.

"We`re excited to confirm that all three versions of Dragon Age: Origins will be available to fans on November 3 in North America," said Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager, RPG/MMO Group of EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. "The Dragon Age: Origins development team was able to polish the PlayStation 3 version to our high standard of quality and we are ready to deliver the richest and deepest role-playing fantasy experience across all three platforms."

In anticipation of the game, players can begin their Dragon Age: Origins experience early by joining the BioWare Social Network -- a destination to share in-game screenshots, review game data and share story information. Players can also download the free* to download Character Creator where players can create and customize a player character on the PC and then upload their character data and avatar to the BioWare Social Network before Dragon Age: Origins launches. The Dragon Age: Origins Character Creator will provide players with the tools to create a character with a nearly endless amount of options. Players can download the character creator and get more information on the BioWare Social Network by clicking here.

In Dragon Age: Origins, players take the role of a Grey Warden, one of the last of an ancient order of guardians. Now, as a rising evil threatens to destroy all life, it is up to players to unite the shattered lands and slay the corrupted dragon known as the Archdemon. To restore peace, players must make ruthless decisions and be willing to sacrifice their friends and loved ones for the greater good of mankind.

Dragon Age: Origins will be released on November 6th in Europe on the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system and PC. The European PlayStation3 version will follow later in November. Dragon Age: Originsis rated M by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI.

More information about Dragon Age: Origins and the pre-order and first purchase incentives can be found at [url:3au9n1cw]http://www.dragonage.com[/url:3au9n1cw]. Follow us on Twitter at: [url:3au9n1cw]http://twitter.com/Dragonage[/url:3au9n1cw]

*Internet connection required.[/quote:3au9n1cw]
It seems that even all the blood on the [url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/:3au9n1cw]official website[/url:3au9n1cw] has gone gold. ;)

Next to the game having gone gold the Flash game [url=http://www.dragonagejourneys.com/:3au9n1cw]Dragon Age Journeys[/url:3au9n1cw] has also released. The first chapter at least. You can play the first chapter for free on the website (future chapters might include microtransactions) and should be good for a couple of hours of fun. And there's three items to unlock for in Dragon Age: Origins (jsut be sure that you're signed into your Dragon Age account as you play). The game is pretty fun, a bit like Heroes of Might and Magic, but without the cities and army building. Just a party of a couple of characters exploring the underground caverns around the dwarven city.

In this month's issue of the free, online magazine [url=http://www.gamerzines.com/pc/overview.html:3au9n1cw]GamerZines[/url:3au9n1cw] there's both an interview and an article regarding Dragon Age: Origins. The interview is with Mike Laidlaw and the article describes their brief hands-on experience. Here is [url=http://www.gamerzines.com/downloads/mag ... f:3au9n1cw]a direct link to the PDF-file[/url:3au9n1cw], and an excerpt:

[quote:3au9n1cw][b:3au9n1cw]What has the reception been like for the character creator?[/b:3au9n1cw]

I'm excited to see it out there. I think it gives people a good sense of the range of character they can create. I think if anything our character creator does a really good job of putting up enough barries so that it's hard to make your character into something hideous. Some tools can be too powerful, where you are adjusting so many things with one click that you lose the scope of it. You also get to look at what starting talents some characters may have, and that gives them a preview of where they can take their character when they start playing.[/quote:3au9n1cw]
If you recall the 20-minute "Quick Look" that GiantBomb did, they've got another one. Where the first one was on PC this one is on the console, showing the new interface. And again they've been pretty good at picking a non-spoiler part, showing a mostly combat-oriented section of the dwarf noble origin. [url=http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-dra ... /:3au9n1cw]Here is the video[/url:3au9n1cw]:

[center:3au9n1cw][html]<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shoc ... on=9,0,0,0" width="640" height="360" id="gb_player" align="middle"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.giantbomb.com/video/video.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="flashvars" value="paramsURI=http%3A//www.giantbomb.com/video/params/1528/?w=1"><param name="videoURI" value="http://media.giantbomb.com/video/vf_dra ... lv"><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://www.giantbomb.com/video/video.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" width="640" height="360" name="gb_player" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="paramsURI=http%3A//www.giantbomb.com/video/params/1528/?w=1" /></object>[/html][/center:3au9n1cw]
Another console-oriented video comes from the official inside Xbox program. If you've got an Xbox360 you can, as I understand, watch it from your Dashboard. But luckily someone also [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZDrLKBUbmg:3au9n1cw]put it up on YouTube[/url:3au9n1cw]:

[center:3au9n1cw][html]<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vZDrLKBUbmg&hl ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vZDrLKBUbmg&hl ... 2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>[/html][/center:3au9n1cw]
GameTrailers also has a couple of videos showing off some console gameplay. Here are [url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/bridg ... 0:3au9n1cw]video one[/url:3au9n1cw] and [url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/anima ... 9:3au9n1cw]video two[/url:3au9n1cw]:

[center:3au9n1cw][html]<div style="width: 480px;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shoc ... on=8,0,0,0" id="gtembed" width="480" height="392"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap ... 0"/><param name="quality" value="high" /> <embed src="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=58130" swLiveConnect="true" name="gtembed" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392"></embed></object>
<br /><br />
<div style="width: 480px;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shoc ... on=8,0,0,0" id="gtembed" width="480" height="392"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap ... 9"/><param name="quality" value="high" /> <embed src="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=58129" swLiveConnect="true" name="gtembed" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392"></embed> </object>[/html][/center:3au9n1cw]
Did I see that right? Did he name his dog "Satan"? :uh-huh:

On a slightly less positive note, self-proclaimed "console gamer" Susan Arendt from [url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... e:3au9n1cw]The Escapist[/url:3au9n1cw] had a playthrough with the console version as well. But surprisingly, though she is still really enthusiastic about the game, it seems that she feels that the game probably plays better on the PC. Though I personally suspect that once you get the hang of the console controls it will play just fine, if you're on the fence (and the fact that the PC version comes with a toolset and thus a lot of played mods didn't convince you) then this might tip the decision for you. Anyway, here's an excerpt:

[quote:3au9n1cw]And let me state plainly that [i:3au9n1cw]Dragon Age[/i:3au9n1cw] is a great game on the 360. Yes, the graphics take a hit when compared to their computer cousins, but unless you're playing the versions side by side you're not likely to care. The story is the same, the voice acting is all there, the moral decisions, combat, and dragons are all there in the console, waiting to be enjoyed. But having played both versions, it is clear to me that although [i:3au9n1cw]Dragon Age[/i:3au9n1cw] [b:3au9n1cw]can[/b:3au9n1cw] be played on a console, it [b:3au9n1cw]should[/b:3au9n1cw] be played on a PC. It's just better that way.[/quote:3au9n1cw]
And finally two more updates from BioWare. First they have finally released the final NPC that can join your party (at least the last one that they're going to tell us about as there's rumors circulating that there's one or two others that they're keeping very secret). This character is the dwarf [url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/characters/oghren:3au9n1cw]Oghren[/url:3au9n1cw]. And as with the other character pages it comes with screenshots, concept art, a video and the following description:

[quote:3au9n1cw]Oghren of House Kondrat was once a promising member of the Warrior Caste who had earned great prestige in the dwarves' gladitorial Proving Grounds. When a Smith Caste family with plenty of money but few political connections offered their daughter in marriage, his family accepted the match. And then everything changed. His wife, Branka, invented a process that revolutionized the smelting process and was declared a Paragon--the first in a generation, forever ensured an honored place among the ancestors. Oghren gladly joined his wife's new noble house, but when Branka took her followers and vanished into the Deep Roads, she left him behind. He remains determined to find Branka again and learn what obsession keeps her hidden away from the rest of her kind.[/quote:3au9n1cw]
And lastly they put up the [url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/pennyarcad ... 8:3au9n1cw]eighth and final page of the Penny Arcade comic[/url:3au9n1cw].

Phew; that's all for now. Now I really need to get some sleep.


[[url=http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRel ... 3:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to Gone Gold press release at Reuters.
[[url=http://www.dragonagejourneys.com/:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to Dragon Age Jounreys.
[[url=http://www.gamerzines.com/downloads/mag ... f:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to the GamerZines pdf-magazine.
[[url=http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-dra ... /:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to console "Quick Look" video at GiantBomb.
[[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZDrLKBUbmg:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to InsideXbox video at YouTube.
[[url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/bridg ... 0:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to console gameplay video one at GameTrailers.
[[url=http://www.gametrailers.com/video/anima ... 9:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to console gameplay video two at GameTrailers.
[[url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... e:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to console hands-on experience at The Escapist.
[[url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/characters/oghren:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to Ohgren's character page at BioWare.
[[url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/pennyarcad ... 8:3au9n1cw]link[/url:3au9n1cw]] to Penny Arcade comic.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le
F'sarn natha tithaur wun l'su'aco.

-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
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