Bioware Asks For Mass Effect 4 Suggestions


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Bioware Asks For Mass Effect 4 Suggestions

"Would you be more interested in a game that takes place before the trilogy, or after?"

Bioware has requested the help of fans in deciding whether the next Mass Effect game takes place before or after the events of the Mass Effect trilogy.

Mass Effect executive producer Casey Hudson took to Twitter to ask gamers for their input about when they'd like to see the next title take place.

"Parsing through your thoughts on the next #ME game," he revealed. "Would you be more interested in a game that takes place before the trilogy, or after?"

It's not the first time Hudson has asked for player feedback about the next Mass Effect title; earlier this month he revealed that a new Mass Effect game was in the early stages of development, though admitted the team was still uncertain regarding story specifics.

We also know that the next game will go somewhere new and won?t star a character similar to Shepard, but this latest tidbit of information raises quite an interesting dilemma. If the team decide to pursue a prequel, they need to be careful not to conflict with any of the series' already-established canon, while a sequel would need to be set sufficiently far in the future that the varying endings of Mass Effect 3 don't create continuity problems, unless of course previous choices are once again incorporated as was the case between the original games.

It seems the team are aware of this though; earlier this month BioWare Montreal studio director Yanick Roy revealed that the next Mass Effect title "will be very respectful of the heritage built over the course of the first three games."

What do you think? Would you prefer to see Mass Effect 4 take place before or after the events of the Mass Effect trilogy?

They have a lot to work from with a prequel (e.g. Rachni Wars, First Contact War, Metacon War (Prothean war against the Reapers). I think I'd rather see that than a sequel. They'd have to choose one of the possible endings in Mass Effect 3 for a sequel which would anger some fans.

I'm personally leaning towards a prequel as well, an awful lot of material to work with. Something coming after Mass Effect 3 is bound to irk a portion of the fanbase no matter what they do. Also as a request.. don't mess with the formula.. stick with what made the ME series one of the best action RPG's. Streamlining is good.. dumbing down is not.

I'd like to see a game that explores Prothean history in more detail, but playing in the actual Prothean war knowing that you're doomed to fail would be a bit of a downer in my opinion.

A prequel would far more interesting. The more 'developed' a games story becomes, the harder it is to imagine further plot developments. Something around the first contact or soon after would be pretty interesting stuff to work with.

I want a sequal because we all know a prequel is going to end with the terms set in ME3's ending.

So I'd want BioWare to have a "fresh start" so to speak. Don't put too much on their plate and keep low expectations on them.

I want a sequal because we all know a prequel is going to end with the terms set in ME3's ending.

So I'd want BioWare to have a "fresh start" so to speak. Don't put too much on their plate and keep low expectations on them.

I think i agree...sequel would be more interesting somewhere far in the future. Not 100 years far, but lets say 1000-5000. Wont happen though :D

If prequel, maybe previous peak in civilization would be good.

Definitely sequel. As for multiple endings.

We all know these games all only have one "official"ending as far as sequels go. It's been done before and it'll happen again. The reapers are destroyed, the rest are "alternate" endings

I'd like to see a game that explores Prothean history in more detail, but playing in the actual Prothean war knowing that you're doomed to fail would be a bit of a downer in my opinion.

I am not sure if the protheans were doomed ... It could be that some actually survived just like the Leviathans ... Javic could be just 1 of many ... say no more than 10 000 - galaxy is a huge place even for the mighty Reapers ... never the less I do agree with you I would love a prequel althoug I would similarly give my 60-100$ to a sequel set in the near future after sheppard dies and he has blue kids (or if need be some other 3 fingered creation) ....

Plenty of stuff in this game to create a true masterpiece bigger than Halo .... Imagine salarians licking their eye or was it eating flies ... jellyfish ... the amount of ideas these guys could exploint is almost endless even with the fucup of EA and ME3 - I do blame EA and not Bioware for ME3 ...

A few ideas (spoiler free):

PREQUEL with Javik as the main character, following the events leading up to his "incarceration".

SEQUEL set about a year after ME3.

Follows the fallout and struggle for resources within the Sol system after the Reapers are dealt with, and the Mass Relays are destroyed. Desperate attempts by scientists from all sides working on the theory that the Omega 4 relay is still active, and trying to scrape together resources to build a mass relay based on the limited knowledge they have. All the while the major military powers in the Galaxy are fighting between themselves over the limited resources available in the Sol system. The Turians and the Humans are engaged in an all-out war, the other species are forming various allegiances in the midst of the conflict.

.

IN-BETWEEN-QUEL set during Shepherd's downtime during ME2. Following Garrus, Tali, Liara, etc while they move on and how they end up where they are.

Definitely sequel. As for multiple endings.

We all know these games all only have one "official"ending as far as sequels go. It's been done before and it'll happen again. The reapers are destroyed, the rest are "alternate" endings

I didn't get that impression, especially not with extended cut. They push Synthesis as being the best ending and destroy as being the worse

I didn't get that impression, especially not with extended cut. They push Synthesis as being the best ending and destroy as being the worse

They seemed to be pushed pretty equally to me, but synthesis definitely had the evil and egotistical feeling hence why that's not going to be the official one.

I also suspect that most people would have saved the quarians over the geth and such the choice of killings all synths are kind of ... Not as big as it should be. There's Edi, but then you're back to the ego thing. As for the alle Quarian/?geth thing, it's probably the part I'm least satisfied ith, as they never make it clear only one of them can survive untill after you make the choice. And the whole fight till extinction mentality on both sides don't make sense either.

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    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. 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It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. 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It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? 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