In the Production Track, BioWare’s Adriana Lopez will give a talk entitled “Ownership – Dragon Age Style”. The presnetation will discuss how product owners can use their franchise control to keep team members engaged.

Taito chief game designer Reisuke Ishida will appear in the Design track, giving his first ever Western presentation, called “Five Techniques for Making an Unforgettable Game, Illustrated in Space Invaders Infinity Gene and Groove Coaster.” The presentation will be simultaneously translated from Japanese, and discuss ways to make games stand out.

Composer Austin Wintory will give a lecture called “Journey vs Monaco: Music is Storytelling” for the Audio track, contrasting two very different scores in discussing how music adds to narrative.

GDC 2012 takes place from March 5 through March 9 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. See previously announced sessions here.

Thanks, Gamasutra.

The new comic was revealed by BioWare’s Mike Laidlaw at a panel at New York Comic Con, as reported by BioWare Fans.

Due in February next year and set to run through April, the 12-page issues will be available in digital format only, and will go for 99 cents a pop from Dark Horse’s digital store an iOS app.

Penned by BioWare’s David Gaider, the story centres on Dragon Age: Origins Alistair, Dragon Age 2′s Varric, and Isabella, who appears in both games. The three travel to Antiva in search of “a mysterious figure from Alistair’s past”.

According to an interview with Comic Book Resources, the story will also delve into the origins of dragons in Thedas,

Gaider will be assisted by scripter Alexander Freed, and Superman, Batman and Zatanna veteran Chad Hardin is taking up artistic duties.

In discussing the comic, Laidlaw revealed that the canonical ending of Dragon Age: Origins has Alistair become king of Ferelden.

Although Kotaku speculates that Alistair’s survival means the death of the player character, fans may recall that there was another option available if players accepted an offer from Morrigan – with very interesting results for the games’ fiction should this prove canonical.

“We have some more DLC plans, that actually address some of the feedback from some of our core fans. I think that’s going to be really satisfying to fans who liked Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2,” BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka told IndustryGamers.

Prior to Legacy’s release, Muyzka expressed hopes the new pack would put some repeat criticisms to bed – namely, the lack of environmental diversity. Nevertheless, Muzyka reiterated the company’s commitment to the decision to take the series in new directions.

“Maybe some of that can be attributed to some of the fans of Dragon Age: Origins who were maybe expecting a similar experience. But we actually innovated, we took a lot of risk, we were pushing the envelope on how we told the story, the gameplay, the action moments, the graphics – a lot of things were changed. And, actually, I really believe it was the right direction,” he said.

“We were proud of the team. We think they were the right changes. We wanted the team to push in that direction.”

Having said that, upcoming projects in the Dragon Age universe will be responsive to criticism of the new systems introduced in the recent sequel.

“What we want to do in the future is make sure we integrate that feedback from our core fans, so they come along with us for the journey, as we continue to build up the Dragon Age franchise and make the next ones even bigger and better so that all of our fans are delighted and surprised,” Muzyka said.

“We think we can do that. We can actually take the best of breed features from the original game in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II and put them together.

“We also want to integrate feedback from our core fans because they’re really important to us. So I think there’s a nice balance that can be struck to achieve that.”

BioWare is yet to announce either DLC or a new game in the Dragon Age series.

Thanks, Blue.

“Unlike other titles from Bioware, this [score] was kind of a rush job,” Zur told IGN.

“EA really wanted to capitalize on the success of Origins, so the game was really being pushed hard to be released now.”

Origins released back in 2009.

The BioWare RPG sequel has seen decent reviews in the eights and nines, although Edge has given it a six. Meta score right now is at 83 on PS3 and 360, with the PC version at 84.

Having released in the US on Tuesday, the game launches in the UK today.

The texture pack patch is available from the BioWare Social Network, and weighs in at over 1 GB.

Once downloaded and installed, the texture pack must be enabled from the game’s options menu.

BioWare recommend a graphics card with 1024 MB of memory and DirectX 11 for best result.

Graphical under-performance was one of the few recurring criticisms of Dragon Age: Origins when it released in November 2009. The super shiny sequel arrives in the US today and almost everywhere else on March 11.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

BioWare has sent over a lovely reminder that Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition is now available for purchase.

As previously announced and outed by multiple retail sites, this edition contains all of the game’s post-release downloadable content, meaning: the core game, Awakening, Warden’s Keep, The Stone Prisoner, Return to Ostagar, Darkspawn Chronicles, Leliana’s Song, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt.

It will run you $59.99/£39.99 and allows you to collect new rewards, gain new party members – keeping you occupied until Dragon Age II hits next March, we reckon.

For more information on the Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition, check out the game’s official website.

BioWare has formally announced the Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition, after being outed three different times over the past two months.

According to the firm’s website, the pack will include the Awakening expansion pack as well as the following add-ons: The Stone Prisoner, Warden’s Keep, Return to Ostagar, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Leliana’s Song, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt.

It will run you $49.99 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 where as if you purchased everything separately, it would cost you $114.

That’s a great deal if you’ve yet to get the game.

Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition will be released on October 26.

Dragon Age II is out in March 2011.

Had APB? Disgruntled? Step up and get your game from EA! That is if you bought the game digitally.

EA’s compensating owners of APB by offering a free game out of a choice of several titles including Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, The Saboteur and more.

The publisher distributed and published the game via EA Partners.

The offer only applies to those who had bought the RealTime Worlds MMO from Steam.

For those who had bought the game on disc, there’s no word yet on refunds or anything similar like those who had bought the MMO on Steam.

APB closed earlier this month after RTW went into administration in August.

Thanks, SavyGamer.

Mark Darrah, executive producer of Dragon Age: Origins, has posted on the BioWare blog that the latest DLC released for the game has a “continuity bug”.

According to Darrah, the issue found in Witch Hunt is not affecting a majority of players, but it’s still a “significant” issue.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing anyone,” he wrote. “Clearly, it was our responsibility to catch this sort of issue in the interaction of Witch Hunt with Dragon Age: Origins.

“Our team is doing everything we can to fix this in a timely manner so those who are affected can go back to enjoying Witch Hunt as soon as possible.”

BioWare is working to fix another bug, which will not allow users to create a save file after finishing the DLC.

Witch Hunt, the final piece of DLC for Origins, was released earlier this week.

In case you’ve been at work all day, busy with paperwork or shoveling manure – whatever it is you do, we don’t judge – you may have forgotten all about the nice bits of BioWare DLC hitting today, so consider this a friendly reminder.

Whether Dragon Age: Origins or Mass Effect 2 is your poison, BioWare has something to appease you.

First up is the Witch Hunter DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, featuring the final chapter in the game, and it’s a bit Morrigan-centric.

It’s available for $6.99/560 BioWare/MSP on PC and Xbox 360, and should hit the US PS Store later tonight, and the European store tomorrow.

Then, there’s Lair of the Shadow Broker where you can continue a relationship with blue-skinned Liara and kill a bunch of bad guys as well, for 800 MS/BioWare points on Xbox 360 and PC.

This bit of DLC, along with all the others, will be included with the PS3 version slated for January.

Enjoy.

Thanks, Mike.

BioWare has released a video for Dragon Age: Origins’ last piece of DLC, Witch Hunt. There’s a possible spoiler down there, so be warned.

In the DLC, players are treated to the final chapter in the game, and finally find out what happened to Morrigan.

Players can import their characters from Awakening, or create a new character for the chapter.

Witch Hunt will be released on September 7 for $6.99/560 BioWare/MSP on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening has been released for Mac, thanks to TransGaming.

This should make Apple fans happy.

“The Dragon Age franchise has been exceptionally well received by Mac gamers and we’re excited about continuing the saga through the release of this expansion pack and all DLC add-on game content for the Mac community”, said Vikas Gupta, president and CEO of TransGaming.

“Our strategic partnership with BioWare provides Mac gamers with some of the industry’s most acclaimed RPG games and illustrates yet another example of how TransGaming’s technology and distribution channels are empowering EA to bring their best games to the broadest consumer audience.”

Return to Ostagar, Darkspawn Chronicles, and Leliana’s Song are also available, just in case you didn’t know already.

Awakening is available through TransGaming’s online digital outlet GameTreeOnline.

Not far behind GameStop, the Australian ratings board has now outed the Ultimate Collection edition of Dragon Age: Origins.

The BioWare RPG’s re-release was classified by the OFLC yesterday, following an outing by the US retailer earlier this month, with the collection expected to house the full game and all of its DLC packs.

GameStop had it listed for an October 12 release in the US.

It hasn’t been announced yet by EA, and probably won’t be until the release of the final piece of DLC for Origins, Witch Hunt, is released on September 7.

Thanks, Joystiq.

BioWare’s announced another piece of story DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, known as Witch Hunt.

Danger: Origins’ end is spoiled below the fold.

According to the info via the game’s website, it’s been a year since the Archdemon was defeated, and now you’re going to have to find Morrigan in what the developer’s called the “dramatic conclusion to the Origins storyline.”

It’ll be available on September 7 – the same day as the new Mass Effect 2 DLC – for 560 MS/BioWare points and $6.99 on PSN.

You can get screens here.

Your Origins DLC well is about to run dry; Dragon Age 2 releases on March 11, 2011 on PS3, 360 and PC.

GameStop’s website is holding a retail listing for something known as the “Ultimate Edition” of Dragon Age: Origins.

Nothing on the game’s contents is known, but you can bet it’ll be the full game, expansion Awakening and all the DLC released so far for the BioWare RPG.

So much for the Live stuff, then.

It’s down for an October 12 release for $59.99 on PS3, 360 and PC, according to GameStop.

Thanks, Joystiq.

DLC galore this week for any of the Dragon Age massive still holding out.

Dragon Age: Origins DLC is this week’s flavour of the week for Live deals, according to Nelson, with packs Return to Ostagar and Warden’s Keep both on sale for 240 and 400 MS points respectively, while mega expansion Awakening is available for 1600 MS points.

There’s also a Blood Armour Avatar T-shirt available for 40 MS points, so you can declare your undying love for the BioWare RPG.

Gold members only, remember.

Get downloading, get playing and then get ready for the public reveal of Dragon Age 2 next Tuesday in Germany.

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has said the development studio is “super-fortunate” to have the support it does from EA, and because of it, the studio is hoping to eventually break the 10 million units mark with one of its games in the future.

Speaking with Videogamer at Develop, Zeschuk said the studio jokingly considers its games to be minor hits, but at the same time, it’s pushing itself to do more.

“We need to sell 10 million units,” said Zeschuk. “That’s actually the new target, right? We do Top 10 games, our stuff is quite successful. I know Mass [Effect 2] is number eight so far this year, in North America.

“Sometimes I’m facetious when I say some of those things, knowing that we can sell a few million but seeing that someone else can sell 25 [million]. You’re kinda like, ‘Well, that’s a hit!’ We always joke that if we only do half as well as Blizzard on Star Wars: The Old Republic, we’ll be quite satisfied.

“We’ve been very fortunate. I always joke about that, but I think we know how lucky we are. When we’re saying that, we always know that we’re super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on – really great support from EA, a budget to make great big giant games.

“We recognize that in a sense it’s a privileged position we’re in.”

BioWare currently has many hands on different frying pans with DLC for both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age in the works, continued development and a Beta for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and also the recently announced Dragon Age 2.

Both SWTOR and DA2 are expected during spring 2011.

Real adventurers don’t need silly old reasons to risk life and limb by delving deep into suicidally dangerous dungeons. They do it because, you know, why not? They’ve already saved the world, and there’s nothing decent on TV tonight, so why not go out for a nice stroll where most men fear to tread? It’s something to do, at least.

That’s Dragon Age: Origins’ next DLC in a nutshell. No story, no towns – nothing. Just you, your party, and your tactics against a very challenging, high-level dungeon.

1UP reports that BioWare mentioned the DLC during Comic-Con, though it has yet to actually drop a name for either the DLC or the dungeon itself. Apparently, though, attendees will have a chance to take it for a test run this weekend.

You’ll want to start sharpening your blades or tossing more sparkle dust on your wands or whatever it is you do too, because the DLC’s “entirely combat based” according to the report. The only puzzle you’ll be solving, it would seem, is how best to dissect your enemies.

More to come soon, we’re guessing.

BioWare’s released details of a massive update for Dragon Age: Origins, which will go live later today for PC.

Included in the list are general fixes for both Origins and its Awakening expansion.

It’s big. How big? Try this big. Yeah. It’s properly big.

Get the skinny on it here.

The update will release on PS3 and 360 once it passes certification from Sony and Microsoft.

It should keep you cosy with Origins for now until Dragon Age 2 releases next March.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Greg Zeschuk thinks triple-A console development is a “bad idea right now”. He thinks creativity is being forced out of the top end of games creation by financial pressure. He doesn’t want a new console hardware round, because the world’s developers have only just got their “legs” with this one.

He says the right things. Greg Zeschuk is a sound person. He’s also the co-head of BioWare, the world’s greatest RPG studio. We met him at Develop in Brighton today – following his keynote this morning – to talk about the Great Dragon Age 2 Not Being Able to Choose Your Race controversy, the pressures of working on a project like Star Wars: The Old Republic and tons more.

And did you hear that E3 rumour about Ray quitting BioWare?

Interview by Joe Anderson.

VG247: You said this morning that creativity in the triple-A space is being squeezed out by financial necessity. How does BioWare stay creative at the top end of the market?

Greg Zeschuk: At this point we’re working from a strong foundation in the sense that all of our technology, both on the Mass Effect and Dragon Age side, is largely built.

We get to iterate. One of the ways to get good creative results is to have a good platform to work from; you get to try new things.

The other direction I was talking about earlier is where we’re trying lots of little, smaller projects that are kind of different and unique. We actually sometimes pull ideas from those back out into the main games.

Those are the two ways that we would do that, and it’s still hard. I mean you can’t do anything crazy, because when you’re selling your ideas within the company they have to be within a comprehensible space. I mean it’s probably smart anyway, but it’s a lot harder to sell an [off-beat idea], especially in a big triple-A console game.

But for something small, you can pull it off. But for the big stuff, you gotta make sure you’re not iterating everywhere. Maybe small improvements all over the place and one big feature.

You’ve made the decision to only have a human lead character in Dragon Age II, and not allow people to choose their race. Can you explain why?

Greg Zeschuk: With all our games, we don’t always want to create a true sequel in the sense that it’s more of the same. You can see it from Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2 that you’ve changed up quite a bit of stuff.

We decided to sort of change and create a different type of game at least on the surface. And the interesting thing is that in the case of Dragon Age II, we’ve only shown a little slice of it so far. And everyone’s very excited, right? If you’ll remember with Dragon Age 1, we had the Marilyn Manson trailer and everyone freaked out and we said, “Don’t worry: we’re just showing you a different perspective.”

Over time, I think people will kind of understand what we’re doing and probably really like it.

We like to challenge our players on a sequel. It’s still a Dragon Age game, that hasn’t changed. But it’s going to be challenging and interesting in many ways. We think it’s ultimately going to be a better game, so I think ultimately the fans will agree when they get to play it. That’s the fundamental thing.

Dragon Age has been a more successful product for you than Mass Effect. Why do you think that is?

Greg Zeschuk: Well, Mass Effect 1 is probably at a similar level, maybe even higher, than Dragon Age. It got a head start. I think it was a Christmas game versus a non-Christmas game. Second would be that there’s one platform short on Mass Effect.

It’s interesting when you look at it now. For example, Mass Effect 2 is still a top ten seller in North America. It’s still doing really, really well from the beginning of the year to now. I think over time, you’ll see it’ll probably even out. I don’t worry too much about the sales numbers of what’s more or less successful as much as the idea that each game keeps getting higher and higher quality.

I think they’ll find their fans. Mass continues to sell really well, so it’ll probably catch up and pass. You never know.

You came under a fair amount of fire over the console versions of Dragon Age: Origins, especially over the PS3 version. Will Dragon Age 2 be the same experience across all platforms?

Greg Zeschuk: I would, in a sense, defend our Dragon Age 1 work, in that I actually like the console limitations, but I think that in Dragon Age 2 we’ve had the opportunity to work from a final platform and kind of design the gameplay to really cater for them. Again, there’ll be differences between the PC version and the console versions, by the simple nature of the input system and the experience. I think when people start seeing it in action they’re going to be really impressed with how it looks on all platforms.

Is the Mass Effect team fully focused on Mass Effect 3 now, or are we going to see more Mass Effect 2 content?

Greg Zeschuk: We still have more DLC in the plan for Mass 2. The last ones were really well received. People were really, really impressed with the Overlord Pack, and the Kasumi one did really well too. It’s something we’re going to continue to do. It’s at the point where it’ll probably diminish a little bit, but there are still some pretty big plans for DLC. It’s doing really well. Overall it’s something we’ll definitely continue doing.

We heard rumours over E3 that Ray may be thinking of leaving BioWare. Is there any truth in that, or do you think that was just poker-related?

Greg Zeschuk: [Laughs] No, Ray’s still very dedicated to BioWare, but he also loves poker. It’s his hobby, right? Ironically, he’s now at the World Series of Poker. He was supposed to do the talk jointly, but actually he went to Vegas. And if he won, if he started doing well, he was going to have to stay as he’s still in the tournament. And he is. So no, no: I think that’s probably a tongue in cheek question, as he’s still very into it. He’s on a bit of a sabbatical right now, which is a good thing because he’s got the whole group level management – he’s got GM at every studio. But he still thinks about BioWare every day.

How far along are you with plans for next gen hardware yet? We’ve been told that Microsoft has already started talking to select developers about its next box: does that include BioWare?

Greg Zeschuk: I don’t know anything about that.

When do you think we’ll see the next hardware transition?

Greg Zeschuk: I honestly don’t actually know. That’s a huge mystery for me. I would be ecstatic if it was as long as possible. The longer the better, because we need a chance to take advantage of this hardware. The first couple of years of this cycle were pretty tough, as [the consoles] were more complex than ever before. Now we’re all starting to get our legs under us. I think the fact they’re all doing the new input devices in indicative that they want to extend it.

I don’t have any idea what the year might be, but my hope is that it’s as long as possible. The longer we can go the better.

With the current generation of consoles, it seems that developers are moving away from the fantasy side and seem to be moving more toward shooters. Why do you think that’s the case?

Greg Zeschuk: Well, I think the success of Dragon Age is kind of a counter to that. I mean, I think with shooters, a lot of what’s working with those is the bigger stuff, but there is still a lot of opportunity in the fantasy side and elsewhere.

Do you think maybe people are shying away from it because when you think ‘fantasy” you automatically think ‘big budget’ game?

Greg Zeschuk: I don’t know; maybe it’s just preference. When you think about it, there’s a lot less of them, but it’s just what people happen to be making. I think people see the success on the shooter side and so they chase that. I would never say that shooters are necessarily easier or harder to make, but just that its where a lot of money’s being made in the market, so people make more of them and they kind of create this virtuous cycle of making more and more.

Do you think that people are getting a bit bored? I mean, they see all these games, and maybe think they are lacking some originality?

Greg Zeschuk: Well, I think that’s true, and that’s one of the things that’s nice about fantasy or science fiction; you can actually be very creative because there’s a lot of opportunity to do different stuff there. That’s actually one reason why we like doing what we’re doing. We’re happy with the games we are making, and it’s a great way to work.

Speaking of Dragon Age, it seems like it could be a great title for something like PlayStation Move, what with all the sword-play. Is that something you would consider?

Greg Zeschuk: I think so. I mean we’re going to examine all that stuff pretty carefully. It’s hard to know which way the market’s going to go in terms of the various movement controls like Kinect and Move, so we’re going to move very slowly in that space and not jump in front of the line.

The first generation of games for it are partially intuitive and predictable, with a lot of exercise and party games, and all those other things. I think we’ll probably wait a generation or so to see where things are going, but I think it’s something we’d definitely look at.

How do you find a balance in the studio between creating games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect and SWTOR? Is it easy, or does the team find it difficult?

Greg Zeschuk: What’s interesting is they’re all different, and like I said in my talk, I think what’s kind of cool is people can select what they would like to work on, but sometimes they’re still helping out on the other games.

We have a really nice balance of experience in the studio where someone can work on all three of them in some capacity or work across them. It’s actually a healthy and positive competition as well, so, it’s all good stuff.

STWOR is said to be one of the highest budget titles ever made by EA, and, obviously it’s a Star Wars game too. Are you feeling pressure from both EA and the fans to get it right?

Greg Zeschuk: We have always worked under a lot of pressure.

We made games such as Baldur’s Gate early in our career, which is still one of our biggest-sellers having sold 5 million copies, maybe more than that. When you have made a title like that you’re judged on every subsequent release based on that one. Now, we always felt Dragon Age was the one people were pointing at as the next generation version, and we were like, “It’s good, isn’t it?”

We don’t really worry about the pressure; we want to be successful and we do the things we need to be successful but we don’t worry about fear of failure. We may fail at times, but hopefully on a small scale, and never utterly.

Are there any plans to bring STWOR to consoles at any point?

Greg Zeschuk: We haven’t really talked about that. I think we are more focused on the PC version. I mean one thing I’ve learned about working on MMOs is that they’re super gigantic and complicated, so the prospect of adding a console version like that… A PC version is plenty.

We heard Dragon Age is coming to handhelds. Is that right?

Greg Zeschuk: I don’t think so, Dragon Age is on Flash, but I don’t think we said Dragon Age handhelds. Unless they started a new thing while I was away, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure we’re not right now.

Will Dragon Age continue after part two is released?

Greg Zeschuk: Oh yeah, I think as a franchise its started so well and is so well received that it’s something we want to continue working on. The fun thing about it is Dragon Age II is a different story within the Dragon Age Universe, it’s not a continuation of the same story, and the fact we have made this gigantic universe has given us plenty of flexibility to do this. It’s actually really cool.

One last question. Have you got anything controversial to say?

Greg Zeschuk: [Laughs] This morning I did tell developers that he goal of doing triple-A for consoles is a bad idea right now. I think that was my semi-controversial statement of the day right there.

I think it’s true. I think having been in this sspace for like 15 or 17 years, that’s always been the ultimate goal but it’s become kind of tarnished in my mind. It’s like, they’re not as creative, they’re not as interesting and when I look at some of the stuff the Flash guys and some of the independents are doing, it’s like this crazy and exciting stuff. I think as long as there’s a good business model in those spaces, it could be a fun place to work.

I think that bigger isn’t always better and like these big giant games and these big giant budgets – while they have the biggest chance of mainstream success, it’s still very, very hard to do them and I think our market’s getting more and more difficult. If someone is starting out or relatively new, you just really have to question that as a focus.

BioWare’s Rob Bartel has told MCV Dragon Age has become the most successful series the studio has ever made.

Yes, more so than Mass Effect.

In fact, it has become more popular than Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur’s Gate and Jade Empire.

“Dragon Age was an extremely successful title for us – last November it was the single most globally successful title we’ve put out to date,” Bartel said at  EA’s European showcase back in May.

“This is one of our two primary IPs in the Edmonton studio in Canada, and then we’re working on the Old Republic down in Austin [Texas].

“So Dragon Age is a very big part of what we do and for what the future for BioWare will hold for sure.”

Bartel’s published comments coincide with BioWare lifting the wraps off Dragon Age 2, with a massive blowout on information as well as first pieces of art.

The first trailer will be shown during EA’s press conference at gamescom on August 17.

No date yet, but it will be coming to PS3, 360, PC and handhelds.

February 2011 sounds like a good guess, mind.

BioWare has announced new DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, and it’s called Leliana’s Song.

In it, you assume the role of Leliana, a bard involved with a criminal organization that “deals in political secrets”.

While on a high-risk mission with her mentor Marjolaine, she becomes “entangled in a game of intrigue that she cannot escape with just her beauty, charm, or stealth”.

She must kill or be killed, apparently.

When you complete this campaign, you will unlock a unique reward that transfers into your Awakening and Origins campaign.

It’ll run you $7 – date yet to be determined. No word on if she sings again this time around or not.

Check out the official addon page for Dragon Age to get a bit more information.

Thanks, revolting.

BioWare has announced that Dragon Age: Origins has been patched on PS3, fixing crashes relating to firmware update 3.3.

The patch also fixes the in-game DLC store, which will now  show free content.

The Darkspawn Trophy bug has also been fixed.

For more information, hit the link above.

The Darkspawn Chronicles was released on PS3 yesterday.

BioWare has released a video for Darkspawn Chronicles, the upcoming DLC for Dragon Age that lets you play as one of the nefarious villains.

You can expect the standalone adventure to hit PC, PSN, and XBL on May 18, so you may want to start thinking about how you’re going to control all those genlocks, hurlocks, ogres and shrieks.

Watch the video below.

BioWare has revealed the contents of the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC mentioned by Microsoft yesterday.

Turns out, you play as the Darkspawn in it.

Here’s the blurb:

You now fight as the Darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow Darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the Archdemon’s call–Denerim must burn!

• A look at an alternate history: what if your character had died in the Joining ceremony, and the Grey Wardens marched under Alistair’s command instead?
• A standalone adventure in which you command genlocks, hurlocks, shrieks, and even the mighty ogres.
• Complete the module and unlock an epic Darkspawn item in DA:O and Awakening.

Neato. It’s out May 18.

Enjoy the screens in the gallery below.

Microsoft has revealed through its May schedule that some additional content for Dragon Age: Origins is on the slate – although what it is exactly, was not revealed.

Here’s the description:

This Add-on, “Darkspawn Chronicles” extends the life of “Dragon Age: Origins,” the dark fantasy epic that has you playing as a Grey Warden, one of the last of a legendary order of guardians.

With the return of mankind’s ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all.

We’ll hit up BioWare for more information.

Until then, know that it will set you back 400 MSP/$5/£ 3.40/€4.65.

BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk has revealed that there are quite a few writers on the teams for Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and because of this, the teams are able to not only create rich lore for the games, but memorable moments as well.

Speaking with Gamasutra, Zeschuk said that there are bout “three or four writers” for each team with one lead out of the bunch spending the first year creating all the back story elements.

“[We're] a company with really prolific writers and folks that can pound it out, so there’s a lot of info,” he said. “We will figure out what we want to use, we’ll strip some of it down, put it in, say, the books in Dragon Age or whatever. What’s really amazing about those, I think for our games, it’s an essential ingredient to make it all whole together, because we’re creating not just the game but the world the game is in.

“If we’re effective in creating the world, making it believable and everything makes sense and it’s well-rounded, then we get to reuse that potentially indefinitely — forever. And I think that’s where the value comes in.

“After the trilogy of Mass, there will be other Mass stuff, but now we’ve got this fertile ground to plant it in. So, it is a huge endeavor, but it’s something that we think that if we didn’t do it, it just would not be any good”.

With creating a story also comes creating the gameplay to go along with it. Because of this, there are different areas of the game that involve immersing the player in the story, the action, and then the actual roleplaying itself.

For BioWare, there isn’t a basic formula for determining the balance for each type of action the player will be doing in its RPGs, be it combat, diplomacy, exploration, or other gameplay elements.

Instead, it’s more concerned with creating a memorable experience players can relate to and share with others.

“I don’t know if I know the right balance yet,” Zeschuk said. “We’ve explored different balances. We did an experiment years ago and it, during [the period] right after Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and I think James Ohlen, who is the creative director down in Austin, said, ‘Okay, let’s do an experiment. Everyone write down what they think the percentage of time they spend doing traveling, in your inventory, combat, and dialogue.’

“And everyone wrote down the percentage, and then we had someone play it, a bunch of us played it and time it all out, then compared it. It was totally different. You didn’t perceive that, actually, the amount of time you were fighting was way less, but that’s what stuck in your mind. Everyone kind of over-expanded the combat stuff.

“It was interesting. And we didn’t realize how much time we were spending on other things. I think it’s a reflection of memorable moments. I think that’s something where we’ve been focusing a lot of our effort, because those can happen a lot of times in the cinematics. Like the interrupts for Shepard — memorable moments that really stick with the player.

“Those are the things that they remember and emphasize as part of their experience and share with other people”.

Awakening, the latest expansion for Dragon Age: Origins, landed on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 last month.

BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk has said that Dragon Age: Origin’s marketing was nothing more than EA trying to convey what was in the game; not for it to come across as something the game wasn’t.

Speaking with Gamaustra, Zeschuk explained that while the ads for the game made it seem more action oriented than RPG, that was not their intent.

Instead, what the team wanted was to attract more than just RPG fans to the game.

“I mean, it’s interesting to me obviously because of the controversy [surrounding the ads],” Zeschuk said. “I think we were trying, and we’ve always said that certainly, what the real objective for us was, was to show what was in the game.

“Obviously, the advertising wasn’t in any way representative of the proportionate time split. Everything from the advertising was from the game, but it was only part of the time. There’s a lot of other stuff.

“I think it worked in the sense that it got a lot of attention for it. It got people really looking at the title. I think it probably expanded the audience a little bit into people — it’s one of the hits of the fall, and it’s one of the big games — and they’re like, ‘Okay, well, it looks action-y enough that I’m interested in it,’ and I think that was actually the reason that it worked”.

The Feastday Pack was released for DA:O on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 yesterday, and the first expansion for it, Awakening, went live for it earlier in the month.

BioWare has released a new DLC pack for Dragon Age: Origins this lovely April Fool’s Day.

It’s to celebrate the holiday of Satinalia, which is marked by feasts, celebration, and naming the town fool as ruler for a day.

According to the DLC description: “Amid the feasting, it is customary for friends, lovers, and traveling companions to exchange gifts and pranks”.

Good to know. Here’s loads more from the site, along with a description of each offering:

Feastday gifts and pranks offer the player a chance to explore the approval system in Dragon Age: Origins at greater depth by making your companions despise or adore you. Feastday gifts and pranks packs are available for purchase individually or as a combo pack containing both the Gifts and Pranks.

Feastday Gifts and Pranks are available for the following party members:

• Alistair
• Leliana
• Morrigan
• Shale
• Wynne
• Dog
• Loghain
• Oghren
• Sten
• Zevran

Feastday Prank Pack: $2 [160 BioWare Points, 160 MS Points, $1.99 PSN]

A collection of mostly humorous prank items that will significantly decrease your followers’ affections for you. Some of these items have additional special uses once given to your followers. Bodahn stocks the pranks in his store at the party camp year-round.

Includes:

• Ten unique feastday pranks that your party members will love to hate. Each prank is specific to one potential companion.
• Two types of gifts to let you apologize afterward.

Example Prank: Protective Cone — Give to Dog to decrease his approval. Additional Functionality: After giving the gift, Dog can equip the item as a collar.

Feastday Gifts Price: $2 [160 BioWare Points, 160 MS Points, $1.99 PSN]

A collection of mostly humorous gift items that will significantly increase your followers’ affections for you. Many of these items have additional special uses once given to your followers. Bodahn stocks the gifts in his store at the party camp year-round.

Includes:

• Ten unique feastday gifts that your party members are sure to love. Each gift is specific to one potential companion.
• Two types of lousy gifts to let your companions know you weren’t completely serious.

Example Gift: Alistair Doll — Give to Morrigan to increase her approval. Additional Functionality: After giving the gift, activate the item to make Morrigan use it as a voodoo doll. If Alistair is present, he receives various humorous injuries.

Feastday Combo Pack: A combo pack that includes all the items from the Feastday Gift and Prank packs at a discount.  Price: $3 [240 BioWare Points, 240 MS Points, $2.99 PSN]

Includes: All the content from both Feastday Gifts and Feastday Pranks.

To find the Feastday items, visit Bodahn as he stocks the gifts and pranks in his store at the party camp year-round.

Hit up the official website, XBL, or log into PSN for more.