Entrevue avec Marc-Antoine Hamelin (JVAU04), diplômé du programme en jeu vidéo, session automne 2002, Artiste d’environnement senior chez BioWare.

1- Quel poste occupes-tu et au sein de quelle compagnie
Je suis présentement artiste d’environnement senior chez BioWare Montréal, situé au centre-ville de Montréal. Je m’occupe de la création des modèles, des textures et de l’éclairage des environnements sur la franchise de Mass  Effect.

2- Pourquoi as-tu choisi de faire carrière en 3D?
J’ai toujours été extrêmement passionné par l’univers des jeux vidéo. J’ai tenu une manette de jeu d’un Atari 2600 entre mes mains, avant même de faire mes premiers pas. Depuis ce temps, j’ai accumulé les consoles et les jeux, et j’ai su dès le début de mon secondaire que je désirais un jour faire ma formation en jeu vidéo. J’ai donc étudié en graphisme pendant 2 ans au cégep Ahuntsic avant de compléter ma formation au Centre NAD, dès que j’ai eu 18 ans. […]

Lisez le reste de l’entrevue sur le sur Centre NAD…

From Joystiq:

"You may not even see the impact of a decision in Mass Effect 1 in Mass Effect 2, but in Mass Effect 3," BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk told us while elaborating about the whole Mass Effect franchise. The pedigreed co-founder of BioWare isn’t simply set on promoting the upcoming Mass Effect 2, but a vision for the entire trilogy. "In planning out the overall trilogy, we know what general story beats we want to hit along the entire thing. So we know the key events we want to have in 3, and right now the team is starting to flesh that out, fill in the spaces. And of course, we’re going to be waiting for the fan response to Mass Effect 2, to see what works and what didn’t work, what we can strengthen."

Video after the break:

Read the rest of the article on Joystiq…

40 perfect scores. 2 million units. One pop culture phenomenon. BioWare, a division of EA, announced today that Mass Effect 2 has sold-in over two million units worldwide in its first week of release. Lauded for its intense shooter gameplay and deep, hand-crafted story, Mass Effect 2 has earned an average review score of 96- making it the second highest rated game of all time on the Xbox 360 platform. Mass Effect 2 has earned 40 perfect scores, amassed over 30 editor’s choice awards and has donned the covers of 45 magazines worldwide. On launch day, the term "Mass Effect" was in the top 10 trending topics on Twitter and most searched on Google News. MSNBC.com said, "Mass Effect will go down as one of the most influential video game series of all-time."

Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA said, "Mass Effect 2 is poised to be one of the biggest games of 2010. We could not be more proud of the game’s universal acclaim and early commercial success."

Mass Effect 2 launched this week hot on the heels of BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins, the studio’s dark fantasy RPG which shipped in fall 2009. Dragon Age: Origins has earned an average review score of 91, making it the highest rated original intellectual property from EA in the last year. Mass Effect 2 follows in BioWare’s tradition of delivering excellence on every front: gameplay, story, character development and visuals. Mass Effect 2 is an epic shooter/RPG set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets. In Mass Effect 2, players step into the role of the heroic Commander Shepard, leading a crew of some of the most dangerous operatives from across the galaxy on a mission so challenging that it’s potentially suicidal. Featuring intense action, a rich storyline, space exploration and engaging character interaction, Mass Effect 2 delivers an unparalleled gaming experience. […]

Congratulations to the dev teams in Edmonton and Montreal!

Have you played this game yet? Let us know how you like the game in the comments.

Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of Mass Effect  and Dragon Age developer BioWare, says that the sci-fi franchise will live on in other games after the role-playing game trilogy wraps up in Mass Effect 3.

Zeschuk said during today’s episode of Kotaku Talk Radio that the Mass Effect property is a "valuable universe," that the end of the futuristic trilogy does not necessarily suggest an endpoint for the series.

"We’re actually going to continue to use it for stuff and we’re going to continue to make games there," Zeschuk said. "Believe me, we have our work cut out for us for the next little while getting Mass Effect 3 done after this. Don’t worry if you love Mass Effect, there will be more Mass Effect in the future."

Whether that means the series spawning a new BioWare-developed RPG, a spin-off in the vein of Mass Effect Galaxy for the iPhone or a new genre a la Halo Wars, the BioWare co-founder wouldn’t say. Zeschuk neither confirmed nor denied co-host Stephen Totilo’s suggestion for a Mass Effect themed kart racing, but implied that, if one were to happen, it would absolutely feature a big head mode. […]

Read the full article on Kotaku…

Have you played it yet? Were you on the dev team? Tell us your experience in the comment section.

Here’s a review from GameTrailers, after the break:

The sequel to Mass Effect is finally here. Does it boldly go places where its predecessor dared not tread?

 

January 21st [3:00pm EST], join us here to watch an exclusive broadcast of Mass Effect 2! Watch as the producer of the game runs you through the latest content, then stay for a Q&A about the game!

Under 2 hours till Jesse Houston & Christina Norman do a live playthrough of new ME2 area on XFire.

Watch them live in a few hours on XFire.

From GameTrailers:

 

Shepard faces humanity’s greatest threat in the sequel to BioWare’s sci-fi shooter.

Video after the break:

Few names carry as much weight in the gaming industry as venerated Edmonton-based developer BioWare—creators of Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic—yet BioWare Montreal studio director Yanick Roy has found himself battling for respect in the studio’s quiet first year of existence.

“I tried to correct a Wikipedia entry,” recalls the 38-year-old Joliette native. “The entry said Mass Effect 2 was developed in collaboration with EA Montreal. I changed it to BioWare Montreal, only to have the person correct me and change it back to EA Montreal. I thought ‘Well, if you say so.’”

One could understand the confusion, as BioWare Montreal does share a space with EA Montreal in their Place Ville-Marie office, and BioWare was purchased by Electronic Arts in 2007. But beyond real estate and the HR/PR departments, the 23 employees who comprise the BioWare Montreal staff are their own team, working exclusively on the highly anticipated role-playing game Mass Effect 2 alongside their Edmonton big brothers. BioWare’s third studio started with a few employees developing cutscenes for the sci-fi sequel in late 2008, but has since become responsible for all of the game’s vast uncharted worlds, and following the title’s January 2010 launch, will be busy creating downloadable content.

[…]

Read the rest at Montreal Mirror…