New Alexandria Artwork by Issac Hannaford

Issac's art, as always is awesome. Check out more Reach concept art here.

ME3 is not a re run of Dirty Dozen but "All out galactic War"

With the promise of more fluid combat, vicious melee attacks, tougher enemies and a nimbler Commander Shepard, Mass Effect 3

is shaping up to be the game Bioware says will be definitive Mass Effect experience."Mass Effect was always designed as a trilogy," Bioware game director Casey Hudson told a gathering of press, "and Mass Effect 3 is the main event."That means an overhaul of the combat, cover and mobility in the game, reworked enemies and weapons and new customizable powers.It also means a different sort of narrative backdrop.Where Mass Effect 2 was loosely structured around a Dirty Dozen storyline, its sequel will take a step back and have you gathering not individual members for a team, but commodities for the war effort."The large scale story and even the little missions, the little friendships you accumulate during the game contribute to the overall war effort," Hudson said. The greater you do the better your chance of success."Mass Effect 3 will be about the galactic war that the game has been moving toward for two titles now."This is the story of that all out galactic war," he said. "You start out with the Reapers having captured the earth. It is your job to rally the forces of the galaxy and unify everyone behind the cause and wipe out the Reapers forever."The game also has a number of tweaks to the way you'll handle Commander Shepard. He will have a whole new level of mobility, Hudson said."You can climb things, leap across gaps," he said. "In combat you can roll in and out of cover or between cover. That really helps with the overall fluidity of combat.Enemies will be tougher too with a "lot of new behaviors" from flying in on rocket boots to crawling out of holes. Some will come at you with physical shields.Your squad members will have new abilities too. For instance you can send one in to go into a fight a rip a shield out of an enemies hands.Shepard will, of course, also have new abilities including a new collapsible blade attached to his arm that can be used for vicious, skewering attacks.To give us a sense of what he was talking about, Hudson let us see a bit of gameplay from Mass Effect 3. It was from early on in the game when you are on a Salarian home world.The brief demo was a chaotic scene of thumping guns, smoke and fire. Arrows directed when Shepard could roll to new cover or could press a button to see a pivotal moment in the gunfight. A serious injury caused Shepard's vision to blur and the noise from the battle to echo briefly.At one point in the battle a group of enemies formed up with shields, blocking the return fire of Shepard's team until he was able to flank and cut them down with shotgun blasts and that blade of his. Shepard activates an adrenaline rush power that essentially slows everyone but him down, making his assault easier.Later in the battle a mech lands. Hudson says that if you can take out the driver you can control the suit."We're trying to make Mass Effect 3 the best of the series," he says. "It's about improving the moment to moment action, providing an epic conclusion to this storyline."Article by Kotauku

So....you do one blog post about Shepard

Ha. I should be so lucky that any posts I publish make any difference - hey they are mostly a rehash of someone else's interview (Hey Urk, wanna play twenty questions?). None-the-less I was amused to see that the cover art for Mass Effect will include a version of the female Shepard which sounds like victory for people that complain on the internet... #femshep for the win!

Just as long as the fem shep does not look like this:

I did not realise how hot Zelda was?!

So this is a sexy picture of a cosplayer fan doing the Zelda thing. Many have tried before but this one actually got my attention. I wonder why? Kotaku has some more pictures of the Zelda goddess......

Wanna play Halo with the new people that make Halo?

BSANGEL
HALOWAYPOINTCOMMUNITY6/23PLAYDATE,

It's been an entire month since we last hosted a community playdate, which, in my opinion, is completely unacceptable. To make up for that, I'd like to officially invite you to play Halo: Reach Thursday, June 23-i.e. TOMORROW! We'll be gaming it up from 8-11 PM ET, so if you'd like to participate, simply send an Xbox LIVE text message to any of the following gamertags:

bs angel
SamPand
Total Sellout
VeroHime

PS: We'll totally let you win. Not by choice, though.

Does having Skywalker Ranched involved make 343 legit?

Could I be any more blatant with my thievery from Waypoint?

Help us, Master Chief. You're our only hope.

Sometimes, when following a treacherous road toward the unknown, you find yourself lost in a seemingly endless series of deserted hills. If it's a bad day, they have eyes that belong to blood-thirsty, misshapen creatures. If it's a good day, they're moonlit mountains, embraced by lush foliage and serene shadows that can only be born of seclusion. The latter was the experience of Dan Chosich, 343 Industries Videographer; Kristofor Mellroth, Senior Audio Director at Microsoft Studios; and Dennis Ries, 343 Industries Producer, on a recent excursion to Skywalker Ranch.

The workplace of film director and producer George Lucas, Skywalker Ranch is a fascinating example of a self-sustaining ecosystem, housing everything from vineyards and organic gardens to uniquely designed lodging (inspired by legends like George Gershwin and John Houston) and a 300-seat theater. The creative atmosphere breeds intense focus and drive, which is why we chose Skywalker Sound-the music recording division of Lucas Digital motion picture group-as the place to propel the Halo: Anniversary score to a world-class level of quality.

Tech Building to the left

These are the musicians you're looking for.

We are recording the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra performing Pyramind's new orchestrations of the original music composed by Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. We are also recreating all the rock and synth music with updated productions by Pyramind. Striving to be as respectful and authentic as possible to the original, while utilizing the absolute highest production techniques available, the ultimate goal is to create an experience as good as you remember it being, but still new-sounding. At the helm of the recreation of this audio are:


Kristofor Mellroth - Senior Audio Director

Paul Lipson - COO/Audio Director (Orchestration, Transcription, Virtualization, Guitars)

Leslie Ann Jones - Director of Music and Scoring at Skywalker Sound

Gregory J. Gordon - CEO/Founder (Mix and Mastering)

Michael Roache - Project Manager

Lennie Moore - Transcription, Part Prep, Orchestra Session Librarian

Brian Trifon - Synthesis specialist for Anniversary

Tom Salta - Drums and Percussion specialist for Anniversary

Wataru Hokoyama - Conductor

AFM Union musicians from the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra

Naughty Little GOW leaks plus Bungie love

It appears a version of Gears of War 3 has skipped into the wilds and has been out on the interwebz - guess I'll be avoiding Youtube videos for a while then so I don't have anything spoiled. I recall this thing happened with Halo: Reach as well (did you get any steak?).

I guess it's part of the landscape in which we live these days - it's too hard to keep a secret these days - well some secrets - no one really leaked what Bungie Aerospace was for ( a few good guesses maybe?) but you get one disgruntled contracter and he might tell you the name of the secret project he'd been working on.

I recall a couple of years back every music mogul on the planet freaked out cos Enimem's new album was leaked to the interwebs - guess it's the turn of Bill Gates!

Today's Update from Bungie is another good bye off sorts:

"We'll be undergoing a metamorphosis of our own. Very soon Bungie.net will change, culminating with the launch of our next universe at some unknown time in the future. The first small steps will be taken soon, with Halo playlist management changing hands on August 2nd, the very same day we plan to deploy our parting thoughts on the last twenty years through a ViDoc titled, "O Brave New Worlds."

Afterwards, we'll be going dark on our studio's next major endeavor - the creation of a brand new universe. You'll still have a home here should you choose to stay, but our next project demands an unwavering focus. We owe it to ourselves to make something better than we ever have before. We owe it to you, as well.

So, this isn't a goodbye. It isn't The End. Instead, it's the very beginning of a new journey that will stretch the limits of what we are capable of. Ancient engines are now rumbling deep within the heart of our studio, and their energy will power us through the upcoming darkness. Like all dark times ours will be broken first by a single strand of light - a tether reaching out to bind us all together again. One day, we will awaken in a wondrous new place and we will remember just what it was that drew us together at the beginning of it all. We will look up to the heavens, and find hope."
Extra for Experts: A Per Audacia Ad Astra logo I borrowed from Bungie.