CREATOR INTERVIEW
An exclusive interview with Dr. Greg Zeschuk, the co-founder of BioWare
Narratives with emotional beats and meaningful choices have always been at the heart of BioWare, one of gaming’s biggest juggernauts. And as a doctor-turned-developer, BioWare’s co-founder has been responsible for some of the best AAA games ever made. Dr. Greg Zeschuk spearheaded most of BioWare’s highly-ambitious projects, from the enduring Baldur’s Gate to the revolutionary Mass Effect.
While Larian Studios is at the helm of the next Baldur’s Gate release, BioWare is hard at work on the next entry in the acclaimed Dragon Age franchise (and I hope they’ve got a secret Mass Effect game in the works). We had the privilege to speak with Dr. Greg Zeschuk recently. He is a man whose enviable career is as varied as it is remarkable. …
Watch Dogs: Legion’s monocle-toting pig head takes over
With a week to go for the release of Watch Dogs: Legion, Ubisoft is going all out on a marketing spree for the third entry in the hacker-driven franchise. In true DedSec (a hacker group from the game) spirit, several of the French publisher’s titles in the Microsoft Store have undergone a price cut. But that isn’t the only thing that has changed. These games have also had their cover art modified by the same band of nefarious masterminds.
Gentlemen like Vaas Montenegro and Joseph Seed have lent their pedestals to the pig mask that greets one across numerous Watch Dogs: Legion promotions. It’s a rather humorous take on enduring Ubisoft franchises that have previously featured dead-serious characters brandishing their arsenal amidst friends and foes. The sale is by no means a competitor to Steam’s inevitable Halloween sale but that isn’t Ubisoft’s angle. At a time when digital game sales have overtaken physical disc-based games, it’s astonishing that no other publisher has turned game art into virtual billboards for their upcoming games. …
Legal obligations mean that your new French iPhone will still come with EarPods
Apple decided to curb its environmental impact (and accessory costs) this year by selling its iPhone lineup without a charger or earbuds. As a result, the new thinner box lets Apple fit 70 percent more boxes on a single pallet during shipping, letting the company ship more of these at will. The initiative also reduces carbon emissions and the mining of rare-earth minerals. And this isn’t just for the new iPhone 12 devices. The iPhone 11, iPhone SE, and iPhone XR no longer come with a free pair of EarPods either.
While it sounds like an admirable win-win situation for Apple and the environment, not every country is in on the plan. French law dictates that smartphone manufacturers need to bundle a pair of earphones with their devices. This means that the Cupertino-based giant’s bold plan won’t work in France. And yes, Apple already has a counter-measure in place. …
