Introducing the game to a group of journalists assembled to finally get a chance to play it, Bioware CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka describes Mass Effect as "the best game we've ever done." That sort of rhetoric comes with the territory at press events, but the sincerity and passion with which he goes on to talk about the game make it clear that the sentiment is heartfelt. And when you consider that this group's resume includes titles like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, his statement takes on even more meaning.
The BBFC classification for Mass Effect has revealed that the game has been awarded a 12 rating for "moderate violence and one sex scene".
"If playing as a male character the scene can take place between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien. If playing as a female character the scene can take place between her and a male human or a female humanoid alien."
Fable sold 2.6 million on XB1. Oblivion was also available for PC & released to a small 360 userbase. Mass Effect is a 360 exclusive & releasing in the holidays. It will receive the marketing muscle of MS, who also published Fable. Bioware is known to be an Xbox rpg staple.
Isn't the Elder Scrolls series more known to the PC community? And didn't the 360 version come out at the same time as the PC version?
The way I see it is that Bioware has made a market on the Xbox with their previous titles, and because this game will be exclusively be released on the Xbox 360 (at least for launch), the lifetime sales can reach the predicted price.
And if we are going to use history to plan the future, you can look back and see that KOTOR (made by Bioware as well) set a sales record for the original Xbox of selling 250k in 4 days. This was of course back in July of 2003. Another report I found on IGN says it continued to soar to 600k by October of the same year. This was of course before it had a chance to hit Platinum where it sold more.
Now, those numbers might not be near the 2.5 million we are predicting now. But, think of how new the idea of a RPG was on the console at the time. There was Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest as you pointed out, then there were the imitators. But in 2003 when the Xbox had so few consoles sold it was hitting 600k. Now, with an install base of over 6 million in the US, you can count on that number at least tripling. But, they have won awards at E3 and other gaming expos, they have impressed a lot of gamers, it is just another one of the very highly anticipated games of the year, and on top of that I am sure it will have a very aggressive ad campaign.
As I stated before, I am not saying this game is going to come out and be 10/10. But I am expecting it to reach at least 9/10 (editor's choice). And I am not saying for sure it will reach 3 million life sales, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised with the hype it has been getting by the media.
@justcrim, RPGs are never as accessible as shooters to the larger gaming market. The only RPGs I know that sell millions of copies are the Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests of the world, and this doesn't happen on the Xbox 360. I just don't think the installbase of RPG gamers is there on the 360. Look at Oblivion, didn't that only sell like 1.5 million copies?
Bioware has a large following, and makes great RPG games. This game has made a lot of promises, and if they are successful in delivering, I truly believe 3 million is totally capable.
Bioware's RPGs on the Xbox were very successful, and have a large following. People are preying for the day they announce KOTOR 3. But this game is suppose to be like 5 KOTOR worlds in 1 game with just total openness and a combat system that is real time but still within the RPG world. It promises to revolutionize interactions with NPCs.
Now I am not saying this game will get 10/10 scores. But if it delivers on the promises, I know it will definitely give Halo 3 and Bioshock a good run for GOY.
@BadApple, this forecast is indeed quite astronomical. We are currently forecasting this game to womp on Oblivion sales, which happens to be one of the best RPGs ever made. RPGs on the Xbox 360 just don't sell 3 million copies...or even 2.
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