Earlier today Jube covered the Mass Effect 3 release date shift from late 2011 into the first few months of 2012. Delays happen, no biggy, right? You might change your mind after you hear the reason why there was even a delay in the first place.
During an EA earnings call which took place today EA head honcho John Riccitello took a little bit of time to explain the delay. Here's a short transcript courtesy of the guys at Joystiq:
"Essentially, step by step, [BioWare is] adjusting some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features that you'll see at E3 that can put this into a genre equivalent of shooter-meets-RPG, and essentially address a far larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 did and Mass Effect 2 began to approach."
Justin McElroy at Joystiq seems to think that a multiplayer component may be involved, but I'm thinking it goes beyond that. Bioware has been receiving some flak from the very same RPG fanatics who supported the company from day one. Why? Primarily because of the constant dumbing down seen in Dragon Age 2's design, and prior to that Mass Effect 2. Copies still flew off the shelves though, and despite the "mass appeal" design of Mass Effect 2 it managed to average review scores in the mid-90s.
But now we've got Mr. Riccitello discussing more of a "shooter-meets-RPG" and a "larger market opportunity" goal for Mass Effect 3 as a reason for the delay. How much do you want to bet that Mass Effect 3 is going to be even more dumbed down than Mass Effect 2 was? Best we can do is hope that's not the case, but I'm starting to think the folks at Bioware have lost it.
