"We have a lot of big plans for Mass Effect. Having a DS version would be an awesome way to keep interest alive and keep it going in addition to the next one [Mass Effect 2]," said Holmes.

While I myself am partial to their big production numbers, having handheld versions to keep me occupied between their larger efforts is a rather attractive prospect. Plus, the Nintendo DS can only make hot alien sex that much better.

BioWare liebäugelt mit einem Mass Effect für den Nintendo DS [Eurogamer.de via GamesIndustry.biz]

Jade Empire Coming to Xbox Originals [Gamerscore]

The folks at Computer and Video Games recently interviewed Jade Empire's senior producer, Diarmid Clarke about the process of making the game, the ideas behind it and it's translation from the Xbox to the PC. I very much enjoyed Jade Empire and often a game with a very different look and feel over other games will attract my attention more than the latest, most awesome, deserted space wasteland shoot em up game. The gameplay mechanic may have been a titch stale, but the story, missions and beautiful surroundings more than made up for it in my opinion.

One of my favorite quotes from the article didn't really have much to do with the game itself but rather the fanaticism of the internet and how things can quickly blow out of proportion.

Within 24 hours of us registering the name for Dragon Age, one of the fans had found it and posted on our site. He was saying: "Hey, guess what, BioWare have got this Dragon Age, and boy, is it gonna suck." Immediately, we had someone replying: "You've got to be kidding, it's going to have thousands of dragons flying around everywhere." All we'd done was register a name that at the time, we may or may not have been going to use, but yeah, some people get pretty fanatical. I think you could just post the name, and the fans would just design the game for you - the speculation is unbelievable.

Truer words were never spoken. Flynn De Marco

Looking Back... Jade Empire [Computer and Video Games]

To be featured:

- Customizable, intuitive controls including support for game-pads and keyboard/mouse. - Increased graphics resolutions and new visual effects. - New monsters and enemies. - New fighting styles. - Improved combat AI and difficulty levels. - New world map interface.

There's not much news other than that, although 1UP is slapping on their Cluedo cap and positing alterior Bioware motives. Namely, that this might very well foretell an announcement concerning Jade Empire 2 at this year's E3. Although we'd be just as happy if they concentrated on their MMORPG. Or, better yet — make MDK3 already, Bioware!

Jade Empire for PC Official Page [Bioware]

So, in addition to working on Mass Effect, BioWare offered a cryptic confirmation of the existence of a Jade Empire sequel in an interview with Xbox Evolved. Here's the quote: "And, BioWare definitely plans to continue the Jade Empire franchise the Jade team did a great job with the first game in that series; we have great teams working on all of our games here. We ve also said in the past that we re working on not just one, but two Xbox360 titles. Enough said ;)"

Mass Effect Interview [Xbox Evolved]