There comes a time in the week to reflect on what got into my reporter's notebook but didn't turn into Kotaku blog posts. Shall we?
Dragon Age Bugs: Fahey mentioned in his review of Dragon Age: Origins that his PlayStation 3 version of the game had a bug that blocked him from completing the game. He had to revert to an earlier save file to get around it. These are the kinds of things that demand follow-up, and so I shot BioWare public relations an inquiry about it on Tuesday, hoping for an update on Wednesday. No update came, and with little to report on that front. I unfortunately let things slip and did not post because, well, there was no news. No sense in reiterating known bugs without advancing the story. This may turn into a post next week if I can finally get an update. To review the problems Fahey had — and hopefully avoid them yourself — scroll down in his review to the part marked "Bugs Aplenty."
Mass Effect 2's New Helpers: While BioWare's Dragon Age people had no word for me about that game, their Mass Effect 2 people were able to clear something up. Omitted from my preview of the game this morning was a mention of the game's partner drones. I left them out of the write-up because I wasn't sure about a couple of details. Turns out, my notes were correct: The new game allows members of the player's party to use combat drones. These floating drones, which looked like balls of light in the build I saw, will seek and engage enemies. Some drones will seek biotic-based enemies. Others may attack tech-based enemies. I had seen one in action a few weeks ago during my most recent demo of the game. But, as of the writing of the preview this morning I didn't have all the details confirmed. So now you know of one new tactic available in the game.
[UPDATE: I heard from Christina Norman, one of the lead designers on Mass Effect 2 at BioWare, who told me that some of the above information is off. Game designers tend to be the most tapped into the technical distinctions of their games, so I was happy to have her clarify some things. Tech drones do not select targets based on biotic or tech-based enemies; they attack who you send them to attack and then auto-select their next targets. They can only be players playing as engineers and by follower characters who are"heavy tech power specialists." She also told me: "They're not really suited to killing enemies their role is more to distract, suppress, and lock down enemies."]
Rabbids Quest: I was supposed to have received Rabbids Go Home last Friday, but FedEx mis-delivered the game. I'd needed it in order to review it this week. I wound up getting a new copy mailed to me by publisher Ubisoft on Monday, in time for me to review the game today. I'd hoped to at least get an adventure out of trying to track down that first delivery. It was sent to a nearby building and even signed for, according to FedEx's records. Last Friday, after writing the Notebook Dump, I stepped out into the New York night to hunt the game down. I managed to sweet-talk my way into the building where it was sent, but the "apartment #3" that supposedly received the package was not easily found. Instead, I wound up on a third floor lined with more than 15 apartments. None of them marked. I was on the phone with Crecente at the time, and it was the day before Halloween. He told me to "run away!" I made my escape, but with no game found, I decided my adventure was too pathetic for a post.
Games I Got But Didn't Write About (Yet?): Hasbro Family Game Night 2 (Wii and DS), Jewel Master Egypt (DS), and three other games.
That's it for now. I've got something artsy for Monday and will hopefully make a fun field trip that I can cover later in the week. This weekend, with luck, I'll get to some people's WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw custom storylines. Or I'll play more Style Savvy. Seriously. More on that later.