Mass Effect 2 andDragon Age: Originsmight make players cry — or experience exhilaration, get wicked pissed, or feel like a nerd. Described as the “goal” in an interview withVideoGamer.com, Ray Muzyka said BioWare aims to make players feel emotions while playing both of their upcoming releases. “I think that’s the goal, to try and make people feel the same emotions they feel in real life,” said Muzyka after saying he thought the two titles might force people to shed a tear or two....

When I interviewed David Gaider for a series ofDragon Age II-related previews, he seemed a charming, soft spoken, and intelligent writer with a passion for role-playing games. Imagine my surprise, then, to see the bespectacled scribedestroya proposed “No Homo” mode. On the BioWare forums,Dragon Agefan Baltas accused the developers of short-changing the “Straight Male Gamer” by including four gender-neutral love options in the game. To clarify: each ofDragon AgeII‘s romance options are omnivorous, flirting with both male and female Hawkes, something Baltas finds “awkward....

Yesterday, it was revealed that long-awaited RTSStarcraft IIwouldnot have LAN support, sending a number of PC gamers into a frenzy, despite the fact that they had the Internet so it shouldn’t really be a problem. Blizzard has naturally responded to the nerd rage,defending its positionand making sure to mention piracy as a contributing factor. “We don’t currently plan to support LAN play withStarCraft II, as we are building Battle.net to be the ideal destination for multiplayer gaming withStarCraft IIand futureBlizzardEntertainment games,” confirms a Blizzard rep....

Last week we talked about some of thedirty things a person could findin other users’Halo 3file share. The point of interest was a picture in a user’s shared photos file that revealed two women both fondling and kissing each other. While not exactly the most vile thing a person could think of sharing, it was still a bit disturbing that the adult content could be uploaded through Bungie’s service. Yesterday, Bungie officially addressed the topic on their website and outlined a plan for banning members who upload such files onto their accounts....

With only a few short days untilBurnout Paradisegets its next huge add-on, “Big Surf Island“, it’s about time we heard a little more about the DLC pricing- and content-wise. Thankfully, we have got those exact details from the fine people at Criterion Games. The price of “Big Surf Island”is $12.99 on PlayStation Network and 1000 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE; about what people expected, I’d say. The DLC is bringing three silver and seven bronze Trophies to PS3, and five Achievements totaling 110 Gamerscore points to Xbox 360....

BusinessWeekweighs in on the looming 3-way video game console battle coming this holiday season in their article titled “Console Makers: Move It or Lose It.” The article touches on each console’s pre-battle position in what Pacific Crest Securities senior research analyst Evan Wilson calls “the most competitive holiday season in the history of video games.” They feel that the outlook for Microsoft seems strong, but there are a few concerns:...

In a shocking blockbuster revelation, SCEA European big guy David Reeves has conceded togamesindustry.bizthat Sony is aware that the PSP needs a bigger game library. Oh David…I never thought I’d see you small and vulnerable like this . Don’t worry, Destructoid will protect your innermost secret by informing the rest of the world on this website. I care about you, I swear. Wait — apparently David didn’t want us to keep it on the down low, as he told the same story recently at the Playstation gamers day in London....

Halfbrick’s latest iOS release,Jetpack Joyride,is now available in the App store and they have furnished this charming trailer which outlines the game’s story. It’s a complicated tale about a man and his love of a machine which will make you cry and weep. Nick and I both spent a little bit of time playingJetpack Joyrideat PAX. For my part, it was a delightful and challenging one-button game with a lot of meat on its bones, but you should go and check outNick’s previewfor a much more thorough examination....

WhileFinal Fantasy XIIIis most assuredly a current generation game fromall we’ve seendevelopment on it started before the PS3 (or the 360) were around. In two new books that Square Enix has published they’reshowing offa lot of the early work on the game and that work was all done on the PS2 with assets from previousFinal Fantasygames. you may check out the screens and artwork below. I know the cartoonish look on some of the characters is simply because it was easier to do while they were designing the kinks of the gameplay, but it does look pretty sweet....

Obviously not as sensitive to the needs of transgendered gamers as we in the west, it would seem that Chinese game companiestake a dim viewof males who want to be females — in computer games, at least. Chinese MMORPGKing of the Worldwon’t accept male players masquerading as female characters and is putting a stop to such shenanigans. Aurora Technology, a subsidiary of Shanda and developer of the game, is freezing the accounts of male gamers with female avatars, and anybody who chooses to play as a female in the game will have to prove they are of permitted gender via webcam....

The few PC exclusive gamers I know seem to constantly have their panties in the proverbial wad over the focus by developers on developing for consoles. Add the ceaseless struggle to have the most current (expensive) hardware into the mix and you are guaranteed a rant to last a lifetime. However, what these nattering nabobs seem to overlook in their pessimism and caterwauling is the plight of their Mac-bound brethren....

Arggh! In case you missed it while sailing the open seas,we’re running a contestto find an honest pirate who will win a copy of Capcom’sDevil May Cry 4for the PC. Capcom have also decided to sweeten the pot, and is throwing in a download code for the upcoming pirate-themedAge of Booty! Arggh! Winning is easy: dress up like a pirate, go shopping, and submit photographic evidence inthe comments of our original announcement....

I was going to use a drill pun, but Atlus already took care of that. Hell, they took care of all the bone-related puns. Look: “Until watching this new video, a lot ofTrauma Teamfans may have a slightly disjointed notion of what the Orthopedics mode is all about,” commented Aram Jabbari, Manager of Public Relations and Sales at Atlus. “Without a tool wheel to concern oneself with, nor a ticking clock to race against, Orthopedics is about patience and precision....