Mass Effect 3 - System Reqs and More

I would have added this to the ME3 demo newsbit but there are already comments for that one, so forum users would miss the update
From the BioWare forums comes a FAQ with the system requirements for the demo (presumably similar for the full release):

What are the system requirements for the PC version of the demo?

Minimum Spec:


OS - Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7
*Supported chipsets: NVIDIA 7900 or better; ATI X1800 or better. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 9300, 8500, 8400, and 8300 are below minimum system requirements, as are AMD/ATI Radeon HD3200, HD3300, and HD4350. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.

CPU - 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)

RAM - 1GB for XP / 2GB RAM for Vista/Win 7

Disc Drive - 1x speed

Hard Drive - 15 GB of free space

Video - 256 MB* (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support)

Sound - DirectX 9.0c compatible

DirectX - DirectX 9.0c August 2009 (included)


Recommended Spec:


OS - Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7

CPU - 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)

RAM - 2GB for XP / 4GB RAM for Vista/Win 7

Disc Drive - 1x speed

Hard Drive - 15 GB of free space

Video - AMD/ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB or greater, NVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB or greater

Sound - DirectX 9.0c compatible

…and what the demo will contain:

What content will be included in the Mass Effect 3 demo?

There are two sections in the Mass Effect 3 demo, both included as part of a single download: The single player section includes 2 areas: the opening level featuring the Reaper attack on Earth, and a level further into the game where Shepard travels to an alien home world to seek their assistance in the war effort. This will be approximately 1 to 2 hours of content.The co-op multiplayer section includes 2 maps: Slum and Noveria. This section will be open to players who have qualified for the early multiplayer access as of Feb 14, and will then open up to all players on Feb 17.

There's also a video and blurb on the BioBlog.
Finally, adding credence to the "Dragon Age 3 will have multiplayer" rumours, Ray Muzyka told Wired.com "multiplayer and online interactivity will play integral roles in many of its upcoming games".
More information.

Finally, adding credence to the "Dragon Age 3 will have multiplayer" rumors, Ray Muzyka told Wired.com "multiplayer and online interactivity will play integral roles in many of its upcoming games".

I said it before EA thinks every game must have multiplayer. I just hope were not seeing a future blizzard in the making. Not everyone loves MMO's and online transactions.

“The way we look at multiplayer online features is that they should’t be dilutive or weakening the experience,” Muzyka said. “They should be additive, they should strengthen it, they should enhance it.”

“Multiplayer … can’t be tacked on,” BioWare co-founder and vice president Greg Zeschuk said at the same event. “That’s one of the pitfalls that some of the people who have done multiplayer have made. ‘Oh, what’s on our marketing checklist? Gotta have multiplayer, check the box.’”

…

“We’ve seen a lot of overlap between players of traditional console and PC games and players of social games,” Muzyka said. “They play it maybe in a different way, with different time constraints — but there are a lot of core gamers who really enjoy that.”

“Our approach to that is going to be building deep, rich experiences that are going to appeal to core social gamers,” he said. “If we extend some of our existing IPs, by definition that’d make some of our IPs multiplayer.”

I hope Bioware doesnt follow Blizzards path. Theres also talk that a new Jade Empire is in the works also but it might be a F2P. It was vaguely mentioned in an interview.

In a nutshell it's the usual we must cater to everyone to maximise our profit speech. I dont think its possible to please everyone as they think they can.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
In a nutshell it's the usual we must cater to everyone to maximise our profit speech. I dont think its possible to please everyone as they think they can.

Considering that sales were down 10% *again* this year and especially in the last quarter (when all the big games hit), and that an ever increasing percentage of sales are tied up in a few games (subscription/'roster update' titles like Madden and Modern Warfare), they SHOULD get the message that they need to innovate to provide something new to attract gamers … instead they choose to figure out ways to monetize every action you take in game.

Disc Drive - 1x speed

WTF ???

Do they mean -

- CDROM (not likely)
- DVD (likely)
- Blue Ray (I don't know)

???

Because the KOAR minimum sys reqs require at least 8x …

Disc Drive:
CD/DVD ROM drive (required for installation only), 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
WTF ???

Do they mean -

- CDROM (not likely)
- DVD (likely)
- Blue Ray (I don't know)

???

Because the KOAR minimum sys reqs require at least 8x …

How fast does something have to be to tell you to go download the game over Origin?

</stir>

Yes, I almost assumed that already.

Okay, you'll have to download the game - and what is the Disc Drive for, then ? Disc copy protection checks ? Although the game was downloaded ?