Mass Effect 3 Won't Be Available On Steam

It's not surprise that EA has announced that Mass Effect 3 won't be available on Steam, and it's not more of a surprise that all PC versions, digital and retail, will require EA's Origin service.

Earlier this year Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2 were pulled from Steam for "restrictive terms of service", and according to BioWare Community Coordinator Chris Priestly, that's the same reason Mass Effect 3 will not be available on Steam.

"During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time," says Priestly. "Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content.  We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers."

It is unknown whether or not EA and Valve will have their old relationship back, but let's just hope that things will get resolved before the release of Mass Effect 3.

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New Star Wars Series to Reveal the Origins of the Jedi Order

Dark Horse will be releasing a brand new Star Wars comic series that will finally show insight to how the Jedi Order came to be, something thats never been explored in the entire Star Wars Universe.


The Jedis were always my favorite part of the Star Wars series but I never realized how they came to be, so this will definitely be a pick up for me. Dark Horse has released a small tease of the background for the story.

"On the planet Tython, in the center of the galaxy, an order of warrior monks strives to maintain peace and to balance the mysterious power known as the Force. But a stranger is coming--one who will destroy both peace and balance, and open the galaxy to exploration and conquest. This is where it all begins! John Ostrander and Jan Duursema of Star Wars: Legacy fame reveal the mythic age of the Jedi's beginnings!"

When can you get your hands on the comic? The new series is scheduled to be released February 15th of next year. The new series has yet to be given a title.

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Looks Like You Can't Sue EA Either

First Sony weaseled a user agreement stating:

"ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS, WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR AS A NAMED OR UNNAMED MEMBER IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL LEGALACTION, UNLESS BOTH YOU AND THE SONY ENTITY WITH WHICH YOU HAVE A DISPUTE SPECIFICALLY AGREE TO DO SO IN WRITING FOLLOWING INITIATION OF THE ARBITRATION.  THIS PROVISION DOES NOT PRECLUDE YOUR PARTICIPATION AS A MEMBER IN A
CLASS ACTION FILED ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 20, 2011."

That pretty much means that you can't sue Sony, that if you have a dispute with them, then you have to settle it with them out of court. But you can file a complaint with them though by writing them a letter within 30 days of accepting the user agreement on the PlayStation Network. 

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER IN THIS SECTION 15, YOU MUST NOTIFY SNEI IN WRITING WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE DATE THAT YOU ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT.  YOUR WRITTEN NOTIFICATION MUST BE MAILED TO 6080 CENTER DRIVE, 10TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90045, ATTN: LEGAL DEPARTMENT/ARBITRATION AND MUST INCLUDE:  (1) YOUR NAME, (2) YOUR ADDRESS, (3) YOUR PSN ACCOUNT NUMBER, IF YOU HAVE ONE, AND (4) A CLEAR STATEMENT THAT YOU DO NOT WISH TO RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH ANY SONY ENTITY THROUGH ARBITRATION.

This was done about last week, and it seems like Sony got it from another company. EA decided to put in a bogus "you can't sue us" agreement last August on the 25th. This User Agreement must be accepted to play Madden and FIFA online along with using EA's digital distributor program, Origin.

EA's new agreement states:

"By accepting these terms, you and EA expressly waive the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY THIS PROVISION, YOU AND EA ARE FOREGOING THE RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A JURY TRIAL.

YOU AND EA AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING."

You can do the same thing here with Sony, write them a note saying you don't agree to the terms after agreeing with them. There's one major problem though, the 30 day window ends in two days. 

Just like with Sony, EA's ToS doesn't affect everyone, it doesn't affects thosein Europe or Australia.

Hopefully something will be done about this and an action will take place to get rid of the ToS that have been implanted. And I pray that no other company will follow their steps and put such a ridiculous agreement. I already don't like EA, I think they are the worst company in the gaming industry, so this doesn't do anything but dislike them more; after Mass Effect 3, I won't be buying any of their games...and possibly Dead Space 3.

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Battlefield 3 Will Require The Download Of Origin

With EA's Origin service being just released, it comes to no big surprise that the digital distribution service program will be needed in order to play Battlefield 3. It will be required when a retail copy is purchased, but it's not quite sure if it will be needed if you get Battlefield 3 through another digital distribution service (negating Steam).

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Battlefield 3 May Not Be On Steam

There was a list that EA posted about which digital retailers would be selling Battlefield 3; unfortunately the list was taken down, but Joystiq was able to get a glimpse of it and Steam is nowhere on that list. Steam not being on the list most likely is due to the little scuffle EA and Valve got into.

The story is that Crysis 2 was taken down from Steam because,

"It's unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis 2 from their service. This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA.

Steam has imposed a set of business terms for developers hoping to sell content on that service – many of which are not imposed by other online game services. Unfortunately, Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam.

Crysis 2 continues to be available on several other download services including Origin.com."

 The reason that Steam is striving so hard, is because it offers patches and DLC for their digital copies. EA and Valve have been in cahoots for quite some time, so I'm not quit sure why EA would be doing something like this, unless its just a move to make users switch over to Origin, not too sure though. But either way, it's a puzzling move that lots of other gamers don't understand. No one has heard Valve's side of the story yet, so the story behind this might be completely different.

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