Jade Empire Preview

[GameBanshee News]

Xbox Nation has written up a two-page preview of Jade Empire, BioWare's upcoming Xbox RPG, complete with commentary from several BioWare employees. Check it out:

When asked to define just what makes BioWare so unique, not to mention successful, Muzyka responds: "We value humility. We value people who work hard, who are humble, who are really focused on making things great." That might seem obvious enough, but here in this quiet office, those words sound especially sincere. Even the quality assurance department, frequently a bottom dweller of the development world, gets the respect it deserves. Says Muzyka, "QA testers are incredibly important here—it's an honor to be a QA tester. They're the thin red line that prevents bugs; they make the game polished."

Even divisions of BioWare not directly associated with production appear to be equally in the loop. BioWare not only has its own in-house marketing and PR teams (unusual for independent developers), but also a deep familiarity with the games it pitches. Explains Muzyka, "Everyone here has to finish [our games] before they ship. They have to contribute bugs, think about why it's fun, why it's not fun; they have to be passionate about videogames." Adds Zeschuk, "We really see ourselves to a certain degree as the little guy. I'm sure people see us as this big, successful developer, but we see ourselves as competing with everyone else." Considering that the next closest developers are located in Vancouver—one province and 788 miles away—who can blame them?