What impressed me about this effort is its weight. Zeschuk said there was a team of 100 working on the game now and that this is the first of a trilogy of exclusive games for the Xbox 360. BioWare itself has only 260 employees. One team is working on Mass Effect, one on a PC game, one on an Xbox 360 engine, another on an unannounced Xbox 360 game. That represents a huge commitment to the Microsoft universe, and it really doesn't leave anything left over for Sony and Nintendo.

"The last generation served us well," Zeschuk said, referring to Jade Empire and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic on the Xbox. "I like the 360. It's pretty well positioned and is a good piece of hardware. They are in a strong position this time. They're going to come out first and they could have a shot at leading the next generation. We believe it helps to associate yourself with one platform."