Mass Effect 1 beta - Does it exist?

I know, which is why I sent a message to what I assume is his eBay user account. I just can't tell if he's receiving them or not. Even if he replied telling me to piss off, at least I would know he read it.

There is also a user on Xbox Live with the same name, so I'm thinking of trying to send a message there. I get the feeling I'm just going to get ignored, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Of course there is a chance that the disc isn't a beta, and a chance he doesn't even have the disc anymore. Hopefully we can find answers soon.

 

Go for it ;> I don't know much about Mass Effect but it's best to be safe and get more info on it before it dissapears if it hasn't already

 

Betas do not make it onto disks nowadays very often at all, almost never.
The only things that do are demos or press versions.

At work we only work we only start using pressed disks which aren't even printed after the game has passed certification and a couple of weeks before release. Game show/expos, special betas and demos, its very rare any of these make it to disk(a few have now and then) as things aren't optimised and it leaves a few security problems around.

 

Review code, Preview code are the only ones that are likely to exist. Internal betas burnt by devs themselves rarely make it out of those studios these days if you know what i mean.

 

Do you need to send betas to M$/Sony/Nintendo for certification?
What about sending betas to publisher?

 

No not really, dev betas can be burned on normal DL discs without any special format to them.

Various studios talk about take home betas they had internally, i.e bungie.

 

Just thought I should let everyone know I was able to get in contact with the owner of the strange disc. I suspect the eBay account I sent my message to wasn't the same person, which explains why I thought I was getting ignored. (Because I probably was getting ignored, by someone else. I'm sure they didn't know what the hell I was talking about.)

The owner was kind enough to ship the disc to me, and after testing it out, I can confirm that it is just a bootleg with no differences from the final version. Disappointing I know, but at least that is one mystery solved.

Now we are back to square one. I know I mentioned this before, but if anyone has anything related to Mass Effect 1 in it's beta stages, or knows anyone who does, please let us know. If you want to keep things private or anonymous, feel free to send me a PM.

 

Mass Effect 2005 prototype footage (from the final hours of ME3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i9f15Tv3mk

 

Not exactly beta related, but Sam Hulick, one of the composers for the Mass Effect series, has released a few songs that he created that were either early compositions of songs used in the game, or songs that ended up being unused entirely. He uploaded the songs on his YouTube channel a long while ago, but I thought it might be interesting to any fans here who weren't already aware of it.

- Mass Effect Mystery Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEK5h2m7CJ8

This was Hulick's first draft of the Normandy Theme. He explains it in more detail in the comments.

- Mass Effect Main theme - Hulick's Mix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HWnsj3apSs

This is very close to the final Main Theme. The version heard in the final game was mixed by Jack Wall.

- Mass Effect Main Theme - First Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg081vvaXEk

This was Hulick's first attempt at a main theme. Would be perfect in ME1 if Shepard and crew were space pirates.

- Mass Effect Galaxy Map Concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwuOoQSZhBw

Was originally going to be used as the galaxy map theme until Hulick composed Uncharted Worlds.

- Mass Effect Unreleased DLC music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDDZhhboop8

This would have been used in a scrapped ME1 DLC. I like it, wish it was used somewhere.

- Mass Effect 2 Unused Subject Zero Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcO3VlveUQM

Short clip that was an early attempt at part of Jack's Theme, but was eventually axed due to it not fitting anywhere.