A generic trailer for a generic game. At least they’re consistent…

ly sucky. High five!

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The returning veterans sound better than ever and the new additions seem to be quite excited to be a part of the game. I have confidence that the voice acting will–wait, the eye candy’s not Miranda? One Miranda wasn’t enough? How will we ever differentiate between Ashley (young and busty white brunette 1), Miranda (young and busty white brunette 2), and “Diana Allers” (young and busty white brunette 3)?

If the Illusive Man is cloning these broads and giving them different hairstyles to trick us, then he’s got another thing coming! Homosexual Shepard FTW!

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Now we know. And you know what? I actually think it looks pretty cool. The combat has always been fun in Mass Effect games and this will give me a chance to try out all the classes without having to replay the entire game half a dozen times. Not to mention the hilarity that will ensue when you get a mix of Krogans and Salarians on your team. If any game excuses ignorant online racial tensions, it will surely be Mass Effect 3. It’s just role-playing, right?

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By looking exactly like Fable‘s. Come on, guys. This stylized, colorful, cartoony trend is starting to get just as old as hyper-realism. Maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but I’d love to hear an argument on what makes Reckoning‘a art direction completely unique from everything else. Why hasn’t somebody made a game world in the vein of Picasso’s work or something like that? Lord, give indie games the power to save us all!

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Some people might not like the guy, but he sounds like he legitimately enjoys and has played the Mass Effect games. And just imagine how awesome Vega’s I Know What You Did Last Summer-inspired loyalty mission will be! No? Scooby Doo? Well…he’s married to Sarah Michelle Gellar; maybe their bodies of work will somehow cross and the Reapers will turn out to be vampires and Buffy the Vampire Slayer will come to save the day. Boy, that sure would give me the wiggins!

But putting all of my fantasies aside, this video actually has a fair amount of new gameplay clips in it, and they look pretty good. I’m really starting to get excited for ME3. March 6th, baby!

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Sounds like BioWare is focused on an ever-improving experience. I’m sure the game’s many, many fans will appreciate it.

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For those who are in the mood for a more domineering kind of relationship on Valentine’s Day. Well, at least if you download the Xbox 360 version and have Kinect. As you can see in the video above, most of the commands seem awkward, inefficient, and sort of silly. However, I will admit that the fluidity with which multiple orders can be issued in real time, in the heat of combat is impressive. I imagine that on the hardest difficulty setting, that sort of seamless tactical control could make for some really satisfying encounters.

But if you don’t have the pleasure of that $150 mic known as Kinect, then you’ll just have to settle for the the regular old demo, also available on the PS3 and PC. According to GameSpot, it will drop “gamers into the title’s opening sequence, allowing players to slog through the initial Reaper attack on Earth. Additionally, the game’s demo will give players a taste of the franchise’s new co-op multiplayer mode.”

That co-op portion unlocks on the 14th if you happen to have a Battlefield 3 online pass (that’s EA for you), but you’ll have to wait just a few days longer til the 17th if you’re lacking in that department.

Mass Effect 3 releases on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on March, 6th.

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Think of it as an internship for the friendly corporation you’ll be working for come February 21st. I don’t think they’ll blast that exciting music that the kids seem to like so much over all of your simplistic and shallow “mergers and acquisitions,” so maybe you’ll be able to get an objective feel for the game. Then again, the marketing department might realize that straight FPSs aren’t the most engaging games these days, so don’t be alarmed if some dubstep makes a surprise appearance. We’ll know the corporate culture for sure sometime toward “the end of January,” but only for “a limited time.”

Gather your cabal for Syndicate’s co-op demo, coming this month [Joystiq]

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This has something to do with video games, I swear!

Here’s how it is: game developers and publishers make games, and most of the time they like to release them too. That’s what this post is about if you couldn’t tell from the header image.

For instance, Konami likes to make Silent Hill games, and apparently they also like to release them all at the same time. As previously reported, the high definition remake of the second and third games in the series will be scaring you all over again on March 6th. If you’re more of a convicted felon type of person, then you’ll be interested in knowing that Silent Hill: Downpour protagonist, Murphy Pendelton will be coming to your PS3 or Xbox 360 on March 13th. But if you’re more of the literary persuasion, then the March 27th release of PS Vita exclusive Silent Hill: Book of Memories might be more up your alley. That features scary books and cooperative multiplayer, which will hopefully lead to a cooperative reading mini-game.

Like killing and racing more than running from evil nurses? Well then I’ve got some good news for you. If an errant tweet about a private meeting held by EA is to be believed, then we can all look forward to new Medal of Honor and Need for Speed games in this year of our lord two thousand and twelve.

But maybe you’re the kind of person that prefers some strategy mixed in with their shooting. Well then have I got some bad news for you. 2K Marin’s radical reboot of the XCOM series has been delayed to 2013. That’s quite a long time from now. Apparently 2K would rather relaunch the series with the Firaxis developed strategy title XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Well folks, that’s how it is, and there’s not much we can do about it besides wait. Good luck and godspeed.

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Before we move on to how out of touch Microsoft’s marketing people are (oh, there’s a trailer below that will blow your mind), let us first discuss the game featured in the above video–I Am Alive. The title’s development struggles have been well documented and there’s certainly reason for concern when we stop to consider that it shifted developers mid-development and transformed from a full-fledged retail game to a downloadable title. And that gameplay does look a little rough around the edges in the graphical department. But I can honestly say that Ubisoft Shanghai’s take on the post-apocalypse is one of my most anticipated games of the year. It’s just fundamentally different from nearly every other game on the market today, and in this humble writer’s hopes, has the potential to revolutionize video games’ take on the post-apocalypse in a very positive way. So dude: seriously, just buy it.

“But when does it come out!?!” you ask. Well, friend, the unfortunate truth is that none of the games in Microsoft’s House Party 2012 have been given firm release dates yet, but if we go by last year’s standards, then late February seems like a good starting point. I would also wager that the house Bill Gates built has some sort of timed exclusivity on I Am Alive if it’s being included in this promotion.

But as you’ll see in the video below, it isn’t much of a party with only one guest. That’s why Microsoft has also invited Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, Warp, and Nexuiz to do what video games to best and boogie down to terrible music in drug-free raves.

Wait…that’s not what video games do best? That’s not even what video gamers do best? But how could Microsoft’s demographic research be wrong? How?

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, I Am Alive part of XBLA’s ‘House Party 2012′ [Joystiq]

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