One of the biggest game releases this year is the upcoming Mass Effect 3, the sequel to the mega hit franchise that blends Sci-Fi action and RPG immersion. The game is already being penciled in for game of the century and fans are at a fever pitch in anticipation, so bringing the game to iOS devices seems a smart way to capitalize.

The just announced Mass Effect Datapad is still clouded in some mystery, but we do know it will be an iPad exclusive. Best estimation is that the app will work as sort of a strategy guide, or some sort of informational support for your missions.

Also, EA has announced Mass Effect Infiltrator for all iOS devices, a third person shooter that is meant to feed into the main game’s Galaxy At War system. The mobile game is set around freeing prisoners and gaining evidence against Cerberus, both of which will have a direct impact on your single player experience.

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One of the very first booths I hit on the show floor this year was Bioware’s SWTOR – or Star Wars: The Old Republic – the company’s massively multi-player game set in the Star Wars universe. In development for the last five years, I was excited to learn there would finally be hands-on demos of the game both at the Con as well as off-site at the Hilton Gaslamp across the street.

To coincide with Comic-Con this year, Bioware announced pre-orders for the game on Thursday, which would allow players early access to the game as well as spiffy in-game bonuses. Given that the game’s release window is set for Holidays 2011, it made sense for the SWTOR team to leverage Comic-Con to start showing off their shiny new MMORPG.

After a roughly 45-minute wait, myself and a dozen other eager players were ushered into the booth and each seated at one of the high-end Alienware gaming rigs running SWTOR. We slipped on our headphones and were given 15-minutes on the clock to put the game through its paces. I decided to play a Sith Warrior, went through a brief intro and my character was jumped into a desert-like world ripe for the exploring.

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The Flickcast’s very own Cortney Zamm has been covering the amazing video game previews and news hot from the show floor at PAX East 2011 like nobody’s business. And yet, there is one game in particular that I felt deserved a bit of extra coverage.

That game is BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, a story-driven MMO developed in conjunction with LucasArts. There’s a whole lot of anticipation for this game and with good reason: SWTOR will be the WoW of the Star Wars Universe. And the story will be deeper and more personal to each character. If you’re familiar with BioWare’s previous titles, you know how important story is to their game developers.

I’ve been following the developer’s blogs and various updates on this soon-to-be released title and recently, I was excited to hear that Bioware made a big showing at PAX East 2011 in Boston, offering fans a few new glimpses at this ambitious project.

Be sure to hit the jump to watch the developer’s walk-through video showcasing some of  SWTOR’s flash-points with tons of developer commentary and some amazing in-game footage.

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The expo floor is bigger and better at this year’s PAX East. If you’re a little overwhelmed by how much there is to take in, or if you’re one of the readers at home hoping to hear as much as possible about the con, here’s my guide to everything you might be missing on the show floor.

Child of Eden

The spiritual successor of Rez, an obscure rhythm-shooter released for PS2 before the time of Guitar Hero or Rock Band, Child of Eden is a game you may not have heard of, but should be really excited for. It’s another rhythm based shooter, where your shots release music that goes along with the background music and sound effects in the game, also similar to games like Lumines for the PSP.

What’s really exciting about Child of Eden is that it’ll have Kinect support, allowing you to shoot and navigate through its kaleidoscope world without a controller.

If you’re at PAX East this weekend, you can check out Child of Eden at booth #824.

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One of my personal faves in the ‘Upcoming PC and Mac Games We’re Dying to Play’ category, is Bioware’s upcoming ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic.’ The game known as ‘SWTOR’ to it’s eagerly-anticipating gamer fans, is a story-driven massively-multiplayer online game from BioWare and LucasArts. Explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy.

With the ability to align yourself with the light or dark side of the force, you will be able to play some iconic Star Wars classes such as Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi Knight or Jedi Consular. Those drawn to the dark side can choose from a variety of classes as well, including the Bounty Hunter, Sith Warrior, Imperial Agent or Sith Inquisitor. Expect the ability to finely-tune your character’s class with a huge list of abilities and skills, so if you want to play a Sith Warrior that can rush into the fray and take a beating, your skills and ability choices will allow you to pull that off.

Hit the jump for more details on SWTOR character companions, the MMO aspects of the game, as well as a very special cinematic trailer released during E3 that will blow your socks off!

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We’ve been fans of BioWare and EA’s Mass Effect game around here since its debut way back in 2008. Now, as things often do, the game has expanded into other areas like a comic book from Dark Horse Comics. Obviously, the game is pretty popular and has sold well and that success seems to have carried over into the comic world as well because according to Dark Horse’s official press release, the first issue of the comic has completely sold out.

The comic, called Mass Effect: Redemption, serves as a prequel for the new Mass Effect 2 game and tells the backstory for event that lead up to all the action in the game. Sound cool? It is. If you want to know more, check out all the following from the press release:

Just in time for the arrival of the hit series’ second issue, in stores today, Mass Effect: Redemption #1 will be reprinted to fill demand after selling out across the country.

Mass Effect: Redemption tells the exciting backstory that leads up to the events of Mass Effect 2, the recently released video game developed by the award-winning creative team at BioWare. The game’s lead writer, Mac Walters, takes up the pen to give fans exclusive insight into the events that unfolded between the conclusion of the original Mass Effect and the beginning of Mass Effect 2. Scripted by John Jackson Miller (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Invincible Iron Man) and drawn by Omar Francia (Star Wars: Legacy), this four-part series explores the exotic and dangerous future Milky Way of Mass Effect, revealing previously unseen locations, aliens, and enemies in this rich science-fiction landscape.

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As you’ve seen, there’s been a lot of excitement here on The Flickcast with the two upcoming non-fantasy genre based MMOs. Between Star Wars: The Old Republic and DC Universe Online , the MMO world currently dominated by World of Warcraft is going to be getting a run for its money. To help further the hype, Star Wars: The Old Republic put Beta Key signups live on their website today. This would allow a group of selected players to try out and test the features of the game before it became available to the general public for sale.

The response was so intense to this announcement that the sheer volume of people going to SW: TOR’s site caused the sign up page to crash. Doubtful that Bioware didn’t expect this level of hype, it is still amazing that so many people found out about the Beta signups and came on so quickly in hopes of the limited spots that the site was brought down for repairs by noon on its first day.

On the plus side, it’s better that the developers find out their problems now and get as many testers as they can for the game. As seen in the past, a glitch and bug filled launch day for the retail release can spell doom for many MMO’s.

Stay tuned to The Flickcast for more on Star Wars: The Old Republic and we’ll let you know if we get one of those Beta spots to take an early peek at the game.

Like we reported back at E3, Star Wars: The Old Republic is making its way to PCs in hopes of doing two things. The first is erase the sour taste that was left in the mouths of players from Star Wars: Galaxies, the first attempt of making a Star Wars MMORPG. In addition to getting rid of that sour taste by establishing a new Star Wars online experience, it looks to take the fight head on to the dark Sith lord that has dominated the online gaming world for the last four years, World of Warcraft.

No longer calling itself an RPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic considers itself a Massive Multiplayer Online game with action and roleplaying elements. Even with Blizzard’s response of a new expansion for WoW called Cataclysm, Star Wars: The Old Republic from Bioware may have the best shot of any upcoming MMO to unseat the Warcraft powerhouse.

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During the E3 show in Los Angeles yesterday, LucasArts and Bioware showed a sneak peek of their highly anticipated game Star Wars: The Old Republic. In case you’re one of the few not familiar with the game, here’s some details for you complete with a cool screenshot and trailer (after the jump).

The story begins 3,500 years before the rise of Darth Vader, when Revan disappeared into space, looking for a Sith Empire run by an Emperor determined to destroy his ancient Jedi enemies. Revan never returned. But the Sith Empire did. And now, they have plans to invade and take over our favorite galaxy far, far away.

According to LucasArts, this game is the first fully voiced MMO. Every class, male or female, and every single NPC or quest in the entire game will have a full voice-over. Like Knights of the Old Republic, the conversation tree in The Old Republic has three choices and every choice you make affects gameplay, sometimes drastically. But since this game is in real time, there is no chance to save and see what would have changed if you had made another choice.

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