As we have talked out with our other recent Coming in 2012 articles, there are some big games coming out throughout the year. For the most part, these games look to be pretty spread out throughout the year… except for the collection of games announced for March 6th. Six, yes you read that right, SIX blockbuster titles will be releasing on March 6th, 2012 representing four different genres in the gaming industry.

First, fighting fans will finally get their hands on the much heralded and anticipated Street Fighter X Tekken. Back at NYCC, I had the opportunity to get hands on with the game and from what time I got with it, it has the potential to live up to the hype. It’s incredible to think about the dream matchups coming to Street Fighter X Tekken such as the wrestling heavyweight brawl expected to take place between Zangief and King or the martial artistry shown by both Ryu and Kazuya.

The Mass Effect trilogy comes to an epic conclusion with the release of Mass Effect 3. Shepard and his crew come back to earth with this action RPG along with the inclusion of a new multiplayer mode on top of the game’s signature dialogue tree and morality based decision making. Expect this game to consume the lives of those gamers who are finally just finishing their 250 romps from Skyrim.

Another game that will be getting a 3 after it is the Max Payne series. After a long hiatus, Max Payne 3 will be hitting store shelves. Years, both in game time and real life, have passed since the last time we saw Max in bullet time with his Noir dialogue and comic style storytelling.

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Film remakes are something that we’ve all grown accustomed to over the years but with two major releases last week both being remakes, Footloose and The Thing, have we reached the breaking point? Is no film safe from a remake? Is it only time before we see Howard the Duck remade with a CGI duck a la The Smurfs? The new pop-culture debate show GeekDown discuss the pitfalls and necessary evils of remaking classic, or not so classic, films.

Jonathan London of Geekscape.net sits in the guest chair this week to give his insight on why piracy is causing the massive influx of remakes in recent years.

The trailer for Joss Whedon’s Avengers hit the internet this week and fanboys around the world had to change their pants. We manage to calm ourselves for a few minutes and dissect the trailer to make sense of why Thor is about to bring the hammer down on Captain America, why there’s so much Tony Stark, and why Loki hates cars so much.

If that wasn’t enough for one show, Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer is also up for discussion. After a drawn out “will they, won’t they” situation worthy of any sitcom, BioWare finally announced that they will have multiplayer in next year’s hotly anticipated Mass Effect 3.

Is it the final step towards making the game of the year or is it just an afterthought to sell more $10 online passes? Find out what we think on this episode of GeekDown after the jump.

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Legendary Entertainment, one of Hollywood’s smaller production firms,came to San Diego Comic-Con for the first time this year to talk about some of their upcoming films currently in pre-production. I sat down Friday, not sure what to expect, however I was excited to learn more about their upcoming films and hear from some of the directors and stars themselves chat about their various projects.

First up was the ‘Pacific Rim’ panel, presided over by acclaimed writer, producer and director Guillermo del Toro. His new flick stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, and Rinko Kikuchi and in Guillermo’s own words, features “Giant f***ing robots fighting giant f***ing aliens.” Ah Guillermo, always so colorful. Set to release in 2013, the film’s plot is quite simple, but also strikes me as something we haven’t quite seen before: as aliens attack and threaten the Earth’s existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.

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With Comic-Con only about a week away expect lots more announcements of events, panels, signings and more over the next several day. This time around its the folks at Dark Horse Comics with the announcement.

They’ve got a whole bunch of events planned for Comic-Con including stuff at their booth, panels in various Con rooms and a green screen full of exciting showings.

To make things easier, we’ve included the full press release so you can make sure to include Dark Horse in your Comic-Con planning. Check out out right here:

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2011 SCHEDULE! SIGNINGS, PANELS, AND GREEN SCREENS, OH MY!

July 13, MILWAUKIE, OR—It’s here! San Diego Comic-Con 2011 is upon us, and Dark Horse Comics is telling you all the goods ahead of time! Plan accordingly!

SIGNINGS
Wednesday, July 20
7:30 p.m.—Preview Night Reveal

Thursday, July 21
11 a.m.— Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
11 a.m.—Tara McPherson (The Art of Tara McPherson)
12:30 p.m.—Eric Powell (The Goon)
2 p.m.—Bruce Campbell (My Name Is Bruce) *Ticketed by Lottery
3 p.m.—Morgan Spurlock (Supersized)
3:30 p.m.—Jerry Robinson (Jet Scott)
4:30 p.m.—Jill Thompson (Beasts of Burden)

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It shouldn’t come as any surprise that a game like EA’s Mass Effect will be coming to the big screen. After all, the game is hugely successful and has spawned a sequel that has taken the gaming world by storm.

And now, according to reports, Legendary Pictures has picked up rights to Mass Effect and will develop it into a potential franchise. I Am Legend and Thor writer Mark Protosevich is currently in negotiations to handle adapting the game for the big screen.

Just in case you don’t play video games or haven’t, for some reason, heard of Mass Effect, the game debuted in 2008 and is a sci-fi action game set in the year 2183, focusing on a human soldier and his starship, the SSV Normandy. It features alien races, combat and technology which spans the galaxy offering a great deal of diverse situations and role play. In short, its a pretty darn fun game and would probably make a great movie.

Seeing as how this film is in the early stages and these kinds of movies tend to take a long time to make it to the screen, especially if you want to do it right, expect to see us bringing you more info on Mass Effect the movie over the next year at least. Until then, go back and play the game again and imagine what could be.

To help you, take a look at the Mass Effect 2 trailer after the jump.

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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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EA has teamed up with 20th Century Fox to turn their popular creature creator game, Spore, into a motion picture, Variety reports. Writing the Spore script will be Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, the team behind Disney’s upcoming “The Princess and the Frog” and directing will be Chris Wedge, director of Ice Age and Robots.

“I’m always looking for unique worlds to go to in animation,” Wedge said. “From every perspective — visually, thematically and comedically — the world of ‘Spore’ provides the potential to put something truly original on the screen.”

Released in 2008, Spore allows players to create and evolve a species from its earliest stages to its development as an intelligent and social creature by mixing role playing, action, and strategy. EA Entertainment’s Patrick O’Brien will produce “Spore” with Lucy Bradshaw, VP of Maxis Studio, the studio that developed the game with Will Wright, creator of “Sim City” and “The Sims” franchises for EA.

“With more than 100 million unique creatures uploaded to our website, it’s clear that people are passionate about the game, and it will be exciting to offer a powerful medium like film in order to expand their experience with ‘Spore,’ ” said Bradshaw.

Video game-to-film adaptations are pretty commonplace these days, especially if a game has a unique plot or premise. Which is why EA’s Spore looks to be an interesting but curious movie. What’s unique about Spore isn’t its plot or premise. It’s the gameplay. Gamers are able to customize their creatures in hundreds of ways, who interact with other gamer’s unique creations. How this will translate from the computer screen to the big screen remains to be seen.

EA also has plans for film adaptations of other popular franchises like The Sims, Army of Two, Dante’s Inferno, Dead Space, and Mass Effect.