Every one with their fingers on the pulse of the gaming community knows today is Mass Effect 3‘s release date. Midnight launches around the nation were held, and right now most gamers are either playing or day dreaming about playing the epic final chapter of Commander Shepard.

What might be a little less known is that an iOS companion game for the hit to be has released on the app store today. Normally ‘little brother’ mobile games don’t make to much of an impact on our rader, but this release has two major things going for it. One it is Mass Effect, and two it was developed by Iron Monkey Studios, the folks behind the fantastic Dead Space iOS game.

EA is promising a console like experience for this game, and with Iron Monkey involved we are inclined to give this a shot. The game looks to be a concurrent adventure to the main title:

As Commander Shepard battles Reapers across the galaxy, veteran Cerberus agent Randall Ezno procures aliens for illicit experiments at a secret facility. But when the Director of the facility goes too far – Randall fights back and vows to bring Cerberus down! 

Can you fight your way off the hostile Cerberus base and deliver their secret research to the Alliance? 

Hop on your prettiest iOS device and download Mass Effect Infiltratior today for $6.99.

How often do you speculate and daydream on what your favorite video game characters would look like if they had their day and got a live action movie adaptation? What would Drake from Uncharted look like or how tall would Kratos from God of War be in comparison to other folks? Well that’s where this brand new commercial from Sony helps us out.

This new commercial to promote the PS3 has literally dozens of characters from your favorite PlayStation games giving thanks to us, the gamer, for always being there and getting them out of those tough binds. YouTube user shikhargautam broke down which characters we can see in order of when they appear.

All characters, as they appear: 0:47 Nathan Drake (Uncharted 3), Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII) 0:56 Cole (inFamous) with a Helghast (Killzone) behind 1:00 Isaac Clarke (Dead Space), Ghost (CoD: MW2), Agent 47 (Hitman) 1:06 Solid Snake (MGS4) 1:15 Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal), Chell (Portal) 1:18 Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet) 1:20 Athena and Kratos (God of War) 1:23 Paul (Tekken) 1:38Little Sister (BioShock) 1:46 Ezio (Assassin’s Creed 2) 1:50 ISA soldier (Killzone)1:52 Chimera Hybrid (Resistance)

There may even be a few that he missed, so check out the commercial after the jump.

Take a bunch of women in their late forties to mid-fifties and show them graphic images of violence and mutilation from the upcoming Dead Space 2 (which comes out tomorrow, January 25th) and record their reactions ranging from utter terror to complete revulsion. Then make sure to tell people just how violent your game is over some not so violent in game videos. Slap a “M for Mature” tag on it and there you have your ad campaign with the tag line, “Your Mom Hates This.”

Give me a break. There are so many problems with this campaign that is insulting to the gaming community as well as general consumers. Let’s break this down in a logical manner, even though obviously the advertising agency didn’t.

Dead Space 2 is a rated M game, meaning it should only be targeting players over the age of 18. But, the message of “Your mom hates this” is something that marketers would gear towards a younger self righteous and rebellious person in their early teens. By the age of 18, most people have evolved in to at least somewhat freethinking individuals who make decisions based more on personal preference than just trying to do something to tick their mom off.

Normally, it’s pretty hard to swallow a film based on a video game. The only time that rule is voided is when the film is a direct-to-dvd passion project. Look at Halo: Legends. Now, from the fine folks at Anchor Bay films comes a new adaptation in Dead Space: Aftermath.

Based on the 2008 third-person shooter that combined elements of horror and sci-fi, this film picks up where the game left off, and leads us into the sequel, Dead Space 2. Here’s the synopsis.

The year is 2509. The first-responder ship USG O’Bannon has arrived at Aegis VII, attempting to hold the planet together in the wake of the catastrophe that destroyed the Ishimura. But only four members of the O’Bannon crew have survived, and the catastrophe remains unchecked. What went wrong? What secrets do they hide? And what new threats have been revealed…in the Aftermath!

Starring enough sci-fi regulars to make your head spin, this flick is available on Blu-Ray and DVD January 25th to coincide with the release of the new game. Check out a brand new clip from the film after the jump.

Dead Space came out in late 2008 to both critical adulation and strong sales. There was no doubt a sequel would be in the works for this third person horror shooter. But how do you keep a story going where the player is the sole survivor of his infested ship?

Nintendo Wii took the path of a on-rail shooter prequel Dead Space: Extraction. Though a critical darling, sales were dismal. Now, Dead Space 2 readies itself for store shelves with the next chapter of Issac Clark’s survival. As with most sequels, Issac is expected to encounter a host of new baddies.

EA has taken an interesting path in revealing these new “necromorphs.” For more than a week, a zoomed in image has slowly been revealed over the game’s Facebook page. Now, finally fully revealed, we have been given a glimpse at a delightful fellow named “the puker”.

Possibly a lovechild of an original Dead Space necromorph and the Boomer from Left 4 Dead, the Puker already looks like a villain we are not looking forward to running into in the cramped hallways of a barge floating through space. But as long as he doesn’t send the Horde after us, we think we will be able to manage. T

ake a look after the break and let us know what you think. Dead Space 2 is expected to ship in the first quarter of 2011.

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.