The final piece of Mass Effect 2 downloadable content will pave the way for the Reaper invasion of Earth in Mass Effect 3 when it launches later this month, publisher EA announced today.

The 'Arrival' DLC will see Shepard and chums "sent to the edge of the galaxy to rescue an undercover operative who may have evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion." The Lance Henriksen-voiced Admiral Hackett of the Alliance Navy is said to play "a prominent role" in Arrival. Hopefully we'll finally get to put a weathered face to the gravely voice that's been doling out missions over the Normandy's comms channel. Read more »

Proving that a mixture of Renaissance-period drama and insane sci-fi nonsense pays off, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood has taken the top video game honors this year from the Writers Guild of America.

Some have criticized the guild for leaving out deserving games, leading WGA Videogame Writers Caucus (VWC) chair & steer committee member Micah Wright to defend the organization in an editorial published on GamesIndustry.biz. Read more »

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.

Today's Filter features Tomb Raider, MaXplosion, Dragon Age 2, Bulletstorm, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Zeit2, LEGO Universe, Adam's Venture 2: Solomon's Secret, Champions Online, Fight Night Champion, Supremacy MMA, Dino Strike, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, and Mass Effect 2. Read more »

The nominees for the 11th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced, meaning that we now get to see what games the international panel of industry professionals felt are in the running to be acknowledged for the greatest overall achievements over the past year. (via Gamasutra)

The Xbox Live Arcade exclusive, LIMBO, leads the charge with seven nominations, followed closely by Red Dead Redemption (six nominations) and Mass Effect 2 (five nominations). All three front-runners are in the running for GDC's Game of the Year award. Pioneer, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement Special Awards, as well as the host of this year's awards show, have yet to be revealed. Read more »

Those of you that will be buying Mass Effect 2 on the PlayStation 3 when it is released on January 18th (21st in Europe) will be treated to some free ex-pre order bonus content courtesy of BioWare.

BioWare tweeted that new owners will be able to grab the Terminus armor and Blackstorm gun through the PlayStation Network for free until February 23rd. Read more »

It looks like Mass Effect 2's content and information network "Cerberus" has decided to take a last minute vacation. Kotaku spotted a news update within the Mass Effect 2 network computer revealing that the service will halt updates soon after the game's one year anniversary, on January 24.

The Cerberus Network offered users daily updates to the Mass Effect universe, often fleshing out the background of the series in text as well as through free downloadable content. While DLC has since shifted to a premium model--the last of which put players on the trail of the mysterious Shadow Broker--daily text updates from the "Cerberus Daily News" have continued. Read more »

Xbox 360 Exclusive: Mass Effect 2

Though it is also available on the PC (and soon to be released on the PS3), for the purposes of this category, we were looking at console exclusives and of the bunch, Mass Effect 2 was the clear winner for the Xbox 360 this year. We loved the game's updated combat system, simplified--and console friendly--menu system, and consequences. The story captivated us as Shepard assembled a team of space toughs on his second quest to save the universe. We're eager to see which decisions and events affect the conclusion in Mass Effect 3. Read more »

DLC Add-on: Red Dead Redemption's "Undead Nightmare"

After shooting our way across the southwest, through Mexico, and back again in the increasingly desperate main quest, "Undead Nightmare" offered a nice way to return to our gunslinger ways without any pesky morality issues. That applies to both the living and the dead. The honor meter is gone for this new single-player adventure and all that really matters is saving your family from zombification; it's a classic. Help the survivors and hope they return the favor, or knock them off and take what you need. Though the storyline proper lasts only a few hours, this add-on does an even better of job of turning you loose in the Wild West to raise hell. Oh, and you get to try and break the four horses of the Apocalypse if you want to for your steed. Read more »

Role-Playing: Mass Effect 2

In the far reaches of space, one man (or woman, if you'd prefer) holds the key to the salvation and preservation of the human race. In Mass Effect 2 players are introduced to a host of new characters that fight alongside Commander Shepard. While Shepard can be crafted to be as good or as bad as you want him or her to be, the character manages to remain a completely memorable figure in the world of video games for what he or she is able to accomplish. Read more »

Story: Red Dead Redemption

In most cases, Rockstar has a knack for getting us to root for the bad guy. While Red Dead Redemption follows the same general landscape as the Grand Theft Auto series, the Rockstar San Diego-developed game is much more than an offshoot of that franchise's core mechanics.Telling a rich, detailed story with memorable characters is one of the developer's strongest abilities and in Red Dead Redemption we're introduced to one of the finest the company has ever produced. Read more »

Magic Moment: Mass Effect 2

We do lots of different things in video games but every so often we find ourselves, controller in hand, experiencing one of those "this is why I play video games" moments. In 2010, the best of these came while directing Commander Shepard through conversations in Mass Effect 2. A refined version of the system in the first game, it perfected the ability to naturally guide the course of conversations being held by the characters without having to break and reason out long passages of dialog to select between. Coupled with greatly improved staging of the scenes and more cinematic camera angles, it became almost impossible not to get completely wrapped up in Shepard's saga. Read more »

Space explorers take note, Mass Effect's PlayStation debut has been dated for both North America and Europe.

Originally given the rather ambiguous date of January 2011, Electronic Arts told IGN that Mass Effect 2 will arrive on January 18 in North America and on January 21 in Europe. Read more »

The promised "hours of bonus content" included with the PlayStation 3 port of Mass Effect 2 have been revealed as a wodge of downloadable content packs plus a "fully interactive" comic filling PS3 gamers on what happened in the first Mass Effect.

Mass Effect 2 on PS3 will pack the downloadable content packs Lair of the Shadow Broker, Overlord and Kasumi - Stolen Memory, which totalled $24 on PC and Xbox 360, as well as the Blood Dragon Armor available through Dragon Age: Origins. It'll also have all the free Cerberus Network DLC and offer other free and paid DLC. Read more »

Mass Effect 2 executive producer Casey Hudson has revealed some interesting statistics from the game over at IGN.

BioWare put a whole bunch of hooks into the game, revolving around "events" to track things that players were doing. For example, the developers could track when dialogue was skipped by the player, leading them to discover that 15% of conversations were skipped by the total player population. Read more »

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.

Today's Filter includes a ton of new videos for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and Aion. Other than that we've got a debut trailer for the PSN-exclusive Top Hand Rodeo Tour, DLC trailers for Mass Effect 2 and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days as well as new media for Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Legend of Edda. Read more »