Kotakuite A.W. sends word that a Mass Effect Experience site has gone live on the Xbox website. Upon reaching the site, you are presented with a keycode lock which asks you in your birthdate date to access the site.
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Kotaku's Mark Wilson writes,
"Yesterday I put out a call for any and all questions you might have about Mass Effect. I didn't expect much of a response, just some random point of clarification and the such. Instead, the comments were flooded with questions and I received quite a few emails as well. I did my best to answer questions on every topic that was asked, so hit the jump for the full (and fairly long) FAQ."
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Just like the visual style of the game, the soundtrack calls back to an earlier age of science-fiction, with electronic music blended with orchestral scoring by composers Jack Wall and Sam Hulick. The Mass Effect Original Soundtrack will release on November 20.
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Nov 16, 2007 Anyone can save the universe. No, really... You could do it. Your neighbor could do it. Your kindly old grandfather could do it. Mass Effect's character customization system is so detailed that, with a tweak here and there, you can cast whoever you like in the epic saga. Everything can be altered and scaled, from eye color to nose size to lip curl to gnarly scar ... » Read More

Nov 16, 2007 It's turning into a bit of a soap opera in the Singapore gaming scene; Mass Effect, previously banned in the country for its dirty lesbian sex scene, has now had its ban reversed and will go on sale as planned. Like God of War II and The Darkness before it, Mass Effect was originally refused release by Singapore's Media Development Authority because it contains "a scene of lesbian intimacy... as such the game has been disallowed," a statement read. Under local guidelines games ... » Read More

GameAxis reports:

"And so it happens that, in a surprise move, the MDA has reversed its earlier ban on Mass Effect. That's right peeps, the game - complete with not-that-hawt alien-on-human Sapphic love scene - will be allowed into Singapore after all, and will be released under a M18 rating. Who knows, your 70 comments on our previous post on this subject might have had something to do with it. (Then again, maybe not.)"
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Mass Effect has been released 1 week before the official release date by EBgames in Australia, to the surprise of BioWare.

Reports of gamers actually having the game in their hands now via the xbox.com.au forums.

Update: Now with photographic evidence!
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Metacritic just recently got their hands on the first group of Mass Effect scores from 5 reviewers so far.
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Singapore's Board of Film Censors has issued a statement on Thursday, November 14, banning the sale of "Mass Effect" for an intimate scene between two female characters. The game contains "a scene of lesbian intimacy... as such the game has been disallowed," the deputy director of the board said in the statement. Singapore is the only country to have banned the game, which is the first Microsoft title to be banned there.

The statement also said that earlier this year Singapore banned "God of War II" for nudity and "The Darkness" for excessive violence and religiously offensive expletives. Singapore will introduce a new video games classification system next year, which could allow those titles to be passed. Homosexual intercourse remains criminal in Singapore.

[ Note: The official statement confirms an earlier rumor that Mass Effect is banned in Singapore. ]
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Bioware, just before the launch of Mass Effect has entered into a deal with Hyperchild, to create a new line of Mass Effect statues. The first statue will be available in Feburary of 2008.
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Pacific Crest Securities' Evan Wilson says new version of Nintendo's portable complete; holiday release torrent creating retail woes.

Wilson notes that not all games will be affected by insufficient retail space. "Clearly, the end-of-year squeeze creates limited space at retail, which limits the size of initial orders of games with less publicity and reorders of games with lower quality." He anticipates games with high preorder rates such as Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, Assassins' Creed, Mass Effect, WWE, and Rock Band to be less affected by insufficient retail space. "Titles that could be at risk of getting squeezed," he continues, "include Haze, Kane & Lynch, and Uncharted."
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From Chris Priestly Community Coordinator of Bioware,

"We have some good news to pass on for our fellow Canadians who were initially upset that they could not buy the Mass Effect Limited Collector's Edition here in Canada.

We can now confirm that the LCE IS available for sale through at least 2 websites in our ongoing attempts to make it available to as many people as possible.

It has been spotted for sale at both www.bestbuy.ca and www.futureshop.ca . If anyone else sees any retailers that are offering it, please post here and let us all know.

Once again, in Canada and the US the LCE is only available through online orders, not in stores. In Europe it is available in stores (check with your local store to see if they carry it online). If there are any further devleopements, we will make them known. Thanks all."
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Reports are cropping up of advanced sales of Bioware's Mass Effect, with Kmart stores selling it a whole ten days early and copies now appearing on Ebay.

Rules are made to be broken, and apparently so are street dates.

Cheap Ass Gamer (CAG) is reporting that Kmart stores nationwide have broken the November 20th release date for Bioware's Mass Effect by selling the game a whopping ten days early.

The selling snafu was first announced by CAG users uberczar915 and Viper22, who, clutching their shiny new copies of the game in anxious fingers, skipped happily to their computers to brag to the blogsphere about their early purchases. Both scored their copies in Kmarts, with Viper22 reporting his came from the Crofton, MD location.

Some online retailers are also listed as having Mass Effect "in stock," with Walmart, Toys R Us, and NewEgg among those that are causing early salivation.
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Nov 14, 2007 Five new Mass Effect videos have made their way to our computers and we couldnt be happier to see them. With the release date right around the corner, weve still got tons more questions than answers thanks to these three gameplay videos and two TV spots. For one, whats the deal with the class systems (and why do they dress alike), and for another, whats causing all the exploding death? And what gives with the lesbian love scene? Well, dont expect to find answers to those ... » Read More

Nov 12, 2007 It seems Mass Effect's dirty lesbian love scene has earned it a ban in Singapore, according to blog GameAxis. The blog claims official sources have confirmed BioWare's ban in the region, and we're inclined to believe them after BioShock and virtually every GTA game ever was banned in Singapore previously. The scene in question has your character and a blue alien lover engage in a brief bed tumble, and it's already earned Mass Effect a tame 12 rating in the UK (and a more severe ... » Read More

GameAxis reports that Singapore has banned Mass Effect, apparently over a lesbian make-out scene.
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The Angry Pixel gets word from Microsoft India regarding the yet-to-arrive Gears of War for PC and the going-to-arrive Mass Effect, along with some bits about the promised Bollywood-oriented and locked Arcade content for Xbox LIVE.
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After a video snafu earlier this week, it seems that the real love scene from Mass Effect has finally been revealed.
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Official Xbox Magazine sings the praises of Mass Effect before rewarding it with a perfect 10. Editor Paul Curthoys writes:

"The experience as a whole - the sense of awe that lasts all game long, and the emotions in your gut as you sit back at the end and just gape - pays off all on its own. Personally, it's the best game I've ever played, but even if you're not a hardcore sci-fi nerd like me, Mass Effect is a transcendent experience, the new standard-setter for what a game can be. You have to play it, and that's why we're kinda jealous of you. Even if you memorized all the previews and trailers, you're still not ready for how awesome this game is."
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Mass Effect is now In Stock on Walmart.com.
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