Mass Effect 3 will be Wii U launch title, features full multiplayer

EA probably could have just plopped the Mass Effect 3 single-player campaign onto the Wii U and picked up more than a fair few sales, as that's the main draw for most players. However, today at the EA Summer Showcase they announced that they're going all-out with the upcoming port.

This will be the first time a Mass Effect game will appear on a Nintendo console, which is somewhat at odds with Mass Effect 3's storyline which incorporates players' decisions (by reading their old save files) from previous installments to create a cohesive storyline through all three game while still allowing for widespread player choice.

To get around the fact that nobody could possibly have a Wii U or Wii ME1 or 2 save file, EA said they will be featuring a mechanic similar to what was available in Mass Effect 2, which allowed you to choose what happened in the previous games.

The official launch date for the Wii U (and by extension, this version of ME3) is still unknown though we imagine Nintendo must be planning to announce that relatively soon.

Andrew Groen

Andrew is a freelance video game journalist, writing for sites like Wired and GamesRadar. Andrew has also written a book called EMPIRES OF EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online.