On this week's Mass Effect 3-focused PWNCAST, which we recorded on Wednesday night, we discussed where on earth BioWare could take the series, flippantly joking that it'd probably devolve into a series of FPS spin-offs.

As it turns out, BioWare had already looked at doing just that.

Markus Persson has said that he finds the notion of having one platform for digital distribution a little scary.

“I think it’s a bit dangerous to only have one digital distribution platform like Steam. I love Valve, but out of principle, I find the idea of one platform a bit scary,” he said.

“So I like that there are others competing – for example, Desura and Impulse, who recently got bought by GameStop. It’s a good thing that there are more.”

BioWare plan to tempt a few more players into Star Wars: The Old Republic this weekend by launching a free trial that runs from this Thursday to next Monday. You'll be able to download and play the trial via the official site once it kicks off at 05:00 GMT tomorrow morning.

There are a few restrictions to be aware of, however, which are the same as the 7 day friends trial extended to existing consumers. Full details below.

• What: Alice: Madness Returns
• Where: Impulse Driven
• Current Price: £4.49
• Alice: Madness Returns PC Price Comparison
• Alice: Madness Returns Review

In terms of value, this deal does the business. Impulse Driven's sub-£5 price is one of the cheapest we've ever seen, and a decent saving for a meaty, visually arresting game. On the other hand, though, I was rather disappointed by Alice: Madness Returns and made no bones about it in my 5/10 review. It's a textbook case of style over substance, with truly beautiful visuals masking miserably poor level design and dated, cliched gameplay.

Is the Galaxy still not quite as Ready as you'd like? We'll here comes another slice of Mass Effect software to help get those fleets in order. Anyone would think EA are trying to getting the word out about a new game of theirs.

EA head honcho John Riccitiello has suggested that the disappearance of "a major European retail partner" wouldn't impact hugely on EA as "other retailers will absorb the business".

Speaking at a Wedbush Morgan technology investors event last week, EA's CEO didn't name the GAME Group explicitly, but he didn't really have to. His responses to questions regarding "a UK retailer in distress" were telling enough, suggesting that the loss of said retailer would amount to little more than a "very temporary dislocation" for EA.

• What: Burnout: Paradise – The Ultimate Box
• Where: Origin
• Current Price: £2.49
• Burnout: Paradise – The Ultimate Box PC price comparison
• Burnout: Paradise Review

Burnout Paradise still stands tall as one of the best racing games of this generation; seamlessly blending stupendously satisfying mechanics with a jaw-dropping amount of freeform exploration. The Ultimate Box contains a swathe of extra DLC atop the meaty original game... which is a standout bargain for Origin's tiny price of £2.49.

• What: Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
• Where: Origin
• Current Price: £17.49
• Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning Price Comparison
• Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning Review

Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning is a seriously big game, and one that balances exploration and character skill development with exciting moment-to-moment combat. The fantasy setting is thoroughly uninspired and as insipid as they come, but there's no quibbling with the value. Especially since you can save an absolute packet by downloading it directly from Origin.

• What: Syndicate
• Where: Origin
• Current Price: £17.49

Origin, EA's download client, are currently offering a few nifty deals today - and we'll start with this one. You'll save a few quid on the next cheapest retailer, which is arguably a good thing since the campaign is incredibly short despite being slick and atmospheric. Longevity stems from the excellent (if punishing) cooperative suite, which challenges you to treat the gunplay like an MMO rather than a traditional FPS: designate roles for each team member and you'll come out on top.

Console Players Will Be Able To Rent Dedicated Servers

EA has revealed three new DLC expansions for Battlefield 3, set to release between June and "winter." Players can expect a claustrophobic infantry-only experience in Close Quarters, while heavy metal shenanigans will be provided by Armoured Kill. End Game, the fourth expansion, is still a mystery but has been confirmed for year's end. On top of this trifold bombardment, EA has also confirmed that console players will soon be able to rent their own dedicated servers.

Danger Close's Medal Of Honor sequel has received its first trailer, which hammers home the fact that Tier 1 Operators are a bit on the fearsome side. Apparently, we'll soon be able to pre-order the limited edition "at no extra cost," suggesting that extra DLC will be bundled with early orders.

We've also got a few new details about the story and setting, which promises to mirror "real world events."

This question has been flying around an awful lot lately, and with good reason: do you need to play the first two Mass Effect games before getting into Mass Effect 3? The simple answer is that it's not fundamentally necessary, no. There are ways to fill in the crucial gaps and get up to speed relatively quickly. But should you jump in at the end? That's a different question entirely. Here are ten reasons explaining why we think you should try and play all three games in order.

10. Mordin

If you don't know why a salarian singing Gilbert and Sullivan is one of the best things to be in a video game ever, then I pity you. Because you clearly haven't played Mass Effect 2. Why would you rob yourselves of a lovely little Easter Egg that's this good? Not only is Mordin one of the best written characters to come out of the whole trilogy, he pretty much stole the show in ME2, just as a certain krogan did in the first game.

9. The Mako

Missing out on the original Mass Effect not only means missing out on some of the finest storytelling we've ever seen in games ever, but you miss out on the genuine sense of scale that comes from actually exploring planets. Yes, the objectives themselves were repetitive and the cookie-cutter designs for outposts a little irritating, but this was a mechanic that should have been explored rather than axed, having given the player a sense of pioneering freedom that we never got back.

The thrill of porting your own Commander Shepard into Mass Effect 3 is almost too exciting to bear, but EA has confirmed that the process could potentially hit a snag on the Xbox 360. Mass Effect 3 won't be compatible with the Xbox 360's cloud-saving functionality - meaning that you'll need to physically move your Mass Effect 2 save files onto your new hard drive via a flash drive or transfer cable. Bizarrely, you'll have to transfer the cloud save back to your original hard drive: if you move them via the Cloud, the file won't be supported.

This won't be a problem if you happen to have your original hard drive, but those whose HDDs have failed won't be unable to salvage their data. EA acknowledges that this  may be a "great setback" for some unfortunate players, though have yet to confirm whether a fix is in the works.

It's PARTY TIME! P-A-R-T-Why? Because Mass Effect 3 is out this week and it's looking dead set to rock our socks off. Our review is coming in the next few days, but from what we've seen so far it's safe to say that BioWare's space opera finale will be suitably epic.

With that in mind, and considering that it gets lonely up here in Dealspwn Towers, it's time to throw our first Twitter party of the year, and what better way to do that than start with what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest games of the year.

Here's the deal: We have fifteen copies up for grabs. There'll be five rounds of questions, with three winners per round.

As with previous parties, every hour, on the hour, between 6pm and 11pm there'll be a question going up on either the @Dealspwn or @HotUKDeals streams on Twitter. We'll be kicking things off at six and then alternating proceedings into the night like so:

• 6pm - Dealspwn
• 7pm - HotUKDeals
• 8pm - Dealspwn
• 9m - HotUKDeals
• 10pm - Dealspwn

All you need to do is reply on Twitter with the answer and the #winMassEffect3 hashtag within the hour.

For example, if this is the question:

Win Mass Effect 3. Who voices Miranda Lawson? Reply with answer & hashtag before 7pm. #winMassEffect3

If the question came from Dealspwn, then you should answer:

Yvonne Strahovski @dealspwn #winMassEffect3

Or if the question came from HUKD, then answer:

Yvonne Strahovski @HotUKDeals #winMassEffect3

Individual question contests will last an hour, after which three winners with the correct answer will be chosen at random for each question. You can expect the 6pm winners to be announced at 7.30, the 7pm winners to be announced at 8.30 and so on.

A few house rules:

• One entry will be accepted per account per question. You're welcome to compete in all of the question contests, but the maximum you'll win is one copy.
• One entrant per household.
• UK entrants only.

Good luck!

Stargate Atlantis actor Joe Flanigan has seemingly confirmed EA's rumoured Army Of Two sequel - Army Of Four - in a recent tweet. The star will apparently be providing voice talent for the project, which is heavily tipped to use Frostbite 2.0. However, Flanigan got his franchises slightly mixed up and quickly corrected the mistake.

"Just signed on to do the new AO4 video game for Electronic Arts. Some splinter from Battlefield. Finally, my kids think I am cool again."

"Actually, showing how distinctively uncool I am, I think I have those games mixed up. Thankgod my kids don't read twitter."

We're rather excited about this, actually. Army Of Two may be dumb, but it's big and brilliant fun - and we're looking forward to more details. Salem, Salem, Salem! [Twitter]

"Each Of You Needs To Be Ready To Die"

We've used the words "epic" and "Mass Effect 3 trailer" in the same sentence quite a few times over the last year. But with Shepard's last battle now less than a week from release, EA has released what could be the definitive video. There's plenty of in-engine footage, massive explosions, Reapers galore, heroic posturing and Garrus being a total legend. As per usual.

Get it after the jump, and prepare yourself for next Friday.

Morality is a key part of the Mass Effect experience, and BioWare has announced that it will work slightly differently in Mass Effect 3 compared to the two previous games. Your Shepard won't have to be a fully Paragon or Renegade character to experience all of the dialogue options - instead, reputation is all that matters.

After Battlefield 3: Aftershock released on the iOS devices in mid-February, a deluge of negative reviews forced EA to pull the deeply flawed free shooter from the App Store. EA has now confirmed that the title has been permanently suspended and won't return to the App Store - citing their commitment to providing "the highest level of quality mobile entertainment."

"In the interest of bringing consumers only the highest level of quality mobile entertainment, EA Mobile has decided to suspend development and support of Battlefield 3: Aftershock and refocus its resources on other titles. The Aftershock servers will be live through March 31st, 2012, and customers who have already downloaded the game can continue to play until then."

If you were (un)fortunate to download it, you have less than a month to play online before the servers go down. [Vox Games]

EA has announced that Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning's first story expansion pack will launch on March 20th across all platforms. Entitled The Legend of Dead Kel, this new content will expand the map area by 15%, introduce a new environment called Gallows End, feature new characters and provide plenty of side missions to pursue. An "enormous estate" known as Gravehal Keep will include a backstory and subquests of its very own.

We awarded Big Huge Games' epic 8/10 in our Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning review.

EA have released a statement responding to this morning's news that UK retailer GAME will no longer be able to fulfil orders of Mass Effect 3, and will be refunding pre-orders.

The Collector's Edition of the title, which had been a GAME exclusive, will now be shared by four other leading retailers, according to EA.