Now, if you’re giving the game a try on Xbox 360, there’s one tiny, little niggling detail that might keep you from ultimate enjoyment — you’ve got to have a Gold account to truly enjoy the multiplayer part of that demo.

Fortunately, Microsoft’s helping you out a little bit on that front! As posted in their forums yesterday, Microsoft has decided, “[i]n celebration of Mass Effect 3,” to allow everyone to have access to the multiplayer part of the game for the duration of the demo.

According to the post, it does look as though this includes full access to Gold — but only for a very limited time. Just enough to get you hooked, perhaps. Just remember, the first hit is free, and then it takes over your life.

It’s like they knew that I really wanted to watch She’s All That again or something. As a side note, this featurette is pretty awesome, and so is Jennifer Hale’s hair. Watch below:

Today, we got a great look at Mass Effect 3‘s multiplayer via a brand-new trailer both highlighting the mode and the races and classes you’ll be able to play.

Not only that, but BioWare’s blog provided a great post, titled “So Your Friend Is a Vanguard,” to accompany the video. It goes over the sorts of steps you’ve got to take when it comes to playing with a friend who is a little more…overzealous when it comes to the multiplayer.

But first, check out the trailer to get your first real peek at what looks like a ton of fun.

Depending on the couple this could be awesome or it could be awkward. BioWare has announced that Mass Effect 3 demo will hit the various consoles on February 14, 2012. The demo will drop players right into the war with the Reapers and you’ll get to try out the co-op mode. Which means it can be shared by couples! Now that makes me happy.

“We are excited to be able to give gamers an expansive demo that will put them right on the front lines of this all-out galactic war,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series. “The entire scale of the game is bigger than anything we’ve ever done. With its intense action, deep customization and raw emotional power, Mass Effect 3 will deliver a spectacular action RPG experience to fans of the series and newcomers alike.”

Players will also get to try out the full voice recognition functionality on the Kinect for the 360 demo. Players will only get the co-op demo on February 17 unless you qualify for early access. To qualify, activate your Battlefield 3 online pass or follow MassEffect.com for other ways to qualify.

Nothing says love like BioWare and Mass Effect 3.

Playing the demos for upcoming titles Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Mass Effect 3 will unlock special items as part of a cross-promotion deal surely orchestrated by EA, who is publishing both titles.

The demo for Kingdoms of Amalur, available January 17, unlocks items for use in Mass Effect 3, and vice versa.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to deliver this massive one-two punch with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Mass Effect 3. We wanted to provide fans of the Mass Effect franchise with a unique set of rewards for diving into the expansive universe of Reckoning,” said Curt Schilling, Chairman and Founder of 38 Studios.

Playing the Reckoning demo allows you to unlock two items for Mass Effect 3 inspired by the game: the Reckoner Knight Armor, and The Chakram Launcher weapon, the latter of which is only unlocked after completing the demo and watching the final trailer. The demo itself allows you 45 minutes of play time in a portion of the open world after a brief introduction to the game.

Playing the demo for Reckoning also adds new items to the full version of that game, some of which up your fire and ice resistance.

Playing the upcoming demo for Mass Effect 3 will unlock two items for use in Reckoning: the classic N7 Armor (which might look kind of ridiculous in the Reckoning world, but we’ll see), and holographic Omniblade Daggers.

Does the promise of more in-game items make you more likely to give these demos a shot? Talk about it in the comments.

Everyone who pre-orders the game will receive the M55 Argus Assault Rifle. The rest of the items, however, are retailer-specific and will come in addition to the Argus:

GameStop customers get the N7 Warfare Gear, including the N7 Valkyrie assault rifle.

Ordering from Origin, EA’s proprietary digital distribution service, nets you the AT12 Raider shotgun.

Here’s video of the items in action:

Yes, that's a Portal plush turret to the left.

I usually make a couple of gaming resolutions every year, and there have only been two years where I actually fulfilled one or two of them. There’s generally the typical resolution to play what I have first before I buy something new, but that’s such a fool’s resolution, especially since I now review games. Really no sense in putting such an unrealistic resolution in my list this year.

There’s also a resolution that I will finish one or two particular games by the end of the following year. It was thanks to such resolutions that I finished Kingdom Hearts 2 and Final Fantasy XIII. My must-finish resolution this year was Red Dead Redemption, but I never took the game out of the box. I got distracted with so many of the great titles that launched this year and I was introduced to Mass Effect. Why play a new game when I can run through both Mass Effect games three times with three different agendas?

Another resolution I had this past year was to really get through my stack of shame and either finish those games or trade them in. I actually started off very well. Work on what I’m reviewing during the week, pick a stack of shame game on the weekend. My stack really started to reduce in size, but then this past November happened. And then I got a few games as Christmas presents. As a result, my stack as nearly doubled.

As I look toward 2012, I don’t see the stack dwindling. So I think it’s time to create a new type of gaming resolution; one in which I set priorities for my stack of shame. That is my stack of shame above. Let’s see if I can trim it down to something more realistic promising.

First thing(s) to go will have to be the Halo games. They were a gift from a friend since I liked Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary so much, but considering that the fourth game will not come out until holiday 2012 at the earliest, I’m not seeing much motivation to keep them in the stack right now. Out you go.

Next I think will be Fable III. It’s still in the original wrapping, and considering I didn’t like Fable II and never heard many good things about it…maybe I’ll just outright trade it in.

As much as it pains me, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is next. The game has been out for how long now and I just started playing it this year? I know it didn’t get the best reviews, but I loved it just because using the force to fling Storm Troopers everywhere always made me giggle. I won’t sell it yet, as I shall keep the foolish hope alive that I will have some down time some summer to play it.

I’ll keep Fallout 3 just because I’m curious what everyone has been raving about for the last couple of years, and Transformers will stay for purely nostalgic reasons. God of War Collection is definitely not a priority, and I’m not sure I’m ready to unprioritize Darksiders or Two Worlds II yet. Maybe they’ll go into a secondary priority stack. But that might be too ridiculous.

Much better! It doesn’t look nearly as scary now. I just won’t think of the additions it will get come January 31st and March 6th. Doesn’t Inversion release in February? Ugh, so screwed yet again. I’ll have to make a report this time next year as to how well I got through this stack.

Do you have any suggestions for what I should prioritize? Leave them in the comments below!

Now, admittedly I’ve been worried over various parts of the game. “Is it going to be like more of a shooter?” “What’s going on with this ‘multiplayer’ talk?” I’ve asked myself. One of my other questions regarding the lack of female Shepard shown around has already been taken care of, and she’s an awesome redhead to boot! But playing this mission at least satisfied my worry over the game becoming too much of a shooter and maintaining it’s RPG feel.

I had to first customize the team points between Shepard and the rest of the team. This system definitely changed from the last game. I only wish I could have played around more with it, however I had a mission to do. The gameplay itself for the most part was easy for me to just jump right back into. The controls haven’t really changed at all, and once I changed the controller invert settings.

The first thing I noticed was the smarter AI. The simplistic approach I normally took did not work and I actually had some close calls. This really makes me happier as now I actually use some more strategy when playing instead of just sending in my teammates and letting them do most of the work. It was a nice surprise. Did the controls make it feel like a shooter? A bit, however I do not doubt that when it comes to the story it will bring me right back into what I love most about Mass Effect.

The story of the mission we played basically just gave a taste of what to expect. Shepard and the team have to make sure a scientist with a female Krogan who may potentially have the cure to the genophage which rendered all female Krogan sterile. And the attackers are Cerberus, the former group Shepard was a part of. But that was about it for the story in the demo.

However as sad as I am that I wasn’t able to get more of the story, I was happy to be able to at least play through a mission to completion. Most of my concerns were pretty much put to rest and now I really can’t wait for the game to be released next year!

I woke up this morning to see the Mass Effect page on Facebook asking what their fans think of Kotobukiya’s Bushoujo Liara Statue. The pictures look like prototypes. The feedback on the Facebook page has not been kind. Many are calling out the pose, boobs, and face are just not Liara.

What are your thought? Kotobukiya is famous for making anime versions of characters. Their DC line of statues have run from cute to way too much boobage. It’s kindof their MO.

Here is a picture of what the statue should look like in color from SDCC:

What are your thoughts? Does it fit in with the character? Does it need to? Does it align with what the company makes? Would you buy it?

At the very least, BroShep is shooting things…and also setting things (okay, people) on fire. No FemShep? Even after we had to vote for her? Oh well. Take a look:

Mass Effect 3 releases next March.