Mass Effect 2 - Roundup #1

Time to start numbering these, I think, because there's bound to be a deluge next week.

Let's kick off with Kotaku, with Biodoc Greg Zeschuk telling them that Mass Effect "will live on in other games" after the planned trilogy wraps.

GameSpot has what they call a "comprehensive" video preview, with a little over three minutes of footage and voiceover description.  This is more a catchup for anyone that hasn't been paying attention.

The Nuke Gun has been revealed.  Details and a video courtesy of The Lost Gamer:

EA and Bioware have released new details on a further addition to the new Heavy Weapon category available within their soon to be released title, Mass Effect 2.

Titled the M-920 Cain, the weapon has been created by Normandy’s scientists whom have prototyped a modified version of traditional high-explosive rounds that are able to be applied to a 25 gram slug. When these are accelerated to a speed of 5 km/s, the round is becomes absolutely devastating. Though not necessarily encompassing nuclear materials, the prototype weapon has been nicknamed the ‘Nuke Launcher.’ Upon impact, its high-explosive matrix generates a mushroom cloud that causes damage to be inflicted across an incredibly large area of effect. Such a weapon is incredibly effective when used against armour, shields, and barriers.

The launch trailer has been released, a two minute montage of footage featuring voice work from Martin Sheen and others.

Casey Hudson comments on their DLC lineup at MTV:

"It's tough to say how long we'll continue to do Cerberus Network in terms of the free content, for example. When you get Cerberus Network you get all this free stuff that's been released. On an ongoing basis we plan to have the whole spectrum, from a free item all the way up to paid stuff and potentially larger packs that tell a big portion of the story. And we want to do that in a way that connects 'Mass Effect 2' to 'Mass Effect 3.' I think we'll be pretty close to the release of 'Mass Effect 3' before we really start focusing on that as the next story."

Thanks to skavenhorde for most of these links.

...and lastly for the moment, Archmage Silver writes in with a warning that his CE preorder in Finland has been delayed and the accompanying email from the retailer seems to suggest it could affect a wider area:

Dear customer,

The Collector's Edition of Mass Effect 2 you ordered has problems in its distribution. The Collector's Edition in Europe won't make it to retailers in time for the release date, but instead it will arrive approximately one week after the release date.

Our apologies for the delay. The product will be delivered as fast possible. The standard editions of the game will arrive in time for the launch day.

European readers might want to double-check their preorders, just in case.