Some smart gamers eye the addition of multiplayer modes to formerly single-player franchises with the kind of suspicion that classical music aficionados might have if they heard their favorite violinist gave a guest spot at their next concert to Kanye West.

The people at BioWare have indeed disrupted their symphony. They've added co-op multiplayer to the acclaimed single-player Mass Effect series for next March's Mass Effect 3. I've played it, and while I don't love it, I see why they're doing it and I see how it could be great.

Mass Effect 3's co-op is optional. You'll be able to finish the sci-fi role-playing game without touching it and even get the best ending, BioWare's David Silverman told me when he gave me a shot at playing co-op a couple of weeks ago in New York City (I'd agreed to not write about co-op until today; such are the deals for getting access to games).

You'll even be able to get the game's best ending without touching multiplayer, though it may take you longer.

Multiplayer in the game is co-op, for four players (online, not split-screen) to join together as an elite squad of bad-guy-shooting warriors. You don't play as the game's hero, Commander Shepard, nor as any of the major side characters from the series. You instead can take on the role of a crack commando from any of six of the game's main character classes and from any of the game's major races-Salarians, Krogan, Asari, Turian and more, i.e. the races of the major side characters. You play together, fighting through areas tied to the game's single-player campaign, battling through 12 waves of randomized enemies, completing randomized objectives.

It plays, no surprise, a bit like the Horde mode popularized by Gears of War, but with role-playing game leveling. There is no multiplayer conversation, no multiplayer morality decisions (and no multiplayer Mass Effect romance—I asked!). There is, however, all of Mass Effect's evolving, improving combat. You play in third-person, utilizing the kind of guns and powers you would in single-player Mass Effect. You gain experience points for kills and completion of objectives, and you can spend those points leveling up your character's powers just as you would Shepard and her squadmates in the single-player game. Each class has their own specialties. Each race has some unique abilities.

The multiplayer matches are part of Mass Effect 3 concept of a "Galaxy at War". Playing multiplayer or single-player earn players Galactic Readiness points. Accumulating enough points enables players to charge to the end of the single-player game and get a better ending (there are other ways to get those points too, which I'm guessing are things like Facebook games, but BioWare won't say.). The areas for multiplayer are represented abstractly on a map of the Mass Effect galaxy. BioWare's Silverman told me that some of those areas will light up with alerts that they're getting attacked. You'll be encouraged to go in as a multiplayer squad to suppress those threats, earning points as you go.

I played a couple of matches of co-op, mixing powers and guns with decent success. Our network connection at the demo venue was poor, so we ran into some syncing glitches, but I got the gist of the experience. We could pick a map, scale it to a desired size (we chose "giant"), pick an enemy type ("Cerebus" for us) and a challenge level ("bronze") and then hope for the best. We played in a multi-room urban map, where enemies could snipe from catwalks and rooms away from the main bowl of combat often contained objective goals. We rotated through a few objectives; we had to hack terminals, disarm bombs, and often just kill all the bad guys. As we the waves progressed, the enemies got tougher. We were fighting foot soldiers at first, but later were tangling with snipers and cloaked enemies. I died getting choked by a giant mech.

We weren't playing the smoothest of games. Mass Effect's combat, while improved, still animates a bit stiffly, as players of Mass Effect 2 can recall. It suffers a comparison to Gears' gunplay. But tossing a singularity into the middle of a battle while my Turian buddy unloads a clip in the floating bad guys is fun. We had a good time.

I like co-op multiplayer, and I was satisfied that playing Mass Effect 3 would be a pleasant diversion from the main game. I just don't know how often I'll play it. I play Mass Effect for the story and the interactions between characters. That's not what this new game's multiplayer delivers, and I'm sure it's because what multiplayer does offer—combat—is what many of those who don't play this series are looking for. The co-op feels designed for people who have ignored the series until now.

If you want to see Mass Effect's conversation system at work in multiplayer, go buy Star Wars the Old Republic. If you want to see the character dynamics (and the sex) of Mass Effect in multiplayer, keep dreaming (and keep it to yourself). If you're interested in Mass Effect combat and leveling in a challenging Horde-mode—if you like Mass Effect as a way to rack up kills—you'll like the co-op. And if you don't care, you can ignore it. That best ending can be yours, anyway.

Mass Effect 3 will be out for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 6.

Mass Effect is a series about making tough decisions, and commenter eatplaysleepmore is really feeling it. He wants to sell his Xbox 360, but doesn't want to lose the accumulated save data for the previous two games. What should he do?

Been debating this for a while..

I don't really want to keep my 360 anymore, actually the only reason I am keeping it is because of how great Gears of War 3's multiplayer is. Thing is, I don't want to keep paying for gold just to play one game.

I had my 360 for almost 4 years now, bought my PlayStation 3 January of this year and it's library has surpass that of my 360 cause of all the exclusives it has now.

Now here is my biggest problem of why I can't sell it. It's because of Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect has been the only series in this gen of consoles that I been overly obsessive with. I done EVERYTHING you can possibly think of, to unlocking all the achievements, to doing every single quest and having save files with every single predicament that the game has to offer.

I will hate myself forever, and Bioware, if this whole "Choices will matter" is one big load of horseshit. I forgave them with that crap they pulled on ME2(seriously, e-mails?) since 3 is supposed to tie them all together.

I really want this game to make things I done in the past matter.

I want to be like Oh wow I remember that guy when I did this and that, and why are these people attacking me? Oh right; I pissed them off in that side mission.

I feel like a moron for keeping my 360 when I could sell it to get Uncharted 3 or the other games that are going on crazy sales but my god am I passionate about this series.

What do you think everyone?

Should I slap myself in the face and sell it? Should I keep it just because of my love for the series?

Some of gaming's most cunning foes have been computers. Think GlaDOS from Portal, or Shodan from System Shock 2. At least part of what makes them so memorable is that their artificial intelligence is brought to life by a cold, calculating, female voice.

Friendly artificial intelligence usually skews female as well. Anyone who's played Deus Ex: Human Revolution will know this, while Halo and Mass Effect are two other big franchises with prominent computers voiced by female actors.

Actually, when you think about it, a lot of real fake robot voices sound like fake women as well. Apple's new Siri, for one (at least she is for American users). Or just about any automated subway announcement system. Or default GPS navigator.

Ever wonder why this is? Why designers and engineers the world over choose a woman's voice for their systems and not a man's? A great piece on CNN seeks to answer this question for the ages.

Stanford University Professor Clifford Nass has an idea. "It's much easier to find a female voice that everyone likes than a male voice that everyone likes," he says. "It's a well-established phenomenon that the human brain is developed to like female voices."

While this is a primal theory, there are more historical ones too, such as the fact early telephonists and aircraft navigation aides were voiced by women, creating a precedent.

Silicon Valley analyst Tim Bajarin has a cooler idea, though: He reckons HAL, the evil computer from 2001, is the reason most artificial voices are female. He was so evil, and so memorable, that he scared companies off using a male voice. "A lot of tech companies stayed away from the male voice because of HAL," he said. "I've heard that theory tossed around multiple times."

Why computer voices are mostly female [CNN, via PC Gamer]

At 3:00 of this unboxing video for Battlefield 3 we're shown the card for Mass Effect 3's multiplayer beta, which says it will take place in January. Anyone who buys Battlefield 3 gets into the beta.

The January date was confirmed about 30 minutes ago on the Mass Effect Facebook page. Also, on its forums, BioWare said there "will be multiple opportunities to qualify for early access." The surest is through the Online Pass included in new copies of Battlefield 3.

The game's singleplayer demo will also release at the same time, BioWare said over its Twitter feed. For more information, BioWare has posted a FAQ on its forums here.

Notice of the exact date for the beta will be sent out over Battlefield 3's in-game ticker; you can also sign up for an email notice at masseffect3.com.

Battlefield 3 multiplayer gamers can also go ahead and access a set of N7 Mass Effect 3 dogtags.

Kotaku will have hands-on impressions of Mass Effect 3's multiplayer for you next week.

[Thanks, Diebythesword, Paradox me and Corey S.!]

Good news, Mass Effect fans. You can stop building your own replica weapons based on the series, because starting today, you'll be able to buy your own from EA's online store.

This replica M8 Avenger Assault Rifle is 1:1 in scale, meaning it's exactly the same size it's designed to be in the game universe. That translates to a fake gun that's 34" long and weighs around twenty pounds.

It's that heavy because it's cast in polystone (like expensive statues). The gun has also been hand-painted, and will be limited to just 500 units worldwide, which goes some of the way to explaining why it costs $650.

Also, a word of warning if you're buying from outside the US: "Due to the nature of this item, international shipments could be confiscated by your Customs Agency and cannot be refunded. Please use caution before ordering."

So check if your country is cool with you importing fake guns. Specifically, fake space guns from the future.

M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle Replica [Mass Effect]

Matt Rhodes is an artist who has worked on two of BioWare's biggest games in recent years, namely Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2.

What I love about his style, and why we're featuring it here today, is that it's often not as "realistic" as other pieces of concept art you'll see. It's more in line with what you'd see on a Saturday morning cartoon.

Of course, some of the images you'll see in the gallery above are more traditional. Renders of Mass Effect armour, more "serious" paintings of some of Mass Effect 2's more badass characters.

But it's the cartoon ones that keep me coming back. Miranda playing Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, The Illusive Man playing James Bond, Jack looking cooler than she ever ended up looking in the actual game, they're all great.

If you dig Rhodes' style, you can see a lot more of it at his personal site.

To see the larger pics in all their glory (or so you can save them as wallpaper), right-click on the "expand" icon on the main image above and select "open in new tab".

Dark Horse's merchandise wing have put together two welcome, if unexpected pieces of Mass Effect and Dragon Age merchandise: decks of playing cards.

The decks feature character art from both series, and at the moment are going for the decidedly affordable price of $4. What I need to know before buying, though, is whether the Mass Effect deck actually uses Joker for the Joker cards. Because if not, uh, well. That would be madness.

There are no images of the Dragon Age cards yet, but both will be available in mid-November.

Mass Effect Playing Cards [Dark Horse]

Two of Electronic Arts' biggest current franchises collide in this wallpaper, sent today to Christina Norman, former BioWare designer on the Mass Effect series who is currently working for Riot Games, makers of League of Legends.