Mass Effect 3, the biggest game of 2012 so far, can be played on Eurogamer right now.

Oh no, Earth's under attack by Reapers!

The Gaikai-powered Mass Effect 3 demo can be streamed instantly from Eurogamer's dedicated Gaikai page. There are some other games there to try, too.

Streaming a game using Gaikai requires Java and an internet connection. You don't need to be on a power PC. That's the point - nearly any machine can run Gaikai and, therefore, games.

Eurogamer's Mass Effect 3 review awarded a show-stopping 10/10. The trilogy BioWare introduced in 2007 is at an end, although the universe will somehow live on.

There's been some fall-out about the ending of the game, but for those of you whom Mass Effect 3 has passed by, now may be the perfect time to try it. I can't think of a reason why not, other than you're at work. And that's a weak excuse at best.

Three Assassin's Creed games launch on the EU PlayStation Store this week, including last November's Revelations, available to download for the first time. Get it quickly - after the weekend it costs £49.99.

Then there's the Assassin's Creed Double Edition, which brings together Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 in a virtual compilation box. It costs £23.99.

Ubisoft's limbless hero Rayman is re-animated for the new HD version of Rayman 3, available for £7.99.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning recieves piratical expansion The Legend of Dead Kel, while Saint's Row: The Third adds its latest DLC offering, The Trouble With Clones.

The full listing lies below, courtesy of the EU PlayStation blog.

PS3 Games

• Assassin's Creed Double Edition - Prices: £23.99
• Assassin's Creed Revelations (releases Friday) - £35.99 (£24.99 for Plus), £44.99 after the weekend
• Mercury HD and Heavy Elements DLC Pack - £3.99
• Rayman 3 HD - £7.99 (20% off with Plus)
• PS2 Classics: Tak: The Great Juju Challenge - £7.99

Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed the introduction of tax credits for the UK video game industry.

In his Budget 2012 speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said tax credits will "support our brilliant video games and animations industries". The Government is yet to announce details of the relief, however, but we do know the plan is to have it begin from April 2013.

UK lobby groups such as Tiga have long called for tax breaks to help boost the industry on these shores. The lack of tax credits have been blamed for an "exodus" of game development talent abroad.

Tiga this afternoon said the announcement was a "decisive victory". "This is a brilliant decision by the Government and terrific news for the UK video games industry," Tiga boss Dr Richard Wilson said.

Tiga believes tax relief will generate and safeguard over 4500 direct and indirect jobs; £188 million in investment expenditure by studios; increase the games development sector's contribution to UK GDP by £283 million; generate £172 million in new and protected tax receipts to HM Treasury, and could cost just £96 million over five years.

UK game industry veterans were unanimous in welcoming the decision.

Jason Kingsley, boss of NeverDead and Sniper Elite V2 developer Rebellion, said tax credits will "save jobs and companies, promote growth, build financial confidence and bring in much needed export income from around the world".

Crytek UK MD Karl Hilton said it will "enable the UK games sector to compete on a more even playing field. It will also promote the creation of high skilled jobs, enhance investment and stimulate an export focussed industry".

And Andrew Eades, CEO of Relentless, added: "UK developers have been competing on an uneven global playfield. Today's decision by the Government to back TIGA tax break campaign will help ensure that we can remain competitive in the global market."

When George Orwell sat down to write dark dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, he couldn't have known that he would one day inspire Gluddle, a physics-based iOS puzzler where you dislodge spying Big Brother-style eyes in the sky.

You play as the Gluddle, a race of colourful orbs that you fling, Angry Birds-style, towards your Orwellian opposition. Your enemies are the Supervision, a totalitarian race of spheres with targets for faces. The monochromatic Supervision loom down on the cheery Gluddle and threaten them in various ways, though the little backstory that is given does not distract from the game itself; just as you now accept pigs and birds are mortal foes.

The game's standout feature is that Gluddles must be bounced off strategically-placed members of their kin to have any chance of reaching their target. Tapping a Gluddle in flight will cause it to freeze in place, turning it into a stationary Peggle-like pin from which you can rebound other hapless Gluddles. Chains of strategically-placed Gluddles must be placed to navigate each level's geography and puzzles, allowing your forces to bounce their way around the map to your goal.

Oi!

Planning out level solutions is usually a simple affair - you can see you will need to smack your Gluddle into another at that point, allowing it to rebound into those boulders. And that, in turn, will cause an avalanche of rocks which should drop down and finally smash the Supervision orb. Actually positioning everything in the right place is another matter, and a reasonable amount of trial and error is needed. You also require a healthy smattering of luck and, like Peggle, this is where the real joy lies. You can lay all the groundwork you want, but half the fun is just sitting back and seeing what happens. It's not as overtly rewarding as Peggle's points-filled fireworks bonanza, but securing victory will still bring a smile to your face.

Price and Availability

• Platform: iOS
• Price: £1.49
• App Store

No physics-based game would be complete without some environmental hazards and, sure enough, the standard array of portals, gravity fields and black holes are present and correct. Extra danger is added by the Supervision's ability to freeze any meandering Gluddles that have been bouncing around the screen too long, often blocking your progress in unhelpful ways, forcing you to make each shot count.

The whole thing is wrapped up in a polished and oddly compulsive audio soundscape of electronic music, Gluddle cries (you will come to love/hate the scream "Oi!" as they ricochet around) and dead-pan GLaDOS-esque comments from the Supervision orbs ("Ha. Ha. Ha. Not this time," one intones, as it freezes your Gluddle millimetres from its target).

Oi. OI!

Gluddle currently gives you 55 levels for your money which should last you a couple of hours of playtime. There's no real end to the game, as is the case with a lot of mobile releases, allowing the developer freedom to patch in more levels at some point, should the game's popularity allow it.

But even without a final boss or Princess-saving cut-scene, Gluddle is rewarding enough while it lasts. And who knows - plucky little Gluddle is an invention Orwell might well be proud of.

App of the Day highlights interesting games we're playing on the Android, iPad, iPhone and Windows Phone 7 mobile platforms, including post-release updates. If you want to see a particular app featured, drop us a line or suggest it in the comments.

Sky has announced Now TV, an internet telly streaming service that will come to loads of devices including consoles.

Now TV will arrive summer 2012.

Now TV offers instant access to Sky content either on a subscription basis or pay-as-you-go. There's no installation, no contract.

Never miss Sky News!

To begin with, only movies will be offered - but this will "soon expand to offer sport and entertainment as well", commented Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch

"Today, we know that around 13 million homes don't yet take pay TV from any provider."

Jeremy Darroch, CEO, Sky

"As the quality of the TV experience over broadband has improved, people have become more willing to consume content in different ways," he added.

"That presents a great opportunity to distribute our programmes which wasn't there even a year or two ago. With the long-awaited explosion of connected devices now upon us, this opportunity is only going to grow. And it's something we believe is highly complementary to our existing service.

"Today, we know that around 13 million homes don't yet take pay TV from any provider. So we can reach out to them and offer them another way to access and watch our content."

Now TV will roll out across PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, games consoles and connected TVs.

Sky is currently available without a contract or dish on Xbox 360 via a Sky Go Monthly Ticket. For £15 a month, Sky Go offers "a mix of drama, news, music, comedy and children's shows" and up to 20 live and on-demand channels. Add a Movies pack to that for £32 a month, or a Sport pack to that for £35 a month. Add everything together, Entertainment, Movies and Sport, and pay £40 a month.

GAME has confirmed its intention to enter administration.

In a statement, the specialist retailer said its efforts to save the company had so far failed.
"Further to this morning's announcement of the suspension of trading in shares of GAME Group plc, the board has concluded that its discussions with all stakeholders and other parties have not made sufficient progress in the time available to offer a realistic prospect for a solvent solution for the business," the company said. "The board has therefore today filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator."

GAME will, however, continue to trade in the short term as it seeks to save the business.

"In the short term the Board's intention is that the business will continue to trade and discussions with lenders and third parties will continue under the protection of the interim moratorium."

GAME Group had needed to raise £180 million by the end of the week to avoid slipping into administration. It's clear that was not possible.

Attention now turns to the soon to be appointed administrator, and the fate of GAME Group's assets, including its shops, Basingstoke HQ and online businesses.

Potential suitors include US giant GameStop and Comet owner OpCapita, but if the administrator fails to find a buyer, GAME and Gamestation could disappear from the high street.

Another option is a pre-pack administration, which would see the business continue under a new name and under the ownership of a third-party or the existing directors.

Administration protects GAME Group from legal action by creditors, but its lending syndicate, headed up by bank RBS, will be contacted to discuss the next step.

Resident Evil: Raccoon City developer Slant Six Games has announced its next project will be a sci-fi game named Strata Scavenger.

The title is scheduled for release sometime in 2013. No platforms have been confirmed.

Strata Scavenger.

Details on Strata Scavenger's genre and setting remain under wraps, although artwork from the game shows a futuristic hovering aircraft in a moody sci-fi location.

Strata Scavenger will be the first new franchise from the developer, following Raccoon City and previous work on SOCOM titles.

"Though we're keeping this one close to our collective chests, we can tell you that Strata Scavenger is our first original IP, and we're pretty stoked about it," a statement on Slant Six's website reads.

"The Canada Media Fund even granted us a cool million to develop the game, based on its creative and technical innovation."

The Raccoon City developer is now a multi-team studio, Slant Six exec Dan McBride recently told Straight, and is now also working on non-console platforms.

Latest release Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is released in the UK this week, although Eurogamer's Rich Stanton branded it with a skin-crawling 4/10 in our Raccoon City review.

"[Capcom's put] a show-stopping franchise in the hands of a studio that's clearly not up to it. The brand on Operation Raccoon City guarantees it many sales - perhaps millions. And for every one of those buyers, the name Resident Evil will lose a little of its lustre," Stanton wrote.

Guild Wars 2 won't have a monthly subscription fee but will have micro-transactions, and developer ArenaNet has shared more information on how that will work.

Guild Wars 1 had micro-transactions as an "afterthought", wrote ArenaNet co-founder Mike O'Brien 2 - Guild Wars 2 has them at its foundations.

"We believe in micro-transactions because they fund ongoing development of the game in a very straightforward and open way," O'Brien added.

"You, the customer, get to decide how much money you spend on the game after launch, based on how compelling it is to you. You get a complete and playable game no matter what, but we think we can provide additional content and services that you'd be happy to pay for. And when you pay for them, you help fund our support of Guild Wars 2 in a way that benefits all players of the game."

Arrgh it's a scary gold farmer!

Guild Wars 2 micro-transaction items will offer "visual distinction" and "expression". They'll save-time and there will be account "services".

"But it's never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases," stressed O'Brien, "and it's never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time."

Guild Wars 2's economy revolves around gold, karma and gems. Gold is the common in-game currency. Karma is earned and cannot be traded - it's used to attain "unique rewards". Gems are the purchasable currency used for micro-transactions, and gems can be traded for gold and vice versa.

"If you want something, whether it's an in-game item or a micro-transaction, you ultimately have two ways to get it," explained O'Brien. "You can play to earn gold or you can use money to buy gems.

"Our system takes gold trading out of the hands of real-money trading (RMT) companies and puts it directly in the hands of players."

Mike O'Brien, co-founder, ArenaNet

"We think that's important, because it lets more players participate on a level playing field, whether they use their free time or their disposable income to do it."

O'Brien said it's similar to Eve Online's PLEX system. More importantly, "our system takes gold trading out of the hands of real-money trading (RMT) companies and puts it directly in the hands of players", said O'Brien. "We think that's a great thing."

"From a player's perspective," he said, "[Real-Money Trading] companies have all the wrong motivations: the more money they make from selling gold, the more they spam ads in the game, run bot networks to farm gold, and hack accounts to loot them for gold.

"Conversely, under our system, players have all the right motivations. If a player buys gold from another player, he gets the gold he wants, the selling player gets gems she can use for micro-transactions, and ArenaNet generates revenue from the sale of gems that we can use to keep supporting and updating the game.

"Everyone wins," he said.

Guild Wars 2 will have a player-to-player Trading Post, which is like an Auction House "but better", according to O'Brien. Guild Wars 2 doesn't need to separate an auction house and a micro-transaction store, because gems can be traded for gold and vice versa.

UPDATE: First images of Bayonetta in Anarchy Reigns have been released. Feast your eyes below:

ORIGINAL STORY: Bayonetta, the witch, has been spotted in PlatinumGames' newest title Anarchy Reigns.

She'll be playable in the third-person brawler, according to Japanese magazine Famitsu, read by Andriasang.

To unlock her, you must pre-order the game - known as Max Anarchy in Japan.

A young Bayonetta.

A possible Bayonetta 2 game has been often asked for by fans and often teased by PlatinumGames. "We would love to make a sequel to it when the time is right," was what studio co-founder Atsushi Inaba told Eurogamer in 2010.

But since then, nothing - only a near-miss tease by game director Hideki Kamiya.

But Bayonetta remains the most successful of PlatinumGames diverse IP portfolio, bringing in more than one million sales - higher than Wii game MadWorld and PS3/360 third-person shooter Vanquish. Eurogamer's Bayonetta review awarded 9/10.

Anarchy Reigns will be out this summer.

Combat racing game Wrecked Revenge Revisited launches on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on 28th March, 505 Games has announced.

Wrecked Revenge Revisited was made by Supersonic, the developer of 2004 game Mashed. Indeed it's considered the spiritual successor to that game.