From EuroGamer:

The concluding chapter of the Mass Effect trilogy is remarkable in that it's the first to be released simultaneously on all major HD platforms, with BioWare releasing Xbox 360, PS3 and PC demos earlier this week. Feedback we received from readers suggested that the PS3 build fails to match its Xbox 360 sibling, exhibiting major frame-rate issues - something we decided to put to the test.

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Free-to-play with paid-for content available

From MCV:

PC owners will be able to download Microsoft Flight for free in a matter of weeks, with paid-for content available at launch.

The flight simulator game is the first from Microsoft to adopt a free-to-play model, unlike previous boxed Flight Sim instalments.

From ArsTechnica:

Recent stories about potential technical efforts to limit the future playability of used games, as well as commercial efforts to limit the content included with used copies, got us wondering: is it actually legal to hinder someone from reselling a game (or piece of a game) that they legally bought in the first place?

From ArsTechnica:

The most common form of force feedback in our electronic devices is the sort of rumbling buzz you get when a motor spins some sort of mass inside the case of your hardware. Video game controllers usually have two motors, one on each side of the controller, and that sort of "rumble in stereo" configuration allows for a number of effects based on the speed of each motor. This takes power, it takes space, and there's not much you can do with the technology. At CES I met with Artificial Muscle, a Bayer MaterialScience company, so they could show me their Vivitouch technology. Vivitouch a sort of artificial muscle that could changing how we experience haptic effects in our devices.

From the Guardian:

Steve Ballmer is making his farewell CES keynote tonight. Rumours suggest he'll go out on a bang with Xbox 720 news

On Monday night at 6.30pm (Vegas time), Steve Ballmer will take to the stage at the Consumer Electronics show and deliver his annual keynote for the last time. Microsoft has decreed via a quick blog post that the event no longer fits in with the company's product announcement timeline, and that it'll take a more muted role in the future.