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Today is November 7th, N7 for short. BioWare is taking advantage of the occasion by declaring today the first ever annual N7 day in celebration of five years of Mass Effect, the original having released November 20, 2007.

In addition to delving out more information on upcoming Mass Effect 3 DLC, BioWare is promoting the community with a Twitter hashtag (#N7Day), wallpapers, Facebook covers, profile pictures, forum icons, etc., while we examine the latest news from the franchise.

As a way of rewarding players who take part in today's festivities, anyone who logs into Mass Effect 3 multiplayer to participate in the N7 Day will earn the N7 Day Loyalty Pack. It contains high-level gear and upgrades including one "ultra-rare item."

Also, if you're hardcore N7, take part in N7 Day and submit your favorite in-game or personal stories about the franchise along with photos of cosplay and such here.

Now, let's look to the future.

Mass Effect 3: Wii U

Melanie Faulknor, External Producer for Mass Effect 3 Special Edition on the Wii U, took to the official BioWare blog to discuss the feature set and development of the first Mass Effect experience on a Nintendo platform. In addition to highlighting the working relationship between BioWare Edmonton and Straight Forward (in Australia), she confirmed the news that Mass Effect 3 is releasing for the Wii U alongside the console's launch on November 18th in North America.

"And now that all the hard work is done, we’re excited to be able to confirm that Mass Effect 3 Special Edition for the Wii U is a launch title for the new console. It will be available when the console launches in North America (November 18), Europe (November 30) and Japan (December 5)."

If you happen to have a PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 though, the Wii U version does not represent the best value, especially if you're delving into the series for the first time. The Mass Effect Trilogy released yesterday for the PC and Xbox 360, and a few weeks after the Wii U and the Wii U port of Mass Effect 3 release, the entire trilogy pack make its way to the PS3 on December 4th.

We previously detailed the differences in DLC content between the the Mass Effect Trilogy releases, most notably for the PS3 version which marks the very first time Mass Effect 1 is available for the console.

Mass Effect 3: Omega

For players who've conquered tie ME trilogy and are looking for more content, the upcoming Omega DLC is for you. Omega - releasing November 27th - represents the largest (and most expensive) Mass Effect 3 DLC to date and promises to give players four hours of single-player content (read the first leaked Omega details).

Th story teams Commander Shepard with crime lord Aria T'loak as they attempt to retake Omega Station from Cerberus control. Aria is an overly strong biotic and with two powers of note: Flare (the most powerful biotic explosive attack) and Lash (which instantly drops enemy shields).

As we've learned this week, Aria is not the only new party member, but the DLC will also add the first ever female Turians to the game. Meet Nyreen Kandros, Talon mercenary group leader, also a biotic. Nyreen rocks a Biotic Grenade ability to go along with her Biotic Protector.

The first confirmation of Nyreen's party status hit Reddit late last night, and the first clear images come from NeoGAF:

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Unfortunately, due to story reasons, players cannot take Garrus or other squadmates on this mission - that means, no Garrus - Nyreen meet-up. Players also can't take the two new playable characters with them for the rest of the Mass Effect 3 campaign.

Are you going to play some Mass Effect today? We are!

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Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.