While talking to GameDaily BIZ, Microsoft corporate VP of marketing Jeff Bell revealed that Halo 3 has sold more than 5 million copies since the game’s release in September. The game totaled over 3 million copies in its first month according to sales figures from September.

Bell also noted that Mass Effect, BioWare’s Xbox 360-exclusive action-RPG, has also seen mass sales, shifting over 1 million copies within its first three weeks on the market.

Disc-based consoles introduced us to the wonderful world of loading screens. Thankfully, many developers tried to mask those loading times with interactive screens and whatnot, but most of the times they failed. OMGLists takes a look at some of them, including the painfully slow lifts from Mass Effect to Assassin Creed’s fog.

Bringing good news to gamers (and to Ethan, in particular), Microsoft and BioWare today announced that Mass Effect has gone gold; they also offered details on the limited collector’s edition. Available through participating retailers, the collector’s edition will offer the following bonus materials:

• A “Mass Effect” fiction book titled “Galactic Codex: Essentials”
  • A 36-page guide to the “Mass Effect” universe, including a Citadel timeline and a guide to all non-human races, biotics and the key locations in the Perseus arm of the galaxy
  
  
• An additional “Mass Effect” art book titled “A Future Imagined”
  • A 36-page collection of BioWare’s concept art for the game
  
  
• A bonus DVD of exclusive “Mass Effect” background material and additional content including:
  
  • “The Vision of “Mass Effect” documentary
    
  • “The Making of “Mass Effect” documentary
    
  • “Interactive Storytelling” documentary
    
  • “Inside BioWare” documentary
    
  • 18 “Mass Effect” themed gamer pics (three unique sets of six)
    
  • 16 dashboard themes (four unique sets of four)
    
  • Ten songs from the “Mass Effect” soundtrack
    
  • Five historical “Mass Effect” trailers from X05 through E3 2007 and the official TV trailer
    
  • A demo for “Blue Dragon” and videos for “Lost Odyssey,” “Halo 3″ and “Halo Wars”
    
  • Design galleries featuring 600 concept images fully commented by the Art Directors

The highly anticipated Xbox 360-exclusive RPG is now slated for release in November. As expected, the collector’s edition will charge a $10 premium over the standard version.

Details of the collector’s edition for Mass Effect were revealed by Microsoft. The limited edition will include a tie-in novel called “Galactic Codex: Essentials,” an art book and a bonus DVD with videos about the art and interactive storytelling.

No pricing details were revealed, though it can be assumed that it’ll be a $10 premium over the standard version. The highly anticipated BioWare RPG is scheduled for release on November 20.

Mass Effect, the highly anticipated RPG from BioWare, has finally been dated. The game is set for release on November 20 for the Xbox 360 across North America.

Screenshots from Mass Effect, the upcoming action-RPG from BioWare.