BULLETCAST, July 19 – What you need to know now

Commander Shepard's a girl. Who knew? We did. Get this amazing revelation and all of this morning's other major headlines below the fold.

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No video today. I have a meeting. You'll see my beautiful face again tomorrow.

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• BioWare's explained to Brenna why it's taken so long for the female Commander Shepard to be recognised in Mass Effect's marketing.
• SCEE's 3D boss, Mick Hocking, has been talking up PS3 3D and a potential VR return ahead of his Develop keynote on Thursday.
• Microsoft’s Dennis Durkin has said the company won’t try to force Kinect on core gamers.
• It's being rumoured that Avatar Kinect will launch next week in the wake of a 360 system update.
• Gamestop reckons new Sony and Microsoft hardware could be with us in 2014. It's a popular view.
• NCsoft's confirmed it's going to be making a big announcement at gamescom.
• Square's confirmed it’s to launch Final Fantasy XIII-2 in the west next January.
• Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon hits Europe on Friday for 360 and PS3. Watch this to see if it's any good. Spoiler: it is.
• Tane Mumea, the first all-new character in EA's SSX reboot, has been shown.
• EA has made its new Texas development studio official, announcing 300 new jobs to boot.
• Tommy Refenes and Edmund McMillen "don't f**king care" that Super Meat Boy gets pirated. It's all gravy, apparently.
• Voltron: Defender of the Universe exists.
• Capcom's cancelled MegaMan Legends 3, less than a year after its announcement.
• El Shaddai: Ascension's been delayed in the US.
• Microsoft's announced pre-order incentives for the Halo CE reboot.