If you were smart enough to DVR Spike’s Video Game Award ceremony last night, you skipped right through all the painful banter straight to the gravy: namely, the first looks at Uncharted 3, Forza 4, Prototype 2, Elder Scrolls V (!), and Guillermo del Toro’s Insane. And, of course, Mass Effect 3.

Bioware fooled approximately no one when it released the sneak peek of a Sniper carrying an Incisor rifle last month, but the EA store’s accidental outing of Mass Effect 3 sealed it. Here’s the announcement video, courtesy of Gametrailers:

And here’s the copy from EA’s Mass Effect 3 listing, which hints at Shepard’s first return to Earth since taking command of the Normandy:

“Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their destruction of the human race. As Commander Shepard, an Alliance Marine, your only hope for saving mankind is to rally the civilizations of the galaxy and launch one final mission to take back the Earth.”

How is Shepard supposed to hit on Kelly Chambers, resolve permit disputes, and gag-probe Uranus when Earth is under assault? London can wait, I say. Everybody plan one more Mass Effect run-through to align with the trilogy capper’s holiday 2011 release.