I was a bit surprised when I heard this (even though the rumour mill has been on this for quite a while) because it doesn't make any sense to me to release this without the first one. I don't know the legal status of the first Mass Effect, but Microsoft published it, so unless EA bought the rights from them, there's a good chance they own it and it will therefore never come to the PS3. Whether or not it can be enjoyed properly without the first game is up for debate, but I think those that didn't experience the first won't get anywhere near the same experience as those that have. If you're someone that doesn't care much about story though, it's good enough.

Also, Ray mentioned something about extra features being included, but didn't specify what he meant by that. Will it just include DLC that's out to date or will it be some exclusive PS3 content? Maybe a way to manually adjust the decisions that were supposed to be carried over from the first game? Who knows.