So, why no one ever mentioned the Andromeda Initiative in the trilogy?

Well, the obvious reason is that the writers weren't even dreaming of Andromeda when they made the original trilogy.

But the explanation in game should be interesting. During the original trilogy, all starfaring species rely on reaper technology for interstellar travel, so achieving intergalactic travel should be an incredibly awesome milestone - like jumping from coal power plants to fusion reactors while skipping nuclear power. If we are suddenly capable of intergalactic travel, that means we are also capable of interstellar travel without relying on reaper relays. No longer would we need to rely on a few fixed jump points, we could check out any star system within the Milky Way without being restricted by the relay system. This jump of technology would actually finally enable us to fully explore the Milky Way, but no, we skip that and head right into the unknown with a one way ticket.

Can't wait to see the asspull on this one.

That is some NDA then if true.

Honestly though...the reason why doesn't matter all that much I think.

My point was: why not use this technology to explore all those millions of star system within the Milky Way that don't have a relay first. The relays were the limit for interstellar travel before, now they aren't anymore.

Same effort.

Same reward (a new system to settle and exploit).

Tiny fraction of the time required.

Once you arrive at the Andromeda galaxy, this would be your only way of interstellar travel anyway, unless Andromeda also has a relay like alien technology installed. So why go to a different galaxy and ignore all the options in the current one that become available now?

Everyday use like the exploration of 99% of the Milky Way galaxy unreachable via relay?

I am just going to quote myself from another thread:

I don't understands everybody's need to point out that X person or X organization SHOULD know about this project. Of course should they had known about it, IF it had been planned from the beginning. But we all know that ME:A was made because they wanted to escape from ME3 (and make money) so of course there will be things that is not making perfect sense.

Why can't people just be happy that we got SOMETHING instead of cutting everything apart? (Even before we have the full story)

Fair enough, but my point is, the technology doesn't need to be new. If they want to use cryo sleep then they can already travel to anywhere they want now and they don't even need a huge ship to facilitate discharge facilities since the Galaxy is filled with readily available discharge facilities in the form of stars and planets anyway.

The only thing that's a milestone with respect to the AI is the fact that they are going further than mankind has ever gone before. Same as Apollo 11 was a milestone or climbing mount Everest for the first time, or going to the North Pole. It'll fill the news channels for a while when it launches (which is not a period when Shepard was necessarily even conscious) but, apart from that, it's not something that is likely to be filling the airwaves or the public consciousness during the period that we follow Shepard in game.

It was initially developed for the very local exploration you're going on about but then really upscaled because someone actually believed Shepard and felt they needed to get out of Dodge.

Seriously how is this hard for you to understand? If Bioware fails to acknowledge or outright contradicts this, then I'll be right with you but for now, it can and does work. Deal with it.

Apparently it was so secret even the Shadow Broker didn't seem to know about it. (Or wasn't interested enough to track it which, in a way, is even more unbelievable.)

So all in all I think we would be much happier if we can just accept the retcon and move on.

They went the Snake Plissken route and planted all participants with microcharges lodged in their jugglers.

Thanks for the quote, I was wondering where in the Codex this apparent contradiction that people keep citing was found!

It says that the lack of discharge is a barrier to exploration but it doesn't say that it's an insuperable barrier. The passage was simply designed to highlight the revolution that the mass relays had on Galactic exploration and expansion. 

I still maintain that we don't need new tech. Just build a ship big enough to carry it's own discharge facilities and you're set.

At this point, though, even if they found new tech that meant ships didn't need to discharge or could discharge in empty space it still wouldn't make that tech much of a game changer compared to the Relays. The relative snail's pace of FTL travel would always make travel beyond easy reach of the Relays unnecessary and pointless.

Of course, you could argue that the AI falls under the same heading of unnecessary and pointless but many would have argued the same about the Lunar Landing. The point of the AI is not about the potential rewards or payback but about the spirit of adventure.  The US strove to be the first country to set foot on the moon. Humanity now strives to be the first Milky Way race to set foot in another Galaxy.

The arguments about, why go to Andromeda when there's so much unexplored in the Milky Way, rather misses the point!

I don't see why that implies anything is being ignored. It says it's expensive not impossible. Clearly the mission has a very rich benefactor!