Here we are, less than two weeks away from the release of the first new multiplayer maps for Modern Warfare 2.  Eager gamers are already chomping at the bit to get their hands on these, but now there is even more reason to get excited: the weekend after the maps launch, gamers who play Modern Warfare 2 over Xbox Live will earn double XP.

As a friendly reminder, Modern Warfare 2’s Stimulus Package features a total of five multiplayer maps.  Bailout, Salvage, and Storm are brand new areas, while Crash and Overgrown are remakes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare maps.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I just can’t get enough of Mass Effect 2. Fortunately for us, BioWare also apparently can’t get enough, as they announced today via Twitter the release dates for the next two pieces of DLC. It’s almost scary how remarkably efficient they have been at releasing these things, and I personally welcome any and all attempts to keep me buried in this wonderful game.

Another week comes, and so does another batch of Rock Band content, this time featuring music from punk rockers X, British garage rockers Little Fish, KISS Guitarist Ace Frehley, OneRepublic, and…Carrie Underwood. Song list will be sorted Artist/Song:

Reports surfaced yesterday that an update, due to hit sometime in 2010, will bring USB mass storage support to the Xbox 360. Joystiq was among the first to break the news, and released a plethora of leaked photos of the update in action. This announcement comes alongside the rumor of the new Xbox 360 Slim that slipped out into the wild earlier this week.

According to the report, the Xbox 360 will be able to utilize a USB storage device which can be partitioned up to a maximum of 16 GB of storage. This means that no matter how large the USB device is, the Xbox will only be able to use 16 GB of the overall capacity. The other stipulation of the storage device is that it has to be at least 1 GB in size.

“Life in the West”  is the third in a series of trailers Rockstar Games is releasing to promote the upcoming open-world western, Red Dead Redemption.

This latest entry talks about the world at large and reveals the areas and towns you will be encountering on your adventures. What’s more is the side jobs you can pick such as cattle wrangler, farm protector, and hunter.

Keep an eye out for some new costumes for John Marston, as well.

The fact that Bruce Willis will be portraying Kane in the upcoming Kane and Lynch film has been known for quite some time, but last night screenwriter Kyle Ward mentioned via twitter that Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has been cast as the lunatic mercenary James Lynch.

“Done deal … Jamie Foxx is in.”

Kyle Ward also happens to be writing the script for the Uncharted movie, and had to clarify his tweet to a fan who asked if this meant Foxx would be playing Nathan Drake. Ward simply stated, “Foxx for Lynch (Kane/Lynch)”.

Gearbox and 2K will be releasing a retail disc for Xbox 360 containing the two Borderlands DLC packages of “The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned” and “Max Moxxi’s Underdome Riot” for $19.99 on April 6, 2010. Oddly, the disc will not be coming to the PS3, but both content packs are available individually via the PlayStation Network.

Everyone itchy to get their stealth-kill-via-throat-chop on won’t have to wait any longer – because the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo is now available on Xbox LIVE.

A glimpse of Sam Fisher’s quest to find out who killed his daughter and the conspiracy surrounding him will take up 1.19 GB on your hard drive and is only available for Gold members as of now.

Conviction will take place a couple of years following the events of the last game - Splinter Cell: Double Agent and follows Sam Fisher, now a rogue agent, as he pursues the people who are responsible for the death of his daughter. The game features a number of new updates to the series including co-operative play and interrogation mechanics.

Growing up, side-scrolling beat ‘em ups were a large part of my life. They kept me out of trouble, helped me deal with stress, and most of all, they were just plain fun.

So being able to see the Final Fight franchise come to XBLA is a very exciting prospect, especially when we can all play it starting April 14 for 800 MS and April 15 on PSN for $9.99.

As you can see, Capcom has taken some care of replicating the arcade experience by enabling you to play on a cabinet. In fact, as soon as you start playing the game, the borders of the screen will show what the original cabinet had on it.

Yes, you read that right. We mean that Sam Fisher – the covert agent from the Splinter Cell series.

A few days ago, the Twitter account Sam Fisher made its first tweet after an email containing a link to his profile was sent around to industry media outlets.

Since then, the account has registered a series of posts from the persona of the agent himself. The account has been “Twitter-Approved” as authentic – and Sam is keen to put in vague, dark words. He even replies to messages directed at him.

I don’t know about you, but I have been wondering how many copies Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has sold so far.  Thanks to EA, we now know that information.

The game, which released March 2nd, has sold 2.3 million copies worldwide.

That makes it the best selling March release ever in Europe and North America.

Beware the All Seeing Eye!  Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have given the world a first glimpse of The Lord Of The Rings: War in the North.  Developed by Seattle-based Snowblind Studios, this will be the first LOTR game to target a mature rating.

LOTR: War in the North is the game Snowblind Studios was destined to make.  With a resume that includes Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and both Champions Of Norrath games, Snowblind practically invented the modern console action-RPG.

Peter Molyneux: The Man, The Myth, The Legend. A man well-known for blasé and incredibly hyperbolic statements, Molyneux is an interesting man to watch. Now working as the Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios, Europe, it’s rare to see him talk about games that aren’t made for the Xbox platform, and even rarer to see him mention something that isn’t Fable 3.

Speaking at the current South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, Molyneux offered his opinions on the recently released PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain, a title which we gave 5/5 in our review.

Molyneux couldn’t speak highly enough of Heavy Rain, stating that;

“… There’s no question in my mind that games like Heavy Rain — games that have a new fidelity in the way that they present their experiences; obviously made with cinematography and motion capture in mind — can really show the way forward to a new form of entertainment, which is evolving the story and choices and consequences.”

Molyneux also believes that this is the future of video games – a statement which may be more plausible than his previous “[Fable 2]’s dog will change video games forever.”

“I recommend anyone who wants to start to see the first glimpses of the future of video games to go out and buy it, but, personally, I could not bring myself to play more than 90 minutes, because the world that was there was so dark and so emotionally involving I felt emotionally beaten up.”

That’s something I agree with entirely – after completing Heavy Rain, I felt completely emotionally drained. The shock impact of my game’s ending left me feeling sick and cheated – an emotion I don’t believe a video game had invoked within me before.

The final aspect that Molyneux praised was the use of Quick Time Events as an integral part of the gameplay, claiming that it;

“… really meant that you had to pay attention all the time because you didn’t know whether these quick-time events were going to come up. I have to take my hat off to [Quantic Dream] … There’s a couple of things they do in that game which were really revolutionary, and what they do with quick-time is fantastic.”

Perhaps it’s the British patriotism within that forces me to, but I agree entirely. Heavy Rain was such a departure from the ‘traditional’ video game that I really believe it has paved a new way for video games to evolve. Much like Facebook online games, that’s not to say that every game in the future will follow Heavy Rain’s path (although I suspect that Fable 4 may be heavily influenced by Quantic Dream’s title), but to see the gameplay elements taken, adapted, and refined into a title of another genre… well, it fills me with hope as to where gaming is headed.

What did you think of Heavy Rain? Do you agree with Peter Molyneux?

Source: Joystiq

Square Enix has announced that their upcoming action shooter sequel, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days will be hitting store shelves on August 24 in North America and August 27 throughout Europe. The title will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC via the Games for Windows label. But that’s not all a brand new trailer has also been released which gives us our first look at some gameplay footage. Oh, how they spoil us.

Time to head back to the virtual skate park.  EA have announced a May 11 release date for Skate 3 in North America.  Skaters the world over can join in on May 14th.

Developed by Black Box, Skate 3 sends skaters to Port Caverton, a brand new city that promises to be, “a true skater’s paradise with unique districts, skate parks, and endless lines.”

Don’t like what you find in the city?  Take matters into your own hands with the new Skate.Park editor.  Extensively reshape Port Calverton, or create your own custom skate park.  It’s up to you.

As you’ve probably already heard, the release of Obsidian Entertainment’s spy RPG, Alpha Protocol, has been pushed back to June 1, 2010.  To satiate those gamers who were interested in the title, Obsidian has released a series of Developer Diary videos related to the story of the game. The short of it is Alpha Protocol aims to put players in the shoes of super-spy, Michael Thornton, who must assassinate a high-level terrorist in the Middle East in order to prevent World War III from breaking out. While on his mission, he is cut off from his chain of command and must follow the “Alpha Protocol” in order to survive. Throughout, gamers will have to make judgment calls as to who can be trusted, so that Thornton can complete his mission.

Apparently building on the experience from its developing stint on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Obsidian appears to be mixing Bioware-like drama with the ally system from Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. Rather than sticking with the ”good vs. evil” paradigm from KOTOR II, however, Obsidian is pushing a “shades of gray” choice tree. To see the gameplay in action, check out the preview video below:

In the wake of Spider-Man 4 getting canned and replaced by a 3D lower budget reboot film to be directed by Marc Webb (ya, his name is Webb), some wondered what would happen to the inevitable movie tie-in game that would go with it to likely disappoint gamers and fans alike.

While we know we won’t be getting that, we do know thanks to GamePro that there’s a coming major reveal of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, the game by Activision which sets out to shift the tide for the fumbling series.

Thanks to an unspecified Chinese source, Gizmodo got their hands on a picture of what is alleged to be the new motherboard for the Xbox 360.

Leaks of this nature have occurred before, and have turned out to be nothing but wisps of conjecture based solely on proof of concept designs that never came to fruition.

EA Sports initial entry into the world of MMA video games, the creatively-titled EA Sports MMA, is due to release during the second half of this year. In order to get the hype train going, and to possibly convince gamers to hold off from picking up THQ’s UFC: Undisputed 2010 earlier this year, EA has released a new trailer showing what to expect from its version of the octagon (and optional four-corner ring). From the footage shown, EA looks to be attempting to offer a more visceral and action-packed version of MMA. Whether it will be more accessible to casual fans of MMA than THQ’s offering is still yet to be determined.

We’re rounding the bend, and gearing up for the checkered flag.  MotoGP 09/10 is just a few days away, and to celebrate, the good people at Capcom have released a brand new video.  Check out the new MototGP 09/10 trailer:

Recently, a few leaked shots of an unreleased Xbox Live theme started appearing online.  The shots seem to reveal new costume sets for some Super Street Fighter 4 characters.  Even Hakan, the final new character who was revealed last week, is in one of these shots.

While the verdict is still out on whether these images are legit or not, they certainly seem to be so.  Check them out after the jump. (Click on the thumbs to see bigger versions.)

Metro 2033 releases today, and we have the new launch trailer.  THQ’s latest first person shooter is a dark game with monsters around every corner. The game takes place in the year 2013 in a Ukrainian subway station  and is based off of a novel from author Dmitry Glukhovsky.

CVG sat down with the head of global communications Huw Benyon to hear straight from the source what the game has to offer. Benyon states that you can customize this game to your liking all the way down to the firing sensitivity for the controls. It also appears that the game will have a very mature style of story telling similar to that of Heavy Rain.

Metro 2033 also boasts that it is the first major title to be in 3D. Benyon also comments on this:

Here it is, Tuesday already,  and that can only mean one thing:  I’ve gotta go pick up God Of War 3!  Seriously, though, we are looking at another packed week of new releases.  Here they are, broken down by platform:

Microsoft Xbox 360

• Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening 3/16
• Metro 2033 3/16
• Resonance of Fate 3/16
• Perfect Dark 3/17

The Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition is nearly upon us and for all those who never picked it up in the first place (or those who don’t mind double dipping), Eidos has released details of what to expect.

• Trioviz™ 3D vision (3D glasses included)
• Scarecrow Nightmare Challenge Map
• Crime Alley Challenge Map
• Prey in the Darkness Map Pack (2 maps)
• Insane Night Map Pack (2 maps)

Edge magazine is reporting that Gears of War 3 will be released in March, 2011. Their trusted US publishing source claims that the game could be finished as early as this year, but Microsoft wants it in a separate launch window than Halo: Reach. Gears of War 2 was released in Nov, 2008, which means Gears of War 3 has a three year development schedule.

At the Game Developers Conference 2010, a certain Unreal Engine tech demo was leaked that will interest all Gears of War fans: a 42 second clip potentially from Gears of War 3, or at least showing off its new graphics engine. The header image comes straight from the new Unreal engine that Epic Games is working with.

The stuff we’re all really interested in is how the demo contains potentially juicy Gears of War 3 information! The tech demo shows a drastic change of scenery from Gears’ usual style (urban wreckage, locust caves) and takes place in a rainy, mud-ridden forest. Unfortunately there isn’t a high definition version of the demo, it does seem to be a leak after all, but you can take a look at it after the jump:

RBNnews has tweeted that the ‘Splosion Man theme song is coming to the Rock Band Network. This is awesome news considering that the songs in ‘Splosion Man are nothing but hilarious, and that this could be the funniest song to hit Rock Band since Steven Colbert’s classic “Charlene (I’m Right Behind You)”.

Following the recent news that upcoming 360 exclusive thriller Alan Wake will have a cliffhanger ending, it comes as no surprise to hear that developer Remedy Entertainment have already begun discussing their plans to support the title post-release.

Remedy has just announced that the TV show-inspired thriller’s story will continue with at least two DLC packs in 2010, but the size and scope of these has yet to be determined. A large factor in how much content Alan Wake will receive is strictly down to how well it is received at release. Matias Myllyrinne, managing director at Remedy Entertainment recently gave an interview with Joystiq in which hinted at his plans for a substantial engagement. He said:

Short Version: Final Fantasy XIII is a beautiful game that’s both challenging and rewarding, but it’s greatness is mired in tedium and slow progression.

Game Rant’s Rory Young Reviews Final Fantasy XIII

There’s a simple beauty in recalling a Final Fantasy game that you’ve played. All of the negative aspects of the game fade away, and you’re left with the most poignant experiences. Final Fantasy XIII doesn’t disappoint in that regard; it’s filled with points of emotional gravity and intensity. Whether it’s a cut-scene or a boss battle, Final Fantasy XIII goes above and beyond your typical RPG expectations.

Sadly though, Final Fantasy XIII has negative aspects in abundance, to the extent that some fans will be put off. A quarter of the way through the game I had found little to enjoy, and I only truly began to adore it in the game’s final chapters. At over forty hours of gameplay, Final Fantasy XIII is an investment, and a challenging one at that.

Time to report for duty, Agent.  Microsoft has announced a July 6th release date for Crackdown 2 in North America.  European Agents will have to hold off until July 9th.

The first Crackdown benefitted a great deal from an excellent pre-release demo on Xbox Live.  James Cope, Producer for Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games, promises that we can expect to see the same for the new game.  Eager Agents should also know that pre-ordering Crackdown 2 nabs you a code for downloading four exclusive suits of Agency-Issue armor.