In an interview with Wired, Activision’s Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg described the company’s new aggressive DLC and update strategy for its Call of Duty franchise. Describing the million dollar shooter series as a much more “persistent franchise” than in recent years, Hirshberg talked about the publisher’s plan to deliver much more frequent DLC throughout the year.

“The idea behind giving people constant incremental, playable content and making it so you’re never more than a few weeks away from the next new experience within the Call of Duty universe is part of what we’re experimenting with,” Hirshberg told Wired. “This franchise doesn’t really behave like most franchises. It’s become something of a year-round activity for a large percent of our player population.”

What Hirshberg didn’t go into was just how the company plans on achieving this strategy. Will we see more DLC and map packs throughout the year? The safe money is on seeing the same amount of map packs and DLC in between smaller updates and tweaks to modes like Spec Ops.

At this point we’re used to paying for extra costumes and content, it’s sad, but it’s part of the modern gaming scene, but has Capcom gone too far with its paid DLC?

The DLC in question is the Gamebreaker Pack for Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (reviewed here). The pack, which costs 400 Microsoft points, or$5 in real people money for you PS3 owners gives gamers access to god mode, infinite weapon durability, super damage, giant heads and a bunch of other smaller points.

Yep, those used to be cheat codes. When news broke of the paid cheats, the internet came alive with talks of boycotting the game…and Capcom in general. Will you be participating?

Blast reached out to our contact at Capcom but has not received a response as of this writing.

The Elderscrolls V: Skyrim may not release until this coming Friday, but that hasn’t stopped Bethesda’s Todd Howard from talking about the game’s upcoming DLC. Speaking to Wired, Howard said that DLC is already being worked on and that it’s “substantial.”

“Very quick DLC might sell well,” says Howard, “but that’s not our priority … Our high-level thinking is that there’ll be not as many [pieces of DLC], but they’ll be bigger and more substantial. The goal overall is not necessarily to put out more content, but to make the game better.”

Blast has been running loose in Skyrim for the last week — look for our review soon.

It was announced earlier today that Gears of War 3′s first DLC, the Horde Command Pack was delayed due to unnamed technical difficulties, and that no concrete release date was known.

Guess what? It’s available now. As in mere hours after the delay was announced. As in…the same day.

Epic also announced that it will be rolling out free maps on thanksgiving to all Gears 3 users.

In a move that’s going to surprise no one, it was confirmed at this year’s E3 that all Modern Warfare 3 DLC will be timed exclusives to the Xbox 360.  You didn’t expect Sony to take that lying down did you?

It was announced today that beginning with the already announced Road to Karkand,  all DLC for Modern Warfare 3′s closest competitor, EA’s Battlefield 3 will be exclusive to PS3 for one week before it hits Xbox Live.

You may have just picked up your Gears of War 3 copy today, but Epic Games has announced that they are working on new story DLC for the title — and it won’t feature any of the COG heroes you’ve come to love.

“We’ve confirmed we’ll be doing campaign DLC,” Epic’s Cliff Bleszkinki told Telegraph. “One thing I can tell you is that you’re not going to see Marcus or Dom or Cole in it. I believe that DLC should be unique and cool, like Lost and the Damned, Gay Tony, Mad Moxie’s Underdome Riot. All those kind of things. DLC’s the place where you play and have fun. So that’s one thing that’s an indication of where things may be going in the future.”

Our guess, more Carmine or Baird. We really liked Gears of War 3, so much so that we gave it an Editor’s Choice Award.

A while ago we reported on the awesome new skins for Batman: Arkham City, and now it appears that its Robin’s turn.

The image above is from Arkhamcity.co.uk, which broke the news on both skin sets. It looks like users will not only be able to play as the game’s angsty Robin, but Red Robin, Hooded Robin and Robin from the animated series. While they’re cool and all, why no Robin from Dark Knight Returns to match the Batman skin? Why no classic Robin skin?

Can’t speak. Fanboy lust rising.

Word broke today that those who preorder Batman Arkham City at certain retailers will gain access to these awesome skins. The bad news? As of right now, all of those retailers are in the UK.

Arkhamcity.co.uk has all of the details on where to preorder, but skins for Batman Beyond, The Dark Knight Returns, Earth One, The Animated Series and 1970s Batman are all being confirmed for the game’s October release.

Review be damned, Gearbox is bringing us more Duke Nukem Forever in the form of the Hail to the Icons DLC pack landing on Xbox Live and PSn this fall. The content, which adds four new multiplayer maps and three new multiplayer modes puts Duke modern day shooting classic like Call of Duty and Team Fortress 2.

The Hail to icons pack will include:

• Three All-New Modes – Freeze Tag provides some of the most fun team gameplay in Duke Nukem Forever. Players cooperate to freeze and shatter their opponents in succession for huge point streaks and combos. See who can hold on to the babe the longest in Hot Potato and play free-for-all Duke style in Hail to the King.

- Call of Duke – Duke engages in modern combat in a war-torn city. Foes don’t stand a chance against the Duke when he spams the map with the N00b T00b.
- Sandbox – Players take the role of mini-Duke in a giant sandbox with two bases at either end made out of children’s toys. This map features Sticky Bombs.
- Inferno – Time machine engage! Duke does combat in a hellish landscape of lava and teleporters. Who turned on the 16-bit graphics, and more importantly, where did this DFG come from?
- 2Forts1Bridge – Hats? Duke doesn’t need no stinking hats. Give him a minigun and he’ll beat off all comers.

Members of the First Access club will get the content free when it launches, a price for the rest of us has not been revealed.

There’s a lot of news coming from San Diego Comic Con this year, but perhaps none is as strange as this. Horror film villain Freddy Krueger will be the latest, and last DLC character released for this year’s Mortal Kombat. No really. Check out the trailer above.

Freddy will have his own move set and his own fatalities and will be available this August for $4.99 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Here’s your first look at Robin, as the boy wonder appears in this Fall’s highly anticipated sequel; Batman: Arkham City. The image was posted this morning by Best Buy’s website, which is offering the sidekick as a pre-order bonus for the game’s challenge maps.

Robin comes complete with his own unique gadgets and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that are included with the pack: Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape. The pack will also contain a bonus Red Robin character skin.”

Arkham City launches October 18 for PSe, Xbox 360 and PC.

I really liked L.A. Noire, and more of it is never a bad thing, especially when it comes this quick.

Starting today, players will be able to download a number of add-ons for the game. “The Naked City” DLC case ($4.00 for PSN/320 Microsoft Points), “A Slip of The Tongue” DLC case ($4.00/320 Microsoft Points), Broderick Detective Suit and Gun ($1.00/80 Microsoft Points), Sharpshooter Detective Suit and Gun ($1.00/80 Microsoft Points), The Badge Pursuit Challenge ($2.00/160 Microsoft Points), and Chicago Piano Machine Gun (free community unlock) are all available.

On June 21st, The “Nicholson Electroplating Disaster” DLC will launch, with “Reefer Madness” hitting on July 12.

“With its blend of real crime influences and noir atmosphere, L.A. Noire contains boundless potential for new stories and new cases,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games, in an official press release received by Blast. “The four new cases are strong standalone stories that sit perfectly alongside the main game.”

Don’t want to pay for each piece of DLC separately? The Rockstar Pass, which costs only $10 is now available and allows users to pick up all of the DLC as it becomes available; netting you a 50% savings. After this week, the pass goes up to $12.

Go get ‘em detective.

Fans of Russian stacking dolls take note, Stacking’s first DLC hits next month.

The DLC pack, made official by THQ today is called “The Lost Hobo King” and once again teams Charlie with his homeless buddy Levi to the kingdom of Camelfoot to sort out an important family issue. It turns out Levi may have some royal blood in him.

Though no price or official release date has been set yet, THQ has promised 15 new dolls along with brand new quests and achievements.

He, while you’re at it, check out our Stacking review.

Stacking is the latest game from the minds of industry veteran Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions. It is the second downloadable title released by Double Fine inside of six months following their new business model of developing smaller, creative games. Stackinglegitimizes the viability of this strategy as a unique and fresh puzzle adventure game that provides plenty of enjoyment for a reduced price.

The world of Stacking is one where all of the characters are wooden Russian nesting dolls called matryoshkas. The story follows Charlie Blackmore, whose family of chimney sweeps is kidnapped and forced into labor by the evil Baron. The runt of the family, Charlie is left behind by the Baron’s henchmen along with his mother because he is deemed incapable of labor. Charlie sets off at once on an adventure to free his siblings and father in a straightforward tale of the underdog against an evil tyrant. There is little in the way of character development however the underlying issue of child labor lends the narrative some gravity despite the humorous tone.

Gameplay in Stacking is a nice blend of puzzle and adventure elements where the player must guide Charlie through each location besting various challenges to rescue the members of his family. As a matryoshka doll, Charlie is capable of stacking into larger dolls that populate the world. The stacking can be repeated multiple times into increasingly bigger dolls with the sole restriction that Charlie can only stack into a doll that is the next largest size.

Each puzzle in the game is solved by stacking into other dolls and using their special abilities which is an ingenious mechanic that puts a welcome twist on traditional adventure gaming. Stacking is at its best in puzzles that require using a combination of doll abilities but, unfortunately, these don’t occur until late in the game and are the exception, not the norm.

The highlight of Stacking is the well-designed challenges that are entertaining to solve and feature multiple ways to go about them. Unlike other puzzle adventure games that force a player to discern the exact solution the developers intended, Stacking provides several different possibilities for tackling each problem; this helps avoid the frustration of getting stuck. Players can advance after discovering a single solution which keeps the game moving. Most of the solutions are not difficult to discover but do require some clever thinking. There seems to be at least one blatantly obvious way to handle each puzzle although hints are available if needed.

In addition to solving challenges, there are numerous Hi-Jinks to complete and a collection of unique dolls and sets to find in Stacking’s four locations. Hi-Jinks are smaller side tasks that can be completed independent from the story progression such as using a purse-swinging doll to whack five mimes.

Stacking does not take much time to finish –it can be breezed through in about two hours by finding just a single solution to each challenge. As such, it feels a bit short even for a $15 downloadable game. However, much of the fun of Stacking is in discovering the various ways to hilariously solve each puzzle so working out all of the techniques is encouraged. Finding all of the solutions and going for total completion pushes the length to around five or six hours which is more reasonable for the price point.

Handling a group of nested dolls with different abilities may sound like a difficult task to manage but the elegant control scheme makes it simple to execute all actions. One button stacks a doll, another unstacks, a third uses a doll’s special ability, and the final face button talks to other dolls. There is also an objective locator that is taken straight out of Dead Space making it easy to navigate from puzzle to puzzle.

Interacting with the other characters in Stacking is not only useful for finding clues but also provides a lot of the game’s entertainment. Each character will offer several responses that change depending on what doll is currently being used. The dialogue can sometimes be lowbrow –as can the game, what with farting and vomiting dolls—but generally displays the witty writing that is to be expected of a Tim Schafer creation. In addition to the humorous dialogue and cutscenes, some of the dolls’ actions are quite funny such as the geriatric man who falls asleep as he begins to tell a story.

Stacking won’t win any awards for its graphics but uses blurring and edge filters to good effect to create a stylized presentation. Many of the areas are wide open and colorful but often feel a bit too sparse. The artwork for each doll shows a better attention to detail and does well to bring the characters to life which is no small accomplishment considering they are essentially painted wooden cylinders.

An impressive musical score does a wonderful job at highlighting the action throughout the game. This is particularly important as all of the dialogue is text. The symphonic pieces, heavy on the piano and strings, work well to convey the mood in the cutscenes that have a 1920’s silent film style.

The Blast Factor: Perhaps the greatest strength of Stacking is its near-universal appeal. From children, who will enjoy the colorful worlds and silly antics, to grizzled adventure veterans, who should appreciate the fresh take on puzzle solving, there is something for everyone to like. The story, graphics, and length have room for improvement but this is such a fun game that those criticisms seem like quibbling in the end. Stacking may not be the greatest downloadable game ever created but its combination of inventive gameplay and great sense of humor make it one that everyone should play; at only $15 it is hard to find a worthwhile reason not to.

Marvel VS Capcom's first DLC, available March 1

Now that Marvel VS Capcom 3 is on the shelves (check out our review here), our minds instantly turn to what’s next, and in this case, it’s a brand new set of alternate costumes for six of the game’s most storied characters.

Due out March 1, the first DLC pack contains 80′s era Thor, Captain America as Steve Rodgers, Iron Man as the Iron Patriot, Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 1 attire, Street Fighter 1 Ryu and Sparda Dante.

A rumor is also swirling that code has been found in the game for Marvel’s Doctor Octopus and Dead Rising’s Frank West. It’s not known if this is just left over code from when the two characters were in the game or if they are the next planned DLC.

Stick with Blast for more info as it becomes available.

So, Dragon Age II hasn’t even hit shelves yet, but Bioware is wasting no time announcing DLC for the title. This morning they announced that the game’s first DLC, “the exiled prince” will come shortly after the the game and feature new quests, content and a new companion.

So why the early announcement? It could be because the DLC will be free to anyone who preorders the game’s signature edition, with others having to pay 560 MS points, or $7.00 in real people money.

Here’s a trailer for unreleased DLC for an unreleased game!

Brace yourself, you’re likely about to agree with something Bobby Kotick said.

While Activision’s CEO is known for his comments that enrage gamers, like how he wants to “take the fun out of game development,” this time he’s taking a stand against company’s charging for online access for their games, specifically EA’s Project $10, which gives gamers who buy a game new an online pass, but charges those who buy it used.

“We can do some of these things that EA and others have done, but we actually don’t think its in the best interest of the gamer, and so we’ve chosen not to,” Kotick told Joystiq. “What we’ve tried to do is to really support our audiences and, you know, when you talk to players, they like the idea of having a currency. They like the idea of being able to take a game they no longer want to play and use it to get a credit to buy new games”

Kotick does admit though that used games do pose a problem to the industry, as they give retailers profit that the developers and publishers do not get a share of. The solution? More content.

“As business models evolve, as the way you distribute content evolves, as the ability to do things online changes in terms of pricing or trial or sample,” he said. “I think we’ve definitely always been out in front of the rest of our competitors. But I think you always need to be sensitive to that relationship and not crossing the line to a place where the customer feels like they have been taken advantage of.”

Kotick is already putting the company’s theory into action — it’s said that Call of Duty: Black Ops will feature the company’s most ambitious DLC plan to date.

When Rockstar Games announced that they were releasing a new DLC for Red Dead Redemption, fans rejoiced. When they announced that it was a DLC thatf would feature a story similar to that of GTA IV’s Episodes from Liberty City, and that players would get to play with fan favorite John Marston, and most of all, that it was about zombies, the video gaming consortium were all on-board.

Undead Nightmare is a lot of things, it’s one of those games were you need to mention many of it’s features and shortcomings to be able to help gamers decide whether it’s worth the purchase or not.

The game starts out in the most epic of fashions, you kick off the game with Marston going home for his wife and kid, they all sit down and have nice, quality time together as a family, during the conversations that take place, John wonders were Uncle is, before they all go to sleep. Meanwhile, Abigail and John wake up by the sudden entrance of Uncle, who enters as a zombie, he eventually bites Abigail, who in turn bites her son, after shooting Uncle, Marston ties up his wife and son, who are now zombies, and embarks on an adventure to figure out what’s going on and how to cure this disease.

From the get go, even if you haven’t even dwelled in the original Red Dead Redemption story for long, you’ll feel that the game is a stripped version from the original. There is no Honor or Fame system that determines how people treat you, the game doesn’t have money, but instead bullets might act as the only currency, but you don’t actually buy stuff with them, you just earn them from either the zombies you kill, or you collect them from boxes after clearing up towns (which you will be doing for the majority of the game).

Despite it’s epic beginning, the game fails to carry the same tempo throughout, the game tends to repeat itself too often, you’ll find yourself clearing graveyards and towns until they are safe, sometimes you’ll find yourself clearing towns again, once they are attacked by zombies for the second time. Thankfully all this is fun, but fans need to understand that this is one of the many ways Rockstar did on purpose to increase the longevity of the game.

The game will take you around 6+ hours to finish, but these hours will be infested with repetition, once you finish the first few missions, the game will drop you messages like “It’ll take Nigel a few days to find a way to enter Mexico, you should go and help the other survivors in the other towns”. Writing the word “should” is an understatment here, they should’ve wrote “You must help the other survivors in the other towns”. Another notable issue is the fact that you can’t camp anywhere on the map (which makes a lot of sense, seeing how the world is infested with zombies), this means that you’ll have to clear out a town to be able to save and fast travel in it, and you can only fast travel to towns you’ve already visited. This, again increases the longevity of the game, but in a way that isn’t all too exciting.

Glitches have also been an issue throughout the game, sometimes the characters skins didn’t load, which left some very ugly cutscenes being played, and there was a cutscene were they were talking about a missing girl in the poster on the wall, but the poster’s graphics didn’t even load, which left me wondering what the hell they were talking about. In case you’re wondering, this game was reviewed using a brand new copy of Red Dead Redemption and a brand new PS3, so it’s safe to say that many people will find some weird issues occurring during their time with Undead Nightmare. It has to be stated though, that this is a sandbox game, glitches are guaranteed to be found, and almost everytime you play the game you’ll find a different glitch in it.

The one thing that stood out in particular, is the fact  that during the first missing souls mission, you will path through two mountains that eventually close down and narrow the road for you, in this narrow path you will find literally over 100 zombies, and trust me when I tell you this, the frame rate drops massively, the game runs at around 10 frames or so during the time in said path, and it is amazing why Rockstar inserted so many zombies on the screen to make a certain part of the game almost unplayable.

Now that the annoyances and minor quibbles are out of the way, it’s time to mention all the good things Undead Nightmare does. Shooting zombies is an absolute blast, whether it’s in the story mode or the online Undead Overrun you will have a blast blowing zombies’ brains out, speaking of which, you MUST shoot zombies in the head, while in the Resident Evil games you can kill zombies by shooting them with 5 bullets or so in the body, you might find yourself shooting an entire clip to no avail, this gives Dead Eye a whole new importance in the game, it is intrumental for your survival. And while Undead Nightmare doesn’t have many of Red Dead Redemption’s features, it has a few unique features of it’s own, it has 4 mystical horses, the horses of the apocalypse they’re called, and they are by far the best horses in the game. For example, the apocalyptic horse of fire (War) has his hair burning in flames, and has infinite stamina, he also burns any zombie that messes with him, if he dies you’ll find yourself with the old horse you once owned, if your horse  dies, you can whistle and he will come for you as a zombie horse, he’ll have unlimited stamina, but he won’t obey you all the time.

Also, all the animals in the game have been all been recreated as zombie animals, such as the bears and cougars, and blowing their brains out is a ton of fun too because you actually see their head scatter all over the place. Undead Nightmare also let’s you kill many of the characters from the original game who turned to zombies, and at long last they’ve fulfilled my childhood dream of blowing the brains of a gay Mexican zombie general (please don’t judge me).

The most impressive thing about Undead Nightmare though, is the amount of features you’re getting for just 10 bucks, you’ll be getting a game that is filled with Left 4 Dead like zombies, cutscenes, impressive and humurous dialogues, new weapons, trophies and online modes, the downside in this game, is the fact that if you haven’t played Red Dead Redemption, you won’t be able to understand the majority of the funny cameos in the game, while the fans of Red Dead Redemption will appreciate it, the new players will feel disconnected from some of the events of the game.

The Blast Factor: If you’re a fan of Red Dead Redemption, Undead Nightmare is an absolute must have, if you haven’t purchased any of the other Redemption DLCs, then I urge you to buy the entire Undead Nightmare Pack for $20, here you will get all three DLCs (Undead Nightmare, Liars and Cheats and the Legends and Killers pack), you’ll save $10 and will have downloaded new weapons, over 30 new skins, including the Red Dead Revolver characters, and many new online modes. If you haven’t played Red Dead Redemption yet, then Undead Nightmare is the wrong place to start, for it is a less intriguing adventure than the original.

Rock Band 3 won’t hit shelves for a few more weeks, but that hasn’t stopped Harmonix from announcing the first slew of DLC for the title. What’s more, they’re giving some of it away for free.

Anyone who plays the game online during launch week will get three songs by the legendary band The Doors free in celebration of the game’s release. The songs “Touch me,” “Light My Fire,” and “Riders on the Storm” will be available via the game’s music store the week of launch.

At the outset of the Rock Band 3 project, we identified The Doors, with their powerful songs driven by intricately woven keyboard, guitar and drum parts, as an ideal partner for our game,” said Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of Music, Electronic Games and Programming for MTV Networks. “As they are also one of the greatest rock bands of all time, we are tremendously proud that they will be the first artist featured in the Rock Band 3 download store and that we’re able to bring this special offer of their music to everyone who buysRock Band 3 the week it releases.”

In addition to the three tracks, players will have access to a slew of priced Doors tracks the week of launch including “LA Woman” and “Touch Me.” Several of the songs will also feature pro bass and guitar functionality, which enables the game to be played with a more realistic guitar peripheral, complete with actual frets and strings.

“I’m very excited that keyboards are finally a part of Rock Band. It’s about time you guys got hip to the necessity of keys in rock,” said Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for The Doors. “This is going to be great for all the gamers, because it’s a lot more difficult.  Rock Band 3 will require some brainwork, so let’s ‘Break On Through!’  By the way, get those free downloads: ‘Light My Fire,’ ‘Riders On the Storm’ and ‘Touch Me’ are all great keyboard songs. And look out for The Doors’ lost masterpiece, Live in Vancouver, when it releases Nov. 22!”

I started prepping today for Blast’s end of the year game awards. One of the games that made the list for best of the year? Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar’s western opus is one hell of a fun game, but I can’t help but think that it’s missing something. Zombies!

Just in time for Halloween, we get our first glimpse of Red Dead’s latest expansion pack “Undead Nightmare,” which inrtroduces zombies into the fold and oh man, does it look awesome.

Though not many specifics are known as to story or content, it is known that the DLC will add to the game’s already lengthy single player campaign in the form of new weapons, animals and a new location. Expect Undead Nightmare to hit sometime before the end of the month.

Check out the trailer below!

Just in time for her concerts at the Fake Boston Garden this week, and for the holiday weekend, Lady Gaga will be part of some new downloadable content for Guitar Hero and DJ Hero.

Available as of today, the DJ Hero Dance Party Mix Pack delivers a trio of new mixes- Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” mixed with “Girls On Film” by Duran Duran, Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” beat juggle and Rihanna’s “S.O.S.” beat juggle- that will have all of you plastic turntablists spinning, scratching and battling throughout the 4th of July weekend.

Ms. Gaga will also be featured in the Pop 1 Track Pack for Guitar Hero (which is also available today) with her club anthem “Just Dance”, as will Maroon 5′s hit “This Love” and arguably the worst song of the last five years, “Fireflies” by that dork who calls himself Owl City.

All of this DLC is available for the XBOX 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii.

Hankering for some more good lovin’, Splinter Cell style?

Hopefully you are, as Ubisoft recently dated and detailed downloadable content for Sam Fisher’s latest adventure, Splinter Cell: Conviction.

More is better.

The DLC includes new cooperative  missions on four new environments for play in the game’s Deniable Ops game modes. There is 250 GamerScore up for grabs here, so do your work, and you’ll be rewarded.

Unlike the game itself, which saw release on the Xbox 360 two weeks prior to that of the PC, the “Insurgency” DLC will arrive on both the Xbox 360 and PC simultaneously May 27 for 800 MS Points/$10.

The next map pack, the “Resurgence Map Pack,” for Activision’s billion dollar baby, arrives in just a few short weeks on June 3 on Xbox Live, but what’s it look like?

Thankfully, Infinity Ward released five screenshots, one from each map, and we’ve snagged them for you.

The two remakes, Vacant and Strike, look particularly incredible with their new face-lift and Carnival, well, it’s got a clown, so there’s that.

The Resurgence Map Pack hits June 3 for Xbox 360, and at a later date for PC and PS3.

Carnival

Fuel

Strike

Trailer Park

Vacant

Green Day’s own Rock Band title, Green Day: Rock Band, which is due out in just a couple of weeks, will feature 47 tracks from the band’s storied career, but that’s not enough for the punk rockin’ trio.

Green Day

In an interview with the Game Informer magazine, Green Day drummer Tre Cool expressed interest and readiness to extend the band’s digital legacy to beyond the tunes on the disc.

We wanted it all to go on there, but I guess you have to leave something for later. The technology is pretty sweet. You can download more material on all the consoles. Personally, I like PS3. I watch Netflix on my PlayStation 3. So, we’re going to have more stuff going through the pipeline later, like the old records once we get them on digital and get the stems. Hopefully, we’ll come up with some new looks.

This all sounds wonderful, only thing is, Harmonix said there would be no additional downloadable songs from the game, saying there are already “sculpted experiences” for each song and adding new tunes to that mix would not jive.

What gives?

Green Day: Rock Band is out June 8. Expect more details soon.

via Kotaku

Harmonix today announced next week’s Rock Band downloadable tunes, revealing Judas Priest’s entire British Steel album, the tunes in question.

The tracks are live recordings from the band’s 2009 tour. Personally, when it comes to Rock Band, I’d rather play studio recordings, but that’s just my take on it.

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 11):

"Breaking the Law (Live)" +
"Rapid Fire (Live)" +
"Metal Gods (Live)"
"Grinder (Live)" +
"United (Live)" +
"Living After Midnight (Live)"
"You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise (Live)"
"The Rage (Live)" +
"Steeler (Live)" +

Rockstar Games have named and dated post-launch downloadable content for the upcoming Red Dead: Redemption today.

While the full retail game doesn’t come to Xbox 360 and PS3 until May 18, the publisher has DLC planned and ready for release in June.

It’s called Outlaws to the End and it’s a co-op themed package, that’ll be free when it releases in June on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live simultaneously.

It’s composed of six multiplayer missions that have players doing everything from riding a raft down a riving guns blazing to storming Mexican army gates and taking control of a mining camp full of gold…that’s rigged to explode!

“Multiplayer in Red Dead Redemption offers players a whole new way to encounter the massive open world we’ve created, but we felt the experience would not be complete without co-op game play,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “With these missions, we wanted to create new ways for players to share in the experience of engaging with this amazing landscape.”

The DLC will release sometime in June, Rockstar says. Red Dead: Redemption hits PS3 and Xbox 360 May 18.

Check out the DLC’s first screenshots below and read more on the DLC at the Rockstar Newswire.

Guess what? It’s the beginning of the month, and that can mean only one thing.

Activision passed along a press release this morning, revealing every last song coming to the world of Guitar Hero and Band Hero this May.

It’s really an eclectic offering, as classic rock tunes from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Miller and Foreigner and Aerosmith combine with a random week of alternative rock songs from Snow Patrol, Capra and Alpha Rev.

Individually, each song will run you $1.99/160 MS Points/ 200 Wii Points and the 3-packs will be $5.49/440 MS Points/ 550 Wii Points.

May 6 (May 11 for PS3) – “Classic Rock 3 Track Pack”

• “Juke Box Hero” – Foreigner
• “Sweet Home Alabama” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
• “Take the Money and Run” – Steve Miller Band

May 11 – “Alternative Pop Track Pack”

• “Face Down” – Alpha Rev
• “Low Day” – Capra
• “You’re All I Have” – Snow Patrol

May 18 – “Aerosmith Track Pack”

• “Living on the Edge”
• “Love In An Elevator”
• “Rag Doll”

Source: Destructoid

Regardless of the turmoil between Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision, MW2 is still out there and is a hugely popular, chart-dominating online shooter.

And it’s likely to get even more popular today, as Activision and Sony today will release the first batch of the game’s downloadable content, the “Stimulus Package,” for the Sony faithful on the PlayStation Network.

Even at its steep $15 price point and its inclusion of two CoD4 map remakes, the DLC sold heaps and heaps on Xbox Live. Wonder how it’ll fare with the Sony crowd?

Read the full announcement on the PlayStation Blog and keep you eyes fixed on Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling on Twitter @FourZeroTwo for information on when exactly the DLC will go live.

As if Rock Band music-gamers didn’t already have enough Gwen Stefani to shake a microphone to, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s Rock Band DLC tunes naming No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom album the songs in question.

Most of the album’s singles, you know, the popular ones “Just a Girl,” “Excuse Me Mr.,” “Spiderwebs,” Sunday Morning” and “Don’t Speak,” are already available in the Rock Band store. But next week Harmonix adds the “deep cuts,” to complete the album.

Oh, one song each  from Orianthi and Picture Me Broken are also arriving next week. Here’s the full list.

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 4):

No Doubt — "Different People" +
No Doubt — "End It on This" +
No Doubt — "Happy Now?" +
No Doubt — "Hey You" +
No Doubt — "Sixteen" +
No Doubt — "The Climb" +
No Doubt — "Tragic Kingdom" +
No Doubt — "World Go ‘Round" +
No Doubt — "You Can Do It"
Orianthi — "According to You" +
Picture Me Broken — "Dearest (I’m So Sorry)" *

+ available in the LEGO: Rock Band music store

* 99 cent song

If you didn’t notice, next week marks the first week that songs have arrived in all three system’s respective Music Stores on the same day. Awesome!

A Xbox Live Newsbeat issued by Microsoft last week indicated downloadable content for the underwater shooter BioShock 2 would arrive this week, but that report was erroneous.

Xbox Live’s community man, Major Nelson, posted a statement on his blog, announcing the DLC won’t hit this week and did not specify as to when it will.

The DLC in question, the 800 MS Point Rapture Metro Pack, contains six new multiplayer maps designed from the game’s single-player campaign, as well as three new Achievements/Trophies and a Rebirth Feature, which will allow those reaching level 50 in multiplayer the ability to start all over, like Prestige in Modern Warfare 2.

In a surprising fashion, Microsoft’s today announced previously secret downloadable content coming to Xbox Live next week.

Among the list, is downloadable content for sequels “Bioshock 2″ and “Just Cause 2.”

The underwater shooter gets the Rapture Metro Map Pack DLC. It’s 800 MS Points ($10) and is composed of additional arenas, face masks, a “Kill Em Kindly” melee deathmatch mode, and three new lovely Achievements.

The open world action game gets the Black Market Aerial Pack DLC. What’s in the box here is a F-33 DragonFly Jet Fighter, a multi-lock missile launcher and a parachute thruster, good for extending the radius of your drop zone. It’ll set you back a mere 160 MS Points or $2.

Hooray for unexpected DLC. Who’s buying?

Source: GamerScoreBlog

Harmonix and MTV Games today detailed next week’s Rock Band DLC inclusions, naming a three pack from Coheed and Cambria as well as singles from Supergrass, The Violent Femmes and Siouxsie & The Banshees as the digital tunes.

The triple shot of Coheed and Cambria are tunes from their band’s latest album, Year Of The Black Rainbow, which debuted on Tuesday.

All songs are master recordings and those denoted with + mean they’re also available in the child friendly LEGO: Rock Band Music Store.

Coheed and Cambria — "Guns of Summer" +
Coheed and Cambria — "Here We Are Juggernaut"
Coheed and Cambria — "The Broken" +
Siouxsie & The Banshees — "Peek-a-Boo"
Supergrass — "Sun Hits the Sky" +
The Violent Femmes — "American Music"

Get your digital money ready, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s downloadable content for the world of Rock Band naming tunes from System of a Down singer Serj Tankian, Smash Mouth and The Used, the tunes in question.

All songs are master recordings and sell for $2 each. Songs designated with * indicate availability in the LEGO: Rock Band music store.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (April 13) and PlayStation 3 system (April 15):

Serj Tankian — "Empty Walls"
Serj Tankian — "Sky is Over" +
Smash Mouth — "All Star" +
The Used — "Blood on My Hands"
The Used — "Born to Quit"
The Used — "The Taste of Ink"

Activision knew this was going to happen.

The publisher today announced the first batch of downloadable content for Infinity Ward’s impossibly popular shooter “Modern Warfare 2″ has sold over 2.5 million units in its first week.

Stimulus Package

According to Microsoft’s figures, the DLC sold a million in 24 hours, with the other 1.5 million trickling in later in the week.

Lest we forget, the DLC was set at the gargantuan rate of $15 so when Activision ups the ante to $20 with Modern Warfare 3 (just speculation) we’ll have no grounds of defense. Ouch.

I don’t know whether I should feel surprised, angry or sad. Activision has just recently rolled out an odd marketing campaign for Modern Warfare 2′s first batch of downloadable content, “The Stimulus Package.”

Sex sells, sure. But sexual innuendos from an old, plump man in an arm chair? You be the judge. Maybe it made me laugh, but it didn’t make me cough up $15.

Are you single and ready to mingle? If so, next week is your week, as Rock Band developer Harmonix today announced next week’s downloadable content for the top-tier music game, naming six singles the tunes in question.

Songs from Christian rock bands Thousand Foot Krutch and  Skillet, then some others from alternative rockers Anberlin, and even more, grace the Rock Band world beginning next Tuesday.

Here’s the full list. Rock Out.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (April 6) and PlayStation 3 system (April 8):

Anberlin — "Feel Good Drag"
Hawk Nelson — "Live Life Loud"
Skillet — "Monster"
Superchick — "Stand in the Rain"
Switchfoot — "Meant to Live"
Thousand Foot Krutch — "Fire It Up"

Activision today announced every song headed to the world of Guitar Hero and Band Hero for the month of April and the list includes the likes of classic rockers Black Sabbath and Lynyrd Skynyrd to new sensations Phoenix and The All-American Rejects and more.

Here’s how the month will shake out.

April 1 (no, this is no  Apri Fools joke) - Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird,” “Simple Man” and “Gimme Three Steps.”

April 8 – Fall Out Boy – “Thnks fr th Mmrs,” “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race” and “The Take Over, The Breaks Over.”

April 15 – All American Rejects - “Gives You Hell” Blur – “There’s No Other Way” and Saving Abel - “Addicted.”

April 22 - Phoenix – “Everything Is Everything,” “1901″ and “Lisztomania.”

April 29 – Black Sabbath – “After Forever,” “Sweet Leaf” and “Into The Void.”

The Skynyrd, Fall Out Boy, Phoneix and Black Sabbath track packs will be available for 440 MS Points/550 Wii Points/$5.49 (all equal).

Each song, individually, is $2.

I have to give Activision credit here, this is an extremely solid list. I’ll be buying way too many

Modern Warfare 2′s first batch of downloadable content, “The Stimulus Package,” hits tomorrow, March 30, exclusively on Xbox Live.

We’ve already see it in motion, but here are some still shots, courtesy of the good guys over at Infinity Ward.

Bailout

Crash (CoD4)

Overgrown (CoD4)

Salvage

Storm

These suckers release tomorrow at $15. Who’s buying?

It’s a rainy, gross day here in my part of New England, but you know what’s not rainy and gross? Modern Warfare 2 downloadable content.

This week in new releases sees really nothing much, except for the elephant in the room; Infinity Ward rolling out the game’s first batch of DLC, “The Stimulus Package.”

It comes exclusively to Xbox Live this Tuesday, March 30 at the gargantuan selling rate of $15.

The rest of the week:

Yesterday (March 28)
America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking (DS)
Dreamscape (PC)
WarioWare D.I.Y. (DS)

Tuesday (March 30)
Again (DS)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Stimulus Package (360)
Dance Sensation! (Wii)
Dead or Alive Paradise (PSP)
Mimana Iyar Chronicles (PSP)
Mount & Blade: Warband (PC)
Prison Break: The Conspiracy (PC, PS3, 360)
Sakura Wars: So Long My Love (PS2, Wii)
Samurai Shodown Sen (360)
Sushi Go Round (DS, Wii)
Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition (360)

Source: Kotaku

Next week the deceased rocker, Jimi Hendrix, storms onto the Rock Band scene with a host of tunes from the man’s storied career, specifically his “Axis: Bold As Love” album.

The news comes by way of Rolling Stone magazine, which also reports that Jimi Hendrix avatars and props are also coming to as part of the studio’s commitment to releasing “a wave of downloadable content” from Hendrix’s career.

Below are the goods, headed to Rock Band and Rock Band 2 gamers, beginning March 30.

• “Up From the Skies”
• “Spanish Castle Magic”
• “Wait Until Tomorrow”
• “Ain’t No Telling”
• “Little Wing”
• “If 6 Was 9″
• “You Got Me Floatin’”
• “Castles Made of Sand”
• “She’s So Fine”
• “One Rainy Wish”
• “Little Miss Lover”
• “Bold As Love”
• “Valleys of Neptune”