In an age of gaming where developers come up with schemes to milk us gamers of our hard earned cash comes yet another method. Mircosoft has announce price hikes on their Xbox Live users as follows:

Starting Nov 1, 2010

1Month Gold:  $9.99

3 Month Gold:  $24.99

12 Month Gold:  $59.99

All is not lost however as Mircosoft will be merciful to their loyal fans. If you re-subscribe before Nov.1 You will get the current rates for a Live subscription.

All this being said. Why the increase? Mircosoft is quiet on this matter but does say,  “We’re confident that when the new pricing takes effect, an Xbox LIVE Gold membership will continue to offer the best value in the industry.”  My opinion on that is PC gaming has the best value as Steam and most other online gaming programs and platforms are FREE!

Don’t believe the horrible news look for yourself here.

Interested in more of this  strange concept of free online gaming? Check out the HCG Geek Attack Cast. We won’t charge you.

Yes, you read right! Portal is currently free right now for PC and Mac (sorry console people, you can pick up a used copy of The Orange Box for cheap).

I just heard that Steam is now available for the Mac, so I jumped over to their site here and checked it out. I then stumbled upon a very large advert saying that my former love from 3 years ago is now free to own on my Macbook Pro.

I’ll be very new to gaming without a controller, but I just couldn’t pass up free!

Go and check it out here!

Have fun!

Publisher Bethesda Softworks and developer Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout 3 follow-up, Fallout: New Vegas, was officially announced a while back, but we didn’t get much in the way of details. Now the aforementioned companies are spilling a few beans. First: a trailer, courtesy of Youtube and Machinma.

Fallout: New Vegas takes place in the same time-line and universe as Fallout 3. Also, the game isn’t handled in-house by Bethesda, but rather Obsidian, who also worked on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and the forthcoming espionage RPG Alpha Protocol. It shouldn’t be a surprise, given Obsidian’s experience, that the game will retain Fallout sensibilities—role-playing; post-apocalypse with a dark sense of humor; and so on.

No word on a firm release date yet, but we know Bethesda plans to put Fallout: New Vegas on shelves this fall.

Chances are high that if you have some sort of DLC code for BioWare’s newly released sci-fi RPG epic, Mass Effect 2, you’re probably pulling your hair out right now.

According to Kotaku, there are myriad issues plaguing players’ experience with the game. For instance, there are reports of GameStop codes not working, activation issues on the Cerberus Network (BioWare’s in-game DLC launching pad), and an inability for many players to even connect on the PC version’s Cerberus Network. There are also reports of Blood Dragon armor issues, the helmet in particular being a thorn in some gamers’ sides.

Have any of you fine folks run into similar problems? My course load prevents me from diving into Mass Effect 2 until the semester ends, so I can’t say I’ve experienced any troubles—or the game, for that matter. I might just cry. But if you’re experiencing download troubles, don’t fret, because BioWare handyman Chris Priestly (sorta) has you covered.

Yeah, I know—this place is turning into Hardcore Dragon Age Gamer. I can’t help the news is still slow, so read up and hush.

If you can’t get enough of the nostalgic RPG fun in Dragon Age: Origins, worry not. BioWare’s got their fans covered with an upcoming DA:O expansion—yes, a seriously old-school full expansion—called Awakening, due for release this March. The expansion will ship on a retail disc and will be available in downloadable form, and will cost gamers $39.99.

Players can expect new areas, higher level cap, five new characters (although BioWare has been unclear on whether or not they’re all playable), and lots of new loot. BioWare says players can expect roughly 15 hours of new gameplay in the expansion. (more…)

Finally, I have some good ol’ fashioned gaming news to deliver. Sadly, it isn’t good news.

Chris Priestly, a community manager overseeing the nerds clogging up the BioWare forums, let slip a few hours ago that the Return to Ostagar DLC planned for release today on Xbox Live and PC won’t be on time. Not today, not tomorrow, not next week—well, scratch that, I guess it could be next week. The point is, Priestly said the DLC pack won’t be coming out as scheduled.

The PS3 version of Return to Ostagar had a later, indeterminate release anyway, so maybe this means all platforms will see it at the same time.  Perhaps we’ll be heading back to corpse-filled Ostagar on, say…the 19th? 26th? Hopefully the pack hits sooner instead of ridiculously later.

The next DLC for EA and BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins, a heart-warming tale of revenge and ogre massacre called Return to Ostagar, hits Xbox Live and the PC on January 5. PSN will see the DLC pack sometime later. If you want to know what to expect in the pack, catch a glimpse below, courtesy of Gamerfuzion and Youtube.

Thanks to VG247 and Game Informer, we now know a wee bit more about the upcoming sequel to EA’s sci-fi/horror shooter Dead Space. The sequel will be set three years after the original; Isaac Clarke returns; and—gasp!—Isaac will speak this time. The game will take place on a giant space station called Sprawl that makes the Ishimura from Dead Space look like an insect.

Oh, and you’ll be able to fly around in zero-G environments now. No word on how, but I bet that’s an upgrade you’ll find at some point. Rocket boots anyone? Maybe. Isaac will also be able to fire while he’s flying/floating through the air. Say it with me: aaaahhh yeeeaaah.

There will also be a multiplayer component, but EA didn’t say what it would be like, other than you’ll “get to strategically dismember your friends.” Sounds good to me, unnecessary as it is—and let’s face it, this is a game that definitely does not need multiplayer. As for platforms, Dead Space 2 will scare fools on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. So unless you’re one of those crazy Wii-only kids, get ready for more monstrosity-killing fun next year.

Chances are very good that most of you that will give this review a glance already purchased Infinity Ward’s sequel to the massively successful and well-received Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Heck, a lot of you probably bought it early from one of the many retailers who broke the street date. This review is not for you folks. Nope, this is for those of you still on the fence. Still unsure about dipping your toes into this particular pond?

Don’t be. Speaking as a man who is just about sick of first-person shooters, and also as someone who doesn’t often enjoy multiplayer, I’m happy to report that Modern Warfare 2 is worth every bit of hype. The single-player story is more outrageous and Tom Clancy-esque than the original, but still nail-bitingly exciting from start to finish. The multiplayer is built on the same core as the original Modern Warfare but with several additions and upgrades. These upgrades will seem subtle to most, but they aid in increasing the multiplayer’s replayability for new players and veterans alike. There’s also a Special Ops mode which acts as the game’s co-op component, allowing two players (or you can play solo) to blast through special missions to earn stars. This mode doesn’t have an over-arching story like single-player; just objectives to complete. Even so, it’s a fun mode, best played with a friend who you trust on the battlefield. (more…)

It appears EA hasn’t learned anything from it’s past mistakes.  Why they think that giving people an advantage in a game for pre-ordering it is just beyond me.  How about some cool NVGs like Modern Warfare 2 or a gift certificate for all the money we have spent on ridiculous EA DLC that we don’t need.  It’s just stupid, EA. Get a clue.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition delivers six special customizations early to give players a day one advantage in multiplayer matches. Four vehicle warfare unlocks will immediately enhance the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 best-in-class online vehicle warfare experience, delivering extra firepower, radar, and armor for the vehicles. Additionally, the tracer dart attaches to any enemy vehicle and allows RPG-toting teammates to track, lock on, and destroy their adversary. Seasoned veterans of Battlefield 1943™ will be able to immediately re-acquaint themselves with two classic and highly powerful weapons, the M1A1 submachine gun and the M1911 pistol.