…Playstation Network Demo scheduled for February 4th.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 console demo and PC beta will feature Port Valdez, a new vehicle focused map where up to 24 players (32 on PC) will compete against each other as either the US or Russian armies in the game’s Rush multiplayer mode. Players will have access to five land and three air vehicles where the Russian side can use everything in their arsenal including Main Battle Tanks as well as the fast-moving Quad Bikes and Mobile Armored AA. The fight will also be packed with plenty of infantry combat fought alongside the waterline towards a great oil industrial landscape in the Alaskan mountains.
Have you played the demo?  What did you think about it?  Leave a comment.

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.

I think we can all agree that the PlayStation  Home arcade is lame. Standing in line, waiting to play a game—that wasn’t much fun in the golden age of arcades, and it certainly isn’t fun doing so in a virtual space. So what can Microsoft do differently on Xbox Live that will attract people who are dissatisfied with Home’s lackluster arcade?

Enter Game Room, a free downloadable virtual arcade (say that three times fast) for Xbox 360 and PC. Players will be able to arrange arcade cabinets in their own personal space and show off their custom arcade to friends on Xbox Live or Games for Windows Live. Avatars will explore these spaces and tackle arcade classics like Centipede, Tempest, Gravitar, and many more. (more…)

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.

When Nintendo Power announced the upcoming Mega Man 10 for WiiWare, they neglected to mention that the retro 8-bit sequel will also grace Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Makes sense, given that it is a Nintendo publication.

Anyhoo, I just thought you XBL and PSN folks would like to know. If you’re hankering for more punishing old-school gameplay that makes Demon’s Souls look like a Disney game, but you don’t have a Wii, Capcom still has you covered. Capcom has plenty of Sheep Man to go around.

Do you like starting up a Xbox Live party chat with your friends while you blast each other to pieces in your favorite multiplayer games? I bet you do; heck, I do. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do so in Infinity Ward’s upcoming Modern Warfare 2.

The crazy nerds over at NeoGaf discovered via MW2 footage (which contains spoilers, so click on that link at your own peril) that the game forces players in party chat to switch to in-game chat when playing in a multiplayer session. It seems the idea is to eliminate the possiblity of cheating with friends playing on the opposing team (achievement boosting and whatnot).

This doesn’t affect the PS3 version because it doesn’t support party chat anyway. 360 owners, will this hurt your Modern Warfare 2 sessions, or could you not care less? I probably won’t bother with MW2’s multiplayer anyway, but I’m curious to see how this affects single player party chat. Keep in mind that this hasn’t been confirmed with Activision or Infinity Ward, but it looks legit.

I enter a buttload of contests on any given month but I never win anything; yet every time I sign up for the Xbox Live Update Preview, I’m accepted. Go figure. The newest update, coming next month to everyone who doesn’t get into the preview, brings Twitter and Facebook to all Xbox Live users, and Last.fm for Gold subscribers. The update also changes the Video Marketplace a bit, re-branding it with Zune logos, adding Zune Social connections, and throwing in a bit more content for good measure.

To give you a better idea of how each new addition works, I’m going to give each one its own section and go into as much detail as possible. If reading isn’t your thing, feel free to check out the demonstration videos on Kotaku. I hear that Stephen Totilo guy has a lovely voice. (more…)

LucasArts sent out a press release today announcing Lucidity, a new game from the team behind the re-imagined The Secret of Monkey Island and chronicles “a trip into the imagination of Sofi, a young girl who is filled with a persistent desire to explore new worlds and overcome all obstacles in her way.”

The press release also states: “In this challenging puzzle platform game, players are tasked with keeping Sofi safe as she drifts deeper into the strange new world of her dreams. Through quick reaction and placement of randomly generated puzzle pieces, players must create a path through beautifully detailed dreamscapes to keep Sofi in perpetual motion and deliver her to safety.”

Lucidity is scheduled for release on October 7th with a release on both XBLA and PC.

Among other things, next week’s Dashboard update for the Xbox 360 is bringing the ability to purchase and download full games directly to your 360’s hard drive. Microsoft hasn’t announced specific pricing yet, but they HAVE announced the first batch of games to be available. Microsoft has said that pricing will be similar to current retail prices, so if the game you want is $30 at Best Buy, it’s likely that it will cost the same to download. New games will also be added to the service every Tuesday. Based on the lists below, I think we can expect that the program will stick with older games unless there’s a special promotion of some kind.

US List:

1. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
2. BioShock (2K Games)
3. Burnout Paradise (EA)
4. Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
5. Dance Dance Revolution Universe (Konami)
6. Fight Night Round 3 (EA)
7. Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Game Studios)
8. Karaoke Revolution American Idol Encore (Konami)
9. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts)
10. Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios)
11. Meet The Robinsons (Disney)
12. MX vs. ATV Untamed (THQ)
13. Need for Speed Carbon (EA)
14. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
15. Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft Game Studios)
16. Prey (2K Games)
17. Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft)
18. ridge racer 6 (Namco)
19. Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)
20. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (SEGA)
21. TEST DRIVE: UNLIMITED (Atari)
22. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games/Bethesda Softworks)
23. Viva Pinata (Microsoft Game Studios)
24. Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise (Microsoft Game Studios)

European List (more…)

December 2008 did not bring tidings of comfort and joy to an Xbox 360 owner living in Oak Forest, Illinois. The holiday season brought not presents and delicious food, but rather an ugly surprise: the nefarious Red Ring of Death, glaring at him like the burning Eye of Sauron. This happens to many Xbox 360 owners, so perhaps this unfortunate Oak Forest resident (name unknown) shouldn’t be too surprised, but surprised he is—and very angry. See, his Xbox 360 lived past the three-year warranty, so the poor guy was charged $99 to repair his console. Additionally, Microsoft never explained to the angry fellow the reason his 360 took a dirt nap.

This Oak Forest resident chose not to cry over spilled milk. Instead, the angry fellow took matters into his own hands, filing a lawsuit against Microsoft, in which he claims that the tech giant makes an undeserving profit from hardware they know full well to be seriously flawed. He hopes to get his suited approved for class-action status, which would exponentially improve his chances of succeeding in court.

Yes, this is a terrible situation for the poor guy, and we all dread going through the same, but this is far from the first time. Microsoft gets slapped with a similar suit seemingly every other day. No matter your feelings for the Xbox 360 as a gaming console, the system is clearly—even today, after several hardware revisions—a ticking time bomb. This is especially sad given the many positives of the Xbox 360, such as Xbox Live (including the Marketplace, Xbox Live Arcade, Netflix integration, chat parties, and so on), which most gamers would agree is the premier online gaming service available.

Hopefully, Microsoft learns from their mistakes this generation and designs a better console for the next cycle. Sure, it’s foolish to believe any console hardware will be flawless, but we can all hope that Microsoft won’t design another console as riddled with issues as the Xbox 360. Then again, this is the same company who made Windows Vista (zing!).