P.S If you win a code please check your email because you will need to click a confirmation link to receive a code. If you do not click the link a new winner will be chosen to take your place. You have been warned.

After watching the video i am really glad i decided to buy this game over Left 4 Dead 2, especially since Swiff dropped a Steam code for Left 4 Dead 2 in my mail box yesterday. Anyway enjoy the launch trailer below.

Here's a pic of the new car

Along with the release of the free DLC Turn 10 has also revealed the details on the first premium DLC car pack which you can see below.

The “Hot Holidays Car Pack,” releasing Dec. 8 for 400 Microsoft points, will feature some of the world’s most anticipated super cars and purpose-built race cars of 2010, including the recently unveiled Ferrari 458 Italia. To give players a taste of the “Hot Holidays Car Pack,” the brand new 2010 Audi S4 will be available as a free download.

If you cannot wait for more details on the “Hot Holidays Car Pack,” the folks at Turn 10 will be unveiling and diving deeper into each car over the next two weeks on Forzamotorsport.net. Be sure to check it out.

If you want to get your Wesker on in Lost Planet 2 you can pre-order the game at GameStop right now.

Before you say what about my region, Capcom have only announced this deal in America but i think we should see similar deals at big video game retailers around the world in the coming weeks.

 

Along with this footage check out this post for your chance to get a free steam code for the game, I suggest you get your entry in quick as the contest is limited to 100 entries and we already have 81.

P.S.: I would like to thank Torrence Davis for allowing his likeness to be used for the character Coach.

Please remember, you need to have a Xbox Live Gold account to use Twitter, Facebook & Last.fm on your Xbox 360.

Thanks Major Nelson

Mass Effect 2 will be on store shelves in North America on January 26, and on January 29 in Europe for Xbox 360 and PC

 

Redwood City, Calif. – November 10, 2009 – Spend the holidays in hell! Visceral Games™, the award-winning developers behind the critically-acclaimed Dead Space™ franchise and a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced a demo for Dante’s Inferno™. Coming this December, the ‘Gates of Hell’ demo includes the entire opening level and gives gamers a taste of Visceral Games’ blockbuster adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy.

The ‘Gates of Hell’ demo will introduce players to the game’s hero, epic story and intense action gameplay, tracing Dante’s battles from the surface all the way to the Gates of Hell. Players will experience fast-paced hack-n-slash combat as they fend off waves of enemies before taking on the ultimate battle against Death. After defeating this boss, Dante will be armed with Death’s scythe, a powerful holy cross, and will be ready to tear open the Gates of Hell. The demo also features two stunning cinematic movies made by Blur, the award-winning visual effects, animation and design studio.

“Our main goal from the start of this project has been to create a journey that will make gamers truly feel like they are going through hell,” said executive producer Jonathan Knight. “The demo will give everyone some insight into how we are treating the story and a taste of the gameplay. And with nine more circles of hell to explore once the game comes out in February, we are literally just scratching the surface.”

EA’s Dante’s Inferno is an epic descent through Dante Alighieri’s nine circles of hell – limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. At a blazing-fast 60 frames per second, each circle features unique environments, all new creatures, terrifying demons, story elements and are scored distinctly to set a tone that fits each circle of sinners.

Gamers will get to go to hell in North America beginning February 9, 2010 and in Europe on February 12, 2010 for the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, and the PSP. The “Gates of Hell” demo will only be available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, sorry PSP owners.

Hopefully the 9 minutes of footage shown should hold you over until you get your copy at midnight, hell it may even help you decide if you really want the game or not.  Either way enjoy the video below.

First time hearing about a beta? Well head on over here for the full scoop.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be in stores on March 2, 2010 in North America and March 5, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PC. The Limited Edition is available now for pre-order at participating retailers worldwide (while supplies last).

 

Mass Effect 2 is scheduled to ship on January 26, 2010 for Xbox 360 and PC.

Euro PS3 owners will have to wait a little longer for details on how you can get a code. I would suggest you add the Battlefield Blog to your bookmarks as they will be announcing which retailers in Europe will be doing a similar scheme.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for PlayStation gamers to get early access to one of the most action-packed and polished shooters in the marketplace with Battlefield: Bad Company 2,” says Rob Dyer, SVP, Publisher Relations, SCEA. “We’re happy to help DICE achieve their superior level of multiplayer excellence in the game.”

Here’s a little more info on what the beta actually includes.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta will feature the Arica Harbor map, where up to 24 players can compete in one of the game’s four intense multiplayer modes called Rush. This new map displays a superb balance of vehicle and infantry combat, as the American assault unit attacks the Russian army base with full force, advancing further through a beautiful desert town and towards the industrial area in a desperate attempt to overtake the Arica Harbor. Heavy vehicle warfare on the first bases gradually turns into an intense infantry fight as the level progresses, showcasing this best-in-class online war experience.

Along with the news of the multiplayer beta EA also released a beta announcement trailer which of course you can check out below.

• 48-page hardcover “Art of Mass Effect 2” book,
• Issue 1 of the Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a
• Bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes and making-of videos.
• Unique in-game weapons and armor that can only be obtained by purchasing this version

The Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition will retail at an MSRP of $69.99 on Xbox 360 and $59.99 on PC.

p.s
Sorry about the lack of detail on the “Unique” items but be assured i will go digging and try and get some details for you. In the meantime checkout the Boxart for the Collectors Edition.

Scratch DJ, LLC today released a new video showcasing various features of the Scratch Deck by Numark for the highly anticipated music rhythm game, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. The video compares various similarities between the Scratch Deck, and two pieces of real DJ equipment, the Numark NS7 and the Akai Pro MPC. Also weighing in on the Scratch Deck, legendary Scratch DJ Mix Master Mike talks about his time with the deck and its degree of authenticity.

Featuring top hip-hop and R&B songs from mainstream and underground artists, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ will combine real DJ turntable tricks with great rhythm game play, distinctive urban environments and an array of customizable DJ characters.

The Ultimate Edition will contain the following:

Exclusive Collectibles
• High-End Sculpted Replica of Pandora’s Box
• Limited-Edition God of War Art Book featuring exclusive art, content and interviews

Exclusive Digital Content (Available via PlayStation Network voucher codes on day of launch)
• God of War Combat Arena containing an exclusive environment and seven challenges
• Premium Kratos Skin – Dominus
• God of War: Unearthing the Legend Franchise Documentary – a full-length movie documentary depicting the history of the God of War franchise
• God of War Trilogy Soundtrack – God of War, II, and III scores from the game (mp3 digital download).
• God of War: Blood and Metal EP – a heavy metal homage featuring original music inspired by God of War (mp3 digital download).

The God of War III Ultimate Edition will retail for $99.99.

Along with the Ultimate edition reveal SCEA and Santa Monica Studios also announced the obligatory pre-order bonuses for the game, details on which you can find below.

Those that pre-order God of War III at select retailers will receive a voucher code for first access to download the God of War III E3 2009 Demo starting today, plus you will receive an exclusive downloadable skin from the following retailers: Amazon, GameCrazy and GameStop.

Thanks: PlayStation Blog

The Ballad Of Gay Tony is avaliable now on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 1600 Microsoft Points.

Along with the LE details EA also sent out a few screenshots and a video showcasing the six unlockables Limited Edition buyers will receive. Pics, Trailer and the full list of unlockables can be viewed below.

The full list of six unlocks are as follows:

Four vehicle warfare unlocks
• Improved Vehicle Armor – An up-armor package is mounted on all vehicle types, decreasing the effect of both explosive and penetrating warheads, significantly improving vehicle survivability.
• Supreme Vehicle Firepower – Additional weapon packages are mounted for the driver of all armored vehicles, greatly expanding the range of targets the vehicle can successfully engage and destroy.
• Vehicle Motion Sensor – Use this electronics warfare package to locate enemy units in direct proximity to the vehicle.
• Tracer Dart Pistol – This magnetic dart attaches to any vehicle surface, allowing squad members to track, lock on, and fire rockets onto moving targets even beyond line of sight.

Two classic Battlefield 1943 weapons
• M1A1 Submachine Gun – Reliable but heavy this classic weapon is a powerful force in the hands of any Battlefield veteran.
• M1911 Pistol – Highly customized M1911 are favored for its dependability and the power of its large .45 caliber round.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available on March 2, 2010 in North America for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The game will be available on March 5, 2010 in Europe.

 

List of discovered Avatar awards.
• Med Kit: Earned by beating all five campaigns.
• Bull Shifters Shirt: earned by winning 10 games of Versus
• A Left 4 Dead 2 shirt: Earned by winning 10 games of Scavenge.
• Zombie Hand Shirt: Earned by killing 10,000 Infected.
• Depeche Mode Shirt: Earned by rescuing Gnome Chompski from the Dark Carnival.

The discovery was all rumor until Kotaku contacted Value who then confirmed that the above awards will infact be unlockable. So there you have it folks, This will be the the first retail boxed game to have the brand new Avatar awards included. The first official game was (i think) Splosion’ man which was an Xbox Live Arcade title.

Thanks Kotaku

The Costs

First you will need an Xbox Live Gold Subscription, Sky TV subscription and either Sky Multi room or a Sky Broadband Unlimited package. If you don’t have any of these you will sadly have to pay a small fee of £9.75. The price is a bit steep but if you really want to watch movies and live TV in your bedroom without getting another Sky TV box the tenner seems kind of worth it.

Live Movies and On Demand movies are free as long as you have the movie subscription on your existing Sky TV package. On the other hand i found that most of the big TV shows cost £0.98 to rent and cannot be viewed for free even when you have all the entertainment packages Sky offer. This is a bit of a disappointment to me but i guess this is how they are going to keep the service running or they cannot allow the TV shows to be shown for free outside the actual TV network due to licencing reasons.

The Interface

As you would expect the Sky Player uses the same interface as the rest of the Xbox 360 dashboard which means anyone who is familiar with navigating the Xbox Live marketplace will find navigating the Sky Players sections very easy to use. The onscreen menus and TV guide look very familiar to the set top box interface which i think is a a nice little touch for especially for the older people out there who are not at one with all this new tech, like my parents.

Live TV

There are 38 channels including two movie channels, Sky Sports 1,2 and 3 and even MTV. The real draw to the new service is the fact that 24 of the 38 channels support live streaming which means you can watch the big match live in your bedroom without the need for another Sky box.

When i ran the TV feature last night i encountered no lag whatsoever and the picture quality was very good,even when i viewed it on my HDTV. HD buffs will not be that happy with the video quality but for a SD streaming service i would say the quality was really good. As i said earlier there is a onscreen TV guide included with the Sky player and this works as well as it does on a Sky TV box. All you have to do to bring up the guide is hit the up button on the Xbox 360 controller d-pad. The menu itself is really simple to use as well the navigation is as easy as flicking the Xbox controllers analogue stick left or right to see whats coming on next or what you may have missed that day

Overall the selection of live TV stations and quality of streaming really impressed me but i have a little waring for people thinking this will be the exact same as watching it on TV. I noticed that some programmes were not available on Sky player, most of these were MTV shows so i guess there are still licencing deals to be made for these programmes but with the other stuff on offer i can safely say you wont miss stuff because of licencing issues.

On Demand

This will probably be Sky Players most popular feature. This allows you to watch a huge amount of movies and tv shows at anytime you so please. The movie library currently at around 400 movies with more probably being added in due time. The list of movies on offer range from new movies like Tropic Thunder and classic movies like The Running Man. As for TV shows, they consist of shows from Sky 1, Sky News,The History Channel and others. You can even watch stuff on demand from Sky Sports and ESPN.

The quality of the streams in the on demand section seem pretty similar to the Live TV section with each movie/TV show only buffering for a few second at the beginning of the TV show/Movie.

Xbox Live Integration

This is another great aspect of the new Sky Player. This allows you and a few friends to watch practically anything together in a specially designed home cinema room. You can set it so you can see the Xbox Live avatars enjoying the movie you and your friends are watching or have it set to a full screen mode with you and your friends able to talk to each other using the Xbox 360 headset.

As with the Netflix feature in America you and your friends will all need to have Xbox Live gold accounts and valid Sky TV subscriptions. As far as i know there are no plans for guests with no Sky or Gold accounts to be allowed to watch stuff in the Sky Player. So that one of your friends without Sky is going to have a lonely night in COD 4 while you all watch that big derby match on Sky Sports.

My Verdict

Overall the Sky Player is a great addition to the Xbox Live network as long as you have the movie and sports packages on your Sky Subscription. If not it could be a bit more expensive than you hoped just to watch some movies or that football game in your bedroom. The paid TV shows are also a little bit of a downer but i am guessing that Sky have been forced to charge for these shows by the people that actually make them.

Along with my impressions you can see the Sky Player in action below.