Valve's Gabe Newell has announced a playable demo of the co-op survival horror game Left 4 Dead that will be released for both Xbox 360 and PC and will feature both single player mode and online co-op play.

As for content, Newell told VideoGamer, "I don't know what the date is for release [of the demo] though. I think it's going to contain the first part of one of the campaigns. I think it'll probably be Hospital but I'm not sure".

Left 4 Dead is due to hit the shops at the end of November, but there is no word if the demo will be out first or will appear later to try and mop up any stragglers.

Newell confirms Left 4 Dead demo details [VideoGamer]

A demo for upcoming LucasArts sci-fi shooter will hit the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace on Sept. 18, LucasArts announced today.

The demo will allow players to mess around with the game's terrain deformation, the key gameplay mechanic that separates Fracture from all of those other shooters flooding the market.

Fracture is set in the year 2161 in a U.S. that has been split in two by years of environmental neglect. The country's warring factions, the Atlantic Alliance and Pacifican States, fight it out using terrain shifting tech and lots of guns.

The demo will let you use terrain deformation to create cover in shoot-outs and solve puzzles.

The Guitar Hero: Aerosmith demo has launched on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 we're told.

The demo includes Sweet Emotion and Dream On by Aerosmith, as well as Walk this Way by Run DMC and I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Say what you will about artist-themed Guitar Hero games, at least you're getting four free songs out of the deal.

Update: Seems that the official press release announcing that the demos was a bit premature. Back to playing regular old non-Aerosmith-infused Guitar Hero.

Quantic Worlds has confirmed that there will be a demo of the PS3-exclusive noir-thriller Heavy Rain as well as holding out the tantalising prospect of some downloadable expansions.

Quantic plan to keep the plot under wraps for as long as possible, so the demo is likely to be more about demoing the game engine with content unrelated to the main game and showing off both the subtle 'emotional' controls and fine character animations.

Intriguingly, for such a plot-heavy game, Quantic's David Cage suggested that some DLC might be in the offing. This sounds a bit like slapping an extra plotline onto a film, so you have to hope it is handled with care and doesn't feel bolted-on.

"This is something it's really too early to talk about, but it's definitely a possibility", Cage told Eurogamer, "You can tell any story with this interface, because it's entirely contextual".

Demo and DLC for Heavy Rain News [Eurogamer]

There's nothing like a demo of a Star Wars game to take the edge off a chilly August. I imagine a heater or a hot water bottle might have the same effect, but why would you bother when there's absolutely nothing Jedi-related about them? Yeah, I thought so.

If you can keep yourself warm for just a couple more days, you can enjoy the fiery gameplay of The Force Unleashed on Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. According to the Activision release, the demo will feature the TIE Fighter construction facility and a tutorial on how to Force Grip like a pro.

Text resembling a cut-and-pasted press release can be found after the jump.

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Eurogamer hosted a live chat today with Spore executive producer Lucy Bradshaw, in which she discussed the possibility of a demo (none), copy protection (included, of course), and plans for expanding the game once it's released. Rather than just produce gameplay add-ons, EA plans on capitalizing on the popularity of the game's editing features as well.

"When we started Spore, we were thinking about how we'd make an engine that had the possibility of expansion, so yes, we'll add to the experience", she said. "I think, however, we have a very cool opportunity to take Spore in a few different directions too. The editors are so cool and fun, that we want to advance those as well as the gameplay that we put into the core game".

One of the planned additions is a flora editor, that will allow players to customise the plant life in the game just as they customise the animal life. I, for one, cannot wait for the influx of sexually suggestive ferns.
No Spore demo, but expansions planned News [Eurogamer]

Time to get our big, brutish, manly hands on a small chunk of the latest installment of EA's Madden NFL franchise! The demo for Madden NFL 09 is up on Xbox Live, with it's presence on the PlayStation store imminent. It's 1.08 GB of pure football power, crafted lovingly the most skilled football artisans and doused with just enough sweaty locker room smell to make you nostalgic without making you nauseous. I've already started getting my own particular brand of football fever, having already purchased, played, and traded in NCAA to prepare for my impeding purchase, playing, and trading of Madden NFL 09. What can I say? There is only so much room in my life for football and football-related knowledge. For instance, as far as I know, the above screenshot depicts the Colts versus Radio Shack.

Oh, and a FaceBreaker demo is out too. Yay.

Demo: Madden NFL 09 And Guest [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

Gas Powered Games' space themed follow up to Dungeon Siege is due out in less than a month, but gamers willing to sacrifice 935 megs of hard disk space can get their hands on it right now. A demo for Chris Taylor's Space Siege is up on your favourite demo hosting site as we speak. I spent a rather sizable chunk of the morning downloading the demo, installing it, and then staring at the "Frequency Out Of Range" error on my monitor between bouts of pouring through files, searching for a way to tweak the resolution from outside of the program. No dice so far, but I have hope for the future. It does sound rather nice. I'll let you all know if I get past the listening stage.

UPDATE: James from GPG got in touch, and his helpful "fullscreen=false" command line addition got me in, after which I set my resolution and was good to go. Would have added this bit sooner, but I got a little caught up playing. Definitely worth a download.

Space Siege Demo [Strategy Informer]

Most of us at Kotaku were busy worker bees when Microsoft and Silicon Knights unleashed the Too Human demo on the Xbox 360 owning masses. Speaking to Microsoft Games Studios folk at E3 this week, we heard nothing but glowing reception to the game. Universal acclaim we did not expect, so I was personally curious about the Kotaku readership's opinion of the demo.

Looks like some of you have already weighed in with your opinion in the comments of the original post, but for those who've spent a bit more time with part one of the planned epic adventure, tell us (dammit) what you think of the Too Human demo.

After wowing the assembled press during the demo of Devil May Cry challenger Bayonetta, the folks at PlatinumGames pulled out a demo of another of their upcoming titles, MadWorld. MadWorld places you in the role of Jack, a brutal killer with a chainsaw for an arm. Varrigan city has been taken over by a mysterious organisation known as "The Organisers", who are pitting the city's citizens against a series of mysterious foes in a deadly TV show called Death Watch. Jack must tear his way through hordes of enemies, killing them in creative and humorous ways, earning points to unlock powerups and mini-games as he progresses. Designer Shigenori Nishikawa's plan is to make the violence so over the top that it's humorous, and from what I saw he seems to be succeeding, to a point.

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