Major Nelson takes a look at the revamped Xbox Live Marketplace (which is a little like "Action Figure Man: the How to Buy Action Figure Man episode" from The Simpsons) and of course concludes that it's awesome. You can compare the two "experiences" with the images above (bigger on the jump) and more on Hryb's flickr account. For those not necessarily wondering how streamlined their buying experience will be, just when it's all over with, he says "The New Xbox Experience will ship later this year. As in before the New Year." No real news there, but it's nice to have his personal assurance.

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Are ten multiplayer maps in Gears of War 2 not good enough for you? How about fifteen? Epic Games is packing a special treat into every retail Copy of Gears 2 - a coupon redeemable via Xbox Live good that allows players to download five additional maps for the game, each one a slightly more polished version of a map from the first game. The Flashback Map Pack includes newer versions of Canals, Gridlock, Mansion, Subway, and Tyro Station, and will only be available to folks who purchase the game new, making buying a used copy a bit less attractive.

Epic has also revealed to the folks at GamePro that people who attend midnight launch events around the country will also be able to snag a code for a gold-plated Hammerburst assault rifle, the perfect companion to the gold-plated Lancer that comes with the special edition.

Gears of War 2 getting free day-one DLC, gold Hammerburst [GamePro]

PlayStation 3 racing fans are advised to hop into Gran Turismo 5 Prologue today, where a game update adds three new cars to the game's stable, along with various gameplay tweaks to help tighten up the experience. The three new rides include the Ferrari California will go for 300,000 credits, the Lotus Evora for 100,000 credits, and finally the Citroen GT, weighing in at a hefty 1,000,000 credits.

Along with the new cars comes difficulty tweaks for races, increased rewards for winning, and some changes to the penalty system that I, as someone who has yet to take advantage of the highly-priced demo, couldn't possibly understand. Hit the link for more details, or just turn on your PS3 and load up the game, which I am sure will explain everything.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Update Available Now! And Includes NEW CARS!! [PlayStation Blog]

Worlds collide as EA announces that their sci-fi survival horror game Dead Space has gone gold, on target to ship to retailers across the country on October 14th. Along with the gone gold announcement, EA has also revealed two platform-specific, limited-edition downloadable outfits for the game, available to customers who purchase and play within the first two weeks of the game's release. The PlayStation 3 version is a rather snazzy black and blue affair, while the Xbox 360 version sports a dirty white and yellow motif to match the consoles' colors.

Personally I hate console-specific premiums, as they generally tack an hour onto my visit at the game store, picking up one, putting it back, picking up the other, putting it back. I'm can be a pretty indecisive guy when I decide to.

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It's finally time, Rock Band 2 owners! The web page for the additional 20 downloadable tracks promised on the back of the manual is finally live and accepting registrations. Simply enter the registration code, fill out the short form, confirm your email, and those 20 free tracks are yours...eventually. What they're doing is getting people registered so when the tracks go live, they'll be able to snag them immediately, which I suppose is better than everyone trying to snag them at once.

Don't worry, there'll be ours eventually. Hell, we don't even know if we should look forward to them yet or not. I'm still holding out for a 20-song collection from Stan Bush of "The Touch" fame.

Rock Band 2 DLC Reg Page [Official Site]

While the world waits patiently for SingStar Queen, Sony have gone and done the next best thing, and released two Queen song packs onto the PS3's downloadable SingStore. The ten songs included across the two packs will most probably all be found on the standalone PS2 version, and from the look of them, it's a highlights reel, with Bohemian Rhapsody, One Vision, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions and I Want It All included.

Oh, and Sony. Whoever made the call on the inclusion of Who Wants To Live Forever...thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Full tracklist follows.

The packs - available right now - include the following:

Ultimate Queen 1:

Bohemian Rhapsody
One Vision
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Breakthru
Bicycle Race

Ultimate Queen 2:

We Will Rock You
Another One Bites The Dust
Who Wants To Live Forever
I Want It All
We Are The Champions

LucasArts plans to release new characters and a new single player campaign set in the Jedi Temple as downloadable content for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in coming months, Force Unleashed executive producer Haden Blackman told Kotaku.

The content will be coming to be the 360 and PS3 version of the game. No specific date or prices have yet been set for the downloadable content.

In the coming months Lucas Arts will release a downloadable content pack featuring additional costumes and character models that can be used to play through the single-player campaign. The new models will include Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Kit Fisto.

The skins we decided to release were "based on what we heard from fans," Blackman said. "But some were from us. We thought Ki-Adi-Mundi or Kiit Fisto would be exciting to see running around in our game."

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After months and months of speculation and rumor from all corners of the internet and beyond, downloadable content for the Wii version of Rock Band 2 has been confirmed. USA Today reports that the functionality has indeed been confirmed, and with the release of Rock Band 2, Wii owners will finally be able to spend the massive amounts of cash Xbox 360 and PS3 owners have been spending for the past year.

While unannounced, MTV Games has confirmed that the upcoming Nintendo Wii version of ``Rock Band 2'' will offer the same online functionality — i.e. song downloads and Internet multiplayer modes — as the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 versions. The PS2 version, however, will not include online connectivity.

I suppose the Wii's online capabilities and potential have finally been fully realised. Oh happy day!

'Rock Band' sequel steals the show [USA Today]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' fifth studio album and breakthrough hit Blood Sugar Sex Magik will be hitting the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace next week, giving Rock Band — and Rock Band 2 — another full album to call their own. Cost is $19.99 (1600 Microsoft Points) for the full LP or $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) for each individual track. The track "Give It Away" is already currently available on the Rock Band 2 disc. The full tracklisting follows.

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The internet-enabled console age has been very, very good to sports gamers. Take 2K Sports' upcoming basketball title, NBA 2K9. They've just announced a Living Rosters feature for the title that will enable the game to download up-to-date statistics, player ratings, and player behaviours as the NBA season progresses. Nothing new, sure, but when you take into account the fact that they'll be releasing special animations for key players who breakout during the season you get something extremely close to awesome.

Just imagine your favourite player starts taking off, making a real name for themselves in the game. Kids on the playgrounds (they still have those, right?) start mimicking their moves, the team they're in becomes a showcase for their talents. The Living Roster system will allow 2K to deliver their moves into the game, changing as often as the whims of the hardcore basketball crowd. Of course some of us won't be satisfied until we get real-time facial hair growth, but it's a good start.

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