Left 4 Dead DLC Revealed

It has been a few months since Left 4 Dead first launched, but so far information on downloadable content has been nill. That changed earlier this month, when new Left 4 Dead DLC, aptly named Survival was announced in a Valve press release.  According to the press release, the survival pack is set for release sometime this spring, and will contain two new versus maps, or rather the re-releasing of the two non-versus campaigns (Death Toll and Dead Air) for use in versus mode. A new game mode named Survival will also be included in the pack, although no details have been released (Is it a survival, Nazi Zombies like infinite enemies defend the base type mode? Only time will tell). The press release also mentioned the Left 4 Dead Source Development Kit, which will allow third party modders to create content with less difficulty then before.

On top of all that, in the press release was mention of a Critic’s Choice edition of the game that includes the DLC, and likely some extra goodies. So, if you’ve saved out on buying Left 4 Dead, but are considering it, you might want to hold out a bit longer, since the Critic’s Choice Edition is set for release this spring.

(The Press Release can be read here)

Festive Track Pack to be Released for Rock Band

Haven’t heard enough Christmas music while you’ve been at the mall frantically looking for a Wii? Then tomorrow’s Christmas-themed Rock Band track pack DLC is just for you.

According to an official post on the Rock Band forums the pack is set to be released tomorrow, December 23rd, on XBox LIve and the PlayStation network. The songs included in the pack are:

• “Hanukkah Blessings” – The Barenaked Ladies
• “Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You” – Billy Squier
• “Blue Christmas” – The Pretenders

Each song will cost 80 Microsoft Points, equivalent to $1, or 240 Microsoft Points for all three, which is equal to $3.

Although I probably won’t be getting these myself, considering I’ve already spent enough on Rock Band DLC, it’s nice to see Harmonix getting into the Christmas spirit with some inexpensive songs.

The next step is to make some non-Christmas-themed songs from The Pretenders available for download. Get on it, Harmonix.

And on that note, here’s somebody’s Christmasy home video with The Pretenders’ “Blue Christmas” as the soundtrack:

Spike’s Video Game Awards Debut Game Trailers, Present Awards, Invent Soft-core Console Porn

Last night, Spike’s Video Game Awards debuted a host of new games, gave out awards for the best games of the year and, despite a bit of disingenuous Hollywood glitz, generally entertained.

The night, hosted by the always kinetic Jack Black, started with a very funny pre-taped skit in which Black was caught cheating on his Wii with a Playstation 3 and XBox 360, complete with blurred-out disc-tray exposure. Afterwards, the actual awards started with a rousing rock opera about fighting off the evils of reading, exercise and meaningful relationships, performed by Black and his Tenacious D partner Kyle Gass.

Besides humour, the VGAs also offered up game trailer debuts; a lot of game trailer debuts. The debuts included: Dante’s Inferno, Watchmen: The End is Nigh, God of War III, Uncharted 2, DLC for GTA IV, titled The Lost & Damned, DLC for Gears of War 2, which was released at midnight last night, and the metal-inspired adventure game Brutal Legend, which stars Jack Black as the main character.

The trailers were nice to see, but felt a little bit like advertisements, making it a bit difficult to get excited about them. I can’t quite shake the feeling that all these trailers would have just been released on the internet with little to no special fanfare if they hadn’t been debuted on the VGAs. This gave the impression that the only thing special about them was that they were, well, on the VGAs. Nonetheless, it was nice to see video games get the same sort of attention and recognition that blockbuster movies get.

The night also featured a host of celebrities, including Tony Hawk, Eliza Dushku, Kristin Kreuk, Keifer Sutherland, who won an award for Big Name in the Game for his work in Call of Duty 4: World at War, and many others.

Once again is was nice to see Hollywood recognizing the legitimacy of video games with its presence, but it also felt a bit disingenuous at times; while Tony Hawk has been at every VGA so far, and is deeply connected to the video game industry through his widely successful Tony Hawk skateboarding games, it’s hard to say that someone like Kim Kardashian attended for any reason other than some exposure. Maybe I’m being unfairly judgmental, but I can’t see Kardashian sitting down to pwn some noobs in Halo 3.

But it wasn’t just Hollywood celebrities that attended; some video gaming icons were featured as well. Will Wright received a lifetime achievement award, Tim Schafer presented his upcoming game Brutal Legend in a funny skit involving Judas Priest’s Rob Halford and a flamethrower-toting Jack Black, and Alex Rigopulos accepted an award for Harmonix’s Rock Band 2.

Oh, and there were awards too. I was glad to see that the games nominated and the awards given out seemed to be genuine choices that most video game players would agree with. GTA IV, Rock Band 2, Fallout 3, and other fan favourites brought home honours,  and none of the choices seemed to be influenced by or chosen for marketing reasons. Here are the results:

GAME OF THE YEAR

• Grand Theft Auto IV

CONSOLE-SPECIFIC WINNERS

• Best Xbox 360 Game: Gears of War 2
• Best PS3 Game: LittleBigPlanet
• Best PC Game: Left 4 Dead
• Best Wii Game: Boom Blox
• Best Handheld Game: Professor Layton and the Curious Village

GENRE WINNERS

• Best Individual Sports Game: Shaun White Snowboarding
• Best Fighting Game: Soul Calibur IV
• Best RPG: Fallout 3
• Best Shooter: Gears of War 2
• Best Team Sports Game: NHL 09
• Best Action Adventure Game: Grand Theft Auto IV
• Best Driving Game: Burnout Paradise
• Best Music Game: Rock Band 2
• Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show: LEGO Indiana Jones

MISCELLANEOUS AWARDS

• Studio of the Year: Media Molecule
• Best Multi-Player Game: Left 4 Dead
• Best Independent Game: World of Goo
• Big Name in the Game (Female): Jenny McCarthy
• Big Name in the Game (Male): Kiefer Sutherland
• Best Performance by a Human (Female): Debbie Mae West
• Best Performance by a Human (Male): Michael Hollick
• Best Original Score: Metal Gear Solid 4
• Best Soundtrack: Rock Band 2
• Best Graphics: Metal Gear Solid 4

Overall, the VGAs were entertaining, at least for this video game fan. Some of the glitz and glamour felt a bit contrived, but this is to be an expected outcome as video games become more and more mainstream and gain broader exposure. Overall, the VGAs did justice to the best video games of the year while offering up a few laughs at the same time.

Fallout 3 News: Mod Tools Released, Details of First DLC Made Available, Plus More

This week has seen two new big pieces of news in regards to Fallout 3: the release of the G.E.C.K. mod tool, and the release of details on the first downloadable content for Fallout 3.

Fallout 3’s mod tools, named G.E.C.K. after then Garden of Eden Creation Kit of Fallout lore, were released earlier this week. The G.E.C.K. will allow PC users to modify any aspect of the game to make their own user-created content.

All of Fallout 3’s data is apparently available for tinkering with, including environments such as special locations and towns, written dialogue, characters, monsters, weapons, and so on. From the looks of it the G.E.C.K. will essentially give Fallout 3 fans all the tools that were at the disposal of the Bethesda crew in making the game.

Also, details have been released about Fallout 3’s first DLC, titled Operation Anchorage.

Operation Anchorage will be available for XBox 360 and PC, and will cost 800 Microsoft points, or $10.

The DLC will be set in a government-designed computer-simulation of Alaska, where the player will battle through the liberation of Alaska from the Chinese Army. As players play through this piece of Fallout 3 lore they will experience new weapons, armor, scenarios, a new perk, and the ability to command special strike teams in combat. The campaign will be mostly combat and stealth focused, according to members of the Fallout 3 design crew.

Two other small pieces of news about Fallout 3 were released in the midst of these updates as well. First, Bethesda is planning to make a general update to Fallout 3 to fix various bugs. Jeff Gardiner, lead designer of Fallout 3 DLC, had this to say:

We are releasing an update for all versions of Fallout 3 prior to the release of this DLC. We take pride in fixing issues that are found by our fans and posted in our forums.

Second, the third DLC, titled Broken Steel, will lift the level cap beyond 20, a feature may players of Fallout 3 will be happy about, me included. The 20 level cap was actually the only thing about Fallout 3 that really annoyed me, and I’m looking forward to being able to develop my character some more.