Though Left 4 Dead 2 is slated to arrive on PC and Xbox 360 come November 17, developer Valve has reaffirmed that it will continue to support the original edition of its cooperative zombie shooter with as-yet-unspecified downloadable content.

"More info will be coming shortly on the [Left 4 Dead 1] DLC," Valve's Chet Faliszek told Shacknews, adding that the DLC will come in addition to enhancements, such as the promised team-based matchmaking update for the first Left 4 Dead.

"We plan to keep supporting Left 4 Dead 1," Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi recently told CVG. "I think folks took our [E3] announcement [of Left 4 Dead 2] as a sign that we were dropping Left 4 Dead 1 and that's just not the case."

Lombardi noted that "there will be some announcements coming before summer's out about what's coming there," explaining that the internet's vocal... Read more

The promised Green Day downloadable content for Rock Band is set to arrive next week, along with a roaring selection of tracks from artists on the metallicious Mayhem Tour.

Green Day Pack
• Green Day - "21 Guns"
• Green Day - "East Jesus Nowhere"
• Green Day - "Know Your Enemy"
Mayhem Pack
• Behemoth - "Conquer All"
• Black Dahlia Murder - "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse"
• Cannibal Corpse - "Hammer Smashed Face"
• God Forbid - "Empire of the Gun"
• Job for a Cowboy - "Embedded"
• Marilyn Manson - "Disposable Teens"
• Slayer - "Black Magic"
• Whitechapel - "This Is Exile"

The tracks hit Xbox 360 and Wii on July 7 then PlayStation 3 on July 9, priced at $2 a pop (160 Microsoft Points, 200 Wii Points). 360 and PS3 rockers can also snag the whole Green Day Pack for $5.49 (440 MS Points) or Mayhem Pack for $13.49 (1,080 Points).

Skateboarding's prestigious Maloof Money Cup competition is set to arrive in Skate 2 as downloadable content shortly before the real event kicks off in July, EA has announced.

The Maloof Money Pack recreates the contest's park with freeskate, vert and street contests for singleplayer skaters, and online play receiving new competitive activities and challenges. The Xbox 360 version also picks up another 250 achievement points.

The DLC arrives July 9 in the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store for a mere $3 (240 Microsoft Points), just in time for the real Maloof Money Cup which runs July 10-12.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 editions of Volition's volatile open-world action game Red Faction: Guerrilla are to receive three downloadable content packs, publisher THQ has said.

The first of those three, "Demons of the Badlands," arrives on August 13. Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the pack is said to add "a destructive single-player mission arc that takes place in a new Mars landscape outside of the game's expansive world."

As for the other two, nothing else is known except that they're both due later this year.

Traditionally a non-violent sort, Xbox Avatars will soon be able to "fight, throw fireballs, cast spells and much more " in NinjaBee's downloadable strategy game Band of Bugs.

The developer will release a free update to the game on July 8, which enables Xbox Avatars to be used in the story and multiplayer modes of the Xbox Live Arcade game. Released in June of 2007, Band of Bugs sells for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

In addition, a new downloadable content pack entitled "Tales of Kaloki" will arrive on that day. Priced at 240 MS Points ($3), the add-on brings story and other content inspired by NinjaBee's space-themed Outpost Kaloki X into the turn-based world of Band of Bugs.

"The Tales of Kaloki DLC is Band of Bugs but with long-range combat using lasers, rocket launchers, OO rays and a ton of other sweet weapons to blow attacking space ships to smithereens," explained NinjaBee president Steve Taylor. "It's all the wackiness from Outpost Kaloki X and tactics from Band of Bugs rolled into one."

Fresh off its recent offering of the free Solstice-celebrating "beardy druid fellow costume," developer Media Molecule has revealed that LittleBigPlanet will also commemorate July 4.

Said to be available for a limited time, the "Sacktue of Liberty" costume will enable those that own the PlayStation 3 platformer to run around and enlighten the world of LittleBigPlanet with liberty and comedic hijinks.

Look for the free download to arrive in the PlayStation Store this Thursday, July 2.

Next week's batch of Rock Band downloadable content has been announced through developer Harmonix's "Community Zine," with the following due next week:

Foreigner Three Pack
• "Blue Morning Blue Day"
• "Feels Like the First Time"
• "Headknocker"
Vans Warped Tour Three Pack
• Dear and the Headlights - "Sweet Talk"... Read more

Fallout 3's swamp-bound 'Point Lookout' downloadable content has been released, with the PC edition receiving a new patch to support the accompanying new achievements.

Fallout 3 patch 1.6 is now available on FileShack in US, UK and German flavours, each weighing in at 50MB and bringing no changes beyond the achievements.

Point Lookout adds an open area of Maryland swamp with new quests, enemies and weapons. PC and Xbox 360 post-apocalypteers can venture into Point Lookout today for 800 Microsoft Points ($10), while PlayStation 3 players have a wait of several months.

Empire: Total War has received its first downloadable content in 'Elite Units of the West,' adding fourteen of the 18th century's fanciest fighting forces to the PC strategy title.

Units on offer include the Legion of the United States, France's Swiss Guard, Prussian "professional scoundrels" the Frei-Korps, and Russia's Gardes a cheval--"selected not for their soldiering ability but more for their relative attractiveness to Catherine the Great."

A comprehensive Empire: Total War patch released on Monday added a free fourteen other less-elite new units, in addition to a bumper crop of performance and bug fixes.

Elite Units of the West is available now through Steam for the small sum of $3.49.

The pre-release leak of The Sims 3 essentially served as a "demo program" for Electronic Arts to test its focus on "disc-enabled" services like community and downloadable content, CEO John Riccitiello recently postulated to IndustryGamers.

After jokingly referring to the leak as a "secret marketing campaign," Riccitiello noted that "Sims 3 has a massive amount of content, and a lot of it is downloaded once you register with EA." For example, registered users get an extra city as a free download.

"For the pirate consumer, they don't get the second town, they don't get all the extra content, and they don't get the community. [The piracy] was only concentrated on Poland and China, but I think of it as not being that different than a demo," the CEO added.

Use of free downloadable content as a piracy and used sales deterrent is a growing trend amongst the development community, which has been extremely... Read more

Below you'll find "the final Uncle Gary Moment for Saints Row 2," meant to promote the recent release of the free "UnKut Pack" for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions.

As with this morning's Tekken 6 screenshots, there are no words. Just watch.

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Three more downloadable Pearl Jam tunes for Rock Band and Rock Band 2 will hit this week alongside the previously announced DLC, developer Harmonix has revealed.

Pearl Jam "Ten" Bonus Pack
• "Brother"
• "Alive (Live: Drop in the Park)"
• "State of Love & Trust (Live: Drop in the Park)

The three tunes were originally offered as an incentive to buy the physical re-release of Pearl Jam's "Ten" the week it hit stores--the same week that saw the bulk of the "Ten" album released as downloadable content for Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

Per usual, each song will sell individually for 160 Microsoft Points ($2), with the entire three-pack also available in a 440 Microsoft Point ($5.50) bundle. The tracks hit Xbox 360 on Tuesday, June 23, with the PlayStation 3 release following on Thursday, June 25.

Bethesda has released new screenshots of upcoming Fallout 3 downloadable content Point Lookout, showing the answer to most problems in the swamp: a hefty axe.

During E3 we had a gander at the delights Point Lookout brings to Fallout 3, including a new open environment, several fresh weapons, and a sinister plot by mutated cultists.

A new developer diary from Point Lookout's lead designer and lead artist details the swampland's aesthetic development and gameplay design challenges the area raised.

Point Lookout arrives June 23 on PC and Xbox 360, priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10). A PlayStation 3 release is expected once the previous three DLCs have hit the console.

Friday brings Rock Band downloadable content news of a pack featuring arists from the bodaciously gnarly Warped Tour festival, as well as tracks by the mellow Maroon 5.

Warped Tour Pack
• A Day to Remember - "The Downfall of Us All"
• Bad Religion - "21st Century Digital Boy"
• Chiodos - "I didn't Say I Was Powerful, I said I was a Wizard"
• Escape the Fate - "The Flood"
• Underoath - "Reinventing Your Exit"
Maroon 5 Pack
• Maroon 5 - "Little of Your Time"
• Maroon 5 - "Makes Me Wonder"
• Maroon 5 - "Wake Up Call"

All from original master recordings, the tracks will be available at $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) a pop. The Maroon 5 Pack can also be bought complete for $5.49 (440 MS Points), while the whole Warped Tour Pack will run you a tidy $8.49 (680 MS Points).

Xbox Live Marketplace will be rocking to the sound of these tracks on Tuesday June 23, while the PlayStation Network will have to wait until Thursday June 25.

The second map pack for Call of Duty: World at War only took four days to surpass a million downloads, publisher Activision revealed today.

Released for PS3 and Xbox 360 users last Thursday, June 11, the $10 add-on brings four new multiplayer maps to Treyarch's shooter.

The game's first map pack, released in March, took an entire week to break a million.

A downloadable expansion pack for Backbone's neon-tastic Xbox Live Arcade revival Space Invaders Extreme will arrive tomorrow, June 17, during the night-time hours.

With the download priced at 240 Microsoft Points ($3), publisher Taito tells us that it will pack three new stages, new enemies and new bosses, along with "emulators of the original black-and-white Space Invaders and 8-bit color Space Invaders 2."

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Ubisoft has released the Supremacy pack for Tom Clancy's HAWX, a download that compiles the previously released expansion planes into a single package. The pack is available now on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for 800 Microsoft Points and $10, respectively.

Check below for a full list of the included planes:... Read more

Continuing the long-running Friday tradition, Rock Band series developer Harmonix pulled back the curtain on the next batch of downloadable content for the franchise.

The following tunes hit Xbox 360 on Tuesday June 16 and PS3 on Thursday June 18:

Spinal Tap Pack
• Spinal Tap - "Back from the Dead"
• Spinal Tap - "Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare"
• Spinal Tap - "Saucy Jack"
• Spinal Tap - "Warmer Than Hell"
Evanescence Pack
• Evanescence - "Bring Me to Life"
• Evanescence - "Call Me When You're Sober"
• Evanescence - "Weight of the World"

Per usual, each Rock Band and Rock Band 2-compatible track will be sold individually for 160 Microsoft Points ($2), with a four-track Spinal Tap bundle going for 560 MS Points ($7) and the entire Evanescence Pack available for 440 MS Points ($5.50).

Developer Harmonix today announced a deal that will see American pop-punk act Green Day appear exclusively in the Rock Band series of multi-instrument music games.

Three tracks--"21 Guns," "Know Your Enemy," "East Jesus Nowhere"--will be released as downloadable content on July 7, with word that "additional Green Day songs and projects will be announced at a later date." The band is perhaps best known for "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," a song immortalized in numerous graduation ceremonies, countless video montages, and the Seinfeld series finale special.

"Green Day not only rock hard, but are also epic storytellers," said Van Toffler, president of Harmonix owner MTV. "Their message and their music have been the voice and sound of this generation."

The extent of those additional Green Day "projects" is unknown, though Harmonix has previously released an AC/DC-specific edition of Rock Band, with the company currently prepping The Beatles: Rock Band for its September 9 release and... Read more

The last of the promised downloadable content packs for Volition's Saints Row 2 arrives on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 today, with the Xbox 360 download already available. Whereas the first two packs--"Ultor Exposed" and "Corporate Warfare"--delivered new missions and multiplayer maps at a premium price, today's "Unkut Pack" is a free offering that brings more clothing and tattoo options to in-game gangsters.

While the PlayStation 3 edition will be free to all, the Xbox 360 download is currently restricted to those that have a premium Xbox Live Gold membership. A list of the colorful new customization choices, courtesy the game's blog, follows below... Read more