Amazon.com today launched a new PlayStation Network store, allowing users to purchase downloadable PlayStation 3 and PSP content through the online retailer.

Offerings include full games and add-on content. However, not all of the items sold through the online PlayStation Store are available here, such as Rock Band tracks.

As with the section dedicated to downloadable Xbox 360 games, buyers will receive a download code via e-mail that can then be redeemed in the console's marketplace. That code is also stored on Amazon.com "so [customers] can retrieve it at any time."

ZEN Pinball developer ZEN Studios has revealed that a new table inspired by Team Ninja's slasher Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is coming to the downloadable PlayStation 3 pinball game.

The new ninja-tastic board "boasts a record five multiball game modes" and "a massive amount of killer action-packed missions," ZEN's Zsolt Kigyossy explained over on the PlayStation.Blog.

The download is slated to arrive later this month. No word yet on price, though the first expansion for ZEN Pinball--the "Street Fighter II Tribute" table--sold for $2.49.

With an enhanced "Alternative Edition" of Resident Evil 5 coming soon to Japan, maker Capcom has opened a poll to help determine if the new content should instead hit North America as downloadable content for those that already own the game.

"[The physical re-release] makes absolutely perfect sense for the Japanese gaming market, where the uptake of digital content is a bit behind the western markets," Capcom's Chris Kramer explained in a blog post accompanying the poll.

For votes to be counted, users must have registered and logged... Read more

A ten-pack of tracks from rock gods Queen will be arriving in Rock Band as downloadable content this month, Harmonix has announced.

The tracks are due October 20--a Tuesday, meaning they'll probably hit Xbox 360 and Wii that day and follow in PlayStation 3 form via the PS Store update on Thursday, October 22.

• Another One Bites the Dust
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love... Read more

Alanis Morissette's oft-debated misrepresentation of the meaning behind "irony" comes to Rock Band in the form of downloadable content next week, joined by tracks from hip-hoppers Flobot, rockers The Raconteurs, and disco punks Electric Six.

The below tunes hit Xbox 360 and Wii on Tuesday, October 6, with PlayStation 3 availability following Thursday, October 8. Per usual, each song will sell for $2 / 200 Wii Points / 160 Microsoft Points, with the two packs going for $5.50 / 440 MS Points each.

Electric Six Pack 01
• Electric Six - "Dance Epidemic"
• Electric Six - "Gay Bar"... Read more

Today's release of the PSP Go sparks a monster update to the PlayStation Store as scores of publishers release gobs of games for Sony's download-only handheld.

The PlayStation 3 does not go neglected, mind, receiving demos for Brutal Legend and Need for Speed Shift, as well as 'The Pitt' and 'Operation Anchorage' DLC for Fallout 3.

The full listing for the releases, downloadable content, demos and sales follows below.

Updates

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords PSP Temporary Price Drop (now $7.99)

Cube Temporary Sale (now $4.99)... Read more

The collaboration between publisher Activision and Monster Beverage Company brings us more than just Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2-branded energy drinks--it reveals when one of the game's downloadable content packs is due.

That map pack has a "planned release [of] Spring 2010," going by the specially marked "Monster Assault Energy" four-pack that just arrived here at Shacknews.

Whether the referenced map pack is the first downloadable add-on for the anticipated November 10-due shooter remains to be seen--developer Infinity Ward has promised "at least" two maps packs, both of which will hit Xbox 360 before PC and PlayStation 3.

As promised, Valve today released the downloadable "Crash Course" campaign for the PC and Xbox 360 editions of its cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.

The expansion, free for PC players and 560 MS Points ($7) for those on Xbox 360, delivers a new two-chapter campaign playable in single-player, co-op and competitive multiplayer. The download also adds several new maps for use in Survival mode.

In celebration of the DLC's release, Valve is offering 50% off the PC edition of the game--bringing it down to $14.99--until Saturday, October 2. The company has previously said that it plans to keep supporting the original Left 4 Dead even after Left 4 Dead 2 arrives on November 17.

"The primary goal of 'Crash' is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game's existing Versus campaigns," Valve explained, with patch notes for the PC version just below... Read more

A five-pack of Alice in Chains tracks both new and old headline will next week's batch of Rock Band downloadable content releases, supported by three Breaking Benjamin tracks, two by Britpop rockers Kula Shaker, and just a single song from Just Kait.

Alice in Chains Track Pack
• Alice in Chains - "A Looking in View"
• Alice in Chains - "Check My Brain"
• Alice in Chains - "No Excuses"
• Alice in Chains - "Rooster"... Read more

The joys of stompy walker warfare will spread to Red Faction: Guerrilla's multiplayer as part of a new 'Smasher Pack' downloadable content, Volition announced today.

Due to arrive October 1 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $5 (400 MS Points) The Smasher Pack contains eight new Wrecking Crew maps, as well as the vehicular violence of the Behemoth mode in all three walkers from the shooter's singleplayer.

Snippets can be seen in the first of a new dev diary series about a contest between Volitioneers, where the loser dons "some utterly ridiculous over-the-top hat" for a week.

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Though it's only Thursday, Steam has already kicked off its weekend deal, a half-off sale on Monolith's shooter F.E.A.R. 2 and the downloadable "Reborn" expansion. That puts F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin at $24.99 and the downloadable add-on at $4.99.

In addition, the retailer is offering UK residents 10% off its entire EA catalog until September 27 to promote the fact that it's now selling those games in the territory.

The whole of alt-rockers Pearl Jam's new album 'Backspacer' will arrive in Rock Band as downloadable content on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii next week.

Harmonix has also confirmed that a special edition of the album on sale in Target stores in the US will include a download code for the DLC on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

Released for Xbox 360 alongside the album on September 20, then September 22 on Wii and the 24th for PS3, the tracks cost $2 a pop (160 Microsoft Points, 200 Wii Points) or $18 (1440 MS Points) for the whole album, hailing from original master recordings.

Pearl Jam - Backspacer

1. "Gonna See My Friend"
2. "Got Some"
3. "The Fixer"... Read more

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition will arrive on October 13, Bethesda today announced along with news that its DLC will hit the PlayStation 3 thick and fast from September 24.

The GotY edition of Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG includes all five batches of its downloadable content and will be priced at $50 on PC and $60 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3--50 and 60 Euros respectively in Europe.

PlayStation 3 DLC--originally scheduled for late June--will finally begin arriving from September 24 when Broken Steel is released, which crucially continues the game beyond its original ending. October 1 will see the release of 'Operation: Anchorage' and 'The Pitt' packs, while 'Point Lookout' and 'Mothership Zeta' will arrive on October 8.

Bethesda paved the way for the PS3 DLC with an update which "addresses a number of issues, includes some optimizations, and adds trophy support for the DLC."

Those that have purchased all five Fallout 3 expansions for Xbox 360 by September 22 will receive a free "premium theme," developer Bethesda and Microsoft revealed today.

The post-apocalyptic makeover of the Xbox 360's dashbord will be available October 1, with Microsoft sending out the free download tokens to those that qualify. Bethesda stipulated that the free theme offer is only good for those that bought the "English" versions of the add-ons.

"This is something we've been asked about a lot and we're happy to finally be able to bring it to fans as a small token of our appreciation," said Fallout 3 director Todd Howard. The theme will also be released separately for 240 MS Points ($3).

Good news, everyone! Despite releasing a piece of F.E.A.R. 2 downloadable content last week without the musical accompaniment we've come to expect, developer Monolith has since rectified the situation in the form of this "Replica Gone Rogue" video.

Adding four new levels to the spooky shooter's singleplayer campaign, F.E.A.R. 2's "Reborn" downloadable expansion is now available for $10 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

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Guitar Hero players that want to import their songs from Smash Hits into Guitar Hero 5 can now do so on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Only 21 of Smash Hits' 48 tracks are importable. A fee of 160 Microsoft Points ($2) will be charged for the service. The full list of importable songs follows:... Read more

What with today being Friday and all, Rock Band series developer Harmonix has issued its regularly scheduled update on the new downloadable tunes coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii editions of Rock Band and Rock Band 2 next week.

The following are slated to hit Xbox 360 and Wii on Tuesday, September 15, with their PlayStation 3 debut occuring Thursday, September 17. As usual, each song will individually at 160 MS Points ($2), with the Anvil Pack going for 440 MS Points ($5.50)

Anvil Pack 01
• Anvil - "666"
• Anvil - "Metal on Metal"
• Anvil - "This is Thirteen"
• Dinosaur Jr. - "Pick Me Up"... Read more

With Eidos having revealed that Batman: Arkham Asylum is to get a new downloadable add-on next week, Sony has now said that a second will appear the week after.

September 17's downloadable pack is dubbed "Insane Night," Sony Europe's Mike Kebby noted on the PlayStation.Blog. A second add-on, "Prey In The Darkness," will apparently follow on September 24. It is not yet known if the second pack will be a free multi-platform download, but the first one has already been confirmed as such.

Eidos is still being rather coy about the actual contents of the DLC, though the structure of the game and names of the packs certainly indicate they could be challenge maps.

As PAX 2009 kicks off today, Harmonix has revealed that it will once again be bringing a little bit of the popular gaming convention home through the magic of Rock Band DLC.

Alongside Jonathan Coulton's postmodern exploration of the working class human-zombie dynamic "Re: Your Brains," we've also got some tracks from Audioslave, MC Frontalot, 3 Doors Down, Jackson 5, and so on. Look for the tunes to hit Xbox 360 and Wii on Tuesday, September 8, with a PlayStation 3 release Thursday, September 10:

Freezepop Pack 01 (240 MS Points / $3)
• "Get Ready 2 Rokk" (80 MS Points / $1)
• "Less Talk More Rokk" (80 MS Points / $1)
• "Science Genius Girl" (80 MS Points / $1)
The PAX 2009 Collection (240 MS Points / $3)
• Jonathan Coulton - "Re: Your Brains" (80 MS Points / $1)... Read more

Following yesterday's launch of Guitar Hero 5, publisher Activision has provided a handy schedule of all the downloadable tunes coming to the game across the next month, including ditties from Street Sweeper Social Club, The Faint and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

As with Guitar Hero World Tour, each song will be available to PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 owners for 160 MS Points ($2) a pop, with bundles offering some slight savings.

In addition, the company laid out the 21 tunes that owners of Guitar Hero Smash Hits will be able to bring into Guitar Hero 5 later this month for an unknown cost... Read more