Thanks to the folks over at Activision for helping the economy with the great news that will bring FREE MW2 multiplayer Maps this month.  Coming March 30th to Xbox LIVE, Infinity Ward and Activision present Modern Warfare 2: Stimulus Package.  This is the first DLC currently announced.  Amongst the rumored maps, Crash has been mentioned to be on the list of the Stimulus Package DLC.  Behind MW2’s Terminal, Crash may be the 2nd best map in the Modern Warfare series.  It was a great map for Team Deathmatches, Search and Destroy and Sabatoge.  Snipers can pick people off from atop the chain link roof tops or rifleman can battle it out near the Helicopter Crash site near the center.  And of course the broken down building where rocket launchers and grenades were constantly hitting.

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Earlier this month, SEGA revealed they are working on another Sonic game, this time focusing on Sonic’s classic gameplay elements that we all grew up loving.  Even though it seems this will be the definitive Sonic game fans have been waiting years for, Sonic fans still can’t help but feel caution given how promising previous Sonic games looked, only to not live up to expectations.

It seems we could all breathe a little sigh of relief as the SEGA Community Manager ‘RubyEclipse’ revealed on the official SEGA forums the original Senior Level Designer for Sonic 3 is working on Sonic 4.

So, is it just Dimps? Just Sonic Team? The answer is a bit of both: Yes, Dimps is working on the game. But there’s actually more to it than just that: at the same time, we also have members of Sonic Team, including the original senior level designer from Sonic 3 & Knuckles on the SEGA Genesis working alongside them. It is most definitely a partnership, and the result of this teamwork is something many of us are excited for.

So it seems SEGA is putting all of their efforts into Sonic 4, which hopefully will be something beneficial for the gaming community as we’ve all become extremely jaded when it comes to new Sonic games.  Although, it looks like Sonic 4 could finally break the streak of bad Sonic games if all goes according to plan.

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Do you hear that?  It’s the voice of millions of Halo 2 players crying out in unison, then suddenly silenced.  That’s exactly what will happen come April 15th when Microsoft flips the switch to cease Xbox LIVE service to all original Xbox titles.

In an open letter on the Gamerscore Blog, General Manager for Xbox LIVE Marc Whitten says the decision was not one that was taken lightly, but was necessary for the benefit of the Xbox LIVE service.  With some of the upcoming Xbox LIVE changes, original Xbox titles were found to be incompatible with them.

Given how massive Xbox LIVE is and how it continues to evolve, this news isn’t surprising to me.  Cutting off original Xbox titles from the Xbox LIVE service will hopefully make the service that much better.  One thing I can think of that would be a suitable update would be the limited number of friends an Xbox LIVE account can have in their friend’s list.

SEGA officially announced the next sequel in the Sonic the Hedgehog series with Sonic the Hedgehog 4.  The first trailer for the game was revealed on GameSpot last night and it’s very telling.  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is dropping the 2D sprite graphics for a more HD-friendly 3D look, but it looks like it will keep the gameplay elements that we all know and love.

The title is set to be released this summer on the Xbox LIVE Arcade, Playstation Network, and WiiWare as a downloadable title.  ’Episode 1′ in the title leads us to believe SEGA has future DLC plans for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 for future episodes in the series.

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I’ve been pondering the purchase of Mass Effect 2 for a couple of weeks now. After I played and completed Mass Effect 1 within 3 weeks, I thought “Great game. But I’m looking for a deal to come along”… until now. It seems EA is finally coming around to gamers who purchase titles “new” versus “used” by way of in-game incentives. For those who purchase a new copy Mass Effect 2 you’ll be greeted to know of some DLC and something called “The Cerberus Network,” an in-game portal that will funnel Mass Effect 2 daily messages, downloadable content and news about DLC to players.

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As Daniel reported yesterday, the new ‘Game Room’ will feature classic arcade cabinet style games through Microsoft available to both Xbox Silver and Gold members.  We’re hesitant to say it will ONLY be on the Xbox 360 because the ‘Game Room’ will also be available for the PC.  Nevertheless, we have the list of the first 30 games that will be available.  Some will say ‘Game Room’ is a combination of PSN’s Home and Wii’s Virtual Console.  Like the stuttering lawyer in “My Cousin Vinny” says, “I- Dentical!”  Here is the complete list of the 30 titles:

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It’s true, Mega Man 10 will not be exclusive to the Wii like some thought.  In fact, it will be coming to the big 3.  Nintendo’s WiiWare, Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Arcade, and Sony’s PS3.  Keeping the same 2D graphics, Mega Man 10 screens do resemble previous Mega Man titles and their retro look.  But rest assure, these graphics were done purposely in keeping the tradition going with our side scrolling hero.

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If you’re like me, you’ve been spending an insane amount of time playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 since its release.  But, how many of you out there have ever played the original Call of Duty?  You’re in luck because the game that started it all is going to be released on the PlayStation Network & Xbox LIVE Arcade this week!

Call of Duty: Classic is a port of Infinity Ward’s 2003 hit, Call of Duty.  Expect the game to go live on the Xbox LIVE Arcade on 12/2/09 for 1200 MS Points and on the Playstation Network on 12/3/09 for $14.99.

The Great Melting Pot is Back

By Carlos Macias

Rockstar Games dropped the finale to the GTA IV saga with The Ballad of Gay Tony a few weeks ago and, amongst plenty of competition, concluded with a mere whimper.

It’s not a bad expansion pack. On the contrary, it’s actually rather good and one deserving the Rockstar insignia stamped on it, but compared to GTA IV proper and The Lost and Damned expansion it can only ever hope to hold up as third place.

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Nervous? With this!

In the last of our Caption Contest for a Zombie Apocalypse XBLA code comes this gem of a pic.  We’ve done a bunch of these Caption Contests but this pic has so much potential.  Funniest caption wins a XBLA code for Zombie Apocalypse.

Let’s see all the funny ones.  Multiple entries are also accepted but know if one of them is really bad you’re canceling yourself out

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