UPDATE: Through a podcast over at Major Nelson’s, the price was confirmed at 1200 Microsoft Points or $15.  For that $15 players get five maps, three new ones and two remakes from COD4. The new maps are Bailout (overrun apartment complex, wide map), Salvage (snow-covered junkyard, it’s a smaller map), and Storm (raining, abandoned warehouses). The remakes are from Call of Duty 4: Crash (urban environment with crashed helicopter in the central square) and Overgrown (dry river running through a village).

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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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.

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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Today marks the official first day of CES, but last night, Microsoft’s press conference took place and revealed an upcoming Xbox LIVE update that will bring a tear to most old-school gamers’ eyes.

Microsoft unveiled the ‘Xbox Game Room’ last night.  The purpose of the Game Room is to allow players to relive the glory days of when arcades were the only way to get a decent gaming experience.  The sights and sounds of an old-school arcade are said to be represented in the Game Room.  When Game Room launches, 30 original and console classics will be available such as Centipede and Asteroids, but Microsoft promises a total of 1000 titles will be available in three years.  Each arcade cabinet will retail for 240 to 400 Microsoft Points, with a single-play option costing 40 Microsoft Points (think of it as putting two quarters into an arcade machine to play.)

Players can also create their own virtual arcade space where they can arrange their arcade cabinets as well as decorating each room to have a specific theme.  You can also challenge friends whether they play on the Xbox 360 or PC.  Your friends can even visit your virtual arcade to demo some of the titles that you have available or simply to stand in awe of your awesome Game Room.

The ‘Xbox Game Room’ will support full 1080p, voice chat, as well as online and local multipler for up to two players.  The current release date for it is ‘Spring 2010′.

Our favorite doggie detective and his side kick rabbit are back! Telltale announced today that the Sam & Max series will be launched on Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday 10/14.  Read more to see the official press release.

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If you’re as big a Battlefield fan as we are, then you’ll be delighted to know EA has just released the official date for the launch of Battlefield 1943.  You can expect to fight in all out war this summer on July 9th.

Battlefield 1943 will retail for 1200 MS points and $15 on the Playstation Network and it’ll be the first Battlefield downloadable game in the series, which should weigh in at approx. 560mb.  The game will include four maps that allows players to run, drive, or fly across with a number of land, air, and sea vehicles at the ready.  A fifth map will be unlocked as part of a worlwide community challenge once players worldwide reach a total of 43 million kills on both Xbox Live & Playstation Network.

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It looks like the Xbox LIVE Silver Member lovin’ train just keeps on rolling.  A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft announced a limited-time offer for Silver Members to upgrade to gold for a month for $1.  Today, Microsoft has announced Silver Members will be given a sneak peek at 1vs100 this weekend starting Friday and ending on Sunday.

If you’ve never played 1vs100, let just say that it’s seriously addictive.  First of all, it’s a free game that’s supported by in-game ads.  Second, it’s very hard to stop playing, unless your brain craps out from the constant draining of trivia knowledge.  And lastly, players who participate can win real prizes such as Microsoft Points or an Xbox LIVE game.

Yet another reason for my love/hate relationship with my Xbox 360. Viz Media is now providing us Anime/Gaming fans some of their most valuable animes at a discounted price on no other but Xbox Live!

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If you’re an Xbox LIVE Silver member, you might want to read this announcement.  Starting today, Microsoft is offering Xbox LIVE Silver members a month of Xbox LIVE Gold membership for $1.

The offer is only for a limited-time so if you ever wanted to jump on the Xbox LIVE Gold bandwagon, here’s your chance!  The $1 for a month of service is completely legit, although if you don’t plan on keeping the service, you may want to get on the phone with Xbox customer support to opt-out of the service.  If you don’t, Microsoft will take it upon themselves to assume you’re having way too much fun playing over Xbox LIVE, so they’ll save you the trouble and automatically charge you for the following month of service at their full $14.99 price point.

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Breaking news just in.  For you Modern Warfare 2 fans and XBox 360 gamers, you’ll be treated to know that there will be 2 new map packs coming to XBox Live FIRST.  So we now see a new type of exclusive content is with this news of a “timed” exclusive map pack.

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