Microsoft and Remedy announced today that the downloadable content for Alan Wake, is now available. Titled The Signal, “fans can take a glimpse into Alan’s terrifying world with the debut of a new trailer. The video is now available for viewing on xbox.com/alanwake. As the freakish landscapes and enemies become all-too-real, Alan must find a way to escape in “The Signal,” offering a heart-pounding thrill ride featuring new locations and innovative gameplay.”

If you bought the game new, a token was included for the download (so get going!) but if you came by the game some other way, it’ll set you back 560 Xbox Live Points.

Read our review of Alan Wake and stay tuned for a look at The Signal in the coming days.

I’ve been following this particular chain of events — not like some kind of blood hound more like someone lost in the woods that crosses the same path a few times while awaiting rescue — that started with a number of (mostly) Modern Warfare 2 players being banned from Steam. Around about 12,000, according to GamesIndustry.biz, which offers a good reporting of what happened but the crux of the matter was that Steam’s anti-cheating measure, VAC, made a mistake. From Gabe Newell himself:

“The problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version. This was caused by a combination of conditions occurring while Steam was updating the disk image of a game.

“This wasn’t a game-specific mistake. Steam allows us to manage and reverse these erroneous bans (about 12,000 erroneous bans over two weeks).

By way of compensation (and once again showcasing why Valve is one  of the best companies in the business), copies of Left 4 Dead 2 have been offered (alongside being un-banned from Steam). Good on Valve for owning up to the mistake and making amends for it!

Nintendo and 2K have teamed up to bring us “The REAL Hockey Experience on Wii” with the cross-country tour of NHL 2K11 several months prior to its official launch. And if you’re in the Vancouver, BC area the “custom-designed NHL 2K11 recreation vehicle rigged with portable video game gear” and full of “pucks, prizes and playable demos” is making stops at Best Buys in New Westminster and Richmond.

WHEN: Thursday, July 22 and Friday, July 23 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Best Buy, 805 Boyd Street, New Westminster on Thursday, July 22

Best Buy, 5300 No. 3 Road, Richmond on Friday, July 23

Phoenix Coyotes center, Kyle Turris, will be in attendance! And maybe even “Vancouver Canucks forward and NHL 2K11 cover athlete Ryan Kesler” will stop by.

On on Saturday, July 31, from 2pm – 4pm, select EB/GameStop locations in Canada will be hosting a Dragon Quest IX Tag Mode event where, besides trading maps with other Dragon Quest IX gamers, “players will also be able to download an exclusive map, and have the chance to win a Midnight Blue Nintendo DSi XL.”

Because of Canada’s population density, events like this make a lot of sense because it’ll allow players to really make use of the Tag Mode. In Japan, Tag Mode is a lot easier to make use of.

Here’s a partial list of EB/GameStop locations where the event is happening, but visit www.gamestop.ca/dragonquest for the complete list:

4700 Kingsway, Unit 1159 – Burnaby, BC

6551 No. 3 Road, Unite 1512 – Richmond, BC

3147 Douglas Street, Unit 653– Victoria, BC

650 West 41st Ave., Cru #403 – Vancouver, BC

2929 Barnet Hwy., Space 2432 – Port Coquitlam, BC

2965 Guildford Town Centre, Unit 2264 – Surrey, BC

110-333 Brooksbank Ave – North Vancouver, BC

I’d love to dress-up the heading somehow, but this is one of those press releases that could have one line. The only proviso, of course, is that players must:

Go to www.medalofhonor.com/beta to redeem a beta key.  Once a key is redeemed, players will be given a token for the Xbox Live Marketplace to download this highly anticipated beta. One key can be redeemed per account.

This follows on the heels of betas running for Playstation 3 and PC. If there’s one thing that DICE does extremely well, it’s listen to players. (EA Los Angeles is developing the single-player portion of the game.)

Capcom has announced that attendees of San Diego Comic-Con will get to play the latest build of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which will have “Capcom’s Chun-Li (Street Fighter) and Trish (Devil May Cry) and Marvel’s Doctor Doom and Super-Skrull” playable.

Expect more dribs and drabs of character confirmations right up until Marvel vs. Capcom 3 launches sometime in the Spring of 2011.

… the fate of Carmine.

If you’re not familiar with the Gears of War, the Carmine brothers have this horrible tendency of getting themselves killed in the line of duty. Presumably the last brother, Clayton, has the odds stacked against him to survive the upcoming Gears of War 3. The odds just got decidedly worse.

Today Microsoft and Epic announced that Gears fans will have a direct say in whether the last brother lives:

However, unlike in the previous games, the Xbox community will choose whether Carmine lives or dies by purchasing special “Gears of War 3” avatar gear on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Starting July 29 two new avatar t-shirts will be available on the Avatar Marketplace on Xbox LIVE – one shirt reads “Save Carmine” and the other reads “Carmine Must Die.” By purchasing the “Save Carmine” shirt, you’re casting your vote to let Carmine live in “Gears of War 3.” Conversely, purchasing the “Carmine Must Die” shirt means you want to see Clayton follow in the fate of his brothers.”

Whatever happens – RIP Clayton Carmine — Child’s Play will be the beneficiary as all proceeds go to the charity.

Though the new Silicon Sisters Interactive “plans to capture and grow” the female the gamer market, Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch, Silicon Sisters’ CEO, isn’t interested in “pinkifying” games.

Frankly, that’s the opposite of my initial response to reading about the new Vancouver, BC based studio Silicon Sisters Interactive with an “all-female design staff” (well, “predominantly female”). And that’s a crummy response on my part but it shows exactly what mainstream game development has ingrained on my gamer psyche. A girl’s game is pink and probably about shopping or decorating.

Gershkovitch continues. “Girls and women game differently than boys and men. Silicon Sisters has studied these differences so we can make games that truly appeal to and resonate with the female audience.” (more…)

For weeks, the rumored price of Kinect (for Xbox 360) has stood at $149.99. Well, today Microsoft makes it official, it’s $149.99, which is the price in both Canada and the United States.

For that price you get Kinect and the game “Kinect Adventures.”  You won’t be relegated to that single title though, “more than 15 games [will be] available at launch.”

In the press release they also make mention of another item I thought was interesting, and that’s the announcement of the new Xbox 360 4GB console “which begins shipping on Aug. 3 in Canada, will be available for $199 (CDN ERP). This is the “sleek” version that “includes built-in Wi-Fi N, 4GB of internal flash memory, touch-sensitive buttons and a black matte finish.”

I really hope that when it officially launches July 27, 2010 Need for Speed World (PC) gets more traction than EA’s last MMO car foray, Motor City Online, which collapsed almost exactly 7 years ago. Granted the games seem to be completely different, but for some reason car focused MMO’s have a tough go of it. (See also Auto Assault.)

EA is trying something different here so pay attention to the information below:

Players can pre-order the Need for Speed World Starter Pack* today to gain early access to the game on July 20. Gamers will also unlock exclusive cars, earn double XP, reserve their driver names and have VIP status permanently displayed in their driver profile before the game officially launches.

On July 20, the Need for Speed World Starter Pack will be available for $20. The Starter Pack includes a credit for $20 worth of SpeedBoost (the in-game currency), full access up to level 50 and a bundled assortment of power-ups including Nitrous and Traffic Magnet to help players get started. Players can also purchase additional items like power-ups, double XP periods and even rental cars starting at just a few cents.**  A free client download of Need for Speed World will also be available at world.needforspeed.com  to give gamers a sample of the intense street-racing action with access to all races, pursuits and career progression up to level 10.

* Conditions and restrictions apply to this preorder offer. See eastore.ea.com for details.

**Conditions and restrictions apply.  See details at point of purchase.

Okay, God of War fans, it’s time to bust out your wallets!

Sideshow Collectibles is bringing God of War’s Kratos to “life” with this massive 17″ tall polystone statue. The detail on the prototype is awesome — but you won’t get your hands on Kratos until Q4 2010. That gives you a little time to sock away the $259.99 required to purchase him.

See more specs and pictures at Sideshow Collectibles.

It’s official!

PAX Prime has approved the GFW Radio Reunion #2 panel and the event is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 4th at 9pm in the Unicorn Theatre.

Hopefully, we’ll see you there!

Okay, so this news actually hit yesterday, but better late than never!

Electronic Arts announced that NBA Jam will be available for Wii on October 5, 2010. After having played NBA Jam a few times at E3, I’m looking forward to this one. It managed to nail the look and feel of the arcade original and I had a lot of fun playing.

After having spent many hours with the demo, I’m really glad that Crackdown 2 (rated “M” for Mature; $59.99US) is finally arriving at retail today.

We wrote a preview a while back but in case you missed it, here’s the lowdown from the official release:

The sequel to the award winning “Crackdown,” “Crackdown 2” builds exponentially upon the sizzling, action-packed gameplay of its predecessor, including the all new 4-player co-op and 16-player multiplayer modes. With formidable new enemies called the Cell and the Freaks standing in the way of the Agency’s goal to restore order, players return as genetically enhanced Agents in “Crackdown 2” to once again bring peace to Pacific City – by any means necessary in one of the most explosive and interactive open worlds for fans to explore and experiment with.