In case you haven't noticed by now, I've been trying to figure out just what InstantAction has secretly been working on these past few months for a while now. Thankfully they've started to reveal what they have in store for the future of InstantAction.com, and it's quite big. But first, a quick recap to bring everyone up to speed:

InstantAction is a website created by GarageGames that features games playable within the browser. However, instead of being merely yet another Flash-based gaming site with countless Asteroids clones, the games on InstantAction boast the one thing most browser games lack: great graphics. Take a look at Fallen Empire: Legions to see what I mean.

In July of 2009, Louis Castle, of Command and Conquer fame, hopped on board as the new CEO of GarageGames and InstantAction. Shortly thereafter the company went silent, and the InstantAction studio was split in two. One in Portland, OR., the other in Las Vegas. All we were told is that whatever Castle was working on, it was big. If things go as planned, I believe they're right... (more...)

Well, technically not so much "new maps" as "now widely available" maps. The four bonus maps included with the special edition version of the game will be available for all as DLC March 18th. Price of entry is $7.

Regarding the maps themselves, two are designed for the games competitive multiplayer modes and two are designed for cooperative modes. The competitive maps are called "Docks" and "Machine". The cooperative maps are called "Outpost" and "Hive".  The latter two take place in an overrun human colony and Alien breeding ground and are designed for human versus alien gameplay.

I haven't played the game yet, but the latter coop. maps sound right up my alley.

Title says it all. For a limited time you can get your mits on Mass Effect 2 at Amazon for a good thirty to fourty percent off depending on which platform you go for. You can get the Xbox 360 version for $39.99 (over $59.99 retail) or the PC version for $29.99 (over $49.99 retail).

No word how long the deal lasts so don't hesitate if you are interested. Its a pretty good game after all.

Ubisoft's draconian DRM, which requires legitimate PC gamers to have an internet connection at all times to play their games, has successfully displayed its ineptness by locking legitimate customers out of their games when the authentication servers went down over the weekend.  

There is currently a twelve page long thread at the Ubisoft forums full of gamers detailing their inability to play their games. As a result, gamers who took their chance with the DRM have had a rough time being able to log in and play the games packaged with the DRM, Assassin's Creed II and Silent Hunter V.  According to community managers from Ubisoft, the reason for the outage is a result of the over whelming demand the servers are currently facing. At this time it appears the servers are still experiencing issues.

In other news, piraters don't need to deal with this dilema because they already cracked the DRM measures the day after the games came out, rendering Ubisoft's whole point of shipping games with the DRM utterly pointless.

2K issued a press release earlier today detailing the first add-on pack for BioShock 2. Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack will be releasing worldwide on March 11 for 400 MS Points or $4.99. The DLC pack will include the following:

• Rank increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters - Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks

More announcements for BioShock 2 DLC will be arriving "in the coming weeks."

Need we say more?

Update: Apparently we do need to say more.  Expect to get your hands on Portal 2 this holiday season.

id Software has released details for this year's upcoming QuakeCon event.

What: QuakeCon is a free convention held yearly in Dallas, Texas brought to you by id Software, Bethesda Softworks and their parent company ZeniMax Media Inc.. Thousands of gamers gather in one location to play with their friends on a giant gaming network, see the latest in cool technology, hear about upcoming games and compete in world-class tournaments.

Who: Fans of computer and videogames. The event is FREE to all attendees thanks to the support of id and Bethesda as well as the QuakeCon volunteer staff and the 2010 event sponsors and exhibitors.

When: August 12-15, 2010

Where: Hilton Anatole Hotel - Dallas, Texas

Why: Play in world-class tournaments, meet and interact with game developers, be the first to learn new information about upcoming computer and videogames and have the opportunity to frag with friends on QuakeCon’s massive Bring Your Own Computer network.

More details about QuakeCon 2010 will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Call him crazy, but Black Rock Studio's Jason Ried, producer of the upcoming racer Split/Second,  likens his new game to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2 more so than the traditional racing game.

"It's a tough one. [Activision's] Blur is obviously competition -- it's racing and it's doing things slightly different as well. But we almost feel we're closer to Call of Duty or Uncharted in what we do than other racing games," Ried told CVG. "Animation-wise, Split/Second is the most ambitious thing that's ever been done in a racing game. So that is where we come down to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2 comparison -- because of these huge set pieces."

Split/Second: Velocity is due out May 21.

2K Games announced Civilization V last week, but missing in action was the obligatory announcement trailer, until now. Here's the trailer in its full CG glory. There might not be any gameplay footage, but it's still pretty sweet.

The tower-defense genre seems to be vastly under-represented within gaming. The only titles that immediately come to mind are Plants vs. Zombies and Defense Grid: The Awakening. I was recently given the opportunity to try out a new entry in the genre from Mana Bomb Games Studio, Colony Defense. While PopCap’s quirky tower-defense game seems like a far cry from Colony Defense, both in art style and gameplay (and budget), the two games do share one thing in common: they are both unique.

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