Infinity Ward has finally put out official word on the incoming DLC pack for Modern Warfare 2, entitled the "Stimulus Package." The pack will launch worldwide on March 30 for Xbox Live. It will later be coming to PC and PSN down the line of course.

There's no word on what maps will be included in the package, but rumors suggest it will include five maps, which may include some familiar locales.

Ready for OnLive? After their GDC Keynote, OnLive has been officially announced to release on June 17, 2010, and that the first 25,000 registered users will get their first 3 months of OnLive, normally $14.99 per month, free.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up!

via OnLive Blog

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...

As of now, the previous InstantAction.com is no more, but instead gives us a glimpse of what's to come. InstantAction is aiming to provide both publishers and developers a new way to distribute their games: anywhere on the web. While the preview page displays Braid within Facebook, they're claiming you'll be able to embed games within any website that enables embedding. And it's not just limited to games like Braid. InstantAction seems adamant that their technology will work with any game, something they've stated before.

It also aims to give publishers and developers control over their games after they've been ported onto InstantAction.com, or any other website using their technology.  This includes monitization, such as virtual currency, one-time purchases, subscriptions or even rent-to-own plans.  They'll also allow developers to employ everyone's favorite feature: DRM, along with integrated social elements and CRM tools.

While the future of InstantAction certainly seems interesting, I hope they aren't forgetting about their existing games which the community has grown to love. They've already stated they aren't sure if the new site will feature all the games from the previous InstantAction.com, and who knows what's going on with PlayTribes, which they haven't talked about in months. InstantAction will be streaming live from GDC this Thursday(possible stream link, not confirmed yet), so if you have any specific questions for them, that's the time to ask.

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.

The announcement has come to fruition and the iPhone version of Street Fight IV is now available for your portable fighting pleasure.

Gameplay is your typical on screen buttons-in-the-corner setup. The fighting action tries to stay centered on the screen, but fat fingered individuals may want to be wary as the buttons do take up quite a bit of space. Another thing to note is that there are only eight fighters available: Ryu, Ken, Blanka, Guile, Chun-Li, Dhalsim, M. Bison and Abel.

Street Fighter IV on iPhone can be had for $10.

No wonder game review scores are broken. 100/100 isn't perfect. Thanks Metacritic!

Age of Zombies is a PSP/PS3 Mini developed by Halfbrick Studios in which the player embarks on an adventure through time as Barry Steakfries.

Barry is sucked into a portal that sends him into both the future and the past. The only problem with this 4th dimension excursion is that it's filled with zombies! Barry personally takes it upon himself to exterminate all of the zombies, all while dishing out some great, cheesy action movie-esque lines.

The game takes inspiration from Geometry Wars and other dual joystick shooters, but it also adds it own personal take on the genre. The player controls Barry using the PSP's analog stick and shoots his weapon using the face buttons to control the direction of the bullets. The player can use shotguns, SMGs, miniguns, grenades, and more to fight off the attacking zombies.

The game has a great visual style and smooth animations. Each level takes place in a different time period and has it's own unique enemy costumes.

While the main game only took me around an hour to complete, I felt that it was the perfect length and was well worth the $4.99 that the game costs. Age of Zombies can be extremely difficult at times but is just plain fun to play especially when paired with the refreshing sense of humor. Age of Zombies is one of the best PSP Minis available to date and my personal favorite.

Back in December, we had an editorial discussing InstantAction.com and Louis Castle's "secret project."  Since then, things haven't changed one bit.  The company has been completely silent on all fronts, save for a short video tour of their new office(which features arcade machines and pop-corn makers).  Fortunately, it appears as though things might start to get interesting.

InstantAction recently sent out a newsletter informing subscribers that the site will be down for "longer than usual, at least for a couple of days." InstantAction will at times be taken down for scheduled maintenance, which usually only takes an hour or so, if that.  If they're taking it down for days at a time, it's probably more than just 'maitenance.'  The downtime is scheduled for March 10th, which is this Wednesday. The newsletter continues:

"So what's the big deal? Well, we've got some really exciting announcements coming up. With GDC this week and PAX at the end of the month you know it will probably be huge.

Be sure to keep your eyes on the InstantAction Blog and the InstantAction Forums. Big, exciting changes are coming and you, loyal Actionaut, are a part of it!"

A new InstantAction logo has also appeared, possibly suggesting a site-makeover.  Could the silent treatment finally come to an end at GDC?  We can only hope...

Update: The downtime has been rescheduled to today, 4:00pm PST.

Just released from Klei Entertainment is a brand, spankin' new video of Shank, featuring all gameplay footage. Check it out and enjoy!

Disclosing important narrative details -- spoilers -- is the business of Caution Tape, and what's been written beyond these words is intended to be read by those who have already completed the title of focus. If you have yet to finish or even to purchase said video game, and if you actually plan on doing so, it wouldn't be a bad idea to turn your attention to the many other features, reviews, and news posts on the site. The name of the game is Heavy Rain. Hey, that rhymed!

The finishing touches have just been carefully applied to Heavy Rain.  The credits are rolling without audience on the television atop the dresser to my left, but there are also small snippets of the game’s chapters dispersed throughout, the few I’ve allowed myself to overhear both familiar and startlingly alien to the auditory scenes of this writer.  I couldn’t possibly imagine the events of such a compelling narrative unfolding in any different manner.  I’ve resigned myself to a single, irreversible playthrough, and now that it’s over, only the obtuse hum of regret and a very broad sense of satisfaction are lingering from the three-session experience.

There are qualms to be addressed with the things that make this “game” exactly that. I find those inhabiting my own thoughts just as they should be knocking around in the heads of anyone with a rightfully conceived understanding of what games are -- what they have been for well over a decade now -- after playing this one in particular.  It’d be my own argument that Heavy Rain isn’t a game at all, at least not in the traditional sense; it stands more accurately as an interactive narrative, and while I could probably transcribe a counter-argument to the one you’re presently so eager to throw at me, that’s not what this is about, and outside of the light remarks I’ve just given, there will few others from here onward to examine Heavy Rain the game, and I’ll give center stage to Heavy Rain the fictional narrative.

Getting immediately into the meat of the topic -- and I must quickly reiterate the spoiler warnings plastered across every inch of this piece’s introduction -- I plant my perspective on the resolution of this story.  Some might call me a bit silly or even stubborn for presently committing myself to only one playthrough of a full-priced game that seemingly invites numerous excursions through its psychologically seductive terrain.    It wasn’t a decision I’d made before completing the game, but witnessing the ending, my ending, it occurred to me that this was the end result of the decisions I had both wanted and felt I should make throughout the ten or so hours I spent with those characters.  If I ever went back, it’d be to experiment, to see what could happen if I did things differently.  None of those things would be my honest, reactive decisions, but a product of my own curiosity as a player already understanding the general outcome of the story.

It’s great the way everything comes together in the end, and I assume that there’s some revelation in the conclusion regardless of how things turned out for you.  There were so many options the lead up to my own personal resolution that considering what could have gone differently is slightly maddening.  Right up until that very last cinematic during which it became apparent that I wouldn’t be involved with any of these characters any longer, their lives were at stake.  Madison was nearly seared in an apartment fire.  Ethan was shot struggling against the Origami Killer himself.  Shawn Mars, the subject of rescue across the entire game, appeared to have met his demise mere seconds after being discovered by his father.  After each and every scenario unfolded, it was a bit startling to reach the understanding that had I made one small error, all of those things could have ended much more tragically.

My only problem with the story seems to be shared amongst everyone else that’s completed it.  When Scott Shelby is revealed to be the Origami Killer shortly before it all comes to a close, not only did I feel betrayed by a character I’d just spent three play sessions trying to craft into a weary-but-gentle middle-aged man, but I was also overcome by a substantial amount of disbelief.  Heavy Rain was supposed to have put me in full control of each character’s decisions, yet I didn’t make the choice to kill Manfred in his store.  I didn’t choose to have Shelby burn the evidence against him.  Also, thinking back to the detective’s reactions to various situations caused by himself, as well as the “thoughts” he had when I thought to trigger them, it really does just seem oddly contrived that it was him of all people that was to be exposed as the killer.  Nothing in the gameplay really seemed to lend itself well to the conclusion.

Being a sucker for (relatively) happy endings, I wasn’t off-put for long by the killer’s identity.  Reading through the resolutions other players witnessed on various message boards following the game, I feel pretty damn good about how mine turned out.  Shawn Mars survived, despite Ethan having turned his back on several of the killer’s trials.  He was reunited with his father who, after putting two steel-jackets into the Origami Killer himself, moved both his son and newly acquired girlfriend Madison Paige into a studio apartment to live happily ever after.  Norman Jayden left the Bureau and kicked his virtual reality habit.  Only Lauren, a character I never had any control over, found herself in a sympathetic position, discovering that the man she had fallen in love with had been the same man to take her son’s life.

I’m not going to say that the gaming landscape has been changed by Heavy Rain.  It hasn’t, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t start seeing some of the things done in this title emerging into other games even of significantly different genre.  It’s made a bold narrative achievement, one that I’m sure won’t be forgotten for many years.

I’d  like to invite those reading this post to toss their endings down into the comments.  Don’t worry about spoiling; that’s what this entire article has been about.  Post some rationalizations as well.  Why do you think things turned out the way they did for you?  Which characters were alive or dead?  How shocked were you by the events that transpired?  Let me know.  Let us know.  I’m sure everyone that’s finished the game is more than a little interested to find out.