I’m excited for this announcement as I am a fan of anything that originally had a price hurdle that becomes free, and rather like the idea that I can play as much as I want of DDO.   In this case the company is going the route of micro-transactions to profit.   In order to experience some dungeons/classes or to boost a character a small fee may be paid (Reminds me of the Gunbound system).   Oddly enough I rather support this idea, not only can I play until I run into blocked content (I know there is a class and some other content blocked off, I am under the impression you can reach max level and play a large amount of the game) - plus I can pick and choose to my hearts’ content. If nothing else, I’m certainly not going to argue with free.   An instanced based dungeon crawler I can get all my buddies to play since it’s free?   Count me in.

Hit the jump for images of the quick sign-up and download process at www.ddo.com.

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Straight from The Behemoth’s blog, we can expect to see it soon (at Microsofts’ discretion, I’m going to gander the release will be around the 27th - one year since the initial release).

Hit the jump for more details, the posted image is the new content.

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Because today is July 7, aka 7/7, and because of Bungie’s affinity for the number 7, today is being unofficially declared Bungie Day by the developers of the Halo series. As a thank you to their fans, Bungie is giving away a new Halo 3 map called Cold Storage, which is a remake of Chill Out from the original Halo:CE. I’m not one to argue with the low, low price of free, and the map does look pretty cool.

In addition, Bungie is giving away a free theme and picture pack to commemorate the occasion. I’m definitely going to start using the Pimps at Sea gamerpic. They are also discounting the price of the Legendary Map pack from $10 to $7.50.

Hit the jump for two more screenshots of the new map.
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A few days ago, Major Nelson gave us word of a new tool that Xbox owners could use to regain licenses for their downloaded content such as Arcade games and add-ons. The Microsoft DRM has been a point of considerable debate, as users can only use their content on one registered console without being connected to the Internet. This was exacerbated by the fact that the Xbox 360 has a less-than-exemplary hardware reliability and so many users who had to get their consoles replaced (including myself) found the content that we had paid for crippled due to the games not being played on the console with which they were originally downloaded. Until this new DRM management tool was released, Xbox users had no way of transferring their licenses. Have I lost you?

Hit the jump for more details on what is possibly the most inept remedy I’ve ever seen.
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As any faithful Halo 3 player knows, the new map “Cold Storage” was debuted two nights ago at MLG’s competition at San Diego. The map, which is a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s “Chill Out” is Bungie’s final announcement of the new map pack which will also contain the new maps Purple Reign and Moonbase Alpha. Above is some of the first footage debuted at MLG San Diego in which MLG Halo 3 pros Karma and LegendPimps teamed with Bungie developers Shishka and Luke Smith to play a quick 2 on 2 game on the new map.

In all honesty, being a huge Halo fan I’m not very impressed by this announcement. Chill Out never really stood out as one of the best maps in the Halo series, and I was hoping that Bungie would announce a remake or reimagination of Midship, Sanctuary or even Blood Gulch. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the remake is when the third map pack releases later in the year.

Part of this week’s DLC might be free for those of us who pre-ordered the new Disturbed album from Best Buy. The rest of us will just have to get the tracks at the discounted price!

The following tracks will be available on Xbox Live’s Marketplace beginning June 3rd:

• “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett
• “Cheeseburger in Paradise” by Jimmy Buffett
• “Volcano” by Jimmy Buffett
• “Indestructible” by Disturbed
• “Inside the Fire” by Disturbed
• “Perfect Insanity” by Disturbed

All of the tracks are original master tracks. Jimmy Buffett recorded new tracks just for use in Rock Band. The Jimmy Buffett tracks will cost 440 Microsoft Points for all three songs or 160 Microsoft Points for individual tracks. The Disturbed pack will be available for 240 Microsoft Points or 80 Microsoft Points for individual songs, but this price is only available for a limited-time! The video for “Inside the Fire” is above. Hit the jump for previews of the other five tracks.

I’m happy to see the Disturbed tracks available. I’ve felt that the hard rock/metal scene has been neglected, so I’m happy to see these tracks. How do you guys like the new DLC?

[via Harmonix]

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It’s Monday again, and this time it’s a good day to be a patron of Nintendo’s download services. A whopping 4 new games have been added for this week for your downloading pleasure! Hit the jump to take a look at what’s available.
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Downloadable content for games is a sensitive subject. If handled correctly it can enrich and expand a game, opening up new options, or if it’s free it can be a reward to loyal fans. Then there’s the opposite, when it costs more than it should considering the content and is only a tool for game publishers to make some quick, easy money. Like when gamers were charged $2.50 just for some horse armor - or, in this case, ninja armor.

The current offender is Microsoft, who is planning on charging 200 Microsoft Points, or $2.50, for downloadable armor in Ninja Gaiden II. While ninjas are certainly more awesome than horses, it’s still a pretty high price to pay for “new and never before seen looks,” especially when that’s the kind of stuff that most games include free, right on the disc itself. Plus, since the game isn’t even out, this could easily be included as part of the game, but instead they’ve chosen to charge for it.

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This week brings another batch of Rock Band DLC that most of you will probably not purchase.

The following songs will be available on Xbox Live May 6th:

• “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s An Arms Race” by Fallout Boy
• “Date With The Night” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• “It Hurts” by Angels and Airwaves

Each song is available for the standard 160 Microsoft Points ($1.99) each or 440 Microsoft Points ($5.49) for the Scene Pack. All songs are master tracks. Be sure to hit the jump for previews of the other two songs.

Hey, Harmonix… I know you’ve got the really good DLC tucked away in your offices somewhere. How about sharing the love? Pretty please…?

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This week’s DLC brings us a band that has seen a lot of love on Rock Band and another that was featured on the bonus tracks.

These songs will be available today on Xbox Live for 160 Microsoft Points ($1.99) a piece:

• “Red Tandy” by The Mother Hips
• “Time Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear” by The Mother Hips
• “Zero” by Smashing Pumpkins

All three songs are made from the master tracks.

Hit the jump for more banter and previews of The Mother Hips songs.
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