This week's update to the PlayStation Store brings a weighty haul to the PlayStation 3's digital storefront, offering two new downloadable games, a new demo, and a load of new tracks for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Rock Band.

Backbone Entertainment's 1942: Joint Strike makes its PlayStation 3 debut today, following its Xbox 360 release earlier this week. Priced at $9.99, the top-down shooter revival offers updated 3D HD graphics, new weapons and online cooperative play.

The episodic survival horror game Siren: Blood Curse is now available. A reimagining of SCE Japan Studio's Siren (PS2), Blood Curse is broken into three bundles of four episodes a piece, priced at $14.99 per bundle or $39.99 for the complete twelve-episode saga.

A downloadable demo of Q-Games' Pixeljunk Eden has appeared on the digital storefront as a free download. Described by the developer as an "organic platformer," the title is slated for release next Thursday, July 31.

A complete rundown of the new content is viewable below... Read more

A pack of three downloadable songs from legendary guitarists will be available this Thursday, July 24 for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock owners on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, publisher Activision today announced.

Entitled the Guitar Virtuoso Track Pack, the bundle includes the following master tracks:

• "Surfing with the Alien" - Joe Satriani
• "For the Love of God" - Steve Vai
• "Soothsayer" - Buckethead

No price point or any indication of a cost was provided for the pack. Past Guitar Hero 3 DLC has ranged in price from free to a three-pack bundle for $6.25.

D3Publisher has announced that the previously announced expansion for the Xbox Live Arcade edition of Infinite Interactive's puzzle-RPG hybrid Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords will hit this Wednesday, July 23.

Entitled Revenge of the Plague Lord, the expansion includes four new Hero professions—Bard, Rogue, Ranger, and Warlock—alongside 25 new quests. New monsters and bosses, 50 new spells and 40 new items are also arriving as part of the expansion.

The expansion will be available for 700 Microsoft Points ($8.75) when it debuts on the Xbox Live Marketplace this Wednesday.

Harmonix today announced that next week's Rock Band DLC will include Nine Inch Nails and Shinedown.

Available via Xbox Live on Tuesday, July 22 for 440 Microsoft Points ($5.49) will be a Nine Inch Nails three-pack including "Burn", "Capital G", and "Last".

From Shinedown, the tracks "Devour" and "Junkies For Fame" will be added to the game. Each track will be available separately for 160 Microsoft Points ($1.99) each.

As usual, PlayStation 3 owners will be able to purchase the tracks the following Thursday, July 25.

Microsoft corporate VP Shane Kim today reconfirmed that the first bit of Xbox 360-exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable content will debut on Xbox Live this fall.

The episode will mark the first of two promised game-expanding, Xbox 360-exclusive pieces of downloadable content for the title. No additional details were revealed.

Bethesda game director Todd Howard just announced that "substantial" Fallout 3 downloadable content will be released exclusively on Xbox 360 and PC.

Due for release this fall, Fallout 3 will hit PS3 in addition to Xbox 360 and PC.

No further details of the DLC were mentioned.

Following a pair of scarce updates, the PlayStation 3's digital storefront has been updated with new DLC, demos, and the usual roundup of rhythm game content.

As previously announced, a free pack of maps for Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 arrives today on the PlayStation store. The pack offers the fan favorite Calypso Casino map from the first Rainbow Six Vegas title, as well as two relit versions of existing maps Murdertown and CQB Training.

A complete round-up of this week's content, including new demos and new downloadable content for Harmonix's Rock Band, is viewable below.... Read more

The first game-expanding downloadable content for Tecmo's action title Ninja Gaiden II (360) will sell for a price of 800 Microsoft Points when it goes on sale July 25, according to a Microsoft release. The Xbox Live DLC amounts to a Mission Mode which includes 25 self-contained high-score and survival stages.

A number of free tutorial videos showing the locations of crystal skull items hidden in the game's original campaign will also be released on the same day.

Click through for the relevant details.... Read more

In an era in which game piracy prompts formerly PC-exclusive studios to make the leap to consoles, Mass Effect developer BioWare has an alternative strategy to buck piracy: provide add-on content for its games and promote simple consumer loyalty.

"We're doing a lot of post-release downloadable content on all of our PC titles going forward," BioWare co-CEO Ray Muzyka told MTV Multiplayer. "We think it's a good thing to encourage players to make them want to buy a PC title.

"That's ultimately the best, most successful path to prevent piracy—to have players that want your games, want to believe in them and think they're high-quality and realize they're going to get a lot of value out of them as platforms for long time afterwards," Muzyka added.

It appears likely that the studio's next effort Dragon Age—which the studio plans to unveil tomorrow—will feature some sort of built-in copy protection, similar... Read more

Developer Harmonix has unveiled next week's downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of its multi-instrument music title Rock Band:

• Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Snow (Hey Oh)"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Tell Me Baby"
• Rush - "Closer to the Heart"
• Rush - "Working Man (Alternate Take Master)"

A cover of Rush's "Working Man" was previously released as DLC this past January.

"This version, however, is an alternate-take master from the same session [Rush] recorded the hit with an alternate solo," Harmonix's Sean Baptiste explained on the game's forum. "It has never been released."

Individually priced at 160 Microsoft Points ($2) a piece, each master track will be available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Tuesday, July 8.
As usual, the PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store will receive the songs on the following Thursday, July 10.

A new multiplayer map for Halo 3 (360) will be released as a free download on July 7, now-independent developer Bungie announced on its site today.

A remake of the original Halo's Chill Out map, the revamp is known as Cold Storage.

In addition to the free map, Bungie revealed that the price of the recently released Legendary Map Pack will be permanently lowered from 800 Microsoft Points ($10) to 600 Microsoft Points ($7.50) beginning that same day.

In celebration of July 4, Activision has announced that the "Top Gun Anthem" will be available as a free download for the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions of Guitar Hero 3.

"The instrumental, guitar-heavy theme was immortalized in the hit film that inspired a generation of young men to awkwardly serenade women at bars, perform perfectly-timed 'flipside' high fives and threaten to 'buzz the tower,'" noted Activision.

Initially released in 1986, the aviation-oriented film starred a number of now-renowned actors and actresses, including Tom Cruise (pictured), Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Michael Ironside, and Meg Ryan.

Due out for "mavericks and their wingmen everywhere" on Thursday July 3, the track will be downloadable from the online PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace.

Following up on this morning's revelation that PS3 and 360 Rock Band owners will be receiving a best-of The Who compilation, the band has detailed the bundle's 12 tracks.

Compiled with the assistance of surviving band members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, the pack serves as a replacement for the promised release of The Who's entire "Who's Next" album as DLC, which proved impossible due to missing master tracks.

The Best of The Who Rock Band Edition (All Master Tracks):

1. Amazing Journey
2. Baba O'Riley
3. Behind Blue Eyes
4. Eminence Front
5. Going Mobile
6. Leaving Here
7. My Generation (Live At Leeds) -- "Special edited version"
8. Real Good Looking Boy
9. Sea & Sand
10. Summertime Blues (Live At Leeds)
11. Who Are You
12. Young Man Blues (Live At Leeds)

Available to Xbox 360 gamers on Tuesday, July 15, each song will sell individually for $1.99, with the whole package going for $19.99. The band claims the PlayStation 3 pack will hit the same day, though it is more likely that it will, as all past Rock Band PS3 DLC, arrive the following Thursday, July 17.

A 12-track compilation of The Who songs will be released as downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of Harmonix's Rock Band the week of July 15.

The upcoming bundle replaces the promised debut of The Who's entire "Who's Next" album, which proved impossible after several master tracks turned up missing. Only 2 of the pack's 12 tracks--"My Generation" and "Who Are You"--have been revealed.

Each song will sell individually for $1.99, with the whole shebang going for $19.99.

"We were trying to release 'Who's Next' in its entirety, but we were unable to locate all the masters," Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos told The Associated Press. "In the face of that, [surviving band members] Pete [Townshend] and Roger [Daltrey] helped curate this best-of soundtrack of everything we were able to find."

Compatible with the fall release of Rock Band 2, the compilation will be available to Xbox 360 gamers on Tuesday, July 15, with the PlayStation 3 edition following on Thursday, July 17.

Harmonix revealed the Crüefest Pack as next week's downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of Rock Band, as well as a free track from the upcoming comedy "The Rocker."

Featuring bands performing at the festival of same name, the Crüefest Pack includes:

• Mötley Crüe - "Down at the Whisky"
• Papa Roach - "Time Is Running Out"
• Trapt - "Who's Going Home With You Tonight"

The tracks are available for 80 Microsoft Points ($.99) per download.

Also on offer next week is "Promised Land", a song by the fictional '80s hair metal band Vesuvius appearing in the summer comedy film "The Rocker". The track will be available as a free download.

Per Harmonix's usual DLC schedule, the content will hit the Xbox Live Marketplace on Tuesday, July 1, with a PlayStation Store release following on Thursday, July 3.

This week's update to the PlayStation 3's digital storefront includes a whole lot of rock and little else—but hey, Pixies fans have a lot to celebrate.

Downloadable content for Harmonix's Rock Band this week includes the game's third downloadable album "Doolittle" by the Pixies. The album's 14 tracks will be available in an $18.99 bundle, or individually for $1.99 a piece. Three new Weezer tracks are also on offer at $1.99 a piece, or $5.49 for the pack.

As previously announced, a track from Blizzard Entertainment's in-house band Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain is now available for Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Entitled "I Am Murloc," the track is available free of charge.

A comprehensive list of new content is viewable below... Read more

A track inspired by Blizzard's PC MMO World of Warcraft will soon be available as a free download for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of Neversoft's Guitar Hero 3.

The thrash-metal track, "I am Murloc," made its debut at BlizzCon 2005. It's described as "a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the beloved race of fish-people by Blizzard Entertainment's house band, Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain."

"I am Murloc" will be available as a free download from the online Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store beginning tomorrow, June 26. It joins the Halo theme, God of War song, and the Portal end song as the latest game-related track to hit a music game.

The track is meant as part of Blizzard's upcoming Worldwide Invitational celebration, which kicks off this Saturday. At the event, it is believed the studio will unveil a new title, one that many speculate to be the long-awaited Diablo 3.

A new downloadable map for the Xbox 360 edition of Kaos Studios' shooter Frontlines: Fuel of War is available for free download from the Xbox Live Marketplace, containing one new multiplayer map and several new instruments of destruction.

Dubbed "Boneyard", the new map brings the war to the Shilnaya Balka missile silos, populated with a new automatic shotgun, rocket jeep and Red Star transport helicopter.

Frontlines originally saw release on the PC and Xbox 360 this past February. Kaos Studios has not yet announced when the downloadable content—the first of five planned for the title—will be available for the game's PC incarnation.

Harmonix has announced that three new Weezer tracks will hit the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of Rock Band next week, alongside the previously announced release of the Pixies' "Doolittle" full downloadable album.

Composed of songs from the band's latest album, the Weezer Pack includes:

• "Dreamin'"
• "The Greatest Man that Ever Lived"
• "Troublemaker"

All three tracks are master recordings and priced individually at 160 Microsoft Points ($1.99), or as a bundle for 440 Microsoft Points ($5.49).

In line with the typical Rock Band DLC schedule, both the Weezer Pack and Doolittle will debut in the Xbox Live Marketplace on Tuesday, June 24, and hit the PlayStation Store on Thursday, June 26.

This week's update to the PlayStation 3's digital store includes a new downloadable title, a digital encyclopedia detailing the Metal Gear saga, and the regular roundup of downloadable content.

As previously reported, today's update marks the release of Koei's Fatal Inertia EX, a retooled edition of the 2007 Xbox 360 combat racer with new tracks, difficulty settings and a modified Sixaxis control scheme. The game is priced at $29.99.

This week also sees the debut of the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, available free of charge. The database spans the entirety of Kojima Productions' stealth action series from the original Metal Gear to the newly released Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3), and includes an encyclopedia, relationship map, and series timeline.

The entirety of today's PlayStation Store offerings is viewable below... Read more