Harmonix, pulling off a very strange move this week, has announced that upcoming downloadable content for Rock Band will be music from soft-rocker Jimmy Buffet and thrash metal band Disturbed.

New original recordings of “Margaritaville”, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Volcano” by Jimmy Buffet will be available for 160 Microsoft points ($1.99) each or 440 Microsoft points ($5.50) for the pack.

Master tracks from Disturbed’s new album ‘Indestructible’ will be available for 80 Microsoft points ($0.99) each – “Inside the Fire”, “Indestructible” and “Perfect Insanity”.

The songs will be available on Xbox Live starting June 3, followed by a PS3 release two days later.

Through the venerable Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu comes word that the console edition of Street Fighter IV, announced last week, will include online multiplayer, as well as new characters not featured in the arcade version.

Speaking to the magazine, Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono revealed that the new characters are Rufus, a rival of Ken, and Seth, whose modified body allows him to pull off different fighting styles.

Street Fighter 4 is set for release this Winter on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Ever wondered what it would feel like to relive moments from a certain little testosterone driven game called Gears of War? Well, you can now, except for those damn Locusts, that is. It was announced today that TriForce Sales has acquired the license from Epic Games to create 1:1 scale armor and weapon replicas from the game.

The company will offer full-size and wearable COG armor, helmet and the Lancer Assault Rifle. The replica armor and weapons were created in a partnership with sculptor Sid Garrand of Nightmare Armor Studios.

“In my spare time I sculpted a full set of armor for myself, which I enjoyed showing off at conventions,” Garrand said. “When the fans saw it they all asked me how they could get it. I was thrilled when the team from Epic saw it, and liked it, which allowed us to move to the point to where we are today. It all truly began as a labor of love.”

No pricing details were given, though the company notes that fans with money will most certainly be entertained through advance orders online starting July 8. Grab yourself an armor and star crashing into walls for cover.

Paradox Interactive has announced Dark Horizon, a space combat simulator that will let players pilot their own ship through an “action-packed” adventure. Hyped to be along the same lines as classics Freelancer and Wing Commander, the game will offer 22 missions, full ship customization, original weapon creation, joystick support and several modes of combat.

Dark Horizon is scheduled for release during Q3 2008.

Interested in beta testing Ubisoft’s upcoming voice-controlled strategy game? Then head on over to this website where you can sign up for the Tom Clancy’s EndWar private beta, provided you have a Xbox 360 with a Xbox Live Gold account and 3GB of free space on the hard drive.

The beta will offer three maps and the ability to play 1v1 and 2v2 matches. It will run for three weeks in June and July.

The retail game is expected sometime later this year on all major platforms, which does not include the Wii.

While Xbox 360 gamers can pop in a disc and start playing within moments, PS3 owners have been subjected to mandatory game installs that range from short to the excruciatingly long. However, gamers who buy the PS3 version of Fallout 3, Bethesda’s upcoming epic action-RPG, will not have to put up with the percentage bar as it will not feature any game installs.

“The answer to that is no, there isn’t,” said Pete Hines, described as Bethesda’s marketing guru. “That doesn’t mean we don’t use the hard drive, just that it does it in the background as opposed to a large, upfront install.”

He wouldn’t reveal the exact amount of space the game will need on the hard drive, though he does mention that the RPG will require a similar amount of space as Oblivion, which used about 4GB of storage on the PS3’s hard drive.

Fallout 3 is expected for release this Fall on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

CVG reports that the single-player campaign in Far Cry 2 may take up to 50 hours. This comes from the game’s producer, Louis-Pierre Pharand, who stated the fact when asked about cooperative play.

“We decided to abandon [co-op gameplay] for this installment simply because of the complexity and size of the game,” he said. “Add the Multi experience & the Map Editor… gamers will have their money’s worth with FarCry2.”

The game will reportedly mix Grand Theft Auto style free-roaming environments with a mission-focused structure. It is due out later this year on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Once more, speaking at the Ubidays press event, Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, has confirmed that the company is currently working on developing 3D games, noting particularly the Avatar project with film director James Cameron.

“Technology continues to evolve and we have now new 3D TVs that are coming in homes and we will have also movies in 3D,” he said. “Because we will have movies and TVs, we are actually working on games in 3D.”

He added that Avatar is coming along nicely and that he has seen it. The game is apparently “wonderful” and that he’s sure we will “love [the] new experience.”

Guillemot added that Avatar is set for release sometime next Summer.

Introducing yet another off-road racing game to the market, Activision has announced the official SCORE International Baja 1000 game version of the world’s most grueling off-road race. In development for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, the racing game will be available this Fall and will sport over 90 vehicles across multiple classes in the real Baja 1000 – including trophy trucks, class I, motorcycles, ATVs and more.

“No race demands more endurance of both man and machine than the Baja 1000,” said Sal Fish, President and CEO of Score International, the world’s leading desert racing organization. “In consulting Activision for a video game version, we meticulously explained what’s needed to capture the intensity of the Baja. They’ve nailed not only the look but also the elements of true desert racing.”

The game will feature realistic dirt and damage modeling, meaning players cannot be totally reckless when it comes to racing, as the vehicles can be destroyed before the race is over. It can also be reversed, as the racer can be reckless, trying to damage others while trying to stay ahead.

As mentioned above, the game is due out this Fall.

Revealed just a few days ago, Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot has disclosed some more details on Beyond Good & Evil 2, the upcoming sequel to the critically acclaimed action-adventure title.

Speaking at the recent Ubidays press event in Paris, Guillemot said that the sequel will appeal to casual gamers more than the first game, which he believes was a little too difficult to get into.

“We saw with Beyond Good & Evil that so many customers were extremely happy with the game,” he told Next-gen. “We had a different audience at that time. We had more core gamers than casual gamers than we have today.

“We think the game was probably a little too difficult for the general gamers at that time. We’re going to make [the sequel] more accessible and make sure that it’s really done for the new generation that’s come into video games.”

The game currently does not have any release date, but as a consolation it can be said that series creator Michael Ancel is on board to direct the project, so it will hopefully be good and live up to its name.