Ah, the sound of money – Activision loves that! To get more money in their coffers, the company has announced that the second downloadable map pack for Call of Duty: World at War will hit PS3 and Xbox 360 next month.

The pack, as with the first one, will offer four new maps – Banzai, Corrosion, Sub Pens and Shi No Zuma (Zombie Swamp) – with three for competitive multiplayer and the last one for the cooperative Nazi zombie mode.

It will also add ten new Achievements and Trophies. No pricing or specific release details were given, though it should be noted that the first pack sold for $10 on consoles and was later released for free on PC.

Here’s a bit on the maps:

Online, players will compete in "Banzai," and fight for control of a tall, river bridge, deep within enemy territory; face down foes in a shattered Russian train yard in "Corrosion"; and struggle to control a bombed-out submarine base in the close-quarter map, "Sub Pens." In "Shi No Numa" (Zombie Swamp), Imperial Zombies rise from misty swamps in an all new co-op experience, with a level that features a mix of traps, flaming Hell Hounds, Perk machines and the deadly, new Wunderwaffe DG-2, as well as 10 new Xbox 360 Achievements/PS3 Trophies that can be earned along the way.

As one can expect from Capcom these days, the PC versions of Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter 4 and Bionic Commando are all on their way, with the latter two due out this July. All three will be sold both via retail and online digital distribution.

Also, all games have been optimized for PC and will have new features. Here’s the big deal:

Street Fighter IV
The PC version of Street Fighter IV will feature online play, higher screen resolutions and three new shaders based on three of the "artistic" trailers released in 2008 that will change the visual appearance of the game: "watercolor," "posterization" and "sumi-e ink" styles.

Bionic Commando
The PC version of Bionic Commando will support higher resolutions than the console version, remappable controls including mouse and keyboard support, support for both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 and online connectivity for multiplayer sessions.

Resident Evil 5
The PC version of Resident Evil 5 will feature online play for co-operative play sessions over the internet and will also take advantage of NVIDIA’s new GeForce 3D Vision technology (wireless 3D Vision glasses sold separately).

Sounds boring, but sign me up for some Resident Evil action on my trusty ol’ computer.

In more music news, a whopping ten new tracks will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Rock Band and its sequel next week.

There are three songs from Franz Ferdinand, two from The Allman Brothers Band and a classic from Alien Ant Farm, among others.

• Franz Ferdinand – "Take Me Out"
• Franz Ferdinand – "Do You Want To"
• Franz Ferdinand – "Lucid Dreams"
• Alien Ant Farm – "Smooth Criminal"
• The Allman Brothers Band – "Blue Sky"
• The Allman Brothers Band – "Midnight Rider"
• The Distillers – "Drain the Blood"
• Luscious Jackson – "Naked Eye"
• Prong – "Idealistic Types"
• Prong – "The Banishment"

As expected, Xbox 360 owners can expect it on Tuesday, while PS3 owners will have to wait till Thursday. Individual songs cost 160 Microsoft points ($2); the Ferdinand songs will be available in a three-pack bundle offering a 50 cent savings in the grand scheme of things.

Valve is offering a 24 hour free trial of Left4Dead this weekend, which we heard about yesterday, but it’s only for 24 hours. After those 24 hours, you’re probably going to want to buy the game, right?

To capitalize on this, Valve has announced that they will drop the price of Left4Dead by 40% making for a $23.99 final sale.

This is a great chance to not only try but own an excellent zombie game that was generally well received across the board.

Keeping its promise, publisher Activision has announced yet another batch of songs that will be featured in the upcoming “best of” Guitar Hero compilation title Smash Hits.

This week’s songs are taken straight from Guitar Hero 3, following earlier track reveals from the first two games. Here’s the list:

Bad news for Batman fans: no Arkham Asylum for you till Q4 2009, according to co-publishers Eidos and Warner Bros. The delay was confirmed following a round of rumors – once expected next month, the stealth-action title is now expected “at the end of summer”. This means a release sometime before the end of September.

“This additional time will allow us to ensure Batman: Arkham Asylum is of the highest quality for gamers,” explained Warner and Eidos.

The game is due out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and is being developed at Rocksteady.

The above peripheral may look like nothing more than a peice of plastic to the untrained eye. However, to avid Nintendo DSi users, Thrustmaster’s T-Standee Charger could prove to be a handy add-on.

The above pictured stand, entitled the T-Standee Charger, is a secure docking station that allows users to view their DSi from a horizontal or vertical position all while charging the devicce.

The T-Standee Charger is expected to sell for €12.99 with no word on when we’ll be seeing this thing statside. Then again, you can probably find something that serves the exact same purpose with a little bit of searching.

Read (Kotaku)

You might think it’d be difficult to write a review about a poker game, especially one so thoroughly licensed and self-promoted as a World Series of Poker title.  Well, you’re going to be surprised by this one, because I certainly was.  It’s definitely a surprise to say that World Series of Poker 2008, now available for the Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo DS, PSP and both Playstations two and three, is actually a lot more fun than you’d expect.

Basically, in this game, you’re going to go plunging into the depths of Las Vegas, starting as a rookie to take on the greatest names in poker.  And seriously—you’ll be taking on some serious names.  Everybody from Johnny Chan to Annie Duke and the Devil Fish himself, David Ulliott, is here.  And you know it’s not complete without Phil “The Brat” Hellmuth himself in play.  You’ll be playing in dozens of casinos all over the strip—Harrah’s, the Rio, and plenty more.

I have to admit, I loved the World Series of Poker game.  I had a lot of fun figuring the odds of each current hand.  I liked staring down a guy who couldn’t stare back, considering just how likely the outcomes were.  Four hearts on the table…good chance someone’s got a flush.  But you can use that to your advantage, too.  You can act like YOU’VE got that flush, even if no one else does.

Yes, I just explained “bluffing”.  You’re welcome.

Sure, a little of the fun is leeched out of it—it’s tough to bluff people who have no emotions and operate according to the dictates of a microprocessor and RAM—but there’s still that element of fun involved.  You are effectively strategizing against a series of poker players that play at least reasonably like professionals.   And it’s even better if you can find live people to play against—it’s all the fun of a raging gambling addiction without having to sell your car if you have a bad night.  Seriously, you could go all in every hand and nothing would happen, because once you’re broke, you just pull the plug, fire up the power button and take another stab at it.

Of course, you could wind up winning millions and then have to realize that you’re dirt poor and your diet consists entirely of top ramen and sawdust, but that’s just the nature of the game.  The vicarious thrills of poker are all available to you.

The downside, of course, is that this is just a poker game.  It’s not like there’s going to be a whole lot of variety going on in this game.  You won’t get to commit crimes or find lost artifacts to bankroll your poker frenzy—you’ll basically just compete in tourneys or in cash games for the bankroll to compete in said tourneys.  It’s JUST poker.  And if you love poker, then you’re definitely going to be in for the battle of a lifetime when you go into the World Series of Poker 2008 and vie for the Battle of the Bracelets.  However, if you don’t absolutely love poker, then this one’s going to be a busted flush with an off-suit deuce in the river.

Sony is rumored to be showing off a motion controller for the PS3 at E3, according to Hollywood trade magazine Variety. Their sources claim that the new device will use LEDs to track motion, as it was revealed back in 2007 in a patent filing by Sony.

Sony has commented on the rumor as expected, saying “we do not comment on rumors” — the usual first step of denial. This year’s E3 is shaping up to be quite interesting.

Microsoft has also been rumored for a long time to release a similar controller.