It was recently announced on the Official Playstation Blog that WipEout HD will be getting a new expansion entitled the Fury add-on pack on July 23rd for $9.99.

Below is an excerpt from the post detailing what the Fury add-on pack will contain:

The pack will provide three new race types – Eliminator, Zone Battle and Detonator, 12 new tracks, 13 new ships, 6 new music tracks, a redesigned menu system, a new campaign to complete as well a host of new trophies to win. Oh and let’s not forget the additional ranks for you to achieve online. We are really excited about the content and hope you enjoy all the new features

As for you UK gamers, it was also announced on the European Playstation Blog that you will be getting the WipEout HD Fury add-on pack the same day as well.

Harmonix is proud to announce that later this year they will be launching for the Xbox 360 (PS3 and Wii support at a later date) what they are calling the Rock Band Network. If you’re familiar with Apple’s App Store, this is the same kind of thing.

The Rock Band Network will allow users to upload and price their own tracks which can then be downloaded by anyone with the game. Users are said to be able to price the tracks between 50 cents and $3 while getting 30% of the track sales.

This is great news for up and coming artists looking to reach a wider audience. But the question remains, will the Rock Band Network catch on like similar services or will it be met with lackluster interest? Only time will tell.

You can check out the service in more detail, here.

via Kotaku

Back in May we heard that Capcom was gearing up to launch the official soundtrack for the Wii title Spyborgs but we didn’t hear much of the game since.

Well today, Capcom has told us that the Bionic Games developed Spyborgs will hit North American shelves for the Nintendo Wii on September 29th of this year.

Additionally, Capcom was nice enough to give us a glimpse of the box art, pictured above.

via Joystiq

While it hasn’t been talked about much (or at all) it seems that a Swedish metal band by the name of Opeth has given us word that they have been selected to feature a song in an upcoming PSP version of Saints Row.

Below is an excerpt of their post:

We may not like playing video games all that much but we do like it when our music is featured on them! Makes us a bit proud even when it’s a game as big as Saints Row for the PSP and even prouder when the nice developer people show excellent taste by picking “The Lotus Eater” for it. So if you love playing video games: the game is expected to hit the streets around March 2010.

As with any rumor, take this with a grain of salt, but Opeth did seem positive one of their songs would be featured in said game, add that to the fact that THQ hasn’t said anything at all thus far.

We’ll update you with more information as it becomes known.

Read (VG247)

Last week we were given the first look at Killzone 2‘s forthcoming Napalm & Cordite DLC pack. Today, we have now know that said DLC pack will be headed to the PSN next Thursday, July 23rd.

For those who haven’t been paying attention, this pack will include the Suljeva Cliffside and Arctown Landing multiplayer maps along with VC1 Flamethrower and Boltgun 440 weapons, also for multiplayer use.

Unfortunately, it was also made known that the new weapons will only be useable on the maps included in the pack. Bummer.

via Joystiq

Ever since Realtime Worlds announced All Points Bulletin it has been a highly sought after game with it’s GTA-like gameplay and MMO genre.

Well the developer has again stepped forward to speak of the game and this time about the subscription fees, a topic that has been under discussion for some time. David Jones of Realtime Worlds was quoted to have said the following:

“Basically, you have to buy the client. It’s a traditional game that you buy…We’re not going the normal ‘you have to subscribe to play the game every month’ route. What we haven’t said is which route we are going, and in some respects we’re still looking.”

Let’s hope that they really come up with something unique if you told World of Warcraft players they would have to pay an additional $15 a month to play APB, I don’t think they would be down.

via Kotaku

The latest Public Test Realm patch 3.2.0 in the World of Warcraft not only includes the upcoming Crusaders’ Coliseum, but also textures for upcoming Halloween events. Some of these textures were leaked by MMO-Champion, and reveal to be Goblin and Worgen masks. Now, note that these are the only two masks that were in the texture. Even if the patch itself is merely a PTR, it still holds some significance.

Goblins are a neutral race in the game, meaning they don’t hold allegiance to either the Horde or Alliance, so it’s possible that they can be the very first multi-faction race. As for Worgens, one can only assume that they will be Alliance exclusive, or also be another multi-faction race.

Remember though, it’s all speculation, so don’t get your Warcraft undies in a bunch. Hopefully more information will be revealed in this year’s BlizzCon.

Read (MMO-Champion)

The delays these days seem to be nonstop. Today, Sega announced that Bayonetta will be joining those titles and will be pushed back to January 2010.

“Bayonetta is an extremely important new IP for SEGA and adds a new level of depth to our growing portfolio. As a result of market analysis we have taken a Publishing decision that January 2010 is the optimum release time in the Western Markets to maximize this exciting new title’s potential,” said Mike Hayes, President and COO for SEGA West.

If you live in Japan or are planning to import, the game is still scheduled for an October 29th release for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

via ShackNews

Steam is offering a new weekend deal for us today; Brothers in Arms. Any title of the series is now 50% off. The titles featured are Road to Hill 30 ($4.99), Earned in Blood ($4.99), and Hell’s Highway ($14.99). However, if you are so inclined to purchase every title in the series, you receive a 60% discount ($19.99).

The deal is only effective for this weekend, so act fast if you’re in the mood for a cheap first-person-shooter.

Read (Steam)

PopCap, developers and publishers of some of the most fun and addictive games today — especially when we’re talking about casual games — have released something that is destined as an instant cult classic. This time, they’ve given a new spin on the “Tower Defense” concept, where Zombies are on their way to invade your home, and all you have is a piece of lawn and some plants to defend your house. And what plants they are!

The gameplay is simple: place different types of plants — each with their strength and weaknesses — on the lawn (and back lawn, mind you) and try to stop the invading zombies. However, there are different zombies as well, for instance, some can pole vault over your defenses, while others can dig underground as well. Some can even raise dead zombies from the ground, so it’s always a challenge, and forces the player to mix it up. At the start of each game, you pick your seeds for the plants you want — but you have to chose wisely, as there are only a limited amount of slots, meaning a limited amount of plants you can use on a given level. As you progress, new plants are made available, each with their own special offensive and defensive capabilities, and there are 48 different plants in all.

Despite it being a cheap casual game, there are 50 levels in the game, and as you complete the levels, you get new features unlocked. As far as the enemies go, there are 26 types of zombies, which will give you plenty of challenge. On top of this, there are different modes as well, all in all, there’s more playing time to be had here than in most AAA titles. Granted, the few first levels in the game, actually, quite a few levels in the beginning are fairly easy, and some players might misunderstand the game as being too casual at this point. But keep playing, the challenging levels lie ahead, and they’re even more fun than the easy ones.

Technically, the game feels and looks like an advanced Flash game, but there’s nothing wrong with that, especially since Plants vs. Zombies is only priced at $10. The visuals are cute and suit the nature of the game, the sound effects are fun and the music is very moody and suitable for the game. However, as cute as the graphics are, they are not advanced by any means. For instance, you cannot get a higher resolution beyond 800×600, which is kind of a shame, really. But other than that, the game is smooth and bug free.

All in all, Plants Vs. Zombies is PopCap at its best. If you thought Peggle was addictive, this is a whole new level, and it’s gonna keep you playing for a long time. Definitely recommended to casual and hardcore gamers (who could probably use a little break from all the serious fragging — I sure could).

The Good:
Great fun
Lots of replay value
Cheap ($10)
Easy to get into

The Bad:
First half isn’t challenging
Only 800×600 resolution

Overall score: 9/10