It's Good to be Defiant

The guys over at Bungie, who need no introduction have finally set the date for the long anticipated "Defiant" map pack for the latest installment of the Halo series, Halo: Reach. The release of the new DLC will be March 15th, and Microsoft has also released some pics of the new maps. It looks like we might see some older Halo maps coming back in their new remodeled selves. This is really cool, because although the new maps are very cool, I do miss some of the older maps and I think that they are just as good as the new ones. I'm really excited for this because my birthday is March 14th and I turn 21 and I plan on getting Halo: Reach for my big day. So not only will I be drunk, but I'll be playing Halo: Reach and then while I'm fighting the hangover of the next day I can play the on all the new maps that come out. I think this is going to be the best birthday ever. If you would like to see the Kotaku article, which also has pictures of the upcoming map pack, click here.

Rewarding Fans: A Cool Deal

Bioware, the makers of many titles such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age, will be releasing their downloadable demo of their newest game in the Dragon Age series, Dragon Age II: Call To Arms on the 360, PS3 and PC February 22. While this may sound like a normal demo, the guys at Bioware decided to give something back to their Dragon Age followers. After the demo has hit one million downloads, the developers will release two special edition in-game artifacts to the entire community when the full game gets released on March 8th. I have noticed more and more developers beginning to do this sort of thing, and I think it is really cool. I hope more developers will do this or continue to do this for their fans, because it is cool to know that developers show that they care about the people who buy their games. If you want to participate in the "million download challenge", all you have to do is sign into your EA account to make your download count. If you want to see the article on Kotaku, click here

Mass Effect 3 Gets A New Sound

Clint Mansell, who wrote the compelling music in the recent psychological thriller "Black Swan", will be writing the music for Mass Effect 3 when it comes out later this year. Mansell's most famous composition was "Lux Aeterna", the theme to Requiem For A Dream. Clint hasn't been a complete stranger to the video games, he is also credited with scoring the music for the, unfortunately poor selling silver screen adaptation of Doom 3. I am interested to see how well Clint Mansell will step up to the plate, not only since this is his first foray into the video game genre, but also because he is a new face in the sequel to a big selling title. With his experience in films like "Black Swan", he is definitely well equipped for a sci-fi action game like Mass Effect. If you would like to read the Kotaku article click here.

Also for those interested, I have embedded a YouTube video here of "Lux Aeterna"

Killzone 3 and the Future of Gaming

The upcoming sequel to the "PS3 Halo", Killzone 3, is boasting a new innovation for the series. Integration with the Playstation Move, Sony's take on the Wii's popular motion sensing system. This is one of the first big title games to offer this compatibility and frankly I think it's a step toward an interesting direction for gaming. With this new development and the recent rise in 3D technology, the mists are beginning to clear from the once cloudy crystal ball that was the future of video games. Players wearing the full body suits that controls the character's every move in a fully immersible 3D environment may not be as far in the future as we think it might be. The integration seems very promising and Killzone 3 is scheduled to be released on February 22. For more information on this and a review of the gameplay with the Move, click here for the Kotaku article.