Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is getting its own Monster Energy drink this October.  Anyone who buys the 4 pack of these will have a chance to win Modern Warfare 2 Hardened Edition, a future map pack, an exclusive PS3 or Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 console theme, or Monster Energy drinks.  Perfect for keeping me up all night on November 10th.  If you belong to Sam’s Club (wholesale bulk food market), and you buy a six pack of it there, you could win a spot with the Modern Warfare 2 Combat Training Experience which is an online event.

Via VG247

Here is a new video released by EA of some Battlefield: Bad Company 2 footage.  Episode 1 is in the title so I’m sure there will be more to come very soon.  The game will be released March 2nd, 2010 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

UPDATE: Beta sign up page is back online.

Lucas Arts has begin the beta sign-up process for the MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic.  They mentioned that not everyone will be able to get into the beta and that the earlier you sign up, the better your chances are to get in.  Currently the site is down because of all the traffic, but go sign up here as soon as it’s back up.

The Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Multiplayer Demo is now available to everyone for download through the Playstation Store on Playstation 3.  If you haven’t tried it yet you should definitely give a go.  It’s a lot of fun.

The first episode for Fable 2 has been released on Xbox Marketplace and it’s for free.  To clear something up about it here; this is not new Fable 2 DLC but rather the original Fable 2 retail game broken up into 5 episodes that are available for purchase within the game.  So basically Episode 1 is the beginning of Fable 2.  If you haven’t played Fable 2, check it out, it’s a 2 GB download.

The new downloadable content for Left 4 Dead entitled ‘Crash Course’ has finally been released.  It is available through the Xbox Live Marketplace for 560 Microsoft Points.  It will also be available on the PC soon through Steam.

Here is a new video from IGN featuring, that’s right a machine gun wheelchair mowing down zombies.  I guess killing zombies just never gets old.  There is other videos too of Ramsterball and a Gladiator Double Chainsaw Baton in action. Capcom’s Dead Rising 2 will be on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in early 2010.

Robert Bowling has been taking time out to answer people questions regarding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.  He is posting his answers for everyone via his Twitter site.  Probably one of my favorite questions answered was the fact that now when you prestige in Modern Warfare 2 you get more than just a symbol next to your name.  Good news for all the people that took the Gold Cross road in Call of Duty 4.  Here are some other answers that he has given so far, but he keeps answering new ones so stay tuned to his Tweets.

- Max level in MW2 is level 70 this time. We’re keeping the Prestige icons under lock and key
- We have a lot more weapons, perks, attachments, callsign items, and equipment to unlock this time, needed more levels!
- We’re addressing modded controllers in MW2 – slightly different than the Rate of Fire cap we did in COD4 recently
- There isn’t an option to search specific regions/countries when matchmaking, but there is improved matchmaking to auto-assist
- An entire team of Riot Shields would be slow moving and extremely vulnerable. Flash grenades force you to expose some
- Quite a few maps have varying degrees of visibility due to weather effects.
- The throwing knife is thrown via the left hand because the right hand is holding the weapon. Low Ready + Throw w/ lefthand
- There will be snow maps in Multiplayer
- It takes two rockets to take down an AC-130 in MP. Meaning you can’t do it alone but can do it as a team
- Nope. Air Drops are random. They could be an ammo resupply or an awesome killstreak reward. Its luck of the draw.
- No plan for a Demo before launch. The entire team is focused on polish all the way up to ship of the full game.
- Special Ops includes a variety of gametypes and mission objectives. One of many being a Wave Defense type.
- There are going to be a few rewards for hitting prestige in #MW2 – can’t go into details, but there will be goodness to be had
- (Shields CAN NOT be destroyed) but you’re slow moving, plus shield gets cracks (so no visibility after awhile). Can’t shoot also
- If an enemy chopper is in the air while you’re in the AC-130 you can fire down on top of it to shoot it down.
- There will be lobby mute.
- LAN/Offline is very Tournament friendly in MW2. Full create a class and rank progression but separate from your online rank.
- Modern Warfare 2 Special GameTrailers Episode airs on October 8th.
- There won’t be any civilians in Multiplayer, but they add a layer of tactical gameplay in Single Player and Spec Ops missions.
- Certain things that used to be perks are now attachments. Bandolier for example is now an Extended Mags attachment.
- You can scale the vertical and horizontal horizons for your specific television so the HUD placement is perfect.
- Care Packages can be used by anyone and even stolen by enemy players. Which is why they’re great to use as bait! (Care packages can also kill enemies by landing on the them. LOLZ!)
- Coldblooded (perk) counters detection from Killstreaks. Notice in the AC-130 video how enemies have Red Block identifiers around them?

UPDATE: GameTrailers has the trailer now with English sub-titles.

Here is a new trailer for Final Fantasy 13 from TGS ‘09.  Ofcourse I have no clue what the hell they are saying because it’s all in Japanese without sub titles.  Regardless, Square Enix never ceases to amaze when it comes to cinema and graphics.  Final Fantasy 13 will be available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in April, 2010.

6 out of 10

Halo 3: ODST first off does not have any multiplayer in it.  It has co-op Firefight mode which is fun and can be compared to Gears of War 2’s Horde mode or CoD: WaW’s Nazi Zombie mode, adding more skulls to make it harder as rounds go on.  Even though Firefight is fun, the fun only lasts so long and to top that off if you don’t have any friends online you won’t be playing it co-op because there is no matchmaking for Firefight mode.

Once again the campaign was fun but only lasted max 6 hours on Legendary for me and my friends.  This game is definitely not something you should buy.  I mean there are exceptions, like if you are a hardcore fan of Halo 3, then you you might want to pick it up as the second disc that comes with the game is essentially Halo 3 but just the multiplayer as well as all the DLC and 3 maps that are conveniently not available for DLC.  So if you NEED to play those maps and get your Recon armor then you might want to pick it up.  Another reason you might want this is if you don’t actually own Halo 3, then you get the multiplayer disc but no Halo 3 campaign.

In the end is this game worth 60 bucks?  Not in a million years.  $60 is a price tag reserved for new games.  Halo 3: ODST has it’s short lived campaign and Firefight mode that act more like souped up DLC add-on to a game with Halo 3 multiplayer tossed in there.  If you are dying to play this then I suggest renting it or picking it up used somewhere down the line.  The hype for this game really should have never been made as big as it was because you’ll be done with this game in a week.  I’m giving it a 6 out of 10.  Peace.

Risen is an RPG where you find yourself shipwrecked on a mysterious island with strange creatures.  The game will be released on October 2nd for the PC and Xbox 360.

Finding all the audio logs in Halo 3: ODST is kind of tricky because you must have 29 out of 30 before you can get the last one.  Doing this in co-op is not recommended since 29 of the logs are on New Mombassa Streets and the last one is on Data Hive.  If you are in co-op and try to get the last one by replaying Data Hive, your save will be lost and you will have zero audio logs upon loading up Data Hive unless you have played through the whole game.  Just load up single player New Mombassa Streets and follow this map to find the 29 out of 30.  Then save and quit to load up Data Hive before following the video guide in the same link above.  If that map isn’t good enough for you, here is an interactive map with screens of the actual logs.  There you go, 75G unlocked.

Don’t mess with this bitch.  Subject Zero is her name and in this new Mass Effect 2 video she is pretty bad ass.  She will make a nice addition to your new squad in Mass Effect 2. The sequel will be out early 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Here is a video of the one of the levels in its entirety, of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.  Be warned that this is a spoiler so don’t watch it if you want to get the whole experience spoiler free on November 10th.  I could only watch one minute of because I didn’t want to see what happens.  But that one minute was amazingly epic and the graphics were outstanding.  Modern Warfare 2 will be on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.  If the video is taken down here is the link to another site that has it.

I can not wait to play this game and that trailer only made it seem more epic.  It highlights some slice and dice kills, but just watch it to see for yourself.  Assassin’s Creed 2 comes out for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC on November 17th.