Battlefield developer DICE continues to attack its counter part Modern Warfare 2 by announcing that the second map pack for Bad Company 2 will be available the same day Modern Warfare 2 releases its first.  The Battlefield Blog boldly states “How to avoid mapathy with out paying”, mapathy being a word Activision/Infinity Ward made up to promote the release of the first Modern Warfare 2 map pack.

The second map pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 won’t actually be new maps.  Instead it will make Arica Harbor available in Conquest mode and Laguna Presa available in Rush mode which were both previously unavailable to play in the above stated modes.  While it’s not as good as new maps it is free (providing you purchased the game) and it is content that users are seeing shortly after the games release, which Modern Warfare 2 cannot boast.

A new Lara Croft game is coming out this summer and it entitled ‘Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light’.  The game will becoming to the Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network and PC as an arcade style game.  It will also support two player co-op which is usually always a good addition to a game.  Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will run you around $15 bucks this summer.

Infinity Ward has announced that the first Map Pack will finally be available on March 30th for the Xbox 360 exclusively for one month and will then be available for the Playstation 3 as well as the PC a month from March 30th.  They have also created a new viral site and word to promote the first map pack.  The word is mapathy with a definition below and the site is mapathy.com where you can keep yourself updated on info on the DLC.  Right now the only thing we have is a date but more juice will be here soon.

I have got to say that some of the stuff you can pull off in Just Cause 2 is pretty damn cool, including this ‘Rocket Launcher Jump’ stunt seen in this video.  A demo for the game is now available for download for all platforms.  The full game comes out March 23rd for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

Here is the latest trailer for the movie Tron Legacy and there is actually a decent amount of footage from the film in this one.  The movie is directed by Joseph Kosinski and is starring Garrett Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner as well as the beautiful Olivia Wilde in her skin tight latex glory.  Tron Legacy will hit theaters in 3D December 17, 2010 and here is the official site link.  The original Tron movie and video game were released in 1982 and the new game entitled Tron Evolution is set to be released along side with the new movie late this year for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

If there has ever been an incentive to purchase a game new rather than rent it or buy it used, Mass Effect 2 fits the bill quite well.  As long as you have access to the Cerberus Network [free with purchase of Mass Effect 2; $15 if you didn't], you can now download a new heavy weapon for free.  Here is the Bioware official description of the new gun:

The Arc Projector ionizes targets with a non-visible laser to ready them for a high-voltage electrical attack. As the lightning-like bolt hits its first target, a sophisticated auto-targeting system paints succeeding targets with the ionization laser, allowing the electricity to take the path of least resistance and arc between them. An entire enemy strike team can be shocked to death with a few pulls of the trigger. Careful aiming will also allow the user to arc shots to nearby explosives as well.

More free DLC is on the way still with the ‘Firewalker’ pack adding five new missions as well as a flying craft called the Hammerhead, which will be available towards the end of this March.

The game is set to release along side with the ‘The Sands of Time’ movie but since there was already a game with that title an entirely new game will be out for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on May 18th and for the PC sometime in June.  Check out the video for more info on the game.

The first DLC pack for Aliens vs Predator has been announced by SEGA to be a map pack of 4 maps for online multiplayer and Survival mode.  These maps were included in the European Collectors Edition which are “Docks” and “Machine” (multiplayer maps) and “Outpost” and “Hive” (Survival Mode).  The DLC will be out March 18th for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC for 560 Microsoft Points or around $7.

Here is a new trailer for Lost Planet 2 entitled ‘Kill Big’.  The CAPCOM sequel to Lost Planet will support 16 Player Versus and 4 player co-op online as well as 2 player local co-op.  Lost Planet 2 will be released on May 18th for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

The big release of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has come already but here are some anticipated releases  for the rest of the month of March 2010.

- Final Fantasy 13 (Xbox 360/PS3) – March 9th
- Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition – March 9th
- Scrap Metal (XBLA) – March 10th
- Metro 2033 (PC/Xbox 360) – March 16th
- Supreme Commander 2 (PC) March 16th
- Just Cause 2 (PC/Xbox 360/PS3) – March 23rd
- Mega Man 10 – [WiiWare - March 1st] [PSN - March 11th] [Xbox 360 Arcade - March 31st]
- Blaze Blue (PSP) – March 9th

Developer THQ has announced that Metro 2033 has gone gold and has released another teaser trailer for this post-apocalyptic shooter.  Metro 2033 comes out on March 16th for the Xbox 360 and PC.

It is finally here and no it’s not the announcement of the next Half Life episode but it’s the next best thing from Valve; Portal 2 has been officially confirmed.  The sequel to the classic Portal game will be released sometime this 2010 Holiday Season.  I hope you missed your companion cube because I sure have.  It will be available for the Xbox 360 and PC but no word yet on if it will be seeing a Playstation 3 release

Portal 2 has been confirmed to have an entirely separate co-op campaign that will be apart from the single player one.  Game Informer magazine will have some more details on the game in the next April issue.  So far they have let us know that “surprising” new characters will be seen as well as new areas of the Aperture Science Labs you will access.  You can stay updated through their Portal 2 hub here.

The first DLC pack for Bioshock 2 is entitled ‘Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack’ and will have new characters, a higher level cap, new weapons and more.  Here is what you get:

• Rank increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters – Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials*
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks*.

*Only available after achieving a rank of 41 or higher.

The DLC will run you 400 Microsoft Points or $4.99.  It will be released on March 11th for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC (Games for Windows).

If you don’t know where the above quote is from… I hate you.  Anyway, the game Alpha Protocol has taken the title of being ‘The Espionage RPG’.  We all know that if it really is true to that title, that it will have its fair share of 007 ‘esk gadgets.  That is exactly what this fifth developer diary of the game showcases.  Alpha Protocol will be out for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC on June 1st, 2010.  It is being developed by Obsidian, who has titles under their belt such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights 2.

The Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta is almost here.  The trailer highlights some new things including jetpacks, assassinations and apparently you can sprint as well as roll.  The Beta will be available to anyone who has a copy of Halo ODST on May 3rd for the Xbox 360.