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We're not exactly used to finding out hot scoops on Valve's game projects from Xbox Live's "Inside Xbox" feature "SENTUAMESSAGE," so it was especially odd to us when we heard that Left 4 Dead 2's upcoming Left 4 Dead 1 crossover DLC "The Passing" got an official price (560/$7) -- and an ambiguous new release date of "Spring" -- from the feature. But that's just what the latest episode told us, not to mention a handful of new deets on the DLC, including info on new variations of enemies and a few new weapons.

Back at X10 in February, Valve told us that the content was set to arrive on Xbox Live/Steam by "late March," though it seems that the window has been extended a few more months. We've fired off an email to Valve to see if a more solid release date exists, and we'll keep you updated if we hear anything back. In the meantime, we've embedded the Inside Xbox clip after the break.

[Via Kotaku]

#comparison So maybe I was a little hard on the loading times for streaming Netflix movies on the Wii yesterday. It could be worse; it could be the same service on a PS3. More »

You know Rooster Teeth from Red vs. Blue, but have you ever wanted to check out the interior of their sweet offices? Inconspicuously located above a coffee shop in Austin, Texas, we got a sneak peek at the place where all the magic happens during SXSW. That one shot of all of the different controllers? That's that heart and soul of the show, while the recording studio is a glamorously converted women's restroom. Oh, and for you Achievement Hunter fans out there? That comes to you from underneath the Rock 'em Sock 'em robots.

Rooster Teeth will be showing off some of that magic as they bring a big change to the next season of Red vs. Blue, and we promised to keep our mouths shut after they gave us a sneak peek. But suffice it to say, it's packed with even more awesome hilariousness. Burnie Burns and the Rooster Teeth team toured us around their digs, although they're moving to a new studio soon. They'll be premiering parts of the new episode at PAX East this weekend, after which we can reveal said seekruts.

#sports Madden NFL 11 has put its cover athlete up for a vote. The Tennessee Titans' Chris Johnson, who is not a candidate, says there shouldn't even be a vote. "No one else deserve to be there but me," he said. More »

I think it’s time for me to play through Ocarina of Time again. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone start to finish. Now I can use these tips to help me through!

Game composer Hiroyuki Iwatsuki (Iwadon on Twitter) has been writing game music for 20 years, but now for the first time his work is gaining international recognition. Game Music 4 All, a videogame-inspired music and nerdcore news site, is collaborating with artists from all over the world in arranging Iwatsuki’s remarkable and often overlooked music [...]

#dlc A video broadcast to U.K. Xbox Live subscribers confirms suspicions that Left 4 Dead 2's "The Passing" DLC won't be available by March 31, with the date moved to a more vague "Spring." But it will cost 560 Microsoft points. More »

Dead Space 2 producer Steve Papoutsis promised that Visceral's survival horror sequel would have a greater emphasis on action. Well, they weren't kidding. At their live-streamed PAX panel, the Visceral team showed off thirty seconds of footage of the upcoming game, and "action-packed" would be a pretty appropriate way of describing it.

The blurry off-screen footage captured from the show's Ustream may not be the best look at the quality of Dead Space 2's graphics, but it gives a good idea of what to expect from Issac Clark's new adventure. Rushing through a moving train, Issac can be seen activating a jet pack in a scene that looks like it should be from Dark Void The Rocketeer. Watch it after the break.

I think a lot of people see Cave Story as nothing more than a tribute to old-school gaming. Really, that couldn’t be any further from the truth. Cave Story is an amazing experience from start to finish, and it’s sure to be a game that sticks with you. Throw in the amazing [...]

#paxeast I got to spend a half hour this morning with Puzzle Quest 2, the sequel to a game I found so addicting that I'd rather play it than write up this preview. Is my life over come late spring? More »

There’s a Video Games Live PBS special coming up, and Tommy Tallarico and the gang are making sure the show looks better than ever. That’s where this new podium comes into play, completely with the VGL logo cut into it! I have to make sure I see this thing live! Thanks to [...]

#clips About 30 seconds of gameplay from the upcoming Dead Space 2 was just shown at PAX East during a panel discussion of the game. In it, Isaac flies through a few runaway train cars and zaps a necromorph. More »

#paxeast The best parts of Hydrophobia are, not surprisingly, wet. More »

On one of our many trips to Atomic Games' booth on the PAX East 2010 show floor, a representative of the developer told us Breach would see a release on PC in addition to Xbox Live Arcade. The multiplayer shooter will launch on XBLA this summer for $15, with the PC version expected to follow six weeks later. Breach on PC will only be available as a digital download; however, Atomic Games has not decided on a digital distribution platform yet.

Breach wants to go after Battlefield 1943. Atomic Games president Peter Tamte summed up DICE's digitally distributed title as a "stripped down version of a retail game," and believes that Breach can outdo last year's surprise XBLA hit with its accessibility and sandbox-style destructibility.

Atomic hopes to have the game on XBLA this summer with a price of $15. Focusing on eight-on-eight multiplayer with combative and objective-based game modes, the game heavily emphasizes utilizing cover ... and blowing stuff up.

#stickjockey Two weeks ago I simulated the NCAA Tournament on my Xbox 360 and vowed to bet its first round predictions "like a message from the future." My friends called that the stupidest thing they'd ever heard. They were right. More »

#paxeast The creators of Aliend Hominid and Castle Crashers have finally named their new game and let us play it again. Here at PAX East I have played Battle Block Theater. More »

Hydro Thunder Hurricane is not your typical case of sequelitis. The original concept, simply, an arcade-style boat racer, was hatched by indie developer Vector Unit. The 2-man studio, which has grown to 6 for Hurricane, is led by technical director Ralf Knoesel and creative director Matt Small, who met in the late '90s at Stormfront Studios. They stayed in touch over the years, as each continued to build a strong resume of work, and, in late 2007, they co-founded Vector Unit and began work on a small, downloadable project that would become the licensed sequel to Midway's decade-old arcade racer.

Checking out a playable build on the PAX East show floor today, I quickly understood what caught the attention of now publisher Microsoft Game Studios, which smartly licensed the Hydro Thunder brand from sinking Midway in order to establish Vector Unit's game as part of a celebrated heritage. With the exception of nods to some boats from the classic arcade game, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is not much of a sequel, and instead represents the promising talent of a new independent developer. It's also, bizarrely, one of two Xbox Live Arcade games premiering at PAX East with a really slick, proprietary water physics engine. (Hydrophobia being the other.)

#paxeast The turnout at last night's Kotaku Pax East meet-up was nothing short of amazing. There was dancing, drinking, more drinking. After that, we drank a little. Wanna see what that looked like? Here you go. More »

#noplanswatch The director of Just Cause 2 is loud and proud about the fact they built a single-player game, and shut down thoughts that they could be cooking up multiplayer downloadable content for this game. More »

• Coming to PSN this Week: Hamsterball — Seriously, with a name like Hamsterball, what could possible go wrong?
• BUZZ! Quiz World Delivers PS3’s First In-Game Facebook Publishing Features — The first to offer direct Facebook publishing from in-game, check out these brand new BUZZ! features.
• LittleBigPlanet: This Week in DLC — It’s all about Sonic this week in LBP DLC. Get a Sonic Costume pack, or pick and choose the Sonic costumes you want!
• Coming to PSN this Week: High Stakes Poker Add-On — High Stakes Poker adds 30 Trophies, plus a host of other news you’re going to want to check out.
• Coming to PSN this Week: ZEN Pinball: Earth Defense Table — The newest in ZEN Pinball tables has a lot to offer. Check out the brand new Earth Defense table!
• ModNation Racers PS3: Bringing Back the Split-Screen — You’ve asked for it. And now you got it. ModNation Racers for PS3 is bringing back the split-screen…and big time. Check out why it’s going to rock your couch in May.
• Get Ready for Opening Day, Win A PSN Voucher Code for MLB 10: The Show PSP — The 2010 MLB season is about to kick off. To celebrate, check out the trailer for MLB 10 The Show on PSP, and a handful of vouchers were given away.
• Groovin’ Blocks Out Now on PSN — Groovin’ Blocks is right up my alley. Looks like a really cool play on games like Lumines and Tetris.
• Happy 5th Anniversary PSP! — The first 5 flew by. Check out the pic to see just how far the PSP has come.
• Meet The Tester Cast Members Big D and Nauseous in PlayStation Home Tonight — Home-bodies. Lots of cool events are happening in PlayStation Home. So make sure to go bug the tester cast as much as possible!
• Coming to PSN this Week: Blue Toad Murder Files — We’ll excuse Jeff for almost saying “Blue Turd” on camera. But this is a game you definitely want to check out. See the walkthrough video in the post.
• This Week in PlayStation Home: Assassin’s Creed II Space, Aliens vs. Predator, SingStar VIP Room Opens for Stereophonics, and More! — Is it me, or is the weekly list of new stuff in Home getting bigger every Wednesday. This time you get Assassin’s Creed II space, AvP, SingStar VIP room and more.
• Spring Fever Returns on PlayStation Network! — Get in the spring spirit with huge PSN game sales throughout the spring season! This week, it’s shooter mayhem with Everyday Shooter and Gravity Crash!
• Fat Princess PS3: Fat Fan Fare with Patch 1.05 — A fat patch for a phat game (yes, I went there). See what’s included in patch 1.05!

The Tester – Episode 6 Available Today — Things are heating up if you’re been following along. Check out episode 6 free on PSN! 3D Dot Game Heroes Trailer! — Yes, it’s EPIC! This game is really shaping up to take off. See the official trailer, massive sword play and all… PlayStation Comics Store Update — Lots of great new comics this week. The list is growing by the week. PlayStation Store Update — Wakeboarding HD hits PSN, along with Blue Toad, Hamsterball, LBP DLC for PS3 and PSP, and much more! PlayStation Network Video Content Update — We know a lot of you are closet Twilight fans, or at the very least were forced into the theater by a significant other. So get your fix on PSN now. ModNation Racers PS3: Bringing The BOOM with Weapons! — ModNation Racers is going all out with weapons. Nick from United Front Games stops by to give you the in-depth info on all things booming! Warhawk Tournament 2010! — Mr. Warhawk Dylan Jobe swings by to let you in on the Warhawk Tournament 2010 PlayStation Move Sweeps the Northeast — Jeff and SCEA brought move out east! See how it all went down in New York City and PAX East in Boston!

Courtesy of Jeremy Dunham

• MAG Skills Explained: Electronics – How does your high-tech skill tree really work? We explain!
• Free MAG DLC and Double XP All Weekend – You can’t beat getting new stuff for free.

While visiting the Skate 3 booth here at PAX today, we were handed a few stickers. In fact, the front of the stickers weren't even the interesting part, as the back revealed a demo is set to bust mad trixx on Xbox Live and PSN on April 15. Not too surprising, considering the first two games also offered a taste before their respective releases.

#paxeast The air shimmers with heat as I survey the scrub plain laid out before me. Wild animals frolic. Horsemen go about their business. I whistle for my horse, saddle up, and take my first ride into Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. More »