In a recent Inside Xbox video the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo has been revealed to be coming to the marketplace in 3 days, on the 18th. Splinter Cell: Conviction is set two years after Double Agent as Sam Fisher has gone rogue from Third Echelon. The demo will be relatively short however it will encompass many of the game’s new gameplay mechanics used and unveil a little bit about the story.

Splinter Cell: Conviction [Inside Xbox]

Today Astro announced the release of their latest product, the Astro A30 headset which will retail for $149.99. The Astro A30 is a downsized version of their popular A40 and while still offering the same great quality and design that Astro is known for. The A40 suffered from major flaw, their size. The large size of the A40 headset made it nearly unbearable to wear them out in public and the Astro A30 is the answer to that problem.

The A30 is Astro’s attempt at making a “cross-gaming headset” that is designed to be used both on your gaming console at home and with your mobile devices on the go. The A30 is fully compatible with their MixAmp audio system so you’ll be able to use it on the Xbox 360 or PS3 as well. In addition you’ll find the new introduction of an in-line microphone on the headset’s cord allowing you to ditch the boom microphone if it doesn’t fit your style (mainly to be used with phones on-the-go).

Astro A30 Product Page [Astro]

Crackdown 2, the sequel to 2007’s Xbox 360’s Crackdown which provided many players with beta access into Halo 3 multiplayer, has finally received a release date. Many players bought the original game solely for the Multiplayer access however they quickly found out that Crackdown was an enjoyable game to play. With it’s large open-world environments, super-human character abilities and the ability to upgrade your hero and vehicles proved to be an addiction we just couldn’t shake off.

On July 6th you’ll be able to pick up the long-awaited sequel, Crackdown 2, in stores in the US, 8th in Asia, Australia, New Zealand as well as the 9th in the UK. Crackdown 2 will debut in an entirely new city with support for 4-player co-op and 16-player PVP online. You can also catch the first developer diary entitled “Fun With Friends” after the break.

Robert Bowling has shown up on Major Nelson’s podcast today to unveil some more details on the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 map pack. The Stimulus Map Pack will be priced at 1200 MS points ($14.99) and will include 5 new maps. The 5 maps are the same as those on the early listing of the map pack on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Bowling also notes that both of the COD4 maps have been revamped a bit for this game. However, don’t be afraid, there are no major geographical changes to these classic maps.

Bowling also mentioned that Salvage will be the “run and gun” map where campers might want to reconsider their strategy. The package will also come with a new update to the game that will add some more maps to Hardcore Headquaters, a Hardcore Moshpit playlist and more. You can listen to the entire podcast on Major Nelson’s website linked below.

Show #353: MW2 Stimulus Package [MajorNelson]

Well it looks like Microsoft had a little slip-up this morning and revealed details on the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 DLC package. According to the marketplace listing, the package will include 5 multiplayer maps, 2 of which are returning fan-favorites from the original Modern Warfare. There were previously leaked details and images of these new maps floating around for several weeks now but now we have our first “solid” leak. The new maps include:

• Bailout: multi-level apartment complex
• Storm: open industrial park with “heavy machinery”
• Salvage: a snow level featuring a junkyard with debris and crushed cars stacked up
• Crash: Original MW map with crashed helicopter in middle and several buildings
• Overgrown: Original MW map with “grandma’s house” with two sides of the map separated by a dry river bed.

Xbox 360 owners will be able to pick up these new maps on March 30th while PS3 and PC owners will have to wait another month before they are able to pick them up.

Modern Warfare 2 DLC [Xbox Live Marketplace]

Today Ubisoft released its first part of the Q&A developer videos that it will be slowly rolling out. Ubisoft previously asked users to create video questions for the developers of the game to answer and today marks the first video of answers to those questions. Most of them were trivial questions, not revealing too much about the upcoming game.

However one question and answer did catch out ears: Will there be a demo coming to Xbox Live? The answer is a simply “yes”. There were no other details shared in the video other than the demo will consist of possibly one level. It is unclear whether or not the demo will be a singleplayer or multiplayer demo but I would count on a SP demo showing up sometime early next month.

You can watch the video after the break

Shortly after the announcement of some new, free content for Mass Effect 2, BioWare follows it up with some paid content for the fans. Rounding out the cast will be Kasumi, a female thief who will take up the 12th squad member slot on the Normandy. Kasumi will be arriving with what promises to be 90 minutes of gameplay, a new achievement, a flash-bang grenade loyalty power, and a new "Locust" SMG.

No price has been announced yet for the DLC, but hopefully the interactive dialogue scenes will improve upon the lackluster ones that came with Zaeed's tall tales.

Kasumi's Stolen Memory [Joystiq]

The action-role playing game, Torchlight was released for PC back in October 2009 available only by digital download up until recently when a box copy was released. The game received great reviews but got poor mainstream recognition. This could change when the game is released on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

“We’re going to put some serious effort into it -- pretty quick-- getting Torchlight onto consoles. There’s a lot of really cool things about the console world, too, that would work well with our game. So, we are definitely going to be going in that direction." - Runic CEO Max Schaefer

The developer of the game seems very enthusiastic about the future of this project. I'm personally really excited as I'm not a PC gamer. It will be great to play out their new innovative developments on another platform. Very few details have surfaced other than its existence, but expect it to bring a great new game to your collection.

Runic Games 'putting serious effort' into console Torchlight [Joystiq]

In what can only be described as a slap in the face to Infinity Ward and Activision, the people at DICE and EA have updated their blog with a post poking fun at the "Mapathy" campaign from a few days ago.  The second free map pack for Bad Company 2 will be available on March 30th on all platforms to those who have entered their VIP code in game and will include the following:

Arica Harbor Conquest mode - US Command launches a break through action directly at the Russian base. Collateral damage is of no consequence. Capture and secure tactical positions in Conquest Mode across the vast Arica Harbor map.

Laguna Presa Rush mode - The valley and surrounding mountains possess a strategic value in the battle for South America, and an infantry assault supported by light armor vehicles is likely by both armies as US forces defend the nearby Dam.

As for the negative marketing going on, I'll let you decide for yourself if there is some bad blood here or if it's just friendly competition:

It also plays a vital part in making sure you, the players get proper value for the money you’ve invested in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. This is why these map packs are available at no extra cost, contradicting the industry standard and what our direct competitors are doing. Of course, it also helps avoid segmenting the community, making sure everyone can play together having the same maps available. There will be future paid downloadable content as well but these packs will focus on expanding other parts of the game experience rather than the selection of maps available for the basic game modes. We’re dedicated to taking care of this product for a long time – helping you avoid “mapathy” without getting nickel-and-dimed.

On Monday Blur was made available to the public in the form of a multiplayer beta “demo” of sorts. This beta was accessible through registration on the official Blur game website with a special beta token, acquirable from various online websites. I was eager to snag my code the second I was able to, doing so during one of my lecture classes and then anxiously awaiting for the beta a week later to start off my Spring Break.

The racing genre has recently been lacking many “arcade-style” racers and has opted more so in the favor of simulation racing games such as Gran Turismo 5, DiRT, Need for Speed: Shift, GRID, etc. However a few games provided relief with arcade-style gameplay including Burnout Paradise and a personal favorite of mine, Pure. Bizarre Creation’s latest game, Blur, is the next great racing game following the studio’s very successful Project Gotham Racing 4 released with the launch of the Xbox 360. So it’s been several years since Bizarre has made a racing game and in this length of time they’ve decided to change things up a bit with Blur.