Kane & Lynch DLC Coming

Four new maps for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men will be available as downloadable content April 17th for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The map pack is called "The Dope Bag" and each map will show a different scenario for Fragile Alliance. The cost for this will be $0.

That's right! It's actually a free map pack! Now I don't know if this would still be free if Kane & Lynch hadn't gotten a tarnished reputation from that whole review debacle, but I always like free stuff.

XYBA Podcast Ep 16

The XYBA crew is back with a semi long podcast. Lots of video game talk and little news and no rants. We've been gone for more than a month playing games and now have a lot to talk about.

0:00 - Intro Music
0:58 - Games We Are Playing :|: Mass Effect (we talk about this for a while), Rockband, Guitar Hero III, Assassian Creed, Zelda Phantom Hourglass, Kane and Lynch, Stranglehold, Beautiful Katamari, and Halo 3
55:30 - Gaming News :|: Xbox Live Dashboard Update, Super Mario Galaxy not selling as well as predicted, DLC for Bioshock, R4 Chip for DS costing Nintendo millions, Nintendo Virtual Console does good for it's first year, and more
1:24:09 - Shoutouts
1:24:46 - Outro music

Download XYBA Podcast Ep 16

Kane & Lynch Release Date Changed

Release dates for games change all the time. It's part of the industry. But surprisingly, this time it's not a delay, it's a move up!

Eidos has moved the game's release up a week from November 20th to November 14th. Apparently, they think they'll fare better on the 14th instead of competing directly with the releases of Mass Effect and Rock Band.

They still have stiff competition on November 14th, though, with Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Super Mario Galaxy(amongst others).

A move up in release is pretty surprising. I can't remember the last time I saw that. Now I need to make a tough decision. Kane & Lynch or Assassin's Creed on the 14th to suck up my time until Mass Effect on the 20th? I might actually go with Kane & Lynch(I do plan on both eventually).

Microsoft's Perfect Storm is Brewing

At E3, Microsoft promoted a "Perfect Storm" of games for the holiday season. I was looking through some release dates(one of which was added today) and it looks like November will be one of the "stormiest" months of the year.

Now, on one hand, it's fantastic. A lot of games I want to play are coming out. But on the other hand, where will I get the time or money to play them all? I understand that Microsoft wants to make a big holiday splash, but why can't they spread them out some so I'm not going through these droughts? Also, a number of these games are multi-platform so it's also a big storm for other platforms as well.

Here are the November releases I'm looking forward to. Time to start dancing on street corners again to make some extra cash.

Army of Two finally had a release date of November 15th slapped on it today. This game was made to play in co-op mode as you play one of two mercenaries out there fighting wars for money. Their use of customizable weapons and agro should make this shooter pretty fun.

Assassin's Creed is due out sometime in November. The exact date has not been announced yet. This game allows you to take the role of an assassin in Jerusalem in the year 1191 during the Third Crusade. Expect a lot of stealth, hand-to-hand combat and jumping off of stuff.

Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare may be out November 5th, but that date hasn't been locked down yet. Take on the role of a US or British soldier to fight some rogue factions in the modern era.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men should be out mid-November. And the game's already been optioned to be made into a movie. In the game, you get to play a "flawed" mercenary and team up with a psychopath to shoot lots of people.

Mass Effect is also due sometime in November. The epic sci-fi RPG has been a long time in the making and highly anticipated. Pick one of six classes and lead your squad on the exploration and defense of the galaxy.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames should be out the first half of November. They made this one co-op so that should increase the fun exponentially.

Rock Band should be out around November 20th. A chance to pay $200 and rock out on guitar, bass, drums or even sing. Let's get the band back together!

Splinter Cell: Conviction is due out November 16th(although there is a foreign rumor about a delay on the nets today). Play Sam Fisher as you never have before, out in the open without all your fancy tech and sneaking around.