You know the drill by now — Capcom Digital has released another update, revealing the first official sneak peek of the Native American fighter, T. Hawk. I must say, his revision is sooooo much better than his traditional sprite design. In addition, Rey unveiled a slew of new details which addressed some recent concerns of the community (i.e. Chun Li's design, aspect ratio, and even something that I've personally missed in the commentary: custom quotes? Hmm… pass!).

And that's not all, if you loved the first edition of the SSF2T: HD Remix informal developer diary (sorry, I don't think they have an official term), there's a new one on the site dedicated to Sagat who apparently has presented some challenges to the team. Read up (via the jump link below), there's some good stuff there that's begging for your attention.

[Via Capcom Digital]

Aww, thanks Ubisoft!

Earlier this week Rainbow Six: Vegas fans were teased when the new Player's Pack: Black Edition map pack was made available on Xbox Live for 800 MS Points and then unceremoniously yanked from the service within hours.

As it turns out, the reason for the pack's removal was that Ubisoft intended for it to be free. Whether this is truly the case or a reaction from fans, angry at the fact that the PS3 version of Vegas includes all 10 bonus maps that 360 owners had to pay for, we may never know.

In any case, the maps are available right now for the oh-so-right price of 0 MS Points. Added bonus? If you haven't downloaded the Player's Pack: Red Edition yet, Ubisoft will be making it free as of July 6th.

Those few people who managed to sneak in a download of the Black Pack before it was pulled will be reimbursed in 8 to 10 weeks. (ouch!)

This is all around great news, since while I am not opposed to paying for multiplayer content in principle, it all too often results in a split playerbase, making it harder to find people to play with. As someone who paid the $10 for the Red Edition and regretted it, I would not have been making the same mistake with the Black Edition. I'm looking forward to a Rainbow Six community where everyone has all the maps. Bravo Ubisoft!

[via Xbox Live's Major Nelson] 

Ah, I've been waiting a long time for this one. Consolevania is a videogame review/culture/nonsense show that's already had two terrifyingly brilliant seasons, conceived mainly by two madmen, Rab and Ryan, up there in lovely Scotland. Their brand of humor is a no holds barred, self-depreciating exploration of what's become part of the world's culture, whether certain lawyers and soccer moms like it or not. They've also done a major revamp of their previously drab site with all manner of interesting bits. Though the meat is the new program. Here's the description, ripped straight from their own site:

Episode One - Consolevania Towers
Includes reviews of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (PC), PS3 Roundup, Rogue Galaxy (PS2), Overlord (Xbox 360), Command and Conquer 3 (PC), Earth Defence Force 2017 (Xbox 360), Colin McRae: Dirt (Xbox 360) and Mad Panic Coaster (PS)

So go watch it.

[Via Consolevania]

Why Microsoft, Why?

Sega and Petroglyph’s upcoming futuristic RTS title, Universe at War, is now the first announced title since Shadowrun to support the cross platform capabilities of Games for Windows Live.

What this essentially means is that 360 owners will now have the privilege of getting destroyed by PC players using a keyboard and mouse.

As far as I’m concerned, games like Battle for Middle Earth II and Command and Conquer 3 have done an admirable job of condensing RTS controls onto a controller. But no matter what they do, they can’t replicate being able to select units precisely and instantly with a mouse. Playing a console RTS is like trying to browse the web with the PS3 controller. It works, but it’s far from ideal.

Here’s a question for the ages: The 360 has USB ports, so why don’t these games have optional keyboard and mouse support? In the past, Microsoft’s excuse for not allowing K+M was to keep the playing field level on Xbox Live. With the advent of cross platform play pitting PC players against console players, this argument is no longer valid.

What does everyone think? Would you be more likely to play a console RTS if you had the option of using a Keyboard and Mouse?

[via Destructoid]

Don’t you just hate waiting for the things you want? Many of you are eagerly awaiting the release of IPhone. Others are counting down the days for Halo 3. And some can’t wait to fly out to Santa Monica for this year’s E3 (*sigh* I kinda wish that I were still going). Well here’s something else you can add to that list… the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 4. We received a couple of teaser shots to whet our appetites as we start counting down the hours till the premiere of the official trailer “Looking for the Special Someone” which will be released this afternoon, Eastern Standard Time.

Now don’t get TOO excited on us just yet. We only received two… that’s right — TWO screenshots. But hey, that’s a lot better than someone giving you a written description like “OMGZitsoA3w5som3 d0wnl0ad th3s n0w!!!111one”. So without any further ado, check out the screens, bookmark the following URL and find something to do to pass the time; because like it or not… you’ve gotta wait.