This Friday marks the debut of the final season of Battlestar Galactica, and while we have no delusions that the 60 minutes of commercial interrupted TV will leave us any more stupefied than we were at the end of last season wondering what in the frak is going on, we nonetheless cannot wait to pick our jaws up off the floor.

To celebrate the premiere, Sierra has chopped the price of its casual BSG-themed XBLA shooter in half to 400 points, and while playing the game still just serves as a painful reminder that we still lack a real Battlestar Galactica game, the new price is nonetheless a welcome treat. But get it while it's hot; the toasters are going to jack the price back up to 800 points 24 hours later. So say we all!

[Via Press Release]

Next week Battlestar Galactica, a "3D space shooter played on a 2D plane," makes its way onto PC and Xbox Live Arcade. Based on the popular television show, the game didn't really wow us when we played it back in July, but that's OK because it's meant as a felgercarb "mass appeal" cash-in on BSG fans who've been waiting forever for the final frakin' season to start in January. Thankfully the two-hour BSG special Razor premieres Nov. 24.

The Battlestar Galactica game has 10 single-player missions based on battles from the show. There is also a multiplayer component supporting eight players on XBLA and 16 on PC. Players can choose from four different types of ships on the Cylon or Human sides. The game will cost 800 MS points ($10) on XBLA and $20 on PC, available off XBLA on Oct. 24 and PCs Oct. 23. Now can we please get a real Battlestar Galactica game?

[Via Press Release]

Don't expect deep gameplay with this title based on the popular science fiction series. Battlestar Galactica, for Xbox Live Arcade and PC, is 3D space shooter played on a 2D plane. The controls are quick to grasp -- turning, shooting, activating shields and locking on for missiles -- although we had a bit of trouble initially with chasing enemies.

We only had a chance to try out a couple of levels. There are four ships to choose from each side, humans and Cylons, each with various offensive, defensive and speed ratings. Death triggers a respawn, and the only penalty is lost time (beating levels is generally dependent upon time).

There are 10 single-player missions based on battles from the show. Multiplayer has its own set of ten maps and two gameplay types: deathmatch and domination, where you capture turrets that destroy the opponent's base ship.

According to producer Connie Brammeier, the game is intended for mass appeal. We get the feeling that hardcore Battlestar Galactica fans are going to be disappointed by the lack of depth in the title. The game is expected out in the third quarter of this year.

TeamXbox pulled some strings and got the pre-E3 dish on three new XBLA offerings from Sierra Online. Over on their site they posted a dump truck sized load of screenshots, game details and videos for Sierra Online's three Arcade games including Switchball, Commanders: Attack!, and Battlestar Galactica. No word yet on the games' release dates or how much they'll cost, but we're sure more info will trickle in when the games get officially announced at E3. Fanboys: Attack!

Listen up, nuggets. You're in a Colonial Viper. You've got no wingman, three inbound Cylon Heavy Raiders, and you just spotted a Basestar several klicks away. What do you do? Choose your own adventure:

1. Whiz your flight suit.
2. Call for backup and fire up your FTL drive
3. Hammer down the trigger and go for the gold

Now you can actually make the call yourself. The open source Beyond the Red Line project based on Battlestar Galactica has finally released demos of the game for the Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. We downloaded it and took it for a spin. While there's a fairly steep learning curve (much easier to deal with if you've played Freespace 2 a lot), the space combat and in-game elements are slick.

The game is powered by the new and improved Freespace 2 engine, although it's entirely standalone so you don't need Freespace to play it. They've put together their own audio for the entire demo, which includes original characters, voice acting, and soundtrack pieces from Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs (composers for the show), online multiplayer that actually works, and it's own storyline. In fact, if you haven't seen season two, you'll want to avoid the game for the spoilers.

While there aren't any Six models in here, we like what they've put together so far. Plus our favorite word "free" is sandwiched in there too. It'll give you something to do until the next season starts ... in 2008.

The Hollywood Reporter, uh, reports that a new partnership between NBC Universal and Vivendi's Sierra Online division will yield a digitally distributed Battlestar Galactica game. The space shooter (you know, a shooter ... but in space) is expected to be completed this fall, after which it will be promptly shot in the head to initiate the download onto your PC or your Xbox 360. Australia-based Auran Games has been named as the developer, though its history of railroad simulations makes it hard to gauge whether it'll be able to do the modern television series justice. Can anyone?

"We wanted to bring a more intense combat experience to gamers," explains NBC Universal's Bill Kispert. "From a story standpoint, fans will be able to relive key battles from the first two seasons of the show, and then we'll add new content and missions outside of that." The overarching plan is to continuously inject new challenges into the game, much in line with the episodic nature of the show itself. Kispert (who sounds more like a snack than a Cylon) also notes that Sierra Online has paid a visit to the show's sets and hopes to incorporate everything from sound effects to pilot chatter.

Given the fracking hole currently residing in the spot where the space sim genre used to be, we're eminently open to the idea of piloting Vipers and Cylon Raiders in an all-out, Xbox Live dogfight. Let's just hope nobody at Sierra Online makes the obvious, in-game advertising connection. "Thanks for saving my six, Starbucks! I can always count on your finely roasted skills." (We spent nine hours developing that joke. FACT.)

[Via CVG]

Josh Holloway (Lost), Billy Dee Williams (The Empire Strikes Back), Grace Park and Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) have been announced as part of the cast for Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. The two Cylons, Sawyer, and Lando Calrissian will be joining Joseph D. Kucan, who has played Kane in every Command and Conquer game since its inception, and the voice of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher, Michael Ironside.

Tiberium Wars is slated for release sometime in 2007 for PC. Traditionally, the series has used real actors for its in-game clips and cutscenes. Here's to hoping each actor will have their own in-game unit, chock full of colorful phrases.

Continue reading for the full cast list.

Well folks, TGS is over, finished, kaput. As such, it seem only fitting that today's content is more oriented towards western audiences -- note also that there is no Japan exclusive content today. Here's the sweet sweet candy:

Battlestations Midway trailer
Eragon trailer
Import Tuner Challenge trailer
Need for Speed Carbon trailer
The Darkness trailer
Mass Effect Picture Pack (free!)
Battlestar Galactica (United States)
TGS Showfloor video 3 video
F.E.A.R. demo

We discussed the F.E.A.R. demo earlier: if you played the OXM demo, there's nothing new. With all this content, it may be time to start clearing out some of that old E3 stuff. Meanwhile, X06 inches ever closer. So, everybody make some room, download each and every one of these trailers, watch them, and then come back here and discuss them. Discuss them, I say!

As we reported earlier this month, the Sci-Fi Channel offering Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far is now up for download -- for free -- on Xbox Live Marketplace. The good news? It comes to us a lot earlier then what was anticipated.

The bad news? Well, according to some commenters on Major Nelson's blog, the download is only available to fans who reside in the United States. The other bad news? It's in standard definition. We say boo to you Microsoft. While the idea of a downloadable TV feature such as this is a giant leap in a positive direction, we high-def cronies demand that our content always be available in HD quality. Oh well, at least it's free.

We know a lot of you out there love you some Battlestar Galactica. Nay we say it's the best show on television? You better frakkin' believe it! Well get ready for more of the Sci-Fi Channel's hit series as it prepares for a PR offensive that includes the "first longform program ever to be offered" on Xbox Live Marketplace, according to GameSpot.

The content being offered up, titled The Story So Far, is in preparation for the third season of Battlestar and more or less sums up everything that has happened in the series. There was no concrete date set (but the new season starts in October) or price. We can only hope because it is basically an advertisement, that the content will be free. If it is, we'd say this is a good sign of varying entertainment options being made available to the 360 and Xbox Live.

[Update: NBC Universal reps told GameSpot that the Battlestar Galactica episode would be free of charge and available in mid-September. The rep was unclear as to the size of the download.]

Joystiq's very own Christopher Grant is not only posting from the 2006 Game Developers Conference, he's also starring in a podcast.

Okay, so technically he's just co-hosting an episode of an ongoing podcast with Gaming Steve, but you can't miss this opportunity to hear Chris's laid-back, sweetly smooth voice. (There are reports that Chris also sounds somewhat like a stoner, but we wouldn't be able to tell you what those kind of people sound like anyway, so what can we say?)

As for the podcast itself, Chris and Steve go into the events of the last day, enthusiastically sharing about Microsoft's bloggers breakfast with Peter Moore (inset), Phil Harrison's PS3 keynote, what the new Battlestar Galactica might have to do with games, and everything else that they saw in San Jose. And, hey, maybe if we're lucky, we'll get another guest Joystiqer co-hosting with Steve today. More from GDC as we get it...

See also:

• Direct download link for the podcast in question [55 minute-long MP3]
• Gaming Steve's "Day 3" report on GDC 2006 [where we got the pic]
• Joystiq @ GDC: In the beginning... [w/a little bloggers breakfast info]
  
• GDC: The PS3 keynote blow by blow