This week is fairly quiet for the PSN update. The demo for the incredibly well-promoted title Fracture becomes available, along with the demo for the big game from a couple weeks back, Mercenaries 2. For those who haven't yet picked up the map pack for Call of Duty 4, it's on sale this week for a measly $5. The full list of additions can be found after the break.

The European PSN update can be found over at PS3 Fanboy. Go say hello, they miss you and give great hugs.

In addition to yet another "Double XP" weekend (Hey, who's complaining? Bring 'em on!) in the wings for Call of Duty 4, Activision and Infinity Ward are performing even more community service by offering Xbox 360 owners the four-level Variety Map Pack for 50% off. Normally 800, the pack will be reduced to 400 for the duration of the weekend (Sept. 12-14 for the calendar-conscious). Really, if you play COD4 online, you need this.

Infinity Ward's Robert "Fourzerotwo" Bowling also brings word that the dev has poked and prodded Microsoft into putting the Prestige Gamer Pics back on the Xbox Live Marketplace, just in case you missed them during the last Live Fire weekend. We know what we'll be playing as soon as the whistle blows tomorrow night at Joystiq HQ. Go!-Go!-Go!

Update: "This is all going down exclusively on Xbox Live this weekend, but don't worry PS3 players, because we'll be doing the same for you guys; but due to schedule conflicts we couldn't do them back to back so the PS3 weekend will be closer to Sept the 18th (I'll have a dedicated post for our PS3 users on that event), but you can expect some of the same benefits and festivities," Bowling clarifies.

When the Joystiq staff goes back to Call of Duty 4, it's usually because we're tired of getting our asses handed to us on a little silver platter in practically every other first-person shooter. Before too long we pine for the one game we've played enough that we're not embarrassed to admit to our team that we write about video games professionally.

But, according to Infinity Ward spokesman Fourzerotwo, we'll have additional reason to go back Sept. 13-14, when CoD 4 will be offering up double XP on PSN and Xbox Live. Come, play with us, and tremble before our staggering (and doubly rewarding) moderate competence.

In his latest report from Infinity Ward HQ, community confidant Fourzerotwo brings word that the Call of Duty 4 battlefront could see some changes soon. No less than eight new multiplayer playlists are in development, of which four are currently being tested, and at least one can pass through the servers without a patch: Hardcore Headquarters. But we're taking a keen interest in another playlist, Hardcore Ricochet, which turns teamkillers' attacks against them. It's like we're rubber, they're glue -- whatever they shoot, bounces off us and ... burrows deep into their treacherous guts!

Peep the full descriptions and statuses of all the planned playlists on Fourzerotwo's blog.

[Thanks, Michael]

"We have a lot to learn from their success too, they did some very innovative things to keep people going and their experience-rewards system was something that we paid a lot of attention to." Is that any way to talk about your main Xbox Live competitor? Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Bungie's Lead AI Programmer, Damian Isla, had quite a few nice things to say about Infinity Ward's ridiculously successful shooter, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Isla joins a chorus of reviewers in praising the game's single-player campaign for its tight pacing and scripting, praising the developers for doing "a hell of a job with their set pieces, of scripting certain moments that they were really sure the player was going to actually see and experience first hand." Though Isla notes that Halo 3's gameplay is heavily dependent on simulation (meaning in-game physics and reactions, not reality), it still "has a lot to learn" from Call of Duty 4's tunnel of fun approach.

With Infinity Ward's next project rumored to be a sci-fi shooter, it seems the studios might soon be trading places outside of the Xbox Live rankings.

Next weekend, Infinity Ward community manager Robert "Fourzerotwo" Bowling is hosting private Call of Duty 4 matches to test out four new playlists: Bare-Bones Team Deathmatch (no perks, no kill streak rewards), Hardcore HQ (increased damage, no HUD elements and friendly fire on), Multi-Bomb Search and Destroy (every attacking team member has a bomb) and Hardcore Free-For All (extra damage, no HUD, no health regeneration). If you want to participate, send fourzerotwo a message over Xbox Live.

With development of the latest Call of Duty falling to Treyarch, what's COD1/2/4 dev Infinity Ward up to? We'll give you one guess. If you said "Call of Duty 5," Activision would say "no comment." But you'd likely definitely be correct. But the company, who recently renewed its publishing contract with Activision, has its sights set on more than sequels.

In an update on his blog, IW's director of communications / community manager Robert "Fourzerotwo" Bowling reveals that the company is looking at "the possibility of a unique new IP" – one that it will "have complete control over." We're going out on a limb and betting that it won't have anything to do with military combat.

As for its next game? The one that's not an original IP and wow-that-sure-sounds-like-COD5? Bowling says that IW is "excited to be working on our next project, but it's going to be quite a while before I can share any details on exactly what that project is." "Quite a while" = [insert industry event here] '09.

[Via GameSpot]

Wow. We have had tons of news, downloads and new content for Big Download this week . . .and that's just for Diablo III. Let's take a look at the highlights for the past week.

Exclusive Features

• Games for Windows Press Conference: We attend Microsoft's press event where they give their views on the future of PC gaming.
• Guide to TF2 Pyro Achievements: Want a details look at all of the new achievements you can get while playing the Pyro in Team Fortress 2. Then check out the first five parts of our series: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part 5.
• Shattered Suns Interview: We have an extensive interview with Chas. Cooper of Clear Crown Studios about their upcoming space based RTS game.
• Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford: We chat with the head of the extremely busy game developer on Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway and their other projects.
• Alone In the Dark Interview: We chat with Atari US producer Todd Slepian about their just released survival horror game.
• Hands-On: Deer Hunter Tournament: We get hands-on with the newest entry in the hunting sim series from Atari.
• In-Depth: Armaggedon Empires: We take a detailed ook at this acclaimed indie strategy game.
• In-Depth: The Political Machine: We offer a look at the just released political strategy game from Stardock
• Big Ideas: Why do we play video games?: Our editorial takes a look at why we need playtime with games anyway.
• BigCast 001: Our debut podcast has three of our team members chatting about, what else, PC gaming
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at free games has a look at Freeciv, a free tribute to the great Civilization games.
• Spore Creature Creator contest: You still have time to participate in our contest; make the best creatures and win some cool prizes

Just a reminder, the Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack is now available for PC. The four maps – Broadcast, Chinatown, Creek and Killhouse – are included with with the 1.6 patch (282 MB) and offered free of charge (thanks to Nvidia). Direct your browser to Big Download for the file. Also be sure to check out X3F's video tour of the new maps.

It appears some of the enthusiasm for Grand Theft Auto IV's multiplayer has waned, as the title has dropped to number three for top Xbox Live titles for the week of May 26. Old stalwarts Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 raced to reclaim the throne, with the latter title once again taking the top spot.

To express gratitude, Infinity Ward's iamfourzerotwo said that this weekend will provide double experience points for all COD4 players. That will apply to both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Additionally, the variety map packs will now show up as often as normal maps (they are currently twice as likely to now).

Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4 has just reached that coveted eighth digit in unit sales. The developer told CNET yesterday that the shooter had sold over 10 million units across all platforms. While unable to provide a breakdown of the figures, Infinity Ward said it had sold the best on Xbox 360.

According to the studio, it is one of "less than 10" games to reach the 10 million mark since 2000. Although we don't know for sure what those games are, our best guesses are The Sims, The Sims 2, World of Warcraft, a half dozen Nintendo DS games and Wii Play. As of January 2008, Halo 3 was at 8.1 million units sold worldwide. (It should be noted that the Call of Duty 4 has an advantage here by merit of the PC and PS3 versions.)

As for Call of Duty 5, Activision has still not confirmed which franchise regular is developing the game, be it Treyarch or Infinity Ward. Rumors suggest the former, but given COD4's success, we really hope IW gets to latch onto the series and keep hold.

Update: We just got word from Activision that the 10 million figure does not take into account the Mac and DS versions of the game.

Those on active virtual duty in Call of Duty 4 have seen combat in all manner of locales during their tours -- though earlier this year, their theater of operations saw a major expansion with the "Variety" map pack, allowing them to get their war on in four new exotic, terrorist-rich locations. Unfortunately, these lush warzones were only available to those playing the game's console iterations, and devout WASD-ers were left out of the new territories.

Fear not, mousegrabbers, your day has come -- or rather, it is coming on June 5, according to Infinity Ward figurehead fourzerotwo. As expected from a map pack that's been available on other formats for nearly two months, the pack will be free to download on PC thanks to a sponsorship from NVIDIA. Little has changed for the PC versions of the four maps, though we find it regrettable that "Chinatown" is now known as "NVIDIAtown" and the Spetsnaz have been renamed the "GeForce Freedom Fighters".

[Via Evil Avatar]

The upcoming 007 game just got an ammo clip of good news.* Quantum of Solace, currently in development at Treyarch, is running on the Call of Duty 4 game engine and due out this Fall alongside the movie. "We look forward to launching Bond: Quantum of Solace in Q3 concurrent with movie. This game uses the Call of Duty 4 engine and technology to bring Bond games to a new level," said Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith in a conference call yesterday (36:20 mark).

Why does this excite us? Simply put: COD4 is one of the best multiplayer experiences currently available on consoles, and it gives us hope that this version will be able recapture the magic we felt when we first tried split-screen Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64. It also gives us an idea as to what platforms we can expect to see the game on -- likely Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and perhaps PC. Quantum of Solace, the film, is releasing October 31 in the UK, November 7 in North America.

* Note: Fear not, the writer of this joke has indeed been eliminated.

We know this runs the risk of sounding like a bad game of Telephone, but here it goes: We heard from Next Gen that they heard from an ex-Activision employee (who was formerly part of Underground) that they heard that Call of Duty 4 developers Infinity Ward recently renegotiated its contract with parent company Activision. Aside from finally getting casual Fridays and that margarita machine that Debbie in accounts receivable has been asking about, IW also reportedly got the right to be the exclusive developer of all things Call of Duty.

If true, that would edge out Treyarch (which made the 3rd numbered game in the series) after they complete work on the CoD game that they're unofficially working on. With as much love as IW put into the excellent CoD 4, we can totally understand why they don't want Uncle Treyarch to babysit the series every other weekend. But, as we've pointed out, this is just hearsay at the moment. We'll let you know if we hear something official.

Update: Activision has responded, describing the rumor as "erroneous information regarding the CoD franchise."

Oscar, Mike, Golf! Infinity Ward announced today that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has sold over 9 million copies worldwide since release. The company followed up that news by stating the new Variety Map Pack (costing $10) allegedly set a new Xbox marketplace record by having over 1 million downloads in its first 9 days of release. The map pack will be available on the US PSN next Thursday, Europe on May 4.

Infinity Ward also released some statistics (we lovez numbers) that over 30 million sessions and 30 million hours have been logged since the new maps released, which is about 1.9 billion minutes of nuggets noob tubing lost to the ether. COD4 has been in a battle for Xbox Live supremacy against Halo 3, with the two titles switching first and second place over the last couple months.