It's so nice when things work out the way you hope. There's a handful of new songs available for download in Rock Band Unplugged and the one song we actually want ("Still Alive" by GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton) is free, free totally free. Here's the rest, if you're curious, everything but "Still Alive" will run you $1.99:

• Dixie Chicks "Sin Wagon"
• GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton "Still Alive" *
• The Pixies "Here Comes Your Man"
• R.E.M. "Losing My Religion"
• Stevie Ray Vaughan "Pride and Joy"

Oh crap, we didn't see "Sin Wagon"! Please, disregard everything we said above.

First, we couldn't actually play Battlefield 1943 yesterday, so please forgive the tardiness of this, the latest episode of XBLA in Brief. Now that EA's servers seem to be in order, it's time to look at the new, download-only installment of Battlefield. In short, it seems pretty damned solid. Watch the latest episode and see if it deserves your 1200 ($15).

Download the trial version of Battlefield 1943

[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.
[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly.
[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[M4V] Download the M4V directly.

During a recent chat with CVG, Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuk spoke about Dragon Age: Origins and what DLC and demo plans the company had for the title. With the PC version shipping with a really robust tool set, console gamers may feel like they're missing out, but Zeschuk says that Bioware is actually looking to get that user content from the PC over to consoles. Aside from that, there's also discussion of new dungeons and expansions that could be DLC, though Zeschuk wouldn't comment beyond confirming DLC is in the works.

As for the possibility of a demo preceding release, Zeschuk says that likely isn't in the cards. It's a problem of finding the right part of the game to offer to fans. "The way the game's set up actually makes it hard for a demo because there are six origin stories and we don't know whether to just pick one or a couple." We'd just say pick a couple (more is better, right?) and go for it, because who doesn't like free content (other than Communists)?

It's a rarity, but we'll admit it when it occurs: We might have judged a game too quickly -- specifically, Lego Rock Band. While we assumed it would just be a brickalyzed version of the game we all know, love and are the tiniest bit sick of, a recent interview has us questioning that.

TT Games boss Jonathan Smith told VG247, "The Lego character customizer means that pirates, knights and skeletons can be rock stars too, in amazing new locations. Battle sea-monsters, smash up an entire building, or take a trip into space, all with the power of rock!"

Publishers, if you're curious about how to get our attention, skeleton rock stars destroying buildings with rock power before traveling into space is a great way to start.

There's no doubt that Apple's iPhone has put a significant dent into the mobile game landscape, especially for non-future phone game developers and publishers. Such is the case for Glu Mobile, a company that -- while recently inking a deal to develop and distribute Activision titles on mobile devices -- seems to be going through some not so fantastic times. IndustryGamers.com reports that the company's CEO, Greg Ballard, is stepping down after six years on the job, citing the need to generate "positive cash."

"This is a good time to bring in new leadership for the company, as we focus on returning to generating positive cash and begin even greater investment in next-generation mobile platforms," Ballard notes in the company's release. It's not clear at this time who will be taking the reins of the mobile developer, but we're hoping it's not these guys.

That press release EA linked to yesterday? It's up now, which makes Command & Conquer 4 that little bit more real. Not only that, but everything mentioned in that online survey was also real. This will be the final chapter of the Tiberium series and will feature "persistent player progression and [an] all-in-one mobile base" when it launches in 2010 for PC.

Command & Conquer 4 will also feature a co-op mode for the two campaigns, as well as a 5-vs-5 objective-based multiplayer mode, allowing for a new "social real time strategy experience." Aren't those called LAN parties? A new episode of Battlecast PrimeTime, which will be available on July 24, will give more information on the game, and the exclusive reveal of the first cinematic trailer will be shown on GameTrailers TV on July 23.

As fun as Battlefield 1943 is, EA severely underestimated the amount of individuals who would enlist for battle in the Pacific yesterday on XBLA. If you tried to play, you likely spent a great deal of time staring at menus and found it a real pain to hook up and play with friends. According to a post made by Gordon Van Dyke on the official EA forums, developer DICE is doing all it can to increase the server count for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.

In the latest update, Van Dyke writes, "We have full support of EA to add as many servers as takes and then some so that everyone can play. This work has already started and servers will be added around the clock with teams working to cover this 24 hours a day so not a moment is wasted. You will be able to play this game and play it lag free!"

While the prospect of a lag-free experience is something we can support, our problem was more with our inability to find matches and join our friends' games yesterday, even when multiple slots were open. But hey, at least the price was fixed! [It appears that the 90000 pricing "glitch" was a temporary workaround to dissuade Xbox Live Silver users from purchasing the online multiplayer–only game. Currently, the game is blocked from Silver account purchasing altogether and has been designated a "Gold Exclusive."]

[Via Edge; thanks to VIP0R, Roger, Ian & Alan for pricing glitch pics!]

Though the "Simlish" language that permeates The Sims (as well as a few other Will Wright-crafted franchises) is largely improvised by the series' voice actors, the musicians that provide the games' soundtracks have a bit more work to do than that. This translation process was recently explained by UK recording artist Pixie Lott in a video diary we've posted after the break.

Lott, (who is only 18, you creepy creepster) guides us through the steps required to Sim-ify her current chart-topper, "Mama Do," which sounds suspiciously like "Marmaduke" to our un-indoctrinated American ears. Man, if only!

BioWare's Greg Zeschuk (and the team behind Dragon Age: Origins) is totally psyched to be developing on the PlayStation 3. Speaking to VideoGamer.com recently, Zeschuk expounded the team's excitement at BioWare, saying, "People on the team were really pumped to work on it ... we have a lot of people that like doing new stuff and trying new things, and they were like, wow another platform, can't wait!"

He added that the EA-owned development studio doesn't have "anything against Sony," it's just that "we [BioWare] worked with Microsoft for five years - that made it so easy to focus on Xbox and we didn't have to worry about the PlayStation platforms." Looks as though BioWare are warming up to new platforms, eh? Hang on to your butts, folks, it's a new world.

Music games have been blowing up lately (surprise!) but Harmonix can envision a time when they may not even need the boxes that brought them to the big show. Company boss Josh Randall told Videogamer.com, "I think you could foresee a future where maybe you don't even have a console. Your instrument can have all these songs and you just plug it into your TV."

Sorry Harmonix, but if you've got a spare $33.27, you can see that you've already been beaten to it. It's a guitar, it's a game, you might say ... it's the best of both worlds.

EA's UK PR team just tweeted an announcement that Command & Conquer 4 is now in development, though the linked press release doesn't seem to exist yet. This seems to us like the result of an itchy trigger (or tweeter) finger. With recent online surveys asking what people would like to see in the next Command & Conquer, we were expecting an announcement sooner rather than later. Still, this is a little earlier than we -- and EA, seemingly -- had expected the announcement to come. We'll update you with more information on the game once the press release becomes available.

Are you the best of the best when it comes to soft, safe firepower? EA is going to give you a chance to prove your dominance of the Nerf battlefield once again, in the sequel to last year's Nerf N-Strike. This release coincides with Nerf's 40th anniversary, a fact touted by EA in its press release.

Most important among the new features of Nerf 2: N-Strike Elite, of course, is the new version of the Nerf Switch Shot EX-3 gun, which works both as a standalone Nerf dart gun and a Wii gun shell. The new blue gun includes a red decoder lens that reveals secret messages in the game -- otherwise, it appears identical to the previous (kind of awesome) gun controller.

The game includes new in-game weapons and upgrades, and "enhanced co-op play" with jump-in play. Nerf 2: N-Strike Elite will be out this fall.

EA is really doing it: the company has announced that it will release DLC for Fight Night Round 4 "by early September," adding the face button control scheme from previous Fight Night games. However, we are happy to report that the company showed that it has some sense, and is releasing this update for free. And just like that, something that would have been a disgusting business practice becomes friendly fan service.

Before that, "by early August," according to EA, a DLC pack will be released containing "a new training gym, new gameplay sliders, as well as a host of new equipment that can be used for outfitting boxers." An alternate, Pizza Hut-sponsored version of Sugar Ray Leonard will also be available in the Xbox game. All of this will also be free.

[Thanks, Mr. Pants]

New MTV Games general manager Scott Guthrie told IGN that his company plans to show restraint in terms of peripherals in the future, suggesting that other publishers may go overboard with single-purpose peripherals -- like skateboards, turntables, and different turntables. "It's all about the software and gameplay," Guthrie said. "If those can be enhanced in a meaningful way by peripherals, then you ought to go down that path."

"If it isn't [enhancing gameplay] or it's not an incremental value add," he said, "then you don't do it." Presumably by "value add" he means adding value to the game, not to the cost, because all of those peripherals do that.

The statements take on a kind of hilarious quality when you realize what MTV Games is best known for: Rock Band. Most gamers would agree that Rock Band's use of peripherals is justified, but we still don't really think it should be acting like it's being judicious with its controllers. Unless, of course, the cutoff point is two guitars, three microphones, a drum kit, and a smoke machine. Anything beyond that is too much.