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In response to Wired's own 2009 vaporware awards, our pals at BigDownload have complied their own list of software and hardware that woulda, coulda and shoulda seen the light of day this year. Topping the list is the streaming service OnLive, which was slated to release in "winter 2009," following a healthy dose of beta testing. While reception for the service has been mostly positive, OnLive's claims have yet to be tested on a global stage (during E3 2009, OnLive was previewed for select media via a cable modem connection to the service's California-based headquarters).

Other nods go to Gearbox Software's oft-delayed -- we'll believe it when we see it -- Aliens: Colonial Marines, Obsidian's "oh, by the way, it's not coming out today" Alpha Protocol, and Midway's This Is Canceled Vegas. Sadly, Duke Nukem Forever failed to win an award for what would have been a record twelfth-straight year.

As 2009 drawns to a close, it seems that Borderlands is going to be one of the few real original IP success stories of the year. Gearbox's co-optimized first-person shooter has emerged from a pack of licensed games and sequels to sell two million units worldwide, according to Take-Two's most recent financial release.

Take-Two added that the game "has established itself as a key franchise for Take-Two, for which the Company has long-term publishing rights," so it seems as though two million of you will undertake a return trip in the coming years.

A new Borderlands title update is available on Xbox 360 (with a PS3 version coming soon). The patch fixes a number of issues, the most serious problems affecting skill points, Achievements and Trophies. Some players have encountered glitches that made them lose skill points, while others have had trouble unlocking Gamerscore/XP -- even after successfully completing an Achievement. Thankfully, the patch should apply retroactively, awarding players their rightfully earned skill points and gamer cred.

To see the full list of fixes in the patch, click past the break.

click to enlarge

The latest item of DLC coming to Borderlands adds new, combat-focused content to the game ... while simultaneously removing any artifice with which Gearbox was obscuring the universe's cinematic inspiration. Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot (get it?) adds three new Riot Mode arenas for single-player or co-op, along with a new bank feature for storing weapons.

That's right, a bank. For weapons. That pretty much guarantees you'll pony up the 800 Microsoft Points when this comes out December 29 on Xbox, or the 10 bucks for the PS3 version on January 7. No date or price has been announced for PC. Full press release after the break.

Update: In a statement, Gearbox's Randy Pitchford clarified the Riot Mode announcement. "This is an ENTIRELY NEW GAME MODE," he said, calling it "Smash TV in coop FPS, but in the Borderlands."

Hey PC gamers, it's the holiday season, are you sure you want to read this post? Who wants to spend the yule upset that not only are they getting Borderlands DLC "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" two weeks after their console brethren but they actually have to pay for it, like a peasant? Wouldn't you rather just sip some eggnog and chill out, rather than focusing on the grave, $9.99 injustice launched into the world today on Steam and Gearbox's store?

No? Okay. But don't tell Baby JC that we didn't do anything to keep your Christmas spirit alive.

We can't put our finger on it, but for some reason, Gearbox's recent trademark filing for the title Borderworlds sounds awfully familiar. Oh, that's right! It released that other game with the eerily similar title earlier this year, Border ... wait. Borderareas. Or was it Borderlocales? Borderlands? No, wait, it was Borderregions. Yeah, definitely Borderregions.

Following yesterday's positive comments from the Take-Two conference call, a sequel to the fastest-selling new IP of 2009 certainly seems like a natural next step. However, considering a world is considerably larger than a land ... or region, Gearbox could be planning something appropriately larger in scope than the series' first installment. Or, it could simply be covering its titular bases, as appears to be the case with the "War Hero" trademarks filed earlier this year.

Update: Apparently, the Borderworlds trademark was filed back in 2007. Apologies for the confusion!

[Via superannuation]

German Borderlands players who just had to import the gory, uncensored version of the title from another region are getting their comeuppance. According to a lengthy thread on the Gearbox forums, players who purchase the Zombie Island of Doctor Ned expansion from the German Xbox Live Marketplace can't access the new content from their imported copies of the game.

We've contacted Gearbox to find out if anything is being done to refund the DLC's 800 cost to these depraved, violence-crazed importers. They certainly don't seem like the type of crowd you'd want to upset.

Even with all the delightful new games on store shelves, we know you Borderlands addicts are still jonesing for more loot. Sure, it's not something you'd discuss with your family, but it's a disease, a terrible thirst that can only be slaked by DLC. MTV's got some more information on the first announced chunk, "The Zombie Island Of Doctor Ned."

The $9.99 island (due November 24 on PS3 and 360) is approximately as big as one of the smaller areas in the game and provides around four to six hours of gameplay, according to DLC design director Paul Helquist. Getting to the island and all the delicious new weapons within is a snap: You can teleport directly to the content after you buy it, and as long as you're level 10 or above the area will scale to you.

Hopefully that'll give you gear junkies enough info to stave off cravings until -- hey, are you licking the screen?!

Rejoice! Come December 8, you'll be able to grab your own copy of the Borderlands soundtrack in store or via iTunes, as Sumthing Else Music has announced (via Big Download) that it's handling the publishing rights. There is one issue, however. "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage The Elephant will not be included on the disc, so you're going to need to continue rocking your F5 finger on this YouTube page if you want to keep listening to it. We know, it sucks, but a calloused index finger is a small price to pay for listening to an entirely badass song forever.

Gearbox has declared that Borderlands, the studio's original RPG-FPS ("RPS") hybrid, is the current leader in the annual undercard, the race to fastest-selling new IP of the year. While it might not make it onto a second-printing retail box, the accolade is still significant, as it implies that a new game has at least been noticed among the familiar franchises that dominate the monthly sales charts. What better hook to land a publisher when pitching a sequel?

Going by not entirely public NPD sales figures (in North America), Gearbox has determined that Borderlands had the most launch-week sales of any new IP in 2009. The only other title that could contest that would be Prototype, which enjoyed greater sales on the Xbox 360 platform (but just by 1,900 units) than did Borderlands when comparing the two games' respective launch months (419.9k vs. 418k units). However, Prototype, which released June 9, was available at retail for 11 more days during its launch month than was Borderlands (October 20). While we don't know total sales of either title during their launch months (both were released on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC), it's reasonable to assume that Borderlands is the fast-selling new IP (during a launch week), if not the best-selling one in combined platform sales for a launch month in 2009.

So, congratulations! But watch out for Dragon Age: Origins -- we hear it's fast, too.

If you build it, they will come -- mostly for the loot. That's how Borderlands creative director Mike Neumann candidly describes the possibility of a sequel to his game. "Yes, I can probably confirm that there's a chance of a Borderlands 2 ," he told VG247 with a chuckle. "I mean, with anything, especially a new IP, if people want more and you can make more, and everybody can make money and do good business there, it obviously makes really good sense to do that."

An unexpectedly large number of people thought it made really good sense to purchase the colorful, FPS-RPG hybrid. Neumann jokingly admits surprise at seeing stores running out of stock, even though "it certainly doesn't suck to be the people who made the game you can't keep in stock."

Though plans for a sequel have yet to manifest outside of the water cooler area -- Gearbox is currently grinding through Borderlands DLC -- Neumann believes the "praise and love" for the franchise will make that first decision easier. "So yeah, if everything makes sense, Borderlands 2 seems like a no-brainer to me."

Starting November 24, Dr. Ned is graciously opening his Zombie Island to any gun-toting maniac with ten bucks. 2K has announced the price ($9.99/800) and release date for the first Borderlands DLC pack on PS3 and Xbox 360. The publisher tells Joystiq that the DLC's availability for the PC version is yet to be determined -- in other words, it's probably not coming out on November 24. Though, that's unconfirmed and subject to pending details.

2K promises "ferocious brain-eating zombies, carnivorous Were-Skags and more" on the spooky island, but, perhaps more relevant to weapon-obsessed Borderlands players, there's more "sweet, sweet loot" to find.

Oh, poor little Borderlands -- Gearbox just can't catch a break! On top of the ongoing list of things that need to get fixed and the still unresolved character-nuking glitch on consoles, now PC players are starting to experience some serious issues. Specifically, the game is crashing for those who have certain ATI Radeon graphics cards.

Reader Bryan tipped us off to three different forums on Steam, AMD and Gearbox, where numerous users haven't even been able to get past the game's first mission. We've reached out to Gearbox for comment and will be sure to update the post when we hear back.

[Thanks, Bryan!]

Source - Steam forums
Source - AMD forums
Source - Gearbox forums