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]

So we're sure you all remember our love for Portal: The Flash Version in which We Create Stuff took all the fun of Portal and bludgeoned it with a digital hammer until it could fit into two dimensions. Now, like in some sort of Tom and Jerry cartoon, We Create Stuff's Hen Mazolski has inserted a bike pump into the flattened game's mouth and re-inflated it to 3D, with all of the Flash versions' levels intact.

This is no mere rehash of the Flash game, though that, in and of itself, would have been impressive. At around 3 1/2 hours, this is a complete experience, with GLaDOS' urgings and taunting remixed to provide an alternate take on the Enrichment Center experience. If you're a fan of Portal, you really shouldn't miss it.

Originally available in May for around $10, the Hidden Fronts map pack for Gears of War will be available for free starting Monday. This falls in line with statements made by Epic's Mark Rein earlier this year that they'll try to get content out for free eventually, but it is Microsoft's store they're working with and they do need to make money.

According to Microsoft, the map pack was already downloaded by a half-million people and has become the #1 piece of premium downloadable content on the marketplace. Thank gawd, we were afraid if could have been the odious Gears of War COG tag videos. The map pack will be free globally. At this point Gears of War has sold four million copies and, according to Microsoft, holds "the highest cumulative number of hours played by Xbox Live members." Let's see how long Gears of War can hold on to that title starting at the end of this month.



[Via Press Release]

A brief update for those of you fidgeting with downloading the Halo 2 Blastacular maps: You can stop cursing the screen, put down the mallet, and quietly pick up the controller to try one. more. time. to get those little buggers off of Microsoft's uncooperative servers and onto your yearning Xbox. Bungie explains what the problems were but, to be honest, we weren't listening. We were busy pondering their promise to "accelerate the maps' introduction into matchmaking."

One week following the botched delivery of Call of Duty 3's 'Valor Map Pack,' we receive word that Treyarch and Microsoft will attempt to re-release the premium content in the "very near future." While it's not much of a consolation to Xbox Livers who've already dropped $10 on the map pack, a new patch will also be released, alongside the fixed content. The patch will address two reoccurring issues:

• Being booted to the menu screen when the lobby countdown reaches zero (in ranked matches)
• Falling through the map when a ranked match begins

Should we forgive and forget?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

The Call of Duty 3 Multiplayer Team released its Xbox 360 patch today, addressing Ranked and Player Match issues (full details here). The fix-up seems in part to be preparation for a map pack release expected after the holidays. With its multiplayer better intact, Activision hopes to build on the small fortune its amassed selling COD-related premium content to Xbox Live users.

Valor Map Pack (800 points) will include five multiplayer maps; Activision will also offer an additional map, "Champs," for free. Set in Port Royal de Champs, France, the bonus map is ideal for small- to mid-sized matches. No announcement has been made about offering the Valor maps or alternative content to PlayStation 3 COD3 players.