L4D2 "The Passing" DLC scheduled for release in March, screenshots and gameplay videos now available

Over on YouTube I found a couple of recently uploaded videos that show a full minute of gameplay in Valve's upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 called "The Passing." These gameplay videos were recorded as the game was played on the Xbox 360, and showed the player controlling survivor Ellis while blasting his way through zombies. As I searched for recently published news stories regarding the upcoming DLC, I came across GamePlanet which has apparently gotten the scoop ahead of everyone and even has 10 new screenshots to prove it. The GamePlanet article sheds new light on the much-awaited DLC and talks about another DLC following a month after it is released.

Desktop Dave's top 5 PC games of 2009

For some people, PC Gaming is a way of life. And while you may or may not relate to that sentiment, you have to admit that games for the PC platform are getting better and better with every year. You can pretty much pick up any title these days and know that you're going to have a very good time playing it.

But while you can't go wrong with many of today's PC titles, there are still those that can be considered the cream of the crop. The titles that you absolutely must have in your collection, or must play through at one time or another. If you're going to play any PC games at all, I've listed the top ones that you should consider. Read on for what I consider as the very best games of 2009.

Epic Games shows off Unreal Engine 3 for iPhone and iPod touch

When I think about portable gaming consoles, the iPhone or iPod touch are the last things on my mind. Forget the fact that the controls can be a bit hard to handle on the touchscreen display, I just don't think I can enjoy gaming on such as small screen with low-res games. Well, it looks like things are about to change in the graphics department, where I think iPhone games are severely lacking, with the introduction of Epic Games's Unreal Engine 3 for the iPhone platform. Above is a screenshot of Unreal Tournament played on an iPod touch for a demonstration.

Anandtech's Anand Lal Shimpi got a chance to try out the game, and he comments, "In practice, the controls work well... the frame rate was smooth. There are more visuals to be added, as well as some polishing, but the demo looked very good for an iPhone game." But don't take his word for it, watch a video of the demo gameplay after the break.

Random gamers share why they play World of Warcraft

Here's a confession: I have never played World of Warcraft. And I doubt if I ever will. But I do know that WoW is a worldwide phenomenon and a few of my old friends used to play it, so I'm quite aware of its addictive qualities for certain people. I've often wondered why so many people seem to like playing World of Warcraft so much, and now I've gained a bit of an insight thanks to volunteered answers from a few random gamers. Here's a sample:

Dan Amrich, Editor-in-Chief, World of Warcraft: The Magazine

I am an altaholic so I have many, but my main is a 74 blood elf rogue. I play for the social aspect. WoW has become more about the people I play with than the game itself. Although I really enjoy the stories and the spectacle, I find it much more enjoyable because I get to share it with my family. I play with my wife and brother-in-law every week; we live in different states and it's a lot more fun to chat on Skype about what happened in our lives that week while simultaneously slaughtering murlocs wholesale. It's three hours of online quality time. We've been trying to convince my mother-in-law to play but I don't think even WoW is that powerful.

Not the kind of answer you expected? There are more. Check out the source link below for the full set.

Source: [Kotaku]

Far Cry 3 development underway, looking "pretty exciting"

While Far Cry 2 still eats up the lot of the time of most of you these days, you may want to know about the progress Ubisoft is making on the game's next installment, Far Cry 3. Well, as you would expect the development team is already working on it, and Ubisoft's own Kevin Shortt has commented that what he has seen so far is "pretty exciting." No word yet on game specifics such as gameplay, plot, engine, platforms and release date, but that should be in the horizon.

Sources: [ComputerAndVideoGames, Kotaku]