After longstanding rumors that Half-Life and Team Fortress developer Valve were in the process of developing their own console/gaming rig were debunked finally, the “Steam-Box” is finally available for preorder. Rumors began after Valve was said to be involved with the Xi3 hardware developer.

It was clarified today on an article on IGN.com from a Valve spokesperson, “Valve began some exploratory work with Xi3 last year, but currently has no involvement in any product of theirs.” But luckily for Xi3, the reputation and possibility of Valve entering the hardware market carried over to their Piston console which has been referred to up until its recent reveal as the “Steam-Box”.

There is no denying the popularity of the Call of Duty series. Generally finishing the year as one of the top sellers, Call of Duty games are big business. So the concept of packaging it’s planned DLC as apart of a ‘content season’ is a great way to keep the popular series fresh year round.

This latest round of DLC content contains two spec ops missions. The first taking place in snowy Russia and sees you and a partner on snowmobile’s before storming an enemy diamond mine. Mission two takes you to the streets in India as you work to liberate hostages in a city.

The last bit in the drop is a new multiplayer map called Black Box. The map is focused on an affluent neighborhood that Air Force One crash landed in. You take your battles through the wreckage of the President’s downed plane and the surrounding homes.

We have been giving you a heads up to new content drops since the program was announced, and today is no difference. For your viewing pleasure we bring to you Rob Riggle and the March content drop trailer, after the jump.

Last week, we let you in on a sneak peek of the Overwatch Content Drop coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Activision has announced that the Overwatch map will be coming out on February 21st to XBox 360 Elite Premium members. This Overwatch map is going to be the third in Call of Duty Elite’s nine month plan of new maps and gameplay modes to keep the Modern Warfare 3 servers packed to the gills with players before the next CoD from Treyarch inevitably comes out this November.

Take a peek after the jump at a video preview of Overwatch. Rob Riggle hosts the trailer again as he did with the first two content drops. Maybe in the future we can get Jonah Hill who made the Call of Duty commercials as entertaining as they were on other upcoming content packs. This trailer gives a much more detailed view than last week’s screen shots did of the Overwatch map. Riggle actually tells us that the map itself is the equivalent of a 13,000 square foot rooftop penthouse overlooking NYC.

Expect two things from this map. First off, it is going to be a sniper’s paradise as there are tons of little lines of site that encompass large areas of the map, giving lots of range between the sniper and their targets. Also, expect lots of people falling to their deaths. In any close quartered situation, players begin backing away if they feel they are being bested. In a normal game, this method of retreat is usually only halted by a wall behind the player. Now, they can fall to their deaths with a faulty step in the wrong direction.

Check out the full trailer below and stick to the Flickcast for more on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty Elite.

Members of Call of Duty Elite for both the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 have already started reaping the benefits of their yearly membership with the first content drop in January. As promised, Activision is intent on keeping up with their Content Drop schedule for Elite Subscribers to prove the value of the service.

This month, subscribers will be getting their hands on the new map Overwatch. Somewhat similar in aestetics to the rooftop multiplayer map of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, this one is much more dangerous as its central passage is one that provides little cover or protection from falling for the players crossing it. It does give some nice variety to the other maps that have already been released and it will be interesting to see how it plays out when more game modes are added as well.

Call of Duty Elite Drop 3: Overwatch drops you into a construction site atop a New York City skyscraper. The battle takes place along two levels in a near symmetrical layout, with the central bridge and side routes open to attack from multiple angles. Watch your every step, as a lack of safety barriers surrounding the perimeter leaves nothing between you and a 70 story fall to the ground below.

Overwatch is the third Content Drop in Modern Warfare 3’s Content Season, which will include more than 20 pieces of brand new content over the 9 month season. Elite Drops 4-6 will be available in March for Premium Members on Xbox Live and will include the multiplayer map Black Box and two brand new Special Ops Missions, Black Ice and Negotiator. The full calendar of content is outlined here.

Check out the screens after the jump and stayed tuned for more Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 news as it becomes available.

Telltale Games is known for working on some of the most revered point and click games in PC gaming, with many of its key contributors coming from the famed LucasArts team that created Tales of Monkey Island. Since splitting off from LucasArts, the team at Telltale was able to take their credentials and acquire more well known mass market properties like CSI, Jurassic Park and Back to the Future. Though this is the fifth Law & Order game to be released, Law & Order: Legacies it is the first to come from the team at Telltale.

Gameplay:

When talking about a point and click adventure game, many people recall instances of being left in a world where they must click on or pick up objects in a certain order to achieve a specific goal. Instead, the aspect of the point and click adventure that carries over to Law & Order: Legacies is that of a cerebral experience which players are carefully lead through, almost too carefully at times.

The focus of Law & Order: Legacies’ gameplay is on remembering the facts presented at crime scenes, interviews with witnesses and cutting off the tactics of defense attorneys.

Playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and not sure if Elite membership is right for you? Check out the latest two trailers from Activision and Call of Duty Elite featuring Rob Riggle, the cop from the Hangover who had way too much fun with the taser in the classroom, as he explains the benefits of Elite as well as walks you through the first two maps from Call of Duty Elite’s nine month content drop.

As the Elite trailer goes to explain, the biggest benefit for Elite membership isn’t just getting maps first. They are actually cheaper if paid for up front. Instead of getting four packs at $15 a pop, players can pay for them all with the Elite membership for only $50 (or already have it free if they purchased the Hardened Edition of the game) and as mentioned, they get them much earlier than waiting for content packs.

As promised, Elite delivered its first two maps yesterday. In addition to new gameplay modes which will be coming soon, new multiplayer maps have been the biggest and most important DLC on XBox Live since Halo 2’s map packs.

This pack features Content Drop 1: Liberation which resembles a Central Park setting, complete with mounted miniguns (just like real life), long lines of sight for snipers and tons of tree cover and close quartered underground locales as well. Content Drop 2: Piazza takes players to an Italian seaside village filled with tight winding roads leaving lots of chances for close combat encounters.

Check out the January Content Drop trailer below as well as screens of both Liberation and Piazza. Stay tuned to The Flickcast for more on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty Elite.

We like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, you like it and so, it seems, do a whole bunch of other people. How can we be sure?

Well, Activision on Tuesday announced that week-one sales of Modern Warfare 3 were 12.3 Million units, making it the biggest launch of all time. That number of units sold also brought in about $738 Million in revenue. Not bad for the first week.

The Xbox 360 version of the game was in the lead with sales of more than 7 million units, a record for game sales on a single console that was previously held by Call of Duty: Black Ops and its 5.8 Million units sold. 4.8 Million copies were sold for the PlayStation 3.

But what of the Wii? It had about 500K copies sold for it along with the PC version of the game, which also had about the same. In addition, in case you hadn’t heard, Activision announced late last week that COD:MW3 sold 6.5 Million copies and made $400 Million during its launch weekend alone. That’s also a record, by the way.

I’m sure Hollywood must be salivating pretty hard right now wishing they could get these kinds of sales figures for some of their movies. Of course, that would mean they would have to make good movies first. And let’s face it, most of them aren’t.

Look for our review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 very soon. We know John is working on it and it’s going to be great.

One of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows has been Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It is only fitting that only days before the show begins its third season, players will get the chance to jump in on Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.  On September 15th, players will be able to begin their unique online Star Wars experience. And on Friday the 17th, the newest season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars begins.

At Comic Con, we got the chance to speak with Sony Online Entertainment about the upcoming title and get a walkthrough of some of the features in the game including both the Star Fighter and Lightsaber Duel minigames, both seen in the video below.

We were told that the main goal of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures was to make the player feel as though they are a part of the Star Wars: Clone Wars universe with iconic characters to interact with and environments to explore. Unlike Star Wars: Galaxies, players are intended on being able to get instant gratification in this rather than grinding their way through levels in order to unlock upper tier content.

This also closely works in favor of the game’s younger target market. Right from the start, players can go up and talk to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex. These characters help introduce players to the minigames.

Take the tight first person control of Call of Duty, add the ominous feel of Bioshock, toss in some old school Cold War paranoia and insert some cool time altering powers and you find yourself with a recipe for success in Singularity.

Gameplay:

Especially in a shooter, there is so much importance on quick and reactive control and Singularity nails it. In single player, the player follows a fairly linear path where they must shoot their way through modern day elite forces, underarmed Soviets from the 1950s and a host of mutated monsters made up of the former residents of Katorga 12.

In addition to traditional assault rifles and shot guns, players get to take control of some new and interesting weapons like a remote control rolling grenade launcher and an exploding harpoon gun. Depending on the player’s preference, they will find themselves either relying on the classic tried and true weapons or experimenting with these new ones in combination with the TMD.

The TMD, the Time Manipulation Device, is the crux of Singularity’s unique gameplay. Over the course of the game, the TMD gets upgraded with new powers. At the start, it can only age or renew objects from their modern day to 1955 states. This also works on soldiers and mutants, leaving them with a quick and painful looking demise.

This power also allows players to uncover clues left by an unknown source in the form of messages left on walls in the past. Eventually, players gain the ability to control gravity and create small bubbles in which time stops for them which leads to some interesting combat scenarios.

After launching Warhammer Online, it was only a matter of time before an MMO set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe would be released. THQ, publishers of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansions and sequels, have finally announced and revealed a trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online.

Not much information has been released for Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online other than more is to come at Gamescon in August. What we can tell from the trailer however is that the game will have a focus on at least three of the Warhammer 40,000 races/factions. Space Marines, the soldiers of the Imperium, may also get a hand from the Imperial Guard as well as there are some unarmored soldiers seen in battle.

Orcs, like they have always been in Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, will be given a spotlight as foils for the Space Marines. Taking the fight to both races will be the corrupt demon worshipping Chaos Space Marines which spread violence and destruction throughout the galaxy.

Not present yet are Warhammer 40,000 staples, the Tyranids or the Eldar. It is possible that these races will be added in during future expansions.Most notably seen in the game trailer is the presence of titans, gigantic war machines that will presumably lead to epic boss battles.

Take a peek below at the trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online and let us know what you think of it in the comments.

Star Wars: The Old Republic isn’t the only Star Wars highlight from last week’s E3 show. In addition to the still untitled LucasArts game being released for the XBox 360 Kinect, there has also been a trailer released for the upcoming online Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures. Taking place in the same timeline of the Clone Wars animated film and series, younger players get the opportunity to play as either Jedi or Clone Troopers in the war against Count Dooku, General Grievous and the rest of the droid army of the trade federation.

With its cartooney graphics and light hearted feel, this game is certainly aimed at a different demographic than the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II trailer that was also released this week.  Geared towards the same youth demographic as the cartoon, Star Wars: Clone War Adventures looks to be a combination of casual mini games combined with simple droid destroying lightsaber and star fighter combat. It may not have the crossover appeal to get mature players but some of the most hardcore Star Wars fans will likely use it to get their fix as they await Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures will be releasing this fall for the PC. Check out the trailer and screen shots for it after the jump.

XBox 360 (Also available on PlayStation 3 and PC)
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
$59.99
Score: 7.0

Alpha Protocol is a great example of a game that tries hard to do a lot of things and ends up pulling some of them off. When you look at what Alpha Protocol is attempting to do on paper, it is a pretty lofty list. Being the first espionage RPG, the game gets to define itself. Is it a spy game? Is it a shooter? How much roleplaying is actually involved? The truth is that Alpha Protocol almost gives too many options in how it approaches this concept.

Gameplay:

Alpha Protocol is all about options. Much like other RPGs, character customization is a big deal. Not in the way of appearance but in terms of skill sets, selection of characteristics plays a huge part in how each person’s Alpha Protocol experience will play out. There are two very distinct ways that players can progress through missions.

The first is guns blazing. For Gears of War or Halo fans, this may be their method of choice. Shoot their way through and ask questions once everything is dead. Using any pairing of either a pistol, SMG, shotgun or assault rifle, players get the opportunity to use special weapons abilities that help them progress through waves of enemies.

Along the way, players can also use stationary sniper rifles or turret guns to aid in their mayhem. This is one of the more rewarding and visceral experiences of the game as enemies fly off their feet after shot gun blasts or crumble to the ground with a series of well placed headshots.