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Last week, PSN users found that the DLC for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 -- items that included new characters such as Carnage, Psylocke and Cable -- went missing from the PSN Store. Well, after navigating the intricate web of Activision PR, Joystiq can now confirm the DLC simply expired at the end of last year. An Activision rep told us: "The Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Downloadable Content was a limited time offer, expiring on December 31, 2009."

Sorry, PSN users -- if you managed to snag the content already, have fun. For the rest of you would-be heroes and villains, looks like you're out of luck, because the DLC isn't coming back.

We can only imagine the planning meeting at Dr Pepper HQ, during which someone shouts "We must garner that critical gaming demographic! How will we ever best something as inimitable as Game Fuel?! It's got 'game' right there in the title!" Instead of copycatting the naming idea, though, Dr Pepper recently detailed an already announced partnership with EA to give away codes for downloadable content. The promotion details lists a handful of games -- Mass Effect 2, Battlefield Heroes, The Sims 3, Spore, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 -- which have "unique DLC" tied to them.

Rather than forcing an unknown amount of soda purchases out of its customers, we were told this afternoon by a customer service rep that "Every bottle wins." More specifically, each bottle contains a code that can then be redeemed on the Dr Pepper website, thus allowing participants to choose their system and DLC from an available list. We flatfooted to the local AM/PM and didn't spot the prize-bearing bottles, but we'll update this post with more information as we get it.

One of our favorite PSN games of 2009 has to be Magic Ball, the simple (yet charming) brick-breaking game from Creat Studios. Starting tomorrow, the game will be renamed Magic Orbz, in preparation of a second DLC pack.

For $2.99, the "Winter Theme" pack will add 24 new levels and four new Trophies to the title. It will appear on the PlayStation Store tomorrow in Europe, and on January 14th in North America.

For a game based on, well, the end of everything, the fact that Darksiders won't be receiving any DLC isn't exactly a revelation. But it's true -- Vigil Games creative director and famed comic book illustrator behind the game's visual style, Joe Madureira, confirmed in an interview with Eurogamer that DLC and multiplayer weren't part of the developer's plan, nor does it intend to tackle them post-launch.

"We were a new team building new tech and a new IP. We had our work cut out for us," Madureira explained when asked about both, adding, "Vigil has a very strong all-or-nothing mentality, and if we're not confident we can pull it off, we're not doing it. So we focused on making the most kick-ass single-player game possible." Not to say that multiplayer was never a possibility -- it was just a short-lived one: "We realized early on that we wouldn't be able to pull off the scope of game we wanted to and have it be multiplayer," he said.

Of course, should the game do well, we'll no doubt be seeing the unthinkable: a sequel to the Apocalypse.

EA Canada's Jason DeLong told Game Informer that he expects to see games become cheaper in the future, at least per initial investment. "I think that we're going to start to see -- maybe not in the next year, but in the near future -- games go down the route of smaller up-front experiences and lower prices at the beginning," DeLong said, "and then the ability to extend the game through episodic material or future feature material. I think that's a direction we're probably heading in."

So that doesn't mean that games will be cheaper, in the long run -- it means that DeLong sees the potential total price of a game spread between a disc or initial download and follow-up expansions. It's sort of like what EA and BioWare are already doing with Dragon Age: Origins -- except Dragon Age sells for $60 to start. DeLong added that keeping people playing in the current economy is "going to be an interesting creative problem for us to solve." So then, problem solved?

In a terse message on the BioWare forums last night, Community Coordinator Chris Priestly announced that the Dragon Age: Origins "Return to Ostagar" DLC, dated for release today, won't be available as planned.

"We're sorry but the planned Return to Ostagar downloadable content scheduled to launch on January 5th has been delayed for all platforms," the forum post reads. "We will update you as new information becomes available." And then there's a little "devil" emoticon, which seems to be Priestly's forum signature rather than a hint that the post is a joke. The fact that the delay applies to "all platforms" suggests that the content could arrive after the "later in January" release window named for PS3 before.

We expect that BioWare will release more details (as in, some details) about the delay during business hours -- or an official denial, if this turns out to be inaccurate. In either case, we're waiting to see if we're going to be waiting for the DLC.

[Thanks, Theresa]

From Software's 3D Dot Game Heroes may be inspired by the 8-bit Zelda, but it's truly a modern game -- it has both patches and paid DLC. An update and DLC pack were set to be released in Japan on Christmas Day, but were delayed until sometime in January.

The free update adds a viewer for the loading screen images, hard drive install feature and the infrastructure to download the DLC. As for the paid content, one pack adds stages for the "Block Defense" minigame (basically tower defense), and the other adds downloadable character models, many of which can be downloaded for free from the website. In the case of 3D Dot Game Heroes, the idea of extra content is a lot more exciting than the content itself.

[Via Siliconera]

Paul McCartney, in a non-Beatles outing, rings in the new year for next week's Rock Band Weekly update. The 67-year-old rocker (good on him!) will have the company of a Blink-182 pack, along with individual tracks from The Psychedelic Furs and The Ramones. Ringo might be in there too, but nobody would notice either way -- poor Ringo.

Check out pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.

PS3 heroes heeding the call of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 may have noticed all of the game's DLC has been pulled from PSN. Users on the game's official forums, the Hero HQ, and folks over at the official PlayStation boards are complaining all of the game's DLC has up and vanished from PSN -- something Joystiq can also confirm.

So, what gives? Well, we don't know right now, but we've put in word to both Sony and Activision and will let you know when we hear back.

[Thanks, @freemantim]

Source - PlayStation forums
Source - Hero HQ forums

While trailing behind what some of us might call "this holiday season" (as originally pledged), the latest expansion for BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins, dubbed "Return to Ostagar," has been given a more finite release date of January 5th for both Xbox 360 and PC. The PS3 release is slated for "later in January." Aaryn Flynn, General Manager and Vice President at BioWare Edmonton, says of the DLC offering, "Return to Ostagar represents BioWare's commitment to providing a steady stream of compelling post release content as we continue to expand the Dragon Age universe."

For just $5, and the promise of "the mighty arms and armor of the once great King Cailan," we imagine we'll be returning to Ostagar next week ... and as long as we're there, it won't hurt to find out what "King Cailan's top-secret political agenda" is, right? Check out a video of DLC expansion after the break.

The good folks at IncGamers had a chat with one of BioWare's founding medical doctors, Ray Muzyka, about the company's history of classic single-player gaming and its upcoming foray into the world of massively multiplayer with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Muzyka says that the line between solo and collective experiences is blurring: even traditionally single-player games are dipping into the vast realms of multiplayer co-op and competition through online social tools and downloadable content.

Speaking specifically, he says that Dragon Age: Origins is a good example, with online social features for what is definitely a single-player experience. And Mass Effect 2, he says, will explore these ideas through its own DLC. In fact, he outright guarantees us that BioWare is "planning more [DLC] than in Mass Effect 1." As players who couldn't get enough of the two packs on offer for the original game, that's Muzyka to our ears.

If more Borderlands DLC is just what the doctor ordered – not Doctor Ned, of course, star of the shooter slash RPG's first DLC outing – then look no further than this week's "Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot."

Developer Gearbox is giving Joystiq readers an exclusive look at the above gameplay trailer, showing off some of the pack's offerings: three new Riot Mode arenas, the "bank" where you can "'stache your loot" and a litany of modifiers, like "Hot Potato," "Loaded" and "Dodgeball." It's a slow week, folks – "Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot" spices things up on Xbox Live tomorrow, and PlayStation Network next week.

Watch your head, folks, because prices are falling. Today's Xbox Live holiday deal of the day is targeted directly at DLC for Bethesda's critical and commercial darling, Fallout 3. If you're looking to add more intense VATS-related action to the RPG, each add-on pack is available for 400 ($5) a piece -- a 50% savings of your Microsoft-branded space bucks.

New to the Fallout 3 universe? There are five DLC add-on packs for the (already) lengthy RPG. Arguably the most important -- and one you should tackle first -- is Broken Steel, which increases the game's overall level cap to 30 and allows players to continue playing beyond the conclusion. Also, a Game of the Year edition is available in stores, which includes all of Fallout 3's downloadable content -- making it cheaper if you don't already own the game to begin with.

Add Fallout 3's Operation Anchorage DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's The Pitt DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's Broken Steel DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's Mothership Zeta DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue

[Thanks, Brett]

Rock Band DLC is taking some time off for the holidays, with no tracks scheduled for release until December 29 on Xbox 360 and Wii, and January 7 on PS3. Take the time to reflect on the tracks you do have, and appreciate time spent with them this holiday season.

When Rock Band DLC does return, it''ll bring a seven-pack of songs from the Rock Band: Country disc, followed by a three-pack of live Paul McCartney songs from his performance at New York's Citi Field. Check the list after the break, and then you can forget about all that other garbage you've downloaded!

What do you give your copy of Call of Duty: World at War for Christmas? Activision has solved that tough shopping challenge by bundling all of the game's downloadable maps into one attractive package. The Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack Bundle features "the complete collection of nine multiplayer maps and three co-op Zombie maps from Call of Duty: World at War Map Packs 1-3," for $24.99 on PS3 or 2000 on Xbox 360, five dollars off the combined prices of all three packs.

It's available now in North America, but won't be home for Christmas in Europe, with a release date of January 7. But let's be realistic here: your game doesn't know when Christmas is, so you can be a bit late with gifts.