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Major Nelson has a dropped a partial February schedule for Xbox Live Marketplace content, including a particularly nice Deal of the Week. Specifically, next week's deal, beginning February 15, will be Battlefield 1943 for only 800 ($10). If you've yet to pick up the game, $10 is definitely a good price. Also starting next week, both Resident Evil 5 and Beautiful Katamari will hit the Games on Demand service.

The post also notes that this week marks the end of the second season of 1 vs 100. Tonight's episode (9:00pm ET/6:00 pm PT) will feature Magda Apanowicz from SyFy's series Caprica. For the season finale this Friday (10:00pm ET/7:00 pm PT), the game will feature 343 Industries' Frank O'Connor and Bungie's Marty O'Donnell.

See the full XBLM schedule after the break.

A post on the Bioware forums has revealed that two new bits of DLC will be coming to Mass Effect 2's Cerberus Network tomorrow, February 9. Players will be able to download both a new set of armor and a new shotgun for free via the game's DLC pipe. The Cerberus Armor ups heavy weapon ammo capacity, shields, and health by 10 percent each, and the M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun is "a longer-range shotgun with armor-piercing loads" that "also violates several intergalactic weapons treaties."

But those "treaties" were never ratified by the Citadel Council anyway, so who cares? The new DLC should be released by 2pm ET, so you can start ganking with the new space shotty then.

[Thanks, Michael]

We're guessing that the person at Microsoft whose job it is to choose the discounted XBLA games of the week is a huge New Orleans Saints fan. Filled with the overwhelming spirit of victory from last night's engagement, this person couldn't stop him or herself from repeatedly hitting the price reduction button. We're afraid of what might have happened if they were a diehard Colts fan. Can XBLA prices be increased?

Fortunately, things panned out in our favor. During the discounting spree, three titles got their prices reduced: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is now 800 ($10, down from 1200), TMNT: Turtles in Time Reshelled is 400 ($5, down from 800) and Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao is available for 800 ($10, down from 1200). Basically, if you've got an itch to watch ninjas or superheroes beat the snot out of things, Xbox Live has you covered for the next seven days.

We'll be honest -- we weren't too interested in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing when we first heard about it, but every time the publisher announces a new playable character, our desire to play the game intensifies. (For the record, Sega? You had us at Ryo Hazuki.)

We'll definitely be trying out the new demo -- released on Xbox Live today -- which features Sonic and Banjo as playable racers on a sample track. To accompany the demo, Sega has also released an All-Stars Racing theme for 240 ($3). However, we highly suggest checking to make sure the game's any good before proudly tattooing your Dashboard background with its logo.

Shortcuts: Add the demo / theme to your Xbox 360 download queue [via Xbox.com]

We got to check out Rotor'scope: The Secret of the Endless Energy at PAX last year, and it nearly broke our minds. Of course, our minds were quite fragile at that point, weakened by long nights of tireless writing and frequent coffee binges -- still, the fact remains that Rotor'scope was one of the most original concepts for a puzzle game we'd played in a good long time. Fortunately, we now have the chance to give the game another go -- it was recently added to the Xbox Live Indie Games platform for 400 ($5).

Check out the Rotor'scope trailer after the jump to see the game's cog-flipping puzzle mechanics in action and to get a sense of the title's overarching story. With create-a-level modes, hand-drawn graphics and even some Facebook integration, it looks like you'll be getting a lot of bang for your buck. Or five bucks, as the case may be.

Shortcut: Add Rotor'scope (trial / full game) to your Xbox 360 download queue [via Xbox.com]

In the land of Twitter, Just Cause 2 developer Eidos is a fairly new entrant. Having just, 10(ish) hours ago, joined up via Square Enix Europe community manager Keir Edmonds, the company account has already dropped one bombshell: a Just Cause 2 demo is "on its way." Though the account merely alludes to "details to follow," we'd be downright surprised if the demo hit any later than the game's March 23 release date.

Just to make sure Eidos didn't want to say anything else, we've reached out for more information and we'll update this post if we hear anything else.
[Via CVG]

As hinted at by an Xbox Live Spotlight ad which briefly appeared yesterday, a demo for Aliens vs. Predator will be released on Xbox Live, PSN and Steam tomorrow. A Sega Europe blog post which announced the demo's imminence revealed that the trial gives players access to all three of the game's species, who can battle it out Deathmatch-style on one of AvP's multiplayer maps. You can bet we'll hop on this one as soon as it's available -- who knows, maybe the fanged proboscis which will soon bore into your skull will belong to one of us!

According to tipster Mike, an ad for an Aliens vs Predator demo recently popped up in the Spotlight section of the Xbox 360 dashboard. The ad reportedly announced that the demo will be released February 4, this Thursday. Unfortunately, the ad has since been pulled, though AvPGalaxy reports finding the ad as well.

The site also notes that the demo will arrive on the same day for PSN and Steam as well, adding that an official announcement from Sega is forthcoming. Given that the game will be hitting retail shelves in just two weeks, the timing for the demo would certainly make sense.

We'll be sure to update this post if and when Sega makes things official. Update: it's official!

[Via Destructoid]

As evidenced by the image above and this link, Dragon Age: Origins' once-released and subsequently pulled DLC offering, Return to Ostagar has, uh, returned to Xbox Live! No, seriously, we're not lying -- we understand your skepticism, but, we assure you, it's there. As for the PC and PS3, well, it's still not available on those platforms at the time of writing this post. BioWare says it'll be on those platforms "soon."

The 400 campaign add-on takes you to Ostagar, the site of a vicious battle with the Darkspawn. One captive has managed to escape and seeks the Grey Wardens' aid to ... wait for it ... Return to Ostagar. Epic!

Update: The PC version of Return to Ostagar has also been released (400 BioWare Points / $5). The PS3 version is still "coming soon," as of today, January 29.

Shortcut: Add Return to Ostagar to your Xbox Live queue [Xbox.com]

Hey, you remember this morning, right? When we told you that the ESRB had rated After Burner Climax for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network? Wasn't that just the tops? Well if that did it for you, here's something that'll positively tickle you pink: Sega has officially confirmed the game for a "Spring 2010" release on the aforementioned digital distribution platforms! The Sega of America blog spilled the deets this afternoon, even handing over a handful of new screens via its Flickr account. We've dropped them below into a convenient little gallery, because we just like you that much.

Gearbox Software and 2K Games have revealed the name -- and first solid details -- for the third DLC expansion to Borderlands. Called The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, the new content is pitched as having "never-before-seen enemies in a huge new environment complete with tons of brand new missions."

New weapons and items are also promised, along with a previously confirmed raising of the character level cap from 50 to ... an undisclosed limit. Still, Gearbox states there will be "new challenges and opportunities for growth for characters from around level 34 to level 50." No release timetable has been announced, but we've contacted 2K for additional info. First screens in the gallery below!

Here's the deal: We're not going to be the least bit clever or amusing in this post. 1. It's just past 7 a.m. and Uncle Joystiq got a little ... silly last night and do these lights have to be so bright? and 2. We don't want you to waste a second reading when you could be grabbing all the Mass Effect 2 DLC that's currently on Live. You'll find links after the break.

Is it supposed to be up yet? Will it be free forever? There's no earthly (or spacely, for that matter) way of knowing. But do you really want to be the guy that missed out?

[Update: Okay, it looks like all have been pulled now, except the Collector's Weapons and Armor.]

[Thanks, Ryan Gan]

The announcement of Mass Effect 2's in-game DLC pipeline, "Cerberus Network," left some details unclear. For example, will DLC through Cerberus be free, since the network itself costs money to install for those without a code from a new copy of the game ($15, to be exact, as reported by Bitmob)? And will DLC only be available through Cerberus?

In a video interview with Joystiq (to be published later today), BioWare's Dr. Greg Zeschuk cleared up some of the confusion around the DLC portal. "We'll definitely have for-pay DLC down the road too," he said, revealing that the DLC through Cerberus will be free. "It's not going to be all free DLC for Mass Effect 2 -- far from that. There'll be paid DLC packs, and there'll be stuff available through Cerberus as well."

The way Zeschuk puts it, there will be two separate types of DLC: free material that is offered through the Cerberus Network and paid DLC that can be purchased without Cerberus (through BioWare or Xbox Live Marketplace).

Ubisoft has just tweeted what we've all been waiting for: the release date of the first promised bit of DLC for Assassin's Creed 2, "Battle of Forli." The add-on will be out next Thursday, January 28, for a meager sum of 320 / $3.99 on Xbox Live and PSN. We say "meager" because, well, Ubisoft could totally get away with charging us more. We very much liked that Assassin's Creed 2 game, but shh, don't tell them that! We wouldn't want to give them any ideas for pricing the "Bonfire of Vanities" DLC next month!

The "Battle of Forli" has players defending the Forli base against the attacking Orsi brothers. Ezio enlists the aid of Machiavelli and Caterina Sforza in this task across the segment of six new playable memories.