The second installment of Borderlands DLC ditches the exploration found in The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned in favor of strengthening the ties between the game and the Mad Max series of post-apocalyptic action movies. Stealing a premise from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot sees players fighting for fame and fortune in a series of new Riot Mode arenas, facing wave after wave of enemies in either single player or co-op battles.

It sounds intriguing, but it's got to be more than three new arenas to warrant a $9.99 price tag, right? Read on.

What Is It?
Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot is the second set of downloadable content for Borderlands. Rather than a new area to play in, which we got in the first downloadable content, The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Mad Moxxi delivers a new gameplay mode, Riot, which is almost like a game show version of Gears of War's Horde Mode. The titular Mad Moxxi, a widow several times over seeking to relieve her boredom with carnage, entertains a cheering crowd as you and your teams take on five different waves of enemies in three new arenas - Hell-burbia, the Angelic Ruins, and The Gully. These aren't simply pits that fill with enemies - they are relatively sprawling yet contained battlegrounds, ready to be soaked with the vital fluids of your prey.

What We Saw
I played through each of the three new arenas multiple times, using a pre-made level 30 soldier graciously supplied by the folks at Gearbox. Okay, I attempted to play through all three arenas several different times, dying frequently. I unfortunately only got to play single player, but it's easy to imagine having a blast with a couple of close total strangers on Xbox Live.

How Far Along Is It?
The new DLC releases next week on the Xbox 360, so the build I was playing is damn near close to the finished product.

What Needs Improvement?

No Experience Necessary: You don't gain experience while battling through wave after wave of enemies in the Underdome, which quite frankly feels odd. I understand the draw here is new weapons and the glory of triumphing over seemingly impossible odds, but when I spend an entire game on a steady climb towards max level, spending several hours tooling around a plateau just feels like a slight waste of time.

What Should Stay The Same?

Riding The Waves: The enemies in Mad Moxxi's Underdome come at you in different waves, each consisting of different types of enemies. One visit to an arena might start you off with an Easy Wave, with powered-down enemies that are easier to dispatch, before moving on to a Gun Wave, in which all enemies have guns (duh), or a Horde Wave, where swarms of melee enemies come at you mindlessly. There's a variety, but it's not so much that you can't anticipate what's coming next after you're done scrambling for the health and ammo Moxxi tosses into the stadium between rounds.

Moxxi's Got Talent: Black widow Mad Moxxi is a constant presence in the DLC, shouting out taunts to you as you struggle to survive, egging on the crowd, and just basically being the consummate showman, adding to the feeling that you are a contestant in some sort of twisted game show birthed in the mind of a violent husband-killer. Good times.

The Penalty Box: If you die during a wave, you're warped into the penalty box, an area overlooking the arena where you can shoot from, but cannot leave. Once again, I only played single player, where its mission failed if you wind up in the box, but I can easily imagine the fun that will come of having 2-3 other players in the box, urging the survivors on while desperately searching for targets to take out long range.

Final Thoughts
Gearbox's Randy Pitchford has said that Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot is "like Smash TV in coop FPS, but in the Borderlands." I'd have to say he hit the nail on the head. There might not be piles of cash spawning at the end of every round, and the enemies aren't quite as numerous, but once you step into the Underdome you're the star of a game show where your life is on the line. I'd like to think that if the world had body replicating technology, this is the sort of thing we'd find on every street corner.

And if they can take the "Th" out of Thunderdome, I can take the "B" out of Beyond.

[GameVideos]

Ten days ago Kotaku obtained and published a confidential marketing survey showing that Longoria, the 2008 American League Rookie of the Year, was 2K's choice. Today's announcement confirms the decision but also shows the covers leaked out were mock-ups and not at all the final design.

"Being on the cover, right now, it's a process, and we're working on the game and trying to get things going, we're focused on bringing out the best in it." Longoria told Kotaku today. "I won't get to step back and really appreciate this until down the line, when maybe a 10-year-old kid brings a 2K Sports box to the field and asks me to sign it. Then it'll hit me."

Longoria's selection is somewhat of a departure for the series; from 2002 to 2008, its cover athletes were all New York players, including the Yankees' then-first baseman Jason Giambi, and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter three consecutive times each. Last year's cover athlete was Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, still a large-market franchise in close proximity to 2K's Marin studio.

In Longoria, MLB 2K10 is selecting an up-and-comer from one of baseball's smaller market clubs - albeit one that stunned bigger spenders in 2008 to win its division and the American League pennant. Longoria has been selected to the AL All-Star team in both of his first two years in the league, and two weeks ago picked up his first Gold Glove award.

His role is not purely promotional; Longoria, an avowed sports gamer going back to Ken Griffey Jr. Major League Baseball on the Super Nintendo, will consult on the game's development and work on components such as its situational authenticity.

"When we met with Evan at the (2009) All-Star Game, we hadn't gotten to the short list about who we wanted on the cover," said Chris Snyder, the 2K Sports director of marketing. "When we met with him, he said he loved the (MLB 2K9) commercial with Tim Lincecum, but he said, 'You know, in it, I hit this home run and Torii Hunter robs me. Can we maybe cut back on that a little?' He was joking, but we caught notice of the fact that he paid close attention to detail, that he saw it was him in the footage int was Torii who robbed him."

Below is a gallery of all the cover options. Don't vote on them here in our comments; head over to the 2K Sports official site if you want to be heard. The game is scheduled for a March 2010 release.

If you want more visuals, there are two additional gameplay vids for BioShock 2 over on GameTrailers - deathmatch and the harvesting choice.

BioShock 2 Videos [GameTrailers]

Pre-loaders of the PC version over Steam found the file "borderlands_low_violence.ncf" in their download; it's not a part of the North American version. When contacted about the file, 2K Australia said:

We have been talking to the US 2K team via email and working out how this happened/ what the next steps are to amend this via Steam. They're working on clearing this up with Valve right now and know to ask how they will handle those people who have already d/l'ed the wrong version.

So, bottom line for Aussies: No content changes were made to receive classification, but this file does make the game "a wrong version." 2K promises to have this cleared up by Oct. 30 - three days after Oct. 27, the game's original unlock date for Europe and Australia.

Whew! Glad they're hot on the case. Because, for real, seeing a level 18 bruiser's face melt off, and his eyeballs pop out and roll down a flight of stairs, after a critical shock sniper attack, is simply not to be missed. Not that I'm rubbing it in or anything.

Borderlands Accidentally Censored for Aussies on Steam [Ausgamers]

"All the guys will play on the plane actually," he tells USA Today. "Travel with a flat screen and hook up the console. It gets pretty competitive."

But... Is a flat screen a carry-on? Does it fit in the overhead compartment? So many questions, so much time. Must be nice to fly in private jets!

Kobe Bryant talks 'NBA 2K10' - Game Hunters: In search of video games and interactive awesomeness [USA TODAY] [Pic]

To continue the metaphor, NBA 2K10 delivers both. All sports titles face a justify-your-existence question of what to offer every year beyond a roster update. NBA 2K10 has been such a clear leader that it's almost exempt from such what-have-you-done-for-me-lately questions, and has the luxury of refining its visuals and presentation. That's not to say the game doesn't add new ways to deliver, and experience, the performance art that can happen any given night in the NBA.

Loved
Where Basketball Happens: So much of a sports game review fixates on what's new in a game, but the guts of it still have to be there, and NBA 2K10 shows restraint in its gameplay tinkers. This year's update focused more on nailing down animations for players' signature moves and even facial expressions, rather than how you manipulate them. But the most conspicuous control is how your speed burst works. You have a finite supply of it, and not only can it run out over a single play, going to the well too often will deplete his overall stamina. You cannot sit on the trigger in this game and expect to get away with it for long. This brings some useful balance, especially to run-and-gun multiplayer games. Shot selection is more of a key this year as the game seems to have tightened up on on the ease of shooting. That could also be because of changes in shooting animations, as your point of release means everything to whether the ball goes in. Otherwise, the control scheme remains solid and caters to your preferred style, whether that's set plays versus a more freelancing approach, or basic player manipulation vs. more advanced shooting and post play. If you prefer to make things up as you go along, you can still have a great time in NBA 2K10. My only gripe is that players seem slow to get open on their own, meaning you'll need to do so at least through a quick play from the menu or draw the defense and kick it out yourself.

This is a presentation of the NBA: I halfway expected to hear a 4th quarter announcement that any rebroadcast without the express written consent of the NBA is prohibited. Out of the box, the commentary of Kevin Harlan, Clark Kellogg and Cheryl Miller is much stronger and less repetitive than the competing title from EA Sports. Although the season has not started yet, when it does their remarks, supported by on-screen graphics, will reflect what's taking place in the league, such as recent big performances, slumps, etc. I'm assuming. The point is that the game will serve you up - even if it's just for a one-off matchup - more than the current rosters but the current state of the league and its players. This may not as technically detailed as NBA Live 10's Dynamic DNA, which will break a player down to his tendencies, not just his skill strengths. Gamers who can make use of that information will have to make the choice for themselves; what 2K10 has done here is good enough for me.

That's My Player: This is a compelling mode of play, one that really makes you want to be a better player and learn the game. But you really have to know what you are getting into because you will be judged very strictly in it. In My Player, you are starting off with a rookie rated near the bottom in everything and only slightly better in some core positional attributes. Then, through conditioning drills and scrimmages in a summer league you build yourself into a draftable talent. Or not. Most everyone will head through the NBA Developmental League first. I just don't see how you can accrue the points necessary to make an NBA roster right off the bat and even then, I'm not sure what good it would do because your playing time would be minuscule. But back to the development - your success will depend upon knowing your position and how it contributes to a game. And I mean, if you have no organized basketball experience and are only a casual spectator of the game, it will be rough on you. You need to pay attention to your teammates if someone's calling for a pass. You've got to proactively set picks. You've got to call for the ball only when you're open and even then, you'll be bitched at for doing it too often. You need to do these things more than you need to score, because the development places a premium on being a good teammate. Even burying an spot-up jumper will get you tsk-tsked for taking one too soon, with an attendant reduction in teammate grade. All this said, I know I am a bad baller, so even if I was frustrated I didn't feel like I was being judged unfairly. And I can see that for someone who knows and loves basketball, how the challenges offered and won by My Player stand out not only for this sport, but among all career modes of pro sports gaming. If you're not 100 percent sure you know what you're doing in the game, you should stick to the team mode, unless you are really committed to using My Player to teach yourself video game basketball in a very granular, intensive way.

Multiplied multiplayer: The first two days of the release I could not connect to the 2K servers at all. As of the weekend, the problems appeared to be solved, but this was still an unfortunate black mark against a game going out the door packed to the gills with multiplayer modes. The most intriguing of these is the Team-Up, where you can form or join a crew and run ball in a virtual league against teams comprised entirely of other users. If you don't want to commit to that you can create a pick-up game for a single instance only. My preference trends strongly to singleplayer in sports titles and getting my ass kicked online in this game definitely reinforced that. But the game's deep multiplayer offerings, along with its season simulation, once again make it this year's winner.

Hated
Fritzy framerate: Certain shots during cutscenes, or certain gameplay sequences - especially going into heavy traffic with everyone breaking back to the rim - dropped the framerate quite noticeably on my 360 version. It may be, unfortunately, because of the superior character modeling combining with the crowd animations and background to overwhelm the console. 2K says it's working on a patch, but others have noted that even 2K9 still had its own framerate stutters in some of the same situations.

Information overload: The game triples the number of plays you can call this year, breaking them out by the five positions on the floor plus a menu for calling quick picks and isolations. Unfortunately, the menu deals in floor positions, not which player's number is being called. So if you're running automatic substitutions and don't know everyone on the floor by name and position, you might find yourself in the dark about who you're dialing up. It's petty to gripe about greater options, but it can feel like a big one when you're getting run out of the gym by a superior opponent and trying desperately to think of something that will work.

(No) thanks for the advice: I did not care for the Stephen A. Smith-esque cartoon figure who appears in your season sim and who pretends to be a mentor in My Player. No, his voice isn't as obnoxious as Screamin' A, HOWEVAH, I found him to be condescending to the point of discouragement in My Player, and I could have just taken the pointers in a bullet-point text box. For someone who's pretending to have a close relationship to your player, he needs to have a real face, or at least a more recognizable voice. I'd respect what this guy says a lot more if I knew who it's coming from, instead of someone who passes off another player's quotes as inspiration.

The little things that NBA 2K10 does right could fill a review twice as long as this, but of course they should get a nod here, for pushing the whole enterprise over the top and again delivering this year's NBA choice. Your crowd will chant MVP! when a star player on a hot streak comes to the line for his and-1 free throw. When this happens in the playoffs, it just feels right. The off-ball players' animations, usually where you see forced or sped-up repositioning when the AI has to move them, are very refined and build that overall sense that you're watching an NBA telecast. The players and the coaches' features are mesmerizingly accurate - I loved any cutscene with George Karl in it and could instantly pick out Stephen Curry - a straight-up rookie - from the standard camera angle.

NBA 2K10 represents the brand of choice among hardcore ballers and reputation counts for plenty in both real-world professional basketball and its virtual counterpart. Outside of My Player and the multiplayer modes, the game delivers more subtle changes than profound to your experience. When it's in control of a game, a winning team maintains that lead, and focuses on execution. That's NBA 2K10.

NBA 2K10 was developed by Visual Concepts published by 2K Sports for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Wii. Retails for $59.99 USD (PS3 and 360) and $49.99 (Wii and PC). A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all singleplayer game types and tested multiplayer quick play mode.)

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Many have complained of bad framerate issues that some say render the game almost unplayable, although I myself have not encountered it. That said, some of the problem may involve multiplayer games - which I and many others have found difficult if not impossible to connect to over the past two days. The problems seem mostly to involve the Xbox 360 version. (Clarification. They only involve the 360 version because I forgot the PS3 version is not out yet.)

"We're diligently working on a game update for NBA 2K10. Our primary focus is on addressing the framerate issues and online concerns that are being reported," says 2K Sports forum admin SimBaller. "In addition to this, we are planning to address a number of other issues that you have reported to us."

The patch 2K Sports plans to roll sounds like it will be available by the end of next week, as that's when SimBaller says he will "be publishing a full list of all the issues fixed in the patch. I'm confident you will be more than satisfied with the changes we are making to every aspect of the game."

Players have complained of black screens and freezes. Some complain of a framerate degradation that renders the game almost unplayable. Others say the it drops noticeably during cutscenes and spots in the game where a lot of players are clustered together.

I've been playing the game this week and find the framerate drops noticeably - but not to an unplayable degree - when I get into camera angles with a ton of people on the screen - crowd shots after timeouts, huge traffic jams in the lane, that sort of thing.

As far as multiplayer, that is its own set of problems. Pasta Padre's sports blog has mentioned troubles on the 2K server involving very problematic lag or the inability to connect to the 2K Sports server which some have experienced over the past two days, myself included.

If any of this concerns you, head on over and make yourself heard. But it's definitely not the kind of forum post 2K Sports would rather read in this games launch week.

NBA 2K10 Game Update - READ POST 1 and 2, REOPENING TOMORROW [2K Sports Forums]

We've gotten tips from a reader as well as Network 23, so far the only ones to post a picture of their delivery boy. All scenarios played out this way: Speedy Brothers showed up, asked the recipient to sign for a package, and then left behind a box wrapped in brown paper and string.

What was inside the box? A splicer mask.

The masks appear to vary. Reader Kevin L. received that one above. Network 23's (below) looks like a standard thuggish splicer mask.

The mask was accompanied by this letter:

Dear Friend:

Phil Isidore (of N.U.F.O.S.) has vouched that you are a trustworthy individual. Please - closely guard the contents of this package. I have sent it direct via courier out of concern that gov't personnel or unknown individuals may attempt to intercept it.

As you may know, I have been investigating anomalous phenomena related to the disappearence of my daughter. In the past, you've provided information that has helped my research. Now I need your input in a matter of utmost urgency.

I discovered the enclosed item in basement workshop owned by Orrin Oscar Lutwidge. I am desperately trying to uncover more regarding it's origin, manufacture, etc. Please examine it and let me know what you make of it.

Any information could help me find my daughter.

Thanks,

Mark Meltzer

I think this concludes 2K Games' masterfully executed roleplay marketing. I have no idea how many of these were delivered - for such personal service, it can't be that many, but who knows? I'd love to know if anyone puts these items up on eBay anytime soon. There's no way I'd part with one, were it mine.

Bioshock 2 Telegram: Part Two [Network 23]

That telegram above was sent to reader Andrew B., and also to three friends who comprise the Network 23 blog. If you can't read that, the text says:

ISIDORE VOUCHES THAT YOU ARE TRUSTWORTHY BE ON LOOK-OUT FOR A PACKAGE FURTHER EXPLANATION FORTHCOMING YOUR HELP URGENTLY NEEDED

=MARK G MELTZER=

Now, here's where the mystery begins. Why them, exactly? I spoke to Network 23's Colt Gauvreau, who said it may have something to do with the Rapture Record that all of them figured out how to order from the BioShock 2 hype site (and which Totilo received back in July.) Long story short, the Network 23 guys deduced that the site was strongly hinting that they should write to a P.O. Box - the same shown on this letter. That letter also wink-nudge asked people to submit pictures of the beach events. So it appears the records and/or the telegrams are premiums for accomplishing one, the other, or both.

A wife of one of Network 23's guys managed to snap a picture of the delivery boy:

After verifying the recipient's name and delivering the telegram, the messenger "jumped on his Pee Wee Herman-looking bike and rode away."

What does all this mean? What package may they expect to receive? Do we all get one if we hurriedly write a pretty-please to that P.O. Box?

Bioshock 2 Telegram [Network 23]

Because Gearbox are "optimizing the PC version", a process "which takes a few days longer than expected", the North American release of the PC version of the game will be out on October 26. For those outside North America, this means their version has dropped back to October 30.

Borderlands Gets Slightly Delayed [Borderlands]

Because rumour has it - and has had it for a while now - that Ken Levine and crew are working on a new X-Com game. Whether they are or not, nobody knows. But if they are, that game is a shooter, with job ads for the company revealing that 2K Boston's "next big project" is "an unannounced shooter".

Who would have thought that the company behind one of the best shooters of the current generation would be working on another shooter?!?

2K Boston's 'next big project' is a 'shooter' [GameSpot] [image: VG247]

From what we can tell (having only played a few rounds of the lite version), it's pretty much the same game as appeared on consoles last year, only with unexpectedly poor graphics.

The game is going for $5 or, if you're feeling cheap, the lite version - which includes three nations, allowing you to play until the modern era - is free.

Despite admitting his report is based on incomplete data, University of Michigan economics professor Dr. Jeffrey Mackie-Mason has told the the U.S. District Court in San Francisco that EA's domination of the NFL video games market has cost gamers between $701 million and $926 million since 2K's NFL2K series was blocked from competing with EA.

How? He argues that while the 2K games were around (which were much cheaper than Madden), EA (and retailers) were forced to lower the price for a copy of Madden in order to compete. Now that EA Sports have the market all to themselves, prices have gone back up, so Mackie-Mason did some rough mathematics based on sales and the subsequent price hike.

It's not science, granted, but it seems a fairly constructive way to point out just one of the reasons why EA's monopoly of the NFL market is bad news for gamers.

Economist: EA's Madden Monopoly Cost Gamers Up To $926 Million [GamePolitics]

Unlike the first lot, which showed the initial designs for the original Big Daddies, these show how 2K Marin - the developers working on the sequel - have gone about depicting the Little Sisters for the second game. And they look...well, pretty much identical. Which I guess was the point!

She doesn't look mean. She just looks like she needs a nap.