Sony Online Entertainment’s online virtual world, Free Worlds, had made its way to the PlayStation Network, and you can all play it for FREE. It’s the first casual, free-to-play MMO ever to be offered on the PlayStation Network. Players can become ninjas, warriors, or wizards, while participating in a variety of activities such as adventuring for treasure, playing a soccer game, decorating their player house, or even entering a demolition derby. You can also participate in mini-games and quests that include constructing a maze or exploring the terrain on the back of a cool T-Rex Ride. The PS3 version adopts the console’s interactive capabilities that enable voice chat to communicate with your friends and the abilities to earn Trophies in combat instances or for completing collections.

Crate Entertainment, the indie team responsible for Titan’s Quest, has released a new clip and a first look at their next project: Grim Dawn. Titan’s Quest was well received as a Diablo-style RPG, so Grim Dawn will probably be worth a peek when it gets released. There isn’t a lot of detail about the game available at this time, Crate issued a statement that the game is set in a thematically-dark, fictional world loosely based on the Victorian era. Crate also revealed that they intend to provide new gameplay content for Grim Dawn in the form of expansions every six to ten months.

After much leakage, BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 DLC has finally been released! In Mass Effect: Arrival, Commander Shepard travels to the far flung edges of the galaxy to rescue an undercover agent who may hold evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion. Is the new DLC setting up the plot for Mass Effect 3, which may see the action headed for Earth? This final ME2 mission is available for download for the Xbox 360 for 560 MS Points, PSN ($6.99) and PC for 560 BioWare Points (via BioWare’s Social Network site).

Blockees is a new iOS puzzler that includes 75 puzzles, a puzzle editor, a puzzle pack generator, and incorporates a puzzle sharing center. To play, move all the Blockees at once by swiping and try to unite those of the same color. When Blockees of the same color meet up they disappear, and when all have been matched up you win. In addition to the three friendly colored Blockees (red, yellow, and blue), some miserable Grey Blockees, who don’t like anyone (not even each other), will try to get in your way. And be careful of the bombs, these suckers stun the Blockees and keep them from moving when you need them to.

Blockees comes in iPhone and iPad flavors, requires iOS 2.0 or later to play, and is available for $0.99.

It’s the week of many guests! For Episode #19 of The PlayBunker Podcast, Ricardo and his team invited in a couple of folks to discuss their thoughts on Crysis 2. There’s also a SOCOM veteran on the show, who shares his experiences with the SOCOM 4 Beta, and reveal if it appears to be a true SOCOM title. In other news, Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica are coming soon to PSN and Xbox Live and there’s a review of the Tomb Raider Trilogy on deck.

This podcast is recorded in Puerto Rico and broadcast in Spanish.

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Street Fighter is now available in full 3D, supporting global Wi-Fi multiplayer matches in Super Street Fighter IV 3D for the Nintendo 3DS. Punches and kicks can now fly off the screen without glasses.

Super Street Fighter IV 3D utilizes the features of the Nintendo 3DS while bringing the console experience to a portable system. The well-known fighting style and gameplay mechanics are back, with added features for both the hardcore and new player alike. Included are a dynamic over-the-shoulder cinematic camera and fully customizable accessible control schemes that help break down the walls of entry. Players can also choose from 35 playable characters including classic warriors like Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li, as well as newcomers like Juri and Hakan, to battle friends across the world courtesy of the title’s online multiplayer features.

Valve, in partnership with Aperture Laboratories, has released a new installment in its “investment opportunity” video series. Called Bot Trust, it is the second of four videos leading up the April 19 release of Portal 2. Future videos will be posted at one week videos until release day.

InXile Entertainment announced today that the classic, 1980s Choplifter franchise will be making its 21st century debut this fall. Currently in development for both the PlayStation Network and PC, Choplifter HD aims to redefine the helicopter rescue mission for the modern era.

In Choplifter HD, players assume the role of an up and coming rescue pilot asked to join the elite, international rescue team, C.H.O.P.R. (Coordinated Helicopter Operations, Preservation and Rescue). Pilots will be trained to command a variety of helicopters deployed on more than 20 different missions ranging from captured military prisoner extraction to saving survivors of viral outbreaks.

From now through Friday, April 1, you’ll be able to grab and play the free Darkspore beta via Steam. And for those that have friends, there’s also a pre-order offer: get a four-pack of the game for the price of three. So grab some friends and check out the upcoming online Action-RPG in which you battle across alien worlds with your customized squads of heroes.

Darkspore officially releases next month.

CCP’s global CEO, Hilmar Petursson, used the CCP Presents session of the company’s Fanfest convention in Reykjavik, Iceland, to showcase the developer’s vision for the future of EVE Online. In terms of the gaming community, these proposed developments could be exciting. CCP is developing Dust 514 an MMOFPS which is directly linked to EVE. Their idea is to connect the MMO title on PC to the online console FPS in more than just name. Players from the EVE side of things will be able to hire console players to capture specific areas therefore gaining them in-game credits. I think games have been crying out for this link for quite some time, and such a development could spawn interesting developments in other game combinations. Care to suggest any that might benefit from this treatment?

Capcom has officially announced Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game is scheduled for release next winter, and returns players to September 1998 during the original T-virus outbreak. The notorious Umbrella organization orders an elite team into Raccoon City to destroy all evidence of the outbreak and eliminate any survivors. Hearing of this plan, the US Government dispatches its own special forces to uncover evidence about the origin of the infection. This sets up the new installment as a three way battle arena. Fans can expect the return of original Resident Evil enemies, such iconic landmarks as the Raccoon City Police Department, and fan favorite characters like rookie officer, Leon S. Kennedy. A number of competitive online multiplayer modes are also planned.

iAdventureGame just released West Wing Escape for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The game takes place through two floors of the actual West Wing layout. The player starts out in the Oval Office, and from there they must somehow escape while avoiding the evil guards and solving the challenges ahead of them. The adventure app also implements a graphic novel/comic book presentation style.

West Wing Escape requires iOS 3.2 or later to play, and is available for $1.99.

Turks, Micieli and Watts suit up for Crysis 2 this week on Episode #125.5 of AP.5! Your mission? Eradicate the aliens from New York, and look great while doing it. Graphically amazing, of course, it’s not just the pretty, but the physics behind the look that make it the treat that it is. You don’t need to play the original to enjoy what the team agrees is the “best first person shooter of the year!” Does anyone really understand where they went with the story? Could it possibly be better than Halo? For the answers to these and all your Crysis 2 questions, listen now!

The MASSIVE Mass Luminosity Giveaway is still accepting entries, so enter now for a shot at winning a system that can actually RUN Crysis 2.

( listen now… )

There’s a new video on the streets for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. This one highlights three ways to attack the same level, and strives to illustrate how varied a player’s options are for approaching gameplay situations. Human Revolution arrives August 23.

Elements of War, a real-time strategy title where players’ armies use both conventional and climate-control weapons to devastate the enemy, has gone gold and will be released on April 12. In it, players will take charge of a variety of military units, from modern helicopters and battle tanks, to such futuristic weaponry as powered exoskeletons, EMP generating vehicles and lightning-throwing planes, as they battle across a decimated near-future United States. As gamers fight their way across the landscape, they will unlock next-generation weather-controlling weaponry that allows them to unleash tornadoes and earthquakes on their enemies.

Elements of War focuses on the struggle for humanity’s survival that ensues after a secret military weather control experiment sets in motion a near-complete global climate collapse. Three factions battle on American soil for control of these weather-based weapons, granting them the power to use tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, torrential rains and other forces of nature as weapons of war.