No news post today as we gear up for an upcoming feature. The feature will be big and awesome, so check back on Friday when things get rolling!

If you need something to tide you over, go get The Maw‘s downloadable level on XBLA. Seriously. It’s $1.25. They could repackage an old level for that price and it’d still be worth it.

My Tribe is a simulation of group survival and growth as desert island castaways. The casual-friendly gameplay encourages intermittent 5-10 minute play sessions that should fit into just about anyone’s play schedule while still providing a handful of active tasks that you can stretch into a lazy afternoon.

It’s not often that a news update sounds more like it came from a cell phone than from Valve, but a considerable amount of news has emerged regarding the upcoming Left 4 Dead downloadable content. The content was originally billed as expanding the competitive multiplayer options to all four movies available in core game (up from the two movies available in the retail game) and adding campaign development tools and a new gameplay mode called survival.

Since the original announcement, however, Valve has revealed exactly what survival mode will include. The mode will apparently deliver a straightforward action scenario where players will be attacked by endless waves of zombies with the goal of lasting as long as possible. More interestingly, however, the developer announced that all this content will be free.

After the gamer backlash to Twisted Pixel’s announcement that it would be selling bonus levels for The Maw, it seems like Valve made the correct PR choice to make the content free. This is especially true in light of the fact that addition of versus gameplay to two existing movies feels more like filling in missing content, regardless of the logistical realities of producing that content.

That said, if Valve were to add another movie as downloadable content, we’d be happy to pay (let’s see…$60 divided by four movies…) $15 for it.

…Please?

Gears of War is 7 hours of capable FPS wrapped in a 10 hour package. When it sticks to its guns, it does well, with a clever cover system and a friendly ally resurrection mechanic that doesn’t really diffuse the game’s challenge. Unfortunately, the game runs into trouble trying to mix things up.

It turns out that it’s cheaper to develop games for hardware that’s little more than two Gamecubes taped together (does anyone even remember that slur for the Wii any more?). Seriously though, according to gamesindustry.biz, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata recently said in a conference call that Nintendo is being courted by third parties as they try to develop affordable games in tough economic times. Said Iwata, “Some are reportedly saying that they bet on the wrong horse or that they need to change course.” Nintendo has always been the primary supporter of its own hardware, especially during the N64 and Gamecube generations when third parties flocked en masse to Sony’s consoles.

Although the console has been criticized for a glut of poor-quality bargain bin games, Iwata was optimistic about future support, saying, “Overall, we recognise that our relationships with the software manufacturers are shaping up better than before. So, in the mid-term, we believe that more attractive titles will be launched by them for our platforms.”

A rising tide may lift all boats, but a falling tide won’t sink Nintendo.

Vendor ultra-giant Amazon.com yesterday entered world of digitally distributed gaming. The new Amazon Store solely features casual games, all of which are being initially offered for $10.

Although Amazon will be leaving thorny issues like DRM to the publishers selling games through the new service, every game will be distributed through a proprietary Amazon downloader. Of course, people are loath to install new software just to buy from Amazon, so the vendor will be sweetening the deal with three free downloads: Jewel Quest, The Scruffs, and Build-a-Lot. These titles are available alongside the remaining 597 casual games in their library.

When Gamasutra asked why the vendor was focusing exclusively on casual games, it was revealed that Amazon plans to use the service to pilot their gaming digital distribution program. If it sees success, we may expect the selection of available games to suit a broader gaming palette.

The latest in a long stream of Symphony of the Night clones, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia transplants the core gameplay tenets of that venerable PS1 game without rocking the boat too hard. Unfortunately, the sense of place that used to reward exploration gameplay has been replaced with a more homogeneous world, so there isn’t as much to see, even if there is plenty to do.