For those of you who actually pay for Xbox Live got access to the Left 4 Dead 2 demo earlier this month but Silver members were left in the dark. Luckily, the demo has been unlocked today for Silver members and is available for download at your leisure.

Of course, if you just want the real game you’ll have to wait until November 17th, wait, that’s tomorrow, did you get your pre-order in?

Those of you with an Xbox Live Gold membership can now log on and download the NCAA Basketball 10 demo as it was just released today. Alternatively those of you who have a Silver membership will be able to get it on November 12th while PS3 owners will be able to get it on November 19th.

And for those of you who just want the retail game well, that will be out on November 18th.

Well zombie slaying fans, the demo for Valve’s highly anticipated Left 4 Dead 2 has finally made its way onto Xbox Live and is available for all to download.

Don’t think you’ll be able to hop on and play instantly as the demo weighs in at a hefty 1.69GB. Then again, you can start the demo and pop in Dawn of the Dead to get you in the mood until its done, right?

Left 4 Dead 2 will be out on November 19th for the Xbox 360 and PC.

Microsoft has announced today that they are setting their sights on Xbox Live members with a modded Xbox 360. And by setting their sights on, I mean they are issuing a massive banning.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the following to IGN:

“We have taken action against a small percentage of consoles that have been modified to play pirated game discs. In line with our commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox LIVE community, we are suspending these modded consoles from Xbox LIVE.”

So, any of you readers with a modded Xbox 360 notice that you can’t log onto Xbox Live anymore?

If you’ve signed into Xbox Live today you may have noticed that a mandatory system update has been pushed out. But don’t get too excited, this is not the update thatincludes Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm. That update will hit next month.

Instead, the update adds WPA2 for the 360’s Wireless Network Adapter.

Exciting? Nope. Necessary? You betcha.

via majornelson

Rumors began circulating yesterday that Microsoft was preparing to test an Xbox Live rewards program and today emails have been sent out confirming that fact.

Below a Microsoft spokesperson comments on the program:

“We are always exploring ways to provide the most value for our members and are currently testing a pilot rewards program with a select base of our Xbox LIVE community in the US. We have no further details to share at this time.”

Yup, same deal, they let us know what they are doing but refuse to give us any details on the matter. Kotaku says there will be a sign-up period to test the program out that ends on October 21st.

As always, we’ll keep you posted.

A few months ago the Versus Mode DLC pack was released for Resident Evil 5 which added nothing more than new multiplayer game modes which had players pitting themselves against zombies and eachother. After said DLC was released gamers everywhere whined about how Capcom was charging for a feature that “should have” been included in the original game.

Lucky for them, Xbox Live is cutting the price of the pack to 240 Microsoft Points from 400 Micrsoft Points as their latest Deal of the Week.

Still don’t want to pay for new game modes? Well, that’s up to you.

via majornelson

The Beatles: Rock Band hit store shelves on September 9th, 2009 to the delight of Beatles fans everywhere. Well, it seems that those of you looking to snag everything The Beatles have one more thing to look forward to: ‘Abbey Road’ DLC.

This DLC pack will be made available tomorrow for the Xbox 360 and Wii but won’t make its way to the PS3 until Thursday.

Below is the DLC pack detailed courtesy of Joystiq:

Xbox 360 / Wii / PS3
Available: October 20 / October 22 (PS3)

• “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (160 Microsoft Points / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)
• “Oh! Darling” (160 Microsoft Points / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)
• “Because” (160 Microsoft Points / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)

• “You Never Give Me Your Money”
• “Sun King”
• “Mean Mr. Mustard”
• “Polythene Pam”
• “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window”
• “Golden Slumbers”
• “Carry That Weight” and “The End”
• “Her Majesty”

Additionally, you can purchase the entire pack for 1360 Microsoft Points or $17.

Pachter made the comment while noting that Microsoft has given up on the PC platform and wants everyone to play on the Xbox 360 — because that’s where the money is.

Thanks to Major Nelson we now know that the Band Hero demo has officially made its way onto Xbox Live. For how much you ask? Nothing, it’s a demo, duh.

But anyways, you’ll be able to play both the Party Play mode and Sing-Along mode with 3 different tracks to play along with:

• Taylor Swift – Picture to Burn
• Katrina & The Waves – Walking on Sunshine
• Finger Eleven – Paralyzer

The full, retail version of Band Hero will hit store shelves on November 3rd for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS.

If you’re an FPS fan then you are definitely anxiously awaiting the release of Modern Warfare 2 and would love to show your support for the game by dressing up your Avatar in some MW2 gear.

Today Robert Bowling has let us know via Twitter that there are in fact Xbox 360 Avatar items in the works:

“Not sure we’ll be doing any Avatar rewards, but we are making avatar items. With some free ones hopefully.”

So, expect to see Modern Warfare 2 Avatar items hit Xbox Live some time before the game’s November 10th release date.

Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm were announced to be coming to the Xbox 360 some time ago and yet the features have yet to go live. Today, it was made known that that both features will officially go live on November 17th.

News come to us from the UK Xbox website that clearly states “Service launches 17th November 2009″. So, for you Twitter addicts out here, you now have another option to update the world on your every move.

via joystiq

Majesco Entertainment has today released the above trailer showcasing Serious Sam HD. Fans of the series will definitely appreciate this trailer as it shows off the beautiful visuals of Serious Sam HD while still staying true to the game play everyone has come to know and love.

Serious Sam HD will hit Xbox Live and the Playstation Network sometime this month for 1200 Microsoft Points and $15 respectively.

Instead, Halo Waypoint is a service to be offered over Xbox Live to will include everything to do with the Halo universe; think podcasts, trailers, interviews and more. Additionally, Halo Waypoint will serve as the mode of delivery for the Halo Legends anime mini series that we heard about back in June.

Excited? No? Me neither.

EA Sports

European gamers, on the other hand, will be getting the demo on September 10th, one week prior to us Americans.

If, however, you don’t want to get your hands on the game before you physically get your hands on the game, you’re going to have to wait until it hits store shelves for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on October 20th.

If you already have Gears of War 2 (like you should), be sure to check out our Dark Corners DLC review.

Ashes Cricket 2009 is set to come out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PC systems in the United Kingdom and North America on August 7th, and a bit later on August 13th for Australia.

You can download the PC demo over at FileFront.