Cheap? Poor? Just didn’t feel like spending $10 on three maps?

Bungie has an answer. The Heroic Map Pack is officially a free download. The maps included the Foundry, and open level which let creative people show off their skills in the Forge. It’s also a decent team doubles/slayer map as well. The others are rarely seen outside of Big Team Battles, including the vehicle loaded Rats Nest included. These are not required downloads, but at some point (like with Halo 2), they will be needed to play certain game types. Might as well get it out of the way now.

Now, to further pull money from people, the Legendary map pack is due soon in April, bringing three more maps for the same price. Likewise, these will also become free down the road.

Xbox 360 owners will be enjoying a new $10 map pack for the superb Call of Duty 4 on April 3rd. PlayStation 3 owners? Not so much.

The four new maps won’t be available until the end of the month on April 24th. Nothing specific was mentioned as a reason for this delay on Fourzerotwo’s blog, a community manager for Infinity Ward. If you think that’s bad, just imagine being a PC user waiting for the maps. They’re getting them, well, no seems to know. They’re working out the “logistics” of that download.

Seriously, it’s PC content. It doesn’t need certification from another company. Shouldn’t that be the easiest of the three to get out into the public?

Those of us (okay, all of us) frothing at the mouth to see the classic Super Street Fighter II remade in HD will get their wish sooner than expected… partially.

When Commando 3 launches on the Live Arcade later this year, you can buy your way into a beta. Ken and Ryu will be the only selectable characters, and the full beta will last eight weeks. Oh, and PS3 owners lose out. This is a 360 exclusive. New screen shots for SSFII HD have surfaced on Kotaku as well.

If you have no idea what Commando 3 is, here’s a history lesson. No relation to the Ah-nold movie of the same name, Commando started life as a vertical scrolling shooter in 1985, distributed by Data East. It launched countless knock-offs like Ikari Warriors. The NES port came a year later.

The sequel is known as Mercs. It’s early ’90s awesomeness made for great arcade gaming before landing on the Genesis is a solid port. Mercs still holds up to this day as one of the better Rambo/one man army action titles.

Even after Microsoft confirmed that the financial side of things didn’t pan out, the updated Goldeneye for the Live Arcade won’t leave gamers alone. The N64 classic remains one of the most beloved first-person shooters of all time (even though it barely holds up today), and the remixed graphics and online multi-player had many players frothing at the mouth.

Adding fuel to the rumors is the UK magazine Xbox World who claims to have the exclusive story about the game and its release date. However, Microsoft stands firm that they never contacted (or were contacted) by the magazine about the story, and repeat their initial stance on the issue that it’s not happening.

Undoubtedly, the game would be a huge seller, so either Microsoft or Nintendo needs to budge on this one and get a release. A ton of work has apparently been done, as the screen shots and video show nicely rendered graphics that represent a huge leap over the N64 original. With dual analog controls, it could even be brought up to today’s standards.

Formerly called Quake Zero, the freebie version of id’s Quake announced some time ago has more details. The entire game, which is set to be played completely in-browser, will be sponsored by IGA Worldwide. They’re specialists in getting advertisements into games, and if they have the ability to make a game free, more power to them.

Quake Live will be surprisingly robust, with friends lists and matchmaking features. A Live Arcade edition of Quake Arena is also in the works, though that has no release date yet either since its announcement back in August of ‘07. Keep watching www.quakelive.com for the eventual release, or sign up for the beta which is currently the only thing on the site.

FileFront has the very first user-created mod for the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 available for download. Don’t go getting too excited, though; a total conversion this is not. Actually, it’s just a single map called “DM-Shrine,” created by Thomas Browett, a 23-year-old graphic designer from Nottingham, England, and suitable for 2-6 players. FileFront also has detailed instructions on how to download the mod and get your PS3 copy of the game to recognize its existence, which unfortunately isn’t quite as simple as just using the browser to download the file to your console’s hard drive.

The much-hyped mod support for the PS3 version of the game came under fire after Ars Technica revealed that the feature wouldn’t be ready for launch, and once implemented, mods would need to be designed specifically for the PS3 version of the game. To make matters worse, you need to download a mod to your PC hard drive first before transferring it to your PS3 via memory stick.

Technical issues aside, here’s hoping this is the first of many user-created mods to hit the PS3. If there’s one thing we like, it’s seeing gamers going the extra mile to extend the lifespan of their favorite games. Any bets on how many servers will have DM-Shrine in their map rotation by the end of the week?

Thanks to Kotaku for first bringing this story to our attention.

Halo 3 fans can land themselves three additional maps in early December for $10. The Heroic Map Pack (as opposed to the “evil bastard” map pack apparently) will feature Standoff, Rat’s Nest, and Foundry. The latter is supposed to be a Forge fanatics dream, so if you’re not likely to edit maps and customize stuff, this is only a two map release.

Last year, Epic launched four maps for Gears of War for the same price. Fans were angry. If the announcement post by Major Nelson is any indication, Bungie followers are not exactly thrilled either. In unedited form, here’s a wonderful comment from an obviously irritated user:

nice…a 60$ becomes 70$ and a 120 game Just became 130$….FU M$ quit FUBARing the player base

Word. Nice use of random capitals, and check out the form on the dollar signs. Brilliant!

It’s important to note that the the announcement also makes note these maps will be free in the spring. Is there any reason to complain then?

These games are certainly not new and do not come close to the awesome graphics power found in Call of Duty 4 or the new Half-Life chronicles, but they are still awesome. We are always linking to games that have recently come out, require some serious hardware, or are simply too expensive. I thought it was time to throw together a nice list of games you can play online for free, download for free, or register to get. ALL AT NO COST.

First up is the always awesome lineup from CNET including 10 titles you can download absolutely free! They include:
Abuse
Americas Army: Special Forces
Command and Conquer (yes the first one)
F.E.A.R. (multiplayer goodness!)
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
..and more!

Here is another set of games you can download all for free from DOSGamesArchive.com
This list includes:
Prince of Persia (4D)
Mario
Aladdin
DOOM
SimCity 2000
Duke Nukem 3D
&
Scorched Earth
+many more!

Looking for the real oldies?

Then checkout OldGames.NU which has every old system on the planet ready to play. I am talking about games on the Amiga system, GameGear, NEO Geo, and the list goes on.

This list should keep you busy for awhile, but if you know of a great list that I missed please let me know. Sometimes with all the new games that are out there is it nice to see where it all started. After all, these game developers are standing on the shoulders of giants. Like the makers of Balloon Fight for Ninendo