Brace yourselves, because big changes are coming to the PC version of Modern Warfare 2. Infinity Ward is planning to release a new matchmaking service called IWNet, which will give the developer "a lot more control and structure" over the PC version, with a side effect being the end of dedicated servers."This is the first time we've ever done something like this, obviously," Bowling said on the BashandSlash podcast."And I know the team has huge plans for what IWNet develops into, and this is just the beginning. It's hard for me to speak personally toward IWNet, because that is a code heavy project."

  Off the bat, let me admit to not having very much in the way of Resident Evil knowledge; I'm not a hardcore fan of the series. But while I enjoyed my recent hands-on time with two levels of Capcom's second on-rails lightgun shooter, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, which takes you through re-imagined levels from Code Veronica and RE2 along with some original stages, I'm a bit surprised by the game's overall lack of suspense. Theoretically, it's creepy to walk around darkened hallways of abandoned buildings, but the effect is pretty much ruined when you're not on the edge of your seat waiting for the next zombie that may or may not jump out at you around the next corner. In the two levels I played, my character walked extremely slowly. On occasion, they'd sprint forward of their own accord -- hence, being on-rails -- but other times, they would just move forward at an excruciatingly slow pace. It's not that I don't have patience; it's just a bit jarring to walk so deliberately when the characters are speaking so animatedly and the background music sounds like a spirited JRPG fight theme. Not that that's a bad thing -- it's just incongruous. It doesn't do the suspenseful tone any favors either.

  Everything in Las Vegas is fake. The Sin City skyline includes faux replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building, the casinos are packed with fiftysomething cougars injected with Botox and silicone, and the city streets are filled with Elvis impersonators whose sole talent seems to consist of curling their lips and grunting "Uh-HUH!" at passers-by.But, really, a picture's worth a thousand words, so here's a photo that sums up Vegas in a nutshell:

  The PlayStation 3's domination of console sales this month surprised absolutely no one -- not even Microsoft -- but its success shouldn't be overlooked simply because it was expected. The latest NPD figures mark a big victory for Sony in the hardware arena, even managing to beat out the dominant Wii by about 30,000 units. While Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg correctly noted that consoles typically see a "short term bump" after a price cut, the Xbox 360 was priced down for September as well, and didn't see the same dramatic jump that the PS3 did. Possible reasons could include its sleeker look and strong fall line-up, along with the PS3 price cut being more dramatic. Of course, the Wii's price cut didn't go into effect until the end of September, so for next month's numbers we're likely to see the Nintendo console pulling ahead again. For September, the increased sales for almost all systems boosted the hardware sales to an 87% increase over August.September 2009 Hardware SalesNintendo DS -- 524,200PlayStation 3 -- 491,800Wii -- 462,800Xbox 360 -- 352,600PlayStation Portable -- 190,400PlayStation 2 -- 146,000August 2009 Hardware SalesNintendo DS -- 552,900Wii -- 227,400Xbox 360 -- 215,400PlayStation 3 -- 210,000PlayStation Portable -- 140,300PlayStation 2 -- 105,900For software, the top story of the month has to be Halo 3: ODST which, thanks to a generous ad campaign and the Halo name, managed to more than triple any other software sales for the month. Those numbers are certainly impressive for a game that started as an expansion. The predictions that called for the PS3 to come out on top also claimed its software sales wouldn't be as optimistic, and that idea was spot-on as well. The PlayStation 3 only had two showings in the top ten software sales. Perhaps more disappointingly, the PS3 version of The Beatles Rock Band is the only one that didn't chart. On the bright side, one game that did make the cut was Batman: Arkham Asylum, which seems to show that exclusive content can help overcome a lower install base. September 2009 Software SalesHalo 3: ODST (360) -- 1,520,000Wii Sports Resort (Wii) -- 442,900Madden NFL 10 (360) -- 289,600Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS) -- 258,100The Beatles: Rock Band (360) -- 254,000Madden NFL 10 (PS3) -- 246,500Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360) -- 236,000Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3) -- 212,500Guitar Hero 5 (360) -- 210,800The Beatles Rock Band (Wii) -- 208,600August 2009 Software SalesMadden NFL 10 (360) -- 928,000Wii Sports Resort (Wii) -- 754,000Madden NFL 10 (PS3) -- 665,000Batman: Arkham Asylum (360) -- 303,000Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3) -- 290,000Madden NFL 10 (PS2) -- 160,000Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP) -- 130,000Wii Fit (Wii) -- 128,000Mario Kart Wii (Wii) -- 120,000Fossil Fighters (DS) -- 92,000

  Top 5 Video Game SmokersNever gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down.By Scott SharkeySomehow or other I ended up as the last smoker at 1UP. Killing myself was easier back when I had company, and I think I might finally drop the habit. Which is probably going to be hard, given how many of my favorite heroes are given to lighting up. Here are the five guys who aren't doing me any favors.5. CidCid was far and away my favorite guy in FFVII, if only because he was supposed to be kind of a jerk. As opposed to the accidental jerkdom of the rest of the supposedly sympathetic cast. Sure, he abused the hell out of his live-in roommate and ran like he was trying to control a case of the squirts, but he had a kind of casual elderly badassery about him. Apparently he gave up the coffin nails at some point before joining the kid friendly cast of Kingdom Hearts, replacing them with a piece of hay. Good luck looking rad lighting a stick of dynamite with that. 4. Duke NukemActually, Duke is such an outrageous prick that, if anything, he might make this whole endeavor easier. But then, he does have a certain kind of pinhead style, cribbed entirely from other characters. In fact, I think I might have finally solved the mystery of Duke Nukem Forever. They used up all the action movie one liners of the 80s and 90s, and figured that they could wait ten years for a new generation of cigar chomping action film badasses to yank from. Which kind of failed to happen. Oh well. 3. BillThere's nothing quite so stupid as surviving Vietnam and a zombie outbreak only to be taken out by throat cancer, but Bill doesn't care. The apparent leader of the game's survivors, Bill is a pretty charismatic guy for a cranky old drifter. It seems that, in the absence of an angsty teenage boy with perfect hair, the gruff, smoking old guy is always left in charge. Still, I don't think he's all that bright. I half wish there were a small but non-zero chance of Bill exploding whenever carrying a gas can.2.SnakeSnake probably wins the prize for best in-game use for a pack of smokes. Not only does he light one up whenever he needs to spot invisible laser beams, but they seem to restore his health at the end of each section of the game. Which is odd, given that they harm him the rest of the time. And it's hard not to admire his dedication to the habit. Some people may walk a mile for a Camel, but snake will walk that mile with the pack concealed somewhere inside his own body.1. SpyA true gentleman, the spy loves sharp suits, sharper knives, and dispatching his enemies through exposure to second hand smoke. The usual technique for detecting a spy involves setting him ablaze, but in some alternate universe where people play games in Smell-O-Vision, he can easily be discovered by the telltale odor of stale smoke. He tops the list just on account of the fact that yanking out a cigarette case in first person every time I want to change disguises is going to make me absolutely nuts. Has anyone made a mod that replaces the animation with a pack of gum or something? I can't be the only one.

  Guitar Hero has thus far managed to be successful in large part because of its appeal to both dedicated gamers and the more casual set, with the result being the sales juggernaut that we know today. But somewhere out there is market research that apparently shows that more Taylor Swift means more fans, and so now we have Band Hero, the spinoff that embraces pop over the core game's metal and classic rock.Vicarious Visions stopped by our office to demonstrate the versions of the game designed for the Nintendo platforms, both of which put the same emphasis on connectivity that Guitar Hero 5 did. The Roadie Battles, which teams a guitarist with a roadie who must sabotage the other team via various DS minigames, will be returning along with the expanded version of World Tour's Mii Freestyle Mode. New to this version is DS Party Play, which allows spectators to set up new songs with an empty DS while everyone else is playing.Calling it "playlist mana," Bala said, "We're basically putting the game's entire library on the Nintendo DS."

  I'm tempted to say, on the basis of Spore Hero Arena, that some ideas are just too big for a handheld. But I don't quite believe it -- there must be a good way to make a Nintendo DS game that, at least in its own ways, captures all the fundamental qualities of Will Wright's original vision for Spore. But this... this is not it.Spore Hero Arena ditches all of the PC game's original simulation aspects, but this also isn't a close handheld version of Spore Hero for the Wii, which already reduced Spore to a generic and flawed third-person platformer. The process of reduction goes even further here, where we're left with a game made of only two elements: battling creatures, and walking around boring environments looking for creatures to battle.

  Back when Space Invaders just turned 30, Taito created Space Invaders Extreme, a surprisingly refreshing and enjoyable new take on the storied franchise for handheld systems (and later Xbox 360). Now, after a couple of years, Space Invaders Extreme 2 comes to DS -- and only DS; apparently the version that sold best got the sequel. But in the long run, it won't matter too much: Extreme 2 hews a little too close to the original, and while it's still an enjoyable arcade shooter, most who saw SIE as a novelty won't miss much if they pass it up this time.The presentation is the same: a single-screen shooter just like the '70s classic, but with a heightened emphasis on colors, beat-heavy music, and other near-psychedelic imagery. It's modern while remaining old, doing well in bringing an archaic gameplay style a little closer to the tastes of today's gamers. For those who own a PSP and feel slighted by Extreme 2's DS exclusivity, well, there is a practical reason behind it: better use of both screens. Most of the time, the upper screen hosts a "Bingo" panel, a somewhat confusing system of colored panels lit by shooting groups of like-colored invaders that's ultimately meant to trigger "Super Fever" time, where you can earn more valuable point-boosting medals than usual. More welcome is the improvement of Rounds, the short interstitials where you can earn bonus points. Now, Rounds activate and run in tandem with the regular stage on the top screen, and you simply shoot down the enemies from below to clear the Round and earn the bonus points. This is, believe it or not, the best part of Extreme 2, since the game keeps moving along, keeping stages from going as long as they used to.

  Looks like 3D Dot Game Heroes isn't content with simply tipping its cap to the Legend of Zelda. As one Japanese blog has discovered (via GameSetWatch), the loading screens invoke the boxart from more than a dozen classic games.Maxell011 has taken the time to catalog each of the loading screens and their corresponding games, which include everything from Chrono Trigger to Mega Man 2. The screen you see above, of course, features Street Fighter II in glorious voxel form.You can find the complete catalog on the blog, which includes both the well-known and the obscure (watch out for the NSFW images in the sidebar). If you're familiar with Bokosuka Wars, you win a prize.

  Unlike several other games we could mention, Need for Speed: Nitro is definitely not getting delayed into 2010. In fact, it's actually jumping ahead a couple weeks, with the release date set for early November.Developed for the Wii and the Nintendo DS, Electronic Arts is taking aiming at casual gamers for this one. The racing is meant to be extremely forgiving, and it features an art style that plays to the Wii's strengths. Electronic Arts has also released the complete soundtrack for the game, saying that it exemplifies the game's "intensity, attitude and adrenaline."