The PC version of the Medal of Honor beta will only run from Oct. 4th to the 7th so downloading it early will give you more time to play the beta.  The beta will offer a taste of gameplay with 2 maps and 2 modes Sector Control on Kunar Base and Combat Mission on Shahikot Mountains. Check out more info over at medalofhonor.com/pcopenbeta I have the recommended requirements listed below.

Recommended System Requirements

Operating System: Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7. Processor: QuadCore 2.0Ghz. Memory: 2GB RAM+. Video Card: A video card with 512MB of VRAM and one of the following chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260; ATI Raedeon 4870. HDD Space: 2GB. Soundcard: Soundcard with DirectX 10 compatibility. DirectX: DirectX 10. Disc Drive: 16X CD/DVD Drive.

On Monday, PC players looking to get a taste of Medal of Honor‘s multiplayer component can participate in an open multiplayer beta. Anxious would-be soldiers can download the client in advance over at Big Download. Preparation is, like, the first thing they teach you in the military, folks.

The beta includes Sector Control on Kunar Base and Combat Mission on Shahikot Mountains — both of which we recently sampled at an EA event. The beta concludes on October 7. (via Joystiq)

Features are as follows in-depth career mode which is what the past EA titles lacked in, next full 43 car fields for lots of racing action. New damage models extensive car set-ups plus tire wear and brake wear will add a level of realism past NASCAR games have not had.  These are rumors as no “official” announcement has been made yet (expecting that in a couple of days) the game is rumored for a release date 2 weeks before the 2011 Daytona 500.

About a month ago, I published a first story about a new NASCAR title from Eutechnyx to be released for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

And while official info on the upcoming title is still next to non-existent, first logo art and a feature list have surfaced.

Features:
- In-depth career mode
- 43 car grid
- Revolutionary damage model
- Roll overs and blow overs
- Extensive car set-up options
- Pit-stops
- Full motion captured pit crew and driver
- Tire wear
- Tire pressure/temperature which affects performance
- Tire blow outs
- Brake wear
- Multiple car manufacturers
- Doug Rice and Mark Garrow doing commentary/post race analysis

Even though such feature announcements should always be taken with a grain of salt, it sounds like a proper stock car racing title is coming up here. NASCAR – The Game 2011 will be out in February 2011, no in-game previews of any kind are available yet. (via VirtualR)

So expect within the coming months for more and more movies to be popping up under the instant watch section coming to a PC, console or TV near you.

LOS ANGELES – Netflix Inc. has reached a five-year deal worth nearly $1 billion to stream movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM online starting Sept. 1 — a major move that boosts its “Watch Instantly” offerings and makes the studios’ joint pay TV venture Epix immediately profitable.

The agreement marks a further push by Netflix to stream movies to homes directly via personal computers, game consoles, Blu-ray players and TVs, and away from its rent-by-mail method. Netflix is trying to get its customers to view movies online so it can save on postage costs. Its shares jumped more than 6 percent.

The deal vastly increases the amount Netflix spends on streaming movies annually. It spent $117 million in the first six months this year on streaming, up from $31 million a year ago. The new deal adds roughly $200 million a year to that tab.

Epix, the pay TV channel launched last October by Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Lions GateEntertainment Corp., will make the movies, including new releases, available to Netflix 90 days after they premiere on premium pay TV and subscription on-demand. Epix holds subscription pay TV rights to new releases and movies from its partners’ libraries. (via Yahoo News)

All 49 achievements with details are as follows.

1. Completed the Campaign on Normal difficulty.
2. Completed the Campaign on Heroic difficulty.
3. Completed the Campaign on Legendary difficulty.
4. Completed every mission in Halo: Reach alone, on Legendary.
5. Completed the 2nd mission on Normal or harder.
6. Completed the 3rd mission on Normal or harder.
7. Completed the 4th mission on Normal or harder.
8. Completed the 5th mission on Normal or harder.
9. Completed the 6th mission on Normal or harder.
10. Completed the 7th mission on Normal or harder.
11. Completed the 8th mission on Normal or harder.
12. Completed the 9th mission on Normal or harder.
13. Completed the 10th mission on Normal or harder.
14. Cleared the 2nd mission without setting foot in a drivable vehicle.
15. Killed 2 vehicles at once with the Target Locator in the 3rd mission.
16. Hijacked a Banshee during the Reach Campaign.
17. Killed the Elite Zealot before he escaped during the 5th mission.
18. Performed an Assassination against an Elite to survive a fall that would’ve been fatal.
19. Destroyed the Corvette’s engines & escort in under 3 minutes in the 6th mission on Heroic or harder.
20. Finished the 9th mission on Legendary with the Scorpion intact.
21. Earned a Triple Kill while Jetpacking in Campaign, Firefight or Matchmaking.
22. Killed 7 Moa during the 2nd mission of the Campaign.
23. Killed 3 of the anti-aircraft batteries during the 8th mission.
24. Used a Health Pack to replenish life after taking body damage.
25. Performed an Assassination on an enemy.
26. Killed 10 enemies in a Firefight or Campaign session with the M6G pistol.
27. Killed 10 enemies in a Firefight or Campaign session with the DMR.
28. Traded weapons with an AI ally in Campaign.
29. Killed 10 enemies in Firefight or Campaign with a supercombine explosion.
30. Let a teammate spawn on you 5 times in an Invasion Matchmaking game.
31. Earned a First Strike Medal in a Matchmaking game.
32. Won a game of Invasion in the 1st phase.
33. Earned a Killing Spree in multiplayer Matchmaking.
34. Earned a Killionaire medal in Firefight.
35. As an Elite, killed 5 Spartan players in Matchmaking.
36. Scored 15,000 points in Score Attack Firefight Matchmaking.
37. Scored 50,000 points in a Firefight game.
38. Scored 200,000 points in a Firefight game.
39. Scored 1,000,000 points in a Firefight game.
40. Completed a Firefight set on Legendary without dying.
41. Purchased an item from the Armory that required the rank of Lt. Colonel.
42. Reached the rank of Corporal in the UNSC.
43. Reached the rank of Captain in the UNSC.
44. Used the File Browser to upload a file to your File Share.
45. Completed all of the Daily Challenges in a given day.
46. Purchased an item from the Armory.
47. Recommended a file to someone.
48. Advanced a Commendation to a Silver state.
49. Completed a Weekly Challenge.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ‘ VIP Map Pack 5 has dropped on Xbox 360 and PS3 today. The pack offers White Pass in Rush mode, and on Nelson Bay in Conquest.

The VIP map packs are free for those who bought the game new, for those who bought the game used you will sadly need to buy a a VIP pass on the Xbox Marketplace for 1200 Points ($15).

So if your craving a little bit of something new to BFBC2 download the VIP Map Pack 5 today.

In the Xbox Live arcade section coming in 1st is RISK:Factions with Puzzle Quest 2 in 2nd and rounding out the top 3 is The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom at 3rd, you can view the rest of the Top 20s below.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles (based on UU’s)

1    Modern Warfare 2
2    Halo 3
3    Red Dead Redemption

4    Call of Duty: WaW
5    FIFA 10
6    Call of Duty 4 (Purchase the full game for direct download)
7    Gears of War 2
8    Battlefield Bad Co. 2
9    GTA IV (Purchase the full game for direct download)
10    Crackdown 2 Demo
11    Left 4 Dead 2

12    Forza Motorsport 3 (Download the demo)
13    Halo 3: ODST
14    2010 FIFA World Cup
15    NBA 2K10
16    Borderlands
17    Fallout 3
18    Madden NFL 10 (Download the demo)
19    Transformers : War for Cybertron Multiplayer Demo
20    Assassin’s Creed II

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1    RISK: FACTIONS
2    Puzzle Quest 2
3    The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
4    Defense Grid: The Awakening
5    Castle Crashers
6    Toy Soldiers
7    Trials HD
8    Chime
9    Game Room **
10    Hasbro Family Game Night **
11    Snoopy Flying Ace
12    UNO
13    Earthworm Jim HD
14    PAC-MAN
15    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
16    Magic: The Gathering
17    Poker Smash
18    SONIC & KNUCKLES
19    Duke Nukem Manhattan Project
20    Battlefield 1943
The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.
**Combined sales of all Game Room titles

(Via MN.com)

Finally, some news on the MMO offshoot of Runic Games’ exceptional (and popular) dungeon-crawler,Torchlight. Speaking with PC Gamer UK for its upcoming cover story on the game, Runic boss Travis Baldree confirmed that this free-to-play, massively-multiplayer apple won’t fall far from its single-player tree.

Saying that the game’s creators are out to make “an MMO that plays as close to single player as we can get it,” Baldree expounded by adding, “It will have the same focus on relatively fast action: carving your way through hordes of monsters with a large number of hugely devastating skills.” Skills that “make [players] useful in a party and make them work together” when not going it solo (Via Joystiq)

As part of his introductory post on the official Battlefield blog, the franchise’s new community manager, “Bazajaytee,” announced that the delayed Onslaught mode DLC for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will arrive in the Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow, June 24, for 800 Microsoft points ($10). (via Joystiq)

For more info check out www.tnt-racers.com.

dtp entertainment and keen games today announced the upcoming release of the high octane party racing game TNT Racers. The game will be online in August 2010 on the Xbox LIVE®online entertainment network, and will appear on PlayStation®Network for PlayStation®3 and PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable), and on Nintendo Wii™.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!

18 action-packed courses, up to 4 simultaneous players (online or offline), and winning requires much more than just being the best driver. The decisive factor is being the best racer – you must collect the pickups and cleverly use the powerful weapons to catapult your opponents off the track!
If a racer gets thrown off the track, they come back as a Shadow Racer. This unique feature ensures that all players can continuously participate in the race. A Shadow Racer can take revenge on the remaining racers and throw them from the race as well.

The game offers three different single player modes: 45 Challenges in three different speed classes; time trials; and customizable races (where the player can decide the victory requirements, and place the pickups on the track).
The key feature of TNT Racers is the multiplayer mode, players can compete with friends both online and offline, or do battle against the rest of the world in online mode. In multiplayer mode the player can select from the same options that are available in the single player game, whether in single races or tournaments, in free games or ranked matches.

Valve has announced that Portal 2 has been delayed until 2011. The sequel to 2007′s innovative (and tardy) first-person disorientation dissertation was originally scheduled to arrive on Xbox 360 and PC this holiday — and we all believed it. Still, there are worse fates to befall the industry, as Aperture Laboratories correctly notes that “all life on earth won’t instantaneously stop as every molecule in your body explodes at the speed of light, which is what would happen should a rip ever appear in the fabric of Valve Time.” (via joystiq)

Valve has announced that Portal 2 will be delayed until 2011.  That also means no E3 Portal 2 press conference as that has also been canceled and replaced with a “surprise”.

Portal 2 was believed to be coming out this holiday, but looks like that is not going to happen and we will all have to wait till sometime presumably the first half of next year. Till then if you haven’t played Portal 1 by now check it out and for the rest of us that want a new portal game we wait.