Tripwire has released an update for the cooperative survival horror title Killing Floor. The game should update automatically when you start Steam eradicating bugs and nerfing some exploits. Players will also get a few perk tweaks to balance out those exploit fixes. You’ll find a full list of fixes and tweaks after the jump.

One more thing. There’s still time to get in on the “Killing Floor Grindhouse” custom map making competition. However you’d better get a move on. If you want to score that $10,000 cash prize you have less than a month to get your entry together for Wave 1. The full contest rules are available at the official “Killing Floor Grindhouse” map contest site.

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MapleStory is wooing main stream American youth with videos to air on television networks and as previews for the latest Harry Potter movie this summer. This brings MapleStory into the American public eye, the realm only pierced by  Halo 3 and World of Warcraft so far. The 2D side-scrolling MMORPG is already pretty popular enjoying a 6 million strong player base in North America alone. It’s aimed at kids 10 and up, but has a very wide age range of players, most of whom seem to take their cute super-deformed characters pretty seriously.

MapleStory is a free to play MMO with a cash shop that allows players to purchase Nexon Cash to trade for premium items. MapleStory Nexon Cash cards have been available at local retailers like Target, CVS and Best Buy for a few years. The MMO has also spawned the MapleStory card game and videogames for the Wii and DS. Still MapleStory seems to be simmering just below the surface of casual gaming culture. Perhaps these new videos can tip MapleStory into the mainstream spotlight. Look for the video shorts to start appearing on tv and in theaters later this month. Until then, you can check it out for yourself at http://maplestory.nexon.net.

Good Old Games is setting pinball lovers up for an exciting weekend. All classic pinball titles are on sale for 20% off until July 6th 11:59 pm EST. That means you can grab Pro Pinball Big Race USA, Pro Pinball Fantastic Journey, Pro Pinball Timeshock and Pure Pinball 2 Redux for $4.79 each. As always, all of GOG.com games are guaranteed Windows XP and Vista compatible and DRM free.

You’ll also find deals on the Ishar series and the Pandora Directive. GOG.com is proud to announce the oldest new addition to its classic catalog, Personal Nightmare. Get the details on these great titles after the break.
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Battlefield 1943 is coming exclusively in digital format to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace July 8th and the PlayStation Network July 9th. PC gamers will just have to wait until September to get in on the action.

Battlefield 1943 features Frostbite’s next generation destruction technology which packs full Vehicle Warfare FPS multiplayer for up to 24 people into a 560MB download. I can never argue with getting more for less. Read more about the Frostbite engine and the worldwide community challenge to unlock the Coral Sea map after the break.

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It’s a holiday weekend, and normally that means more time for gaming. So, what are you going to play? If you’re not sure, or you’re looking for something new, Stardock has a sale going on right now that is definitely worth a look.

If you’re not familiar with Stardock’s digital distribution platform, Impulse, this would be a good time to give it a look. After all, they’re offering some great deals, like Call of Duty 4 for just $34.99 and Sins of a Solar Empire with its expansion for just $29.99.

The sale also includes titles like the complete Unreal series, Prototype, Red Faction Guerilla, and more. You can get your copy of Impulse and check out all the deals at ImpulseDriven.com

You can also see the full list of games on sale, along with their prices, after the break.

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Tuesday July 7th, Guybrush Threepwood is back with the first episode of the new Tales of Monkey Island series, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. Telltale has released a video, screenshots and concept art for the first Monkey Island adventure in a decade. The gameplay footage gives you the look and feel of the new episodes and should assure you that the Guybrush Threepwood we all know and love, or at least tolerate, is indeed back.

Check out more graphic goodness from Telltale or soon you’ll be wearing my sword like a shish kebab!

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Word from the Battlefront is the British have been spotted in new screenshots for Combat Mission Shock Force: British Forces. According to reconnaissance, the British Armed Forces bring new animations including wall jumping into play. The troops are armed with new weapons, including dismountable heavy weapons, and vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Enhanced.

CMSF: British Forces also brings IBCT (Infantry Brigade Combat Team) for the TO&E of the US Army to the field. Get more detailed intel on CMSF: British Forces on Battlefront.com. You can view the screenshot gallery from the  British Forces beta after the break thanks to work of Neil Clark and George McEwan.

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Having run completely dry of any other Zero Punctuation material, Yahtzee has turned in desperation to the bottom of the bin and set his sites on The Sims 3. If you’ve watched Zero Punctuation, you know not to expect the glowing recommendation he gave inFAMOUS. However this could be the funniest, most painfully accurate review ever from a certain point of view.

The Sims is a highly controversial, emotionally charged subject in the Sines household. The kids and I really enjoy it while Shawn… he just realized he’s been channeling Yahtzee all this time.

Zero Punctuation is regular weekly feature on The Escapist.

I’m a fan of machinima productions, from the high quality like Red vs. Blue and the “Still Seeing Breen” music video to the Neverending Nights series, its amazing what a few creative gamers and cinematographers can come up with using video games as their tools. Well stumbling around the net I found an interesting article at LowPings.net featuring a number of interesting Half-Life 2 machinima that I’d previously not seen before that feel more like professional cinema productions than fan films.

The post includes some roughs and I found Combine Nation, which is like Combine Cops, and Ignis Solus which is like an existential art piece with flamethrowers. We keep having this debate as games not being or creating art.. but these cinema pieces definitely show that while you may debate the merits of games themselves, as tools of creation they can be something quite a bit more.

The post also links to some interesting series like Maintenance Man, Freeman’s Mind and Escape from City 17, a live action production I mentioned a few months back.

Here’s a quick reminder of how awesome video editing can make HL2 a tool for movie creation:

Any way you cut it the convergence of games and cinema is here.. lucky us, we just get to sit back and enjoy the results. I’m always on the look out for new series or shorts, feel free to share your favorites in the discussion boards in this post and maybe we’ll highlight them in a future article.

Yesterday the internet was filled with the news China had banned gold farming. Just in case you live under a rock and don’t know what gold farming is, it’s the gathering of virtual currency in a game (usually an MMO), which is them sold to other players in exchange for real currency.

According to an article at InformationWeek, “the Chinese government has declared that virtual currency cannot be traded for real goods or services.”

Obviously, this was enormous news. Since it’s been estimated that 80-85% of the world’s gold farmers are located in China, this would have likely meant a huge drop in the amount of available virtual currency.

Unfortunately, there’s news today that the law being referenced actually does not reference gold farmers at all.

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