Steam proprietor Valve Software has apologised after its cheat-detection software banned over twelve thousand innocent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players.

This weekend, Stardock's Impulse digital distribution service will be giving away free digital copies of the original Assassin's Creed with a purchase of Assassin's Creed II for $39.99.

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed

Additionally, Ubisoft is running its own sale on its official PC store, marking down titles from 20% to 67%. Stand-outs include both Assassin's Creed titles for $$30 ($10 less than Impulse) and a Splinter Cell: Conviction bundle including DLC bonuses for $49.99.

Over at Direct2Drive, gamers can snag Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 along with both DLC map packs and a free copy of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for $89.95.

Check your inboxes and Battle.net accounts, World of Warcraft players. The closed beta test for the next expansion to Blizzard's ultra-mega-super-popular MMORPG has begun with invites going out to "a wide range of players from around the world."

With the Medal of Honor multiplayer beta set to be opened to all pre-orderers on PC and PlayStation 3 today, the modern-day shooter revamp's 735MB PC beta client is available now for download from your friendly neighbourhood FileShack.

The beta packs two maps and has support for up to twenty-four players. Those who owned Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in addition to pre-ordering MoH were granted early beta access from Thursday as part of publisher EA's new 'Gun Club' loyalty sceheme. There's still no word on when the delayed Xbox 360 beta will begin, though community manager Matt Pruitt notes in a Battlefield Blog post that "We are still working feverishly to get the Xbox 360 beta released and will keep all of you up-to-date on that."

Medal of Honor is headed to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 release on October 12, with singleplayer by Medal of Honor Airborne developer EA Los Angeles built in Unreal Engine 3 and multiplayer by Bad Company 2 dev DICE in its own Frostbite engine.

Medal of Honor's multiplayer is on show in the modern-day shooter revamp's E3 2010 trailer, showing the two maps its multiplayer beta will offer when it begins this week.

Pre-ordering nets you access to the multiplayer beta on June 21, though you can play from this Thursday if you also own Bad Company 2. EA's new Gun Club loyalty program will also give BC2 owners early access to MoH's M24 sniper rifle in the full version.

With singleplayer by EA Los Angeles and multiplayer by Battlefield: Bad Company 2 dev DICE, Medal of Honor is due to hit PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 12.

In celebration of Steam opening pre-orders for Fallout: New Vegas PC and the assorted in-game bonuses thereof, the digital distribution outlet has kicked off its usual weekend promotional by marking down several other titles from publisher Bethesda.

The much-anticipated Left 4 Dead fan-made campaign I Hate Mountains has been released and is available over on FileShack.

Coming from folks behind Portal: Prelude, I Hate Mountains takes Francis and the gang deep into the wilderness in a full five maps. The survivors will venture through a branching forest, explore a spooky mansion, probe tunnels, venture into a lumberyard and visit a lake.

Thanks to Shacker ahem 'Godhatesfatpeople' for the tip-off.

The five additional multiplayer maps of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's "Resurgence Pack" downloadable content are now rolling out on Xbox 360, though you may not need to pony up the 1200 Microsoft Point / $15 asking price.

Once again, the weekend is upon us, meaning that, once again, various digital distribution outlets have discounted some downloadable PC and Mac games.

Following up on the snippets of footage glimpsed in the teaser trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops, publisher Activision has now released what it calls the "Reveal Trailer." Set during the Cold War, the latest Treyarch-developed entry in the popular shooting series is due out on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii come November 9, 2010.