The long-awaited networking patch for the Xbox 360 went live this morning. When you start the game up, you will be prompted to download the patch, assuming you are connected to the internet.

This update gives the hosts of matches the option to select one of 3 connection types: Default, Pattern A, and Pattern B.

More information about the update available here.

—Brian

A while back I gave a sneak peak of some upcoming DX10 enhancements for LP PC. Now I’m back to announce that these updates will be available on August 16 for you Vista users.

I also have some more new LP PC updates to share, screenshots to show, and Xbox 360 version announcements, after the jump.

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The 20th is here. Which means that the update for the PC version of Lost Planet, which I first talked about on Monday, is now live.

The update includes 4 new multiplayer maps, new character model skins, and a host of other great new stuff. See my original post for more details.

And because the 4 maps are now available for free to PC users, Xbox 360 map packs 1 and 2, featuring the maps Trial Point, Hive Complex, Radar Field and Island 902, are now available for free on Xbox Live Marketplace. If you haven’t picked them up, now’s your chance to check out these awesome maps.

—Brian

On Friday, July 20th, owners of the PC version of Lost Planet will receive a host of fun new upgrades, including new playable character skins, to enhance their experience, as well as 4 multiplayer maps. Xbox 360 owners have had access to these 4 maps for a while now, and as the maps will be available for free to PC users on the 20th, they will simultaneously be made free for Xbox 360 users as well.

Click through to read about the new content and see brand-new screenshots.

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So, the new maps are out today!!! What do you think of them? I donwloaded them late last night, but haven’t played them yet. I neglected to bring my system into work today, but the usual suspects here in the office have been playing on and off all afternoon (in semi-private matches with some of our favorite LP buddies from the forums).

I can’t wait to hop on tonight and check out the new maps for myself.

-Brian

Next Thursday, June 21, Lost Planet will see a brand new map pack update, with 3 new maps in Map Pack #3. Map Pack #1 gave us Radar Field and Island 902, while Map Pack #2 gave us Trial Point and Hive Complex. Well, now you’ll have 3 more amazing maps to play around in. Even if I didn’t work for Capcom, I’d still think that the multiplayer map designs are some of the absolute coolest I’ve seen on any console game. And with Map Pack #3, it gets even better.

Click through to see screenshots and videos of the three new maps.

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Last week I mentioned that the Battleground map, which originally was only available to people who bought the Collector’s Edition of Lost Planet, would be out today.

Well, I just confirmed, and the map is up and available to anyone who doesn’t have it yet. So if you’re playing LP online, be sure to tell everyone you meet in matches to go download it. The map really is awesome, but I know sometimes it was hard to get full games going on it. That should hopefully be no problem now. Woo-hoo!!

If you don’t know what it looks like yet, check this out.

—Brian

Those of you who forked over the extra $10 to get the extra swank Collector’s Edition of Lost Planet back in January have already seen how cool the Battleground multiplayer map is. But since that map was exclusive to Collector’s Edition owners, it probably hasn’t seen as much love as the original maps that shipped with the game. Well, that’s about to change. Because on June 7 Battleground will become a free download for everyone. Don’t forget, there are already 2 map packs out, 2 maps each, 400 MS points each.

Click to see more images of Battleground.

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Last week I brought to you the first clan report from community member chaser74. For his second clan report, chaser talks with Distrustful HBI about his HeadBusters Inc. clan.

Click through to read.

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As of about 15 minutes ago, our Data Post section of our LP Community website received a major upgrade.

Now, you can see the top 25 medal earners in each game type, leaderboards for country, weekly and monthly stats, a scrolling weekly point leader ranking, and you can even enter your own gamertag and get up-to-the-minute stats like medals earned, overall, monthly and weekly point totals, and your overall, monthly and weekly ranking.

So check it out and let me know what you think!

—Brian