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The above image may be more than a hairy chest, bicep and clenched fist. If you look closely, you should be able to discern a rough representation of a lamda and the number 3. Now this may very well be a simple coincidence in the new Team Fortress 2 blog post, but given the intense viral marketing from Valve throughout the lifespan of Team Fortress 2, and the recent craziness concerning Portal 2, I would't put anything past Valve. What do you think?

When it was first announced that a sequel was going to be made for the Bad Company series, I immediately thought of all the talent at Dice that I felt was wasted. The fact that they had taken a previously PC dominated franchise and turned it into the consolified, toned down game that appealed to the lowest common denominator that Bad Company was, I had lost any hope that I would relive the appeal from Battlefield 2. When I had seen what Bad Company 2 looked like, and heard the explanation of what multiplayer would be like, I was intrigued. When I got to actually play the multiplayer and experience Rush mode for the first time, I was impressed. Upon finally touching the finished product, playing hours and hours of multiplayer and sitting down and playing the single-player, I realized that Dice had become a developer that wants to try new things, and to take those new things and build on them. While some have said Battlefield is always more of the same, I can't help but agree in that you can never have too much Battlefield.

So far in the Invisible Pigeon-holing Council, we’ve considered genres from the very general MMO to the totally niche Bullet Hell as well as addressing one of the oldest genres in video games, the Beat ‘Em Up. This week, we take a turn from the classics and consider a genre so new it has only seen commercial releases in the last year. Well-known among gamers yet rarely recognized as its own genre, today we reflect on the breakthrough genre known as the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena.

Tired of seeing flat surfaces on objects that are supposed to be round in your games?  A new graphics technology seeks to smooth round edges without the need for super powerful computers.  That screenshot above could be rendered in real time on a phone without a hiccup.  How is this possible and why isn't it everywhere?  Hit the jump to find out. There's also a video.

Most human beings have thought about killing someone. The rest are liars. However not everyone has thought about killing someone in a creative and gruesome way. If you happen to be one of the rare few who have, you have a chance to have your kill featured in the upcoming Dead Space 2 game. 

But wait! There's more! Along with your Necromorph killing skills, your own likeness will also be featured in the highly anticipated sequel. Hit the jump to find out how to enter.

This took me a few minutes to understand.  Available now on Steam is the four pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.  Now, the four pack is usually reserved for games where you want to play with 3 friends, so you guys all want to go in on the game and save a little cash.  Borderlands, 4 player co-op.  Left4Dead1/2, 4 player co-op.  Battlefield: Bad Company 2, 1 player single-player, 32-man multi-player, huh?  Oh right, four person squads!  Hit the jump to find out more on this awesome deal.

Amazon.com is having a deal today on Mass Effect 2 for both PC and Xbox 360.  So in case you were waiting for the game to go down in price or you rented it and want more after your rent was up, here's your chance to snag this amazing game.

Welcome to "Worth It - Games Worth Playing this Week," a new weekly column you'll find here every Monday. In Worth It, I'll sift through the games being released this week to let you know what you can look forward to and, sometimes, what is just too bad to ignore.

This week, obsessive fans of all sorts rejoice, from the increasingly rare tabletop strategy gamer to the Sephiroth fanboy. Hit the jump to find out more.

If you've been playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 non stop like the majority of Couch Athletics, there's no doubt you've run into several issues trying to log in, stay connected, and generally play the game online.  Most developers keep a tight lip as to what the cause is on their end but Dice played a different card by giving fans a rare look into what's going on and what they are doing about it via a post on their blog.  More detail after the break.

The second in a series of decent deals coming from Games for Windows Live brings Street Fighter 4 to us with a 50% price cut. Although not as tantalizing as last weeks deal, shaving three quarters off the price of Batman: Arkham Asylum, it's not bad either. 

The deal started yesterday and runs until 5:00pm PST, Monday March 8th.