Nielsen has issued some of the results of a study it conducted tracking the spending habits of those in the US..

Called the Nielsen 360° Gaming Report: United States Market, the study found that Americans spent 4.9 percent of their total entertainment allotment on gaming.

Polling some 3,000 consumers, the amount allocated went to new and used games, DLC, rentals and peripherals.

Videogame content had the sixth highest percentage, but was bested by activities that were lump categorized with: dining out, TV packages, hobbies, live events, movies at theaters and cell-phone related fun – which garnered 5.3 percent.

Videogame “specific” households were found to spend 9.3 percent monthly on gaming, with those listed in this category spent less on books, magazines, and newspapers (3.4 percent to 4.2 percent of the full group).

However, they were also most likely to buy or rent movies, purchase music and participate in sports activities of the non-gaming related kind. Like, ones that involve sweating, running,  jumping, etc. You can see the full chart through the Nielson blog. Nielson’s full report is to be released in March.

Thanks, GamePolitics.

2K’s announced BioShock 2’s first batch of DLC, due for release next month. The first pack is a multiplayer-led bundle known as the “Sinclair Solutions Test Pack”, which will be 400 MS points on Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live, and £3.19 on PSN.

The pack includes:

• Level cap increased in multiplayer to Level 50 with rank rewards
• New playable characters: Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks

No exact date was given for the content. 2K also said today that single-player DLC is on the way that will bring in “more narrative, new tools and new challenges that extend the lore and fiction of the failed Utopia under the sea.”

“Downloadable content is a key part of our efforts to continue to entice the fans that have made 2K a household name,” said 2K president Christoph Hartmann. “We intend to deliver single and multiplayer content that respects and expands upon one of the greatest fictional worlds ever created.”

Some screens of the Sinclair Solutions pack were also released. Get them below, along with the PR.

2K Games Announces Extensive Downloadable Content for BioShock® 2

New Single Player And Multiplayer Additions Enrich The Rapture Experience By Adding A Wealth Of New Content And Features

Monday 22nd February/…2K Games announced today an aggressive post-launch downloadable content plan for BioShock®2 that extends and enhances the single and multiplayer experiences by adding more glimpses into the award-winning world of Rapture. Downloadable content will be made available soon, beginning with the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, available this March from the Xbox® LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows–LIVE for 400 Microsoft Points and from the PlayStation®Network for £3.19. Future expansions into the world of BioShock 2 are slated to arrive over the coming months and will continue to expand on the stories of the denizens of Rapture.

“The fans who waited in the snow, rain and cold for the midnight launch of BioShock 2 have spoken and their message is that Rapture still has many fascinating stories to tell,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Downloadable content is a key part of our efforts to continue to entice the fans that have made 2K a household name – we intend to deliver single and multiplayer content that respects and expands upon one of the greatest fictional worlds ever created.”

Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, the first of several planned downloadable packages, contains a number of customization features that will allow players to further their character’s development in BioShock 2’s multiplayer modes and provide a deeper multiplayer experience. The pack includes:

• Rank Increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials*
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks*
*Some items are only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher.

In the coming months, 2K Games will also be publishing downloadable extensions of the single player experience that provide new insight into the world of Rapture. These packages will include more narrative, new tools and new challenges that extend the lore and fiction of the failed Utopia under the sea.

EA has once again challenged Activision’s Infinity Ward and Treyarch to a FPS fight to the death by claiming Battlefield: Bad Company 2 developer DICE is tops when it comes to online multiplayer. Okay, maybe not a fight to the death, but that would sure draw a crowd into a coliseum.

According to EA product manager Will Graham, there isn’t a developer out there now that can compete with DICE.

“DICE is at the forefront of defining the multiplayer and online vehicle warfare space and has substantial pedigree in this area following many years of success,” Graham told MCV. “We genuinely believe there isn’t a developer out there that competes with DICE in this space, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is going cement that.

“The use of vehicles in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sets it apart from the competition and no one else in the industry does this better.

“This is also something the core are very excited about: DICE’s history of delivering a multiplayer experience utilizing vehicles is something that sets it apart from anything else in the market. It’s also an element that fits with the increasing emphasis on multiplayer for gamers in general.”

This isn’t the first time EA has laid down the gauntlet.

Back in January, the game’s producer, Karl-Magnus Troedsson, said that the franchise “has always been deeper” than its rivals.

In another instance, EA’s European boss, Jens-Uwe Intat, stated that the company wanted its crown back after being usurped as the number one shooter franchise, and the release of the game will be the first blow to the competition.

That’s not the end of it either. DICE’s Patrick Bach admitted back in late January that EA exes see topping Modern Warfare “as a goal” for BFBC2 to achieve.

Guess we’ll find out once the game is released on March 2 and March 5 in the US and UK, respectively.

So far, it has proven to be quite popular – the demo for it was downloaded over 2 million times on PSN and XBL as of last week.

Microsoft’s formally announced Windows 7 for mobile at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The good bit? The OS’s latest iteration will incorporate Xbox Live.

Windows Mobile’s newest version will see games for the service, leaderboards and friendss Avatars, as well as Achievements and Gamer Profiles.

Live’s road to mobile has been a long one. After a formal reveal at E3 2006, news on Live Anywhere went quiet until last month, when a job listing said Microsoft was again looking to implement the service into Windows Mobile.

A Microsoft brochure then re-confirmed it would be coming to the OS. The first phones to use Windows Mobile will hit stores from Christmas.

There’s a video of the OS being demoed, with a brief showing of Live, over at the BBC. The full press release from MWC is below.

*Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series*

/New Phones Designed for Life in Motion to Debut in Christmas 2010/

*LONDON – 15 February 2010 **-* Today at Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the next generation of Windows Phones, Windows Phone 7 Series. With this new platform, Microsoft offers a fresh approach to phone software, distinguished by smart design and truly integrated experiences that bring to the surface the content people care about from the web and applications. For the first time ever, Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone, exclusively on 7 Series phones. Partners have already started building 7 Series phones; customers will be able to purchase the first phones in stores by Christmas 2010.

“Today with great pride I introduce the next generation of Windows Phones to the world, Windows Phone 7 Series,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “In a market crowded with phones that look and behave the same way, I challenged the team to push the edge of the envelope and deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series is the turning point, where phones finally move with people at the speed and fluency of their lives.”

*/Designed for life in motion/*

With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft takes a fundamentally different approach to phone software. Smart design begins with a new, holistic design system that informs every aspect of the phone, from its visually appealing layout and motion, to its function and hardware integration. On the Start screen, dynamically-updated “tiles” show users real-time content directly, breaking the mould of static icons that serve as an intermediate step on the way to an application. Create a tile of a friend, and the user gains a readable, up-to-date view of a friend’s latest pictures and posts, just by glancing at Start.

Every 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to Search from anywhere on the phone while a special implementation of Bing Search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant web or local results, depending on the type of query.

Windows Phone 7 Series creates an unrivalled set of integrated experiences on a phone through Windows Phone Hubs. Hubs bring together related content from the web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks. Windows Phone 7 Series phones include six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people:

· *People: *delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including their live feeds from social networks, and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.

· *Pictures: *makes it easy to share pictures and video it to social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection.

· *Games*: delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, friend’s leader boards, and the ability to see a gamer’s Avatar, Achievements and Gamer Profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360 and Windows PC, now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.

· *Music + Video:* creates an incredible media experience where we bring the best of Zune, content from your PC, online music services, and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place all about music and video. Turn your media experience into a social one with Zune Social and share your media recommendations with like minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich, easy to navigate, and immerses you in the content.

· *Marketplace: *allows the user to easily discover and load up the phone with certified applications and games. **

· *Office: *provides instant access to Office Mobile, SharePoint, and OneNote on the same phone that has your Outlook email.

*/ /*

*/Availability /*

Partners from around the globe have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series phones in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC, HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Incorporated. The first Windows Phone 7 Series phones will be available by Christmas 2010. Customers who would like to receive additional information about Window Phone 7 Series and be notified when it’s available can register at: www.windowsphone7series.com

To watch the full replay of Steve Ballmer’s press conference at Mobile World Congress, and to experience Windows Phone 7 Series through an online product demo please visit: www.microsoft.com/news/windowsphone