The Best of Big Download: May 11-17

With E3 now just two weeks away the rumors and the announcements will be coming in quickly. Big Download is on top of things on the PC gaming side and we will have extensive coverage of the show. But until then we will have some pre-E3 features alongside our regular news and feature coverage. Let's look at the past seven days on the site.
Exclusive features

• Countdown to E3 2009: We begin our series of pre-E3 features this week with an overall primer to the show and our wish list of first person shooter games we would like to see at E3.
• First anniversary contests: You still have time to win one of 10 $25 game codes from Nexon America in celebration of Big Download's first anniversary.
• Mac Monday: Our weekly Macintosh feature reviews the Popcap tower defense game Plants Vs Zombies.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature is about the Interplay 3D FPS Descent.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly game theme column looks at why non-gamers still see games as juvenile and even harmful
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly free game column takes a look at the free engineering-based game Infiniminer.

Downloads

• Need For Speed Undercover patch: You can now update EA's recent racing game which adds a new Challenge mode and 50 new events
• Dragon Age Origins Violence trailer: This new trailer for BioWare's upcoming fantasy RPG isn't for the kiddies.
• Modern Warfare 2 teaser trailer: It's just a few seconds of footage from Infinity Ward's upcoming FPS.
• City of Heroes: Going Rogue trailer: It's the first cinematic trailer for NCsoft's next commercial update to their super hero MMO game.
• Mass Effect 2 Prelude to E3 trailer: BioWare gives some hints at to what they will show at E3 from their sci-fi R{G sequel.

News

• Thief 4 officially announced
• Even more Duke Nukem Forever screenshots surface
• Atari pulls out of exhibiting at E3 2009
• New City of Heroes commercial expansion, Going Rogue, revealed
• Game rights to A Song of Fire and Ice novel series acquired by Cyanide
• Time of Shadows announced
• New game mode and three new maps in Team Fortress 2 Sniper update
• Croteam gives brief update on future projects including Serious Sam 3
• Telltale Games to reveal new title at E3
• Take-Two sues 3D Realms/Apogee over Duke Nukem Forever
• No new Games For Windows Live announcements at E3
• Team Fortress 2 Sniper update to include . . . a Spy update?
• Champions Online release pushed back to September 1
• First Earth No More screenshots revealed
• Quake Live to add new map every week for six weeks
• Alienware has E3 2009 announcement plans