Machine guns, jeeps, and rock 'n' roll...what more do you want? This month, the Battlefield Report helps you keep your sanity when explosions and in-game soundtracks pound your head.

Not too long ago, we brought word that Hans Zimmer is scoring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. While that's pretty awesome for fans of cinematic soundtracks, here's some more interesting news:

Tyler Bates, whose previous credits include Dawn of the Dead, The Day the Earth Stood Still, 300, and Watchmen, will be providing the music for Army of Two: The 40th Day.

Things like this make me excited for the future of games. I used to hoard soundtrack CDs from my favorite movies. I have a collection of music by Joel McNeely, John Williams, Michael Kamen, Danny Elfman, John Powell, Hans Zimmer, Jerry Goldsmith...the list goes on. Seeing video game soundtracks on the shelf is going to be a real treat.

Question for the readers: who would you like to see score a video game soundtrack? (Myself, I'd like to see Trevor Rabin compose for a game.)

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Are you not entertained?!!

The Call of Duty series has done nothing but build steam since the original title, and now Infinity Ward is pulling out all the stops with Modern Warfare 2; this latest rumor is one that should please fans of cinema.

Straight from the website of talent agency Gorfaine/Schwartz and via Kotaku comes the unofficial report that legendary Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer is providing the score for Modern Warfare 2. This follows official news of rapper 50 Cent and actors Keith David and Barry Pepper doing voice work in the game.

Hans Zimmer is my wife's all-time favorite composer; ever since I've known her, the Gladiator soundtrack has always been her most cherished album. This whole two-player couch co-op thing may work out yet...

UPDATE: Gorfaine/Schwartz has confirmed the report, as linked by Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling.

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Microsoft has just announced the ZuneHD.  The long rumored device became official today via a Press Release.  But what does it have to do with co-op gaming?  Perhaps more than you expect.

One of the core concepts of Zune has always been around the social aspects, the original was the first player that let you share songs wirelessly with other Zune users.  The ZuneHD looks to take this a step further by integrating with the Xbox and a brand new Zune Marketplace on Xbox Live.  Could this mean integrated friends lists on our portable media player?  Could we be receiving Xbox Live messages from friends asking them to journey with them in the world of Sacred 2?  We can only hope.

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Remember Trine?  That gorgeous looking three player co-op puzzle platformer?  How could you forget.  Especially when we posted that totally bodacious video.  The music from that video?  Well now we have it available to listen and download in MP3 format.

 I must say it's a really beautiful piece of music by Ari Pulkkinen.  The official Trine website has posted an interview with him regarding the musical compositions of Trine.  According to Ari, Trine will contain 19 original tracks written, composed, and performed by him.  All of the tunes will be available to purchase directly from his website once the game launches.  

For now, enjoy a taste of the music - hopefully the other 18 tracks are as good as this!

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I'm going to try to make it through this news item without calling any Activision CEO's Satan.  This will be difficult for me, as it appears that the milking of the Guitar Hero franchise will be strong as ever in 2009.

During today's Activision Blizzard conference call, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith boasted of a "robust lineup" of three new Guitar Hero titles dropping before the midpoint of the year: Guitar Hero: Metallica in Q1 as well as "a new Guitar Hero game for the Nintendo DS" and "a separate greatest hits compilation Guitar Hero game" in calendar Q2, (through June). In case that's not clear, the Guitar Hero Greatest Hits pack (or GH² as we're likely to think of it) will include "full-band versions of some of the most popular songs from previous Guitar Hero games and will be made available for the 360, PS3 and Wii."

Remember how you could import all your Rock Band 1 songs into Rock Band 2 for a few bucks?  That was really cool.  But hey, why not give folks the oppurtunity to spend some more dough on songs they already bought once before?  I know, I know: the drums and singing weren't in the previous games, but still... this reeks of an easy cash grab.  Mike Griffith, your new middle name is Voldemort.  (Told ya I wouldn't call him Satan!)

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Last week during the Video Games Live concert in Seattle Washington, the orchestra performed for the first time ever the theme from Halo 3: ODST.  The Halo franchise has always been about atmosphere and mood, and Marty O'Donnel's music plays a huge role in that.

Super secret shaky cam ninjas were on hand to capture the music on video.  Music on video?  Yes.  Music on video.  Anyway - the theme only runs about a minute long but it sounds pretty familiar to the Halo universe.   ODST will feature a full four player co-op campaign, during which, I'm sure you'll hear this pop up.

Wanna give it a listen?  It's embedded right below.

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You might have noticed something a bit unusual about the songs recently released for Lips, the Xbox 360's answer to the Singstar series.  It appears that some songs are just a bit more expensive than others.  Here's an example:

“When I Grow Up” by The Pussycat Dolls (160 MP)
“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by The Righteous Brothers (180 MP)
“Erase/Rewind” by The Cardigans (160 MP)

I'm reminded of that old Sesame Street skit: "one of these things is not like the other, one of these thing is not the same..."  It looks like a blatant money grab for the more popular song, doesn't it?  The MTV Multiplayer Blog asked Microsoft about it, and here is the cryptic and rather unsatisfying reply.

“While we aren’t able to comment on the details of pricing decision,” said a Microsoft representative over e-mail this afternoon, “Microsoft is committed to providing a great value with Lips DLC by offering fun and popular songs and music videos that extend the ‘Lips’ party experience.”

Personally, I'd say the Righteous Brothers are worth a quarter more than the Pussycat Dolls, but that's just my opinion.  Let's hope other music games don't follow suit, or we might be laying out the big bucks for Rick Astley's greatest hits.  (You know you want it.)

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