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Ten-hut, soldiers! HQ has just sent word that some new gear will be shipping to the front lines of MAG next week, free of charge: the Trooper Gear Pack. In this parcel, we'll finally get access to the Flashbang grenade -- which should help us confuse and outwit the enemy. But, that's not all: our supplier, Zipper Interactive, also reports it's bundled in some new LMGs (Raven's APEX 100SE, S.V.E.R.'s RTK-74 Vla, and Valor's Mk 46 Mod 1) and uniforms.

The full rundown is available via Zipper's site, where it's also revealed that double XP will be available on the battlefield throughout next weekend (March 25 - 28). It's a nice bonus for our continued service, though we consider it bad timing. Operation PAX East will be in full effect by the 25th, so we doubt we'll find time to benefit from the extra incentive to hoist the S.V.E.R. flag.

What, you think the Joystiq Biomass, MAG's premier, S.V.E.R.-aligned clan will accept any greenhorn off the street to join its ranks? No, no -- we're only looking for cold-blooded, military-minded killing machines. If you're hoping to join our prestigious organization, you might want to give PlayStation.Blog's recently concluded MAG Developer Tips series a look-see. It provides helpful information on how to play each archetype, how to fill each leadership role, and to not get destroyed in the various gametypes.

You'll find links to all of these lessons posted after the jump. Study up, and we might just reconsider your application.

We've gotten pretty into MAG here at Joystiq HQ, but it's had the unintended side effect of causing us all to get really excited about incredibly minute things in patch notes. Take for example the recently-detailed 1.03 patch for the game, due tomorrow. We know for a fact that at least one Joystiq staffer sent a co-worker an instant message reading "'Changed resuscitated player's camera orientation to match the last camera direction used while incapacitated instead of the pre-harm camera.' YES." See? Super nerdy.

Sure, there are some bigger, easier-to-understand balancing changes in there, too, but if you're a MAG fan, we imagine you'll be inclined as we are to ravenously dissect all the nuts and bolts.

Medics, it's been a long, hard road in MAG -- hopefully until now. The PlayStation Blog reports that a new patch -- version 1.02, the first of many coming down the pipe -- will be available for download on your console war station tonight at 1 a.m. PST / 4 a.m. EST. The central theme is medical improvements -- specifically, the elimination of the onscreen medic icon from anyone who has a Medical Kit. Now, only those who have the Resuscitation Kit will have the cross.

Also, the only soldiers who will see icons over downed players waiting for a resuscitation are those that can actually resuscitate them, which should help get some of that clutter off the screen. Finally, Zipper has added distance counters for those fallen comrades, giving medics a better idea of how far away those in need are.

If you're looking for more intel on starting out (or just some general tips on being a badass), hit up the PS Blog.

Sony's senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold issued a statement after last night's NPD numbers for January, explaining that the company's flagship console may be a bit difficult to find at retail over the next few months. "We're working very hard with our retail partners to meet consumer interest, but the demand is tremendously high for the PS3 and we expect tight inventory in the coming months," Seybold notes in the statement.

As this is the first we've heard about any sort of PlayStation 3 hardware shortages, we followed up with Seybold to make sure he wasn't only warning about future supply issues, but also explaining January's sales of the console. He told us: "Yes. The strong demand carrying through the holidays was evident and early in the month we [knew] there was going to be limited supply of the PS3 at retail in January. We're working closely with the retail channel to meet this demand, but expect tight supply for the coming months."

The upcoming supply issues may also be a result of Sony's "upcoming line up of the industry's most anticipated games" -- games like Heavy Rain, God of War 3, and ModNation Racers. Seybold additionally points out that "this momentum is fueled by a stellar holiday" and the recent releases of games like MAG and BioShock 2. We here at Joystiq have yet to see the shortages at our local brick-and-mortars, but feel free to let us know if you do!

The folks at Zipper Interactive have been in an unenviable position for the past eighteen months. Ever since the studio's flagship PS3 title MAG was revealed during Sony's E3 2008 press conference, the gaming populace's collective expectation (or, alternatively, apprehension) for the title set an impossibly high bar for the developer to clear.

We first spoke to the game's producer, Alan Van Slyke, during PAX 2009, when he explained a bit of the techno-wizardry which powers the game's internal servers. Yesterday, we got a chance to speak with Van Slyke once more -- this time about the pressures associated with developing a game of this (forgive the pun) magnitude, whether the game's rigorous beta testing paid off, and how one of MAG's three factions has evolved into an unstoppable victory machine.

Joystiq: When did Zipper Interactive decide on making a multiplayer game with 256 players? None of your studio's earlier games are nearly that large in scope – what kind of factors led to that decision?

Alan Van Slyke: Well, I think that specific number actually came more from design than it was just an arbitrary number -- but definitely the early thinking was we want to build something big.

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