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50 EA games going offline due to GameSpy shutdown
EA's efforts to transition its GameSpy-based games have been in vain, after the publisher revealed 50 of its titles are going offline once the matchmaking service shuts down. Not only is it a big list of games, but it includes casualties like Battlefield 2142 for PC and Mac, and Star Wars: Battlefront on PC and PS2. Other games on the list include Battlefield 2 (PC), Command and Conquer 3 (PC and Mac), C&C Generals (PC and Mac), Red Alert 3 (PC and Mac), Crysis (PC), Crysis: Wars (PC), Crysis 2 (PC), Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC and Mac), Neverwinter Nights (PC, Mac and Linux) Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC and Mac), and Star Wars Battlefront 2 (PC and PS2). EA's service site has the full list of affected games, all of which lose their online services on June 30. "Unfortunately, due to technical challenges and concerns about the player experience, we do not have a solution at this time," EA said on its service page. The company noted some of the games retain sizable audiences, and it's "investigating community-supported options" in a bid to retain online functionality. However: "Significant technical hurdles remain, and at this time we don't have anything to announce." If EA doesn't come through, users may turn to services like GameRanger, which provides server support for some of the games in question. However, for many games it'll likely be so long and thanks for all the online fun soon after GameSpy's services go dark on May 31. [Image: EA]
Free DLC for 2003's 'Command & Conquer: Generals'
Who says you can't give an old game new DLC? In celebration of Command & Conquer: Generals' sixth birthday -- that's like turning 42, in video game years -- EA is releasing "the lost mission," codenamed Black Sheep. Seriously, the B.S. DLC is ... well, not b.s. -- download it right here, free! Black Sheep was intended to be the third mission in C&C:G's Global Liberation Army campaign, but was removed from the final version and "securely stored away in a secret location" (read: misplaced and forgotten) until now. In the mission, players are given command of the Toxin Tractor, a modified farm vehicle that sprays icky green stuff (that you may recall from other campaign missions and game modes), and ordered to crop dust a town that has been "corrupted beyond salvation." This may have been "controversial" by 2003's standards, but here, in the future, it's all in a day's work. Download C&C:G "Black Sheep" Mission (243 KB)
