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Bad Company and Civilization demos now on XBLM
Today, we're officially declaring it an Xbox Live Marketplace Demo Extravaganza day, because we're seeing the release of not just one, but TWO super new video game demos to the XBLM. Like we said, it's a demo extravaganza!First up is a new 1.25GB Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution demo, featuring both single and multiplayer play and enough turn based strategy to shake a stick at. And for those of you who didn't win early access last week, the new 1.5GB Battlefield: Bad Company single (slash) multiplayer demo is ready to be consumed by you, the masses. Hit up the XBLM, queue some demo deliciousness up for download and get your game on.
Battlefield: Bad Company vids remind us war is not pretty
There are many ways to die on the battlefield and these vids from Battlefield: Bad Company remind us just how many different ways you can kill and be killed. War is truly brutal. War has changed. To keep you alive, perhaps it might be a good idea to bring in some good company; guys you can trust. Say, like Sgt. Redford, Sweetwater, and Haggard -- the gents of Bad Company (yes, the irony is totally intentional) who will be assisting your character through the game's single-player mode. Producer Patrick Bach details these three characters in the first clip after the break, and talks more about how they were made. There are also another three gameplay vids after the break, so check those out as well. Battlefield: Bad Company should be out later this month on June 23.
Fanswag: Even more Bad Company demo codes [update]
Update: Entry into this giveaway is now closed. Sorry about that. Be sure to check your inbox to see if you won.Come and get 'em a second time around! Yesterday, we awarded 50 lucky fanboys Battlefield: Bad Company demo access as part of our Fanswag giveaway sponsored by the mildly cool cats over at EA. And with over 1,300 entrants, we're beginning to think that these demo downloads are a hot commodity. So, if you didn't receive an email notifying you that you won, then wipe your tears and put on your game face, because we're giving away 50 more Bad Company demo downloads today! These codes will allow you to download the single player / multiplayer Bad Company demo RIGHT NOW off the XBLM, before it is available to everyone next Thursday, June 5th.To win one of the 50 Bad Company demo redemption codes, simply comment on this post (one comment per person) by 9:00PM eastern tonight, when we'll randomly select 50 winners and email the codes. Only Xbox Live accounts based in North America can enter due to redemption codes being restricted (again, sorry European fanboys). This is your last chance to earn early entry into the Bad Company demo, so may the luck force be with you.
Fanswag: Battlefield: Bad Company demo codes [update]
Update: This giveaway has expired, winners have been selected and codes have been emailed. If you didn't win, go here and try your luck a second time.Come and get 'em! Thanks to the loving crew over at EA, we've been given the opportunity to spread Battlefield: Bad Company demo love throughout the gaming world. Today and tomorrow, we'll be handing out a total of 100 Xbox Live redemption codes that allow for the download of the Bad Company demo days before its general release onto the XBLM next Thursday, June 5th. The demo features a preview of the game's single player campaign and allows gamers to enjoy multiplayer fun playing Gold Rush on the map Oasis. It's Battlefield: Bad Company demo fun that, we're told, is free of controversy and doesn't require any additional weapon purchases. Huzzah!To win one of the 50 Bad Company demo redemption codes, simply comment on this post (one comment per person) by 10:00PM eastern tonight, when we'll randomly select 50 winners and email the codes. Only Xbox Live accounts based in North America can enter due to redemption codes being restricted (sorry European fanboys). Also, If you don't win today, don't be sad. Just stop on back tomorrow when we'll be awarding another 50 codes. Enter now, be lucky and get the chance to play the Bad Company demo early!
Bad Company achievements one-up kill count, again
When Bizarre Creations' third-person shooter The Club released its list of achievements, gamers laughed at the team's one-up of the Gears of War online kill count--months later it appears DICE wants in on the joke too. Peaking at the achievement list available at MyGamerCard, Battlefield: Bad Company includes one achievement, "Beans Bullets Bandages," that awards players 30 GS points for achieving 10,002 kills online. While it was humorous the first time now we're just worried the achievement will become a trend. The rest of the list includes your standard mission completition, difficulty setting points with half of the achievements dedicated to the Battlefield: Bad Company's online modes. One thing to note, for a title that was hailed as primarily a single-player focused experience, we wonder why nearly half of the achievements are multiplayer only. Battlefield: Bad Company is set to release on June 23. [Thanks, Sabo]
Battlefield: Bad Company demo arriving June 5 ... for some
If you didn't nab a spot in the Battlefield: Bad Company beta and you weren't completely turned off by all the pay-for-weapons rigmarole, you'll be able to get an early taste of the game on June 5 when a demo goes live on PSN and Xbox Live.But EA, adamant that there must at all times be division in the gaming populace, is giving early entry (like May 29 early) to those people who pre-order the game. Oh, and you'll also get the QBU88 Sniper Rifle. ... Anybody starting to long for the "I give you $50, you give me a game" days of yestergeneration?[Via X3F]
Sign-ups begin for the Battlefield Heroes beta
This is one of those rare posts that we, in the industry, like to call "easy." When we tell you that sign-ups for the Battlefield Heroes beta are now open, the odds are that you've already beat cheeks down to the "Read" link. And that's just fine with us, because it means we can relax our brain muscle, confident in the fact that only us and the spam spiders are reading the text. It also means we can use the rest of this space to cop to something we otherwise wouldn't with millions of prying eyes around. ... We've completely turned the corner on Uwe Boll. He's out of his mind, he'll fight anyone and he's possibly the greatest self-promoter alive. We love him. And if you're a theater owner who won't show Postal, we think you're a jerk. There, we said it. ... OK, well, good luck with the beta thing, not that you're here any more.[Via Eurogamer] Gallery: Battlefield Heroes
Mirror's Edge interview discusses PS3's 'quirks'
An interview with Mirror's Edge devs, DICE, has swept onto the internet and we're collecting the information to relay back to you. The title is multiplatform, but was showcased only at the PlayStation Day event. DICE's general manager, Sean Decker, explained it was because Sony has been a great partner and developing on the PS3 gives them a lot of little quirks to work with (Sixaxis balances Faith, Cell helps push higher texture resolutions). This is interesting because Decker goes on to explain how each version of the game (PS3, 360, PC) will be different -- imagine, a developer taking the time to tweak a game to perform optimally on each platform.The developers are aiming for a 720p experience across all platforms, to keep a super-smooth frame rate at all times. There's not going to be any user interface in the game whatsoever other than a dot in the middle of the screen, a "focus point" for players, which will minimize motion sickness for those susceptible to such an ailment.The game isn't about combat, Decker explains, but about movement. Even when you get a weapon, it's more of a tool to get through an obstacle than to take out other people. Any online elements are being kept secret until summer (E3, we presume), along with information on any sort of demo. No release date yet, but that's also going to get discussed this summer. We'll keep looking.
Joystiq hands-on: Battlefield Heroes
click to enlarge Producer Alexander Grondal said the team wants Battlefield Heroes to run on your Grandma's PC and -- with a sub-250MB download and the ability to run on Intel's anemic integrated video offerings -- we're sure it will. But that doesn't mean Grams is going to kick the Pogo crack pipe and be racking up levels in Heroes anytime soon. It's about as simple a shooter as you can imagine -- everything from the cartoon aesthetic to the streamlined controls reinforce the game's message: have fun -- but it's still a shooter at heart. It's a curious message coming from the same team that's been bringing the popular, and complicated, multiplayer Battlefield games to the hardcore shooter fans of the world. Has some of their audience grown up? Run out of free time? Still using the same gaming rig they built to play Battlefield 1942 in 2002?In our brief experience with the game at EA's Spring Break event in San Francisco last night, we were initially disoriented by the third-person perspective. Even though you see your character, Heroes doesn't play like a third-person shooter; it's an FPS through and through. A quick mental adjustment later, and we were running after enemies, grabbing flags, flying planes, and driving tanks.%Gallery-22758%
Battlefield: Bad Company demo dropping June 5
Anyone who wasn't lucky enough to experience the closed beta of the slightly controversial EA first-person comedy-shooter (not kidding), Battlefield: Bad Company, will soon have their chance. Today EA announced that a demo for the DICE developed title will hit the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN on June 5. The single and multiplayer demo promises to showcase what was in the beta as well as the wacky characters found in the campaign mode. Gamers who decide to pre-order the title from select retailers will be treated an early download of the demo beginning May 29. For those at home keeping score you'll remember pre-ordering and playing the demo will give gamers access to two of the five controversial weapons found in the beta. Pre-ordering gives gamers access to the QBU88 Sniper Rifle while downloading and playing the demo nets players the UZI Submachine Gun. Battlefield: Bad Company ships on June 25.
Mirror's Edge team praises tilt controls, Cell architecture
Click for high-resolution image. Sean Decker, general manager of Battlefield developer DICE, spoke to VideoGamer.com about their upcoming Mirror's Edge. The first-person platforming/action game made its debut at PlayStation Day, which led some to believe the title was a PS3-exclusive. It's not, but the team is promising to make the most out of the PS3's unique architecture. For example, the team plans on utilizing tilt controls: "The great thing about it is that there's a lot of little things like, Faith there when she's walking like this (points to Mirror's Edge trailer showing Faith tightrope-walking across a beam), Sixaxis controls, super easy to implement and say, OK well just balance it and then you've got it there, as opposed to teaching a player to say, oh let's push this button or that button.""The other thing is the Cell really allows us to push the resolution of our textures much higher and we've taken full advantage of that as well. So there's a lot of little quirks to it that we really like and our engineers love as well as our designers." However, Decker wouldn't go so far as saying the PS3 version is superior to the Xbox 360 version -- they're simply "different."%Gallery-22498%
A Battlefield Heroes closed beta clarification
Some of you may have been patiently (or not so patiently, if you're like us) awaiting the closed beta for Battlefield Heroes. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a bit of miscommunication between developer DICE and the community that has formed around Battlefield Heroes. The closed beta -- that started yesterday, May 6th -- is invite only for the time being.DICE is quick to point out that this is for the first phase of the beta only and that eventually everyone will be able to apply for it. What's a bit surprising is that so many people apparently hit the official site yesterday it actually went down for a while. Seems like DICE may be onto something with Battlefield Heroes, but only time will tell.[via Blues News]
Mirror's Edge reflects on Unreal Engine 3
click to embiggen Although they have an in-house engine for the Battlefield series (Frostbite), EA DICE has gone with Epic's mega-popular Unreal Engine 3 for the Parkour-inspired Mirror's Edge. According to the development team (via Electronic Arts PR), the reason was that the Mirror's Edge project began early on in Frostbite's development, so they decided to use the more-developed Unreal technology instead.DICE is also developing "a new lighting solution that truly makes Mirror's Edge stand-out visually." If you haven't had a chance to check out the trailer, do so now. Full statement after the break.%Gallery-17126%
Video: It's incredible, it's amazing, it's Mirror's Edge
Coming from Sony's recent Playstation media event (at least something good comes from those, hoozah!) is a brand new, all in-game footage, delicious ball of awesomeness trailer for Mirror's Edge. And did we already say it's a delicious ball of awesomeness? Because it is. Witness DICE's upcoming and "true" first person experience as main character Faith jumps from building to building, leaps through the air, slides, glides and kicks the crap out of gun wielding baddies with ... her legs. We're excited and truly believe that Mirror's Edge has that special something. Enjoy!
See Mirror's Edge in PlayStation Day footage [update]
Update: Videos for Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 have been removed at Sony's request. "This was an internal video to show work in progress and was not ready for distribution." We will post new media when it is available.If you were furiously pounding F5 to follow along with PS3 Fanboy's live coverage of PlayStation Day 2008, you probably felt a little pang of sadness as our man, Jem Alexander, got to see some new footage from Mirror's Edge, Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 while you had to make do with reading his text second-hand.Now, you can make amends and see the videos directly from the show for yourself. Oh, and you should know that the audio on the Killzone clip seems to become a little crazy at the end, but we're hoping you still get the idea. You can find Resistance Mirror's Edge after the break right here.
How to earn the five controversial Bad Company weapons
The Battlefield: Bad Company DLC controversy has settled down after EA compromised with their "marketing promotions" idea and now today, thanks to Planet Battlefield, we know exactly what we'll have to do to earn all five additional weapons. So, without further wait, here are the non-Microsoft point involved steps to earn each controversial weapon ... QBU88 Sniper Rifle: Pre-order the game online or at any participating retailer. UZI Submachine Gun: Download and play the demo M60 Light Machine Gun: Sign up for the Battlefield newsletter F2000 Assault Rifle: Register your Battlefield soldier name USAS12 Shotgun: Check your Bad Company stats online at launch. Like we said, there's no Microsoft points involved, but is this really a better solution? A show of hands please, who's committed to completing all five tasks listed above to earn the Bad Company weapon bounty? [Via Joystiq]
How to get the five Battlefield Bad Company DLC weapons
At their community event last week, Electronic Arts unveiled the five separate tasks you must complete to be able to use all five previously-premium weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company. Although the official site has only revealed one of the ways, Planet Battlefield has outlined all five methods: QBU88 Sniper Rifle: Pre-order the game online or at any participating retailer. So far we know Gamestop and Amazon are part of this deal. UZI Submachine Gun: Download and play the demo M60 Light Machine Gun: Sign up for the Battlefield newsletter F2000 Assault Rifle: Register your Battlefield soldier name USAS12 Shotgun: Check your Bad Company stats online at launch. Is this better than paying a premium? As for the quality of the weapons, our friends at sister site X3F tell us that, at least for the beta, the Uzi and F2000 are noticeably more powerful than their available-at-launch counterparts, while the others feel pretty balanced.
Be a part of Battlefield: Bad Company on June 23rd
Now that we can (almost) put all that negative purchasing in-game weapons talk aside, we can proudly scream from the rooftops that EA has officially announced that Battlefield: Bad Company will release to retailer shelves on June 23rd. Yes, it's acceptable to say that Bad Company has had its fair share of controversy and negative sentiment, but we know some enjoyed the beta and can look past the game's ... erm, past. But what about you? Will you be a member of Bad Company this June and openly announce your purchase from the rooftops? Hmm?
Battlefield: Bad Company coming June 23
Now that the scandal (to use the term loosely) over Battlefield: Bad Company's purchasable weapons has subsided we can get back to seeing it for what it really is: A game. Just a game like any other, a game that puts its pants on one leg at a time (if games wore pants, which they don't). A game with characters and levels and (as of this morning) a release date: June 23.So, will you saddle up for some mid-summer destruction? Or are you going to take a pass on B Company's big adventure?
Bad Company 'boycott' wins, EA makes weapons free
It looks like the Bad Company "boycott" became loud enough -- EA has just announced that the controversial extra weapons for DICE's upcoming FPS game will now be free. Well, there's a few catches.Purchasers of the Gold Edition will get access to the weapons almost-instantly (the Gold Edition includes behind-the-scenes bonuses and will retail for $10 more than the standard edition). However, cheapstakes that opt for the standard version will have to earn the weapons by leveling up to the top rank in the online multiplayer. You won't have to pay for it, but you will have to be rather dedicated to get it.This seems like a rather fair trade -- certainly more so than EA's previous offer. While many may simply avoid Bad Company altogether, it's good to see that EA is listening to the fervent demands of gamers everywhere.[Thanks, SharpShooter!]
