ea dice
Latest
Medal of Honor trailer debuts Linkin Park single 'The Catalyst'
Hey, Linkin Park slash shooting game fan, you look like you're just about to break. Good thing, then, that nu-metal band Linkin Park and EA have worked out a deal for the first single from forthcoming album "A Thousand Suns" to be featured in a trailer for Medal of Honor, which debuted this morning. As you might imagine, "The Catalyst" is said to be part of the game's soundtrack. You'll find the trailer embedded after the break, which, oddly, was directed by Linkin Park DJ Joe Hahn. Also, it's mostly live-action, so you might not want to bring the kids around to see this one.
Battlefield 1943 for PC remains on track, still no release date
Still waiting for your PC version of Battlefield 1943? Okay, first, we feel obliged to tell you that you should probably check out Battlefield: Bad Company 2. But second, you might want to know that EA is apparently issuing refunds for pre-orders of the title to folks who reserved the PC release. VG247 asked EA about said refunds, and was told, "All pre-orders can be canceled with refund at any time and we do not have any further information at this time about a release date for the PC version of Battlefield 1943." We asked an EA rep for clarification this afternoon and were told that pre-orders for any game can be refunded at any time -- furthermore, the rep specifically pointed out "Battlefield 1943 is not canceled, but we don't have any news about a release date at this time." Last we heard, the game was on track for release sometime this year and the game's producer even assured us that the PC version was still in the cards as recently as last March. So, while unfulfilled PC fans eagerly awaiting the game's release may ask for their pre-order money back, it also appears that whatever interest EA earned on your money since last October when pre-orders opened will remain in the publisher's hands. How nice of them! Perhaps it'll be used to support the game with DLC? Yeah, we're not holding our breath either.
Medal of Honor LE tied up with Battlefield 3 beta invite
EA announced today that, in addition to some generally underwhelming digital goodies like early access to shotguns, the Medal of Honor Limited Edition will come with an invitation to the Battlefield 3 beta, being developed by MoH's multiplayer team at DICE. As for when to expect that beta to begin, an EA representative tells Joystiq that the company has "no further details" and that it'll start "within 12 month of Medal of Honor's release." Check out our multiple previews on Medal of Honor to find out what your Tier 1 self is in for when the game begins its retail assault on October 12.
Battlefield Heroes deploys a double XP weekend
From today through 5:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 23, Battlefield Heroes players can input the following code to earn double the XP they normally would for playing: 5RH4-G9WR-MVV2-Q4E7. Just enter the code on this page, then it's off to the races -- er, the battlefield, rather. You've got to give it up to DICE, who has managed to keep its free-to-play shooter fresh through steady content updates -- the latest of which includes a new map and mode centered around jetpacks. And that, folks, is how you enlist over three million players. [Via Big Download]
See DICE's unfinshed Genesis shooter, 'Hardcore'
In 1994, before being canceled at the very last minute by publisher Psygnosis (the ailing Sony Liverpool, these days), DICE Studios was one bug squash away from completing sidescrolling shooter "Hardcore" for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis). When Psygnosis realized that the Mega Drive wouldn't be around for much longer, it canceled "13 games in an afternoon meeting," including Hardcore. As explained by DICE co-founders Andreas Axelsson and Olof Gustafsson in the YouTube video found after the break (filmed at the DATASTORM 2010 party in early February), Hardcore is currently owned by Sony and Psygnosis, and as such, DICE has been unable to release the game into the public domain (though Axelsson claims to be "working on that"). The game is said to have originally been developed with the Amiga in mind, then brought over to the Mega Drive. Axelsson and Gustafsson reveal that it was "99 percent finished" before being canceled. Given our love for sidescrolling shooters, we're hoping that Axelsson's intention to release the game publicly eventually pans out. Whaddya say, Sony/Psygnosis? How about you folks get together and work out all this legal mumbo jumbo. For us. [Via GameSetWatch]
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sells 2.3 million
Not content to wait for March to end, EA went ahead and announced that "Battlefield: Bad Company 2 tops March sales charts." The somewhat hasty press release goes on to explain that with 2.3 million copies sold so far, Bad Company 2 is "on pace" to be the top selling title in March 2010. It is already, according to EA, the best-selling March release yet, which lends credence to EA's early claim of March dominance. We look forward to seeing if this claim rings true at the end of the month, after Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver have had two weeks to sell. Or maybe that's why EA issued the "we won" press release now?
Bad Company 2 'F.R.A.G.S.' video continues Modern Warfare mockery
Hey, you remember when Infinity Ward released that unbelievably offensive "Fight Against Grenade Spam" video starring Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels to promote Modern Warfare 2? Yeah, we were trying to forget it too (sorry to remind you!), but Battlefield developer DICE just released its own variation of the video (found after the break) starring New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia to explain why grenade spam isn't so much of an issue in Bad Company 2. According to CC, due to the variety of other gameplay options (destructible environments, a handful of different vehicles and "adrenaline pumping weapons"), grenade spam isn't the same problem that it is in "competing games of this particular genre." (It probably helps that each class only starts with one grenade too, huh?) Rather than being sponsored by the notorious acronym that closed out Infinity Ward's ad, this one ends with: "Friends Really Against Grenade Spam." Oh, and for those of you playing along at home, this is at least the second advertisement for Bad Company 2 that directly parodies Modern Warfare 2 promos. We're still holding out hope that all this culminates in a cage match between Robert Bowling and Patrick Söderlund.
EA completes Battlefield: Bad Company 2 server maintenance
[sugree] EA assures us via Twitter that, after a rocky launch period, the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 online servers have now been stabilized. Pretty much every iteration of Bad Company 2 has seen issues arise when connecting to EA's servers for online multiplayer, with Xbox 360 kicking some users all the way out to the Dashboard and PC users experiencing authentication issues with PunkBuster. The developer now says that those issues have been addressed, due in no small part to new servers being added over the weekend. "All new hardware is in place and ready to serve your BFBC2 needs," the tweet reads, backed up by a Q&A on the Battlefield Blog with more info. While some players may still experience a stat loss issue, EA and DICE are actively looking into a fix and encourage anyone who experiences said glitch to report it online. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got dudes to sneak up on and knife in the back. Source 1 - Twitter Source 2 - Battlefield Blog
GDC: EA DICE on building a bite-sized Battlefield
EA DICE has been a fairly prolific developer during the current console generation, churning out both a high-profile title based on original IP (Mirror's Edge), as well as ones based on established franchises like Battlefield. EA was searching for a way to capitalize on the downtime between these blockbuster releases -- a game which would be relatively quick and painless to create, while still standing up to the quality standards set by their previous releases. Thus, the idea for Battlefield 1943 was born. Battlefield 1943 producer Patrick Liu explained the studio's unique design philosophy while making the game, which boiled down to "make the game as long as resources last." They maximized the amount of content they produced under this strategy by settling on the somewhat smaller scope of the game early, and focusing on recreating the Battlefield experience to adhere to that scope. Some decisions made under this philosophy include making ammunition and health auto-regenerate, cutting down on tiresome resource runs back to your home base. This decision led to others, including the removal of the medic and engineer classes. It also let them focus on perfecting a handful of maps and gametypes, which, while iterated from previous installments in the franchise, also saw major adjustments in 1943. The result was a project developed by 15 series veterans at once, at one-tenth of the cost of a full DICE game, which broke day one, week one and month one downloadable sales records. It's no surprise that Liu expressed interest in developing more "games of this size and scope" -- when handled correctly, it sounds like a miniature entry in a major franchise can be quite the profitable cash cow. %Gallery-63331%
Interview: Greg Grunberg at the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity challenge
Lots of the celebrities at last night's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity benefit tournament didn't know much about gaming, but Greg Grunberg is the exception. Even if he can't dive deep into the differences between next-gen shooters, he at least knows the audience, having appeared on Lost and Alias and controlled minds as Matt Parkman on Heroes. He was at the benefit in West Hollywood promoting the Epilepsy Foundation (his son deals with epileptic seizures, and Grunberg has done some advocacy work on his own as well), and right before he sat down to play BFBC2 alongside Chad Ochocinco and Marshall Faulk, he sat down to chat with us. Read on to hear about what Grunny is doing for Halo: Reach, his favorite iPhone games and why he's so sure there should be one more full season of Heroes.
EA hosts Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity benefit tournament
As reported on these very pages yesterday, EA and DICE got a group of semi-celebrities together last night to celebrate the impending arrival of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 with a charity tournament, pitting NFL stars and 90210 actors against each other in a bragging rights team match. The celebs also selected their own team names for an upcoming Major League Gaming tournament, and the winning team in that match (which you can predict right now on GameStop's website) will end up giving $25,000 to the winning celebrity's charity of choice. The event kicked off with a red carpet event, and Matt Lanter and Tristan Wilds of the new 90210 joined gossip blogger Perez Hilton to talk about crushes on their costars and how awesome Bad Company 2 was. Meanwhile, we wondered, where's the actual game? %Gallery-86003%
Medal of Honor screens lack renowned facial hair rendering
Click to bust into the image gallery! We've got some good news and some bad news for those of you eagerly awaiting EA's Medal of Honor reboot this summer. The good news first: Five new, high-resolution images of the game -- albeit stills from the debut trailer -- are in the gallery below. Now, the bad: We count only one Tier 1 Operator featured in the screens with a beard. We know, we know -- it shocked us, too! We'll make some calls and demand that the appropriate amount of facial hair rendering be included in the next batch. You can thank us later. %Gallery-85956%
Xbox Live Deal of the Week: Battlefield 1943 for $10
This week's Xbox Live deal is none other than DICE's downloadable destruction sim, Battlefield 1943. Major Nelson reports that, for this week only, you can snag the game for $5 off the usual asking price. For one lone Hamilton ($10), you can experience all of the mayhem of the Frostbite engine across several islands in the Pacific, where vicious World War II battles were waged. That is, unless you fancy yourself a pilot, in which case we hope you like standing around a whole bunch.
Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 2 top Steam best-seller list
EA must be feeling pretty good that it's got the top three best-selling games currently on Steam. It must feel even better that said games haven't even been released yet, but gamers have already paid in full to pre-load them onto their PCs ASAP. Specifically, this week's highest grossing title on Valve's digital distribution service is Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which doesn't release until March. Mass Effect 2, which hits tomorrow, occupies the number two and three slots -- the Digital Deluxe and Standard editions, respectively. Modern Warfare 2 and Company of Heroes Complete Pack round out the top five. The latter came out last October and is certainly in some pretty good company. Just missing the cut? BioShock 2, which is currently on sale for $5 off the $49.99 (virtual) sticker price. [Via BigDownload]
Hands-on: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 single-player
We've had extensive hands-on time with the multiplayer component of DICE's upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company sequel, but only just recently had a chance to try out the single-player campaign. Our demo encompassed two fairly brief levels -- a jungle encampment and a battle through snow-covered mountains -- which were both set in South America. Short as they were, they gave us a taste of the ramped-up action, more challenging AI and a little bit of classic B-Company banter. %Gallery-83829%
DICE explains Battlefield Bad Company 2 dedicated server rentals
One of the many volleys in DICE's Battlefield Bad Company 2 marketing campaign meant to sway Modern Warfare 2 loyalists towards its upcoming shooter was the promise of dedicated servers for PC players. That said, when the Swedish game development house recently announced a rental service for those interested in using said dedicated servers, some folks were less than thrilled. According to producer Gordon Van Dyke in an interview with Eurogamer, the reasoning doesn't have to do with profits so much as protecting "the game's integrity on PC." Van Dyke also indicates that DICE's "authorized hosts" have already been chosen worldwide, though he notes that the studio "will see where the game goes and support it post-launch." At very least, PC gamers will get a chance to find out if the rental fee is worth it when the game goes into PC beta on January 28. %Gallery-43916%
Hands-on: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 squad deathmatch
If you're a PS3 owner with an inkling of an interest in first-person shooters, you've probably tried the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta, featuring a revamped Rush game mode. Everyone else, well, you're missing out on some great fun -- but March and the release of the retail game isn't that far off. I've wanted to play more of the game's multiplayer component ever since getting into the beta, and I recently got that chance at EA's Redwood Shores, California headquarters. The occasion: the unveiling of a new game mode, squad deathmatch. Four squads of four members each (4-vs-4-vs-4-vs-4) square off to see which team can reach the kill limit first, which sounds straightforward enough until you consider the dense foliage of the new jungle map on which we played. %Gallery-80548%
3 million Battlefield Heroes have been registered, new 'Sunset Showdown' map to celebrate
click to admire the sunset We can see calling yourself a hero if you jump into a burning building to save the mayor's newborn son. That's heroism. But what if you're just one in a group of 3 million, as is now the case with EA's free-to-play (but not necessarily free-to-be-good-at) shooter, Battlefield Heroes? Can you really still be a "hero" then? Aren't you just more of a brave dude? Actual hero or not, everyone will get to enjoy a brand new, single-control-point map, "Sunset Showdown," released to mark the occasion. Semantics aside, we'll be interested to see if the game can continue to grow after the afore-linked-to pricing changes, or if this is the last peak before a downward slide, into sunset. %Gallery-80449%
First gameplay footage of Medal of Honor revealed
It's been a while since the Medal of Honor franchise has found its way on to store shelves, but we're interested for what the series will bring to the crowded realm of modern shooters. At tonight's 2009 Video Game Awards, the first footage of the recently revealed Medal of Honor impressed with solid visuals and a metric ton of explosions. Not enough for you? The gameplay trailer concluded with one NPC kicking a booby trapped prisoner through a high rise window. Now we're not marketing pros, but that should be the first bullet point on the back of the game's box. Check out the trailer -- in all its YouTube quality glory -- after the break. Update: Hi-res version now available above.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 won't put up a fight against XBL party chat
Electronic Arts has called in another marketing airstrike against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, hoping to pull members of its fanbase who're unhappy with its online play towards Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The previous target was dedicated servers for PC players; now it's Xbox Live party chat and the ability to use it in multiplayer. Speaking with MTV Multiplayer, EA DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke stated, "We are ok with [party chat]. We haven't taken a stance being against it and feeling like people are cheating." Modern Warfare 2 only offers party chat support in a handful of its multiplayer playlists, ostensibly to curb cheating. But, according to Van Dyke, he doesn't "think [cheating with party chat is] that big of an issue, that I've seen, where we have to worry about that" in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. So, is party chat (or the lack thereof) really that important to you? Share your thoughts in comments.
