WebProNews

Tag: Battlefield 3

  • Simpsons iOS Game Pulled For Being Too Popular

    On the heels of last weeks banishment of Battlefield 3: Aftershock from the iPhone App Store, EA has now removed The Simpsons: Tapped Out. The thing is they were both removed for very different reasons. Battlefield 3: Aftershock was pulled from the store due to complaints of instability and lack of content, just like the big game. The Simpsons was pulled from the store because it was too popular!

    “To ensure current players have the best possible experience, we’ve temporarily removed The Simpsons: Tapped Out from the App Store to limit the game’s server capacity to its current players and address connectivity and lag time issues,” read an EA statement. “If you’ve downloaded the game, you can continue to play. Actually, your experience should only improve as we work on a solution. As soon as we have resolved these issues to handle greater player capacity, we will return The Simpsons: Tapped Out to the App Store so that even more people can enjoy this ‘life-ruiningly fun’ game.” The statement went on to thank everyone for their patience and promised to provide an update “soon.”

  • This Battlefield 3 Light Show Is Holiday Perfection

    If you’re like me, it’s pretty hard to separate Christmas from video games. Many of my best holiday memories revolve around video games – like the time my parents tricked me into thinking they didn’t get me an N64, or that time I played Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for 76 hours straight.

    Anyway, YouTube user coasterbp has melded Christmas and video games in a pretty awesome way – with the now-popular light show/music sync performance. But instead of using a popular Christmas tune as the musical accompaniment or even a top 40 radio hit, coasterbp used the theme song from one of the year’s most popular games.

    I present the Battlefield 3 theme song light show:

    Doesn’t that put you in the holiday spirit?

    If you need another light show fix, may I suggest you check out the equally amazing Nightmare Before Christmas-themed video that essentially works for both Halloween and Christmas.

  • EA Sucks at DRM Enforcement

    Digital distribution is the wave of the future (present?) when it comes to content delivery, and I’m not sure an industry has embraced this method of content delivery as much as the video game industry has. Well, not counting the music industry. Oh, and the book industry too. Hell, let’s just say the video game industry is successfully following in the footsteps of other entertainment industries and has in relation to delivering content without the need for a physical copy.

    At least in regards to the PC gaming environment.

    The success story of Steam’s online service is the industry standard, but there are others like Direct2Drive and Impulse. Electronic Arts, famously known as the makers of the Madden NFL Football series of video games, has also jumped on the digital distribution service with Origin, which offers EA-published games available for immediate download. The concept is a brilliant one as long as you aren’t one of the people who requires a jewel case with some cover art to legitimize your purchase.

    There is, however, one issue in regards to using EA’s Origin service: consumers are at the mercy of EA’s DRM, which can apparently be applied whenever EA sees fit. Take the plight of an Origin member by the name of MaximumTacos. While the silliness of the name may be hard to overlook, the shafting he received from EA concerning access to games he’s already purchased is not.

    The story of MaximumTacos’ EA issues hit the web yesterday, and after popular threads on Reddit and The Escapist’s forums, everything began to take shape. What we have is another user going to the EA forums and posting a profane message that made mention of the MaximumTacos user name.

    Mind you, the post was not made by MaximumTacos, it just mentioned the user name during the profanity-filled rant, and because MaximumTacos had the audacity to allow his name to appear in a TOS-violating forum thread, he, and not the user who authored the post, got banned. Not banned as in banned from the forum, but banned from accessing the EA games he had purchased via digital distribution methods.

    Or, as EA’s online customer support put it:

    Angad: Please note that your account [maximumtacos@gmail.com] has been permanently terminated from the Electronic Arts Online service for violating the terms of services. The account will no longer be accessible in any way, and all property, items, and characters associated currently are or will soon be deleted.

    This bears repeating: Electronic Arts banned the account of a user in such a way, they no longer have access to games they’ve already bought and paid for, all because someone else mentioned their user name during a profane rant.

    Does that even make sense? Apparently to EA, it does, because they aren’t backing down even in the face of being so completely and utterly wrong with their punishment. As for the offending post in question, EA even referenced it when they informed MaximumTacos about the suspension, which turned into an outright ban:

    Chat log: soldier shapes / camo to watch for, and the people camping in corners with it./quote so its no longer INFARED = IR YOU NOOB B—- C— maximumtacos

    As you can see, MaximumTacos was the target of the profanity, not the author, but yet, he’s the one who gets banned? Does that make sense? Furthermore, does cussing on an EA-owned forum warrant an outright bannishment from EA, one that prevents access to content that’s already been bought and paid for? Here’s an image of what MaximumTacos was greeted with when he tried to access his copy of Battlefield: Bad Company 2:

    Account Banned

    Not only does EA’s punishment seem to completely overstep the severity of the crime, they aren’t even punishing the right person. This is, apparently, DRM at its best and most powerful, something Boing Boing’s post points out:

    For years, DRM advocates scoffed at the idea that it would be used for bullshit like this — the refrain was always that it was about preventing piracy. But managing rights is what DRM was built to do, so that is what it’s used for.

    What’s next from EA? Banning a reviewer who didn’t like their 2013 version of Madden? Or, perhaps banning someone who tweets about their dissatisfaction with an EA product? To cover his plight, MaximumTacos is starting a blog to document his dealings with EA, but at this point, I’d seriously consider legal representation, because not only is EA’s punishment entirely too severe — complete banishment from products for swearing at an EA forum? Isn’t that like 10 steps beyond what’s appropriate? — but it wasn’t even enforced against the right person.

    It’s in the game, apparently.

  • Battlefield 3 Breaks Records for EA

    Battlefield 3 Breaks Records for EA

    If you’re keeping track of the throwdown between EA and Activision for gaming supremacy — a contest that will inevitably be won by the more popular and more well known Modern Warfare 3 — EA got the first piece of good news, learning that initial sales for their Battlefield 3 installment broke previous sale records to become the fastest selling EA video game in history.

    Consider this a head start for EA if you will, although, expect Activision’s offering to quickly close the gap when it launches next Tuesday.

    Whatever the final numbers are for these first-person shooters, and regardless of Modern Warfare 3‘s impending success, EA will undoubtedly still be celebrating Battlefield 3, especially when you consider the latest installment sold five million copies in one week, which catapulted to the top of EA’s fastest-selling game list. This means that ever since arriving in stores on October 25th, the newest version of Battlefield sold faster than EA’s ubiquitous Madden franchise, which is news in and of itself.

    That fact that Madden is not the fastest-selling game is surprising, but then again, Madden gets an update every year and the new version of Battlefield has been completely overhauled for the both the next-gen consoles and the PC market, where the game truly shines:


    EA also released additional information concerning the successful launch of Battlefield 3:

    EA released several indicators of the game’s success: Battlefield 3 fans executed 73 million “savior kills”, 48 million “revives” by medics and destroyed 67 million vehicles. And they also accrued 2.5 million Facebook Likes and 200,000 Twitter followers, EA said.

    Of course, the true test of Battlefield’s appeal will be known when Modern Warfare 3 — which is being billed as “the most anticipated game ever” — hits the stores, which happens in on November 8. Even with Battlefield’s undeniable hot start, some industry analysts aren’t too worried about how the newest installment of Modern Warfare will do:

    [Michael Pachter, videogame analyst, Wedbush Morgan Securities] forecasts that Modern Warfare 3 will come out on top with 16 million copies sold worldwide this year. That’s double the sales total he predicts for Battlefield 3, which should sell 8 million copies globally. And that’s just this year. Modern Warfare 3 could sell an additional 8 million copies in 2012 and Battlefield 3 could tally another 2 million units sold next year.

    Considering the incredible success of Modern Warfare 2, it’s not as if Pachter is going out on a limb with his prediction, although, it should be noted that, in only a week’s time, Battlefield 3 is over halfway to his prediction of 8 million units sold, and the 2011 Christmas shopping season — a period that should boost each title’s sales even further — hasn’t even begun yet, at least not in earnest.

    Just in case you need yet another reminder, here are the launch videos for both installments, starting with Battlefield:


    Whatever your feelings toward each franchise are, there’s no denying it’s a great time to be a gamer, especially one who enjoys the FPS genre.

  • David Lynch, A Web-based Talent Show and Bad Lip Reading

    Who knew filmmaker David Lynch was a solo artist capable of making some pretty crazy sounding music? I suppose his style of film should provide a clue at what kind of music Lynch would make if he were to do so, and I have no doubt what you imagine will be a lot like “Crazy Clown Time,” if, somehow, the title of the song didn’t clue you in.

    Lynch’s awesome song is just one of today’s top videos, which also includes information about the YouNow talent show, another incredible offering from the folks at Bad Lip Reading, this time, their focus is on Michelle Bachman. In the words of Korn, are you ready? I’m not quite sure you are. If so, then take my hand and I’ll get us started off with this crazy offering from David Lynch.

    Enjoy the trip:


    Yes, as a matter of fact, that is David Lynch singing. In fact, according to the YouTube page, Lynch performed and produced the tracks on his upcoming album. Sounds like the perfect soundtrack to drop acid to, if that’s your thing. Hat-tip to Boing Boing for pointing Lynch’s work out.

    Speaking of talent, the next offering is an interview by WebProNews’ own Abby Johnson. In her latest piece, Abby interviews Adi Sideman, the CEO and founder of YouNow.com. YouNow is essentially an online talent show in the same vein as American Idol and X-Factor, expect, it’s much more interactive. Take a look at what Sideman had to share with Abby:


    This next piece is a labor of love, courtesy of Desrumaux Celine. The video, which is titled “Countdown,” is an awesome piece of animation. The subject manner is the launch of rocket, and the final product is pretty close to masterpiece status; at least to this writer:

    Countdown – HD from Desrumaux Celine on Vimeo.


    Here’s a link to Celine’s blogspot in case you’re interested in knowing more about this skilled artist.

    Next up is the awesome folks at Bad Lip Reading. Their latest target is Michelle Bachman, and much like the Obama and Rick Perry pieces, it pretty much nails everything:


    See more of their work at the Bad Lip Reading Tumblr site.

    Finally, from the self-serving pile, here’s EA’s latest attempt to market its highly anticipated Battlefield 3 video game, which comes out on the 25th of October. This latest piece is apparently meant a Facebook-only video, and, in fact, it’s unlisted on YouTube, but instead of making you jump through any Facebook hoops — you can do so at Battlefield’s Facebook page if you’d like — here’s the embed, and it features some NFL players you’re probably familiar with:


    Until next time, enjoy the videos. If you see any that should be featured in this segment, feel free to drop us a line.

  • Battlefield 3 Has A New Trailer, Too

    Battlefield 3 Has A New Trailer, Too

    Because Activision/Infinity Ward is targeting Modern Warfare 3 more towards the console users, and EA/Dice focusing Battlefield 3 directly at the PC gamers first, the presale war between the two, highly anticipated titles has been largely decided, with Modern Warfare 3 winning the day.

    But that doesn’t mean Battlefield’s makers, Dice, aren’t above stealing thunder attempts when Modern Warfare 3 content hits the streets. Earlier, the Modern Warfare 3 online play trailer hit, and, not to be outdone, Battlefield 3, too, has a new trailer. The latest one highlights some of the different weapons players can come across during the game.

    Much like MW3’s latest, the new BF3 trailer is pretty ballsy as well:


    Yeah, I’m sold.

    As indicated earlier, both games target different gamers, with Modern Warfare 3 concentrating on the XBox 360/PlayStation 3 crowd. Any PC gamers who buy it are welcome, too, but Activision makes its hay with the console crowd, and there’s nothing wrong with that. To many, gaming is gaming, no matter what platform is used.

    Meanwhile, Battlefield 3 has the PC gamer directly in its sites, and while that makes for superior-looking and controlling games, the reach isn’t nearly as expansive. That being said, BF3 will indeed be available for consoles, but if Dice had their way, the consoles wouldn’t even be a consideration. To them, the best way to enjoy the potential of Battlefield 3 is to play it on a souped up PC. A quote from Battlefield 3 Executive Producer Patrick Bach reveals as much:

    PCs are way more powerful than the consoles today and there are actually almost zero games out there that actually use the benefits of this. So for our target of what we want to hit, we are now using the more powerful platform to try and prove what we see gaming being in the future rather than using the lowest common denominator, instead of developing it for the consoles and then just adding higher resolution textures and anti-aliasing for the PC version… we start with the highest-end technology that we can come up with and then scale it back to the consoles.

    The following image, courtesy of an awesome Yahtzee Crowshaw review, may help portray the issue a little better:

    PC Gamer

    Of course, by making console players feel, oh, less than desirable, you could alienate a large portion of your potential customer base; although, it should be noted Battlefield 3 has presold over 700,000 copies between the XBox and the PlayStation.

    Clearly, these gamers weren’t too offended by Dice’s preference for the PC gaming environment.

    As a decided Battlefield fan–no, not a Modern Warfare hater, either–here’s another reason to buy this game: the 12 minute “Fault Line” trailer.

    If, after watching that, you aren’t interested in at least giving Battlefield 3 a spin, perhaps you should rethink that whole “gamer” title. It’s just too bad these games are coming out at the same time. Not enough time in the day, it seems.