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Tag: Dice

  • E3 2013: Battlefield 4 Multiplayer Gameplay Revealed

    As seen in Microsoft’s E3 presentation on Monday, Battlefield 4‘s graphics are truly ready to take advantage of next-generation consoles. It’s not the single player experience of running around a sinking aircraft carrier that sells Battlefield games, though. With this in mind, EA this week has also released several multiplayer trailers to try and coax Call of Duty players over to the

    Even though Activision and Infinity Ward are touting the new graphics technology implemented for Call of Duty: Ghosts, it’s clear that EA and DICE have won the graphics race this year. When it comes to gameplay, however, the two biggest console shooter franchises are innovating in different directions.

    Call of Duty: Ghosts will have minor additions such as leaning around corners and sliding. Oh, and dog soldiers.

    Battlefield 4, on the other hand, is implementing more interactive elements into gameplay. “Levolution” as EA’s press releases are calling it, will enable players to change map dynamics by, for instance, cutting power to certain lights or destroying entire buildings.

    The “Siege of Shanghai” trailer shows a massive building destruction sequence, while the “Best Moments” trailer shows gameplay similar to what Call of Duty players are used to:

  • EA Signs Exclusivity Deal With Disney To Make Star Wars Games

    EA Signs Exclusivity Deal With Disney To Make Star Wars Games

    We reported early last month that Disney shut down LucasArts and canceled all the games that the developer was working on. At the time, it was suggested that Disney would farm out future Star Wars games to outside publishers and developers. As it turns out, those Star Wars games will be going through only one publisher.

    EA announced today that it has signed an exclusive deal with Disney to be the sole publisher of Star Wars games for the foreseeable future. The exclusivity deal only covers games targeting a core gamer audience with Disney’s own mobile division overseeing all casual and mobile titles.

    “Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels president Frank Gibeau in a statement. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”

    The three above mentioned studios should make Star Wars fans giddy with glee. All three are respected developers with a proven track record so any Star Wars games out of them should be good. DICE may even finally finish Battlefront III – a game many have been requesting for years now.

    As for BioWare, a Star Wars game made by the core team could potentially be exciting as the studio also made Knights of the Old Republic – a title many consider to be the best Star Wars game ever made. Some may be hesitant of such a title, however, especially after BioWare’s The Old Republic failed to live up to the hype. The MMO was made by BioWare Austin, though, so some may be willing to give the main BioWare studio a chance, especially if its Star Wars game is similar to its recent Mass Effect trilogy.

    [h/t: Kotaku]

  • Battlefield 4 Revealed With 17 Minute Gameplay Trailer

    Battlefield, the only franchise that can compete head-to-head with Call of Duty, will be getting a new installment this year. Unsurprisingly, the game will be called Battlefield 4 and feature more of the same excellent multiplayer that fans have come to expected coupled with a singleplayer campaign that promises to be more “human, dramatic and believable” than past entries.

    That singleplayer campaign is the focus of the 17 minute gameplayer trailer that accompanied the reveal last night. DICE stresses that everything in the trailer is rendered in game. Battlefield 3 was already a visually impressive game, and Battlefield 4 is already looking like it will set a new benchmark for in-game visuals.

    “We are so humbled and proud to debut Battlefield 4 on a global stage with simultaneous events in San Francisco and Stockholm. To be this early in development, and to already be so polished is a huge achievement for the DICE team and reflection of their passion and commitment to driving the franchise forward. Today’s demo was just the beginning — we have so much more in store,” said Patrick Soderlund, Executive Vice President, EA Games Label. “It is thrilling to witness peoples’ reaction when seeing the game for the first time. It really makes you realize that we are at the beginning of a whole new era for gaming. As artists and craftspeople, we are focused on creating a dynamic, open design that brings people together with amazing, surprising unscripted moments that they’ll talk about for days. That’s the beauty of Battlefield.”

    Beyond the visuals, it looks like we’ll get more of the solid gameplay that Battlefield is known for. The only unknown is the story, but the early gameplay demo shows promise. DICE has already proven it can tell an entertaining story with the Bad Company series, but it remains to be seen if the developer can do the same thing with a more dramatic turn of events.

    Battlefield 4 will be released this fall for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. There’s no mention of next-gen consoles, but a game this pretty is bound to end up on them.

  • Battlefield 3 End Game DLC Trailer Released

    Back in December 2012, Dice and EA teased Battlefield 3 fans with a peek at the upcoming “End Game” DLC. That content still isn’t out, but its March release date is finally close.

    Today, EA released another trailer showing off all the new maps included in the add-on. The four new maps included in the DLC are “Operation Riverside,” “Nebandan Flats,” “Kiasar Railroad,” and Sabalan Pipeline. As shown prominently in the trailer, dirt bikes will also be introduced in “End Game,” as well as a capture the flag game mode, new assignments, new dog tags, and a new dropship that can perform vehicle drops.

    Unfortunately, the tailer does not include any actual gameplay, instead opting to show off the new maps and dirt bikes with frozen panorama shots.

  • Watch Industry Figures Talk About The Future Of Gaming At D.I.C.E.

    D.I.C.E. 2013 is well underway. It’s opening keynote was delivered by none other than Gabe Newell of Valve, but other industry figures are on hand to talk about the future of gaming and interactive entertainment. If you fancy yourself a gamer or game developer, you’ll definitely want to check some of these keynotes out.

    First up is Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman. Her company recently announced that it would be shipping out the new Ouya console in June. Listen in to find out what she thinks the future of console gaming holds for us all:

    Next up is David Cage, CEO at Quantic Dream. His studio has been pushing interactive storytelling more so than any other AAA studio with games like Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain. Expect a lot of talk on how the industry gets storytelling all wrong:

    Amir Rao, Supergiant Games’ studio director, is up next to talk about Bastion, an indie darling from 2011:

    Rounding out the keynotes is Glen Schofield, founder of Sledgehammer Games. Before helping out Infinity Ward on Call of Duty, he was VP of Visceral Games and creator of Dead Space.

  • Watch Gabe Newell Talk About The Future Of Valve

    Gabe Newell is pretty busy these days. Just last week, he was at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs talking about the business of video games. Now he’s at the annual D.I.C.E. Summit where he gave two separate talks – one with director J.J. Abrams and one on the future of Valve.

    Unfortunately, the video of his talk with Abrams has not been uploaded just yet. From reports out of the show, it sounds like it was pretty entertaining. As a bonus, the two announced their plans to work together on Portal and Half-Life films.

    Today, Newell delivered the opening keynote on the future of Valve and the industry as a whole. Fortunately, that has been uploaded, and you can watch it all below. There’s some fascinating insights into how Newell views PC gaming as the next big thing, and what Valve is doing to capitalize on it.

    For a company as secretive as Valve, it’s been nice to see Newell speaking so frankly at so many events over the past few months. That being said, I don’t think we’re going to start seeing Half-Life 3 details sprouting up anytime soon. Still, it’s nice to hear industry insight from one of the most ambitious and innovate men in the business.

  • Battlefield 3 “End Game” Preview Released

    EA dropped the ball for the shooter genre this year. Instead of a polished competitor to the massively successful Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the publisher released Medal of Honor Warfighter. The game was shipped unfinished, requiring a massive day-one patch. Reviewers criticized it for its of its name, bland gameplay, and over-the-top military bravado/machismo, even for a military shooter.

    Thankfully, EA and DICE are still supporting last year’s Battlefield 3, which was a hit and well-received. Today EA released a teaser trailer for the upcoming Battlefield 3 DLC. Titled “End Game,” the add-on will feature four new multiplayer maps “designed for high speed combat and action.” New vehicles are included as well, including the dirt bikes that feature heavily in the trailer. Also, the capture the flag game mode will be part of the add-on, as well as a dropship that can perform vehicle drops.

  • Battlefield 1942 Now Free on Origin

    In celebration of the game’s tenth anniversary, EA and DICE have made Battlefield 1942 available for free via Origin. The game is available for download now in the demos section of Origin.

    “When we launched Battlefield 1942 ten years ago, we had lofty ambitions to create a first-person shooter that would push the boundaries of innovation, creativity and design,” said Karl Magnus Troedsson, General Manager of DICE. “We evolved the FPS gameplay formula by introducing the world to all-out warfare via land, air and sea. Since the beginning, the reception to the Battlefield series has been incredible thanks to our amazing fans. Every day, we strive to provide our community with great games and new ways to play as evident with Battlefield 3 Premium. We wanted to thank our fans who have supported us throughout the years by restoring Battlefield 1942 for a digital re-release and give everyone a chance to play the game that started it all.”

    EA doesn’t have a new military shooter out this year to compete with Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. There was Medal of Honor Warfighter, but that game received poor reviews that weren’t even related to the massive day-one patch gamers had to download to make the game playable.

    So, instead of marketing Warfighter, EA is pushing subscriptions to its Battlefield 3 Premium service, which gives players access to new maps, weapons, vehicles, and game modes. The publisher announced as part of its second quarter financial results that it has already gotten 2 million Battlefield players to fork over $50 for the service.

  • EA Looking At Other Games For Premium Subscriptions

    EA Looking At Other Games For Premium Subscriptions

    We were hoping this wouldn’t happen when EA announced that they were launching a premium service for Battlefield 3. Then the announcement came out that EA/DICE has sold 800,000 subscribers the Battlefield 3 Premium service. Now it look as though EA is looking into other franchises that it currently has to see if the “premium” or subscription based service will be worth the effort.

    In an interview with Games Industry International, EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau said:

    “We’ve launched subscription businesses in our other categories. We had EA Sports subscription before Elite came out, so adding that component to the design is not a reaction. It’s something we’d always been considering and we had been looking at. We didn’t have it ready for launch and it took us some time to get it prepped. Having said that, they [Activision] did something really innovative and if your competitor does something innovative and you think it applies to what you can do, then there’s no harm in doing that,” he said. “This is an industry where people have a lot of oneupsmanship and if somebody innovates, you match it or you exceed it.”

    With the success that EA has achieved with first its sports subscription and now Battlefield 3 Premium, we can all look forward to the day when we get the Need For Speed Premium emails from Origin. Then what is next is obvious. I think that eventually you will only be able to purchase DLC in gigantic $50-$60 “premium” packs. so that the developers can “justify’ the fact that they “only” charge you $60 to “buy” a game. Lots of quotations expresses the severe sarcasm in my remarks.

  • Battlefield 3 To Get Week Long Double XP Event

    It looks as though EA/DICE have really found their stride when it comes to how to get people to buy and stay in their little world called Battlefield 3. Offer an absurd amount of double XP events! This time anyone can gain access to the double XP extravaganza for 2 1/2 days, but to get the entire 6 days of the event you must be one of the 800,000 Battlefield 3 Premium members.

    Here is the who, what, where, when, and why of the double XP event:

    July Double XP event

    – What: Double your net score after every round

    -Who: All players

    -When: July 2-8 for Premium members, July 2-4 for non-Premium members

    -Starts: 00:01 PDT/07:01 UTC July 2 (click link for handy time conversion tool)

    -Ends for non-Premium members: 13:00 PDT/20:00 UTC July 4

    -Ends for Premium members: 23:59 PDT July 8/06:59 UTC July 9

    So there you go. Non-subscribers get the event from today through midday on Wednesday, and Premium members get it until July 8th. The double XP events are truly worth your time if you are a low level and trying to get that precious USAS 12 unlock. It is not uncommon to have a 60,000 point round these days with all of the “special events!”

    Here is the trailer for the “Close Quarters” DLC maps and the pure destruction and double XP goodness that can come with the maps:

  • Battlefield 3 Premium Gets 800,000 Subscribers In 2 Weeks

    In news that is sure to infuriate many people and alienate even more, EA/DICE has announced that 800,000 people have signed up for their brand new Battlefield 3 Premium service. Doing some math, this means that EA/DICE has made $40 million from this service. This will mean that something like this will become the norm for nearly every first person shooter from EA going forward.

    From my personal experience with the Battlefield franchise and in dealing with DICE, the amount of content, double XP events, and new content is well worth the price of $50. The only problem is that this will now mean that nearly every Battlefield game from now until forever will cost me $110 from the get go because these games will now launch with the premium service.

    Battlefield 3 had a lot of huge problems when it first launched, all of which have been solved. To have a new service like this show that there are still near 1 million active players that will be enjoying this game until at least March when the last bit of DLC comes out, shows how robust the Battlefield community really is.

    Here is the official Battlefield 3 Premium launch trailer that actually showed of some pretty cool stuff like the addition of dirt bikes:

  • Medal Of Honor Warfighter Gets Military Only Version

    There are 2 big boys on the block these days when it comes to online first person shooters: Call of Duty and Battlefield. Well, the once proud Medal of Honor series is looking for a major comeback. They tried last year with a subpar effort when they released Medal of Honor. The game underperformed because the multiplayer was, in my opinion, a Battlefield light game. Designed by DICE using the Frostbite 2.0 game engine, they just tried to hard to make it different.

    This time around they are throwing their weight into an all new portion of gaming by partnering with GovX, an online shopping destination for active duty, reserve, and retired members of the US Armed Forces and related government agencies. The hope is to raise “awareness and generating charitable contributions for fallen warriors from the Special Operations Community in honor of the sacrifices they and their families have made for their country.”

    Part of this program is to have real-world weapon and gear manufacturers like Kaenon, London Bridge Trading, Magpul, SureFire, Mechanix Wear have their items featured in the game as to increase the “real world” feel to MOH. As we all know, that no matter how cool a game like Burnout Paradise is, if it featured real cars, it would be so much cooler.

    The second part, which is the best part in my opinion, is that the weapon and gear partners mentioned above will sell Medal of Honor-themed merchandise in their respective stores, and donate 100 percent of proceeds to the Navy SEAL Foundation, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and other charities. An example given is that London Bridge Trading is currently offering a series of Medal of Honor patches through its online store.

    Medal of Honor Warfighter is due out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 23 in North America, and October 26 in Europe. Preorder bonuses will get you the Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition, which grants users the US Navy SEAL Tier 1 Sniper on day one. This unlock would otherwise require about 40 hours of gameplay to acquire.

  • BF3 Close Quarters Patch Pushed Through For PS3

    Anyone who either signed up for Premium service for Battlefield 3 on the Playstation 3 and hoped to play the expansion titled “Close Quarters” was in for a rude awakening because it was completely unplayable. Most got stuck in a never ending loop of trying to join or the maps just weren’t available to play on any server. So today when I switched on my PS3 I had a message waiting for me that stated:

    “Our apologies to Battlefield 3 Premium members. An error with :close quarters expansion pack has been resolved. Please go into the PSN store and locate the Battlefield 3: Close Quarters” add-o. OInce there, re-download and install the add-on and then launch the game.”

    There is an attachment link for the download in the email and the size of the download is 1142 mb so it is a redownload of the “Close Quarters” maps.

    I have to say, at least DICE was on top of this. Most of the time with this game they ignore it for months on end without even recognizing the problem. Maybe they are finally listening?

    Thanks to Banangy for the heads up on this!

    Here is the launch trailer for Battlefield 3 “Close Quarters>’ In case you haven’t seen it yet:

  • EA’s 2012 E3 Press Conference: FIFA 13, Dead Space 3

    EA has a lot to prove this year. They need to fix customer loyalty and bring back the fans they lost by messing up games like they did with Battlefield 3. Let’s all hope that EA can pick up their game and turn into a respectable company again.

    It is beginning:

    – Dead Space 3: The game is going to feature co-op for the first time. The co-op is also drop in drop out. It looks like it will be a great addition to the Dead Space franchise. The preview features a lot of co-op battle and shows scenes from the outdoor level on an alien planet. Kind of look like Lost Planet now. It is being released in February of 2013.

    – Now it is time for Madden NFL 13. They are showing a great speech by Ray Lewis who has become somewhat of a great motivational speaker. The game features a new Infinity Engine. The Infinity Engine has the ability to run multiple scenarios so each collision does not look the same. The revamped engine is looking like it will really impact the way the game is played. It gives the game the ability to read the plays and for the physics to change on the fly. Makes it so a smaller player can no longer run over a larger player. The game also features social media integration.

    – Maxis is out now with a Sim City game for Facebook called Sim City Social. They are also here to promote the newest Sim City called “Sim City.” They are lauding the fact that this is the first SIm City to feature multiplayer where the things you do will effect the other players around you. It looks beautiful and as a Sim City fan, I can’t wait.

    – DICE is up with Battlefield 3! 1.6 trillion bullets have been fired! There are over 15 million players having played this game. They are out to promote the previously announced Battlefield 3 Premium. Motorcycles are coming in March for you Beefers out there! It is available today for $49.99 on the PS3, and next week for the PC and Xbox 360.

    – Next up is Bioware with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Over 1 million players were playing on day 1 but what can they do since they are bleeding players? They are adding more PvP war zones and adding Hardcore modes. They are also adding more species and a new planet. No mention of a F2P version coming but in July you can play the game up to level 15 for free!

    – Medal of Honor: Warfighter is up next. The first game’s multiplayer was designed by DICE. The new game doesn’t have the same developer for multiplayer but does feature Battlefield 3’s Frostbite 2.0 engine. It looks great but so did the first game. The problem with the first game is that it was like Battlefield light, it will be interesting to see if they can find their own foothold on the FPS market.

    – EA Sports is out now to promote Madden NFL Social. You can start the game on FB and finish it on your phone. EA is doing NBA again! Interesting that they are getting back into it after being out a year. Now to the biggest sports game in the world FIFA 13. EA considers FIFA games to be Soccers social network. With 5 million replays of Man City’s victory over QPR, it’s pretty safe to say their right. FIFA 13 will have carry over EXP from FIFA 12. You can earn money now for kits and boots. You can also get an iOS app to keep you connected to FIFA Football Club. Messi is on the cover of the new game. FIFA 13 is the 20th game in this franchise.

    – New UFC game is next. Dana White is out to talk about the game. EA and the UFC will now have a multi year, multi game deal going. Dana White reminds me of a lamer version of Vince McMahon.

    – Criterion Games is out now with the new Need For Speed game titled “Need For Speed: Most Wanted.” It is a shame that they aren’t being allowed to make another Burnout game. At least it will be an open world game. The map of this game look eerily similar to that of Burnout Paradise. The game is definitely a Need For Speed game. Cheese factor of 10. It comes out on October 30th of this year.

    – Crytek is out with Crysis 3. The game is built with the Cryengine 3 and it looks great. It has a cool open world feel even though it has a definite path to follow. It looks like a great game!

    So all in all a very underwhelming performance. They had a huge announcement of a new NBA game that they just casually mentioned and they should have played the Dead Space 3 co-op card a little more. No new Mirror’s Edge, no new Burnout game, but all in all good because it was predictable.

  • EA Officially Announces Battlefield 3 Premium

    To combat Activision’s paid service titled Call of Duty: Elite, EA is firing it’s own salvo titled Battlefield 3 Premium. In an exclusive story by Reuters, Battlefield 3 Premium has been confirmed by EA for a June 4th release date.

    The service was initially teased earlier last week with tons of rumors regarding price and release date and what exactly it would contain. Then yesterday a trailer was leaked. So now that the service has officially been confirmed, what did the report say about it?

    The report has a few goodies that are totally worth mentioning:

    – EA has sold 15 million copies of Battlefield 3 across 3 platforms. This is major because a lot of people were fed up with the COD franchise and looked elsewhere. It looks as though EA/DICE did exactly what they wanted to do with the game.

    – The service will indeed be $50 and will launch on June 4th.

    – The huge news out of this piece is that Playstation 3 players will get all future DLC 2 weeks earlier than Xbox 360 or PC now instead of 1 week earlier. This is kind of big.

    Here is the leaked trailer:

  • Battlefield 3 Premium Trailer Is Leaked

    Battlefield 3 Premium Trailer Is Leaked

    Last week we got a ton of rumors coming out about the impending release of Battlefield 3 Premium, a one stop shop for all DLC maps, skins, weapons, and vehicles. A point by point document was released on a German website that basically gave away all the info. Now we get the official Battlefield 3 Premium trailer that was leaked out and has been taken down from every youtube account. I found this one but who knows how long it will stay up.

    What Did We Learn?

    Aside form the fact that DICE/EA can make great videos, a lot actually. Most of what we learned are specifics instead of generalities that we had before.

    – We find out that there will indeed be 20 new guns added to the arsenal. That should be 5 new assignments per DLC pack, but there are no confirmations as to if these will be available immediately or if you will have to earn them.

    – There will also be more than 10 new vehicles. This includes the return of the awesome ATV. Also shown in a roll of new vehicles but noot shown playable are a C-130 hercules transport plane in what could definitely be a Spectre gunship. Mobile artillery like a howitzer is also shown. And rocket trucks which makes me believe that DICE is bringing back the air raid portion of the game like in BF 1943. If you haven’t played BF 1943 check this out:

    – Exclusive camo for weapons and kits. So they are bringing a sense of customization to the game after all.

    – We also get the confirmation of some new game modes. Conquest assault which we have already seen in the back to Karkand expansion, Tank Superiority which I’m betting is an “Armored Kill” exclusive mode, and Gun Master which has never been mentioned before but wouldn’t surprise me if it is like the gun game mode from COD.

    So htere is a bunch of great looking stuff that is sure to make for a great experience. How it will work or if it will get delayed at all are the better questions to ask.

  • DICE Bringing Playable Version Of BF3 DLC “Armored Kill” To E3

    Since the cat is out of the bag regarding the Battlefield 3 Premium that we reported about Tuesday, DICE is now moving on to their DLC. First up to bat is the in your face DLC titled “Close Quarters” which is going to focus on smaller maps that feature more PvP combat and no vehicles.

    After that in September we will get “Armored Kill.” Obviously at this point no one know exactly what it will be about or what it will feature, but the thinking is that it will be huge maps with Tank based combat. This is of course because of the name, who know what DICE will actually do.

    It is pretty cool that they are bringing a working model of some DLC that doesn’t come out for another 3 months. They are also bringing “Close Quarters to E3, but that comes out on Tuesday which is when EA’s press conference is so there isn’t going to be too much surprise there. Look for the full Battlefield 3 Premium program to be detailed, as well as the name of the 5th and final DLC for March 2013.

    Here is the “Close Quarters” trailer for you to enjoy again:

    image courtesy of Battlefield.com

  • Battlefield 3 Patch Features Mass 26 Dart Fix!!!

    DICE is continuing to support their game as much as they can. For some people it is really not enough, for others it is ok. I’m fine with it because I know that they will keep patching it to make it as good as possible until the next Battlefield game comes out. They had a previous patch come out in march that featured over 200 fixes. This update is not as big in terms of number of fixes, but it does fix two major problems that arose from the patch.

    The first is the fix to the mass 26 dart glitch that, according to DICE, caused the mass 26 to shoot assault rifle bullets when it was placed under an assault rifle that had a heavy barrel. This was, as some people described it, game breaking. The second major fix is to lessen the suppression system, which honestly had gotten to the point where it looked like someone dumped Vaseline on my tv screen every time someone even looked at me. While it is not being totally nerfed, it should be a bit better.

    Changes are valid across all platforms (PC, PlayStation3, and Xbox 360) unless stated otherwise. The schedule for this update is:

    PC and Xbox 360 worldwide: June 4th

    PlayStation 3 in Japan/Asia: June 5th

    PlayStation 3 in all other regions: June 4th

    Here is a complete list of the changes from the official Battlefield Blog:

    Vehicle related changes

    – Tweaked the F35 handling to more closely resemble that of the SU35 (see above).
    – Jet & helicopter ECM Jammer should now deflect missiles more reliably when it is active.
    – Fixed an issue where vehicles wouldn’t spawn if their intended space was occupied by a deployable gadget. The vehicle will now spawn as intended and the gadget will be destroyed in the process.
    – Fixed AA missiles not doing damage to vehicles moving at very high speeds.
    – Reduced the direct damage from unguided Javelins to require better side hits for a 1 hit disable. This was previously too forgiving and easy to accomplish.
    – Removed the direct damage from aircraft launched guided missiles. Players will need to have laser designated targets for full effectiveness.
    – Adjusted the helicopter rockets to their original prepatch damage value against armored vehicles. This is a reduction; a revert of a knock on effect that was introduced accidentally.
    – Fixed the US Tank Guided Shell doing the reverse damage values when guided and unguided.
    – Adjusted the M224 mortar damage against vehicles. Some tweaks and adjustments in a previous update accidentally increased its effectiveness greater than intended.
    – Increased the range on the AA guns so they can reach vehicles hovering at the maximum height in select maps.
    – Replaced the VDV buggy on Gulf of Oman (Back to Karkand) with the DPV buggy for both teams at the City flag.
    – Fixed a bug where some vehicle unlocks were still enabled after the player left the vehicle.

    Soldier and gadget related changes

    – Reduced the inaccuracy added when in suppression. There is still an enhanced suppression compared to the initial state in the game, but the effect is now less than it was in the last patch (see above).
    – Reduced input lag for gamepads/joysticks on all platforms. Aiming as a soldier when using a gamepad or joystick should now be more responsive.
    – Tweaked the deploy times on gadgets to be faster to deploy in high stress combat situations.
    – Greatly improved the responsiveness when deploying a bipod when going prone and shortly after moving. The bipod deploy should no longer abort if the player deploys the bipod immediately after stopping.
    – Fixed bug where you couldn’t deploy the mortar anywhere on Grand Bazaar.
    – When changing the accessories of a weapon in the Customize screen, the weapon previously selected in the Deploy screen will now automatically be selected when entering the Accessories screen.
    – Increased the effectiveness of the Aim Assist at close range. Testing in Close Quarters proved our current assist to be inadequate in tight quarters. This is a global change, and will improve the effectiveness of Aim Assist for all modes and maps. Aim Assist over distance is still significantly less effective. This is console only, as Aim Assist is not present on PC. If you prefer, you can also turn it off on console.
    – Players will now spawn on the Radio Beacon looking in the same direction the Beacon is facing. The Beacon always faces in the direction the player is facing when it is planted. Previously the Beacon’s direction had no impact on the player’s spawn direction.
    – The Spawn Preview camera on the Spawn Beacon has been updated to better reflect the direction the player will be looking when he spawns.
    – 40mm smoke now stays longer again.
    – Tweaked some tracers on sniper rounds to have better visibility at range (the tracers are smaller).
    – Tweaked the flashlight so it is less blinding at the edge of the screen.
    – Fixed bug where you couldn’t pick up your deployed gadgets after being revived.

    Weapons related changes

    – Fixed a bug where Heavy Barrels and Underslung Shotguns could be over powered. (This is the so called M26 dart issue, see above)
    – All semi-automatic sniper rifles now properly have shorter range when using a suppressor.
    – The L96 now properly shoots where the iron sights are aimed. The position was previously offset.
    – The SKS now has the proper damage values when using a suppressor. The damage was previously too low at close range.
    – Slightly reduced the suppression effect of SKS rounds.
    – Decreased the long range damage of the SKS to highlight its close to medium range role.
    – Slightly decreased the foregrip aimed accuracy penalty on the M4A1 to bring it in line with other guns.
    – Slightly increased the foregrip aimed accuracy penalty on the SCAR-H to bring it in line with other guns.
    – Reduced some of the vertical recoil and zoomed accuracy penalties added to the FAMAS in the previous update.
    – F2000 foregrip accuracy penalty reduced and recoil reduction bonus increased.
    – AEK971 foregrip recoil reduction bonus increased.
    – SG553 foregrip recoil reduction bonus increased.
    – FAMAS foregrip recoil reduction bonus increased.
    – Fixed the M416’s M26 with Flechettes not having a name in the kill log.
    – Fixed so all clip based LMGs have Extended Mags as an available unlock.
    – All semi-automatic shotguns now fire at 220rpm. There was previously simply a small difference between them, whereas now they have different pellet counts instead of rates of fire.
    – Improved the recoil and accuracy of the M26 to match the 870.
    – Reduced the impact suppression has on shotguns. Shotguns are still affected by Suppression but it should no longer significantly impact their accuracy from the hip as it previously did.
    – The 870’s pump speed has been increased slightly from 0.55 seconds to 0.48 seconds. The empty reload time for the 870 has also been reduced slightly.
    – Improved the accuracy of aimed shotguns when on the move.
    – The Saiga’s recoil has been reduced.
    – The M1014 now fires 10 projectiles. The other semi auto shotguns have 9 pellets, and since the M1014 has a lower mag size and a slower reload it now fires 10 pellets to give it some edge.
    – The USAS-12 now fires 7 projectiles.
    – The MK3A1 now fires 8 projectiles.
    – Fixed so the weapon’s fire mode is saved between spawns.

    Miscellaneous changes

    – Added colorblind option for consoles (see above).
    – Added colorblind icon for squad leader (all formats).
    – Added the option for console server admins to show a symbol in the server browser signifying custom rules are in effect (see above).
    – Fixed an issue where footsteps couldn’t be heard behind you.
    – Fixed so that the arming of an M-COM station will not be cancelled if you look at a dropped weapon.
    – Fixed exploit where you could teleport to the AA gun on carriers by firing an EOD bot at its door.
    – Fixed co-op ammo HUD not showing on first enter.
    – Fixed so you get prompted if you really want to switch team when pressing the Switch team button.
    – Fixed so that Assignments are being correctly sorted on the My Soldier\Assignments screen.
    – Fixed issue with commorose not working on soldiers in vehicles (PC).
    – Added blinking capture point icons in the 3D HUD, and added blinking neutral icons in objectives bar.
    – Composed a more informative error message for when a console player attempts to rent a server in a location where there are currently no servers available.
    – Fix for dog tag icons in the My Soldier/Assignments screen appearing slightly stretched.
    – Fixed some tracers appearing behind the soldier or vehicle that fired them.
    – Potential random audio crash fix.

  • Battlefield 3 Premium Laid Out in New Document

    The information about the new Battlefield 3 Premium is coming like an avalanche now. It started this morning with a big oops by the European Playstation Blog that had erroneously put on their store update that Battlefield 3 Premium was coming on June 4th for 40 British Pounds. Now we get a leaked document from a German website about Battlefield 3 Premium, and it is a doozy.

    So there you go. If this document is 100% accurate it is going to piss people off big time. A couple of big things are on here. Number one being that the purchase price going forward will include all map packs. If this is true then by buying this Premium you will save $10 over the lifetime of this game which isn’t too bad and I understand why they would do this.

    It will include 20 maps, 20 new weapons, 10+ new vehicles, 4 new game modes, 30+ assignments, and 20+ dog tags. Thats a ton of content and if completing an assignment equals a new weapon like it did in Back to Karkand, then you are looking at 50 new weapons.

    Now to the crap parts of this document. A stat reset version is included so people can see how good they really are now that they know how to play. Not that big of a deal but pretty useless. The one that will make people mad is the ability to jump to the head of the que for a server with a wait linne if they are a Battlefield 3 Premium subscriber. And as you can see below, Twitter is already not happy about it:

    Samit Sarkar
    @SamitSarkar     Pretty sure my Battlefield 3 disc will never again see the inside of my Xbox 360. http://t.co/ZtTgP4DA
    38 minutes ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Alexander Sliwinski
    @Sliwinski     I don’t even want to talk about this Battlefield 3 Premium nonsense because there’s nothing polite to say. http://t.co/Lg6GxF1R
    44 minutes ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Fraaz K
    @fraazk     A $50 premium subscription package for Battlefield 3. Jesus, I wouldn’t even pay that for a good video game, much less BF3.
    35 minutes ago via Twitterrific for Mac · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

  • Battlefield 3 Premium Confirmed By Sony For June 4th

    Oops….It looks like Sony may have just made a fairly major boo boo. On the update for the European PS store, They have the Close Quarters DLC pack listed for June 4th. What they also have is a listing for the until now unconfirmed Battlefield 3 Premium. It has a release date of June 4th which is the date of the EA press event at E3.

    All you have to do is go to the European Playstation Blog and check out this weeks Playstation Store update to see the oopsie.

    So now that the speculation of “IF” is gone, we can now speculate on “WHAT.” What exactly is the Battlefield 3 Premium going to be? Judging by the name being Battlefield 3 Premium and not Battlefield Premium that this will just be for Battlefield 3 and not a COD Elite clone.

    The price is also an eye opener. Previous rumors have had it as a discount program. That instead of paying $20 – $30 going forward, you only pay $10 for each DLC after you buy BF3 Premium. That is a stretch now. With 4 announced expansions, I could see EA/DICE make a discount program that has us paying $50 now, and we get all future DLC. Kind of like an insurance policy for them so they know that they will make money on this game more than a year after its release which is when the 5th and final expansion is set to be released.

  • DICE Explains Destruction For Close Quarters DLC

    One of the more frustrating things about the visual effects of Battlefield 3 is that the destruction that we saw in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is almost non-existent. IN BFBC2 nearly every house, building, tree, and bush could be destroyed. Some trees could be taken down with a Barrett, everything except for a couple huge trees and the tower buildings could be taken down with C4/Rocket Launcher/Noob Tube. In Battlefield 3 there are many trees that are rocket resistant, tank resistant and otherwise invincible.

    So why exactly would we be excited about a post on the new destruction capabilities being included in the upcoming June expansion pack titled “Close Quarters?” Well it is because without the necessary horse power to run the vast, wide open maps with all the vehicles, they can focus on blowing crap up!

    Nadab Göksu, Senior VFX Artist at DICE has come to the great series titled “Inside DICE” where we get to see what and why certain decisions involving the game are made. This weeks episode focuses on the ins and outs of the new DLC launching in June. This post has a lot of technical stuff involved like how they “created a lot of new surface materials for “XP2” and a new set of gameplay/destruction effects for all of the different props and objects. This way it would be easier to control the new effects and to give this expansion pack a unique look.”

    Check out the video below. It look to me that the destructive environments haven’t been increased, just the amount of surface items that explode has been increased.