This weekend, EA really wants you to play Battlefield 3, so much so that they’re willing to offer you the chance at cash, trips and prizes just for playing.

Users who play Battlefield 3 online this weekend will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes for three pretty heavy prizes. The grand prize allows the winner and three friends the chance to visit the DICE studios in Stockholm, Sweden, a trip which includes air and hotel accommodations. Second prize is $5,000 in cash and third is the choice between an Xbox 360, a PS3 and an Alienware PC. Players can earn one entry for each day they log in.

Of course, the timing of the sweepstakes is no accident, as Battlefield’s biggest competitor, the much anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches this Tuesday and is sure to take away from Battlefield 3′s share of online competition.

It may be getting mixed reviews from critics (including us), EA’s Battlefield 3 continues to roll at retailers, selling more than 5 million copies in its first week. The publisher also announced that it has shipped more than 10 million units.

“We had a spectacular first week,” said Patrick Soderlund, executive vice president of the EA Games label. “The quality is actually trending up. We’ve seen an uplift in metacritic on the console 87 on PS3 and 85 on 360. We are holding at 90 on the PC. So we are more pleased with the quality of the product and the perception of it. I think the word of mouth from gamers is really strong. People are saying, ‘You have to go in and play this multiplayer. It is like an addiction’.”

So just how good are those numbers? To put it into comparison, Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest installment in the rival series doubled those numbers, selling 10 million copies in its first week, totaling a whopping $650 million.

Still though, it can’t be denied that the shooter, has momentum, entering the holiday season as one of the hottest games on the market, but how long could it last? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a game which has been in a heated rivalry with launches on November 8, and is expected to top the sales results of Black Ops.

In a move that’s going to surprise no one, it was confirmed at this year’s E3 that all Modern Warfare 3 DLC will be timed exclusives to the Xbox 360.  You didn’t expect Sony to take that lying down did you?

It was announced today that beginning with the already announced Road to Karkand,  all DLC for Modern Warfare 3′s closest competitor, EA’s Battlefield 3 will be exclusive to PS3 for one week before it hits Xbox Live.

EA has announced that Battlefield 3′s highly anticipated open beta will kick off next week for both PC and console platforms.

Kicking off September 29 and running until October 10, and set in Paris on the Operation Metro map playing the game’s Rush mode, the beta will give players an opportunity to explore the game, as well as Battlelog, the game’s social networking and matchmaking service.

Xbox 360 and PS3 owners must log on to their console’s digital marketplace to download the beta, while PC owners must install Origin to play the beta. Those who bought Medal of Honor’s special edition or pre-ordered the game on Origin will gain access two days earlier, on September 27.

Over the last year, there’s been a lot of talk about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 VS Battlefield 3. Who’s got the better engine? Who’s got the better multiplayer? Which one is going to sell more when they release within mere weeks of each other this fall. You know who doesn’t care? Infinity Ward — developers of Modern Warfare 3.

Speaking to IGN at an event to promote the game in Sydney, Australia, Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward’s Director of Communications and Community Manager, said that the studio isn’t focused on anything but getting the next Call of Duty ready.

“There’s no buy in on that sort of stuff,” says Bowling. “We don’t care about sales numbers, we don’t care about competition, we don’t care about beating anyone. Our 100 per cent focus is making a game that we’re going to love to play, that we’re going to be proud of, and that we know that our fans are going to play. To us, we don’t care if there are three people playing it or 30 million people playing it. If there are three people having a great time then we’ve done our job correctly and we will be happy.”

The war of words between EA, who is developing Battlefield 3 and Activision, who is developing Modern Warfare 3 has been anything but passive. Both companies (but admittedly EA a bit more) have taken potshots at the other, and there’s even rumors of CEOs of both companies being told they couldn’t see each other’s game at E3. Then again, reps from both companies did play nice at this year’s GamesCom, taking to Twitter to praise their rivals.

Battlefield 3 releases on October 25, with Modern Warfare 3 following behind it on November 8.

One of the first big reveals of this year’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco was EA’s much talked about shooter sequel Battlefield 3 — and boy did they start with a bang.

Featuring an immense sense of realism, incredible lighting and some interesting mechanics, Battlefield 3 surely just took a leap up on everyone’s interest list. DICE plans to release the next trailer on March 16.

In an effort to “be closer with family,” Battlefield: Bad Company 2 producer Gordon Van Dyke has left DICE for another Electronic Arts development house, Visceral Studios.

The revelation comes from none other than the man’s Twitter account.

April 1

“I know, April Fools, but yes, I have left DICE. I’m still in EA though & moving back to the Bay Area to be closer to family for a few years.”

April 2

“Thnx for all the kind words & this wasn’t an April Fools, but I’m still @ EA & will always have a close relationship with my friends @ DICE.”

April 4 8:37 a.m.

“I can’t say anything about the project I’m starting on, but our Execs always leak stuff to investors during their presentations. ”

April 4 9:44 p.m.

“Not to burst bubbles, but how does my moving to Visceral Studios in any way equal Battlefield ‘Anything’, it doesn’t so keep guessing. ”

April 6

“First day at Visceral went great, even though most of it was orientation. I think this project is going to impress & surprise gamers. ”

We sat down with the man at PAX in late March and would have pressed him about the topic, had we known.

We wish him best of luck in his future endeavors and would love to hear what the “secret project” is. And the embedded smiley faces are on Gordon’s part.

Electronic Arts and Battlefield developer DICE today unleashed new functionality to the world of Bad Company 2 in the form of making new game modes on existing maps.

You can now enjoy the spoils of Conquest Mode on Arica Harbor and Rush Mode on Laguna Presa.

Those who purchased a new copy of the game need only enter their VIP code to download the update, and those who didn’t, can find and pay for it in the in-game store.

Best of all, here’s a trailer detailing the new changes.

In today’s gaming world, multiplatform titles are more often than not better played on consoles when compared to PC, but this isn’t true with EA DICE’s “Bad Company 2.”

PC gamers kicking tail

DICE associate producer Barrie Tingle has revealed that during this launch week for “Bad Company 2,” the game is being played more on PC than its Xbox 360 and PS3 versions…combined.

Now, DICE and the Battlefield series have always been a first-and-foremost PC-driven effort, but it’s refreshing still to see the PC community challenging (and dominating in this case) the rapidly growing console contingency.

EA released this trailer, depicting why Bad Co. 2 on PC is superior to its console cousin, but I still don’t have enough for a proper gaming rig to run it.

Source: EA

Following up a mediocre original, Electronic Arts and Battlefield developer DICE, had a lot to do in the "make good" department with Bad Company 2.  Sappy dialogue and an overly cheesy story plagued the original, but none of that returns in the sequel.

Best known for its online multiplayer PC efforts, the Swedish developer unleashed a fair rival to Infinity Ward’s "Modern Warfare" on Tuesday and is a must-play for first-person-shooter fans.

While the original was critically viewed as somewhat of a lighthearted affair, the sequel bubbles with fast-paced action, compelling narrative and of course, the best multiplayer available anywhere.

Clearly gunning for "Modern Warfare 2," EA pulled it off with Bad Company 2, as in many ways, is a superior game.

It feels so good to take it down.

Bad Company 2 was built, like the original, employing DICE’s proprietary Frostbite game engine. This under-the-hood capability allows for anything and everything in your way to be eviscerated in the blink of an eye. While raiding a camp in South America you could, in theory, pick enemies off one by one by lurking around the perimeter, but you can also equip your grenade attachment and blow the bitch to smithereens. This game mechanic makes the game a highly dynamic and ultimately strategy-based affair. The game environment persistently changes as a firefight progresses. Cover is broken up and destroyed, leaving your enemies in plain sight, but it also works the other way.

Take it down!

I’m on a boat?

Often times throughout the game’s campaign you’ll pilot a boat, fight on foot and man a machine gun on the back of a speeding jeep, swapping from one to the other to the other in the course of mere minutes. This persistent variance allows the game to remain fresh and never dry or dull. In one particular level you’ll rip through a rural town with an Abrams tank, dismount, pop some bad guys in the dome, then pilot a UAV and rain fire down on rooftop RPG-wielders. It may sound schizophrenic and jumbled, but it actually works extremely well.

You put strong narrative in my FPS!

First-person-shooters are notorious for their lackluster and wholly unbelievable narratives, but Bad Company 2 doesn’t follow suit. The game opens with a very intriguing narrative approach (which I will not spoil) and it only gets better from there. Though the general plot is very predictable and consists of you and your burly squadmates stopping a Russian from launching a super weapon, you’ll grow attached to the characters because of DICE’s strong story-telling capability. Voice acting is phenomenal in Bad Co. 2. Every phrase feels genuine and this time when the guys joke around, it’s at appropriate times and is appropriately phrased. Cutscenes in the game are also well-executed. Whether it’s watching Marlowe sneak behind a sniper, slice his throat and watch the blood splatter or listening and watching the evil Kirilinko pace a room announcing his devilish plans, these scenes play out like film and are truly enjoyable to watch.

Just one piece of the vehicular puzzle.

Big guns, small guns, loud guns, quiet guns, rockets, knives and sniper rifles.

Bad Co. 2, as you’d expect, is full of weapons. Everything from the one-shot kill sniper rifle to silenced machine guns to the 12 inch jungle knife, proves the team at DICE know what’s what in the weapon department. As you traverse the game’s levels you’ll find weapons. When you pick up a foreign weapon, it’s added to your inventory which you access through the very useful "Crate" mechanic. At many places at many times during each level a crate will appear and accessing it will stop the game and allow you to resupply and change your primary and secondary weapon, based on what you’ve already collected. This is expressly useful when standing atop a hill looking down at a camp with a light machine gun. Access the Crate quickly and you’ve got a sniper rifle with devastating force.

Kill 'em All

You look so good I could eat you

Bad Company 2, for lack of better phrase, is one sexy bitch. Throughout the campaign you’ll travel across hemispheres finding yourself sometimes in lush forests with flowing water and other times storming a bitterly cold frozen encampment. The commonality among these varied locations is how gorgeously they are rendered. What’s even more compelling is the game’s draw distance, that is to say, how far the eye can see in the game. At times you’ll sit perched atop a hill and rain sniper fire down on infantry storming from east and west hundreds of meters away, and it’s easy and beautiful at the same time. Bad Company 2 is definitely one of the most graphically-stunning games on the market today. And to achieve such fidelity without a second of lag or drop-in, is quite a feat.

It really looks this good.

It’s really all about the multiplayer

As compelling and strong as Bad Company 2′s narrative and single player experience may be, it all deeply pales in comparison to the game’s multiplayer component, and this is no oddity. DICE has been making Battlefield games for over a decade and in that time proven itself to be a guru of multiplayer design and execution. Bad Company 2 offers a deep, engaging and fun multiplayer component, the type you don’t just play, you love.

Its use of vehicular combat is staggering in its excellence. Everything from pontoon boats to helicopters and even jet-skis are yours to use and are central to a team’s success or failure in any given match.

In terms of game-modes, it’s pretty straightforward. Here’s the breakdown.

Squad Deathmatch- This mode pits four squads of four players against each other in a battle to 50 kills. These games are (relatively) short, fast paced and resemble the multi-team playlist in Halo 3.  If you’re looking for something similar to Modern Warfare 2, Squad Deathmatch is as close as you’re going to get.

Rush- This is the game type found in the demo for both the PS3 and Xbox 360, so you’re likely already familiar, but if you aren’t, it’s simple. One team defends a series of Comm-stations, while the other attacks it.

Squad Rush- Obviously similar to Rush, this mode pits two squads (4 teammates) against each other in a frenzied head-to-head battle over two Comm stations.

Conquest- This is a flag capture game mode pitting two teams of up to 12 against each other in a battle to control flags by defending them and capturing others. Needless to say, this mode is extremely fun, engaging and so very addicting.

With a host of environments ranging from the cold, snowy and desolate to a hilly, jungle map where you can pilot boats, drive tanks and fight on foot, the game’s multiplayer will keep you engaged for countless hours. Furthermore, an unlock system and perk system, similar to that of Modern Warfare 2′s, allows you to unlock and collect more powerful, accurate and deadly weapons and attachments for both weapons and vehicles.

Modern Warfare 2 who?

A few times (many I likely missed) throughout the game’s campaign, DICE pokes fun at its rival in some hilariously performed cutscenes. These include a scene where characters say "snowmobiles are for pussies," clearly making fun of MW2′s snowmobile sequence and a segment referencing how heartbeat sensors and special ops are silly. They are lighthearted, sure, but their intent is clear.

Lock and load

Blast Factor: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is better than Modern Warfare 2. Its story is richer, its scope larger, and its multiplayer far more compelling. DICE displays mastery in both vehicular combat and hot and heavy first-person-shooter goodness spanning both the campaign and multiplayer, a feat rivaled by none on the market today. Its campaign is short (about 7 hours), but it makes up for it in a multiplayer component you’ll likely log hundreds of hours in before you’re done. Bad Company 2 is a must-have for fans of first-person-shooters.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 was released March 2 by EA DICE. It’s available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Game was finished in its entirety on Xbox 360 on the normal difficulty setting. A copy of the game was purchased for review purposes. Kill ‘em all.

Electronic Arts is primed and ready to take on the Modern Warfare 2 market with next week’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. But what’s a AAA release without a fierce marketing campaign as only EA can provide?

The publisher unleashed a 30-second television spot for the game today. Expected to see it all over TV in the days leading up to and following the game’s release next week.

With its heaps of free day-one downloadable content are you picking up a new copy of it on Tuesday?

Well, I could have already told you this, but EA and DICE made it official today, cementing in the ground of truth that when Battlefield: Bad Company 2 releases in early March, you still cannot go prone.

According to David Goldfarb of EA DICE, who answered community questions via his Twitter account yesterday, prone will not make it into the final build.

“FYI: we will not add prone based on anything. You can stop asking now. (smiley face)” 

A demo for the title showed up on PS3. We played it and loved it (even without prone) and another multiplayer beta is on Xbox Live right now. Why not try it out and see if no prone ability is really that bad.

We already know Electronic Arts and DICE are gunning for Modern Warfare 2‘s market-share with the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but today we’re shown exactly how the team plans on doing it.

Revealed last night on GameTrailersTV was the first single-player trailer for the title. We’ve had our hands on the multiplayer (and loved it!) for a while now, but this is the first look at campaign.

Will BC2 contend with MW2 come March? Hard to say, but BC2 has dedicated teams working on single-player and multiplayer respectively, so that means we won’t get the embarrassingly and unacceptably-short singke-player experience that Modern Warfare 2 had.

Now this is change I can believe in.

Electronic Arts is hacking and slashing (to bits and pieces), the price of this summer’s mega-popular Xbox Live Arcade shooter, Battlefield 1943.

Beginning Dec. 31 for the freakishly low price of 600 MS Points, you can partake in all the beach-storming, tank-driving, and rifle-sniping action your brain can handle.

The 600 MS Points price point is a 50% percent reduction (was 1200) and makes this deal so hot, I want to buy a second copy.

Sorry PS3 enthusiasts, the savings are part of Microsoft’s Holiday Savings Event, thus still demanding full price from you guys.

We loved it, and in case you missed our review, score some knowledge right here and catch Marc and I on Xbox Live tomorrow as we pounce on the troves of fresh meat.

EA DICE, makers of the upcoming massively-scaled and ultimately addictive first-person-shooter Battlefield Bad Company 2, today revealed, in video form, the “Panama Canal” multiplayer environment.

EA says it will feature a “tight battle with abandoned industrial buildings, vehicles, large ships, and piles of debris everywhere with billowing smoke off in the distance as the surround forest rages of fire while the surrounding city is bombarded by enemy ballistics.”

Battlefield Bad Company 2 comes to PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 March 2, 2010.

EA DICE, makers of the beloved Battlefield franchise are at it again. This time developing a sequel to 2008′s original Bad Company, and this time focusing its efforts on something we all love; multiplayer!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is due out in March of 2010, but if you threw down $5 to reserve the game at GameStop or Best Buy, or snagged a code from Sony directly, you’ve got access to the shooter today, three months before it hits shelves.

In the beta there’s one massively scaled multiplayer map to enjoy dubbed "Arica." This environment consists of a series of attack/defend points littered with tall structures, claustrophobia-inducing buildings and alleyways, and the always enjoyable Abrams tanks to have fun with. The game supports a maximum of 12 on 12 multiplayer mayhem, and really, when you’ve got a full match, with 24 players having at it, you’ll wonder why more games don’t go this route.

The game runs on the famous Frostbite Engine. This game backbone allows for the total destruction of nearly everything on your screen.

See a cluster of enemies camping out in one room? Easy, launch a rocket into the room and they’re all dead. Not to mention the demolished walls don’t come back, keeping those pesky bad guys at bay for the entire length of the game session.

This game mechanic creates a "never-safe" type mentality when playing that’s extremely refreshing when considering not every game (Modern Warfare 2), does this yet.

In the beta you can play as one of four classes each with varying weapon load-outs. There’s the sniper, assault attacker, and a few more. As you rack up kills and earn points for doing so, you’ll eventually unlock weapon upgrades, the ability to carry more grenades, and a few more tweaks.

Apart from weapons, there are Abrams tanks and the newly added jeep, which eerily resembles the Mongoose found in the Halo franchise. This fast little bugger is helpful when you need to race across the vast environment to get to a strategic position before someone else does. And on the funny side of things, in a match I played the other day, I saw a jeep racing in from afar and tossed a grenade where I thought he might be in a few seconds. Luckily he drove over my frag just as it exploded, killing him and sending the vehicle soaring through the air at rocket speed.

The beta’s one map, Arica, is huge. It spans multiple attack/defend zones comprised of very varied means of cover. If you’re attacking and you capture both points you’ll push on to the next series of objectives and with it comes an entirely new plan of attack. Do I play a little recon, take enemies out from afar with the sniper and let my teammates push through on the ground? Or do I go straight up the gut and attack full on? Your strategy should change from point to point, and this keeps gameplay fun, engaging, and never boring.

Based on how impressive the beta’s one map is, I can’t even begin to fathom what DICE has in stock for us when the full game hits in March. Rest assured it’ll be amazing.

Unlike another war game out there today, Modern Warfare 2, matches in BC2 last around thirty minutes, depending on if your buddies know what they’re doing or not. Sure, it demands more time and effort than an all-out frenzied fragfest (again, looking at you MW2), but this is its strong part, and why I’ll likely end up playing this one more.

Blast Factor: With its uber-massive masterfully designed map, very varied weapon loadouts and a clear addicting nature, Bad Company 2 feels like one hell of a game already, and that’s based on impressions from one map of the multiplayer. We haven’t even seen single player yet! If you’re contemplating a purchase, throwing down $5 to play the beta is the easiest choice you’ll make today. Go do it; you’ll be glad you did. And while you’re at it, add me, EddieNotEddy on the PlayStation Network and we’ll game together.

We just told you that the multiplayer demo for Battlefield Bad Company 2 would be available to Playstation 3 owners in two weeks, but now we’ve also got something shiny and pretty for you stare at whilst you consider your eventual downloading of said demo.

The trailer doesn’t show gameplay in motion, but instead is a series of frozen moments from multiplayer, with voice overs and music playing in the background. While you don’t see it as it happens, it’s cool to see what is essentially an animated screenshot of multiplayer–the game also gives you a good sense of some of the destruction and squad elements, despite the lack of footage. It’s worth a look.

The original Bad Company is a fun and different Battlefield title, and the second looks to continue that by focusing very strongly on the multiplayer component. That’s why it’s no surprise that the demo for multiplayer in this squad-based shooter will be available for PS3 owners on November 19, assuming you reserve the game at Gamestop, either in stores or online.

“With Battlefield: Bad Company 2 we’re looking to raise the bar across all aspects of our multiplayer experience, setting a new standard for online play,” says Patrick Bach, Senior Producer on Battlefield: Bad Company 2. “From the graphics to the vehicles, weapons and destruction, we are delivering the best online multiplayer game next year, and we want gamers to experience it themselves by playing the beta and demo.”

If you were thinking about getting the game anyways, I suggest you plop the $5 down for the reserve in order to secure the code, as I haven’t been able to pull myself away from the demo whenever I see it at a convention or press event. DICE looks like they may have a winning multiplayer component on their hands–dare I say–one that is more intriguing than Modern Warfare 2. See for yourself in a few weeks when the demo hits–you’ll be able to compare apples to apples for free.

For those of you sans PS3, don’t worry, as demos will hit the PC and Xbox 360 in the future. This is just a timed-exclusive demo for PS3 owners.

EA DICE, makers of Battlefield Bad Company and it’s impending sequel, released a four pack of screenshots for their war-based shooter today, and they’re hazy, but in a good way.

Our time spent chatting with BC2 developers at Comic-Con and PAX have told us this sequel, while still dedicated to it’s campaign, will have a significantly better multiplayer component; something fans of the series will surely love.

For now, enjoy these screens, and look for our continued coverage of Battlefield Bad Company 2 before it releases in March of next year.

Electronic Arts and developer DICE today released a cinematic trailer for the upcoming Battlefield Bad Company 2, and my oh my, do we like what we see.

Dubbed the “Squad Story” trailer, the video shows a group, Bad Company we presume, as they infiltrate an enemy encampment and proceed to…well you should just watch it.

Battlefield Bad Company 2, from our hands-on experience, is shaping up incredibly well. And with more emphasis placed on multiplayer this time around, fans of the famed Battlefield series, will need to play this one.

Are you ready for a level of destruction, vehicular warfare, squad play and open world environments never before experienced in a modern warfare action game? You better be. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available March 2nd, 2010. With a selection of 46 weapons which can be customized into 200 different, high powered firearms the possibilities of character specialization are endless.‚  Eith the DICE signature Frostbite engine delivering Destruction 2.0, a new layer of strategy is brought to the table which will all players to chip away at their surroundings bit by bit or blow whole buildings straight to hell. The game will be available for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

We like Battlefield 1943. A lot. We may even like like it, with little hearts and notes all over the back of our reporter’s notebooks. The game has been out over a month, and we both reviewed it and made it our Editor’s Choice pick for downloadable titles from July, but that doesn’t mean we’re done talking to you about it. Today we have an interview with producer Gordon Van Dyke of Digital Illusions CE (DICE), the developer of Battlefield 1943, on the success of the title, the inspirations behind it, and the future of the franchise.

BLAST: Where did the idea for Battlefield 1943 originate from?

Gordon Van Dyke: The original idea came from the Frostbite engine reaching this mature state, where we could now do what they wanted to do back for Battlefield 1942. They wanted all of these bells and whistles that we have now, like destruction, as the biggest example. We also kind of wanted to experiment; World War II is a really good era”"I hate to say that without context”"but it’s a really good era for gameplay. It really works well with the planes, the dogfighting, the tanks, the projectiles”"you can kind of put an arc on them to do some clever things, like getting it over the ridge of a hill. The soldiers and weapons too, you know what’s there, you know what’s available. It kind of just worked for a very small project, with a small team, and it worked for creating something unique that wasn’t risky process wise or design wise.

BLAST: What were you and your team’s goals for 1943?

GVD: The main goal was to have an accessible game that we could deliver in a unique way, and that was when we decided to go digitally, over Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, and then on PC with things like Steam and Direct 2 Drive. We wanted it to be a game that was easy to jump into, kind of quick, and that kind of removes the idea of a disc. That was the main goal, to create an accessible Battlefield on top of that. Accessibility was our mantra.

BLAST: The race to 43 million kills was pretty ingenious; it was a good way to reward gamers for playing. Is there more of this thing coming, either with 1943 or with future Battlefield titles?

GVD: It really came out of an accident. We have this designer, and he and I love to fly the planes. Coral Sea came out in an update for Battlefield 1942, so we kind of wanted to do that again. We really wanted to do that map. But it was outside of our project’s scope, it was outside of our resources, so he just went and made it. By himself. So he was just like, “Hey we should try this out, I made it already, what’s the big deal?” So we got in there, and thought it was so much fun, but realized it wasn’t going to work for everyone. It was a constant, “Should we even release this?”, because it’s not going to be something that everyone wants to play, then it became, “How should we release this?” Do we charge for it? Someone always wants to monetize”"it is a business”"but I’m a big advocate for trying to make sure we give back to the consumer, give back to our fans, ‚ give back to the people who really love the game.

We started playing around with ideas on how to deliver this after we got it approved, and we knew we didn’t want to charge for it, and we wanted it in-game, not as DLC. One of our first ideas was to give it to the top 70,000 pilots first, on a leader board with pilot rankings. Then we sat down with PR and marketing, and marketing came added to the idea by saying, “Well, what if we do something to unlock it for everyone?” Everyone’s first thought then was total kills. We can track total kills, so we can do that. It kind of came towards the end, so we really scrambled to get it in the system so we could see who got the 43^rd million kill. We got it working, we just needed to do some parsing with the data. Lots of things came together at the last second, and it came out of randomness, but the goal was the community, and I think that being our primary objective, always in this game and going forward with future Battlefield games, it just came out of that.

BLAST: I had a lot of fun participating, even if I only had so many kills during it.

GVD: When we first announced it, we saw people posting this on forums and on Twitter, that even if they didn’t get many kills, at least their deaths would count for something. That’s a really good point, I didn’t even think about that! But that was the main goal, because everyone can participate. Even if you’re not the most elite player, your kills count for something and even your deaths count for something. It’s kind of win-win. Some of it was kind of accidental, but a lot of it had to do with the objective of the community.

BLAST: Is the PC version of 1943 going to have any differences from the console versions?

GVD: We’re still working on that, but some things will definitely be different, since it’s not a console ripped port or anything. A lot of that sometimes goes visually. If someone looks at a game, even if there’s a lot of difference, if it has the same menus on console and PC, then they may think that it is a port, so there’s a lot of little things you need to tweak and consider. It is a lot different in the guts, but some changes can visually be updated. We’re looking at the desires of a PC gamer too, as it is different. We’re looking at some of the things we had for 2142 and looking at what we can improve, like inviting your friends, things of that nature.

BLAST: Since 1943 is such a success-I saw earlier that it set sales records for both XBLA and PSN”"does this mean that there may be more Battlefield 1943, like another standalone, or some kind of addition, like an African campaign?

GVD: It’s definitely a possibility, I don’t think we’re closing our doors off to any ideas, but we’re coming down off of this, and right now our focus is that we iron out any issues, like we did with the servers. Every time we added a block of servers, it filled up immediately. I was up for 43 hours after launch, talking to the team in the States as well as my team in Sweden, so I just had no margin for sleep for a few days.

That was the most gut-wrenching thing, I know people were really frustrated, and from their perspective they don’t really know what’s going on in the background. It was gut-wrenching for us too, for the team, for myself, because we want people to play. That’s the main thing when you’re a producer, a designer, a developer, making games, you want people to play games, and you want them to enjoy it. As much as those people were frustrated, we were just as frustrated too behind the scenes.

Thanks to Gordon for speaking with us. Battlefield 1943 is available on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network for 1200 Microsoft Points or $15, and a PC version is forthcoming.

Electronic Arts today announced that Battlefield 1943, a product of accalimed studio DICE, is the fastest day one and week one download-only game in the history of the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

BF1943 has sold in excess of 600,000 digital copies on both the PSN and Xbox Live since the July 8 launch of the WW2 online multiplayer shooter, but why so popular you ask?

Throw these ingredients into your cauldron and see how it tastes. 1 part world renowned game franchise (BattleField), 1 part wholly amazing development studio (DICE), 1 part download only availbity (the way of tomorrow), 1 part cheap price tag ($15),‚  and 1 part community task (reaching 43 million kills to unlock a fourth map), add them up and what do you get? Tons of money headed EA’s way!

But seriously, the game is awesome, check out Marc’s eloquent review here, and we’ll see you online!

While many gamers scoff at the idea of paying for a bite-sized portion of a previously released game, EA and DICE decided to release three of the maps from the PC hit Battlefield 1942 as a multiplayer-only title for home consoles. They revamped the maps visually, used a different engine for gameplay and environment destruction, overhauled the scoring system, and slapped a new name on it, Battlefield 1943. Is this enough to warrant diving back into the middle of the Pacific Theatre? The short answer is “Go buy this now”.

For those who need more than my concise blessing to influence their purchases, Battlefield 1943 is a lot like its predecessor in that it captures the spirit of the original, but it’s also entirely its own experience. Sure, you play on three maps (four, now that Xbox 360 users have unlocked Coral Sea) that appeared in the original, but despite looking the same, they play differently. DICE used Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal and Wake Island, but made sure they looked the part of a south Pacific island this time. Lush jungles were added, which can be used as cover for scouts or as a shielded road for traveling infantry. All of the buildings, towers and fences that dotted the landscape in the original are there–at least, until you blow them up. Yes, that’s right, the environments are now destructible thanks to the Frostbite engine, used in Battlefield: Bad Company. This makes the last 10 minutes of a match very different from the first 10. Sure, you hid inside of a building to capture a spawn point when you first landed on Iwo Jima, but that building can be taken out by explosives, tank shells or bombs dropped from the sky, which means you can’t hide in it anymore. Bridges can be blown up, making moving across maps difficult for tanks and jeeps, but be warned: if you were to lose the spawn point that you were trying to defend, you won’t be able to drive tanks over the empty expanse to take it back. Once blown up, structures are gone for good, and it adds a layer of strategy to an already strategic shooter.

The reason Battlefield 1942, and by design, its sequel 1943, are so strategically based is because of the scoring system. You don’t win a match by having the most kills, you win by depleting your opponent’s progress bar. Think of it like a health bar–every time you kill an opposing soldier, blow up a tank or shoot a plane out of the sky, the bar gets a bit smaller. There’s a faster and more effective way to get that bar to disappear though, and that is by capturing more spawn points than your opponent. Stand near a flag long enough, and the current flag will go down in favor of your own; once it’s raised, your team can use that as a spawn point, and also as a forward base once your tanks, jeeps and planes appear. The team with fewer of these forward points is the one that is continually taking hits on their progress bar; capturing bases back will slow this to a crawl and cause the other team to begin their descent towards a loss. It’s a constant back and forth, especially with just 12 players per side. You may be ahead one moment, with five of the six spawn points under your control, but that also means the enemy can come at you from their one spawn point with most of their team working in concert against you. This makes each battle its own unique experience, even if you were to load up any of the maps multiple times in a row.

DICE cut down on the number of classes, making your options a Rifleman (anti-infantry, long-range) Infantry (anti-tank) and Scout (explosives, sniper). You don’t need a medic anymore, because health regenerates. I’m not talking bald space marine health regeneration here–you’ll still get killed if you run out and do something stupid and someone sees you doing it–but if you lay low behind a big rock or inside a building for a moment, you’ll regain your health. If you don’t feel like running on foot, the tanks, jeeps and planes are all fun and easy to use, even in the transition from keyboard and mouse to controller. Jeeps and tanks are especially entertaining, as one person can drive while another mans the machine gun, making you doubly effective at repelling your enemies.

You earn points for, among other things,‚  kills, kill assists, destroying vehicles, capturing flags, and defending flags. These points, rather than kills, are how you are ranked at the end of a match. You can join a squad when you start the match too, in order to compete for the best squad in the map. There have been matches where my team lost but I was on the best squad, and vice versa, so there’s a lot to play for besides just shooting everyone that moves. You move up in rank based on your actions and score, and also earn medals for certain things, like killing X number of enemies in a tank, or taking out X number of planes, in addition to the Achievements and Trophies. This also extends the replayability, as it gives you different ways to approach each map and game; anything that keeps a multiplayer-only game with just a handful of maps feeling fresh is good by me.

Blast Factor: Battlefield 1943 is a great experiment by EA, as it tries to blend classic features from one of their top series along with some of the newer innovations and advancements it has seen. For just $15, you get a first-person shooter with excellent controls, wonderful environments, and tons of variety and depth despite its bite-sized nature. DICE wanted to create a game you can go back to in between all of your larger game purchases, and with Battlefield 1943, it’s safe to say they succeeded with their goal.

Battlefield 1943 is available on the Xbox 360 for 1200 Microsoft Points and on the Playstation Network for $15

When a community hits 43 million kills, the fourth map for Battlefield 1943 will be unlocked. While the Playstation 3 lags behind at almost 22 million kills as of this writing, the 360 crowd is full of soldiers willing to do unspeakable things in the name of their console. The Xbox Live community is closing in on 42 million kills, and are just now around one million shy of unlocking the new map. You can read more details as to what that means for you in our Battlefield 1943 contest; just know that you are running short on time.

This also shouldn’t be a surprise, given how much playtime this new downloadable only title is getting, as Eddie pointed us towards earlier today. Wait, why are you still reading? Grab a rifle and a camera and unlock us that map, soldier!

[UPDATE] And it’s over folks.

Battlefield 1943, the multiplayer-only sequel to the PC game Battlefield 1942, released on Xbox Live Arcade two days ago and on the Playstation Network yesterday. You may not have heard, but there are three maps to begin with, but four maps in total. The fourth map will be released when the community reaches 43 million kills total, which is a great idea, and preferable to paying for a DLC map pack. It’s like Noby Noby Boy, except stuffed full of World War II era violence. The more we play as a community, the more support we see for the title.

The official countdown towards 43 million kills begins today–it’s fun to watch the Ps3 and 360 owners race, after all. That is why we want to recruit our readers as hired guns, of sorts. All you have to do is take a picture of the statistics page for your gamertag or PSN ID on Battlefield 1943, where your total kills are displayed on a leaderboard. Whoever contributes the most to the war effort amongst our readers by the time that fourth map is finally unlocked will receive either a Microsoft Points or Playstation Network card for $20, which is $5 more than the game costs. You get your money back, and a little something extra for the future, courtesy of Blast.

The rules are simple: Take a picture of your television screen, and e-mail it to marcnormandin@gmail.com (Hey, that’s me!). I’ll publish a reminder the day (or day before)‚  it looks like the fourth map is about to be unlocked so everyone can send in their last-minute photos. Please make sure to timestamp your photo for authenticity, and we’re using the honor system here, so no photoshopping kill totals. Photoshoppers will be hunted down and flogged by the runner-up (Blast is not responsible for your airfare). We’ll verify that you are who you say you are over your network of choice, and then you get free stuff. Neat, huh? And all you had to do was play a game you already bought.

The multiplayer only sequel to Battlefield 1942 will hit XBLA and PSN on July 8 and 9 next week, according to the game’s Twitter account (to make it even more official, a press release just dropped into my inbox as I type this). If you are a fan of Battlefield 1942, then you won’t need my recommendation to get this, but as added incentive, once the community reaches 43 million kills, a fourth map, Coral Sea, will be available to play. If everyone plays this new version at the pace I played the old one, we’ll be there the day after it releases.

You can check out my hands-on with the game, back when it was first announced before New York Comic Con in February. It felt great then, so with a few months of extra love under its belt, it should be an exciting addition to both consoles and the PC. We’ll have a review for the game next week after it hits, so be sure to look out for that.

DICE and Electronic Arts today announced that the latest in the famed Battlefield series will hit digital shelves in June‚  on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store for $15/1200 MS Points, with a later date to be announced for PC gamers.

Battlefield 1943 builds upon the worldwide success and renown of prior installments, offers 24 player mayhem on maps similar to 1942 and is now updated with the exciting Frostbite engine.

If you played Battlefield: Bad Company you know damn well the capabilities of the engine.‚  Cover as we know it, simply does not exist anymore due to the total destructibility of environments.‚  Snipers positions are no longer unreachable, trees can be fired upon and dropped to curb forward movement, and the once pristine landscapes become war-torn and ravaged altering strategic methods of attack or defense.

Battles in 1943 will take place in three memorable World War 2 locations: Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.‚  Players can suit up as Marines or the Imperial Japanese and wage war through the air, sea, or ground.‚  Much like previous titles not every soldier is created equal and you’ll have the option to choose a class that plays to your strength.‚  A running and gunning ground solider, a brute tank driver, or a acrobatic and lethal pilot are all options available in Battlefield 1943.

DICE, critically acclaimed creators of the unique parkour-action game Mirror’s Edge, released Thursday the long awaited Pure Time Trial downloadable content for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

The totally redesigned Time Trial maps feature no weapons, police, or city, just Faith and her red gloves and interesting eye shadow. Here its all about racing and the slightest miscalculation or overextension will send Faith plummeting to her untimely demise.

The seven new maps and nine races will challenge even the hardened fan to achieve the fastest time possible.‚  As an added incentive, players can upload their best time to the leaderboards and say “beat that” to any challenger, who can then download their ghost and compete against it.

In addition to new maps, this Friday the full 2D version of Mirror’s Edge will be released at mirrorsedge2D.com.‚  Created with hand-crafted animation in a familiar platforming model, Mirror’s Edge 2D looks to keep player interest in the console title while at the comfort of their PC.‚  I have spent a great deal of time with the beta available here, and I must say, the music alone is enough to bring me back again and again, the incredible game-play is just icing on the cake.

Mirror’s Edge time trial DLC is available‚  for 800 MS points for Xbox 360 and 10$ USD for Playstation 3 and PC enthusiasts.‚  Furthermore, Playstation 3 owners can rejoice over an exclusive map free of charge.

Read our written review of the PS3 exclusive map here

About DICE:

DICE RELEASES ALL-NEW DOWNLOADABLE TIME TRIAL MAP PACK FOR MIRROR’S EDGE

Leave the city behind! DICE announced today that the highly acclaimed first-person action adventure title, Mirror’s Edge^TM has released downloadable content (DLC) for the PlayStation‚®3, the Xbox 360‚® and the PC.

Players will be challenged to achieve the fastest times possible on nine races across seven all-new and totally redesigned Time Trial maps. No guns, no cops, and no city: this is true aesthetics, agility and flow that will challenge any runner. This special DLC pack is available for $10 USD or 800 Microsoft points. As an added bonus, all PlayStation 3 Mirror’s Edge fans can now download an additional map for free.

Time Trial is a popular mode in Mirror’s Edge that challenges players to find the fastest route across various maps. Players can upload their best time to the Mirror’s Edge leaderboards for their friends to download and compete against. Players can see their friend’s ‘ghost’ run as they race their way through the course to the top of the leaderboards.

Mirror’s Edge delivers players straight into the shoes of Faith, a modern day heroine who traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles. With a never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, players are drawn into Faith’s dangerous world.

Players can also experience Faith in 2D this Friday when the hand-crafted animation and old school platform game by Brad Borne, creator of Fancy Pants, goes live at www.mirrorsedge2d.com

Mirror’s Edge was developed at EA Digital Illusions CE AB (DICE) in Stockholm, Sweden. The game is rated “T” by the ESRB and “16+” by PEGI. For more information on EA DICE or Mirror’s Edge, please visit www.ea.com, www.dice.se or www.mirrorsedge.com.

I’m about as big of a Battlefield : 1942 fan as you can find. It’s a game I sank far more hours into than I care to admit after its release and in subsequent years, but with the next generation of consoles and a seemingly never ending slew of new titles to play, I have not gone anywhere near the game in some time.

EA and Digital Illusions CE announced a way to scratch that itch just days before New York Comic Con though, and to my surprise, it showed up at the event in a playable form as Battlefield: 1943. Though the version I tested was pre-alpha, I could already see where DICE was going with this, especially after talking over some of the game’s features with producer Gordon Van Dyke.

Basically, EA wanted to give fans of the franchise a way to experience classic Battlefield on their home consoles, but with a fresh coat of (beautiful) paint, some new physics, and some tweaks and improvements that make it more than worth playing again. It’s not a full game, in the sense that it isn’t going to retail, but will instead be a download for Live Arcade and the Playstation Network. It will support up to 24 players through online only; think of it as a World War II era Warhawk.

1943 will have three maps from the original game (Wake Island, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal) that are both preserved in their form but also updated for the better. Iwo Jima will now have lush greenery to give it more of the jungle vibe it should have; this gives soldiers new places to hide, but also allows an updated version of the Frostbite engine (which Battlefield: Bad Company players should recognize) to show off its stuff when a tank drives over the trees and knocks them to the ground. As you can see in the screenshots, this game looks gorgeous already.

Cover is going to be destructible thanks to the engine, which should give the maps some new dynamics. You can’t just repair a bridge with an engineer anymore while a tank sits there and guards it either, as that class is gone. Take care of your cover, and it will take care of you.

What you will have though, are trenches. Though I didn’t test a map with trenches, I was told that they are being implemented as a way to improve the battle system. Given that the medic is no longer a class either thanks to (slowly) regenerating health, adding trench warfare is a welcome addition.

Speaking of classes, you will be able to choose from Rifleman, Scout, and Infantry. All three have two weapons a piece.‚  I used the Rifleman during my time with 1943, and after playing around with the controls, I can safely say they have translated over from the PC very well. I had no problem dropping into the game and avoiding looking silly after a moment.

The same can be said for the vehicle controls. After driving a tank and a jeep and flying a fighter plane, you can be assured by the fact that DICE nailed the control scheme. In fact, flying may be easier with the analog sticks than it was with a keyboard and mouse, as you gently glide and turn your plane over enemy targets with precision.

The goal of Battlefield: 1943 was to make a shooter that was accessible but at the same time deep and rewarding for those who play it constantly. In order to assure accessibility, DICE avoided putting in anything gimmicky like unlockable weapons for those who play constantly, so that way those who play 1943 in between their major release purchases are not missing out on anything. This should keep people coming back without fear that they are ill equipped to compete after time away from the game; of course, playing more often most likely means you will be better than if you weren’t playing, but this still helps to narrow the divide.

Battlefield: 1943 is set to release this summer on Xbox Live Arcade as well as the Sony Playstation Network and PC. A price has not yet been set, but for fans of Battlefield, it’s going to be worth the admission.

Mirrors Edge was a fantastic game. It had moments of frustration of course, but overall, it was a wonderful idea wrapped in a neat package that I enjoyed immensely. Though it wasn’t one of my top 10 games of 2008, it was definitely a “just missed” kind of title. My favorite part about the game was the thrill and exhilaration the running sequences gave you, as there was nothing more satisfying in the Mirrors Edge universe than running and jumping on rooftops, over fences, through alleys and around your enemies.

That’s why when EA announced that there would be additional time trial maps for purchase in the future-and that they would leave the city behind and delve into the realm of main character Faith’s imagination-my attention was caught. The first of these maps was released exclusively for the Playstation 3, and it’s called Synesthesia.

Synesthesia means a “joining the senses”. If you were to experience the effects of synesthesia, your perception would be slightly different, as you would be more aware of the colors, shapes and sensations surrounding you.

The map is aptly named, as all you can see stretching around you are brightly colored blocks, all different geometric shapes, and with various paths amongst them that you need to traverse in order to make it through in the shortest amount of time possible. Unlike the city, where your brain would naturally seek out certain objects-the red colored objects that signified at least one way through the maze of rooftops, or maybe a fence, ledge, etc.-all you have to work with here are the shapes and your own imagination as it seeks out the fastest route.

If you have played the time trial maps that come packaged with the game, and you enjoyed them, then this free map is right up your alley. If you’re on the fence, remember; this is essentially a demo of the downloadable content, so you have nothing to lose but the time you spend testing it. As for my own opinion, playing through Synesthesia was as fun as the trailers led me to believe, and I’ll be waiting for the rest of the pack to release later in February.

Check out the screens from the downloadable map pack, to see what a difference there is between the original game’s level design and these new sets, developed exclusively for time trials. Remember, though this map is PS3 exclusive, the DLC will be available across all three platforms that support the title.

Though the full package of Time Trial maps for Mirror’s Edge has been pushed back until February, the free PS3 exclusive map “Synesthesia” is still on target to be released today. This map will give you an idea of what the rest of the maps will be like, as, according to producer Tom Farrer, via the Playstation Blog, they wanted to “leave the city behind” in order to create more abstract maps that focused on the core of the Mirror’s Edge experience. Meaning, lots of fantastic, stomach-twisting parkour movements, and this time without machine guns.

The inspiration for the maps is basically the things Faith would dream about, if she were also running in her dreams. There’s no overall theme to them that links them all together, but still, today’s release should give you an idea of what EA was shooting for when they put this time trial map idea together. Check out the trailer for the PS3 exclusive map below, and be sure to download it when it’s available on the PSN today.

Players who pre-ordered the upcoming Electronic Arts DICE Studio title Mirror’s Edge received a code to unlock the game’s Time Trial mode from the demo that is about to be released.

Time Trial mode challenges players to find the fastest route across the rooftops and through the streets. Players can upload their best time to the Mirror’s Edge leaderboards for their friends to download and compete against. Players can see their friend’s “Ëœghost’ run as they race their way through the course to the top of the leaderboards.

We first heard about Mirror’s Edge at E3 this year, and we love the prospects for this title.

Mirror’s Edge hits stores November 11.

Here’s a gallery of images that we were not allowed to release until right … about … now.

Mirror’s Edge was one of the best looking games demoed at E3 and Leipzig this year.

“In a city where information is heavily monitored, agile couriers called runners transport sensitive data way from prying eyes. In this seemingly utopian paradise, a crime has been committed, your sister has been framed and now you are being hunted.”

This fast-paced action-adventure game is coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 November 11 and the PC later this winter, Electronic Arts’ DICE studio confirmed this week.

The console demo will be available via Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PLAYSTATION Store. The demo will feature the prologue of the game including the tutorial and a segment of the single-player story mode.

Starting September 26, players who pre-order Mirror’s Edge at selected retailers will get an exclusive code that unlocks the Time Trial mode in the demo. This mode challenges players to find the fastest route across the rooftops and through the streets. Players can upload their best time to the Mirror’s Edge leaderboards for their friends to download and compete against. Players can see their friend’s ‘ghost’ run as they race their way through the course to the top of the leaderboards, DICE said.

Check out the game’s official website for more, including videos and screens.