What does this mean for the future of Battlefield: Bad Company and will a console version of Battlefield translate well?

Don’t forget, the limited edition of Medal of Honor doesn’t cost you anything extra – as every copy sold will be the limited edition version. So if you’re looking forward to playing the Battlefield 3 beta, all you have to do is purchase the game for $60.

If not, most likely there will be code giveaways of some sort – so don’t fret, the beta will be available one way or another.

Press Release below.

Check out World Premiere Medal of Honor Trailer on Sunday August 1 to See How Shooter Fans Reap Benefits This Year with Special Content and Next Year with Invitation to Battlefield 3 Beta

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today revealed new details of the Medal of Honor Limited Edition that will be released in North America on October 12, 2010. The Limited Edition* features a host of weapons, powerful ammunition and camouflage. The weapons and camouflage give players a tactical gameplay advantage on day one. EA also announced today that people who own the Medal of Honor Limited Edition will receive an invitation to the beta** for another highly-anticipated EA shooter, Battlefield 3™. Battlefield 3 is the latest entry in the award-winning shooter franchise from DICE in Stockholm, Sweden.

This Sunday August 1, be sure to check out an all-new Medal of Honor gameplay trailer directed by Linkin Park’s Joe Hahn. The trailer will feature never-before-seen in-game footage set to the band’s recently-announced single ‘The Catalyst’ at www.medalofhonor.com/linkinpark. More details about the Battlefield 3 beta itself can also be found at www.medalofhonor.com/battlefield3.

Medal of Honor Limited Edition also features special content out-of-the-box including the MP-7, a weapon utilized by real-world Tier 1 Operators in the field. With its light weight, high rate of fire as well as its ability to penetrate body armor, the MP-7 handles like a pistol yet allows targets to be engaged like a rifle. The Limited Edition also includes two powerful shotguns with custom slugs. These devastating shotguns and ammunition are ideal for close-range fights.

For the first time in its 11-year history, Medal of Honor leaves the WWII theatre and enters the modern setting of war-torn Afghanistan. The game is told through the lens of a small band of fictional characters. Medal of Honor introduces players to the Tier 1 Operator, an elite warrior and relatively unknown instrument of the U.S. Military that operates under the National Command Authority to take on missions no one else can handle.

Medal of Honor launches on Oct. 12, 2010 in North America and Oct. 15 in Europe for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC. Follow the game on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/medalofhonor or become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/medalofhonor.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch as the developers of the upcoming Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days game share their thoughts on how they formed the story of the game. Not only that, but they go into great detail about why Lynch is such a psychopath.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Learn more about the upcoming Kane & Lynch 2 title, by going into the mind of Lynch. He doesn’t allow anyone to get in his way – whether they like it or not.

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One of the new features introduced this year is the gameplan system, which builds upon the typical playbook options that the game has always had. The new system allows you to set and rank audibles for your playbook that the AI coach can help you choose depending on scheme situations on each down. Think of it as the ask madden feature, but you’re able to use it during gameplay to switch plays on the fly. While the feature is welcomed, it tends to become a bit overbearing at times due to the fact that the coach will talk to you on every down. It tends to make the feature a bit distracting, especially when while it’s running – you can’t hear any commentary or crowd noise until it’s done.

There seems to be an issue with the way the audio is composed as well. As mentioned before, if the coach is talking to you – the crowd noise is completely silent until he is finished. This is a detriment, because it completely takes you out of the atmosphere of feeling the crowd cheering or booing your team. This also seems to happen when the commentators talk as well, it goes from being completely silent, to a raging crowd once you snap the ball. It’s not easy to see if this is just an issue with the demo or some sort of audio problem, but hopefully it’s addressed.

This years version introduces the new announce team of Cris Collinsworth and Gus Johnson to the game. Right off the bat, you will notice that Gus Johnson is almost a bit too animated – to the point where it takes away from the action in the game. It’s almost akin to watching public access pro wrestling, where the commentators try to sell you on every move being the greatest thing to ever happen. If you make a catch, as routine as it may be, Johnson will ramble on about how amazing the catch was. Aside from that, the presentation holds up very well on both console versions – they are both graphically even.

A great update that they’ve done to the visuals is the fact that the players actually look like their real life counterparts now. Last years Madden had the players looking like generic people with eye paint on and a towel around their neck. All the players from both teams look authentic now, even the coaches on the sidelines. Not only that, but the players have their actual numbers as well, as opposed to last year when anyone on the sidelines just had zero’s for their jersey number.

The controls are relatively the same, aside from some added features that go with the new gameplan system. You can use the D-pad to change your defensive or offensive line assignments pre-snap. One interesting addition was being able to press R1 (on the Ps3) or the RB (on the 360) to secure the ball while you’re running with the ball to avoid turnovers. The audible system is a bit more streamlined now, pushing the options to the bottom of the screen above the stat box.

If you enjoy Madden, then you’ll have a good time with the demo – especially if you’re a fan of the Colts or Jets. One last thing that most will be pleased to hear; you can play an entire game now with five minute quarters to get the full feeling of the game. So if you end up having a close game when the fourth quarter begins, be prepared to have those tense camera angles and gameplay.

Let us know what you think about the demo in the comments section, does it live up to the hype or will you be holding off until next years version?

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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These sequels horridly enough are suffering from what I love to call “Madden Syndrome” explained simply as a sequel that is entirely the first game with one, maybe at max two new features and priced at a full $50/$60. What’s worse is that we feed the machine that kind of money for utter unoriginality.

A shining ray of hope is upon us however in the virtual consoles on each platform. Every time I look at a list for the Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, or WiiWare, I find a new and exciting IP that I would love to check out for the low price range of $5-$15. These titles are simply becoming more and more fresh as time goes by and if they are “inspired” by games of the past, these indie developers find just some way to put their own stamp on it. For almost this entire year I had not really been too excited for any title, I’m not a huge God of War fan, user reviews of Final Fantasy XIII were “meh” I had not played Mass Effect until two weeks prior to writing this article.

When I saw Limbo however, I had finally saw a title that I was comfortable spending money on, a great experience for only $15. The game was true to platforming, making the jumps a challenge, making you truly feel as afraid of dying to a difficult ledge as you are to an enemy on screen. In fact the challenge of the game came mostly in this respect as there are no combat options. I truly have no complaints with the title where as all of the major retail titles for the year, which you pay more for, have problems. God of War III is just God of War II and God of War, Final Fantasy XIII was disappointing after the runaway hype train around its release, and Mass Effect 2, I have not played as of yet, but it cannot be so different from the original.

The virtual consoles also very kindly offer old school classics at the same price range as these brand new titles, some are just fitted to work well with current Televisions and others are given a full HD makeover. Some of these old school titles are also completely remade such as Bionic Commando and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Think about it, you can buy four completely creative, sometimes innovative, and affordable titles for the price of one sequel with Madden Syndrome. Take yourself a look at the list of titles for the virtual consoles on all three platforms of this generation and see how long you can resist wanting to buy half the stores. I would make a list of “Games to check out” but these lists are all over the blogs, so I would be beating a dead horse for the umpteenth time over. Game affordably in this economy fellows!

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Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition - The producer has stated at his Comic-Con panel that that the title is in early stages so fans should urgently take their suggestions to the Capcom-Unity forums in order to have their voices heard on features they would love to see in the game. I personally just want to see an HD touch up, so that the characters don’t look so pixelated on HD Televisions, and maybe Yun and Chun-Li can get toned down just a little. (taken from Comicbookresources.com)

Super Street Fighter IV- The producer confirmed without a shadow of a doubt, since there were rumors that the extra character slots for the arcade versions might have been photoshopped, that there will in fact be two additional characters in the arcade release of Super Street Fighter IV. According to Ono, more information will be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show, however if you play back his panel at Comic-Con you will hear some names. I wonder just how true that is. Here’s hoping for Alex of Street Fighter III and Karin of Street Fighter Alpha III. (taken from Comicbookresources.com)

Street Fighter X Tekken- Apparently new info on the title will come very slowly we will not hear anything more about the crossover until Captivate 2011 and the game will release some time in 2012 according to an interview the producer has done in Famitsu magazine.

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Good on Valve for taking responsibility and making things right – all companies should be like this.

Details of the email sent to users below.

Hello,

Recently, your Steam account was erroneously banned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

This was our mistake, and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you.

The problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version. This was caused by a combination of conditions occurring while Steam was updating the disk image of a game. This wasn’t a game-specific mistake. Steam allows us to manage and reverse these erroneous bans (about 12,000 erroneous bans over two weeks).

We have reversed the ban, restoring your access to the game. In addition, we have given you a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 to give as a gift on Steam, plus a free copy for yourself if you didn’t already own the game.

To share your extra copy of Left 4 Dead 2 with a friend, you can ‘Manage Gifts and Guest Passes’ from the ‘Games’ Menu in Steam, or visit this article on the Steam Support site for detailed instructions:https://support.steampowered.com/kb_…4502-TPJL-2656.

To access your own copy of Left 4 Dead 2, visit your library of games in Steam. If you didn’t already own the game, it will now be listed among your others there, and is available for download immediately.

Regards,
Gabe Newell
President, Valve

This notification has been sent to the email address associated with your Steam account.
For information on Valve’s privacy policy, visit http://www.valvesoftware.com/privacy.htm.
This email message was auto-generated. Please do not respond.

VALVE © Valve Corporation. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries.

[Source : Official Steam Forums]

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The plus about this game is that it is free, as long as you decide not to buy any packs to add features to your car. The open beta shows that EA is well along their way to getting this game off the ground, so time will tell how it works out.

If you end up playing the game, come back and share your thoughts about it with us.

Sign up & download at the official site – Need for Speed World.

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PSP firmware 6.31 is slated to come out around the same time as well, but details are sketchy aside from “…system software stability during use of some PSP format software titles has been improved.”.

Sounds like side-speak for closing holes on the homebrew community.

Avid Playstation fans are still clamoring for the oft-mentioned cross game chat – when will it finally arrive? Only time will tell.

[Source - Official Playstation Blog]

Update: The update is now available – so get it while it’s hot!

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A few questions that come to mind are, can the Street Fighter characters and Tekken characters work under one system? Tekken characters with Supers? How will the Tekken characters deal with fireballs? Will the Street Fighter characters have juggle combos? What will the command lists look like? Will we see Street Fighter characters with series of chain moves? All I know is I cannot wait for more information about this game.

Enjoy the little visuals we have already.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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