WHOOMP! THERE IT IS!

I don't like to say 'I told you so,' but in this case: "I told you so!" Battlefield Heroes is delayed untill sometime in 2009. HA! This after going off on them for saying that the game was already out. BIG MISTAKE. Remember the perrills of Duke Nukem 4? We'll its almost 10 years later and still no game. Not sure who they are targeting with DN4? I'm hopeing they can pack it with fun gameplay instead of cashing in on the fanboys who buy the compolsory copy. DICE still owes for a BF2 patch by the way. They had a release a while back and still no sign of it.

Tonight is the eve of Left 4 Dead release. I think I am going to test it out at 12:01 AM. Hellz yeah! I got L4D to tide me over untill DICE can get thier game together. Thanks Valve!

Can You Tell Me How this can be true.

Ok, so I'm reading an article on Bigdownload and it just so happens to be an interview with one of the designers of Battlefield Heroes. It seems to be your standard interview. What gets me here is that once again, folks at EA are telling us that the game is "out" and "released." James Salt along with several other key EA execs feel that when a game is in beta stage and people in the public are playing it consitutes a release of a game.

Hold the presses!!!! Wait, what? OK, DICE project lead James Salt says that "So, basically, Heroes is already out and we are adding new players every day." So by randomly selecting players to play your video game is the same as a finished product ready for everyone to play? He says they are taking a similar approace to Gmail, where they add users little at a time for stress testing. Does that mean the game "out" and "being played."

Some how I think not.

I will not fault DICE and EA for trying to actually do some testing on their product. By no means do I want them to rush, and even when the game is released since it is free to play we may still see some bugs, but we gladly accept that risk. Just don't tell me it's out when the game still can't be freely downloaded. Stop telling half-truths!!!

Battlefield Heroes Redux

Well folks, I seriously think that the ice is starting to thaw in my brain. That strong dislike for DICE for the BF2-shafting and 2142 debockle. This unrest permeated all that DICE and EA could brainstorm. So my first impressions of BF Heroes was that of a lackluster reception. That was before. Now, after seeing this gem on the official site, I see in a different light. Lets roll down to the basics here.

Battlefield Heroes is a free-to-play 3rd person action game from Swedish developer, Digital Illusions CE. This is the latest iteration of the Battlefield Series. Using a cartoon-like art style, similar to TF2, BFH looks to break ground with its free-to-play browser based game play. The game is slated to run on older machines, thus widening the market for gamers. As seen from the video above, character customization is going to be a big part of the game. Character customization and persistent character data are many of the MMO features DICE has incorporated into their shooters to make gaming addicting.

I think what DICE is trying to do here is bring a little levity to the gaming scene. If you have played an online Battlefield game in the last 4 years, you probably know that by the end of the map that the game has degraded into a redneck beer drinking 4x4 rally with jets and tanks. I think DICE wants to capture the best part of the "stunts" and goofing off element to make the game's cartoony graphics to really bring out the action.

What I liked about TF2 is the fact that the characters have life. Each class has a unique personality, and that quirkiness is used to bring a levity to the game while playing. No matter how awesome or shiteous you are playing, a character will always say something that catches you off guard and make you laugh. Online matches turn into cursing 12-year old homophobic racist shout-offs, it would be nice to see a change with a little less seriousness in games.

All in all, I'm most definately wanting to play this game. I mean after all, its free.

Long Time No Posts

I have been extremely busy with my day job. Other than trying to play Mario Kart Wii like a professional mushroom kingdom driver, I try to keep tabs on the goings on of the gaming industry. Here are a few briefs if you have been under a rock for several days (weeks).

-EA/Take-Two Deal : Deadline has come and gone, EA's hostile takeover bid was unsuccessful. GTA's 500million first week was probably proof to the investors that they did the right thing.

-Big names pull out of the ESA. Early last week several of the big names opted not to renew their support for the Entertainment Software Association The list includes Activision, Lucas Arts, and EA. E3 is scheduled to go on as planned.

-Doom 4 has been announced. Id Software on both Console and PC development to combat piracy.

-GTA 4 sells $500 million in the first week of sales beating out Halo 3's $300 million launch. However to note that GTA was a 360/PS3 exclusive. PC fans normally wait 7-9 months for a port. Maybe X-mas time?

-EA gets burned on Pay to Play upgrades in Battlefield: Bad Company. Unlocks now available through play, and if you buy the Limited Edition Collectors pack. BF: Heroes promises free core content, only charging for EXP boots for players with little time to dedicate.

Battlefield Noobfest? Another Battlefield Game in the Works

Yessiree you heard right. A new game from developer D.I.C.E is just around the corner. And I know how excited you are about new games in the Battlefield franchise. Lets count the wonder: Codename: Eagle, Battlefield 1942, Road to Rome, Secret Weapons of WWII, Battlefield: Vietnam, Battlefield 2, BF2: Special Forces, Euro Force, Armored Fury, BF2142, Norther Strike, Battlefield: Bad Company, and now Battlefield Heroes. Yes, the fine tradition of the Battlefield Series, EA and DICE have devised a quick and painless way to rid you of your spare cash laying on hand. It will be a free to download and play, supposedly running on older systems. Reports from PHL and other gaming sites report that it may be close to that of BF1942 hardware requirments. It will be a cartoon style shooter, with fully customizable players. "What's the catch" you say? I know you know that there are no free lunches. The new painless way to rid you of your cash would be micro-transactions. Like that of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Live, you don't have to pay for the game, but if you want new shirts or faces or whatever crap they allow for consumption, you are going to have to shell out some micro-transaction credit cards.

So lets recap really quick: The game requires less processing power, it's free to play and download, quicker access to play, you can customize every aspect of your soldier. As if the Battlefield Series wasn't already riddled with douches and 10 year olds who scream for chocolate milk. I think what's going on here is an attempt by EA/DICE to bank on the new Myspace Generation of kids, who require instant gratification, can't be away from their top 8, need total customization and some sort of ranking system to show their EMO buddies how much they don't suck at something.

It seems like poor Team Fortress 2 rip off. I think what gets me the most is DICE's inability to actually support a product once it has launched. So, like the rest of the franchise, we will see a spike in game play, and then slowly sputter out once DICE has moved on to create Battlefield Heroes 2: The Money You Hid Under Your Mattress.

Just as a side note: Check out gamespy.com, somewhere on the right hand of the page, if you scroll down far enough you can see how many folks are playing what games. Battlefield had close to 14,000 players where as BF2142 (the superior game by DICE standards) had a whopping 300 players. This was on the weekend around 9pm PST. Certainly the BF2 player base should have been absorbed into other games by now.