Hasta La Gadget!

EA and DICE have announced something special for fans of the Battlefield franchise. To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the original Battlefield 1942, EA and DICE are giving away a free PC download the full version of Battlefield 1942. The game is available exclusively on Origin.com.

EA and DICE are also giving the game away at no cost to celebrate passing 2 million members globally since the launch of Battlefield 3 in June. It’s hard to believe that the original Battlefield 1942 launched 10 years ago. EA says that Battlefield 3 has over 5.2 million active players each month.

EA is also offering up some information on Battlefield 3 since its launch in October of 2011. Since the game launched there have been 95 billion total heals performed in the game. EA says that there have been 4 billion total revives, and 3 billion vehicles destroyed.

Gamers have fired 2 trillion virtual bullets. EA is also talking a bit about the new map packs coming this year for Battlefield 3 Premium. The next map pack is Battlefield 3: Aftermath, which will launch in December for non-Premium players. Aftermath will bring new maps and new weapons, including a crossbow.

EA & DICE celebrate 10 years of Battlefield with free download of Battlefield 1942 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The original Crysis shooter from EA and Crytek was easily one of the best shooters of all time. The original game launched in 2007 and significantly raised the bar for graphics and game play. The game was so demanding visually that it pushed PC gamers around the world to update their computers. EA and Crytek have announced a new pre-order offering for Crysis 3.

There are already other pre-order bonuses that you can get for pre-ordering Crysis 3. The new pre-order bonus for Crysis 3 is a free digital download copy of the original Crysis game on the Xbox 360, PS3, or PC. The pre-order version of Crysis 3 also gives players the Hunter Edition with a head start for multiple player gaming with immediate access to the Predator bow and the Hunter Nanosuit module and more.

Crysis 3 will be powered by the latest version of the CryENGINE and promises visuals as impressive as the original game offered back in 2007. The new game returns players to the role of Prophet as he returns to New York to find that the city is encased in a Nanodome created by the Cell Corporation. Prophet has to fight through seven different areas of the dome known as the Seven Wonders.

Another boost for those who pre-order online is an XP bump up to level 5, a unique Predator Bow Skin, and three exclusive dogtags. The Hunter Edition of the game can be purchased for computer gamers via Origin.com for $59.99. The game will launch in February of 2013.

EA offers original Crysis download with Crysis 3 pre-order is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s been several months since we were told that a new SimCity game would be on its way. Back in March, EA and Maxis announced that a SimCity reboot would be heading to gamers in 2013, but after numerous teasers and a 9-minute-long walkthrough video, it’s confirmed that the game will launch on March 5 in the US and three days later across the pond.

Originally we were told that the game would get a February release window, so it seems that its been delayed slightly, but an early March release shouldn’t be anything to complain about. The announcement came from SimCity’s official Twitter account, where they mentioned all “mayors” to mark their calendars for March 5, and for March 8 for Europeans.

SimCity will be running in the new Glassbox engine, which Maxis built in-house to give the game more realistic simulations thanks to micro-level AI for all objects in the game, big and small. EA hasn’t announced any pricing details yet, but the game will be available through EA’s Origin service and through traditional DVD format for both Mac and PC.

The last we looked at the gameplay of SimCity was earlier this month when Maxis posted up a 9-minute video demonstrating the game’s graphics and features. To say the least, we were stunned by the detail of the game, and the graphics were extremely lifelike. Gameplay itself is similar to past SimCity titles, so most gamers shouldn’t have a problem getting back into the SimCity groove.

[via Eurogamer]

SimCity arriving March 5 in US, March 8 in Europe is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While a lot of people may think that social gaming is slowly dying away, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello thinks the contrary. He says that social gaming isn’t dying, but rather evolving. Riccitiello was more specific in his answer, stating that the concept of social gaming is overhyped, but the speculation that it’s dying is exaggerated.

EA’s CEO spoke today at App Conference in San Jose, CA and brought up some of the issues of social gaming. He mentioned that big social-gaming companies like Zynga weren’t as great as they were made out to be a while ago, but it’s really not as bad now as people are saying. Riccitiello said that “the companies that are now suffering will have another day.”

Here’s where it gets a little bit interesting. Riccitiello brought up what makes a social game great, and it’s not the social aspect of it as much as it is just offering a truly solid experience. Gamers will turn their heads to social games that focus mostly just on viral marketing that involves spamming your friends with different game requests. To this, Riccitiello mentioned that “consumers won’t pay for crap.”

Riccitiello also noted that not all social games are bad, and many of them actually focus on user experience over viral marketing. He mentioned Dragonvale as one example, and of course EA’s own Tapped Out, which is based on The Simpsons cartoon. These games prove that free-to-play social games don’t have to be basic experiences.

[via AllThingsD]

EA CEO says social gaming isn’t dying is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

EA Sports has a big hit on its hands with its new FIFA Soccer 13 video game. EA Sports reports that the video game sold over 4.5 million copies in five days. According to EA 4.5 million units sold makes the video game the biggest launch of 2012.

EA also says that the new FIFA 13 is the biggest sports video game launch of all time. So far, the game has been the top-selling title in at least 40 different countries around the world. The game launched on September 25 and sold 1.23 million copies in the first 48 hours in the UK alone.

EA Sports notes that FIFA Soccer 13 is only the second video game franchise in history to sell more than 1 million units inside the UK within the first day of availability. Fans are playing the video game in huge numbers with September 30 marking the busiest day for online gaming for single title in EA’s history. EA says more than 800,000 fans played the game simultaneously on 30 September.

So far, over 66 million online game sessions have been played. The 66 million online games equate to 600 million minutes of online play. FIFA Soccer 13 is available in retail stores around the world and as a digital download via Origin. The game is available for the Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, PS2, computers, and various portable consoles and devices.

EA Sports FIFA Soccer 13 sells 4.5 million copies in five days is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.