Server problems for Battlefield 3 Owners
With EA’s Battlefield 3 projected to have shipped 10 million copies in its first week, it seems EA’s servers are struggling to cope with demand.
The problems which have affected all three platforms (PS3, 360, PC) have prevented some owners from accessing the multiplayer portion of the game entirely, including the much-touted Battlelog feature. Many owners have complained of a lack of server available for players to join, that their EA Online Pass codes are invalid and of severe lag.
Earlier today, Battlefield 3′s online services went down for maintenance and it’s Twitter account said: “We are going to perform maintenance to improve stability for all platforms on our servers. Therefore, online connectivity will be down from 8:00 to 9:00 UTC.”
DICE have claimed maintenance has now been completed on all three versions, but whether or not server problems have been fully fixed remains to be seen.
Are you experiencing problems with playing Battlefield 3 online? Let us know in the comments box below.
Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 – Double XP this weekend.
Call of Duty Black Ops and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will be dishing out double XP this weekend. It’s claimed to be a celebration of the Prestige Shop for the forthcoming Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, plus it ties in nicely with Halloween. And obviously isn’t a way to try and keep players distracted from the launch of Battlefield 3 on October 28th, and deflate the opening weekend. Although given the state of EA’s servers, it might not be a bad thing if Activision lessen the load.
And there’s a good reason to jump back into Call of Duty, and to prestige again if you can – Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling has revealed that anyone who has prestiged in Modern Warfare, World at War, Modern Warfare 2 or Black Ops will receive day one ‘Prestige Tokens’ for use in Modern Warfare 3.
Only one flaw, which no-one else seems to have spotted or clarified – it appears from the way Bowling describes it that you’ll get your prestige token for each game by prestiging once – not get multiple tokens for prestiging multiple times. So if you’ve ever prestiged, it might not encourage you to miss out on the opening weekend for Battlefield 3.
What are Modern Warefare 3 Prestige Tokens?
Every time you prestige in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, you’ll receive a prestige token. This can unlock a variety of rewards, such as Double XP for a limited time such as two hours of in-game time, an extra custom class, or the opportunity to keep one piece of gear from your custom class to keep unlocked from Rank 1 of future prestiges. So no more being forced back to using the M16 every time you prestige. Or, once you’ve maxed every stat out, you can use a token to reset everything and start again to build up your preferred stats and rewards one more time.
Turtle Beach release limited edition Modern Warfare 3 headsets
Headset specialists Turtle Beach have released a limited edition Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 range in time for the launch of the game on November 8th, 2011.
Four versions are available, and they were developed with presets designed specifically by the audio teams at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer games, so that they’re optimised for the Modern Warfare 3 experience.
The Turtle Beach Call of Duty MW3 Ear Force Delta features programmable presents, Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, Bluetooth wireless technology, customised presets and voice prompts, 50mm speakers and more. It costs $299.95. It’s for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
The Turtle Beach Call of Duty MW3 Ear Force Bravo is $179.99 and features presents, a rechargeable battery, 50mm speakers It works across Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Mac.
The Turtle Beach Call of Duty MW3 Ear Force Charlie comes in at $129.95 and was designed for the PC, although it’s also Xbox 360 compatible. You get Dolby 5.1 surround sound, including 8 premium speakers, 4 for each ear.
The Turtle Beach Call of Duty MW3 Ear Force Foxtrot is for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC and comes in at just $99.95. You still get an amplifier to boost the audio, but in this case you get stereo sound, 40mm speakers, and variable bass boost and stereo expander.
You can order the headsets now and get used to them before MW3 arrives from retailers including Amazon.
And if you haven’t pre-ordered Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 yet, there’s still time left. Choose from Amazon, Game, Play, Tesco, or Sainsbury’s. The only real saving we’ve spotted is that the Hardened Edition appears to be cheapest at Tesco at the moment for £75, £4 cheaper than most other stores.
Example and Chase & Status to play Modern Warfare 3 launch event
It seems the soundtrack to console shooters has moved on from the classic rock era, as Example and Chase & Status will both play at the official Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 launch event in London on November 7th, 2011.
“I’ve always been a massive fan of the Call of Duty franchise, ex-girlfriends have always been jealous of the attention I give to it,” said Example. “I’m certain Modern Warfare 3 is going to live up to the buzz. Such an honour to be asked to perform at the launch. Last year’s party was memorable for all the right reasons.”
More details on the launch night will be released in the run-up to the event. And if you haven’t pre-ordered Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 yet, there’s still time left. Choose from Amazon, Game, Play, Tesco, or Sainsbury’s. The only real saving we’ve spotted is that the Hardened Edition appears to be cheapest at Tesco at the moment for £75, £4 cheaper than most other stores.
Portal 2 and Black Ops win at Gamesmaster Golden Joysticks
Portal 2 was awarded the Ultimate Game of the Year in association with Alienware at the annual Gamesmaster Golden Joystick awards on Friday, picking up the top accolade in the 29th year of the awards.
In addition to the award for Valve’s first person puzzle game, Call of Duty: Black Ops picked up the Shooter Game of the Year in association with Turtle Beach.
The awards came from voting by the general public, with over 2.06 million votes cast, which is a new Guiness World Record for a gaming awards.
Battlefield 3 v. Modern Warfare 3 – Stating The Obvious With Sales Predictions
The battle for supremacy edges closer with the imminent release of Battlefield 3 on October 25th here in the UK, with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 hitting the decks on November 8th.
Although Battlefield will be released first, there is no doubt that Modern Warfare 3 will easily beat Battlefield 3 with first day sales, and overall sales. This could only be due to the several millions of gamers geared more towards the Call of Duty series than Battlefields’. And that may be down to Battlefield having a more strategic approach to its multiplayer maps and game modes than those for any recent Call of Duty title.
Knowing that both games are similar, yet also different in many ways, it comes as no surprise that gamings’ favourite analyst, Michael Pachter, foresees Modern Warfare 3 selling twice as many copies as Battlefield 3.
He projects an estimated total of 16 million copies worldwide of CoD Modern Warfare 3 will be sold, with EA’s Battlefield 3 getting around the 8 million mark.
There is no denying the latest version of Battlefield 3 will be the series’ best so far. With that in mind, isn’t 8 million a little low on the prediction front? What do you guys think? Leave your views below.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 – Strike Package Trailer
Battlefield 3 Official Launch Trailer
Halloween update for free-to-play FPS Cross Fire
Free-to-play FPS game Cross Fire will be going Halloween-themed from today with new maps, weapons and equipment with current players getting the spooky new update when they launch the game.
The weapons include a Halloween-themed Gatling Gun, Jackhammer Shotgun and Melee Shovel, and you also get ghoulish new equipment including a Pumpkin Mask, Skull Helmet, Vampire Mark or a Witch’s Hat. The items and weapons are available for a limited time, but more importantly, you also get a new Search and Destroy map named ‘Ankara’, a Kriss Super V Liquid Metal SMG, a Bushmaster ACR Rifle, and it also adds a new 1680×1050 display resolution.
And there are some new events and challenges to earn free Halloween items in Ghost Mode, Zombie Mode and Mutation Mode. If you haven’t got the game but feel tempted, then you can get it here.
Official Battlefield 3 cases for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Airflow is a legitimate concern for the latest generation of consoles, but if you’d like to make your Xbox 360 or PS3 look like a Claymore at the same time, you might have struggled in the past. Luckily, your worries are over as to celebrate the launch of Battlefield 3, EA have teamed up with case makers Calibur11 to produce this fetching option for your console.
Each ‘Vault’ includes an exclusive orange light Claymore with 3 modes, an exclusive DICE logo smoke grenade, a limited Battlefield 3 official pattern, a controller or headset cradle, and a lower nameplate. In case you forget which game licence you’re paying homage to.
On a more practical level, the cases do offer better airflow, and better stability if you like to have your console running vertically. And one very good aspect is that the cases do not void the official Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 warranty.
So are you tempted by one of the cases? We’re not sure it quite lives up to having an officially licensed Jeep to tie-in with your game
