Battlefield developer DICE learned several lessons from its first significant foray into console gaming with last year's Battlefield: Bad Company, not the least of which was to never underestimate the skill level of console gamers.

"I think one of our biggest mistakes with Battlefield: Bad Company.. was that when we started making it, laying out the plans, the view on the gamer was that it's a console audience, and we need to treat them a bit more gently, since they're less experienced," said DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson to GamesIndustry.

Gustavsson had been with the company since the first Battlefield title, and admitted to coming to the console project with a colored opinion.

"For a very long time I think the PC audience was seen as the hardcore, the most competitive and dedicated audience," he said. "Maybe at one time... Read more

The promised Conquest mode expansion for DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, 360) will as a free download this Thursday, publisher EA has announced.

Available through the online PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace, the traditional Battlefield multiplayer mode and its objective to reduce a team's ticket count by killing foes and capturing control points will be playable online across four Gold Rush maps.

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Following last month's release of Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, 360), developer EA DICE has issued an update regarding its upcoming support for the game.

At present, the team is working on the much-requested addition of the franchises' traditional Conquest multiplayer mode. That pack is currently undergoing certification and testing, and will be added to the game as free downloadable content.

Once work on the Conquest Pack is concluded, the studio will devote more resources to the complaints with the game's online performance. While DICE doesn't know if it will be able to address the problems, it will be looking the following... Read more

EA DICE's online/offline shooter Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, 360) shipped today. To mark the occasion, the publisher naturally released a few in-engine comedy bits.

The first of these videos pokes fun at the Gears of War "Mad World" marketing campaign. The second is just silly. But hey, one man's bomb is another man's killer routine. Registered users can use the HD Stream.

Click through for the second sketch.... Read more

Electronic Arts has revealed that the recently released demo of DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, 360) exceeded 1.5 million downloads within two weeks.

The publisher also passed in another trailer from the upcoming shooter. Including both a single-player campaign and online multiplayer, Battlefield: Bad Company will ship to retailers next week. Registered users can use the HD Stream.

As promised, demos of DICE's shooter Battlefield: Bad Company and Firaxis' strategy title Civilization Revolution are now available for public download on Xbox 360.

Both demos feature samples of their respective games' single-player and online multiplayer components, and both will be available to PlayStation 3 owners later today.

Battlefield: Bad Company is slated to hit PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 23. Meanwhile, Civilization Revolution arrives on PS3, 360 and Nintendo DS on July 8.

Electronic Arts sends along a new Battlefield: Bad Company trailer, offering footage from the demo that just launched for people who pre-ordered the game.

As we previously reported, the demo will be released June 5 for everyone else. It will feature the Oasis map and the Gold Rush mode, also found in the game's beta. Registered users can use the HD Stream.

Fresh from EA's Spring Break event are a bonanza of screenshots from the publisher's lineup, including Mass Effect PC, Warhammer Online and more.

Be sure to scope out the full post, as there is simply far too much media to contain on the front page, and don't forget to check out the whole of our EA Spring Break coverage.

Left 4 Dead (PC, X360)
Valve, Turtle Rock Studios / November 2008

Battlefield Heroes (PC)
EA DICE / Summer

Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360)
EA DICE / June 23, 2008

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People looking to try out the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360) before its June 23 release will be able to do so June 5, with a single- and multiplayer demo hitting the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Store that day, publisher Electronic Arts has announced.

The single-player portion of the demo puts you at the start of your 'B' company career (trailer below) and introduces you to some of the game's characters, while the multiplayer part includes the Gold Rush mode on the Oasis map. People who pre-order the game at participating retailers will recive early access to the demo.

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Developer EA DICE has released another tutorial flick for the multiplayer component of its upcoming shooter Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360).

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Battlefield: Bad Company arrives with its single-player campaign and Gold Rush multiplayer mode on June 23, with the series' traditional Conquest mode following as a free download.

Though EA DICE's upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360) will not include the franchises' traditional Conquest multiplayer mode when it arrives on June 23, the mode will be available as a free download following the game's release.

Speaking with HEXUS.gaming, senior producer Karl-Magnus Troedsson noted that fan demand for Conquest had caused the company to reconsider its inclusion in Bad Company. No firm date was provided for the download, though the site estimates its arrival "shortly" after the title's June launch.

Public outcry played a similar role in EA DICE's decision to drop pay-to-play weaponry from the game. Players will instead be able to acquire those weapons by buying the Gold Edition of the game, earning the highest level in multiplayer, or participating in various promotions.

To learn more about the destructible environments and multiplayer modes of Bad Company, check out our humiliating hands-on impressions.

EA DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360) will ship to North American retailers on June 23, publisher and studio owner Electronic Arts has revealed.

Unlike previous Battlefield entries, Bad Company features destructible environments and a character-driven single-player campaign in addition to the series' traditional class-based multiplayer.

Based on the feedback surrounding the closed Xbox Live multiplayer beta, the studio dropped its plans to sell additional weapons as micro-transactions. Instead, players will be able to acquire those weapons by either buying the Gold Edition of the game or earning the highest level in multiplayer.

For more on Battlefield: Bad Company and its Gold Rush multiplayer mode, scope out our recent impressions.

Following numerous complaints that surfaced after it came to light that Electronic Arts would offer weapons for EA DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360) for sale on the Xbox Live Marketplace, the publisher has decided to not go ahead with these plans.

It was previously reported that 5 exclusive weapons would be available through various free promotional programs, while another 5 would be available with the Gold Edition of the game or on the Marketplace. GameSpot notes this is no longer the case: "Instead, those who purchase the Gold Edition will receive the weapons out of the box, while all others will gain access to the weapons by ranking up their online personas to the maximum level".

Added producer Karl-Magnus Troedsson, "[...] DICE is built upon the multiplayer community, and we do listen to what people say out there. When we saw this big uprise about people that really felt it was dissatisfying that some people bought the Gold Edition, those five weapons you couldn't get or that you had to buy if you had the ordinary version of the game, that we just decided that all weapons will be free in the game, and that's how it is now."

Speaking with Shacknews, Electronic Arts has clarified reports of pay-to-play weaponry in the upcoming release of EA DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360).

Responding to reports that ten weapons in the Xbox 360 multiplayer beta of the title were marked as purchasable from the Xbox Live Marketplace, a representative explained that some of the weapons would be made available as part of pre-launch promotional programs.

"Battlefield: Bad Company will release five unique weapons free of charge through five different promotional programs prior to launch," the rep noted. "EA will again make these weapons available to players free of charge after launch, in case anyone missed the pre-launch promotions."

The other five weapons will be made available to players who purchase the Gold Edition of Battlefield: Bad Company, which will be released alongside the standard retail release this June. "For players who do not purchase the Gold Edition of the game, they can still buy the five weapons at a small individualized price per item," the representative continued.

"All weapons are balanced for gameplay," they added. "More weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new items."

A glance at the unlockable arsenal in the newly released beta for EA DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360) reveals weapons will be up for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace, Game|Life reports.

The Unlocks section of the game's menu system lists a variety of weapons, ten of which read "buy this weapon on Xbox Live Marketplace" when highlighted. The game also displays a model of the weapon which can be rotated and viewed at any angle, leading some to speculate that the weapons are already packed in the game data.

While many elements in the beta versions of many titles are often changed or scrapped prior to retail release, the inclusion of a microtransaction seems an unlikely candidate for overhaul as Bad Company nears its June release.

Another EA DICE online shooter, Battlefield Heroes (PC), was recently confirmed to include microtransactions to support its free-to-play pricing structure.

Shacknews has reached EA for comment, but the company has not responded as of this writing.

EA DICE's first-person shooter Battlefield: Bad Company and its destructible environments will arrive on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in June, publisher Electronic Arts has revealed.

An Xbox Live beta will begin on March 25, allowing select users early access to the game's multiplayer component and two of its maps. Retailer GameStop will distribute beta keys to the first 5,000 people that pre-order the title.

"We're really excited about this beta since it gives us a chance to let a wider audience play our new multiplayer game [mode], Gold Rush," said senior producer Karl-Magnus. "The feedback coming back from something like this is crucial for us as developers and will help us with the final changes and polish in the game."

For more on Battlefield: Bad Company and its Gold Rush multiplayer mode, scope out our recent impressions and check out the multiplayer tutorial movie below.

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EA DICE has released three new screenshots of Battlefield: Bad Company, highlighting a previously unseen desert combat environment. Featuring both an extensive single- and multi-player component, Battlefield: Bad Company arrives on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year. For more details, check out our recent batch of hands-on impressions.

Arriving on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year is Battlefield: Bad Company, the first entry in the long-running first-person series to focus on environment destruction. The good news is that the ability to knock down walls is a ton of fun and really mixes up the Battlefield dynamic. The bad news? I'm not so skilled at the Battlefield dynamic.

An explosion rocked the house and the wall behind me collapsed, crumbling like a pile of LEGOs. The attackers stormed in through the makeshift doorway, and another rocket quickly cut through the space between them, ending my piece of the engagement.

In my defeat, I slumped back into the couch. Adding insult to failure, the abrupt motion of the attached controller cable was enough to flick a whiskey sour off the tabletop, pouring its contents into my messenger bag.
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EA has released a new Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360) movie, focusing on the destruction you can unleash in the game. As producer Jamie Keen says, "blowing things up is just fun."

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George Gordon Haggard Jr says hello to his family in this Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, X360) trailer

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