Most Recent: PC

EA killing online multiplayer for Burnout Revenge, EA MMA, others

Electronic Arts has announced another round of online multiplayer server shutdowns. As always, the publisher claims that these games are played by less than 1% of all players who play EA games online.

Notable among this batch is EA Sports MMA, both for how recent it is (it was released less than 18 months ago) and because of the fact that it required an Online Pass for its multiplayer mode.

I suppose it can debated whether EA has to right to shut down a for-pay multiplayer server, but for now, here’s the rest of the server shutdowns:

  • Boom Blox: Bash Party (Wii)
  • Burnout Revenge (Xbox 360)
  • Create (PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
  • EA Sports Active 2.0 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
  • EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp (Wii)
  • EA SPorts MMA (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • FIFA Soccer 10 (PSP, Wii)
  • The Godfather II (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Need For Speed: ProStreet (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • The Saboteur: The Midnight Club (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Spare Parts (PS3, Xbox 360)

All of the games in the above list will go offline on April 13, 2012.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged

FTC complaint filed against EA over “terrible” Mass Effect 3 ending

This has got to stop!

“El_Spiko,” a user on the BioWare Forums, has informed the community that he has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Electronic Arts over the “terrible” ending of Mass Effect 3.

He wrote (any spelling errors were in the original post):

“After reading through the list of promises about the ending of the game they made in their advertising campaign and PR interviews, it was clear that the product we got did not live up to any of those claims. This thread has a great compilation of their claims.

Clearly, none fo these were represented in the ending. If anyone else wishes to file a complaint (the more there are the more likely the FTC will take action) just go to FTC.gov and fill out a complaint form in the Consumer Protection section.

This is not somethign I was happy to do, but after the terrible ending that was in no way the product that had been advertised to me and the lack of any kind of response from Bioware/EA to address this, I felt it was one of my only recourses. I’ll be returning my copy of the game before the end of my 30 day return policy if the ending still hasn’t been addressed by then.”

For the love of Shepard, please do not follow this guy’s lead and complain to the FTC about Mass Effect 3. It will only waste their time and the tax dollars of the American public.

The FTC’s mission is as follows: “To prevent business practices that are anticompetitive or deceptive or unfair to consumers.” No where in there does the Commission promise that you’ll like the product you buy. Just that you won’t be deceived before you purchase it. And EA never “promised” a great ending to Mass Effect 3. They may have hyped it up, but thanks to the legal concept of “puffery,” this kind of hype is allowed and expected.

I’d quote the end of Billy Madison here (you know the line), but really, what’s the point?

[Source: Gamepur]

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

New Releases: Kid Icarus Uprising, Ninja Gaiden 3, RE Operation Raccoon City, More

It’s taken more than 20 years, but Pit is finally back in Kid Icarus: Uprising for the 3DS. Hallelujah! (Cause he’s an angel, get it?).

Also available this week is Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden 3 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. It’s the first game in the series without input from former studio head Tomonobu Itagaki and it comes with a sweet Dead or Alive 5 demo.

Rounding out the rest of the new releases is Capcom’s multiplayer shooter, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (PS3, Xbox 360); From Software’s next Armored Core, Armored Core V (PS3, Xbox 360); and Konami’s compilation of the second and third Silent Hill games, the Silent Hill HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360).

A complete list of this week’s new releases, including a Kinect game starring Pixar’s greatest characters, can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , ,

Portal 2 wins “Best Game” at 2012 BAFTAs

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts handed out the 2012 BAFTA Video Game Awards in merry old England last night. And like most other award shows this year, Portal 2 came away with “Best Game” honors. Valve’s teleporting sequel also won the “Design” and Story” awards.

Other big winners include Batman: Arkham City (winner of the the “Action” award and a “Performer” award for Mark Hamill’s role as The Joker), LittleBigPlanet 2 (which took home the “Family” and “Game Innovation” awards), and Battlefield 3 (which won the “Online – Multiplayer” and “Audio Achievement” awards). Battlefield 3 was also selected by fans as the winner of this year’s GAME Award, which is sponsored by the British retailer. But with all their financial troubles, this might be the last GAME Award ever awarded.

Hit the jump for the complete list of winners. (more…)

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BioWare will discuss Mass Effect 3 ending “when they can”

The uproar over the ending of Mass Effect 3 just will not die down. The movement has quickly gone from fanboy whining to organized petitions to a charity drive to convince BioWare to create a new ending.

Yesterday, developers at BioWare responded to these complaints through their official forum. And while the company isn’t yet ready to deal with the backlash (they want more people to reach the end first), they say they are listening:

We understand there is a lot of debate on the Mass Effect 3 ending and we will be more than happy to engage in healthy discussions once more people get to experience the game. We are listening to all of your feedback.

I guess that’s as good an answer as any right now.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

The Walking Dead coming to iOS, PC, PSN, XBLA in April

Telltale Games has told IGN that the first episode of The Walking Dead will shamble its way onto the iTunes App Store, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and PC download platforms in April.

For those keeping score at home, that is now two zombie games with April release dates.

Obviously, release dates for the remaining four episodes weren’t announced. However, Telltale did say to expect them on a “regular” schedule.

Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Diablo III has a release date: May 15

According to Blizzard, the end is nigh! Diablo III will be available in stores and online on May 15, 2012.

“After many years of hard work by our development team and months of beta testing by hundreds of thousands of dedicated players around the world, we’re now in the homestretch,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We look forward to putting the final polish on Diablo III over the next two months and delivering the ultimate action-RPG experience to gamers worldwide starting on May 15.”

And if you absolutely can’t wait, Blizzard has begun offering digital pre-orders through the Blizzard.com website.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

EA nabs new partners to provide content on Origin download service

Looks like Electronic Arts is aiming for bigger slice of the downloadable pie. Today, it announced partnerships with a number of publishers to provide content for it’s online download service, Origin.

Sega tops the list, bringing games like Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai to the table. Also new to the EA fold are Team 17 Software Limited, Rebellion, Kalypso Media Digital, and others, raising the number of Origin content providers to 35.

Origin provides features like built-in customer service, in-game overlay and chat, cloud saves, and live streaming demos, and has about 11 million subscribers, which is a little less than half the number Steam has.

To see what Origin has to offer, check out their website at Origin.com.

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