• PlanetSide 2 is the a true "Massive" FPS game which will allow thousands of players to hit the battlefield on the same server.
• PlanetSide 2 is completely free to play and will offer players the option to purchase cosmetic and convenience items to improve their gameplay experience.

"We said originally that the PC was the lead SKU of the game, but in mid-production we switched to console as lead platform to make sure we could get all the versions done for release,” he said in the latest issue of PSM3 magazine. ”Our ambition at DICE is to use the power of each individual platform to get the most out of the game. In the case of the PS3… I understand that if you compare it to a high-end PC, it’s not going to look as good. But if you compare it to other games on the PS3, including other games we’ve done previously, I have to say I’m very happy with how it looks.”

THE BUZZ: Alan Kertz, Senior Gameplay Designer at DICE, has posted some new details about Battlefield 3′s jets.

When asked by a fan if two people will be able to enter a jet he replied, "The mp jets are all single seaters.” He also mentioned that the best way to get maximum enjoyment out of the jets: "It varies from map to map. Generally I think fighters need to be 2 on 2 to be the most fun,” he said.

As part of Game Informer's BF3 Hub they now take a look at the tech that is behind Battlefield 3 including Frostbite 2 engine and what it means for destruction, Gustav Tilleby talks about the lighting system and Tobias Dahl explains all about implementing ANT which some might notice from EA Sports titles.

For more information on Battlefield 3, visit the Official Site.

Tonight marks the premiere of our new Battlefield 3 gameplay series "Fault Line"!

In a completely related event, tonight was the night when 200 games journalists in town for Game Developers Conference were invited to get their first look at Battlefield 3.

During the 15 minute live demo by Executive Producer Patrick Bach, the invitees were treated to a knock-socking surprise as sub-floor mounted subwoofers accentuated the action onscreen to make them feel the battle in earth-shaking detail.

"It's fantastic to have that feeling of being jaded go away!" said Adam Sessler, host of the X-play show at G4 after the smoke settled. "Best effing game I've seen!" noted one distinguished Swedish journalist.  

Prey of the evening: Battlefield 3 Executive Producer Patrick Bach.

For an idea of what the press was treated to in San Francisco tonight, stay tuned as the first online coverage from this event will start hitting the web in just a few hours. And to see the whole picture with your own eyes, make sure to follow the episodes in our new Fault Line gameplay series, detailing one of the single player missions in the game. The first episode is live now on www.battlefield.com

For more info on Battlefield 3, visit the Official Site.

For the latest news on Battlefield 3, follow us on Twitter: @battlefield.

Today we would like to introduce you to Battlefield Play4Free, the next generation Free to Play game from the EASY team that brought you Battlefield Heroes. Battlefield Play4Free combines the best of the Battlefield series with the classic maps from Battlefield 2, the weapons and animations from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and the RPG elements (as in roleplaying, not rocket-propelled grenades!) from Battlefield Heroes. All in a Free to Play web environment. And without further ado, here to take you through the roleplaying aspects of the game is Colin M. Clarke, Game Designer at the EASY studio:

Thanks! So Battlefield Play4Free is a fast, adrenaline pumping shooter that keeps players locked in, without losing the larger scale warfare that makes Battlefield so unique and, well, cool!

Battlefield the Play for Free way!

Though we have tried to stay true to some of the ‘rules’ found in core-shooters, we have also changed up some big things. One of them being allowing players to control the way their character grows.  Rather than a linear progress where you unlock gun 1, item 1, gun 2 in a pre-determined marching order, we have constructed a system that allows players to earn Training Points that can be used to take their brand-new soldier and turn him into their own customized combat veteran.  Our goal is to get away from "earning the next thing" and move towards "earning the thing you want". 

Why character focused vs player focused?
One of the regular Battlefield experiences was that you became fond of a certain kit, possibly even spent a majority of your time playing just one kit; but you never really became that kit. You were a soldier with many hats rather than a character with a niche combat role. For Battlefield P4F we wanted players to become directly invested in a character and be able to craft that class experience into their own niche style.  In our beta there is currently a re-occurring discussion on "What is a recon player supposed to do?” which, to me, shows that we we’re onto something.

Kit niche shifting
The two sides to the recon debate are "Recons should find and eliminate targets from long range" and "Recon should be moving all the time, scouting enemy locations for their team mates and disrupting enemy movement with flanking attacks".  This is a bit of a generalization of the ongoing debates, so I hope the forum regulars can forgive me. What I like about this discussion, though, is that both sides are completely correct.

The point of customizing your character
With the recon class a player can find two very different niches in the battle where they can excel. The recon that takes the point, scouts with his Motion Sensor and uses his Combat Training to find, outflank and eliminate enemies only has some similarities to the recon who unfolds his lawn chair and takes shots at enemies from 80+ meters away. They are the same kit, but each player has his own personalized combat experience within that kit. One thing I like is the amount of STUFF that I can choose from when spending Training Points. Sometimes I find I get a little bored of being a sniper and I want to get into the mix and see how well I do on the front line. Just by changing up my skills I can take my super sniper and turn him into a tactical infiltration recon that keeps my team constantly posted on enemy positions.

Can't get enough of Karkand!

So what is a kit's purpose?
Now the big question of: "Well okay, so the kit can be played multiple ways, but which is the right way?" Well, there really is no right way of playing any of the kits. My hope, and goal, with the skill trees that I have designed is that each player can find the setup that fits them best. Granted, it would be it a little odd to see an engineer leading a rush with a shotgun and ignoring vehicles entirely; but if that is the player's thing then awesome!  So, now that I have touched briefly on why we decided to have a more character focused approach I will try to quickly outline how we got to the skill trees you see in game today.

How do you break down a battlefield experience?
At first glance we thought cutting up and categorizing the minute-to-minute battlefield experience would be simple; we have nearly 20 years combined experience working on Battlefield and set down to hit a quick-n-dirty outline. As things progressed we found that we had created a fairly bloated list selection of categories:

Equipment Expertise – Make me better with my toys
Physical Training – Make me better at running, jumping, climbing trees, etc
Combat Expertise – Make me a more informed soldier
Vehicle Training – Let me be a better driver, pilot, taxi-chopper guy

Sadly this breakdown was a bit bulky and not really what we wanted. So after a helpful nudge from our production team I set to refine the skill trees into something a little more compact and sleek.

Two differently specialized recon kits. The first focusing on getting lots of toys. The second focusing on having much more utility within infantry combat and scouting.

Moving from rough to refined
After some brain storming sessions and design review we managed to get each class chopped town to fit two overall categories:

Equipment Expertise: Make me better with my existing combat equipment and allow me to unlock new equipment as I progress
Combat Expertise: Make me more informed and more versatile regardless of the equipment I carry

A nice thing with these categories is they fit the ideas of "Stuff I use" and "Stuff I see".  So a player who was confident of his skill with the weapons he has, and who wanted to see more and have a greater understanding of the surrounding chaos, can train deeply into Combat Training. While the player who is all about using his weapons and equipment to impact the combat can spend deeply into Equipment Training.

With the trees refined, implemented, and functioning in our beta it is now a matter of adjusting each kit option to enable players to find their own niche within every class. As our beta progresses and feedback comes in through the forums and through playing with our beta testers we have found that each person is becoming more attached to their kit; and with each moment where a player talks about having to make a hard choice between one skill or another I can see the goals we set out to achieve a little closer to reality.

I hope that this summary (okay, I guess 9 paragraphs is not quite a summary) has helped answer some questions about what sets Battlefield: Play4Free apart from other shooters. It’s about the choices you get to make for your character. You can be the assault, recon, medic, or engineer that you think is best. That’s why one player’s skill choices are just as awesome as another’s. Unless it’s the choice to get into a full heli and pilot it straight into the water… HATE it when that happens.

Thanks, Colin! And to everyone else: Battlefield Play4Free is currently in closed beta. Don’t miss out on your chance to get a spot on the beta by registering here.

This is it! We have just released our premier in-game footage from Battlefield 3! In this trailer you get to see the first glimpse of actual in-game footage from Battlefield 3 as a U.S. Marine squad engages hostile forces in Iraqi Kurdistan.

We are also proud to announce our massive pre-order incentive for the Battlefield 3 Limited Edition. The Limited Edition features the digital expansion pack Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand at no extra charge. This themed multiplayer expansion pack includes four legendary maps from Battlefield 2 boldly re-imagined with Frostbite 2 physics, destruction and visuals. Completing the package are classic Battlefield 2 weapons and vehicles, unique rewards, new achievements/trophies, and more. Secure your copy by pre-ordering the Battlefield 3 Limited Edition now at EA Store.

Battlefield 3 is the true successor to Battlefield 2. Beyond our signature multiplayer, we have also included a full single-player campaign and a co-op campaign – all straight out of the box. As for fan favorite features, how does the return of jets, prone, and 64-player multiplayer (on PC) sound? All this built with our powerful new game engine Frostbite 2, which you'll hear and see a lot of in the months leading up to launch. For the full reveal on Battlefield 3, stay tuned for links to our cover stories hitting the gaming press throughout February, starting with Game Informer right now.

Battlefield 3 will release this Fall. You can preorder the Battlefield 3 Limited Edition at www.battlefield.com now. The exact contents of the Limited Edition will be revealed around GDC.

Secure your copy of Battlefield 3 Limited Edition at www.battlefield.com

Stay tuned at www.twitter.com/battlefield and follow our Community Manager @zh1nt0 for the latest news and community happenings relating to Battlefield 3

2:00 am PDT - 5:00 am PDT

5:00 am EST - 8:00 am EST

10:00 GMT - 13:00 GMT

11:00 CET - 14:00 CET

The purpose is to improve performance of the stats system, to reduce/eliminate stats outages. We're very sorry for the inconvenience.

Mikael Kalms from DICE posted a great thread on the stats issues on the EA UK forums. Check it out right here

PC Gamer

Some recent forum posts have revealed Treyarch’s plans to fine tune the sniper file and knife attacks, hoping to address complaints that sniper rifles are too weak, and knife lunge is too powerful. The changes will hit in the next Call of Duty: Black Ops update, and you can read about them below.

These are the planned changes for sniper rifles, as announced by Treyarch developer Vahn on the Call of Duty: Black Ops forums:

• Increased headshot multipliers for sniper rifles. Sniper rifles with suppressors equipped will now always be ensured one-shot kill headshots.
• Subtle increase in sniper rifle accuracy when scoping in.

 
Treyarch caused some controversy when they removed the ability to quickscope with a sniper rifle, and admit that it has weakened the weapon as a choice. Vahn says “we stopped Quick Scoping for the most part. We mostly invalidated a sniper winning a battle with a Shotgun or SMG at close range. This was the goal. However, this has come at a pretty large cost to sniping in general.” Beyond the changes listed above, there are more tweaks planned to fine tune the sway of the scope when aiming, but these will come in later updates.

As for the knife, Vahn had this to say.

“We’ve made some changes to the knife tunables that will be available in the next game update.

We are not currently planning to remove the lunge, make the knife a 2 hit kill in the front, or make you pull it out to use it. These are all good community suggestions that are appropriate for a future game that has a Barebones or Pure version.

That said, after thinking about a bit more, it seemed reasonable that we could do additional (and larger) experiments on the lunge and swipe ranges and see how they play out.”

Fore more Call of Duty: Black Ops goodness, check out the Call of Duty: Black Ops Mythbusters video, and our pick of the eight funniest Call of Duty: Black Ops kills.

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