Tag Archives: EA

Features

FIFA 17 e-sports TV coverage has a long way to go

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Truth be told, I’ve never really taken the time to watch much e-sports coverage online. Sure I’ve watched the occasional Street Fighter tournament final, but I’ve never tuned into the latest League of Legends fixture, or checked in on the Call of Duty tournaments.

However, when flicking through the BT Sports channels (in the UK) a few days ago I happened across some coverage of a regional match for the FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championships in Paris. I was surprised to see dedicated coverage on a popular UK TV channel and settled down to watch the rest of the programme involving a two-leg match between two pro players. Continue reading FIFA 17 e-sports TV coverage has a long way to go →

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Here’s how to watch EA’s Gamescom 2015 Presentation

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9am is an early time to watch EA talk about sports, mobile guff and have awkward special guests on stage. But in between you might just see some red hot footage of the games you really want to see. We’re talking Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, Star Wars: Battlefront, Mass Effect Andromeda, Need for Speed, and more importantly, Unravel. Continue reading Here’s how to watch EA’s Gamescom 2015 Presentation →

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Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst debut gameplay trailer and release date

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EA E3 2015 Press Conference Impressions - great highlights, shame about the rest of it

A packed E3 2015 showing from EA included a rather tasty gameplay trailer for Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst where we see Faith in action. The first-person free-running skills are looking slicker than ever as Faith perform wallruns, slides and even boots enemies clean through windows. Unlike some, I was never struck with motion-sickness with the original, but that new backflip may take some getting used to!

Rumours of an open-world city to explore were confirmed and there will be no loading screens at all. Having a huge playground to explore with Faith’s skillset sounds like a fantastic way to expand on the ideas of the under-rated original title. Hopefully there will be lots of collectibles littered around the city to encourage lots of sky-high climbs and death-defying last-gasp gap leaps. Devilishly tough time trials are sure to return also, which will be great if they include ghost images of the best times again. Continue reading Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst debut gameplay trailer and release date →

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Battlefield: Hardline suffering installation issues on PS4

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Gamers who have purchased the digital version of Battlefield: Hardline on PS4 are reporting issues for the game’s installation in-game. Once the game has downloaded from the store and the latest software patch has been installed, gamers are able to start the game as per normal. Once games are downloaded from PSN, they install automatically on the main menu usually.

However, that’s not the end of the installation for Battlefield: Hardline. My own experience so far with a digital copy has been matched with multiple reports appearing online right now. On the game’s main menu, they are seeing a screen like the one below. Multiplayer does not appear yet and only Episodes are selectable. Diving in, I found I was able to play the brief prologue level before being kicked back to the menu as the rest of the game has yet to be ‘installed’.

It’s odd that an install is taking place in game and there doesn’t seem to be anything else downloading, not on the PS4’s download list anyway. After staring at the screen for a few minutes and not seeing the % go up at all, I decided to leave it be and come back in 30 minutes. An hour later and it had only gone up an additional 3%.  Continue reading Battlefield: Hardline suffering installation issues on PS4 →

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Dragon Age: Inquisition – 15 Minutes Redcliffe Castle Gameplay

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Earlier this week we posted part one of EA’s behind closed doors demo of Dragon Age: Inquisition, which saw expansive outdoor environments and a bloody massive dragon. Today’s latest video takes the action indoors to Redcliffe Castle.

The latest gameplay demo gives us a better look at the extensive tactical options available for those of you that don’t want to play the game like a button-bashing action title. Ordering party movement, creating choke points and using elevation for an advantage are all shown off. There are also a few story scenes to enjoy along with some of those trademark Bioware decisions to make on the fly and it looks like your group is just as unruly as ever.

The game’s certainly proving to be a bit of a looker too -although we prefer the lush outdoors of the previous demo- especially when compared to the rather dog-eared first two games. Be sure to check outy the new video and let us know if you’re going to give the game a chance or are you just working your way through the backlog until The Witcher III arrives? Continue reading Dragon Age: Inquisition – 15 Minutes Redcliffe Castle Gameplay →

Features, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One

E3 2014 Predictions: Brendan’s Last Gasp Picks

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E3 2014 Predictions: Brendan’s Last Gasp Picks

Having a cheeky pre-E3 holiday was a great idea. Well, aside from the lack of internet, being awake for the last 36 hours, still having sand from the Aegean in my hair and suffering from regular twitchy lucid flashbacks of that spider that invaded my apartment one night.

But it’s the day before the biggest day in any gamers’ calendar and now that I’m no longer at the mercy of Wi-Fi powered by stray cats on a treadmill, I thought I better chuck in my Day zero predictions as the rest of the team have done for Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA and Ubisoft at E3 2014. Enjoy! I’m off to check my bed for spiders as big as my face. Continue reading E3 2014 Predictions: Brendan’s Last Gasp Picks →

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New Ogre and Stryder Titanfall Rigs Revealed

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At last night’s VGX awards (formerly the VGA’s), Titanfall showed up to the party and unveiled two new classes of Titan gamers can look forward to piloting when the game lands in March on the Xbox One, 360 and PC.

Before today, we’d only seen and played as one regular Titan. To mix things up a little on the battlefield we will now have the Ogre and the Stryder to choose from too. The Ogre class is your choice for high damage output and resistance, but at the cost of speed. So it come’s as no surprise that the Stryder model is the opposite, sprinting around the battlefield and using nimble jet-thrust dodge moves to get the upper hand against slower opponents, although this means they will have the weakest armour of the Titans.

See them in action below with a new pair of trailers. Continue reading New Ogre and Stryder Titanfall Rigs Revealed →

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FIFA 13 Smashes Top 10 Chart Record

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FIFA 13 has broken the record for longest run in this generation’s UK charts Top 10. EA’s mega-selling footy title entered the charts at Number 1 way back in September 2012 and managed to stay in the Top 10 for a staggering 48 weeks. On Monday it slipped from 10 to 14.

The game has become the best-selling FIFA yet and we wouldn’t be surprised to see it climb back into the Top 10 again before the release of the FIFA 14 on September 17th. With over 3 million copies sold, it even sold more than the latest COD for the first time in four years. Continue reading FIFA 13 Smashes Top 10 Chart Record →

News, Platforms, PS4, Video, Xbox One

New Mirror’s Edge Game Is Officially A Prequel

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UPDATE: We can confirm via a press release that the game will indeed be a reboot origins story: “The new Mirror’s Edge reboots the franchise for the next generation with advanced visuals and an all-new origin story for Faith.”

EA and DICE have just announced at E3 that we are finally getting a new Mirror’s Edge game. A new trailer even shows us some early gameplay using a new engine.

What is also interesting is how we see Faith getting her trademark tattoos for the first time. The star over the eye and the weird grid thing on her arm are getting inked onto her inbetween the action shots in the trailer and the one her face looks like it’ll be stinging for a while. Rather than keep it out of the sun though, we’re sure she’ll be running around crisp, bright and clean rooftops again soon.

Another hint that it’s not a direct sequel, at no point do they call it Mirror’s Edge 2, even in the small print at the end. We’ll keep you posted.

Continue reading New Mirror’s Edge Game Is Officially A Prequel →

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John Carpenter Wants to Make a Dead Space Movie

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“I would love to make Dead Space, I’ll tell you that right now. That one is ready made.”

Those are the words spoken by one of cinema’s most respected and most successful horror movie directors, John Carpenter, in an interview with Game Informer [reported by Videogamer]. He’s the man behind the Halloween series, The Fog and The Thing. He’s also had success with nail-biting tension and action in films like Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape From New York.

Carpenter also said, “The first game was more – I guess it was like Alien – but not quite. It was a little different than that.” See, he can even see where it started to go wrong! Continue reading John Carpenter Wants to Make a Dead Space Movie →

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SimCity Update 1.8 Out Now

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Maxis are working through the weekend to try and stabilise your SimCity experience. Just four days since the 1.7 traffic pathfinding update they have another one for the much-maligned game. Highlighted fixes and improvements include police station capacity issues, sewage glitches, missing textures, new roads messing up old roads and clearer text alerts.

Carl’s review went up before update 1.7 and you can read that here. Rest assured we plan on revisiting SimCity to check on its post-update progress. Click below to get the full list of 1.8 notes and let us know if you think the patches are helping. Continue reading SimCity Update 1.8 Out Now →

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Fuse Release Date Confirmed

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Originally planned for a March release date, the game was then delayed to add some extra polish and to probably avoid Bioshock Infinite’s media and sales vortex. Insomniac have just confirmed via facebook (see I was working) that the game will hit EU territories on May 31st, with america getting it a few days earlier on May 28th. Continue reading Fuse Release Date Confirmed →

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EA to Compensate SimCity Players With Free Game

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We’ve just heard from EA about how they’re fixing the utter farce that has been the launch of SimCity this week. The game requires an always-on internet connection and they’ve been unable to cope with demand on their servers with gamers losing data or not even being able to activate their copy of the game.

Here’s what they had to say, “So what went wrong? The short answer is: a lot more people logged on than we expected. More people played and played in ways we never saw in the beta. OK, we agree, that was dumb, but we are committed to fixing it. In the last 48 hours we increased server capacity by 120 percent. It’s working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80 percent. So we’re close to fixed, but not quite there. I’m hoping to post another update this weekend to let everyone know that the launch issues are behind us.”

Yes, EA, that was dumb. Almost as dumb as designing the game with an always-online connection backbone. But at least the experience seems to be stabilising now, although not enough for us to finish our full review yet. To make up for all the drama, EA will be giving away a free game. Check out the details below: Continue reading EA to Compensate SimCity Players With Free Game →

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Need for Speed: Most Wanted Launch Trailer

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By this time next week, you’ll be rubbing your thumbs after the first of many intense nights’ racing with Need for Speed: Most Wanted. EA’s launch trailer is making the wait for Criterion’s open-world racer all the more unbearable.

Matt recently had a chinwag with Matt Webster, the game’s executive producer and you can read that interview here. Jon has an E3 preview for you too. Click through for the launch trailer and check-in again soon for our review.

Continue reading Need for Speed: Most Wanted Launch Trailer →

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Lose The Cops In Latest Need For Speed: Most Wanted Gameplay Trailer

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This is more like it, a trailer that shows continuous uninterrupted gameplay as opposed to flashily edited footage using multiple angles. This is how the game will look when you’re playing it. Frankly, it’s made us want it even more as this really could fill that Burnout sized hole we’ve had in our hearts since 2008.

There seems to be a lot of information on screen at once, which could prove to be a distraction, especially the options we glimpsed showing how you can adjust impact protection settings and the like. The event we see looks intense enough as it is. While trying to track down an opponent we’re flying through the huge environment trying to lose the cops by beating speed traps and slamming through barricades too. So far, this may be the most appropriately titled game in the series. Continue reading Lose The Cops In Latest Need For Speed: Most Wanted Gameplay Trailer →

Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Sport, Xbox 360

Grand Slam Tennis 2 (Review)

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After a return to form for Sega’s Virtua Tennis 4, EA really have their work cut out for them if they want to take on the champ. In typical EA fashion, they’ve chucked a horde of player and tournament licenses and right analogue stick controls at the game in an attempt to dazzle us.

The first impression as I fired up the game was the usual disappointment with the menus that are the same clunky, basic ugly boxes we’ve seen FIFA drowning in for years. Yes, all the options you want are there, but why does every EA Sports game have to look the same?

Continue reading Grand Slam Tennis 2 (Review) →

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EA Announce Need For Speed: The Run

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Popular online retailers ShopTo.net have leaked a trailer for EA’s new racer, Need for Speed: The Run. Realising it would be hard work denying the project with a EA-stamped trailer zinging around the internet, EA were quick to confirm the game’s existence. We’ve even got a release date of November 18th.

The trailer shows that we might be in for a more story-driven experience than the recent NFS titles like Shift 2 and Hot Pursuit. All we know is that your driver is called Jack and he looks like he’s about to come to a messy end, thanks to the train that’s speeding towards his overturned car. If the story involves gaining the trust of an underground racing team as a cop or someone looking for an estranged relative, EA should get re-writing that now. Continue reading EA Announce Need For Speed: The Run →

PlayStation 3, Racers, Reviews, Xbox 360

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Review)

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With the successful rebranding of Need for Speed as something a bit more serious with last year’s NFS: Shift, EA might have wished they hadn’t already tasked Criterion Games with taking on the old brand instead of working on a new Burnout game. But hell, we were all more excited than we’d like to admit at the possibility of a Burnout/NFS hybrid even if EA couldn’t be arsed coming up with a new name. But is it a Brangelina or a three-thumbed hillbilly?

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit straps you into the seat of some of the world’s hottest cars as both a racer and a police officer in the fictional US location, Seacrest County. Sea crest consists of many, many desert roads, beaches and mountain passes. But mainly deserts. While the races take place on tarmac there are loads of shortcuts you can take to gain an advantage. Often they’ll be more hazardous and over rough terrain, so you’ll have to judge which ones work best for you and the car you’re driving. There are even a few that may take longer than the original route, you’ll have fun checking them all though.

Continue reading Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Review) →

News, PSN (PlayStation Store), Video, Xbox 360

Microbot (Trailer)

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EA have announced a new retro-style shooter for PSN and XBLA. You’ll be controlling a tiny ship about the size of a blood cell, inside the human body. The MicroBot’s purpose is to eradicate diseases at a cellular level by shooting the hell out of them. Drop in/drop out co-op will also be included. We’re even more excited because it reminds us of one of our favourite 80s movies, Inner Space, which in turn went on to inspire episodes of Family Guy and Futurama.  You’ll have to wait until winter 2011 to get your hands on it, but check out the latter part of this trailer to catch a glimpse of the gameplay and strangely calming graphics. Continue reading Microbot (Trailer) →