Tag: DICE

The Death of Battlefield 3 or ‘How EA Will Screw Over Their Most Loyal Gamers’

NoobTubeTV has come to the side of Battlefield 3 on many occasions over the past gaming year.  It had its own issues with matchmaking and other strange glitches that eventually get fixed with 1.2GB patches(!) but it was still an excellent game that demanded your attention for in depth gameplay and multiple ways to level up as any of four classes with tremendous detail to weapon differential, etc.

The Expected Route of ‘Premium’ Content

Then EA decided to push Battlefield Premium after nearly 9 months of being released.  Premium isn’t much different from Call of Duty Elite in price or content.  It is $50 and you get guaranteed early access to DLC and Add-Ons for Battlefield 3.  That isn’t the issue at this point – it was an expected route for them to take because it essentially ‘saves’ their dedicated fanbase the same $10 that Elite ‘saves’ COD gamers.

The Unexpected Ultimate Middle Finger To Their Previously Dedicated Fans

In case you didn’t come across the latest substantiated rumor hitting many outlets, Battlefield 3 looks like it is set to release a new retail game of ‘Battlefield 3: Premium Edition‘ for $70.  In case you don’t want to do the quick math…

The more dedicated fanbase of Battlefield 3 purchased the game for $60(plus tax) in October, 2011.  Then they bought Premium for $50.  This adds up to approximately $110 of hard-earned money poured into a game that will now (almost one year later) will come with all of that same content for $70.

Is EA trying to tell us something?  Is it really possible that their message is – “Don’t buy our games on release day because eventually you will be able to get all the DLC in some sort of ‘Ultimate Edition’ a year later?

It certainly seems that way.

The Death of Battlefield 3?

It might not kill the game completely, but the notion that EA would do something like this is a bad way to treat the gamers that have been playing their game constantly over the last year.  Sure, it might be worth the extra money to most of the gamers out there, but the bottom line is that this is in bad taste as they already released word of a Battlefield 4 Beta that will be included (for later access) with Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

EA has never really been in the business of treating consumers well.  So, really – are you surprised?

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Breaking The Trends – What’s Next For Shooter Games?

It seems that the entertainment industry has fallen into a rut over the past decade or so.

Whether it is gaming or movies – when something finds success the typical response isn’t “What will they do next?”… it is “When is the sequel coming out?!”

A recent article that features an interview with DICE suggests that the next movement is going away from Modern Conflicts and towards ‘Near Future’.  This brings a few things to mind and really presses for an honest answer that will only be given in sales numbers.

Are you getting tired of fighting the same war with different names?

What Is So Different Between Current Day and Near Future?

If you have paid any attention to the ‘new’ direction for Call of Duty Black Ops 2 you will see that it is now based in the Near Future.  The worst part about this concept is that it involves very little true innovation other than simply stating that it is based in a time period that has more flying robots and drones, etc. Modern Warfare 3 already saw places like New York City in ruins, now we get to go into new ‘future’ places and see them destroyed by war?… Yeah, really refreshing.

So… in the near future there will be guys dressed like Master Chief with Flying Drones like we already have in almost every game?…
So much for innovation.

Does Time Period Need To Be Stated?

Outside of historical reference, does it really matter ‘when’ a game is taking place?  If you have read any sort of fiction you will notice what happens in books that directly refer to technology or entertainment of the time.  It ages the story and often makes it difficult for future generations to relate to the ‘power’ of whatever is being referenced.  Try reading Jurassic Park or American Psycho without laughing about their references to CD-ROMs and Walkmans, or better yet – Huey Lewis and the News.

It isn’t as if time period should be cut out completely, but it should be merely hinted at in the presentation.  Bioshock did a great job of this when you see the character flying in an airplane that allowed smoking (even if it did make direct reference to the year “1960 – Mid-Atlantic”).  There is even the amazing presentation of NBA 2K12 that allows you to play with retro teams with a TV presentation style of the time period.

Where Is The F**CKING ORIGINAL STORY?!

There is something to be said for what Activision is doing with Call of Duty and that something is called ‘milking a concept until the game dies’.  Look at what they did with Guitar Hero and you will see what will eventually happen to Call of Duty.

If you take a look at the direction of Microsoft, they aren’t too dissimilar when it comes to milking games and game series such as Gears of War and Halo.  Speaking of which, new rumours have started creeping up about Halo 2 Anniversary Edition.  Not that anyone should be surprised… it is just upsetting for gamers that want to play something new… something fresh.

What type of time period or setting do you want to have a shooter game based in?  Leave comments below!