Entertainment Electronics Blog

DICE seemingly includes BF3 DLC with new updates.

Battlefield 3 got the Back to Karkand DLC on Xbox 360 and PC today – but DICE appears to have wrapped it in a free 2GB update for the game. Download it for free from Xbox Live.

Back to Karkand costs 1200MSP and is just over 100kb – the update is mandatory, so it seems that the DLC is contained in that file instead.

Check out the huge list of tweaks and updates to the game below:

Single Player Changes
Added missing blood effect on kill shot
Fixed a crash that could happen during level load in SP
Fixed issue with game crashing during intro cut scene of Campaign mission “Thunder Run”
Fixed a crash that could happen when shutting down levels
Fixed crash on last mission that could occur after the player is killed by the first enemy in the train
When a user got killed, after respawning, he heard sounds that remained as if bullets still were passing around him
Fixed glitch in melee showing your equipped gun instead of the knife
Fixed issues with texture streaming. Prioritizing of textures close to the user has become better, resulting in more detailed textures
Improved mesh streaming conditions to avoid situations with risk of corruptions and crashes
Fix blend into vehicle problem when entering a vehicle in the Campaign
Fixed issue where disconnecting a controller during the Gamer Profile sign out animation would cause the game to soft lock
Removed the hint “Shoot out the lights.” during SP mission Nightshift
Fixed issue with last mission not listed in REPLAY MISSIONS list
Fixed issue on the SP mission Night Shift where three of the marines that repel down from the Osprey at the start of the level have PLR models instead of the right marine models
Has been made harder to fail missions due to zero tolerance friendly fire
Fixed MG nest objective on Operation Guillotine
Fix for music climax on mission “Fear No Evil”
Fixed issues that occurred if user were backtracking after fight at elevator on SP mission “Comrades”
Adding a back button to SP campaign select difficulty screen
Removed slomo from jump into train on SP mission “The Great Destroyer”
Fixed glitches in subway Quick Time Events in mission “The Great Destroyer”
Increased quality of the loading screen images
Fixed glitch that made it possible to reach Solomon train QTE with the wrong weapon equipped in mission “Semper Fidelis”
Fixed final sound fade out on SP mission “Thunder Run”
Removed sound fade on convoy ride in mission “Operation Guillotine”
Fixed squad mates coming through wall after intro on SP mission “Operation Guillotine”
SP mission, “The Great Destroyer”: moved Campaign Cleared achievement until after the Dima outro
Fixed soldiers inside of terrain at start of level in “OPERATION GUILLOTINE”
SP mission, “The Great Destroyer”: Fixed streaming issue which could lead to out of memory when streaming in Subway ride
Improved music and music fade on tank encounter in mission “Operation Guillotine”
Sound on Operation Guillotine: Fixed trading floor crash camera shake and rumble
Fade later when driving in to tunnel on “OPERATION GUILLOTINE”
Hide cross hair during Solomon intro & climb out scene on “Operation Swordbreaker”
Fixes on “OPERATION SWORDBREAKER”: Skip VO urging the player to move forward if the player has already moved. Fixed VO playing from the wrong world position
Fixed crosshair being back on staging area in “OPERATION SWORD BREAKER”
Fixes on “THUNDER RUN”: Less delay after MICLIC scene. Friendly tanks start driving up to you sooner and are more likely to teleport into position. Enemies now spawn in front of you & to the right, instead of behind the approaching friendly tanks
Fixed Squad mates goes through the ground in front of the house before throwing in grenades in “OPERATION GUILLOTINE”
Fixed issue with player not being able to cross the plank as soon as its down on ground on mission “Operation Swordbreaker”
Fixed sliding into cut scene on roof top on mission “Operation Swordbreaker”
Tweaked difficulty levels in Single Player
Fixed a hang in terrain streaming, causing the user to get stuck on black screen under special circumstances in Singleplayer
Fixes in Night Shift: New save point after wave 2 in mall. Fixed bug where wave 3 was considered done way before all enemies were killed, causing a possible difficulty spike
Added tutorial for firing Stinger on “ROCK AND A HARD PLACE” copied from “OPERATION GUILLOTINE”
Delayed “The Professional” achievement/trophy to not pop up in the middle of the scene
Fixed issue on The Great Destroyer where you could equip a gun before entering the train

Multiplayer changes
Significant squad user interface changes detailed here
Added round duration and ticket summary at EOR
Advanced squad polish – should be more intuitive
Added back EOR sound for SQDM and TDM
Fixed sound for when climbing ladders
Fixed and issue with some first person weapon sounds
Fixed a swim sound loop error
You should no longer be able to damage a friendly vehicle when sitting in an open position
Grenades now drop to ground if you get killed while attempting to throw it
Spawn protection now should work in Conquest. You should no longer spawn on points too close to enemies
You should no longer spawn too close to enemies in TDM and SQDM
Fix for missing input restriction during intro movie, causing players to potentially fall and die while watching movie if moving controller (or having a controller with a bad stick zone).
Combat areas on Kharg Rush tweaked in order to disallow defenders to access the carrier ship after 1st base is taken and being able to enter the AA gun
Fixed a problem with revived players not being able to get suppressed
Fixed a problem with the camera when being revived in COOP
Spotting VO now plays when spotting from MAV/EOD
End of round now has round statistics like Team tickets and Round time display
Fixed several issues regarding the kill card. It was showing wrong weapons used for the kill
Fixed that sometimes you would be stuck on a black screen when kicked from server
Fixed so when a team captures two flags at the same time, the UI could show wrong owner of the flag
Fixed a problem where the capture progress bar was showed as friendly when the enemy was capturing
Fixed a problem with the bipod deploy sound
Fixed a problem that you could be spawned in with no weapons after being killed while using the EOD bot
Fixed problems with health bars not displaying health properly when using EOD bots
Fixed a problem with flickering name tags
Fixed a problem where friendlies could damage friendly helicopters
Fixed a problem where you could get stuck in the co-op menu when attempting to join the session twice
You should now be able to spot explosives
You should no longer spawn in home base if your selected spawn point is disabled while waiting to spawn. For instance your teammate dies right before you are about to spawn
Damage from bullets will now continue to cause damage even after the firing user is dead
Fixed several client crashes
Fixed a problem where players could get stuck in the join queue
Fixed the repair icon on the minimap
Deploy parachute now displays the tooltip to deploy parachute when free falling
Fixed some artifacts when using flashlights
Fixed several Xbox 360 specific crashes and freezes
Fixed a problem where a user sometimes could not go into iron sights
Improved shadow rendering
Fixed several issues with friend invites and joins
Vehicle boosts is now a toggle instead of momentary
Fixed several issues with the Hardcore mode
Fixed a few layout problems where the in-game controls and tooltips didn’t match those in the options menu
Removed the possibility to pick up weapons in a EOD bot
Fixed several interpolation issues
Fixed a problem where claymore is flashing in the wrong team color
Subway minimap updated to give better clarity
Fixed an issue where the UI would not show the way to your new unlocks
Increased quality of loading screen images
Tweaked MP rank up parameters
Fixed a problem with Metro Squad rush minimap where it looked like you were out of bounds
Fixed a problem where a user can become invulnerable after being resurrected
Fixed a problem where tank turrets would turn too slow
Fixed a bug on Exfiltration where you could end up outside the vehicle and not being able to enter it again, thus blocking the mission
Fixed a problem with the M60 reload sound
Fixed a problem with the falling antenna on Caspian Border. It should now more instantly kill anyone in its falling path
Fixed a hang in terrain streaming, causing the user to get stuck on black screen under special circumstances in Singleplayer
Fixed a problem where the enemy would not be able to get a roadkill on a user that was using the SOFLAM
Fix for soldiers disappearing in the mortar killcam
Fixed Laser Guided Missiles missing their targets if the target is moving too fast
Fixed a bug with terrain destruction not being reset on Operation Metro. Caused players to be able to below ground in some situations
Fix for Type88 and the MG36 zoom in animation that was offset when in supported shooting
Fixed a bad logic destruction connection causing clients to crash
Fixed several dog tags that had wrong stats referenced, meaning they would show wrong kill numbers on them
Tweaked the TV guided missile, so it can no longer bounce off objects
 
Balance Changes
Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns, AA guns, and Jet Cannons against infantry
Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns against jeeps
Reduced the physics impact of AA guns and Jet Cannons, players under attack from these weapons should no longer lose control
Increased the damage of the 44 Magnum slightly
Increased the range and minimum damage of the .357 Round from the MP412 Rex
Increased the range of all .45cal and 9mm weapons
Slightly increased the range of the P90 and MP7 and PDW-R
Slightly increased the range of the 5.56mm PDW-R and decreased the minimum damage at long range
Slightly increased the minimum range of the Mk11, SVD, and M39 EMR 7.62mm rifles
Decreased the maximum damage and maximum range of the G3 and SCAR-H 7.62mm weapons
Reduced the damage from FIM-92 and SA-18 IGLA missiles against aircraft
Increased the damage and range of the 40mm BUCK rounds
Reduced the damage .50cal weapons do against Helicopters
Updated T90 canister shell tweaks to match Abrams canister shells

Codemasters reveals arena-based Dirt spin-off.

Codemasters has announced Dirt Showdown, a Demolition Derby-esque racing game which mixes elements of Dirt 2 and Dirt 3.

The debut trailer reveals a May 2012 launch window.

Dirt 4 will still happen and focus more on simulation, while Showdown will include Gymkhana and arena modes across three racing types, an eight-player online mode, and two-player split-screen.

Expect car-smashing, fireworks and stunts with three vehicle types up for grabs: racing, Hoonigan and Demolition.

Dirt Showdown’s headed to PS3, PC and Xbox 360.

DmC Devil May Cry direction has full support of Capcom despite fan reaction, says Ninja Theory.

DmC’s negative fan reaction was in-part expected at Ninja Theory, while Capcom’s supervision and support proves the developer isn’t “just a bunch of monkeys,” when it comes to taking the franchise forward, creative chief Tameem Antionades has told NowGamer.

“We were all prepared for a negative reaction to an extent. Capcom moved one of their much-loved franchises to an external studio for it to be taken in a new direction. It would be naive to think that there wouldn’t be a reaction,” Antionades said of the initial fan reponse to the new-look Dante and wor do Ninja Theory’s involvement.

“We’re happy and we have the full support of Capcom with our chosen narrative and gameplay direction. This approval alone should assure people that although this is a re-birth, with some bold decisions being made, we are not just a bunch of monkeys,” he added.

DmC Devil May Cry is expected to arrive on PS3 and Xbox 360 next year – look out for more on DmC’s combat and the new-look Dante in our upcoming Ninja Theory Q&A.

Xbox Live/Windows Phone cross-compatability hits with dashboard update this week.

The app will enable users to search for and catalogue content, see recently played games, apps and acheivements, get details for movies or TV shows and activate Xbox 360 functions from your phone.

The free Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone launches with the new Xbox 360 dashboard tomorrow.

Microsoft first unveiled its plans for Xbox Live/Windows Phone compatability back in early 2010.

Poacher-turned-gamekeeper comments on XBL claims.

Microsoft should have better measures in place to prevent Xbox Live users’ accounts being compromised according to former hacker, and current developer/security expert Cal Leeming.

Microsoft has recently reiterated that the Xbox Live network has not been hacked – in spite of consumer claims to the contrary – and has blamed the reported issues on phishing scams.

Leeming, who works with businesses to improve their online security, thinks the latest claims that Xbox Live has been hacked could be down to one of two things.

“From the users perspective, some of them have been de-frauded and are 100 per cent positive they have not entered their details into a phishing site,” explained Leeming. “But people tend to have a habit of re-using their login credentials, so it could be that there was a huge breach of email/passwords list (we’ve seen lots of these leaked out over the last few months) from a completely different place, and that scammers are basically going through and seeing which ones are valid on the Xbox login portal.”

While not a breach of Xbox Live, it could be a widespread issue for users.

“We see a lot of this on one of our clients, and we’ve actually developed investigation tools to find possibly leaked accounts, and issue a password reset – something which Microsoft (and many other companies) don’t actively do,” Adds Leeming. “In which case, it’s MS’s fault for not providing good enough account security (maybe they should go down the WoW route and issue people with hardware token ids).”

Alternatively, Leeming alleges that Microsoft could be downplaying any Xbox Live breach bto avoid losing “millions in fees/reimbursements” and “a roasting by Visa/Mastercard and their merchant” as well as negative publicity.

“MS (like many other companies) aren’t doing enough to prevent this behaviour, nor are they doing enough to help themselves and their customers once the news hits the media,” Leeming concludes.

NowGamer has been contacted by numerous gamers whose Xbox Live accounts have been compromised – Microsoft today reiterated it’s statement from yesterday that Xbox Live has not been hacked.

As a precaution, we suggest changing your XBL account password via Xbox.com.

We’ve contacted Microsoft for further comment. The platform holder currently advises customers that it is:
 
- Working closely with affected members who have been in touch with us to investigate and/or resolve any unauthorized changes to their accounts resulting from phishing scams;

- Reminding all customers that they should be very careful to keep all personal information secure whenever online and never supply e-mail addresses, passwords or credit card information to strangers.
 
Microsoft remains vigilant at all times regarding the security of Xbox LIVE customers. As always, Xbox LIVE customers who have any queries or concerns should contact Xbox LIVE Customer Service on 0800 587 1102 or visit www.xbox.com/security.”

Platform holder looking to add ‘new blood’ to AAA stable.

Microsoft Game Studios is looking for producers to help it find and develop exclusive new AAA franchises to push Xbox 360 and it’s next-gen successor, according to new MGS job listings.

“MGS has a number of successful core franchises: Halo, Fable, Forza Motorsport, and Gears of War. Our job is to add new blood to this stable of AAA franchises. We have huge ambitions for what we want to accomplish, and we need a great producer to be able to help us get where we want to go,” reads one of the ads – for a producer.

One of those titles will be Crytek’s Kinect hack-’n-slash, Ryse, with another listing looking for someone to work solely on the in-development title.

Other future AAA Xbox-exclusive games are unlikely to deviate too far from the console’s traditional genres though, with candidates urged “to have a thorough understanding of games in the genres we are working in: primarily Shooter and Action-Adventure.”

Elsewhere, Microsoft is looking for developers for it’s Connected Experience Group to expand on free-to-play launches such as Age of Empires Online. “The launch of Age of Empires online is just the first stage of our plans for this portfolio,” reads the ad.

I Am Alive was, once upon a time, headed to PC in addition to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Following a switch from one developer to another and a long stretch of silence about the game’s status, it’s now headed to 360 and PS3 — but not PC — as a downloadable title. The lack of a PC version is thanks in large part to piracy according to the game’s creative director, Stanislas Mettra.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about there being no version for them,” Mettra told IncGamers. “But are these people just making noise just because there’s no version or because it’s a game they actually want to play? Would they buy it if we made it?”

Call of Duty Elite is an interesting subject as it’s the first service of its kind. Whether it succeeds or fails — and there have been predictions it’ll do both — is, unfortunately, no indication of whether a comparable service would follow suit as no game has the sort of user base that Call of Duty does. Regardless, while the service is still not at 100 percent, it managed amass four million registrations after only six days, one quarter of which are paying for premium memberships.

That’s a full one million people who shelled out extra to gain access to Elite’s premium perks which include access to all downloadable map packs, Elite TV access, extra storage space for replay videos, daily tournaments where real-life prizes can be won, and more. It comes at a cost of $49.99 per year, although the $100 Hardened Edition of Modern Warfare 3 included a year’s worth of access for free.

In a day where matches can’t seem to be won without the use of some crazy comeback mechanic, one has to wonder what happened to all the real honest fighting games. I miss the days when you’re down to your last sliver of life, and nothing was going to save you except flawless execution and the will to win. While we’ve seen some old classics come back on XBLA/PSN, for the most part I had given up hope on ever seeing a game that didn’t have some gameplay mechanic that resulted in easy-mode comebacks.

That is, until I laid my hands on King of Fighters XIII.

Black Friday is just a few days away, and for many shoppers in the United States it’s even an more exciting day than Thanksgiving. This year features no shortage of deals on videogames and videogame systems; the struggling economy has resulted in retailers going all-out to get people into their stores (or onto their websites), as evidenced by a number of stores opening on Thursday as opposed to waiting for midnight or early Friday morning.

Below you’ll find the highlights of this year’s videogame sales from many of the nation’s top outlets like Best Buy, GameStop, and Walmart — even the Xbox Live Marketplace is having a big sale. Amazon is currently in the middle of a Black Friday week special, but its deals set to launch on Friday are currently unknown.