EA posts

This coming week is going to be a bit different simply because the US Thanksgiving holiday will effectively cut a lot of gaming news out of the equation. But those sneaky Canadians at BioWare are apparently plotting to do announce something in the next few days concerning Mass Effect 2.

The upcoming sci-fi RPG's official Facebook page has a post from BioWare's Chris Priestly who mentions that he's been so preoccupied with "meetings and 'secret stuff'" that he hasn't had much time with Mass Effect 2. But then he adds, "Still with the coming surprise for next week on the ME2 website, I'm sure fans will forgive me for no update." Hmmmmm. Could it be an announcement of the game's first downloadable content package? A demo, perhaps? Or maybe that the game comes with free money? We shouldn't have long to find out.

[Via VG247.com]

Pandemic Studios' life as a separate game development studio came to a swift end earlier this week with the reveal that its owner Electronic Arts was shutting down their Santa Monica-based offices and laying off 200 of its workers. While EA has said the Pandemic brand name and its franchises will live on, the last game to come from their original offices will be the WWII action title The Saboteur.

Late on Friday, the dev studio's community manager posted on their message boards that " . . . . The Saboteur has officially gone "GOLD" on all 3 planned platforms (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & PC)." The game is still scheduled for a December 8 release date here in the US (Europeans get the game a few days earlier on December 4). As the community manager admits, "This has been a very difficult week for Pandemic Studios, but does not change the fact that a team of amazing people worked very hard to make The Saboteur a great game that fans will be able to enjoy this holiday season." We are hoping the last game from their studio is good as well even if EA seems intent on not giving it a big marketing push.

[Via Joystiq]

This trailer for the Need for Speed SHIFT Team Racing Pack, an upcoming free content expansion, provides fans with a glimpse of some of the big features to expect. As its name indicates, NFS SHIFT players will have to switch their driving styles from individual strategies to more team-oriented ones as they speed down these tacks. Also included are brand new vehicles to muscle against the competition with. Unfortunately, even though the trailer indicates otherwise, the Team Racing Pack isn't available yet. It releases in Europe on December 1st for the PC and Xbox 360 and on December 3rd for the PlayStation 3 console. North American players across all platforms will have to wait until December 10th, but the Need for Speed SHIFT playable demo can be downloaded right now here.

Download HD Need for Speed SHIFT Team Racing Pack Trailer (305 MB)
Download Need for Speed SHIFT Demo (1.13 GB)
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Fans of Need For Speed Shift have likely been wondering if Electronic Arts would be offering any downloadable extras for the racing sim. Today EA sent the word out that the first such free DLC is on its way. Owners of the PC version will be able to download the DLC on December 1.

The free extras will include the addition of four American classic muscle cars and one import sports car to the game (1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427, 1967 Shelby GT-500, 969 Dodge Charger R/T, 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T, 1998 Toyota Supra Mark). It will also add the Team Racing online gameplay mode where two teams of up to six cars battle it out in stock vehicles.

This minor patch for The Sims 3 addresses an incompatibility issue with save game files that results in an Error Code 16 message with saving.

Download The Sims 3 v1.7.9 Patch (19 MB)
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You can try to avoid the whirlwind or hype surrounding the release of the newest Twilight film, but you'll have a tough time doing it. Even The Sims 3 world has fallen for Twilight with this little parody video made using the game. Our question is: Where's the actual vampirism? We want to see fangs! Couldn't they borrow the animations and effects from The Sims 2 Night Life expansion?

Download The Sims 3 'Twilight: New Moon' Parody Trailer (9 MB)
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Now that Modern Warfare 2 has released, it's time for Battlefield Bad Company 2 to really step up and show off what it's got. This multiplayer gameplay video, highlighting some spectacular and often gory moments, should serve that need for a little while. Bad Company 2 is expected to release in 2010.

Download HD Battlefield Bad Company 2 'Moments' Gameplay Video Part 2 (132 MB)
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Fans of BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins have already been able to download some extra content for the fantasy RPG. Today BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts announced plans to offer up another extra downloadable quest for the game. The DLC, titled Return to Ostagar, is due for release "this holiday season". That most likely means it will be available for download before the end of 2009.

The new quest will return players "to the fateful battleground in Ostagar" where they will "discover King Cailan's top-secret political agenda." Wow. Sounds a little bit like our world has entered into BioWare's fantasy kingdom. The DLC will cost 400 "BioWare points" (about $5) to download. We don't like the idea of purchasing "BioWare points" to download extra content but . . .oh well.

It's unusual for a publisher to go back and redesign the box art for a game. Yet that's what Bioware and Electronic Arts have decided to do with the artwork for the Mass Effect 2 retail release. You can check out the original artwork in our earlier August 2 story.

We are not quite sure why the companies decided to go back and do a revamp of the box art. Quite frankly the original looks more dynamic and action packed to us. This new version seems to have the characters in less dynamic poses. Oh well, marketing was never our strong point.

This minor patch for Dragon Age: Origins addresses a number of issues and makes some tweaks to gameplay stats. Continue reading after the jump for a list of changes.

Download Dragon Age: Origins v1.01b Patch (15 MB)
Download Dragon Age: Origins Character Creator (318 MB)
Check out all Dragon Age: Origins downloads