Battlefield 1943 is now backward-compatible on Xbox One
DICE's other other WW2 shooter.
Microsoft has announced that DICE's multiplayer WW2 shooter Battlefield 1943 is the latest title to join its heaving backward-compatibility list on Xbox One.
Battlefield 1943
Key events
14th September 2009
14th September 2009
24th July 2009
13th July 2009
10th July 2009
10th July 2009
19th June 2009
FeatureBattling to stay online
As worrying details of the next gen emerge, what should we make of the recent Battlefield 1943 outage and EA's tardy response?
I should probably begin with an admission: I'm a little bit addicted to Battlefield 1943. It's my favourite online multiplayer game and I've been playing it fairly heavily ever since it was released as a digital download almost four years ago. Yet even I was surprised - and slightly embarrassed - to discover just how much time I've spent on it. One thousand and sixty hours. That's more than 44 days of solid play.
Battlefield 1943 servers repaired after a whopping month-long game-breaking network error
Howitzer question of compensation.
The Battlefield 1943 servers returned today after an extraordinary month of network errors had prevented a significant amount of people from playing their purchased game.
EA gives PS3 Battlefield 3 owners Battlefield 1943
"There have been some misunderstandings."
This Saturday (26th November), European PS3 owners of Battlefield 3 can finally claim a free full-game voucher for Battlefield 1943.
Battlefield 1943 missing from PS3 Battlefield 3
DLC exclusivity offered "in lieu".
The PlayStation 3 version of Battlefield 3 does not include Battlefield 1943 - despite publisher EA's promise that it would.
FIFA Ultimate Team makes EA £28.5m
Battlefield 1943 does the business, too.
Virtual trading card game FIFA Ultimate Team has so far generated a whopping £28.5 million for EA.
BFBC2 Ultimate Edition spotted
Comes with Battlefield 1943.
An Ultimate Edition of shooter Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be released in the UK on 3rd September, according to online retailers.
Battlefield 1943 is XBLA's fastest-seller
Over one million customers now served.
EA and DICE have revealed that Battlefield 1943 has become the fastest game on Xbox Live Arcade to sell over one million units.
Jaffe: "Put commercial titles on XBLA"
"For the love of f***ing god."
Eat, Sleep, Play boss and God of War veteran David Jaffe has implored publishers to start putting proper games on digital download services.
Xbox 360 vs. PS3 Face-Off: Round 21
Wolf, BF1943, Virtua Tennis, Juarez, GI Joe, Fight Night, UFC, Overlord II.
The cross-platform console games having been gradually piling up over the summer, and it's about time the decks were cleared to best ready ourselves for the upcoming Q4 gaming tsunami. On this particular occasion, eight recent titles are put to the test, including our very first multi-format PSN/XBLA face-off.
As is the norm, the analyses are backed up with a comprehensive range of assets: full 24-bit RGB framebuffer dumps of each game (including 1080p shots where supported on PS3), embedded comparison videos using the very best in h264 compression, along with new high-definition clickthroughs in order to get the full picture. These Eurogamer Face-Off features have been gradually evolving over time, and once more the range of available data has increased: discrete frame-rate and v-sync readings have been added to the HD videos.
Onto the gaming line-up then:
Battlefield 1943 sells over 600,000
Sets records too complicated for headline.
DICE and EA have announced that Battlefield 1943 is the fastest-selling day one and week one downloadable game worldwide in Xbox Live history, and has taken the same accolade on PlayStation Network in North America.
That amounts to more than 600,000 copies sold, apparently. BF1943 costs 1200 Microsoft Points (£10.20 / €14.40) on Live and £9.99 / €12.99 on PSN.
What's more, players of both versions of the game have long since hit the requisite 43 million kills that unlock the fourth map, Coral Sea. Xbox 360 owners managed this in five days, while PS3 fans were only a few days slower, doing so in eight.
BF1943 weapons for Bad Company 2
Two tickets to the gun show.
DICE has promised that a handful of Battlefield 1943 weapons will return in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 early next year.
360 owners unlock fourth BF1943 map
A little way still to go on PS3.
EA has announced that the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield 1943 is the first to unlock the Coral Sea map.
29 years of BF1943 gameplay on Weds
Devs update players on stats and fixes.
In an unprecedented blow for relativity, EA and DICE report that there were some 29.45 years of gameplay completed on the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield 1943 last Wednesday, with five million kills recorded.
That's significant because the duo have a clever little gimmick going on where a fourth map, Coral Sea, is unlocked once each of the two groups of players, on PS3 and 360, reaches 43 million kills overall.
(Update: A quick glance at the official site reveals a more up-to-date counter - 27.5 million kills on 360 and nearly 15 million on PS3. Thanks Scott.)
War is heck.
It's a testament to DICE's original multiplayer war game that even though there's been a spin-off or expansion every year since 2002, many people have been holding out for a proper World War 2 sequel for seven years. That this sequel arrives on consoles first, rather than PC, and as a bargain-priced digital download no less, reveals much about how gaming has changed since we first planted our boots in Battlefield's bloody, muddy soil.
This is undeniably Battlefield stripped down and pared back for a new generation of gamers. Those familiar with the PC original would be forgiven for being taken aback at just how slender the available options are, in almost every area. This ruthless focus is actually one of the game's strengths, at least in the short term, but it remains to be seen how such a skeletal starting point will sustain itself over the coming months.
It's war as Groundhog Day, a neverending series of skirmishes set in the Pacific theatre, but for many players it's getting started that has been the problem. Plagued by server problems and lag in its first 48 hours of public play, such technical sluggishness casts a pall over those all-important first impressions. Spending upwards of 30 minutes hitting the Quick Match button over and over really isn't something we should have to do for an online-only title with this sort of pedigree. Assuming these issues are resolved quickly, however, there's no reason to hold the teething troubles against the game itself. Once you do manage to get past the obstinate "No games found" message, you'll find a marvellously intuitive multiplayer shooter with a commendably balanced design.
Battlefield 1943 heads PSN update
Ghostbusters and FUEL demos too.
Battlefield 1943 tops the bill on the PlayStation Store this week, with GBP 10 the asking price for a slice of Pacific World War II online multiplayer madness. There's a free trial to test the waters, and you can expect our final verdict later this morning.
Also up for grabs are Ghostbusters and FUEL demos. We've reviewed both, and prefer the former over the latter.
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift gains tracks, variants, vehicles, characters, paintjobs and Trophies as part of an Adrenaline expansion, while Skate 2 emulates the Maloof Cup skateboarding event through DLC.
Battlefield 1943 having difficulties
DICE wheeling in more servers to cope.
DICE has been working hard through the night to solve problems affecting Battlefield 1943, which launched on Xbox Live yesterday and should be out for PS3 today.
Battlefield 1943 out next week
Wednesday on Live, Thursday on PSN.
EA has announced that Battlefield 1943 will be released on Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday and PlayStation Network next Thursday.
No public beta for Battlefield 1943
Only a trial. PC version in September.
EA DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke has said a trial version of Battlefield 1943 will be offered to compensate for the lack of a public beta - an inevitability on Xbox Live Arcade, but not always so on PlayStation Network. So that's good news.
"No beta, but we have a trial version that lets you confirm what you already thought - that this game is the best USD 15 I will ever spend!" Van Dyke told Eurogamer readers during a Live Text Q&A.
He wouldn't budge on the "summer" date for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network versions of Battlefield 1943, but the overseeing PR announced that the PC version will arrive later, in September.
Live Battlefield 1943 interview
DICE talks dates, betas, and hilarity.
A%
New shots.
New shots.
BF1943 gets fourth unlockable map
Accessed by 43 million kills.
EA has announced that Battlefield 1943 comes with four maps, not three, but players will have to register 43 million kills to unlock the fourth.
Battlefield 1943 to cost around a tenner
It's coming to XBLA and PSN in June.
DICE has announced a price for forthcoming arcade title Battlefield 1943.
DICE "feels good" under Riccitiello's EA
"It's definitely the right direction."
Working for Electronic Arts since John Riccitiello returned "feels good", according to DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson, and the chief executive's focus on quality over quantity is "definitely the right direction".
Splatters from Iwo Jima.
Never mind Bad Company - welcome to Dimwit Company. Nobody's talking to one another - hardly surprising, since the guys to either side of me are Italian, French and Spanish - and once the landing craft hit the beach, we've all regressed by about seven years. Italy's landed a biplane upside down on an anti-aircraft gun, and I'm stuck fast in a trench. In a tank.
Pacific Heights.
The grass is a brilliant green, the sky a perfect blue, and down towards the sandy beaches, with their artfully ragged lines of gently swaying palms, I can just make out a hint of bleached white rock. Looking around, this could be the Greenhill Zone, were it not for a few important distinctions, the first of which is the thick plume of black smoke rising ominously from the distant jungle. And the second? The second is the fact that I'm currently under fairly heavy gunfire. Who knows? Maybe Shadow's knocking about nearby.
Battlefield 1943, Bad Company 2 unveiled
More war for PC, PS3 and 360 this year.
EA has officially unveiled Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 1943 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Tropic thunder.
Tropic thunder.