Well, that's easy. While it's currently investigating a permanent solution, EA has advised "some" players of the Xbox 360 version of ragtag romp, Battlefield: Bad Company, to turn off their consoles should they experience online connection issues.

Oh, but you need to turn it back on approximately 20 minutes later. Therein lies the trick, an essential step if you're keen on blasting through walls and otherwise enjoying all those hard-earned weapons. We'll let you know once EA has sorted out the problem, like a good company.

Though gravelly voiced soldiers are always keen to point out the many ways in which war has changed, it certainly hasn't ceased being profitable, least of all in the realm of video games. DICE, developer of EA's popular Battlefield franchise, has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that it currently has five related titles in development. Executive producer for DICE, Ben Cousins, was quite right when he said that's "more than you expect."

With Battlefield: Bad Company out this week and the free-to-play Battlefield: Heroes already impressing industry pundits, we're left speculating about three (maybe more?) additional titles. According to Cousin's comments made at GDC Paris, one will be a traditional game for consoles, while another will be a joint effort with Neowiz, aimed at Korea. As for the third title? We're predicting Battlefield: Field of Battle, a turn-based card game for the iPhone. What say you?

In the immortal words of Matthew Wilder, it looks like EA isn't letting some early bad press for Battlefield: Bad Company break-a their stride. We've seen a veritable gaggle of promotional material for the controversial title as of late, including two recent trailers which clown on some other popular shooters. The first of which, seen above, parodies the unforgettable Gears of War trailer, and features an unnamed infantryman butchering Gary Jules' cover of the Tears for Fears classic downer "Mad World". The other (available after the break) somewhat mocks Rainbow Six's stealth tactics. It's not exactly uncharted territory, but we can always appreciate such Yankovician displays of friendly competition between developers.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Do you want to try Battlefield Bad Company without having to pre-order the game (which is currently the only way to demo it)? Do you have an Xbox 360? Our sister site X3F has managed to nab 100 demo codes and are giving away the first 50 today. Enter by 10:00pm Eastern tonight. The other 50 will be given away tomorrow. Click here to enter.

At their community event last week, Electronic Arts unveiled the five separate tasks you must complete to be able to use all five previously-premium weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company. Although the official site has only revealed one of the ways, Planet Battlefield has outlined all five methods:

• QBU88 Sniper Rifle: Pre-order the game online or at any participating retailer. So far we know Gamestop and Amazon are part of this deal.
  
• UZI Submachine Gun: Download and play the demo
• M60 Light Machine Gun: Sign up for the Battlefield newsletter
• F2000 Assault Rifle: Register your Battlefield soldier name
• USAS12 Shotgun: Check your Bad Company stats online at launch.

Is this better than paying a premium? As for the quality of the weapons, our friends at sister site X3F tell us that, at least for the beta, the Uzi and F2000 are noticeably more powerful than their available-at-launch counterparts, while the others feel pretty balanced.

The developers of Battlefield: Bad Company have heard the outcry regarding the premium weaponry, both from Sarcastic Gamer and other outlets. Speaking to IGN, DICE Senior Producer Karl-Magnus Troedsson said there would be no charge for the five guns. Here's how you can get the guns:

• Pay $10 for the Gold Edition of the game, have the guns on the disc
  
• Buy the Standard Edition, hit the max rank level of 25
• In both cases, "You have to do the marketing programs that we're going to announce further ahead" (huh?) before you can get the guns.

The last bullet point up there confuses us. What are the marketing programs? Troedsson told IGN there would be five marketing programs from EA that are free and will reportedly be "as easy as signing up for a newsletter." In other words, don't expect the Gold Edition guns on launch day, but know that you can be at rank level 4 and still get access to them at some point.

[Via X3F]

Interested in how the Battlefield: Bad Company pay-to-play weapons stack up against what's available on the retail disc? Our investigative brethren at X3F have created a comparison video of the five DLC weapons and show how they match up. If you are thinking about buying some digital armaments, check out this video first.

We saw this trailer for Battlefield Heroes at an a EA/DICE party during GDC and it was enough to get us really, really excited for the game. Trust us on this one. As much fun as this looks in the video, it looks twice as good when you actually see it in action.

After seeing the trailer (and the reaction from the hardened, cynical journalists at the shindig) it was pretty much understood amongst the Joystiq crew that Battlefield Heroes was going to be "a thing." Do you and your friends have a similar understanding yet? Is this trailer not enough to put you over the edge? Have you no soul?

With high-profile projects like Halo and Battlefield to your credit, it's difficult to pin where to exactly there is to go next -- a question no doubt being pondered by Hardy LeBel and Anders Hejdenberg, both of whom have charged headlong into the murky waters of independent game development by jointly founding Tyrant Studios. As the studio's new executive producer, LeBel's resume includes helping design the first two Halo titles as well as working with BioWare and Gas Powered Games on Jade Empire and Dungeon Siege 2 respectively. As Tyrant's lead designer, Hejdenberg's portfolio similarly impresses, having helped develop both Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and Battlefield 2142.

Currently the Tyrant Studios' team stands at seven, with individuals having worked on a variety of projects, from Interstate '76 and Tony Hawk, to Spider-man and Crimson Skies. As for the studio's current project, well the Tyrant team is currently playing their cards close to the chest, though a teaser image on the company's official website shows a silhouette of two individuals, what appears to be some kind of crazy hair, and a logo that reads "ESP," sporting a design seemingly more fitting to athletic footwear than anything remotely game related. Speculations anyone?

That would be the modern definition of "free," mind you, the one that means you pay nothing unless you want to equip your avatar with a particularly snazzy hat. Or beret, as it is in the case of EA's newly revealed Battlefield Heroes, a continuation of the popular Battlefield franchise sans gritty atmosphere and retail package. BBC News reveals that the game will be distributed online only and supported through advertising (a la Quake Zero) and micro payments.

Counting on the cheap cost of entry (reminder: nothing) and a new cartoon-like aesthetic to airdrop the masses into Battlefield, developer DICE reckons you'll "be able to play this game on Grandma's laptop." Said Ben Cousins, senior producer at DICE: "We're removing all barriers to entry and we hope there is broader audience for the title."

Cousins noted that adverts will never appear in the game itself ("They wouldn't work inside the fictional world.") and that micro purchases would be limited to players' appearance and not their weaponry. In fact, EA expects 95% of players not to spend any money at all. So, why bother? "If you look at Korea and Asia this is a model that works," said Cousins. "Given the enormous explosion in web-based gaming products, this is going to be a real source of growth in the industry and Battlefield Heroes is the first step towards doing that in [the] West."

Expect it to leave a footprint on your hard drive in Summer 2008.

[Thanks, Rich]

Read -- BBC News
Read -- NY Times
Read -- Official Battlefield Heroes website

Wait a minute, we're confused. We watched this entire trailer for Battlefield: Bad Company and saw not a single instance of shooting, radical explosions or particle effects. There was also no disembodied voice growling about how tough/what a rebel our character will be, nor were there any searing metal guitar solos. How are we supposed to know if we like the game or not?

All that's here is a clearly defined, well-written, well-acted character named Haggard who seems enamored with explosions. As we watched, we began to get the oddest sensation. We weren't sure, but we think that's what it's like when other emotions are engaged besides the emotion that likes to see things blown up. ... Yuck. We need a shower.

That's what they say. Publishing monolith EA has announced that four of its Cider-powered Mac OS X titles are now available to purchase on Apple's online store today. The initial burst looks to satisfy a variety of Intel Mac gamers, including those who are partial to waging futuristic war (Battlefield 2142!), owning totally sick rides (Need for Speed Carbon!), casting ex-crucio-ting spells (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!) and, uh, waging even more futuristic war (Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars!).

The games will also materialize on minimalistic shelves within Apple retail stores, with Potter and Need For Speed arriving on Tuesday, 21 August. Battlefield 2142 and Tiberium Wars should arrive the following week on 28 August. Though the tardy titles, namely Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Madden NFL 08, were promised to arrive on the same day as other systems at WWDC, you can now expect their respective balls to come crashing through the "September/October window."

Perhaps it's more akin to the PAC full-body armor featured in Battlefield: 2142, but there's no denying that Troy Hurtubise's 'Trojan' suit is straight outta video game lore. The man responsible for inventing the bear-proof suit has developed, in his own words, the "first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armor."

Weighing just 18 kilograms (40 pounds), Hurtubise believes the Trojan will be comfortable to wear in the field (he wore it for a 4-hour drive); not to mention protective. An empty suit has withstood bullets fired from an elephant gun -- and Hurtubise is more than ready to perform a live test. ""Bring it on," he says. In addition to armor, made from high-impact plastic lined with ceramic bullet protection over ballistic foam, the suit features storage for morphine, salt, a knife, and emergency light. Plus, a recording device, pepper-spray gun, and detachable (and swallowable) transponder are built into the forearms. There's also an in-suit fresh-air system, drinking tube (attached to back-mounted canteen), laser pointer, and some hip LED face lights.

Hurtubise has said that he drew inspiration for the suit from Star Wars, RoboCop, Batman, and indeed video games. He believes that Trojan suits can be produced for roughly $2,000 a pop and is actively seeking potential buyers, including military and police units. Anyone wanna pool resources and go in on a couple?

[Via Engadget]

Reuters is reporting that Electronic Arts has signed deals with Microsoft-owned Massive Inc. and IGA Worldwide to put in-game advertising in up to seven games, including Need for Speed: Carbon and Battlefield: 2142. EA Vice President for Online Commerce Chip Lange promised that this is just the beginning, saying that EA is negotiating with other providers to put ads in many future titles.

While sideline billboards in Madden or racing games won't look out of place, it might be a little jarring to see an ad in the middle of Battlefield's battlefields. It might be worth it if the ads lead to lower prices for games, but we're not holding our breath on that count. How do you feel about ads in your games?

[Update: the AP is reporting that the ads will be automatically updated over broadband connections on the PC and Xbox Live]

Any FPS gamer on the PC knows that Battlefield has a reputation. In this latest title, Battlefield 2142 tries to build upon that reputation and set itself apart as a wide-scale futuristic title focusing on team play.