DICE cancelled their development of Battlefield 1943 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 Onslaught mode for the PC yesterday, which foreshadowed something big was about to release. In fall of 2011, Battlefield 3 will officially release and bring soldiers what they have been asking for: Prone firing, 64 online multiplayer (PC) and jets.

From the trailer you will notice that there is still a lot of guess work to be done, as DICE loves to slowly roll out small details until the big show at the Games Developer Conference going from Feb 28 until March 3. It appears that Game Informer also has the first exclusive look into the game, and will have a full spread for their March edition.

Pre-orders also begin today for the limited edition PC version of the game, which can be purchased through the EA Store and downloaded in the Fall.

So, how about those PC games now?

Details

Full single-player campaign and a co-op campaign

64 online multiplayer for PC

Prone firing (laying down)

Using the new Frostbite Engine (new destruction and graphics)

Interactive environments (possibly setting down stationary guns, machine guns, anti-tank rockets, etc.)

Jets

Helicopters

Official Trailer for Battlefield 3

The HP Slate

Tablet development rumors have started to circulate that the large names have closed up shop, but they are just rumors.

Officially the only tablet to cancel it’s current production is the Microsoft Courier, which was an unconfirmed, unreleased prototype supposedly to be released this year. A day later, the HP Slate was rumored to have canceled it’s predicted released date of June after their acquisition of Palm.

Various sources are now speculating that HP may release a Windows 7 based version, but the majority of tech sites are claiming that it won’t even bother. No information has yet to be confirmed from HP, so until June rolls by there is not much to be said officially.

Additionally there has been news about a new Android based tablet, which has no confirmed pricing or release date, but will supposedly support mobile flash with the latest update to the Android OS. The Aigo seems to be every non Apple fan boys new dream, right next to Notion Ink’s Adam tablet.

Additionally, an almost finished Samsung tablet that runs an Android OS is also close to the market, possibly in August. Sadly this is by far the ugliest tablet, but it does have a built in keyboard of sorts.

A majority of reviews on the JooJoo have also been relatively bland for the price. It costs just as much as the basic iPad, but has quite a few OS issues still.

The prices of the iPad are extremely high in comparison to Netbooks, so it would generally be difficult to compare the two products. They also reach out to two very separate markets. The manufacturing of netbooks is also on the rise, but as new tablets come out at the end of this year (hopefully) they may begin to phase out.

Decline in Netbooks

Both tablets and netbooks will not phaseout the need for a laptop or tower PC, but as cloud computing grows and more applications are built right into the Web, these gadgets will quickly become essential to all.

Now the million dollar question of the day; will you wait for unannounced tablet dates or go right for the quality netbooks?

The new quad core I5 and I7 processors are out and the new Dell XPS 9000 and 8000 can provide the best bang for your buck. Expect long delays though.Dell seems to have quite an issue with customer service as they are shutting down one of their larger desktop building plants, but that doesn’t mean they are going out of style just yet. The Dell XPS 9000 and 8000 are quite comparable to any mac and will save you at least a grand. Want a gaming PC who’s ability to process multimedia software like final cut pro or Photoshop at lightning speeds? This is the one for you. Although it doesn’t quite peek as high as the designated multimedia machines, the XPS 9000 can cost under $1,200 with a widescreen HD monitor with the best equipment you can currently buy (see common system specs at the bottom of this post).

Utilizing the 64 bit processor and Windows 7 capabilities, this bad boy works like a dream. It will kick on under 2 minutes from a cold start up and closer to 15 seconds for a sleep mode wake up. Although there are several options to increase the clocking speeds for the processor, unless you are editing a vast amount of video or creating flash files you won’t need it.

Pros:

• Sexy casing that often is missed in desktop computers.
• Tray on top of the tower for your iPods, hard-drives and a place to connect your earbuds.
• Hides all the regular ugly disc trays.
• Built in card readers, easily accessible.
• Fast as hell.

Cons:

• Major power hog, not exactly energy star compliant.
• Very large tower, but it’s sexy for a big gal.
• A strange high frequency sound emanates from it when in sleep/off modes.
• Only room for one full sized graphics card.
• Cramped insides.

Looks: 5/5

Speed: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Noise: 4/5

Overall score on the burrito meter:

5/5

Shot from the UAV helio and damn is it sweet.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 may not be out till March 2010, but we’ve got the first look and it is pretty.

Everything that was wrong about Battlefield Bad Company 2 seems to have been repair in the newest installment from DICE. Battlefield games are honestly one of our favorites, so this may just be a bit biased, and keep in mind that it’s still in beta testing. From the beta test we can inform you that there will be a much better form of destructibility, which DICE calls destruction 2.0. Rather than an entire wall just blowing up it now fragments and acts more realistic. Entire buildings can be destroyed by blowing out it’s infrastructure and you can even create improvise gun holes will a drill.

The next biggest upgrade to the game comes with fully customizable kits. You start with each of your basic weapons and every time you upgrade a kit, all classes get that same weapon. Clearly the assault and media class won’t get specialized guns like a sniper riffle, but you can mix and match them. Additionally, for each gun you choose under a class, you can choose the specific add ons.

Personal upgrades and add ons:

You can now upgrade your character will items that improve accuracy, damage, defense and additional weapons. Each sunsetting you set under a class will remember the personal upgrades you choose, which makes this a great improvement.

Goodbye old school artillery:

Remember that ridiculous large gun that you had to sit in to fire artillery at the enemy, only to get team killed? Well from what it seems, it’s finally gone. It has been replaced with a mobile computer that controls a small UAV helicopter (can be seen in the various screen shots), which can fire a missile that will pretty much take out anything. Every 40 seconds or so you can fire another missile, but the UAV helicopter is pretty weak, as one shot with a sniper rifle will take it down.

Graphics:

The details in the graphics have clearly been upgraded, which is always nice. It also doesn’t seem to slow down game performance of any kind.

Audio:

Where is the new remixed Battlefield theme? For shame DICE/EA! The sound in the game has also been upgraded. If you are camping in an area it’s not hard to hear those above you running around.

Kit improvements:

Guns are now more powerful, although are generally the same as the first Bad Company game. The medic now has paddles so if your teammates suck, you can do a bit more than just throwing health packs. Health packs themselves are now thrown down and heal all those who sit around it. Your health is no longer a static thing, as they took a card out of the Halo series and placed health regeneration into the game.

More to come as it’s discovered. Follow the various battlefield and Playstation names on Twitter, as you two can get your hands on the closed beta access. For those without a PS3 you can get it on your PC in the upcoming months and at the begging for 2010 it will be downloadable on the Xbox 360.

Need for Speed Undercover

editor@playthismag.com

www.playthismag.com

NFS Undercover gets 4/5 burritos on the Play This burrito rating systems

Need for Speed has long since been forgotten with a new title each year, but like the last few NFS Undercover was rushed out and has little to offer. There are very minor differences from the previous NFS pursuit games, but does not disappoint the fans of previous NFS games. The game play is fast paced and has a high replayability level when cops are thrown into the mix, but as far as purchasing this game goes for it’s new features, not worth the moolah.

The only negative thing on this game, aside from it being relatively boring after a few hours of straight game-play (which is bound to happen) is the terrible sound effects (SFX) throughout the game. One of the most annoying things that can be stuck in a game much like a film are unnecessary SFX. When starting your car from a stopped position it makes one of the most fowl tire screeching noises, but this would be perfectly ok if you floored it. This happens when even tapping on the gas peddle, which obviously is a bit ridiculous and relatively annoying.

Graphics & Cinematics: The graphics are great for a racing type game, but as most NFS games are not meant to be entirely realistic there is still a cartoony/Gone in 60 seconds feel to it. The cut scenes/cinematics of the game are another story, as they have live action cut scenes. For whatever reason they decided to get singer Christina Milian (pictured below) as their leading actress and did a terrible job, but she shouldn’t feel bad as all of the acting was trash. 3/5

Christina Milian - It's sad that this picture alone brings in 1,000 visitors a week.

SFX & Music: While the SFX were especially poor, the music was great. Any racing game that features intense speeds and running from the cops is loosely associated with some sort of techno/trance music with a fast paced beat. While there were only a few well known artists on the sound track, the mixes were still a great fuel to the fire. 4/5

Online/Multiplayer: The multiplayer feature has some new editions for the NFS series as they finally have some original content that you can not get during the actual game play. Cops and Robbers is a new feature that allows you to take place of the in game officers and take down the offenders. The game is just a glorified version of tag and is pretty unbalanced in the game play. Playing regular races is also very unbalanced as it doesn’t have a matching system. A new feature for NFS is that photo mode, which allows you to pause the game and take a photo of your current situation. [Example of ours shown below] 4/5

The 5-0 don't like when you run people off the road

Achievements: For those of you looking for easy achievements, NFS Undercover is the game for you. After just a few hours of game play you can get nearly 75 percent of the entire lot. Simply put rent this game, rack up on achievements and once you’ve had your fill ditch it. 5/5

Random annoyances:

• There is no main menu and the user interface is a pain.
• The AI can push you around and kill your cars engine but you can’t do it back.
• The terrible SFX.
• Photo mode’s photo is relatively hard to find.

Achievements

Accomplish the indicated achievement to get the corresponding number of Gamerscore points:

• Community Member (15 points): Create or use an existing account to sign into EA Nation.
• Active Community Member (20 points): Participated in any Community Day. Visit NeedforSpeed.com for more info.
• Freeze! Hold it right there! (25 points): Take a Photo and upload it to NeedforSpeed.com.
• Learner’s Permit (5 points): Acquire your first car in Career Mode.
• Apprentice Mechanic (5 points): Customize a car in Career mode.
• Meet Zack (10 points): Face off against Zack in ‘Rush Hour’.
• Meet Carmen (10 points): Face off against Carmen in ‘The Game’.
• Meet Hector (10 points): Face off against Hector in ‘Versus’.
• Meet Nickel (10 points): Face off against Nickel in ‘Road Rage’.
• Meet Rose (10 points): Face off against Rose in ‘Rollercoaster’.
• Zack Trap (25 points): Complete the Zack sequence in ‘The Trap’ mission.
• Bowling with Hector (25 points): Complete the Hector sequence in the mission ‘Kingpin’.
• To Protect and Serve (25 points): Complete the Carmen sequence in the mission ‘Rematch’.
• Nickel and Dimes (25 points): Complete the Nickel sequence in mission ‘Payback’.
• 2 Birds, 1 Stone (25 points): Complete the mission ‘Double Trouble’.
• Gold Coast to Ocean (15 points): Dominate the Gold Coast to Ocean event.
• East Fasulo Bridge (15 points): Dominate the East Fasulo Bridge event.
• Pine Creek & Douglas (15 points): Dominate the Pine Creek & Douglas event.
• South Canyon Hwy (15 points): Dominate the South Canyon Hwy event.
• East I-5 (15 points): Dominate the East I-5 event.
• Bay Drive & Harbor (15 points): Dominate the Bay Drive & Harbor event.
• Tri-City Run (15 points): Dominate the Tri-City Run event.
• North River Expressway (15 points): Dominate the North River Expressway event.
• Lose the Eye in the Sky (25 points): Escape from a helicopter in a successfully completed pursuit. (Must be Career level 8 or greater).
• Path of Destruction (10 points): Disable 10 Police Cars in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
• Get out of the way! (5 points): Avoid 5 Road Blocks in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
• Aficionado (10 points): Purchase or win any 5 cars for your garage.
• Keys to the City (5 points): Unlock Port Crescent in Career.
• Branching out (10 points): Unlock Sunset Hills in Career.
• Window Shopper (20 points): Discovered all 3 Pro Shops in Career.
• Nothing Stock (20 points): Discovered all 3 Tuning Shops in Career.
• Retired (40 points): Finish the Career Story.
• Hired Goons (20 points): Takeout all the ‘Goons’ in Career.
• 5 Finger Discount (20 points): Complete all Hot Car Missions.
• Chase or be Chased (20 points): Win all the Highway Battles in Career.
• Own the Road (25 points): Dominate 25 events in Career.
• Completionist (100 points): Complete all events in Career.
• Unstoppable Force (10 points): Avoid 50 Road Blocks in Career.
• Wasting Tax Dollars (20 points): Get $100,000 Cost to State in a single pursuit and evade.
• Spiked Punch (10 points): Avoid a spike strip in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
• Love thy Tires (15 points): Avoid 12 Spike Strips total in Career pursuits.
• Lose the Fuzz (10 points): Successfully complete 5 Pursuits.
• Most Wanted (100 points): Successfully complete 50 Pursuits.
• Scrapheap (25 points): Disable 100 Police vehicles.
• Crossing the Line (10 points): Win a Ranked Multiplayer Cops and Robbers event.
• First! (10 points): Won a Multiplayer Ranked Game.
• First of Many (15 points): Win a Ranked Multiplayer event against 7 human players.
• Among the Best (25 points): Won 25 Ranked Multiplayer events.
• Notorious (50 points): Finish 119 Multiplayer Races in any position.
• Cat and Mouse Virus (5 points): Infected with the Cops and Robbers virus by another player in a Cops and Robbers event.

Check out Cheat CC for codes on NFS Undercover