EA's hopping on the PlayStation Trophy badwagon, adding retroactive support for Sony's answer to Achievements in an upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company update. The game joins PSN release NovaStrike as the latest to pledge Trophy support, making it borderline newsworthy as one of the new cool kids on the block.

In addition to that change, the official Bad Company site writes that further tweaks are coming, including technical performance fixes and the availability of bonus weapons, previously only available to those who had pre-ordered or opted in to the newsletter. Boosh! Wait... that's not right.

September 9th News Update [B Company News]

EA DICE is making good on the promise of free DLC for Battlefield: Bad Company they made back in April of this year, introducing an all-new game mode to mix things up for players this Thursday. conquest Mode, first seen back in Battlefield 1942, pits two opposing teams against each other in a race to deplete the other team's tickets. Killing an enemy takes off one ticket, while capturing and holding certain objectives can be a major drain on the opposition. While it's only slightly different from the Gold Rush mode that came with the game - it plays out on the same maps - it does add just a bit of variety to the game's already rich multiplayer experience. Plus, you finally have an excuse for just wandering all over the map killing random people instead of going after / protecting the enemy's gold.

Look for the update this Thursday for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game.

I've always been of two minds regarding EA DICE's Battlefield series. While I've enjoyed countless hours finding creative ways to destroy my fellow players in gigantic military conflicts, overall the games lacked a certain charisma. The sort of personality and immersion that can only come from having experienced a compelling backstory to the conflict you're involved in. Just like the Metal Gear Online experience is enhanced by playing through MGS4, Battlefield needed a story mode to add a little life to the party.

Battlefield: Bad Company addresses just that issue, adding a full single-player experience to the Battlefield series, complete with colourful characters and questionable moral choices on top of the usual multiplayer mayhem. It's uncharted waters for EA DICE - lets see if they sink or swim.

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EA DICE's Battlefield series has been providing PC gamers (and eventually console owners) with solid, entertaining online multiplayer battles for a good six years now. Now that they've proven they can deliver the multiplayer goods they've taken on the single player experience with Battlefield: Bad Company, seeking to provide an offline story mode that is every bit as compelling to the solo-player as the massive multiplayer battles are to the more competitive gamer.

Has EA DICE managed to provide a combination of solo and multiplayer experiences worthy of your gaming dollar, or has the mixed focus resulted in mix review scores? The critics arm themselves after the jump.

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I got a call from an Electronic Arts representative yesterday asking me about my coverage plans for Battlefield: Bad Company. I'm busy, and, right now I don't have any.

Honestly, it's possible that seeing so much of the game at so many press events played a part in that.

I try to be curious about everything, but seeing a game — even a good one — so many times can kill the buzz for me.

I've heard other reporters say the same thing about the long-hyped Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway. To be fair, I'd grown weary of the many Spore demos, but I've re-warmed to the game after recent showings (two private demos in the last month — I'm not bragging, just making a point about how it gets around to the press.)

On the other hand, I was asked by a Microsoft representative yesterday what I was most interested in seeing at E3. I said, from a reporter's standpoint: Nintendo's line-up. Because I don't know anything about it.

Nintendo's been shortening its hype cycle. Some developers have called for a shortened cycle too. We gaming reporters certainly need to ask ourselves if long hype cycles are affecting our coverage. My question is if it's affecting gamers as well.

Would you rather know about a game for a shorter period of time?

EA DiCE has pushed out yet another game as part of its Battlefield franchise - Battlefield: Bad Company. It's set for simultaneous release in Oz and the US on Thursday.

Bad Company represents two firsts for the series - a proper, story-based single player campaign, and release on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, with the PC nowhere to be seen. It seems a slap in the face to PC gamers who have religiously bought the Battlefield games in the hopes of decent single player. Them's the breaks I suppose.

Two versions of the game will be available for purchase - the regular and Gold editions. The differences can be found at EA's website.

Full release after the jump.

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Fresh off a sendup of Metal Gear come two more amusing trailers flacking Battlefield: Bad Company. One (above) cracks on Gears of War's haunting "Mad World" campaign. The second (below, after the jump) goes after Rainbow Six.

Despite all that has gone on with this game in the past, I kinda do want to see what this one is all about. It gets really enervating playing tactical shooters that faithful adhere to painstaking rules of engagement, when all you want to do is huck a grenade and wade into the firefight. Whether indulging that release is enough to sustain an entire game, I dunno, but I at least wanna see it.

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When poking fun at the "competition" one has to be careful not to step into "pompous" territory. Generally, a dash of quality humour that results in a few laughs is for the best. We're not quite sure that Battlefield: Bad Company's attempt to glom onto the Metal Gear Solid 4 hype by way of respectful ribbing is even remotely successful, but we'll let you be the judge of that.

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The promised demo of Battlefield : Bad Company is now live on Xbox Live, alongside a demo of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, giving gamers a lovely choice between creating and destroying. The Bad Company demo comes in both single and multiplayer flavors, with the single player giving you a taste of story-driven sandbox gameplay, while the multiplayer portion lets the more competitive among us battle it out in the objective based Gold Rush mode of the game.

The Civilization Revolution demo also contains both multiplayer and single player gameplay, and while I am no expert I am going to go out on a limb and say there is some civilisation building going on.

Both demos weigh in on the hefty side, with Battlefield at 1.5 GB and Civ at a slightly more modest 1.25 GB. Enjoy!

Demo: Battlefield: Bad Company [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]
Demo Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution [Same Guy]

In the history of the internet and video game companies using the internet, can safely say that, yes, we have indeed found the most embarrassing URL. Are you ready? OF COURSE! It is:

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