Battlefield Heroes is a free-to-play shooter. With its fun cartoon-style graphics, customized matchmaking and non-stop action, the game caters to players of all skill levels.

Players can quickly download and easily launch the game from http://www.battlefieldheroes.com. Before going into battle, gamers can create a number of personalized characters. Battlefield Heroes features a non-traditional third-person camera view so players can admire their one-of-a-kind hero while taking out the enemy. Character customisation items are available for Valor Points (points earned by playing the game) or with Battlefunds (a fictional currency bought with a credit card, PayPal or other methods) so players can update or change their hero’s style at any time.

New in Version 191.03

• Adds support for OpenGL 3.2 for GeForce 8, 9, 100, and 200-series GPUs and ION GPUs.
• Accelerates performance in several gaming applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with version 191.03 drivers vs. version 190.62 drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  • Up to 12% performance increase in ARMA 2
  • Up to 8% performance increase in Batman: Arkham Asylum with GPU PhysX enabled
  • Up to 50% performance increase in Call of Juarez: Blood in Bound with SLI enabled
  • Up to 14% performance increase in Fallout 3 (indoor scenes) with antialiasing enabled
  • Up to 10% performance increase in Far Cry 2 (DX9 version) with antialiasing enabled
  • Up to 34% performance increase in Prototype with antialiasing enabled
• Adds SLI support for Darkfall, Dawn of Magic 2: Time of Shadows, Dreamkiller, Fuel, Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Need for Speed: Shift and more.
• Includes numerous bug fixes, including the following key fix (additional bug fixes can be found in the release notes on the documentation tab): For graphics cards supporting multiple clock states, 3D clocks correctly return to 2D clocks after exiting a 3D application.
• Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here. New in Release 190/191 Drivers
• Includes WHQL support for DirectCompute with Windows 7 and GeForce 8-series or higher graphics cards.
• Installs PhysX System Software version 9.09.0814.
• Supports NVIDIA 3D Vision Discover, a complete, low cost solution to start your immersive stereoscopic 3D experience. NOTE: If you are using NVIDIA 3D Vision active shutter glasses, you must download the separate 3D Vision driver which includes the driver for the 3D Vision IR emitter.
• Supports CUDA 2.3 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA Zone for more details.
• Supports a new user-controlled power management setting for select GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards (only available on cards that already support more than one power state). This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application.

I think the massive stream of media on the site should be about done now. Is it September 27 yet in Japan? The majority of those videos and screenshots were from the Tokyo Game Show, which also explains the sudden increase in console media. During conferences we like to do complete coverage. Have a good weekend!

We're proud to announce our third DLC package for Red Faction Guerrilla, the “Smasher Pack”, coming soon for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Available on October 1st, the Smasher Pack contains 8 new maps for our couch multiplayer mode Wrecking Crew, along with a brand new “Behemoth” mode which will allow players to switch out the usual weapons for something a little more intimidating – Walkers. Each of the three main Walkers that you know and love from the single-player campaign will now be available for use in Behemoth mode.

Internally at Volition, we’ve been play-testing Behemoth mode on and off for a while, but always found that some healthy competition allows for a more invigorating experience. Our healthy competition overflowed a little bit this time around, resulting in a few wagers surrounding who would come out on top within the new mode. Since community members have asked me time and time again what goes on inside Volition, we created this video (with montage!) showcasing what can happen when a small wager can turn into a company event.

That's only the first part, with parts 2 and 3 coming next week, right before the Smasher Pack launches on October 1st. It will be priced at 400 MS Points on Xbox LIVE or $4.99 on the PlayStation Network.

No word on a Windows release, but hopefully it'll be part of a free 'patch.'

Letter from the Game Director - September 2009

For this month’s letter I want to go into some details on the new veteran reward system that will go live with the next game update. The update is getting ready for the test server (at least when I am writing this, there is every chance the build will already be on the test servers as you read this!)

Veterans System

As I mentioned in my last letter this new system offers veterans a whole new set of rewards that they can purchase from new veteran vendors depending on how long they have subscribed for.

Veteran Points and how you earn them

Players will be awarded new veteran points for each month that they have paid for (whether it is through subscription or game-cards). Each month that a player pays for will accrue a certain number of points, with the number of points awarded each week (months I guess?) growing after each six-month period they have subscribed for. In addition there is a bonus amount awarded at each six month interval. These numbers are still subject to possible change over the next couple of weeks as the system gets put through it paces on the test server.

Month 1 to 5 – 6 points awarded per month
Month 6-11 – 8 points awarded per month
Month 12-17 - 10 points awarded per month
Month 18-23 - 12 points awarded per month
…
(etc.)

This means that players who have paid for six months will have 38 points (5x6 pts plus 8) and players who have paid for twelve months will have 88 points (38 points plus 5x8 points plus 10). So at a top level the more months you have paid for the greater value you get from the veteran system.

All the veteran points will be awarded retroactively as we have already a log of how many months a player has paid for to date. So when the system goes live players will have access to their points to use at the vendor.

When a zombie outbreak hits America’s new capital of entertainment, Fortune City, it is every man and woman for themselves. But some adapt better than others to survival on Fortune City’s zombie infested strip. Spurned on by the paternal instinct to protect his daughter, Chuck Greene is one such man.

Dead Rising 2 builds on the combat system of Dead Rising where anything that could be picked up could be used as a weapon, by considerably increasing the number of items Chuck will find in Fortune City’s casinos, bars and shops. Just as in the original Chuck will be able to make use of items that range from ‘traditional’ weapons like guns and swords to the more improvised such as roulette wheels, croupier sticks, wheelchairs and stuffed marlins. But Dead Rising 2 takes combat one stage further with a set of truly unique weapons including the paddle-saw (two chain-saws attached to either end of a canoe paddle) and the self-explanatory drill bucket.

Like millions of Americans Chuck is gripped by the TV sensation that is Terror is Reality. Hosted by the flamboyant Tyrone King and ably assisted by his two glamorous co-hosts, Terror is Reality pits ordinary members of the public against an arena full of zombies with a simple challenge – kill more zombies than your opponents and stay alive with the winner collecting big money and the chance to come back and secure even greater prizes.

Like a modern day gladiatorial contest, those lucky enough to get a grandstand seat urge the contestants to spill more zombie blood, with over the top takedowns greeted by rapturous applause and the promise of slow motion replays on the arena’s jumbotron. So, what is it that has forced Chuck to risk his life, is he trying to recapture the fame of his motocross days, does he have a reason to hate zombies, or is it simply the lure of big money?

Terror is Reality is the TV show that has American audiences glued to their seats as they watch four members of the public compete in a series of zombie killing challenges; Dead Rising 2’s Chuck Greene is one such contestant. Dead Rising 2 allows up to four players to go head to head online in their very own Terror is Reality event to determine who is the ultimate zombie slayer.

Dead Rising 2 allows players to experience the carnage of Terror is Reality with a series of multiplayer challenges for up to four players via online play. Whether you're jumping into giant hamster balls and mowing down the undead; seeing who can place the most drill buckets on zombies’ heads, or taking to the arena on a motorbike with chainsaws for handlebars, the challenges will feature exactly the kind of over-the-top action and humour that Dead Rising is known for. Adding to the competitive nature of these events is the ability to prevent your opponents from scoring, ensuring fierce rivalries as competitors fight dirty to claim victory.

Dead Rising 2 is being developed by Canadian developer Blue Castle Games in close collaboration with Capcom. A number of members from the original Dead Rising team will be working alongside Blue Castle Games throughout the development process, including Capcom’s global head of research and development, Keiji Inafune, who as the game’s Producer, will play an active role in the project.

Capps' comments came in a Q&A; session following his speech at the Tokyo Game Show. He began by confirming that Epic has been working on Unreal Engine 4 for the past seven years in preparation for the next hardware generation.

"We're very concerned that the next generation will be massively parallel and most engines won't be able to adapt for that," said Capps.

"If there were a next Gears of War, that will be for the next console generation, whenever that is. If someone knows, please tell me! That's about four or five years away, I think."

Also during the session, Capps said that it cost less to make Gears of War 2 than the original game. Although the team working on the sequel was larger, the development time was shorter. "We've managed to keep our expenses down significantly," he said. "We hear about 25 million dollar game budgets and that sort of thing... Epic's not like this."

Of course, if you want a next-gen console today, simply equip a PC with a DirectX 11 GPU.

Friday Fictoidals

• Early British explorers misnamed the East Alligator River in Australia's Northern Territory. It contains crocodiles not alligators. The words moron, imbecile, and idiot are not interchangable. The one with the highest level of intelligence is a moron, followed, by an imbecile, and then idiot.
• Odontophobia is the fear of teeth.
• The triangular shape that Toblerone chocolates are packaged in, is protected by law.
• In Singapore, it is illegal to sell or own chewing gum.