All Articles: Battlefield 4

CoD Ghosts and Xbox One are December 2013’s best-selling game and console

callofdutyghosts-header

The NPD Group has delivered their monthly report on the state of the retail game market and December 2013 was another blockbuster month. According to Joystiq, consumers spent $3.28 billion on video game products last month, an increase of two percent over December 2012. And thanks to new consoles, hardware sales were way up, totalling $1.37 billion (versus $1.07 billion last year).

And speaking of next-generation consoles, NPD is reporting that the Xbox One can lay claim to the US sales crown for December. Though Sony still holds a slight edge in total worldwide sales.

As for the games, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 pulled off a repeat atop the retail sales chart. They were followed by the usual assortment of holiday season bestsellers and you can find last month’s complete top ten after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

EA describes Battlefield 4 lawsuit as “meritless”

battlefield4-header

Beleaguered uber-publisher Electronic Arts has hit back against claims contained in a series of lawsuits that are currently being explored by multiple law firms including Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd and Holzer Holzer & Fistel on behalf of the company’s investors. EA’s official response, delivered to Polygon by a spokesperson for the company, is that these lawsuits are frivolous:

“We believe these claims are meritless. We intend to aggressively defend ourselves, and we’re confident the court will dismiss the complaint in due course.”

However, there may be more merit than EA is letting on, especially given the fact that Robbins Geller is the same law firm that took on the Enron class action lawsuit. Their lawsuit accuses EA executives of being able to sell “artificially inflated” shares prior to the release of Battlefield 4 due to releasing “materially false and misleading statements highlighting the purported strength” of the game. In other words, the lawsuit is claiming that EA executives were aware of the defective state of Battlefield 4 and purposely raised expectations surrounding its release to inflate share prices.

The law firm has until February to find someone brave enough to stand as the lead plaintiff in the case. If they do, and the case goes to court, it may set a precedent that prevents developers and publishers from releasing products with game-breaking bugs. But there’s also the long-standing concept of “caveat emptor” (or “buyer beware”) to consider. A ruling against EA in this case would likely make it open season on content creators.

UPDATE: A third law firm, Brower Piven, has announced plans to challenge EA is court over their Battlefield 4 statements.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

CoD: Ghosts, Battlefield 4 march to the top of November 2013’s best-selling games chart

callofdutyghosts-header

With the PS4 and Xbox One now available in stores across the country, the NPD Group is ready to talk about the financial health of the video game industry with their most recent monthly report. Total sales of $2.7 billion fueled the game industry in November, an increase of seven percent over November 2012’s sales numbers. The next-generation had a lot to do with the inflated number, as hardware sales were listed at $1.3 billion for the month, a 58% increase year-over-year.

But what about the games? Well, new releases Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag marched to the top three spots. Below that is a trio of non-November releases (Madden NFL 25, Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K14) and below that is a trio of family-friendly titles (Skylanders Swap Force, Just Dance 2014, Disney Infinity). FIFA 14 rounded out the top ten.

The top ten brought with it an interesting comparison between the two next-generation consoles and there seemed to be no clear-cut winner. According to Joystiq, the PS4 versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, Assassin’s Creed IV, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, and FIFA 14 outsold their Xbox One counterparts. But the Xbox One can claim sales superiority with Skylanders Swap Force and Just Dance 2014 among multiplatform releases.

Finally, it was a bad month to be a platform-exclusive game as major releases like Super Mario 3D World, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Forza Motorsport 5, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds failed to crack the top ten.

You can find the complete chart of November 2013’s best-sellng games after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Grand Theft Auto V is October 2013’s best-selling game

grandtheftautov-box-largeOnce again, Grand Theft Auto V reigns supreme. The latest entry in Rockstar’s blockbuster franchise remains atop the NPD Group’s monthly tabulations of the best-selling games at retail.

It’s important to note that GTA5 didn’t pull off this repeat performance against a group of lightweights. The remaining spots in the top ten, all nine of them, were claimed by new releases. You can check out the rest of the top ten right here and, if you gambled that Pokemon X would sell more copies than Pokemon Y, it’s time to collect:

Bestselling Games in October 2013
1. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Pokemon X (3DS)
3. Pokemon Y (3DS)
4. Battlefield 4 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
5. Batman: Arkham Origins (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
6. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U)
7. NBA 2K14 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
8. Skylanders Swap Force (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS)
9. Lego Marvel Super Heroes (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, 3DS, Vita, PC)
10. WWE 2K14 (Xbox 360, PS3)

According to Joystiq, GTA5 wasn’t the only big winner last month. The entire industry had a very profitable four weeks as last month’s software sales were higher than the same period from 2012, making October 2013 the third month in a row to see year-over-year sales gains.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Assassin’s Creed IV, Battlefield 4, Angry Birds Star Wars, more added to PS Store

assassinscreed4-header

It’s another big week for the PlayStation Store as five PS3 games (and one Vita title) made their digital download debut simultaneously with their retail release.

Do you like exciting military action? There’s Battlefield 4.
Do you like stealth action with a dash of piracy? There’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
Do you like Pac-Man (and who doesn’t?)? There’s Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
Do you like wrasslin’? There’s WWE 2K14.
Do you like flinging birds at Stormtroopers? There’s Angry Birds Star Wars on the PS3 or Vita.

More details on all of these titles, as well as a few others (including Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD), can be found after the break. And, as always, a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, Vita | Tagged , , , , ,

New Releases: Battlefield 4, Assassin’s Creed IV, Sonic: Lost World, More

newreleases102913

It took a little bit longer than usual, but we’re finally in the middle of the Fall gaming avalanche.

This week, gamers can look forward to Battlefield 4 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360), the next entry in DICE’s popular shooter series; Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360), the next entry in Ubisoft’s popular stealth series; and Sonic: Lost World (Wii U, 3DS), the next entry in Sega’s sometimes anger-inducing popular platformer series.

Also available this week is…

  • The Wii Fit U Fit Meter, Nintendo’s stylish exercise gizmo designed for the free downloadable version of Wii Fit U (which will also be available this week).
  • The first wrestling game published under the 2K Games banner WWE 2K14 (PS3, Xbox 360).
  • The console version of Angry Birds Star Wars (3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360).
  • The latest platformer starring Pac-Man, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (PC, Wii U, Xbox 360)

A complete list of this week’s new game releases can be found after the break. And remember to keep an eye on “New Releases,” because we’re just a little over two weeks away from the launch of two new consoles. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , ,

DICE deploys Battlefield 4 system requirements

battlefield4-header

Will you have the necessary hardware to run Battlefield 4 this Fall? DICE has released the game’s minimum and recommended system requirements and it looks like the game will support a wide range of systems.

Ready? Here we go…

Minimum System Requirements

OS: Windows Vista SP2 32-Bit (KB971512 Platform Update)
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 2.8 GHZ / Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHZ
Memory: 4 GB
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 3870 / Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT
Graphics Memory: 512 MB
Hard Drive: 30 GB

Recommended System Requirements

OS: Windows 8 64-Bit
Processor: AMD Six-Core CPU / Intel Quad-Core CPU
Memory: 8 GB
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7870 / Nvidia GeForce GTX 660
Graphics Memory: 3 GB
Hard Drive: 30 GB

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

MS bringing Killer Instinct, Battlefield 4, Forza 5, Ryse, “other suprises” to PAX Prime 2013

microsoftgamestudios-logo

PAX Prime practically takes place in Microsoft’s backyard and the consolemaker will have a large presence at the show, taking over three booths (#412, #422, and #432) and a hefty chunk of the Washington State Convention Center. But they only plan to have eight games on display, and one of them is on loan from Electronic Arts.

Four Xbox One games will be playable on the show floor including Crytek’s Ryse: Son of Rome, Turn 10’s Forza Motorsport 5, Double Helix’s Killer Instinct reboot, and DICE’s Battlefield 4.

Microsoft also plans to erect a massive theater in their booth that will showcase developer-guided demos of four additional games on a 30-minute rotation. The rotation includes new looks at Rare’s Kinect Sports Rivals:, Capcom’s Dead Rising 3, the game creation game Project Spark, and the lone Xbox 360 game in their booth, Fable Anniversary. According to Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb, “other surprises” may be in store for the Xbox booth as well.

This year’s PAX Prime expo runs from August 30 through September 2. More details on all of the demos can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , ,