Popular pre-order Bad Company dominates Steam sales

Open warfare is more popular than solving the latest galactic mystery. According to Steam's weekly sales numbers anyway.

The chance to join in the beta process with a pre-order of Battlefield: Bad Company was enough for the game to storm into number one. The multitude of preview trailers and television advertising didn't help lift the presales beyond number 6 in the weekly chart from one of the leading online digital distributors of PC games.

1. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 LE
2. Psychonauts 
3. Modern Warfare 2 
4. BioShock 2 
5. Star Trek Online: Digital Deluxe Edition 
6. Mass Effect 
7. Global Agenda 
8. Aliens Versus Predator 
9. Cities XL 
10. Left 4 Dead 2

 
And the numbers always tell a story. The bargain price of $2 was enough to give Psychonauts a number 2 position in the charts while gamers just can't wait for Aliens Versus Predator and BioShock 2 with bot games till in the pre-order period but charting at eight and four repsectively.
 
Now the real question is, will the great reviews of Mass Effect 2 across the gaming world be enough to help the BioWare game with next weeks chart or could it become the best game of 2010 no-one played?

Ea continues to woo PC gamers

With PC gamers still warm from the great big group hug the other day with DICE developers and their obvious love shown in the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company, EA is becoming the game company that keeps on giving.

Long considered a nasty word among die hard gamers, EA seems to be on a campaign to win back the hearts of the PC crowd. Tweets have brought smiles as it was revealed by EA Community Manager Matthew Pruitt promising an electronic makeover for the Medal of Honor series.

To take the creaky title into the gaming of tomorrow, not one but two gaming engines will be used. And it appears EA likes the one-two punch with not one but two teams working hard to deliver the singleplayer and multiplayer aspects of the game.

Its hard to not smile while reading this.

The singleplayer portion of the game will be handled by EA's internal LA team and will use a heavily modified Unreal Engine 3. The multiplayer on the other hand is being put together by DICE and will be built using the game developer's Frostbite engine.

This last engine is the same one being used for Battlefield: Bad Company.

For those worried about more of the same, DICE president Patrick Bach says thats not necessarily the case

"We're using the Frostbite engine and it's amazing to see how it can build a completely different experience," he said.

Medal of Honor is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2010 and battles its way out of the World War Two era and into modern conflicts in the Middle East. The promotional videos give a Green Beret Special Forces feel with the featured characters wearing the long beards and casual combat uniforms.

Dr. Pepper and EA bring in-game perks

Could a soda get you the latest armor in Mass Effect 2? Maybe that carbonated cola could put an upgraded grenade launcher in your hands in Battlefield's Bad Company.

Laugh not.

Electronic Arts Inc. and Dr Pepper are working together on an innovative brand marketing program delivering custom built interactive entertainment to Dr Pepper fans. Consumers who buy 20-ounce bottles of Dr Pepper can also download new, exclusive content in EA games like virtual clothes for their Sims or body parts for their Spore™ creatures. Gaming fans will receive access to these exclusive add-ons for select EA titles throughout 2010 with codes* found on more than 500 million Dr Pepper bottles and fountain cups.

 

“We wanted to give consumers an unrivaled experience by offering a range of valuable game enhancements that elevate their experience within the games and create brand affinity,” said Tony Jacobs, vice president of marketing, Dr Pepper. “The EA promotion gives fans an unbelievable gaming experience that they can only access through Dr Pepper.”

 

How it Works:
1. Purchase a participating bottle of Dr Pepper.
2. Find an exclusive redemption code under the bottle cap.
3. Go to: http://www.drpepper.com/promotions/ea to redeem the code and select from a wide range of game enhancements for Battlefield Heroes™, Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2, Mass Effect™ 2, Spore™ and The Sims™ 3 and others to be announced throughout the year.

 

Game enhancements for The Sims 3, for example, feature theme-based bundles including Vintage Vegas, Beach Party, Celebrity and Football. Consumers will be able to download exciting new content ranging from a party top or hot boots all the way to a cool Retro car. Fans who have played The Sims over the years will recognize items inspired by previous The Sims games like the Lips Couch or Boomerang Window.

 

Other examples of exclusive downloadable content include the following:

• In Spore, a dozen Cyborg-themed body parts – such as eyes, heads and arms – can be redeemed and used in the Spore Creature Creator. These parts allow players to mix robot and organic creature body parts to design their own Cyborg creatures. The exclusive Cyborg parts will be usable by all owners of the Spore PC game and anyone who downloads the free Spore Creature Creator Trial Edition from the Spore.com website.
  
• In Mass Effect 2 (shipping January 26th for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PC), a shooter RPG from EA’s award-winning BioWare™ division, there are three unique pieces of armor: two helmets and a visor. The game was recently named by The New York Times as one of 2010’s most anticipated games.
  
• In Battlefield Heroes, there are four sets of unique character clothing, and consumers get a pair of outfits per download, one for each side.
  
• In Battlefield: Bad Company 2 four kit upgrades allow you to become a unique Special Activities soldier, with new camouflage and a modified weapon. Kit upgrades also contain new awards and an additional achievement.

More games and enhancements are promised for the rest of  the year.