IGNORE ANY EMAIL FROM ME - GMAIL WAS HACKED

Just a quick note, DO NOT open any emails that you may have recieved today from a heartlessgamer AT gmail DOT com.  My account was hacked and used to send World of Warcraft phishing emails. 

Lord of Ultima, browser MMO?

I received an interesting email from EA this morning.  It was a closed beta invite for a new browser game titled Lord of Ultima.  I received the email as a newsletter from Battlefield: Heroes. 

Has anyone else received an invite or even know what this game is all about?

Bad Company 2 Signature Maker

Neat little tool for making Battlefield: Bad Company 2 signatures/widgets.



Now, if only Punkbuster would stop kicking me!

PB INIT FAILURE Bad Company 2

Update: 9 Mar, 2010 - EA has a fix for this error:

BFBC2 PC server R6 is going to server providers now. This server version should stop all the PB INIT errors that have been happening.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is having a lot of problems with PunkBuster. The first problem resulted from Punkbuster installing in the old BFBC2 Beta folder. I covered the steps for fixing this in this post. 

However, now players are seeing the following message:

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You have been kicked from the game.  The reason is: Punkbuster kicked player 'NAME' (for 0 minutes) ... PB INIT FAILURE. (If this persists, visit evenbalance.com and click support to manually update PunkBuster).

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I'll admit that I am being kicked with this error message on 50% of the BFBC2 servers I join. So far, I do NOT believe it is related to a player's individual PunkBuster install as I am able to play just fine on my friend's servers that have Punkbuster enabled.

My best guess is that this is server related and some servers are out of date or broken. So far, the way to "fix" the PB INIT FAILURE error is to find a set of servers that are working and bookmark them as favorites.

However, to make sure players have updated their PunkBuster correctly,  I have outlined the steps below.

NOTE: When dealing with any sticky program issues where uninstalling and reinstalling is a valid fix, I highly recommend using a program such as Revo Uninstaller to completely eradicate PunkBuster from the PC.  Revo Uninstaller will remove all traces of Punkbuster.

Steps to manually update Punkbuster

1. Uninstall Punkbuster using an uninstall program, removing all folders, registry, and other entries of PB from the PC.
2. Download pbsetup.exe.
3. Launch pbsetup.exe
4. Once launched, click "Add Game"
5. Select BFBC2
6. Browse to your install folder for BFBC2 (just the install folder, not any existing PB folders)
7. Click OK
8 Once back on the main screen, click "Check for Updates" and it will initiate a new install for BFBC2's Punkbuster.

Again, this may NOT fix the PB INIT FAILURE, which I strongly believe is server related!  This is simply to confirm you've uninstalled and reinstalled PB correctly.

Bad Company 2 PC beating consoles

The Battlefield series has always been sold as a PC game. A couple years ago that could have been said about the Call of Duty franchise. Then Modern Warfare 2 hit and the console versions destroyed the sales numbers and hours played of the PC version. The debate raged whether Infinity Ward had given up on the PC because there wasn't any money there. PC gaming is dead right?

Wrong. In an amazing turn of events, PC gamers do exist! Today we get word that Battlefield: Bad Company 2's PC version is beating the numbers on the consoles.

btw: PC currently has more people playing and are in game servers than both the consoles.

Noticed on Kotaku that this post was taken the wrong way. The PC had more players than either console not more than both consoles combined. You'll need to work to beat both consoles combined effort

This can be taken two ways: BFBC2 didn't sell well on the consoles or there are a MORE PC gamers willing to buy a game that gives them what they want.

I never agreed that Infinity Ward was screwing PC gamers with Modern Warfare 2. I was intrigued by the peer to peer play and the Steamworks integration. I believed MW2's downfall on the PC was that it just wasn't that great of a game for PC gamers. Compare it to Halo, one of the consoles biggest game series which did poorly on PCs as well. It could be said the Call of Duty franchise has been "consoled" and therefore that makes it poor for PCs.

The Battlefield series has always taken advantage of the power of the PC: dedicated servers, customization, big battles, and tight controls. I suspect BFBC2 is a much different experience on the consoles. Console games always have to provide auto-aim to allow the majority of gamers to hit their targets. Mouse and keyboard control is superior and requires no meddling from the developers. 

We could say that Battlefield games have been "PCed" and therefore make poor console games.  I doubt that, simply because in the PC version no sacrifices have to be made :)