Battlefield Play4Free has recently re-balanced several premium weapons and attachments, replacing them with new items that deal less damage and command lesser accuracy. This would have been fine if they were simply base items, but it turns out that nerfing guns that people paid real money for in good faith has massively backfired. Without any chance of a refund (as stated in the terms and conditions), players are justifiably upset and threatening to leave the servers in droves. EA has implemented a couple of tweaks and new "+3" items in order to try and placate their player base, though they're otherwise sticking to their guns.

It might be time to think about switching to Team Fortress 2, guys. [via Kotaku]

We Are All Hardcore

Our current poll on the Best FPS Series Of All Time is causing a major stir... and causing all us FPS fans to come out of the woodwork to nail our colours to the mast. But is our favourite genre under threat from casual and freemium titles? Rovio and Insomniac seem to think so, but according to the boss behind Battlefield Play4Free, the casual and hardcore markets are entirely seperate and can exist side by side.

More to the point, there's also apparently no such thing as a "casual shooter fan." Love killing stuff with guns? You. Are. Hardcore.

New Battlefield is Free To Play

As speculated, EA has revealed the latest Battlefield title... and that it's essentially going to be free to play. That's right, folks, Battlefield Play4Free (the clue's in the name) will cost absolutely nothing to download and play- offering up to 32 player matches.

Naturally we can expect a whole raft of paid premium content that's gonna make EA their money. No word as yet, but we'll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, why not check out the teaser.

GT5 "Is Coming Before Christmas"

As I wrapped up yesterday, the retailer rumour mill is currently in overdrive about a possible November 30th US (and possibly European) release date for Polyphony Digital's delayed driving simulator. The appearance of the date on the official SonyStyle store seemed to provide as much proof as most rumours get- and just in case you need any more reassurance, SCEA Marketing Executive Peter Dille has confirmed that

Yeah, Kazunori came out with a comment that they are working on a few last things. He apologized to the community, but explained it is coming before Christmas. We haven’t put a date to that yet, but we will just as soon as we get word from him when he’s done. - Peter Dille to Siliconera

Looks like we'll have the real driving simulator in our stockings after all...

New Bad Company 2 Vietnam Trailer

A new trailer for Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam expansion has released today, and it's heating up in any sense of the phrase. Fire is going to play a key role in the gameplay, from handheld flamethrowers to flame-gulching tanks. She'll make you burn with a wave of her hand! [Thanks, Joystiq]