It’s time for another installment of…

Good idea:

Providing  dedicated servers for console versions of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Bad idea:

Providing laggy dedicated servers for console versions of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

The end.

Hardware

1. Nintendo DS – 440, 800
2. Wii – 277, 200
3. Xbox 360 – 185, 400
4. PlayStation 3 – 180, 800
5. PSP – 65, 500

Software

1. 360 – TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION – 486, 100
2. DS - POKEMON SOULSILVER VERSION – 242, 900
3. Wii - NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII – 200, 300
4. DS – POKEMON HEARTGOLD VERSION – 192, 600
5. PS3 - GOD OF WAR III – 180, 300
6. WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS
7. 360 – BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 – 166, 000
8. WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD
9. Wii – JUST DANCE
10. SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV – 143, 000

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European PlayStation 3 owners will finally gain access to that skins DLC. They will have pay real Earth money for it though and disappointingly, so will North American PS3 owners. Did they get wise to the DLC loophole? Fortunately the content is quite frivolous.

In other DLC news, DICE announced a brand new mode called “Onslaught”:

Onslaught mode resembles the horde modes of other games, but I am interested in what they’ll do with it and how much they’ll charge for it.

I do wish DICE was releasing more maps instead of modes though. Do we really want to divide the player base like that?

After such a long wait, the console patch for Bad Company 2 was finally deployed (it’s server side). In it were the mentioned PC balance changes from way back and additional tweaks as detailed below:

Slightly increased the damage of the UZI at long range.
The AKs74u now has more felt recoil when aiming.
The G3, VSS, and all SemiAutomatic rifles now settle slightly faster between shots when aiming.
The PKM, Type 88LMG, G3, An94, and 40mm shotgun have returned to their former glory.
Increased the damage of the MG3 to bring it in line with the rest of the LMGs.
Fixed a bug where the Saiga12 with slugs would do too much damage at long range.
Fixed a bug where the SVU would do too little damage at long range.
Fixed a bug where M95 rounds would not kill armored targets with headshots.

Oh, how sweet it is!

Want to get the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 DLC for free? Here’s a guide I cleaned up for your viewing pleasure. I take no credit for this. It’s similar to the Mass Effect 2 Dr. Pepper DLC code trick.

Please note that the DLC is currently only available for the Xbox 360. PlayStation 3 and PC users still need to wait for EA/DICE and/or Dr. Pepper to release them.

These are the codes you can use:

• CBEEAAA41NWH
• CBEEAAAE4L9N
• CBEEAAAFQG9J
• CBEEAAAE98ZV

Use these codes after signing up at the Dr. Pepper website. You can only use the code once per account, but the codes are universal.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:

1. Create a new account at the Dr. Pepper website. (You can use @Mailinator.com as valid e-mail address, but it’s not necessary since confirmation isn’t required)
2. Enter a universal code from above and ‘Submit’. (You can enter ‘No Purchase’ for the questions below the code, if you wish)
3. Right-click the ‘Claim now’ button and copy the URL/link
4. Place the URL in your web browser’s address bar
5. Change the =3 at the end of the URL to =4 (or vice-versa if it doesn’t work) and hit ‘Enter’
6. Claim your Bad Company 2 DLC using the same EA account you are using with Bad Company 2
7. Repeat 1-7 for the remaining DLC

Let me know if the instructions don’t work or need clarification.

The PC patch is out now! There are a whole slew of changes for you PC players to pore over including tweaks to weapon balance. At first, DICE didn’t divulge the all important weapon balance changes in their original post, but now they have.

Warning: It’s pretty damn epic.

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After 63 hours of play time, my enjoyment of Bad Company 2‘s multiplayer has yet to diminish.

Playing with fellow GAF players results in numerous victories. My personal win/loss record is approaching 2:1 and it’s all thanks to competent teamwork. I’ve also begun playing more Rush games with the GAF squad and they’ve become a lot more bearable.

Since the last update, I’ve also obtained the Platinum Trophy for Bad Company 2. It wasn’t easy or enjoyable, but it did allow me to try “boosting” for the first time. The “Knife 5 friends” and “kill 20 people via Demolition 2.0″ Trophies were brutal. I don’t know why the designers thought these objectives were fun. Trying to obtain these in a “real game” would be detriment to everyone else who is playing.

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