Battlefield 3: Aftermath Release Date Announced

EA has announced release dates for Battlefield 3’s Aftermath downloadable content. Battlefield 3 Premium members on PlayStation 3 can get Aftermath on November 27th, while Premium Xbox 360 and PC players can get it on December 4th. Non-premium players on PlayStation 3 can get Aftermath on December 11th, and non-Premium Xbox 360 and PC players will round out the schedule on December 18th.

As with all Battlefield 3 content, Aftermath will cost $14.99 (1200 Microsoft Points) and will be free to Battlefield Premium members. Aftermath is the fourth of five packs for Battlefield 3, coming ahead of End Game, which will be released in March 2013.

Separately, EA announced today that in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Battlefield and the milestone of Premium passing 2 million members, it will offer Battlefield 1942 as a free download. Players can get 1942 on Origin’s official site, which notes that it will require an Origin account and will expire on March 1, 2013.

EA also revealed some interesting stats for Battlefield 3, noting that since its launch in 2011, players have passed 95 billion total heals and four billion total revives, destroyed three billion vehicles and fired two trillion bullets. "[Premium] has been an ambitious way to give our fans fresh, high-quality content at a great value," said DICE vice president and general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson. " This achievement is helping us define the new standard by which all other shooters deliver content and exclusive bonuses to their player communities."

For more on Aftermath, check out the details DICE revealed in July. For any other Battlefield 3 needs, look no further than our Battlefield 3 wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Wii U Hits Japan December 8

Nintendo has announced the Wii U will launch in Japan on December 8 and will be available in two different models.

The premium set, which is black, will feature 32GB of flash memory. The basic set, which will be white, will feature 8GB of flash memory.

The Premium bundle will cost ¥31,500 and the basic set will cost ¥26,250. Based on the current exchange rate this is approximately US$405 and US$337.

Wii U GamePad will set Japanese gamers back 13,440 yen. That's just over US$170.

The details were revealed via the first of two Japanese Nintendo Direct events.

US and European Nintendo events are slated to follow at the following times.

• 10:00 a.m. EDT
• 9:00 a.m. CDT
• 7:00 a.m. PDT
• 3:00 p.m. BST
• Midnight AEST

Nintendo of America will stream the event live on its Wii U Facebook page. European readers can catch the European Nintendo Direct here, and AU/NZ readers here.

Source : ign[dot]com

Battlefield 3's Armored Kill Releasing September 4

Armored Kill, the large-scale, vehicle-focused muliplayer add-on for Battlefield 3, releases on PlayStation 3 September 4 for Battlefield Premium members. Xbox 360 and PC Premium members will get the expansion the following week on September 11.

Four new maps, five new vehicles, and a new game mode -- Tank Superiority, a chaotic capture-fest with one control-point -- come included in the Armored Kill add-on. If you're not a member of the paid service, Armored Kill will be available for download on September 18 for PS3 and September 25 on 360 and PC.

Armored Kill's claim to fame is the inclusion of the "biggest map in Battlefield history." This is the third map pack released under the Battlefield Premium banner, with Aftermath coming soon. If you're not currently a member, EA is looking to attract even more Battlefield fans with Battlefield 3: Premium Edition, which also releases in September.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Battlefield 3 Premium Passes 1.3 Million Members

EA has announced that more than 1.3 million people have signed up for Battlefield 3 Premium. The news comes as part of EA’s first quarter earnings report for its 2013 fiscal year, and represents an increase of half a million members since EA announced that 800,000 people had signed up during the service’s first two weeks.

Battlefield 3 Premium was announced during E3 and offers all five of Battlefield 3’s expansions for a one-time purchase of $49.99. Premium players also receive unique in-game weapons, priority servers, double XP weekends and new dog tags.

Add-ons featured as part of Premium include December 2011’s Back to Karkand, June’s Close Quarters, Armored Kill in September, Aftermath in December and March 2013’s End Game. All content is available one week early on PlayStation 3.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com