Apple Will Announce the Next iPad on March 7th

The iPad 3 will be announced on March 7th. Apple has just sent out invitations for an Apple event in San Francisco at 10AM PST on Wednesday March 7th. The invitation not so subtly hints at the Retina Display becoming a reality in the iPad 3.

The next iPad has long been expected to be announced on March 7th with the hallmark feature of the 2048×1536 resolution Retina Display and possible quad-core A6 processor. The invitation, which notes that Apple has “something you really have to see” pretty much insinuates that a Retina Display iPad is happening. The invitation also interestingly doesn’t show a home button, though that could easily be explained if the iPad in the invitation was in landscape mode.

The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco next week. For everything else we know about the iPad 3

This is the announcement you’ve been waiting for: One of the most beloved strategy titles of all time re-imagined by one of the best strategy studios in the world. Firaxis Games’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown introduces a wider console audience to what made the storied franchise great in the first place.

Unlike 2K Marin’s previously announced XCOM shooter, which sparked tempers among longtime fans for turning its back on the series’ cerebral roots, this title is a full-on strategy game that puts players in command of a global anti-alien defense force. XCOM’s leader needs a worldwide perspective where threats are identified, populations reassured, and national leaders mollified – but a tactical mind is just as critical considering every shot XCOM’s soldiers fire on the battlefield is under the player’s turn-based control.

“It’s been a dream of ours to recreate X-COM with our unique creative vision. We’re huge fans of the original game and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-envision a game that is as beloved as X-COM,” said Steve Martin, president of Firaxis Games. “We were careful to keep XCOM: Enemy Unknown true to the elements that made X-COM such a revered game while delivering an entirely new story and gameplay experience for both die-hard X-COM fans and newcomers to the franchise.”

If you’re lost, you can find out what all the fuss over the original X-COM is in the in-depth Classic GI feature we printed a few months ago (now available online for the first time), which includes rare insight from series creator Julian Gollop.

The huge feature in February’s Game Informer goes into all the gory details of XCOM’s destructible tactical environments, the interaction between the real-time strategic view and the turn-based combat, how the XCOM organization improves its capabilities as the war rages on, and much more.

In addition, the February issue has our lengthy love letter to the top 50 games of 2011, an exclusive look at new Mass Effect 3 details, and the final word on Final Fantasy XIII-2 along with all the usual goodies.

Larry Akins aka 2112 – This is incredible news! With having gamed on the PC platform since the TRS-80 there are few titles which come to mind as all time classics. My favorite game of all time even in this day of Battlefield 3 graphics/physics is the original X-Com UFO Defense. The depth and feel of the game has never been touched since. Yet many in the gaming industry who design games will reflect the same passion and tell you their favorite of all time is the same. Funny how none of them have brought to market a title which feels like such.

During the 2010 E3 convention 2K Games announced a new X-Com title simply titled X-COM. Soon fans of the original game would be let down in knowing it was a first person shooter using some of the storyline from the series. This would come as another huge disaoppointment for fans. The series started in 1993 with the best and ended with the developer ruining the brand name with horrible titles like X-COM: Interceptor in 1998 and X-COM: Enforcer in 2001. There have been a few attempts to bring some of the feel of the first game with titles like UFO: Alien Invasion an open sourced game to a really great title from Chaos Concept called UFO: Extraterrestrials. The title proved to be great and did bring back some of the feel for those who continue to search for a modern version of the classic.

Another studio ALTER Interactive brough out three titles (UFO: Aftermath 2003, UFO: Aftershock 2005, and UFO: Afterlight in 2007) dealing with the genre. ALTER deserves a lot fo credit for seeing a genre which was being ignored by all the other studios and trying to bring a new ip to market. But that is where it stops in that these titles left a lot to be desired to say the least. Frankly they were part of the new wave of studios popping up in the Czech Republic and bring substandard products to market. Not one of my favorite trends in the industry.

Well now we all wait to see how things go. From very early press leaks it appears the title could release in 2012. However I have seen a few reports showing 2013 which would make some sense for marketing in that it would be the 20 year mark since the first title. At any rate I will keep all posted as we get more info. Until then watch the skies…

DICE -

“We are happy to announce that Back to Karkand is out now on Xbox 360 and PC! Should you get Back to Karkand? Kotaku asks — and then immediately answers YES.

If you haven’t followed us before, Back to Karkand is our first expansion pack for Battlefield 3. It features four legendary Battlefield 2 maps reimagined in the Frostbite 2 engine, with enhanced levels of destruction.

More than just a map pack, Back to Karkand also features 10 new weapons to extend your arsenal (you can bring these new weapons back to the base game maps), three classic vehicles from Battlefield 2, including the STOVL fighter jet (excellent for hovering and capturing bases), Desert Buggy, and and APC, five new dog tags, and an added layer of persistence with the all-new Assignments you need to complete to unlock new weapons.

Now go back to Karkand and let us know what you think in the Battlelog forums! To find your new maps, just use Quick Match or the server browser as you normally would. The four new maps will appear together with the nine ones from the base game. For a full guide on how to use the server browser on console, check out this guide we prepared earlier. Just make sure you apply the latest multiplayer update for Battlefield 3, or you will not be avle to access Back to Karkand.

If you are a Limited Edition owner, you are entitled to this entire expansion pack at no extra charge. Otherwise, you can buy it for PC from Origin at $14,99 or for Xbox 360 from Xbox Live Marketplace or the in-game store for 1200 Microsoft Points.”

A patch will be arriving for the PC version of Battlefield 3 on December 6th. It’ll be a pretty hefty 2GB update, apparently containing “most of the content for Back to Karkand” and a series of fixes and balance tweaks. The most notable changes can be found below, while the rest are available for your perusal on the Battlefield 3 blog.

• Fixed several weapons so they are properly suppressed and hide the player on the mini-map when fired.
• Tweaked Tactical Light so it is not as blinding over longer ranges.
• Tweaked the IRNV scope so it is limited to usage only at close range.
• Slightly decreased the accuracy for all weapons on fully automatic, burst fire is now preferable at mid to long range.
• Reduced the damage done to Armored Vehicles and Infantry from AA guns.
• Increased the damage RPGs and Tank shells do to AA vehicles.
• Slightly increased the power of Fighter Jet Cannons against all vehicle targets, especially Helicopters.
• Reduced the effectiveness of Stealth on Air Vehicles.
• Reduced the effectiveness of Beam Scanning for Jets.
• Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree.

FULL CHANGE LOG

Bugfixes:
• Fixed a problem with spawn timer now showing blue border on startup and lost spawn point
• Fixed a problem where player who joined queuing on End of round got spawn screen stuck on screen, but unable to do anything with it untill next round loaded
• Fixed a problem where camera would change to 3rd person on killcam when killcam was turned off in server settings
• Fixed stat references on several dogtags
• Fixed for surveillance ribbon not counting TUGS
• Fixed a missing combat area lines on the minimap for Grand Bazaar conquest small
• Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
• Fixed a problem where placing C4 with the russians soldier was playing US faction VO
• Fixed a problem where TV guided missiles could be shot into its own helicopter and destroy it
• Fixed a problem when attempting to fire lock on weapons without a target
• Tweaked the chat, it should now be a bit easier to read
• Fixed several vehicles that did not properly shoot rockets and guns towards their predictive sights
• Fixed the G17 Supressed Laser not working properly
• Added alternate HUD colors to help colorblinds
• Added a network interpolation setting. This allows users with good bandwidth reduce latency, but might increase some stuttering. The user can find what works best for his connection by tweaking the slider.
• Increased the Spawn protection radius on TDM
• Fixed a problem with smoke on land vehicles, Missiles should now miss more often
• Fixed a problem where users could end up with IRNV scope in any vehicle
• Fixed a problem where player dies if vaulting over a ledge and into water while sprinting
• Fixed several crashes and increased general stability
• Fixed a problem where the user was unable to revive two players that have the bodies one over the other
• Fixed so you can assign an axis and use as a digital input. This makes it possible for the player (on pc) to assign one of the sticks on a gameped to be used for throttle/brake.
• Fixed a problem with the Kill camera acting up when suiciding from parachute
• Fixed air radar was showing to much. now lasertagged, heatsignature above threshold, enemy missiles and capture points are only visible on air radar
• Fixed a problem where the game would enter a technical hang if the user pressed pause menu and tilde at the same time
• Fixed a problem where you could get green flashes on screen
• You can now reassign cycle weapons
• Fixed so the weapon zooms automatically after bipod deploy is gone when using zoom toggle
• Fixed a problem where the parachute would stay stuck in air if the owner was killed
Balance Tweaks:
• Fixed several weapons so they are properly suppressed and hide the player on the minimap when fired.
• Tweaked Tactical Light so it is not as blinding over longer ranges.
• Tweaked the IRNV scope so it is limited to usage only at close range.
• Reduced heat masking effectiveness of Spec Ops Camo.
• Fixed a bug where Ammo spec would give additional 40mm grenades instead of Frag spec.
• Increased the number of additional 40mm grenades from Frag spec.
• Fixed so AT mines only live for 20 seconds after a player dies to prevent infinite mines. (We want to make a different fix in the future, it’s in JIRA).
• Increased the Time to Live on sniper caliber rounds to allow extreme distance shots.
• Fixed several weapon descriptions, calibers, and fire rates. The weapons themselves have not changed.
• Fixed so the M9 and MP443 pistol can be equipped by the opposing faction when it is unlocked at 100 kills.
• Fixed Laser Guided Missiles missing their targets if the target is moving too fast.
• Reduced the effectiveness of Stealth on Air Vehicles.
• Reduced the effectiveness of Beam Scanning for Jets.
• Reduced the damage done to Armored Vehicles and Infantry from AA guns.
• Increased the damage RPGs and Tank shells do to AA vehicles.
• Slightly decreased the accuracy for all weapons on fully automatic, burst fire is now preferable at mid to long range.
• Increased the effective accuracy of long bursts for LMGs when using a bipod.
• Slightly increased the range of the 44magnum bullets.
• Increased the close range damage of 4.6x30mm and 5.7x28mm bullets.
• Increased the reload time of the Mortar from 3.5sec to 4.8sec and increased the time it takes before a shell hits the ground.
• Reduced the aimed accuracy bonus given by a Suppressor for the MP7, P90, PP2000, PP-19, and UMP45.
• Increased the range and FOV for designating targets with the SOFLAM and vehicle Laser Designators.
• Decreased the effectiveness of 12g FRAG ammo when equipped on semi-automatic and automatic shotguns.
• Slightly Increased the power of Fighter Jet Cannons against all vehicle targets, especially Helicopters.
• Decreased the power of Miniguns against Jets and Helicopters.
• Increased the power of Stingers against Jets.
• Flares reload times for Jets and Helicopter Gunners have been increased.
• Tweaked the AN94 so its burst fire better conveys the real world advantage offered by this weapon.
• Added Single Shot to the AN94 as an available fire mode.
• Slightly increased the recoil on the M416 and removed the Burst Fire mode (this weapon incorrectly had burst fire, which was not authentic)
• Tweaked the spawns for TDM on Kharg Island, Grand Bazaar, Caspian Border, Seine Crossing, Operation Firestorm, Damavand Peak and Noshahar Canals
• Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
• Tweaked the Gas station Capture area on Conquest on Caspian Border
• Tweaked the max vehicle height on Noshahar Canals

Client-Side Changes
Visuals, Stability and Performance Fixes:
• General performance and loading time improvements
• “Black Screen” fix for an issue occurring on some PC Configurations
• Stereo and Rendering Support for Nvidia and AMD Graphics Cards
• Adjusted the “stuttering” encountered on some PC configurations.
• Fixed several Crashes when joining MP and Co-Op sessions
• Fixed multiple problems when using multiple monitors (Eyefinity / Surround).
• Fixed visual corruption issues on certain Nvidia Cards
• Improved loading times for certain textures
• Added console command “GameTime.MaxVariableFps” to limit max FPS
• Added console command “UI.DrawEnable” to hide UI for screenshots / videos

Balance and Gameplay Adjustments (PC)
• Fixed a problem with high speed mouse movement
• Added back some missing Growlers on Kharg Island Conquest Large
• Added back EOR sound for SQDM and TDM
• You should no longer be able to damage a friendly vehicle when sitting in an open position
• Grenades now drop to ground if you get killed while attempting to throw it(note the affect this will have on Hardcore mode!)
• Spawn protection now should work in Conquest. You should no longer spawn on points too close to enemies
• You should no longer spawn too close to enemies in TDM and SQDM
• Combat areas on Kharg Rush tweaked in order to disallow defenders to access the carrier ship after 1st base is taken and being able to enter the AA gun
• Fixed a problem with revived players not suffering suppression
• Fixed a problem with the camera when being revived in COOP
• Added joystick deadzone setting
• Fixed sound for when climbing ladders
• Fixed an issue with some weapon sounds in first person
• Fixed a swim sound loop error
• Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns, AA guns, and Jet Cannons against infantry
• Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns against jeeps.
• Reduced the physics impact of AA guns and Jet Cannons, players under attack from these weapons should no longer lose control.
• Increased the damage of the 44 Magnum slightly.
• Increased the range and minimum damage of the .357 Round from the MP412 Rex.
• Increased the range of all .45cal and 9mm weapons.
• Slightly increased the range of the P90 and MP7 and PDW-R.
• Slightly increased the range of the 5.56mm PDW-R and decreased the minimum damage at long range.
• Slightly increased the minimum range of the Mk11, SVD, and M39 EMR 7.62mm rifles.
• Decreased the maximum damage and maximum range of the G3 and SCAR-H 7.62mm weapons.
• Reduced the damage from FIM-92 and SA-18 IGLA missiles against aircraft.
• Increased the damage and range of the 40mm BUCK rounds.
• Reduced the damage .50cal weapons do against Helicopters.
• Updated T90 canister shell tweaks to match Abrams canister shells
UI Changes (PC)
• Added round duration and ticket summary at EOR
• Advanced squad polish – should be more intuitive
• Significant changes to the Join Squad functionality (see below)
• Fixed a problem regarding keybindings while playing
• You should now get a better error message when being disconnected via Battlelog

Server Update Highlights
• EOD Bot exploit fix
• Several crash fixes
• Anti-stat padding measures taken, disallowing ranked servers to run obscure settings
• Improved team kill kick configuration
• Support for unranked servers. Unranked servers do not report players’ scores to Battlelog, but server administrators can freely control all settings

Share your profile and stats with new Battlelog functionality
• Ability to share your Profile and Stats pages to Facebook, Google+, and Twitter
• User Profile and Stats pages on Battlelog can now be accessed without being signed in to Battlelog if you know a user’s URL
• Single sign on from Battlelog to Origin. If you’re not logged in to Origin and join a game server, Battlelog will automatically sign you in to Origin in the background and join the game server

Quick notes on Squad changes in the Nov 22 update
• Removed FIND ME A SQUAD option
• Allow players to join empty Squads alone, thus having 1/4 squad members
• Change order of options to LEAVE SQUAD, INV A FRIEND, SWITCH TEAM
• Disable Privacy flag when 1 man squad
• Reset Privacy flag from Private to Public when squad drops to 1 player
• All occupied Squads will now show up colored blue on the Squad Selection screen
• Players who choose not to join squads will also show up as Blue in the “Not in a Squad” line
• Squads that are currently empty will display as white — if you wish to join an empty Squad, you can choose the first one marked with white text

Steam Hacked, Valve Investigating Possible Credit Card Theft

A message sent just now from Valve Corporation head Gabe Newell says credit card numbers and other personal information were inside a database compromised during a defacement attack on the Steam forums this Sunday.

Valve is advising all of its Steam customers to keep close eye on their credit card activity, as those numbers were inside a database the hackers penetrated during the larger attack, Newell wrote. The Steam Forums are currently closed. Steam itself is operating.
“We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating,” Newell wrote. “We don’t have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely.”

The database exposed during the attack “contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information,” Newell said in the statement.

The Steam Forums are currently offline as Valve continues its investigation and recovers from the attack. When the forums return, all users will be required to change their passwords. Users who used the same password on the Steam Forums as they did on other sites are advised to change those passwords as well.

“We do not know of any compromised Steam accounts, so we are not planning to force a change of Steam account passwords (which are separate from forum passwords). However, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change that as well, especially if it is the same as your Steam forum account password.” Newell wrote.

“I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience,” he said.

In only 3 days of Battlefield 3 being released, it has already sold a record breaking 10 million copies. 3 Million of these being pre-orders.

EA CEO John Riccitiello today announced via a conference call to investors that Battlefield 3 has already shipped 10 million units within a week of release, with 3 million of those being pre-orders. He also noted that the game is in such high demand that many retailers are running out of stock and have re-ordered copies with the publisher. For comparison, EA revealed that Bad Company 2 has sold 11 million units to date, a number which Battlefield 3 should easily surpass by the end of this month.

We’re previously heard analysts estimate Battlefield 3 sales at around 8 to 10 million, but no one had predicted such a strong launch — the biggest one-day shipment in EA’s history, according to EA COO Peter Moore. Battlefield 3′s chief competitor, Modern Warfare 3, is scheduled for launch early next month, and Battlefield 3 has gotten a decent head start in terms of sales. Most analysts and industry insiders predict Modern Warfare 3 will sell twice as many units as Battlefield 3.

“Biggest day one shipment the company has ever done, maybe double what we did on Medal of Honor.”
– COO Peter Moore, Electronic Arts

2112 – Well I for one am very happy with what I have seen thus far. And I won’t be one of the many supporting Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 with my money. I hope many others wise up as well. Reskin this Activision!!!