After EA DICE loosed the official release date for Battlefield 1943 early today, we set to scouring the interweb for more information on the upcoming digitally distributed title. Wouldn't you know it, the first thing we found was the game's somewhat less-than-thrilling Achievements over on Inside MGC, detailing how many flag caps you'll need before hearing the glorious cheevo noise and snagging 10Gs for yourself, among other things. If you're one of those folks a bit more concerned than they should be with points (aren't we all?), check out the full list to see exactly how you'll be playing BF1943 when it hits next week.

Battlefield 1943 is ready to let bullets fly and bombs drop on July 8th and 9th for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, respectively. The final declaration of release was made by the official Battlefield 1943 Twitter account, intriguingly named "officialbf1943."

Remember, the "Coral Sea" map can only be unlocked through community collaboration. If you won the game through our Joyswag efforts, don't forget to submit your codes!

Update: Electronic Arts has contacted us to let us know that the outfits will be free. Multiplayer has updated its own story, noting that the prices mentioned were seen on the Battlefield Heroes test servers. Upon release to the actual public, they will be offered at the consumer-friendly price of no dollars. Original post is below.

In a touching display of respect for the recently deceased King of Pop, Electronic Arts has uploaded a pair of the music legend's iconic outfits to Battlefield Heroes -- one for each of the game's two factions. Members of the Royal Army can now drape themselves in the white suit worn by Michael Jackson in the "Smooth Criminal" music video, while National Army recruits can don the black leather apparel featured in "Bad." This is a really neat way for EA to show -- wait a sec, you have to pay for them?

You're telling us that EA is charging 420 Battlefunds (about $3) for these outfits? Well, surely, they're donating the money to sick kids or something, right? No? They're just ... keeping it? That's sorta messed up, guys.

Hey, remember when we gave away all those codes of Battlefield 1943 just after E3 and there was a bit of confusion surrounding when you could use them -- er, ya know, actually play the game? Don't worry, we were confused too, but according to June's official EA Newsletter, the long awaited online shooter from DICE will be hitting your digital store shelves on July 9th.

Interestingly, the game description no longer lists a PC version, making the delayed iteration of Battlefield 1943 that much less of a possibility -- a strange one at that, considering the franchise's PC roots. Either way, those of you that snagged codes for the game back in early June should start getting ready for battle by talking to our friends in the JPAG and setting up a game night. Talk about two tastes that taste great together.

Update: DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke said today on EA's UK forums that "We are close to confirming our dates (Xbox 360 date & PS3 date), but still need to settle a few minor things." Looks as though the release date listed in the newsletter is still unconfirmed, unfortunately. Sorry, folks -- and thanks to everyone who sent this in!

[Thanks, Iain!]

We're so excited that we can finally share our love of Battlefield Heroes with the whole world. The casual, free-to-play shooter has (finally) gone live, and you can start outfitting your soldier right now.

While the game itself is free, if you want to level up faster, get special emotes and exclusive weapons, you're going to need to shell out some cash. But there's no need to worry about that at the moment -- just go, start up an account and feel free to swap your usernames below.

[Via BD]

Joy be thine, as EA has confirmed Joystiq GOTY Mirror's Edge won't be the last we see of Faith. In speaking with Videogamer back at E3, EA's senior VP of EA Games Europe, Patrick Soderlund, stated, "You will see another Mirror's Edge for sure. It's just a matter of when that time is and what we do with it. We have a small team on it and I'm excited about what we do."

Of course, one mustn't jump to conclusions and automatically label this as a sequel. Soderlund could've meant anything based on that comment. EA could be working on a full-fledged sequel (something we desperately need), sure, or could be adapting a port for some other system. Or, the company could be making a spiffy new Flash game for all we know. Only time will tell, but the important thing is that no matter what this project turns out to be, we all have more parkour-based gameplay to look forward to down the line. And that's a very good thing.

[Via VG247]

EA's downloadable Battlefield 1943 will take a Noby Noby Boy-esque -- albeit more violent -- cooperative approach to the release of its "Coral Sea" map. The bonus battlefield will unlock when the player communities on both Xbox and PS3 reach 43,000,000 kills each. To be clear: that's individually on each platform and not an accumulated total. So, if there's disproportionate player-base on one console, it's going to hold everyone back.

Coral Sea is allegedly designed to "showcase the intense battle in the skies, offering an all-new Air Superiority game mode." Battlefield will release "this summer" according to the latest press release. Last we were told it would release in June for $15, and the PC version is still scheduled for September. (There's no word on if PC players will have to complete a similar challenge to unlock Coral Sea, but we're looking into it.)

Update: An EA representative got back to us and said, "Yes, Coral Sea will release with the PC version."

It took 45 minutes to peel myself out of the chair, ears ringing, and come back into the space where EA was hosting a recent preview event in Los Angeles. I'd finally pried myself away from an intense Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer session where I'd joined three other attendees and eight remote EA staffers in a characteristically chaotic, 12-on-12 battle. It was the most fun I'd had playing an online, multiplayer FPS in a long while.

The destructible environments, of course, are the returning gameplay gimmick, but it's still just as satisfying as in the first game to pulverize the foundation of a enemy's refuge, bringing the building down and a pesky sniper with it. I turned every building in site into piles of sheet rock and debris. It's not as much fun when your opponents aren't hiding inside, but I really didn't need much of an excuse to launch another mortar shell from inside my tank. No structure was safe.

Though we're running this one under the "likely an error and probably not a hot scoop" category, a listing for Battlefield Heroes on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 has appeared on the EA press site. Pointed out by GOONLINE (their caps, not ours), the listing posits a June 2009 release date -- interesting considering the PC version of the game has been marred by delays. The site also pegs the PC version with a September release, a significantly more solid release date than EA has provided as of late.

At this point, however, we'd like to note that the game's developer, DICE, has stated before its lack of interest in console ports of the game, telling Videogamer.com a year ago, "We could port the engine and do it, I just don't know what we would gain from it. Everyone's who's [sic] got a 360 or PS3 also will have a PC that can run this game." We've reached out for comment from EA and will update you when we hear more.

Update: As expected, EA's Ben Cousins has shot the rumor down.

DICE recently opened up the Battlefield Heroes forums to suggestions for the title of the map you see above. The winner, Noobilator, ended up dubbing this particular area Coastal Clash, and it stuck. The map is still in the development process, and needs more play testing before being deployed into battle, but fans of Battlefield Heroes can look forward to destroying this peaceful little village sometime soon.

If you're trying to experience Battlefield Heroes for yourself, and don't have a beta invite, hit up the site. DICE is handing out codes to everyone.

[Via Big Download]

After revealing that the PC version of Battlefield 1943 would release over two months after the XBLA release, DICE is attempting to cool the heads of angry PC fans on the EA forums. Producer Gordon Van Dyke explains that Battlefield 1943 will be the first PC game to use DICE's Frostbite Engine, which was already used to create the console exclusive Battlefield: Bad Company.

Van Dyke states that the PC's open nature requires more features and support and adds that the game "can't just be thrown out there using copy/paste." DICE was aware that there might be backlash from PC gamers, but Van Dyke notes, "We feel once you play the first Frostbite PC game ever from DICE you'll see why we put this extra time and care in on the development making all right again in the universe."

We'll find out in September.

[Via Big Download]

Update: EA has sent us a new trailer for the game showing off Wake Island. Enjoy!

When the first trailer for Battlefield 1943 released, we were instantly pumped for the game. Multiplayer shooters are fun, but DICE made the right call by including tons of explosions and dudes getting shot in the face in the game's debut trailer. Now, we're happy to report that the game will arrive on XBLA and PSN (1200/$15) sometime this June (PC gamers get it in September).

Battlefield 1943 features three different tropical locales: Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, and gamers can play as either the US Marines or Imperial Japanese Navy in matches supporting up to 24 players.

Essential reading: NYCC 09: Battlefield 1943 Pacific hands-on

Fans of the first-person parkour simulator Mirror's Edge are bound to enjoy this video discovered by the BBPS (embedded after the break). In the video, you'll see a very talented man perform all kinds of parkour antics, all shot from a first-person viewpoint. He even managed to find some surprisingly colorful surroundings to make it feel more like the game. It's all very impressive until around 2:05 into the video, at which point we realized it was filmed by a wizard.

To think such a powerful man would waste his time making silly videos.

[Via The BBPS]

EA is big on "micro-destruction" in its upcoming Bad Company sequel, as evidenced in gameplay footage screened during GDC. Building on the tearing down of the first game's environments, it's now possible to shoot out the most wee little details -- bricks, for example.

EA isn't big on showing what the game actually looks like. The new screens -- all two of them -- the publisher has released are ... well, they could be from practically any military FPS. But hey, at least they offer a glimpse of gameplay from the DICE-developed title, unlike the "all style, no substance" first trailer.

Light on gameplay but heavy on murder the first trailer for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 got "world exclusive" status on this week's GameTrailers TV (after the break).

Showcasing the cycle of "smoke a cigarette, kill a dude, get killed yourself" in a MadWorld-esque aesthetic, we can't help but wish for actual gameplay footage from the game -- the first Bad Company 2 screen was madness! We'll expect to hear more from publisher EA and developer DICE as we near E3 2009 in June. More on murder, that is.