Of all the advertisements we've ever thought would show up in our ad-enabled video games, we have to admit we never even considered the possibility of political ads. And yet, there they are. The next time you fire up Burnout Paradise, you may notice some new billboard ads advocating Barack Obama's bid for the US presidency. The ads mention that early voting has begun and list the address of an Obama campaign website.
Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, told GigaOM, "I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout," adding that the company accepts advertisements from "credible political candidates" and that, just like ads on TV and radio, they don't necessarily reflect the opinions of EA or its employees. Our suggestion for the next candidate to buy some in-game ads: Ed Hermes.
Today, September 18th, 2008 is a monumental day for Burnout Paradise fanboys, because today is the day Criterion graces us with a new set of Burnout Paradise downloadable content. New DLC that brings bikes into the mix as well as a bunch of new challenges all for (get this) FREE! The new 445MB Burnout Paradise Bike DLC is waiting to make a home on your 360's HDD so, please, make your way to the XBLM and give it a download. Won't you think of the children?
Posted Sep 15th 2008 12:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Update: New Bike Pack teaser trailer embedded after the break.
This is a friendly and nagging reminder that, this Thursday, Criterion will be releasing the six hundredth title update for Burnout Paradise titled "Davis" which is better known as the Bike Pack. Among the changes included in the update are the inclusion of two new bikes, 38 additional beat-the-clock races, a day/night adjusting option, dynamic weather effects and 70 new Freeburn challenges. Wowzaz! If you're still playing Burnout Paradise, then this Thursday will be like celebrating a birthday in September. For Paradise gamers who have birthdays in September, then this will be your second birthday celebration this month.
After weeks of waiting the Cagney update for Burnout Paradise is finally hitting the Xbox 360. Scheduled to go live on Monday, August 4, Cagney adds 3 new online game modes, two additional vehicles, a live news page and calendar, 70 all-new timed multi-part challenges and more. What would you expect to pay for a content upgrade like this? 1000MS points? 800MS Points? 500MS points you say? Nope. Cagney can be yours for the low price of free. Criterion also announced that the next update, which includes motorbikes, will drop next month. Happy driving!
Jump in for a full list of Cagney update information.
After supposedly being delayed only a few days, the latest update for Burnout Paradise has been delayed once again. The Cagney update, which contains three new game modes, 70 freeburn challenges some new cars and more, will still of course be totally free, but us 360 gamers are now going to have to wait until around the 24th of this month before we see it. Apparently the Microsoft QA team spotted a few bugs and it'll take a few more weeks to squash 'em. Hey, it's always better to nip these things in the bud before they become a larger problem.
As Criterion Games wraps up development on the soon-to-be-released Cagney update for Burnout Paradise, the team is already experimenting with what future updates could bring to the title. Previously announced bikes, night-time driving and a new island have been revealed as key additions coming to the game but now Criterion has revealed the team is experimenting with airplanes. Continuing the developer's admiration for high speed, planes could be an interesting addition to the series but it doesn't appear that anything is set in stone just yet.
Until then we'll make do with the 3 new online modes, 70 online timed challenges, ranked racing improvements and live updates page all releasing for free with the Cagney update, which has been pushed to July 14.
Criterion recently announced some "bummer" news regarding Burnout Paradise's upcoming Cagney update, saying that it will not release on July 10th as originally planned. Tear. Due to the Microsoft certification process taking longer than expected, Criterion confirmed that the Paradise's Cagney title update will roll out a few days later, on Monday, July 14th. The PS3 Cagney release will not be affected. So, you can look forward to some hot Cagney update action on the 14th, bringing with it three new freeburn modes, 70 freeburn challenges, new vehicles and a laundry list of gameplay tweaks.
Earlier this morning, Criterion revealed that the second Burnout Paradise patch dubbed "Cagney" will be made available on Thursday, July 10th. With it, Cagney will bring new newness to the Burnout Paradise world, including three additional freeburn modes (Road Rage, Stunt Run and Marked Man), 70 new freeburn challenges, new vehicles, the addition of custom tracks and a ginormous list of gameplay tweaks and fixes. Not bad. Looking out a bit further, we still have motorcycles coming via the Davis patch in August as well as an island expanding Eastwood patch releasing sometime this Fall. As the saying goes, if you're a Paradise developer, you're a busy developer.
This week we're all business, because we have an overly long list of retail deals to ramble off. So, we'll forgo the fluffy intro and just get to it.
Starting with Best Buy, all this week they're giving away a copy of Call of Duty 3 with the purchase of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and a free $10 gift card with purchase of The Incredible Hulk. Best Buy also discounted a few accessories, offering the Messenger Kit for $20, Wireless Headset for $50 and Vision Camera for $30. Heading over to Circuit City, you can snag a free $10 gift card with the purchase of either NASCAR 09 or Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, get the Rock Band bundle for $155 and BioShock or Mass Effect for $32. They're also offering Burnout Paradise for $40, Frontlines: FoW or MX vs. ATV for $48, Need for Speed Carbon for $24 and our favorite CC deal of the week, 1600 Microsoft points for $15. Next up is Target, where they're giving away a FREE copy of Mass Effect with the purchase two of the listed Xbox 360 titles including Ninja Gaiden II ($60), RSV2 ($40), Scene It? ($50), Gears of War ($40), NASCAR 09 ($60) or Assassin's Creed ($40). And finally, because we love our Canadian readers so much, we hopped on over to Best Buy Canada and discovered they're offering two free games with any Xbox 360 console purchase (selection based on one of four game bundles) and a 12 Month Xbox Live subscription card for $50. Now run along and have a spectacular time shopping.
Posted May 17th 2008 4:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Team Criterion just posted new screenshot love of a just revealed Burnout Paradise island expansion that'll be released as part of the August 2008 Davis update. The same update that'll add motorbikes to Paradise City. You can view all four new island screenshots in the gallery below and before you look, we apologize for their small size. For whatever reason, Criterion doesn't want to shower us with hi-res screenshot magic. Meh! Take in the new Davis island, dream of motorbike exhaust and the tropical sun ... August is almost here!
Also, we embedded Criterion's new making-of the fish market video after the break for those of you who get all giddy with excitement over seeing the development cycle in its rawest form.
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 5:30PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Team Criterion is taking a page out of PGR4's book with the announcement that they'll be introducing motorcycles to the Burnout Paradise mix. Just revealed as part of Paradise's August Davis update (which will release after the Bogart and Cagney updates, of course) are motorcycles which will get their own set of challenges, game modes and even some new locations. Joining the introduction of motorcycles, the Davis update will also add the ability to roam the streets at night to let players experience all the night time visual goodness Paradise City has to offer. Come August, motorcycles and darkness get added to Burnout Paradise ... w00tacular!
It seems Criterion isn't any kind of slouch with their downloadable content, it's free, it's coming more often and they've been keeping us informed about it. Now they're doing us one better and releasing their "Bogart" update early. So early that it's online now in fact. The Bogart update contains a whole host of little things, and shouldn't be confused with the Cagney update that includes the new game modes (what's with the old-school actor names anyway?). Bogart huh? We'll take it: "Here's looking at you, kid" now g'won, get downloading.
Posted Apr 16th 2008 11:00AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Over on Criterion Games' official website, they posted details about some new game modes that are headed to Burnout Paradise in the near future as part of the game's Cagney update which shouldn't be confused with next week's Bogart update. The three new Freeburn game modes showcased (other new additions will be announced in the future) are Online Stunt Run, Online Road Rage and Online Marked Man. We conveniently posted a description of each Freeburn game mode after the break for your reading enjoyment, but we must say that Online Road Road seems like a crash fest of fun where teamwork is rewarded by seeing chunks of car peel from your opponents' car body as if they were part of an orange rind. Criterion promises more Cagney update info and new Freeburn race modes sometime soon'ish.
When Burnout Paradise originally launched the game's community as a whole was rather divided, and many who decried the game hoped that Criterion would eventually patch in some sort of changed features. If you were one of those fanboys however, then you'll be disappointed come the end of the month (April 24) and the release of the game's next major AU. Game downloads have been given interesting names lately and Paradise continues the trend, handing their auto-update the totally unnecessary name of "Bogart." The list of fixes and changes is long and we won't list everything here, so you'll have to head on over to Criterion's dev blog.
Enhanced 360 streaming performance stops instances where the game seems to pause for a second or so.
Fixed Head-on Takedowns as these seemed generally unfair and unrealistic. Unfair low speed Takedowns have been removed.
Increase the # of search results returned for online games.
Increase Picture Paradise timer so it doesn't kick in so quickly
Fixed rich presence updating issues.
Fixed some online race start points which started all the players facing in the wrong direction
Fixed a drifting and boosting bug. There wasn't any real control on the brake so players would grind around the walls of the corners.
The devs over at Criterion must be happy, their game was received well, their upcoming DLC is looking good and Burnout Paradise, their newest game, has sold over a million units. Now whether you liked the gameplay changes that were introduced or not, this is definitely good news. Selling a million copies in the gaming world almost guarantees a sequel, and this should give Criterion the chance to smooth over any bumps in their game formula. And, not only did Burnout Paradise sell a million units, but those sales pushed the total for the entire Burnout series to over 15 million pieces of software sold. Congrats Criterion, keep up the good work!
After supposedly being delayed only a few days, the latest update for Burnout Paradise has been delayed once again. The Cagney update, which contains three new game modes, 70 freeburn challenges some new cars and more, will still of course be totally free, but us 360 gamers are now going to have to wait until around the 24th of this month before we see it. Apparently the Microsoft QA team spotted a few bugs and it'll take a few more weeks to squash 'em. Hey, it's always better to nip these things in the bud before they become a larger problem.
When Burnout Paradise originally launched the game's community as a whole was rather divided, and many who decried the game hoped that Criterion would eventually patch in some sort of changed features. If you were one of those fanboys however, then you'll be disappointed come the end of the month (April 24) and the release of the game's next major AU. Game downloads have been given interesting names lately and Paradise continues the trend, handing their auto-update the totally unnecessary name of "Bogart." The list of fixes and changes is long and we won't list everything here, so you'll have to head on over to Criterion's dev blog.
The devs over at Criterion must be happy, their game was received well, their upcoming DLC is looking good and Burnout Paradise, their newest game, has sold over a million units. Now whether you liked the gameplay changes that were introduced or not, this is definitely good news. Selling a million copies in the gaming world almost guarantees a sequel, and this should give Criterion the chance to smooth over any bumps in their game formula. And, not only did Burnout Paradise sell a million units, but those sales pushed the total for the entire Burnout series to over 15 million pieces of software sold. Congrats Criterion, keep up the good work!
