Electronic Arts and Crytek last week announced the highly anticipated next installment of the Crysis franchise, Crysis 3, alongside a 19-second teaser trailer. On Tuesday, the two companies issued the official gameplay trailer that showcases the game’s stunning graphics. The third installment of Crysis is set in 2047, and users control protagonist “Prophet” as he returns to New York only to discover that the city is covered by a giant Nanodome created by the evil Cell Corporation. This dangerous new world demands advanced weapons and tactics, such as a lethal composite bow, an enhanced Nanosuit and devastating alien technology that will turn Prophet into the deadliest hunter on the planet. The game, which is built using the latest CryENGINE technology, will be released in Spring 2013 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and is now available for pre-order. The full Crysis 3 gameplay trailer follows below.

With Friday’s release of the new iPad, Epic Games president Mike Capps has offered a huge amount of praise for Apple’s new tablet in the context of video games. “Apple is definitely building their devices as if they care a lot about ‘triple-A’ games,” said Capps, in an interview with Reuters. Only the highest-quality games are considered “triple-A” titles, most of which cost tens of millions of dollars to produce and are usually found on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Capps is trying to push console manufacturers to release more powerful devices in the hopes that they won’t be left behind. Read on for more.

With the simple addition of a Bluetooth controller for the iPad, Capps believes that Apple could challenge the Xbox and PlayStation platforms in the home console gaming market. “It is quite easy to imagine a world where an iPad is more powerful than a home console, where it wirelessly talks to your TV and wirelessly talks to your controller and becomes your new console,” he said.

The president of Electronic Arts’ Labels, Frank Gibeau, who oversees games such as “Battlefield 3″ and “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” echoed Capps’s comments and said the company is eyeing Apple’s moves closely. “When the iPad gets to the processing power that’s equal to an Xbox 360 and it connects to a television, that’s no big deal to us. We’ll put the game through the iPad and have it display through the television.” Gibeau said. EA has already released franchise titles such as “Dead Space” and “Mass Effect,” for the iPad. For publishers, “it used to be, oh hey, it’s just the Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft show, but that’s not the case anymore,” Gibeau said.

Crytek, the company behind the graphic intensive “Crysis 2″ for the PC and consoles, is also working on its first game for the iPad, which is due out in the spring. While the game is set to be puzzle-based, Crytek said it could one day bring more complex games to the device as well. “As more people come to these platforms, we have to follow our fans,” said Kristoffer Waardahl, a Crytek studio manager.

If you’re unfortunate enough to be sitting at your in-laws wearing that itchy sweater you hate so much, at least we have you covered with a few games to get you through the night. EA and Gameloft have a huge sale going on and both are offering most titles for just $0.99. Gameloft has Starfront: Collision, Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden, Shrek Kart and dozens more up for grabs, each for just a dollar. In addition, EA has Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 for iPad, The Sims: Medieval and much, much more for just $0.99 a piece. That’s the same price as a McChicken, but so much more rewarding — and none of us should be thinking about more food right now.

Read [TouchArcade] Read [EA]

Electronic Arts has cut the prices of several of its top iOS games by as much as 80% as part of its back-to-school sale. The following iPhone games are now just $0.99: Tetris, Scrabble, FIFA 11, Fight Night Champion, Transformers Dark of the Moon, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Risk, Madden NFL and NCAA Football. EA’s iPad games are mostly priced between $0.99 and $2.99, and the following titles are included in the sale: Battleship, Monopoly, The Game of Life, NBA Jam, Flight Control, Risk, Max and the Magic Marker, Yahtzee Adventures, Sim City Deluxe, Pictureka, Tetris, Transformers Dark of the Moon, Monopoly: Here and Now, Reckless Racing, Scrabble and Snood. Read

It seems like Apple can do no wrong these days, but according to Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, Apple is headed toward a decline. It goes without saying that Apple will not be able to maintain its dominance forever — every company that rises will eventually fall — but Hawkins sees Apple’s decline as beginning relatively soon. “The thing is, it may take another year or two before it starts to decline, but it has to – everything does,” Hawkins told IndustryGamers in an interview. “Everything revolves so much around Steve, and no matter how good his lieutenants are, they’re not Steve. None of us is going to live forever, though I hope he lives for a really long time.” Hawkins went on to note that games made by Digital Chocolate, the mobile game lab he left EA to launch, will “always be in the App Store,” though he says it would be great if Apple were more open. “I think it would be an incredibly positive thing for the industry if Apple decided to support all of the web standards, because then Apple could be the best about everything. Right now they make a conscious choice. They want you to be in the App Store rather than the browser, so they cripple the browser,” Hawkins griped, though he noted that the closed model hasn’t had a negative impact on Apple’s iOS business at this point.

[Via The Loop]

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Lodsys, the company that has been accusing iOS and Android developers of illegally using its in-app purchasing technology, is now also targeting high-profile gaming firms such as Atari, Electronic Arts, Angry Birds lab Rovio, Square Enix and Take-Two Interactive. According to FOSS Patents, Lodsys had this to say about Rovio:

Defendant Rovio has infringed and continues to infringe, directly, indirectly, literally, under the doctrine of equivalents, contributorily, and/or through the inducement of other, one or more claims of the ’565 patent. Rovio makes, sells, uses, imports, and/or offers to sell infringing applications, including but not limited to Angry Birds for iPhone and Angry Birds for Android, which infringe at least claim 27 of ’565 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271.

Read on for more.

Lodsys also has lawsuits open against other heavy hitters including Best Buy, The New York Times Company, Adidas, Brother and HP. In May, Apple defended iOS developers and argued that they were included under the company’s own license agreement with Lodsys. Lodsys has remained steadfast in its belief that each defendant is infringing on its patents, despite a pending lawsuit from Apple and a declaratory lawsuit from ForeSee.

[Via MacRumors]

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A number of iOS game publishers, including Gameloft and Electronic Arts, have dropped the prices of several games in honor of the upcoming holiday weekend. EA has slashed the prices of NBA Jam, The Sims 3, FIFA 11, Dead Space, and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit to $0.99. Gameloft’s Dungeon Hunter 2 and Starfront Collision are also just $0.99, as is Adult Swim’s Robot Unicorn Attack. Trucks and Skulls Nitro and Cross Fingers are both free this weekend, and both Zen Bound and Zen Bound 2 are priced at $0.99. If you’re doing some traveling on your way to a BBQ and need a good way to pass the time, be sure to hit up the iTunes App Store to take advantage of the sales. Of all the titles above, we highly recommend giving both Dungeon Hunter 2 and NBA Jam a play-through.

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On Monday, the United States Supreme Court rejected a law that would make it illegal for video game stores and publishers to sell or rent violent video games to minors. The law, which was adopted in 2005 and rejected in a 7-2 vote, was deemed unconstitutional and against freedom of speech rights. According to Reuters, a number of big players in the gaming industry opposed the law, including the Entertainment Software Association, whose ranks include Sony, Microsoft, EA, and Disney. “Our cases hold that minors are entitled to a significant degree of First Amendment protection,” Justice Antonin Scalia said. “Government has no free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which they may be exposed.”

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Electronic Arts is set to purchase PopCap Games for $1 billion, according to TechCrunch. PopCap Games is best known for titles such as Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, and Bejewled, all of which are available on a number of platforms, including the PC and mobile devices. It’s unclear what the motivation behind the purchase is. EA has a number of hits available in the iTunes App Store, including NBA Jam, The Sims, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, but perhaps it could use PopCap’s expertise in the casual market to create an entity capable of competing with the likes of Zynga — a firm that relies on in-game purchases to make money. Neither Electronic Arts nor PopCap Games has confirmed the purchase.

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Electronic Arts is celebrating the Easter holiday by putting nearly 30 iPhone/iPod touch, iPad and Android games on sale for just 99¢ each. EA’s second annual Easter sale includes popular iOS titles like Dead Space, The SIMS 3, NBA JAM, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Fight Night Champion, SCRABBLE for iPad and more. There are also plenty of popular Android games available such as MONOPOLY, Worms, TETRIS, Need for Speed Shift, FIFA 10 and The Sims 3. Sale prices are only available for a limited time so those looking for a gaming experience slightly more sophisticated than flinging birds across a screen should hit the read link for a complete list of discounted EA games.

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When EA launched NBA Jam for the iPhone and iPod touch in February, there was one glaring omission: the ability to dunk on your friends. On Thursday EA fixed that by updating the game with local multiplayer, which means you’ll be able to take to the court and play against your buddies using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If you use an iPad, there’s more good news – EA also launched NBA Jam HD for $9.99. NBA Jam has been a staple on our devices since its debut, and it’s been updated with the current NBA roster, too. Lace up those Nike’s and install the update.

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Electronics Arts has announced that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters has beat all previous first-week sales records in its Tiger Woods game franchise history. According to Gamasutra, the title sold 225,000 copies during its first week, and early estimates suggest it earned twice the revenue of last year’s game. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters is the first game in the family to allow players to hit the links at the famous Augusta National golf club —  roughly 2 million rounds through that course have already been played. Similarly, players have already hit 182 million shots in the game, and 7 million games have been logged since the title’s launch on March 29th. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, is available on all of the major gaming consoles, including the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, and the Nintendo Wii.

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If you’re throwing your chips at the TV wondering why Tiger can’t break into the top five during this year’s Master’s Tournament, then pick up a set of clubs and hit the links yourself. EA has dropped the price of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 to $4.99 — from it’s original $6.99 price – in honor of the Masters Tournament. We wrote up the game’s launch on March 29th and have really been enjoying the gameplay. The graphics have improved vastly from the original and we like the multiplayer option for competing against friends. We’re not sure how long the price drop will remain in effect, though, so jump over to your local iTunes App Store and download a copy. Shoot’em straight.

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‘Tis the season to spend money, and the countless sales that continue to pop up across the country make it oh so easy for us to part with our hard earned cash. One of the latest in a long line of enticing sales comes from Electronic Arts, which is offering a massive collection of iOS games for just 99¢ each. In fact, 68 of EA’s popular titles for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are on sale right now. Hit the break for the complete list compiled by Touch Arcade, which shows all of the games on sale along with links to each title’s App Store page.

iPhone/iPod touch Games

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2, 99¢
• Cause of Death: Can You Catch The Killer?, 99¢
• Heroes Lore III, $1.99 → 99¢
• High Caliber Hunting, $2.99 → 99¢
• Pictureka!, $1.99 → 99¢
• Reckless Racing, 99¢
• Mirror’s Edge, $4.99 → 99
• Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, $4.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Shift, $4.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Undercover, $4.99 → 99¢
• NBA Elite 11 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• MMA By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Fifa 11 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Fifa 10 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Madden NFL 11 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• NCAA Football By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour By EA Sports, 99¢
• The Sims 3, $6.99 → 99¢
• The Sims 3 Ambitions, $4.99 → 99¢
• The Sims 3 World Adventures, $2.99 → 99¢
• SimCity Deluxe, $2.99 → 99¢
• Spore Creatures, 99¢
• Spore Origins, 99¢
• Lemonade Tycoon, 99¢
• Monopoly, $2.99 → 99¢
• Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition, $2.99 → 99¢
• Risk: The Official Game, $4.99 → 99¢
• Battleship, 99¢
• Connect 4, 99¢
• Boggle, 99¢
• The Game Of Life Classic Edition, $2.99 → 99¢
• Clue, 99¢
• Trivial Pursuit, 99¢
• Yahtzee Adventures, 99¢
• Scrabble, $2.99 → 99¢
• R Type, $1.99 → 99¢
• Star Trek, 99¢
• Skate It, 99¢
• The Simpsons Arcade, $2.99 → 99¢
• Dragon’s Lair, 99¢
• Surviving High School, 99¢
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert, 99¢
• Zombies & Me, $1.99 → 99¢
• Mass Effect Galaxy, $1.99 → 99¢
• Wolfenstein RPG, $1.99 → 99¢
• Anytime Pool, $1.99 → 99¢
• Tetris, $2.99 → 99¢
• Sudoku, 99¢
• American Idol: The Game, $1.99 → 99¢
• Littlest Pet Shop, $2.99 → 99¢
• Pandemonium, 99¢
• Snood, 99¢
• Mystery Mania, $1.99 → 99¢
• Jewel Quest Mysteries, 99¢

iPad Games

• SimCity Deluxe for iPad, $6.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Hot Pursuit for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Shift for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Madden NFL 11 By EA Sports for iPad, $12.99 → 99¢
• Mirror’s Edge for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Reckless Racing HD, $4.99 → 99¢
• Pictureka! for iPad, $4.99 → 99¢
• Tetris for iPad, $7.99 → 99¢
• Yahtzee HD, $4.99 → 99¢
• Boggle for iPad, 99¢
• Scrabble for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Command & Conquer Red Alert for iPad, $4.99 → 99¢
• Clue: Secrets & Spies – A Hidden Object Game, $4.99 → 99¢
• Snood for iPad, $4.99 → 99¢

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Electronic Arts confirmed today that it will acquire Angry Birds publisher Chillingo in a deal rumored to be worth just under $20 million. Unfortunately the birds aren’t likely to see much of that cash, as Rovio, the developer behind the wildly popular mobile game, is not a part of the acquisition. In fact, Rovio has since told TechCrunch that it will not be using Chillingo anymore — news that EA is likely not too happy about. Chillingo has published several popular mobile games including Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, developed by ZeptoLab. Angry Birds and Cut the Rope are currently ranked No. 1 and 3 respectively on Apple’s paid app charts. The deal comes on the heels of the company’s $400 million acquisition of Japanese mobile game developer Ngmoco. Clearly, EA has no plans of slowing its attack on the mobile gaming space.

Read (EA to acquire Chillingo) Read (Rovio to dump Chillingo)