With the release of Battlefield Bad Company 2™ on March 2nd for PC the series returns to PC with what looks to be an excellent game and yes it will have Dedicated Ranked Servers that we will be renting.

There will be guaranteed access to the beta for anyone that pre-orders. The beta will begin on January 28th. You may be able to access the beta through FilePlanet but that has not been announced. Unlike some other pre orders this one actually comes with percs besides the beta access you will receive 6 unlocks on day one and you will be able to reserve your in game name (first come first serve). The latest news on the beta is that is will include one map. Pre-order through Steam, EAs or GameStops web site. These sites will have it available as a download and the game will be available on the day it is released as well as the beta.

More About the Game

Battlefield: Bad Company 2™ brings the award-winning Battlefield game play to the forefront of PC gaming with best-in-class vehicular combat and unexpected "Battlefield moments." New vehicles like the ATV and a transport helicopter allow for all-new multiplayer tactics on the Battlefield. With the Frostbite-enabled Destruction 2.0 system, you can take down entire buildings and create your own fire points by blasting holes through cover. You can also compete in four-player teams in two squad-only game modes, fighting together to unlock exclusive awards and achievements. Battles are set across expansive maps, each with a different tactical focus. The game also sees the return of the B Company squad in a more mature single-player campaign.

• Squad Up: Compete as the lone wolf or together in 4-man squads with up to 32 players and multiple game modes including the all new Squad Rush!
• Defining Online Warfare: Become the master of land, sea and air on vast battlefields designed for wide open warfare on Ranked Servers.
• Intense Solo Campaign: Join Bad Company in a fight through deadly jungles, desert cities and vast arctic terrain on a mission to defuse WWIII.
• Tactical Destruction: Create new firing points, chip away enemy cover, and bring down entire buildings full of enemy combatants

• Huge Multiplayer maps
  • Each with a different Tactical and game play focus and set across a variety of environments
• Ultimate Online Vehicle warfare
  • 15 land, sea and air vehicles, each with a Tactical advantage during play. Race into action with the ATV or rain death from above in the UH-60 transport helicopter with its 2 side mounted rail guns.
• Intense Singe Player
  • From dense jungles to snow-torn mountains, the intense single player campaign follows a more experience and mature ''B'' Company on a daring new mission in an attempt to stave off a new World War.
• All-New Squad Play
  • Team up with 3 other players and fight together to unlock special awards and achievements in 2 squad-specific game modes.
• Destruction 2.0
  • Take down entire buildings, create fire-points in cover or blow it up entirely! In Battlefield Bad Company 2™ there will be no place to hide!

We''re excited to announce the availability of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), a prerelease version of the next-generation operating system from Microsoft. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Beta testing period; your feedback was invaluable in helping the Microsoft engineering team make Windows 7 the best Microsoft operating system to date.

Test-drive Windows 7 RC today. Then show your colleagues and customers how Windows 7 can improve management, security, reliability, and performance.

Partners: If you have a subscription to MSDN or TechNet, you can download Windows 7 RC now. Otherwise, you can download Windows 7 RC starting May 5, 2009.

Participate in the Windows 7 Forum: Share your experiences and learn what other partners and IT professionals are saying about Windows 7.

This is almost as good as Brett Favre coming out of retirement again and playing for the packers. Just think of all the time you could save getting your coffee without having to go to the coffee house and it''s still hot. They even have a beta group for those that want to test it out. You can check it out and signup here.

In response, McDonalds has announced that they''re working on a McNugget dispenser that can be put in place of the DVD drive called the "iButtnugget".

Can you say over reacted? I can see the guys point that he needs some sleep but this is a tad excessive. I wonder if he checked the receipt to see how much she paid for it and went into a rage? All he had to do was take it back or mash it up into itty bitty PS3 meatballs but NOOOOO, the gaming industry takes another black eye for someone''s rage issues. I can already see the parents reaction. Kids will be banned from playing this game and they won''t get that PS3 they wanted for Christmas (and that''s a bad thing???). There will be congressional hearings about the rating system on video games. Uncle Creepy will play his version of "7 mins in heaven" with me except there''ll be alot more screaming. In short, the apocalypse.

The topper on the cake for this little goat rodeo we call a family is that the man was sentenced to life in prison today. For those you having trouble with remembering your own birthday, today is April Fool''s day. The interwebs is abuzz with deciding whether this is a hoax or not. I''ll let you decide.

On the plus side, maybe this could increase the KOF membership since it means that there will be less consoles and more PC gaming. At least until someone decides to go postal on their Chihuahua for turning their WoW character into a gay troll.

And so we come to Team Fortress2. If you''ve played TF2, you know that Valve has created a semi-amusing game that features different classes based on the original TF but the way that Valve set it apart from other games is the cartoonish style of play. Enter "Battlefield: Heroes" from EA Games. For those of you that are unaware, this game is a cartoon. A literal cartoon. Once again, EA lacks all originality and decides that they want in on the Valve action. So they take the Battlefield series and tack on one more version for everyone to cough up their furball.

Here''s a suggestion EA, since you can''t seem to come up with any new games, I''ll help you. Let''s try Battlefield: Civil War. When you enter the game, you start as a private entering basic training. Out comes the Drill Sergeant who sounds like the one from the movie Full Metal Jacket. He starts yelling in your face with things like "You wanna make Abraham Lincoln your biotch DON''T YOU!?!?" and "The thought of beating Ulysses S Grant into submission sexually excites you DOESN''T IT?!?!" Ok, maybe I didn''t think that idea all the way through. Either way, it has more originality than EA.

If you wanna see this mockery of a game and actually play it, the beta has been reopened for your fornication. This should be about as much fun as having a laser pointed at your cornea''s while flying a 747.

Yes, EA is not happy taking your money just one time. They want more and in a down economy, they''re looking for every reason to rob you blind. Don''t think of it as an invasion of your wallet but more like your contribution to feed the starving programmers at DICE and EA. Yes, for mere dollars a day, you too can sponsor a keyboard jockey. They''ll even send you an autographed picture of your byte banger slaving away with fly paper over his cube and pictures of his family he hasn''t seen in months. He''ll send you weekly email updates about his upcoming deadlines and how there''s only one bullet left after he''s played a few rounds of Russian roulette. If the email''s stop coming, you know he won!

Once again, I descend into the 7th circle of hell in search of the proper analogy but returning to reality, EA is planning to release their new frosted sugar-coated expansion pack in March to cheering crowds. This will include 3 new maps; Nightfire, Station, and Knee Deep. It also includes a map for the Nazi Zombie coop-mode called Verruckt (which is German for "EA knows where you keep your wallet"). Also, keep in mind that this is not to be confused with the new 1.2 patch that was released a couple days ago. The patch is designed to fix bugs and the DLC is designed to create more bugs.

I''d almost be excited except that I feel like I''m not getting a reach-around with this DLC.