Here are the nominations for Best Video Game in The Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009.

The following products were chosen because we feel they represent the best video games on sale in the last 12 months that are available in the UK.

The nominations are:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Guitar Hero 5

Battlefield 1943

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Now in its 6th year, the Pocket-lint Gadget Awards, thought to be the longest running in the UK, pick the best gadgets and gizmos from the last year released in the UK

Pocket-lint's vigorous vetting process means that all the gadgets up for nomination have to have been seen by a member of the Pocket-lint team (so far over 600) and have to have been available in the UK between December 2008 and December 2009.

The awards, voted by a panel of leading gadget journalists from around the world, including the staff from the Pocket-lint team, will decide the real must-have gadgets of the year, rather than those simply deemed cool or anticipated, being the definitive guide for consumers looking to buy gadgets.

Winners will be announced at an Awards evening in London on Monday 7 December.

If you would like to order tickets to the event please visit our awards event page.

Public voting will start on Wednesday 18 November.

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Related links:

• Link - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009

Tags: Gaming Xbox 360 PS3 Nintendo Wii PC games Sony Activision Warner Bros EA Pocket-lint Awards Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009

Best Video Games 2009 nominations originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:22:07 +0000

After revealing a net loss of $390 million for the the second quarter of 2009 (an even bigger negative than the loss of $310 million in Q2 2008) EA has announced cost-cutting measures.

Those measures include cutting its workforce by 17% - seeing a loss of 1500 positions - a move expected to save around $100 million per year.

This move is likely to be controversial among staff losing their livelihoods considering EA has only just announced a $300-$400 million buy-out of Playfish.

Playfish makes casual games for social networking and other digital platforms, a rapidly growing market in which EA it seems is looking to for the future in a changing games landscape.

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Tags: Gaming EA Biz Results

EA announces loss, 1500 jobs to go originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:55:04 +0000

RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry handsets, is hoping to appeal to gamers in the future with an announcement that it will be supporting the OpenGL ES technology in its handsets.

The news, which was announced at the company's developer conference in San Francisco, means that games developers will be able to bring the latest 3D mobile games they've been making for the iPhone to the BlackBerry platform.

"With OpenGL ES support, Java developers will have the ability to build 3D games and graphics for BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS 5.0 and higher", RIM said in a statement.

EA?Mobile, has already started developing games for the platform, which is expected to be enabled on the new?BlackBerry Storm 2?first.

However more interesting to non-gamers, the average BlackBerry user, is that it should open up other applications like Google's newly announced Google Maps Navigation. At the recent Droid launch event in NYC, Google told Pocket-lint that it could be possible to port the GPS app to the iPhone because of the OpenGL support.

This announcement would mean that Google could add BlackBerry to that same list.

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Tags: Phones Gaming RIM BlackBerry iPhone EA Mobile phone games BlackBerry Storm 2 Google Google Maps Navigation

3D gaming coming to a BlackBerry near you originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:48:01 +0000

Electronic Arts has confirmed it is to acquire social games giant Playfish. Playfish will be incorporated into EA Interactive, a division of EA that produces games for the Web and mobile devices.

EA will purchase the company that specialises in Facebook and casual games for approximately $275 million in cash and $25 million in an equity retention arrangement.

"Social gaming, with its emphasis on friends and community, is seeing tremendous growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our participation in this space", said Barry Cottle, senior vice president and general manager of EA Interactive.

Meanwhile Kristian Segerstrale, CEO and co-founder of Playfish added: "The industry is undergoing dramatic transformation and joining EA is the ideal opportunity for us to push forward our goals to lead in the social entertainment evolution on a faster and much larger scale".

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Tags: Gaming EA Playfish Acquisitions Biz Online Software

EA acquires Playfish originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:29:22 +0000

For those too impatient (or too rubbish) to get there themselves, EA is taking the unusual step of offering a video game complete with six special gameplay unlocks good to go from the first load of the game, rather than being dependent on achievement.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will see a "Limited Edition" version with unlocks that give players "a tactical advantage on the battlefield from the minute they fire up the game".

Due to be available while supplies last, the Limited Edition version of the game will be sold at the same price as the standard version of the game exclusively with GAME in the UK.

The six unlocks are improved vehicular armour, supreme vehicle firepower, a vehicle motion sensor, and a tracer dart pistol (pictured) as well as a M1A1 submachine gun and a M1911 pistol.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available on 5 March 2010 for Xbox 360, the PS3 and the PC.

Tags: Gaming EA Xbox 360 PS3 FPS

EA offer "Limited Edition" version of Bad Company 2 with unlocks originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:12:31 +0000

Exactly as rumoured, Rock Band for the iPhone has now appeared in the App Store. EA made the app official shortly after the game was spotted in a mobile showreel for the company, and it's now available in the App Store for ?6 or $10, depending on which side of the Atlantic you reside on.

?The game shares a lot of its mechanics with the Tap Tap Revenge series (which in turn took its cues from the console versions of Rock Band and Guitar Hero). You simply tap the screen in time with the music to play notes, and missing one will reset your score multiplier. Overdrive is present, as is the star ratings system from the console versions.

You can pick from guitar, bass, drums and vocals, though they're all performed by tapping the screen so there isn't much difference between them. You can't sing into the iPhone, unfortunately. Multiplayer is present - up to four players through Bluetooth, complete with Facebook Connect to make it more easy to rope your friends in.

There's 20 songs that come with the game, and more that you can buy from an in-game store. Here's the full tracklisting, which seems pretty similar to the Rock Band 2 tracklist:

"Attack" – 30 Seconds To Mars
"Girls Not Grey" – AFI
"Move Along" – All American Rejects
"Sabotage" – Beastie Boys
"All The Small Things" – Blink-182
"Hanging on the Telephone" – Blondie
"Learn To Fly" – Foo Fighters
"Everlong" – Foo Fighters
"Bad to The Bone" – George Thorogood & the Destroyers
"Hymn 43″ – Jethro Tull
"Bad Reputation" – Joan Jett
"Simple Man" – Lynard Skynard
"Ace of Spades ‘08″ – Motorhead
"Debaser" – Pixies
"Ladybug" – Presidents of The United States of America
"Give It All" – Rise Against
"Lazy Eye" – Silversun Pick Ups
"Cherub Rock" – Smashing Pumpkins
"Take The Money and Run" – Steve Miller Band
"We Got The Beat" – The Go Go's

If you pick it up on your handset, let us know what the experience is like in the comments below. Does the iPhone 3G have enough power to let the game run smoothly? We imagine it wouldn't be much fun if it were jerky...

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Tags: Gaming Phones Mobile phones iPhone App Store Apple Rock Band EA Tap Tap Revenge

Rock Band now available in App Store originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:50:10 +0100

Remember Command and Conquer Red Alert back from your gaming heydays of the mid 90s? Thought you did and that is clearly what? EA are hoping for, with the launch of an iPhone edition in the next couple of weeks.

Of course Pocket-lint was there to grab a quick play and snap a few shots of the game in action. The end result? Lots and lots of finger scrolling as you manage your soldiers, vehicles and aircraft around the tiny screen.

We didn't get a good enough play to do a full on first look review, that wouldn't be fair, but aside from the control mechanism, which you are either going to grasp or not, fans of the series will relish the graphics, looks and feel of the game - it really is like going back 13 years.

With 12 levels in the campaign mode and a skirmish mode too, as long as your finger seems up for it then this should allow you to relive those C&C days.

Tags: Gaming Mobile phone games iPhone EA Command and Conquer Red Alert for iPhone RTS Photos

PHOTOS: Command and Conquer Red Alert for iPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:11:05 +0100

EA has said that where relevant it will include graphical optimisation for the iPhone 3GS in its games for the phone platform.

The news comes as the company is gearing up to release a number of games in the next couple of weeks including NBA Live, which will have graphics that use the extra processing power in the 3GS.

"We won't just release a game that only works on the 3GS", an EA spokesman told Pocket-lint, "however we will add extra shadows and use the processor to the full if the game warrants it."

The result of the optimisation is extra shadows, smoother cutscene playback and overall better graphics.

Although not shown to Pocket-lint as yet, EA said that?Need for Speed: Shift?for the iPhone and iPod touch currently in development, would also be optimised for the 3GS.

Tags: Gaming iPhone Phones Mobile phone games Mobile phone apps EA iPhone 3GS

EA iPhone 3GS optimised games inbound originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:25:39 +0100