The news of the breakdown between the two companies saw shares in the GAME Group slide almost ten percent to only £5.32 almost immediately after it broke. Now according to an article over at The Telegraph the retailer won’t be stocking upcoming titles such as Mario Party 9, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, and Mass Effect 3.

This apparent falling out between the two companies has come after GAME said it had worked out special deals with suppliers and lenders, which seemed to give the company an important lifeline. This would have also meant it didn’t miss any banking requirements.

Gamers that have preordered Mass Effect 3 will be offered a £5 voucher by the retailer, and will now have to purchase EA titles at the various rival retailers. Tom Devine the groups channel director sent a memo round to stores, which suggested the move was down to GAME and not EA to stock the games.

It does state though that EA didn’t want to alter or change its terms for GAME to make enough profit from stocking the games. The memo read that the company had reached out to its partners to make them aware of the short term challenges it faces, and asked for their support with “manageable credit terms”, while the company restructures itself.

The memo went onto reveal that the company will now only stock products it “could get the terms” for, and they wouldn’t sacrifice long term deals in favor for short term opportunities. It went on to say that the company reached the difficult decision not to provide next month’s releases from EA.

GAME Groups last published earnings revealed the company owned suppliers £295 million as of the end of January 2011, and was settling its bills within thirty days. The recent agreement the company made with suppliers provided GAME with generous rebate payments, which will help it in the short term.

Although not all the details are known surely it would make sense for GAME to stock AAA titles even though it may have only made a small amount on each sale. The retailer obviously would need all the income it can get to ease the pressure, and whether you are a regular customer or not, it would still be in everyone’s best interests if they can survive their current troubles.

Do you hope GAME comes through the current situation?

The game has been launched by EA for the US App Store, and will offer fans a first person shooter game and the chance to enjoy online multiplayer gaming for free. But as Cult of Mac is reporting it’s not the game everyone was hoping to see.

For starters there is only one map on offer with only five different weapons to pick from, with one of them needing unlocking. The game seems like it is a promotional release for Act of Valor instead of a complete game, and also only gives users a very short taste of online gaming.

There are not any attempts to try and get users to make loads of in-app purchases though, but will leave some Battlefield 3 fans disappointed. When news of the app first came to light last year many were expecting a nice campaign with plenty of multiplayer game modes, and be a direct sequel to Battlefield 2 for iOS.

The game does have some nice graphics and a good control system, but the rest of it leaves you feeling a little deflated. It will also often frustrate you as well as it can take ages to find a game, and even when you finally do you will either get kicked out before or just after you start playing.

But if you are lucky and manage to stay in the game you will soon become annoyed by the lag. Many of these problems are occurring because the game is new, and will probably get sorted in the coming days. There is a great level of potential with the game and the control system is great, which as many fans of this type of game know, is very important.

It also has to be remembered the game is free but users who have already downloaded the title have complained about the connection issue. Battlefield 3 Aftershock is available on the US App Store as a free download. iPad, iPhone 3GS or later, and iPod Touch 3G or later required.

Have you downloaded Battlefield 3 Aftershock yet? What do you think of it?

Late last month we had some fake patch notes for you along with some things that users would like to see fixed. The fix coming today will address the VoIP issues and as MP1ST are reporting it comes along with the USAS-12 shotgun fix among some other items that have surfaced.

One item that has been complained about is the mortars feature, and many gamers have wanted it so players can’t set up these while in their own spawn where they could easily be unreachable. DICE have promised previously it would be addressed in the next patch made available.

The M-COM Defender ribbon has received a much needed tweak and achieving this should be much easier to do now. While the owners of the PlayStation 3 are getting the patch today, users of the game on other platforms are still wondering when they will be receiving it.

There has been reports of players on the Battlelog saying they have downloaded a 7GB patch for the game recently, but DICE has warned that they “have not received official word of a patch so be cautious”.

Some users will be unhappy about the changes to the M-COM Defender ribbon making it easier to capture, as some would have preferred the tougher challenge. Are you pleased with the latest patch? What do want to see changed in future changes?

Yesterday EA’s vice president of investor relations, Peter Ausnit, was talking during the company’s quarterly conference call. According to Attack of the fan boy he was asked about upcoming DLC for Battlefield 3, and suggested that there will be some news next week.

He said that the company is set to hold an event next week in New York and that fans are “going to hear some announcements from us on Battlefield actually as early as next week”. So far DICE have yet to reveal any information for the next batch of DLC content.

There have been recent reports though suggesting that there could be an all American DLC on its way, with maps that include New York and San Francisco among others. This would fit in with what the developer has done in the past with all new maps being related to each other. This was the case with the Back to Karkland and Vietnam Expansions used in recent games.

Meanwhile it has been revealed that Battlefield 3 has sold over ten million copies since it was released last October. USA Today is reporting that the good news for publisher Electronic Arts continued with sales of FIFA 12 also topping ten million copies.

What are you hoping to see with the next Battlefield 3 DLC?

Recently a video was released by the guys at BioWare which gave us a glimpse of some of the game’s many classes which are available to choose from, as you would expect there’s different races which posses different unique attributes. We are also told that whilst playing ME3 you will be able to level up the characters to level 20 and utilize skill branches much like you do in single-player mode to customize your character’s abilities.

Sadly we don’t know all the little details, but here’s a breakdown of what we know so far:

If you choose to play as a Human Soldier you will have access to frag grenades and be able to use adrenaline rush and concussive shots.

Quarian Engineers will boast incineration and cryo blast abilities and also have sentry turrets at their disposal.

Drell Vanguard characters will boast cluster grenades, biotic charge and ‘pull’.

Turian Sentinals look like a fun class to play as, they will be protected by tech armor and also boast overload the overload capabilities to take out an enemies shield, that’s not all as this class can also warp.

Asari Vanguards will have lift grenades, the biotic charge power and the sought-after ‘stasis’ talent.

Salarian Inflitrator characters boast energy drain and tactical cloak powers, they will also be able to lay tactical mines.

Finally we can tell you about Krogan soldiers, these can take lots of damage at times thanks to their fortification power and then obliterate the enemy apart with the carnage talent, they will also have inferno grenades.

We’re not sure how many more classes there will be in Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, or whether that’s them all – therefore we will have to keep you posted as we hear more. If you’re not sure what a particular power does which is mentioned in this post you should check out this link for all the relevant information, whilst this page should clear up any questions you may have about the many talents available.

Which class do you think you will play as first?

Currently these bonuses aren’t showing up on the Game’s website, but Xbox360Achievements.org states that EA has announced this news according to this brief article.

If you pre-order Mass Effect 3 from Game you will get the M55 Argus Assault Rifle (a good all-round gun), the N7 Valkyrie Assault Rifle (a gun which pumps out two high calliber rounds per shot) and N7 Defender Armor – this armour not only protects you from your enemy but it also boosts your ammo capacity and weapon damage. You can see videos showing you all of the pre-order bonus content at the bottom of this page, what’s unclear is whether you have to pre-order the N7 Collector’s Edition to get all these goodies or whether the standard edition will do – hopefully we can confirm this soon.

Any hardcore Mass Effect fan should seriously consider the N7 Collector’s Edition of Mass Effect 3, at Game this will set you back £69.99 compared to the standard edition which will cost £39.99 (PS3 and Xbox 360), the N7 Collector’s Edition for PC also costs £69.99, which is surprising considering the standard edition of ME3 for PC costs just £32.99. Ignoring the Game’s pre-order bonuses the N7 Collector’s Edition gets you everything shown in the image below (click on it for a larger image).

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled for release on March 6 in North America, March 8 in Australia and March 9 in Europe, we recently listed it as one of the most anticipated titles of 2012 following the success of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 – let’s just hope BioWare does a good job with the game’s development.

Have you now pre-ordered Mass Effect 3 yet?

By now gaming fans will be used to the annual FIFA title being released, and this year’s offering offered quite an improvement over its predecessor. The game has proved popular as it finished 2011 by topping the UK All Format Gaming Chart.

The yearly soccer game saw off some stiff competition from the likes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which finished at number 2 for the year. Finishing off the top three was rival FPS Battlefield 3 that was also an Electronic Arts title.

While Skyrim managed to bag the number one spot at Christmas thanks to some big discounts by retailers, it finished the year sitting at number eight. Just outside the top three was Just dance 3 with Assassin’s Creed: Revelations one place lower.

Another EA title Need For Speed: The Run finished the year at number seven in the chart one place behind Saints Row: The Third. 2012 promises to be another great year for games with the likes of GTA 5 and Halo 4 on route. Many have predicted GTA 5 to define gaming this year, with some even suggesting it will outsell this year’s Call of Duty title.

What was your favorite game of 2011?

According to Joystiq a member of NeoGaf has complained that his brand new copy of EA’s Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit had an Online Pass that didn’t work. This led to many other users of the forum coming forward and reporting similar stories. Obviously blocking gamers who purchase a new title from the online community wouldn’t be a good move by EA.

EA were asked about the situation and it was confirmed the Online Pass for some new games can expire and block gamers getting to the online part of the game. Owners can download a new one or get one from EA direct according to the publisher. EA stated as a rule no Online Passes should expire, but some games do have a time limit on their use including new purchases.

The company stated that Dragon Age 2 has an Online Pass that runs out on March 31st next year according to EA, but getting a new one or re-downloading won’t cost gamers anything more though. It does seem a strange policy by EA though making gamers who purchase a new copy of a game that may have been available a while going through all the messing about getting a new pass.

Have you ever had an Online Pass from a new game that had expired?

According to an article over at CVG.com EA will now honor its original promise of a free copy of the game for owners of the PS3 who purchase Battlefield 3. The company had been trying to calm the matter by saying PS3 owners would get timed exclusive DLC content for Battlefield 3 instead.

Trouble is this was already promised before the game actually became available, so the publisher seemed to be failing to give PS3 owners anything new at all. The publisher has released a statement saying there has been a misunderstanding surrounding the matter.

It continued by saying “To address this we are making Battlefield 1943 available free of charge to owners of Battlefield 3 on the PS3 beginning this month.” PlayStation 3 owners who own Battlefield 3 can access Battlefield 1943 PSN vouchers on November 26th in Europe. Gamers in the US, Asia and Japan have to wait a little longer until December 10th and December 17th respectively.

To get your free copy of the game head over to the EA website and follow the instructions given. There were some Battlefield 3 owners who were saying they weren’t bothered about the lack of the free game, but many more would have been disappointed.

Are you pleased EA are now sticking to their promise?

Now we have some more good news for our Australian readers, as according to Hangie over on the esperino.com website, two more video game retailers have just revealed FIFA 12 pre-order bonuses of their own. First up is GAME, who is offering their pre-order customers access to two FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold Packs per month for 6 months, as well as a Tim Cahill Signature Poster.

However, the Tim Cahill Signature poster is an in-store only item, so you will have to head to your nearest GAME store to receive it. JB Hi-Fi pre-order customers on the other hand will not only receive access to 3 Gold Packs per month for a six month period, they will also get 3 months worth of subscription to the Inside Sport Magazine.

The FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold Packs are only available for those that purchase the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version of the game, while the subscription to the Inside Sport Magazine is available across all platforms (although it’s only while stocks last). The question that might be on some people’s minds now is what exactly are the Ultimate Team Gold Packs?

For those of you that don’t already know what EA Sports’ FIFA 12 Ultimate Team is, it is a massive online community where players can join more than 2 million FIFA fans and take on the challenge of building, managing and competing with their ‘ultimate’ football squad made up of some of the world’s best football stars. Fans can earn, buy, sell and even trade players with other Ultimate Team gamers from all over the world.

As for the FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold Packs, these are packs that contain a mix of 12 different items including players, stadiums, staff, managers, contracts, kits, balls, badges and fitness. The Ultimate Team Gold Packs consist of players that are rated 75+ in game, and include a rare item such as longer contracts and enhanced player attributes.

You can read more about the prices via the esperino.com website. Will you be buying the FIFA 12 game?