Before the whole shebang took off last night and Electronic Arts kicked off their Spring Break Games Day, I managed to sneak my way onto a computer loaded up with Battlefield Heroes to check out a bit of gameplay and mess around with the game's interesting customization settings.

DICE's free-to-play upcoming shooter features Team Fortress 2-like graphics and a definite Battlefield Lite feel, but what really captured my interest was the game's use of customization.

Standing on the tiny white stage set up in front of the back bar of Supperclub last night, a drink sloshing nearly out of its glass in one hand, Skate It executive producer Scott Blackwood promised not to use the phrase "built from the ground up" while explaining his game.

Boo me off the stage, he insisted, if I do... and then he proceeded to use the phrase.

"If it's not built from the ground up, is it a port? Not really."

Blackwood explained that before Black Box started their work on the Wii and DS versions of Skate, they had to figure out if the controls would work.

"It we couldn't get that great flick it feel, we weren't going to do it," he said.

Later on, while trying out the Wii version of the game for myself, I was told the team spent three to four months working on getting those controls right and for the most part, it felt like they succeeded.

At first blush Battleforge appears to be an amalgamation of Magic the Gather and Warcraft, a PC game that combines the strategy and pacing of a well put together real-time strategy game with the collectible nature and infrastructure-free feel of a trading card game.

During last night's EA event Richard Leinfellner, executive producer of the game and video president of developer Phenomic, walked the press through a quick co-op battle.

While Battleforge has single player and versus modes, it appears that it's really, at its heart, a cooperative game, supporting up to 12 players.

To play, players first build a deck from the cards they've collected by working through the campaign, which rewards gamers with new cards, trading online or buying booster packs.

Once the deck has been built, players use these cards to summon their armies, there are no production buildings or resource management, instead you fight to capture territories, which gives you the ability to summon larger and larger creatures.

Valve was on hand at last night's EA festivities to give attendees a chance to check out zombie survival shooter Left 4 Dead. In the game you play as one of four characters co-oping through a city ravaged with a plague of zombies, trying to shoot, melee and run your way from safe room to safe room.

The game starts off with your and three other players on a roof top behind a locked door. A nearby table is stocked with a selection of weapons, ammo and health packs. In the map we played, the first room had molotov cocktails, submachine guns, pistols and shotguns. Each player can equip a health pack, molotov cocktail, handgun and primary weapon: I went with the submachine gun.

Staying true to the zombie formula, your ammo is very limited, so survival isn't as much about clearing a room as getting through it.

Of course the current EA Sports boss does! Just because he worked for Microsoft doesn't mean he actually hates Sony's game machine. Why would he? Says Moore:

I absolutely love the PlayStation.

You know what: He's a businessman, not some insane fanboy. He'll "love" whoever keeps him employed and "hate" whoever threatens to keep him out of a job. No surprises here.
Peter Moore Talks [PSU via Next-Gen] [Pic]

Despite some hand-wringing by fans, EA today announced that their hugely anticipated Will Wright game Spore will not make use of SecuROM's 10-day periodic re-authetication and instead use a modified version to require online authentication.

The announcement comes on the heels of news that Mass Effect will also be ditching the ten day re-authentication.

We wanted to let you know that we've been hearing your concerns about the online authentication mentioned earlier this week. I didn't want to head into the weekend without getting back to you with some information about how Spore is planning on using this new system.

A few things we wanted you to know:

— We authenticate your game online when you install and launch it the first time.
— We'll re-authenticate when a player uses online features, downloads new content or a patch for their game.
— The new system means you don't have to play with the disc in your computer. And if you are like me, always losing discs, this will be a huge benefit.
— You'll still be able to install and play on multiple computers.
— You can play offline.

We do hope that players will play online - sharing creatures, buildings and vehicles with other players is something that is unique to Spore and one of the coolest features of the game. Every day, when I play the Creature Stage, I get to see wacky and awesome new creatures from my Buddies on the team coming over the hill at me and I can't wait to see what happens when our creative, passionate community starts sharing their creations.

Sounds like Electronic Arts got the message, here's hoping that other publishers do too.

When Mass Effect comes to the computer it will not use SecuROM's 10-day periodic re-authentication and instead will instead use a modification to do only a one-time online authentication, Bioware announced today.

The developer said the decision came after listening "very closely" to its fans and that the new system will also allow gamers to play the game without the DVD in the drive.

The system will allow gamers to authenticate their game on just three computers, but EA does have the ability to give additional authorizations if they are warranted.

Hit up the jump for the official FAQ and to let us know what you think about this change of heart.

Earlier this morning Electronic Arts officially announced the long-rumored Lord of the Rings meets Battlefield title, Lord of the Rings Conquest.

The game, under development by Pandemic Studios, will give gamers a chance to fight some of Tolkein's greatest battles as either the good guys or the bad when it hits this fall.

“We’ll freely admit that we’re rabid fans of The Lord of the Rings fantasy,” says Josh Resnick, co-founder and general manager at Pandemic Studios. “Our experience creating massive, rich, action-packed games means that The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will give fans exactly what they want: full control of the blade, bow and magic to fight its epic battles any way they want – even if they choose to play from the evil side.”

Hit the jump for the official press release.

Last night the New York Times let slip that Grand Theft Auto IV pulled in more than $500 million in its first week, selling an astounding 6 million copies globally, 3.6 million of them on the first day alone. This morning Take-Two confirmed the report, adding some well-deserved back-patting to the numbers.

To put it in perspective Halo 3, the previous record-holder, earned $300 million in the first week.

"We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player's experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas. Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well. Grand Theft Auto IV's first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date. We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on creating a must-have experience that takes the legendary Grand Theft Auto franchise to a new level," said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.

"Rockstar's goal is to make each new title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise even better than those that preceded it, and Grand Theft Auto IV is a smashing success on that score. Grand Theft Auto IV makes full use of the power of next generation technology, and offers players an experience unique in the interactive entertainment medium. This game sets a new standard in the industry, with critics hailing it as both an artistic and technological masterpiece," said Ben Feder, Take-Two's Chief Executive Officer.

The real question now is what this record breaking, Halo 3-smashing game will do to the EA/Take-Two talks.

Boom Blox is an odd creation. It's a casual game created with the help of a director known for the stories his movies tell. So what happens when Stephen Spielberg teams up with Electronic Arts to make a game for the Wii? Lots of explosions of course. The game has you throw, grab, shoot and explode "blox" in such a myriad of mind-bending puzzles that you might actually forget you're playing a "casual" game. Boom Blox includes ways to play with friends or on your own, through a story or just for fun.

But is it all of that enough to shake off the stink of Wii shovelware and live up to the expectations of a game created by the man behind E.T., Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark?