Ubisoft consistently brings the funny. The publisher will release the PC version Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, also known as Assassin’s Creed II 2, next week. The “deluxe” edition edition of the game contains an mp3 version of the soundtrack. So far, so good. Ubisoft has made the “deluxe” items available to download for people who’ve pre-ordered the game, that is, if you’ve pre-ordered this edition you can download the mp3 soundtrack right now. Upon inspecting the metadata of those mp3 files it was discovered that they’ve been re-encoded from a readily available pirated FLAC version of the game’s soundtrack, available at your friendly neighborhood BitTorrent site. Hilarious. → Read More
Man, someone at Ubisoft must be a huge fan of electronic music. Embedded here is the the latest Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood trailer, and if you said to yourself, “Hey, isn’t that that Röyksopp song?” then you win a prize! Well, not really, but you have the same musical tastes as I do, which is prize enough. → Read More
PlaySpan has just inked a deal to power a virtual goods monetization platform for video game giant Ubisoft, adding to a number of high-profile deals with game developers and media companies.
PlaySpan powers virtual goods marketplaces across 1,000 video games and virtual world publishers PlaySpan-powered marketplaces lets users sell, exchange and purchase online game items, virtual goods, and game currencies for online games and applications. The platforms also allow publishers to managing global micropayments, ecommerce, and micro-transactions across 180 countries. Current customers include Sanrio, Adobe, Viacom/Nickelodeon, Disney and Warner Brothers. → Read More
Gaming is 3D’s only hope in reaching mainstream adaption. Hollywood has yet to put out any 3D movie that sells besides Avatar and that title alone is not going to cut it. However, even without a wide range of content, Ubisoft feels that most households will have a 3D TV by 2013 anyway. I’m doubtful. → Read More
Among the other, more mundane announcements at Ubisoft’s press conference, this one really caught my eye — and the eye of many others. It’s from the creator of Rez, and it shows. I think perhaps he felt it was time to revisit the concept, and to be honest I think Kinect is an absolutely perfect fit for this type of game. We may see more from Sony, as the game may also be for the Move. I’ll add the video from Ubi’s presser as soon as it’s up. → Read More
You know how in Facebook, there’s no “dislike button”? Well think of that in this case: I’m not “liking” or supporting piracy, but consider this post a continuation of our “dislike” of Ubisoft’s faulty, ridiculous DRM scheme. Said DRM has prevented thousands, perhaps millions, of legitimate buyers of the game from playing it — and now, a leading group of hackers has put together a solution that rids the game of the DRM scourge. → Read More
SteelSeries seems to have worked out their new favorite niche recently, between their World of Warcraft, and StarCraft II themed products. Add another couple of products to that list, with the R.U.S.E mouse and the QcK gaming surface (don’t call it a mouse pad). → Read More
I’ll keep this short and to the point, if only because I’m sensing the “outrage” surrounding DRM has sorta died down. The movement ran out of fuel, I mean. Anyway, gamers in Australia have been unable to play Settlers 7, which uses that silly DRM nonsense that requires you be to constantly connected to the Internet, because Ubisoft‘s servers have been unreachable. Who saw this coming? Oh, right: everyone but the Ubisoft executives in Paris. /Le sigh. → Read More
Let’s make one thing clear: I wouldn’t play Command and Conquer 4 if it was the game on Earth. It’s just not “me.” So pardon my blase attitude while I drop this bombshell: the game uses the same stupid DRM that Ubisoft now uses, which I complained about on CNN. Add this to your list of games not to buy, then. → Read More
When will this nonsense with online DRM stop? Ubisoft’s authentication servers were apparently attacked and therefore offline, but now they’re back. Now EA servers crashed for an hour this morning, locking players out of numerous gamings including Bad Company 2. This is crazy. DRM isn’t going anywhere but this current implementation simply isn’t stable enough. Suggestions? → Read More
Oh, Ubisoft. You so quickly went from the guys that brought us Splinter Cell (young people: Splinter Cell used to be cool in the early to mid 2000s) to the guys that have created the stupidest DRM known to man. Oh, and you’re also incapable of telling the truth. The authentication servers for Assassin’s Creed II (I thought that comes out tomorrow?) and Silent Hunter V were completely inaccessible for a number of people yesterday. Why? Ubisoft claimed it was because of “exceptional demand,” but the real reason is that some punk kids (I assume it’s punk kids) decided to launch a denial of service attack. I suppose, technically, a denial of service attack involves, on some level, demand… → Read More
When it was revealed that Ubisoft’s new DRM scheme would require you to be online at all times, and if disconnected for any reason would boot you out of the game, people immediately asked the obvious question: “Well, what if your DRM servers go down?”
Ubisoft was not forthcoming, unless this little calamity is their roguish idea of an answer. Yes, the servers which must be connected to constantly in order to play, save, or do anything at all went down early this morning, and everyone who wants to play their new legitimately-purchased copy of Assassin’s Creed II is SOL. → Read More
Is it even worth getting upset over this Ubisoft nonsense? By now you’ve certainly heard about the company’s plans to implement a new form of DRM for its PC releases—I’ve only written about it 800 times in the past month! The DRM is bat-shit crazy, sure, but it’s the sentiment behind it that has me concerned this Sunday morning. → Read More
Fellow PC gamers: it’s time to freak out. You’re familiar with Ubisoft’s newfangled DRM scheme that requires you be online in order to play its games, right? It’s 100 percent as awful as we had thought it would be. PC Gamer recently played Assassin’s Creed II, and discovered what a pain the in the ass the DRM really, truly is. Get this: every time you lose your Internet connection the game boots you to the main menu, and all progress made from the last save point is thrown out the window. This isn’t an MMO, mind you, but a plain ol’ single player game. In other words, no Internet, no game. Bravo, Ubisoft. → Read More
In other, non-Apple news: Ubisoft has lost its mind. Its latest DRM scheme—the first game to use it will be The Settlers 7, curently scheduled for a Marchrelease—will require that you always be online in order to play its games. That’s not a good idea for many reasons.
For example, look at poor ol’ Devin. He’s been fighting Comcast for God knows how long. Needless to say, he’d be SOL if he ever wanted to play the PC version of a Ubisoft game ever again. → Read More
Experiencing Assassin’s Creed blues now that you’ve finished the game, unlocked Altair’s armor, found all the glyphs, and have collected all 100 impossible-to-find feathers? Don’t fret friends. According to Ubisoft’s financial release this morning, Assassin’s Creed III will be released in fiscal year 2011, which begins in April 2010.
It was previously thought that this would only be an expansion to Assassin’s Creed II, but Ubisoft has confirmed it is a new title featuring Ezio, and will have an online multiplayer mode. → Read More
Like with every game not called World of Warcraft, I played Assassin’s Creed II for a solid two or three hours, and it’s been collecting dust ever since then. This is relevant because, what, Ubisoft sold me (and all of you!) an incomplete game? Apparently! The game’s upcoming DLC, Sequence 12: Battle of Forli and Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities, which go on sale in January and February, “complete” the game. At least they’re cheap: $3.99 and $4.99. → Read More
Ubisoft hasn’t given up on the Prince of Persia series just yet (despite the fact that Assassin’s Creed is essentially Persia of Persia with a different pair of shoes). There’s the movie with that guy, and the just-announced Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. It’s coming out in May of 2010 for all the usual suspects. → Read More
Looks like Ubisoft hasn’t had a great couple of months, either. The France-based publisher reported today a 52 percent decline in sales for the six months that ended on September 30 compared to the same period last year. (Fiscal years tend to begin in March.) A 52 percent drop translates to €166 million, or around $246 million. → Read More
New games are always a cause for excitement. Ubisoft’s R.U.S.E. is a highly anticipated RTS set to release early 2010. But even cooler is the fact that you can play it on one of IntuiLab’s large multi-touch tables, and kill things just by touching them. → Read More
