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.

So there’s two problems here, as I see it. One is that Ubisoft isn’t giving you the highest quality music in the first place. Why encode from FLAC to MP3 if you, presumably, have access to the master files? Yes, FLAC is lossless, but considering Ubisoft owns the music itself you’d think the’d have the decency to transcode from the source files rather than a fan-made FLAC.

The second problem is, obviously, the use of pirated material, and this wouldn’t be such a hilarious issue if it weren’t for Ubisoft’s insane stance vis-à-vis DRM in recent years. This is the company that bangs and bangs away about evil, evil pirates ruining civilization itself, and yet here it is, plain as day, using pirated material in its own official releases. In a sense you’re paying for pirated material.

This isn’t even the first time Ubisoft has been caught using pirated material. Remember back in 2008 when it was discovered that it used a No-CD crack for one of its Rainbow Six games?

Then again, I suppose it can be argued that, since Ubisoft actually owns the copyright here, it technically can’t infringe upon its own rights by using a illegitimate version of the soundtrack. Which just goes to show you how convoluted copyright law is these days.

Ubisoft hasn’t said why this particular incident occurred. It could just be the case of a lazy employee not wanting to ask the music department for access for the source files, or it could be that, being such a big company, things go slowly over there. Perhaps the request for the music’s source files was put in, but the mighty working of the company was simply too slow for the files to trickle down in time.

Or, of course, it could be a work designed to get heat for the company.

In any event, I sure would like to hear the company try to explain away this situation.

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.

You’ll recall that the big Assassin’s Creed II commercial was set to Justice’s “Genesis,” off their 2007 album Cross.

And now we have Röyksopp’s “Röyksopp Forever,” off last year’s album Junior.

Not that I know much about this Brotherhood game, mind you. It looks to be a sequel to the second game, but the PC version isn’t due for release till next year so I haven’t paid much attention to it. However, I do look forward to having to go back in time to ask Saint Peter for permission to play the game.

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.

The startup’s microtransactions and ecommerce platform will be used for a number of Ubisoft’s game titles, including MMO, and Might & Magic: Heroes Kingdoms. In addition to providing a white-label marketplace for virtual goods, Playspan also offers companie in-depth management and reporting tools. And the platform allows gives buyers 85 different payment methods including credit cards, PayPal, mobile, and more.

Playspan, which just raised $18 million in new funding, faces competition from Live Gamer.

Simply put, most households do not have an immediate need for a new HDTV as the one they bought a few years back under the guise of the digital transition probably still works fine. Of course some could justify the purchase if there was content available. But it’s a mess right now and it doesn’t look that much better in the future, either.

HDTV was different. Everyone from consumers to content providers to broadcasters knew they would eventually make the switch to high-def. Some like ESPN and DirecTV did it quicker than others, but most had a conversion timetable made up years in advance.

This isn’t the case for 3D. Most consumers are just now getting into HDTV. Content providers cannot yet handle all the HD stations and broadcasters just finished the very expensive HDTV retooling. No one is excited about making the switch to 3D. No one besides gaming companies, that is.

Gaming developers and publishers have a unique opportunity with 3D as its development isn’t that much different than normal games. They even have the ability to encode both 2D and 3D versions of games right now for future use. Gamers are fickle, though. Disappoint them with a bad title or experience and they’ll likely be turned off for a while.

Ubisoft of course needs to optimistic about 3D adaption. They are banking big on the format with key titles like Killzone 3. (dur, how about Ghost Recon: Future Soldier) But Ubisoft’s head of marketing’s statement that 3D will be “installed in everyone’s living room in three year’s time” seems a bit much right now.

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.

Ubisoft makes great games, but if they’re going to saddle them with DRM like this (other versions of which lasted even less time), a lot more people are going to stop paying for them.

Lastly, a little shout-out from the group, Skidrow:

Sort of a “good game” from the people Ubisoft will never be able to beat. And anyone ever else notice that no one in the scene can spell?

Both products are related to the new Ubisoft RTS game, and feature graphics inspired by the game. The mouse is a quite respectable laser mouse with their high end sensor system and specialized drivers that make it ideal for gamers. The mousepad “gaming surface” is a cloth based surface that’s been optimized and textured to provide the best smoothness and glide. Both products feature artwork from the game, but no word if you have to be connected to the internet to actually use them. MSRP for the mouse is $89.99, and the gaming surface is selling for $14.99.

From the press release:

CHICAGO – APRIL 14, 2010 – SteelSeries has teamed with game publisher Ubisoft to bring fans exclusive branded peripherals for the upcoming real-time strategy game R.U.S.E. Designed to give players a competitive advantage, the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse R.U.S.E. Edition enhances performance with its superior technology and a preconfigured profile setting that optimizes game-play. The preloaded R.U.S.E. profile, created with input from Ubisoft, allows quick access to the R.U.S.E. and HQ Menus, and preset macro buttons can take the player from the bird’s eye view of the war to the heart of the battlefield in an instant. The SteelSeries QcK Limited Edition (R.U.S.E.) mousepad features graphics from the game and provides a smooth and consistent glide; combined they deliver a complete and immersive R.U.S.E. experience.

Currently in open beta, R.U.S.E. allows players to use strategy and bluffing tactics as the general of their nation’s army during World War II. The speed and range of movement required in the game, demands tools that can deliver superb levels of precision and accuracy. Ubisoft chose to partner with SteelSeries, because of the award-winning, innovative features and technology that the SteelSeries Xai offers to gamers.

In addition to the R.U.S.E. profile that comes pre-loaded on the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse R.U.S.E. Edition, SteelSeries will offer pro-gamer recommended R.U.S.E. profiles for users to download once the game launches in June. These recommended profiles will be found on the SteelSeries web site.

Important features on the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse R.U.S.E. Edition include:

– Ambidextrous shape with a 10.8 megapixels/second sensor processing 12,000 frames/second at 5,001 Counts Per Inch (CPI) with movement speeds of 150 inches/second
– Unique SteelSeries sensor innovations including SteelSeries ExactAim, SteelSeries ExactRate, SteelSeries ExactSens, SteelSeries FreeMove and automatic lift distance calibration deliver exceptional levels of personalization
– Up to 5 stored profiles including a preconfigured R.U.S.E. profile created with input from game publisher, Ubisoft
– 7 Programmable macro buttons with up to 200 strokes per button
– Full customization via LCD menu system on the back of the mouse stored by the hardware – eliminating the need for drivers and providing configuration capabilities on-the-go.

“R.U.S.E. is a strategy game that we believe players will experience differently than any other RTS game on the market. In a game where every detail matters, choosing a mouse that obeys both the eye and every sleight of hand is a good strategy. With excellent levels of precision and ergonomy, the SteelSeries Xai mouse could become your best ally,” said Mathieu Girard, Senior Producer at Ubisoft. “Not only is it fully branded R.U.S.E. on the outside but is programmed with a special player profile.”

“Industry awards, player feedback and tournament wins have shown us that the time we spent methodically perfecting the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse has paid off,” said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. “R.U.S.E. players will be easily impressed with the game’s unique game-play built around an incredible zooming engine, and with the technology we pack inside the SteelSeries Xai as well as the smooth glide and graphics of the QcK mousepad it all comes together to provide gamers with an outstanding RTS experience.”

The SteelSeries QcK Limited Edition (R.U.S.E.) gaming surface is made of high quality cloth material and an optimized textured surface that guarantees smoothness and glide. The non-slip rubber base prevents sliding, no matter what surface the mousepad is on. Official artwork from the game depicts an exciting battle between opposing forces using the element of deception.

The SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse R.U.S.E Edition and QcK Limited Edition (R.U.S.E.) will retail for $89.99 USD and $14.99 USD online at SteelSeries.com

R.U.S.E. is scheduled for release on Windows PC, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system on June 8, 2010.

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.

Ubisoft did offer this bit of helpful advice:

Apparently this problem is especially common in Australia – we will try to get to the bottom of this

That message went up on Thursday of last week, and Aussie gamers are still having issues.

Plainly, this is what happens with this kind of DRM regime. You cannot expect a system to work if it requires the Internet’s terrible infrastructure to always work all the time.

I don’t know, there has to be some sort of compromise between this Ubisoft DRM regime (INSANITY) versus no rules whatsoever (ANARCHY), something us PC gamers could at least live with.

Something Steam-like, if you will.

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.

Yeah, so the game, which came out two days ago, requiresa constant Internet connection in order to be played. EA claims this isn’t DRM, but if that’s the case I’d like to know what they call it. A rose by another name and such.

Says EA:

First thing to be clear about, Command & Conquer 4 has NO DRM. Zip, zero, zilch, none. We already made this clear.

***

To play Command & Conquer 4, the computer needs to be connected to the internet. We’ve always made that clear as well.

EA does try to get on your good side by saying you don’t need to have the disc in the drive at all times in order to play, you can install and re-install the game as many times as you like, etc. So there is progress being made in The War on DRM.

So, we’ve just taken Toulon—let’s hope it doesn’t end at Waterloo.

Yes, I’m still on a Napoleon kick.

I don’t know, I’m pretty much a beaten man vis-à-vis fighting DRM. At this point I’m fully prepared to let the likes of Ubisoft send a man over every time I’d want to play one of their games. Not that I ever will again, but you know what I mean.

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…

I’m almost overwhelmed with what I have to say about this. Let me put this in bullet points to better organize my thoughts.

• The people who initiated the denial of service attacks are morons. No one looks to them as heros for attacking Ubisoft. Seriously, the only civilized way to complain/protest the DRM measure is to simply not buy the game AND not pirate it. Pretend it doesn’t exist, and Ubisoft will be all, “Hey, why don’t we have more money? Is it because our DRM is dumb?”

• Why can’t Ubisoft just tell us the truth? If your servers were attacked, just say so! Don’t make up stories to make yourself look good. “Exceptional demand” my foot! Let’s be honest: Silent Hunter V isn’t exactly Modern Warfare 2 or New Super Mario Bros. Wii, sales-wise. And Assassin’s Creed II came out last fall: do you really mean to tell me that SO MANY people were looking forward to play the port that you didn’t have enough servers on hand to meet demand?

• This obviously doesn’t justify piracy, but man alive does it prove the adage that only legitimate customers are harmed by DRM

Those bullet points only slightly helped.

I seriously don’t understand what Ubisoft’s deal is. Did you know that Ubisoft said would consider an “offline” mode it if and when the DRM was broken? Then why bother in the first place?!

Pirates are going to pirate your game! You have plenty of people who would love to buy the game, either from Steam or from a boxed copy, who don’t want to be treated like Australia-bound thieves in the 18th century!

JUST LET US INSTALL THE GAME AND WE’LL BE ON OUR MERRY WAY~! BLAH~!

The outage appears to be ongoing, if this forum thread is any indication, and I don’t see any official response stickied or anything. A little googling shows some workarounds for getting into the game but no crack yet from any of the major groups. Don’t worry, that’ll only take a couple more days. So everyone is pretty much dead in the water at this point. Some people are floating the idea that it’s a DDoS attack, and hey, why not? Let’s be honest: they were practically begging for it.

Now, the informed, vocal, forum-going internet citizen might be able to bear this outage philosophically, because they understand what DRM really is and how this particular DRM works. It sucks, yes, but most will grin and bear it. But there are many, many people out there who are completely unaware of the vast network of strings being pulled behind the scenes, and will simply return the game, thinking it broken. And really, it is, isn’t it?

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.

Ubisoft gave its side of the story to PC Gamer in a rather breezy interview. I encourage you to read the whole thing: it’s not too long, and it really does frame where Ubisoft is coming from.

I’ll isolate a few parts here.

So what’s in it for gamers?
Ubi say there are three advantages to their online services. The first: you don’t need a disc. The second: that you can install the game on as many PCs as you like, as many times as you like. And the third: the automatic uploading of savegames to Ubisoft’s servers.

I love the first two “advantages,” like, wow, you mean we don’t need to keep the disc in the drive? That’s great. Incidentally, that’s how it should have been all along—what’s the point of installing a game to a hard drive if you’re going to insist that we keep the disc in there? And oh, I can install the game on as many PCs as I’d like? You’re too kind! The fact is, it’s really not too uncommon to own more than one PC these days. Maybe you have a custom-built PC in one room and a laptop in your bedroom. So there’s two installs right there. And maybe stupid Windows crashes, or your hard drive spontaneously explodes—who hasn’t had a hard drive on them? Bam, there’s a few more installs.

There aren’t “advantages” so much as what should be considered business as usual. (Steam is quickly making disc-based games seem old and silly.)

The last point, that your saves are automatically uploaded to Ubisift’s servers, sure, that’s nice, but it’s not exactly something that PC gamers have been clamoring for. Besides, is this merely syncing your local game saves with the Ubisoft cloud, or is the wholesale management of your saves for you? What happens if it’s the latter, and Ubisoft’s servers go down? Would you be able to access your game saves then?

My absolute favorite part of the interview is:

Ubisoft: The system is made by guys who love PC games. They play PC games, they are your friends.


Yes, and war is peace.

The smart reaction to these games—so far, the games afflicted with this DRM include Assassin’s Creed II, Settlers 7, and Splinter Cell: Conviction, among others—is simply not to buy them. Don’t buy the Steam version, don’t buy it from Amazon, and don’t buy it from your local GameStop. (Do GameStop even sell PC games anymore? No idea.) More importantly, don’t pirate it! Don’t grab the Torrent, don’t download it from Rapidshare, don’t drop the NZB into your watched folder. Just because you exist on planet Earth doesn’t give you the right to download the game because you’re upset at The Man. Besides, for every knucklehead seeding the game on BlackCats, Ubisoft can say, “See, piracy is a gigantic problem on the PC.” I think it’s more accurate to say that piracy is a problem, end of.

So again, do not buy the games, and do not pirate it; pretend they don’t exist. Because if Ubisoft is even remotely successful with this new scheme, you can be sure other publishers will follow suit.

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.

Off the top of my head, here’s a list of people who won’t be able to play Ubisoft PC game from now on:

• People with rubbish Internet connections, like Devin

• People with rubbish Wi-Fi (or wired) networks, like me. My Wi-Fi cuts out at least three or four times per day, just because. Clearly it’s a piece of junk router, but it’s my piece of junk router.

• People without 24/7 Internet access. Maybe you’re in the military and play games on your laptop to kill an hour or two? Sorry, you lose!

Off the top of my head, here’s a list of people who will have no problems playing Ubisoft PC games from now on:

• Pirates

Yeah, that’s about it. You show me someone with a flawless Internet connection and I’ll sell you a bridge for a dollar, or some other cliché that I can’t think of right now

The point is, the DRM is completely overbearing.

Let’s be conspiratorial about this for a moment. Maybe Ubisoft is sick and tired of having to devote resources to making PC games. So what it does it, make the DRM so completely ridiculous that nobody buys the game. Then Ubisoft can turn around and say, “See, nobody buys PC games anymore, clearly piracy is to blame.” (Never mind that console piracy is pretty rampant, too.) So then they pull out of the PC market for good.

Good riddance, then. Take your DRM nonsense and become just as irrelevant as the music industry is today.

I already bought Assassin’s Creed II for the Xbox 360 last fall, but I never finished it. I was planning on buying the PC version to actually beat the game this time around, and see how it benefits from a proper GPU (an ATI 5850), but now? There’s no chance of that happening, even if Ubisoft predictably retracts the DRM from the game before it comes out. Too late, the damage has already been done. Be sure to promote the suit(s) who came up with the idea in the first place!

Wankers.

/end nerd-rage

via Rock, Paper, Shotgun

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.

And what if you’re trying to play a game on a train, or an airplane? You’re not always going to have a reliable Internet connection there, certainly.

Or what if you’re on a forced family vacation in the middle of a log cabin in the woodlands of upstate New York? No Internet there.

The point is, there’s plenty of scenarios that you can think of where having a reliable Internet connection just isn’t possible. And these are everyday scenarios, not over-the-top, end-of-the-world malarkey.

Ubisoft wants to implement the DRM regime in order to cut down on piracy while giving you the illusion of added value. Think Ubiaoft Achievement Points and the like. With this always-online activation, there’s no such thing as a limited number of installations and not having the disc in the drive.

I seriously don’t understand why publisher just can’t have a single CD check (aka “please insert serial number”) at installation and be done with it. All this crazy nonsense isn’t cutting down on piracy, obviously, but legitimate customers—they do exist!—do not want to have to deal with all this garbage.

Sigh.

Ubisoft also states that Assassin’s Creed II has sold over 6 million copies worldwide and are projecting that number to hit 9 million by March of this year.

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.

This is news to me because I never completed the game and had no idea about this corrupted DNA nonsense. Yes, it’s merely a presentation issue—Ubisoft could simply have added DLC like everyone else does, as “bonus” content, but to present it as though you’re completing the game by buying the DLC? Rubs me the wrong way.

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.

There’s very little concrete information to share. The press release touts “amazing this” and “stupendous that.” It does use the Anvil engine, if that means anything to the more hardcore gamers here.

Pics or GTFO? Pics, then. (Concept art, though.)

And am I the only one who thinks this version of the Prince looks exactly like WWE’s John Morison? I’m not even talking about the hair style, but the face is pretty much the same. I hope Morrison is getting paid.

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.

Why the sharp decline? It’s not too hard to figure out, really: what big game has Ubisoft published from March to September. Exactly. The company’s entire year will live and die by how well Assassin’s Creed II does. If it’s a hit, then everything’s A-OK. If it’s a stinker, then Ubisoft’s stockholders will be reasonably upset.

Ubisoft blames soft sales for its games on the Nintendo DS, and soft sales for its older titles. Games it wants you to look out for: the new Splinter Cell (that game is still around? I tapped out after the first one~!), Red Steel 2 and R.U.S.E.

Yeah, they’ve bet the house on Assassin’s Creed II, all right.

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.

The announcement that R.U.S.E. would use IntuiLab’s IntuiFace Platform came at E3 2009, but this video is the first evidence of it actually happening. This marks the first step in a new way of experiencing video games. From the video, it seems that it’s not as responsive as a tried-and-true keyboard and mouse, so don’t expect these setups at any pro gaming tournaments anytime soon. But this setup is just to cool to look away. Next-step, holograms.

via Nowhereelse