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So I'm curious where this backlog of awesome games are, or what you mean by awesome games, because right now, I can't think of any. But I'd like to know of any that might be worth my heading out and getting a PS4. I make occasional pop-ins at Gamestop to see the new releases, but so far nothing is tempting.

One new-ish game I got was Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor. It's pretty fun, but make sure to get the PS4 version. I have the PS3 version, so it has laggy transitions. It will pause for a minute to load a 3 second cut scene, then pause another minute after that plays another 3 second cut scene, then pause another minute to switch back to the game. From what I understand, the PS4 doesn't have that issue at all. Watch Dogs was pretty fun, and I guess the PS4 version of that is even better, especially when it comes to the driving portion of the game. Dying Light is supposed to be pretty good if you're not tired of the whole zombie apocalypse thing.

For example, the guitar would not be a cheap piece of plastic, but perhaps a real one that can be strung and played as normal once someone got tired of the game.

My sister has that, I think it might be this: http://rocksmith.ubi.com/rocks...

In any case, it's a real guitar that does something like Guitar Hero.

Make different instruments. Allow multiple players to play the instruments at the same time, either coop, or one after the other in a battle of the bands.

Don't they do this already? Again, my sister has a drumkit and microphone for Guitar Hero, and I'm sure I've played both with and against her, consecutively and concurrently.

Even go with odd things, such as a chainsaw

OK, that would be new.

Why mention a live-blog and not have a link?

I think this is it, correct me if I'm wrong.

http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/...

Having just found the info in question at http://forums.ubi.com/showthre... I can confirm that yes, its from a shader file.

The Crew.

Will it really be as open-world as they claim, with the only "walls" being Canada, Mexico and oceans?

Security update regarding your Ubisoft account
- please create a new password

Dear Member,

We recently found that one of our Web sites was exploited to gain unauthorised access to some of our online systems. We instantly took steps to close off this access, investigate the incident and begin restoring the integrity of any compromised systems.

During this process, we learned that data had been illegally accessed from our account database, including user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords. Please note that no personal payment information is stored with Ubisoft, meaning your debit/credit card information was safe from this intrusion.

As a result, we are recommending that you change the password for your account: <account name>

To enter your new password, click the link below: https://secure.ubi.com/register/ResetPassword.aspx?...

Out of an abundance of caution, we also recommend that you change your password on any other Web site or service where you use the same or a similar password.

You can find more information here https://support.ubi.com/en-GB/FAQ.aspx?platformid=60&brandid=2030&productid=3888&faqid=kA030000000eYYxCAM.

For any additional support enquiries, please contact our customer service via our support web site at https://support.ubi.com/

We sincerely apologise to all of you for the inconvenience. Please rest assured that your security remains our priority.

The Ubisoft team

Security update regarding your Ubisoft account
- please create a new password

Dear Member,

We recently found that one of our Web sites was exploited to gain unauthorised access to some of our online systems. We instantly took steps to close off this access, investigate the incident and begin restoring the integrity of any compromised systems.

During this process, we learned that data had been illegally accessed from our account database, including user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords. Please note that no personal payment information is stored with Ubisoft, meaning your debit/credit card information was safe from this intrusion.

As a result, we are recommending that you change the password for your account: <account name>

To enter your new password, click the link below: https://secure.ubi.com/register/ResetPassword.aspx?...

Out of an abundance of caution, we also recommend that you change your password on any other Web site or service where you use the same or a similar password.

You can find more information here https://support.ubi.com/en-GB/FAQ.aspx?platformid=60&brandid=2030&productid=3888&faqid=kA030000000eYYxCAM.

For any additional support enquiries, please contact our customer service via our support web site at https://support.ubi.com/

We sincerely apologise to all of you for the inconvenience. Please rest assured that your security remains our priority.

The Ubisoft team

Security update regarding your Ubisoft account
- please create a new password

Dear Member,

We recently found that one of our Web sites was exploited to gain unauthorised access to some of our online systems. We instantly took steps to close off this access, investigate the incident and begin restoring the integrity of any compromised systems.

During this process, we learned that data had been illegally accessed from our account database, including user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords. Please note that no personal payment information is stored with Ubisoft, meaning your debit/credit card information was safe from this intrusion.

As a result, we are recommending that you change the password for your account: <account name>

To enter your new password, click the link below: https://secure.ubi.com/register/ResetPassword.aspx?...

Out of an abundance of caution, we also recommend that you change your password on any other Web site or service where you use the same or a similar password.

You can find more information here https://support.ubi.com/en-GB/FAQ.aspx?platformid=60&brandid=2030&productid=3888&faqid=kA030000000eYYxCAM.

For any additional support enquiries, please contact our customer service via our support web site at https://support.ubi.com/

We sincerely apologise to all of you for the inconvenience. Please rest assured that your security remains our priority.

The Ubisoft team

You mean the EULA they publish on their website?

Caveat emptor. You bought the software, and you had the choice to read the EULA online before you bought the software. Whether you exercise that ability or not is your problem. No major software company denies the ability to read the EULA online prior to purchase, specifically because of the shrink wrap license lawsuits from a decade ago.

From their page: http://static2.cdn.ubi.com/transition/details/

first list: will NOT be impacted

second list: will not be playable

Interesting how they over-emphasize the NOT in the first list, but not in the second one. Also, I originally expected the affected games to be listed first (yes, reading comprehension fault due to skimming on my part), and was wondering how PS3 games were affected -- they aren't.

So basically, this only affects some (but not all) computer games and not console versions. That's not meant to dismiss this, but if it did affect the console versions too, I'd be much less likely to get their games in the future.

I know the DRM is about PC games, but I just got an XBOX 360 not too long ago.

I have bought several games, and plan on buying more. I prefer cheap new games than used, but when it's an Ubisoft title, I make sure to get it used. I don't know if I'm helping or not.

http://www.ubi.com/us/games/search.aspx?pltag=xbox360

As a real guitarist, I'm waiting for Rocksmith: http://rocksmith.ubi.com/rocksmith/en-US/home/.

Already in production.
See http://rocksmith.ubi.com/rocksmith/en-US/home/

For those who've moved on from Guitar Hero to a real guitar, it's worth checking out JamOrigin and keeping an eye on Rocksmith.

I wonder if this was part of the inspiration for Ruse? Or maybe vice versa?

Several DRM schemes have only involked a reaction in the tech community such as slashdot while the general public carried on not caring. This shambles has made it painfully obvious to the masses of the dangers of DRM. The 45 page thread is evidence of it and is quickly filling up with hatred. Comments such as "I'll never buy from you again" which usually tend to be hyperbole this time ring true. Hopefully the end result of this is that the public won't have a short attention span and make true on their threats of not buying from them again.

Well I went to that link and it appears the forum is down as well. So not only can people not play the game they are not allowed to complain about it to Ubisoft as well!

Will all my saved games be stored online?
Yes! They will be stored both online and on your PC.

From http://support.uk.ubi.com/online-services-platform/

Saved games are already stored locally, which is why breaking the DRM was no more difficult than a no-CD crack.

Several DRM schemes have only involked a reaction in the tech community such as slashdot while the general public carried on not caring.
This shambles has made it painfully obvious to the masses of the dangers of DRM.
The 45 page thread is evidence of it and is quickly filling up with hatred. Comments such as "I'll never buy from you again" which usually tend to be hyperbole this time ring true.

Hopefully the end result of this is that the public won't have a short attention span and make true on their threats of not buying from them again.

Please do not post about illegal activities and or downloads.

The response summarizes the situation appropriately:

WTF I posted a link to google that shows how to play since UBIcraps servers are down and you call it ILLEGAL activities? RAbble rabble! I will never buy another ubisoft product and I advise you to do the same!

Please do not post about illegal activities and or downloads.

The response summarizes the situation appropriately:

WTF I posted a link to google that shows how to play since UBIcraps servers are down and you call it ILLEGAL activities? RAbble rabble! I will never buy another ubisoft product and I advise you to do the same!

You don't need to install any Plug-ins to avoid the more obnoxious ADs: simply disable client-side scripting and don't install Flash/Silverlight in the first place. It has always struck be a strange that you are supposed to install plug-ins for extra functionality, then even more plug-in to "roll-back" that extra functionality.

I understand the "Firefox + NoScript + Adblock Plus + FlashBlocker" method allows you to whitelist certain sites. However, some web-sites prohibit AD blocking software as part of their Terms Of Service. If you don't install the plug-ins in the first place, you are not blocking the ADs. Your browser is simply incapable of displaying them! Sure a few "fringe" site like YouTube and Ubisoft won't work, but they obviously don't want your business anyway.

Because um.. well lets see.. From the Fine Article:

We've just received Assassin's Creed 2 and Settlers VII for review, and verified with Ubisoft that the DRM is the same as the boxed product.

But i guess actually reading anything is beyond expectation for an AC.

Secondly, from Ubisoft's own FAQ.

Is there an "off-line" option? No. The added services to the game (unlimited installs, online storage of saved games and the fact that you don’t need the game disc to play) require you to have an online connection while playing the game.

It was also recently announced the Shadowbane is being shut down soon as well.

None of the modern missile lock on frenzy games have anywhere near the depth of the old school sims, just can't get into them.

Go get yourself a copy of IL-2 Sturmovik and you will be in Nirvana. It's probably the best serious combat flight sim ever made, and you can set it for anything from moderate realism to full-out, hard-core "I want to adjust the engine mixture myself, thank you very much" realism. Based on your comments I predict you will love it - and as a bonus, you should be able to find it priced at about one-fifth the cost of HAWX.

IL-2 has been expanded and updated many times over the years, so to make sure you get the total package, look for the compilation titled IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946. It includes the core game, all its expansions, the sequel (Pacific Fighters), and a bunch of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe-style late-war wonder jets. Earlier compilations will lack some of these and will require patching to bring up to date, so 1946 is the version to buy.

Ironically, Ubisoft is the North American distributor for the IL-2 series; if you live there, you can buy 1946 as a digital download from Ubi's Web store for USD$10. It's also available on Steam at the same price, and if you prefer physical media, Amazon has the DVD version for $15.

They have provided a revoke tool, as most of these idiots that use this sort of online authentication are forced to do as it's obviously a highly flawed setup. It's pathetic that we are forced to this and I honestly wish I hadn't supported the game with my money when they pull this sort of bullshit. Next time I think I'll simply wait until games like this drop in price or become budget releases so I don't contribute to undeserved high initial sales when they pull shit like this. Unsurprisingly the developers of Sacred 2 were forced to provide the same thing for a similarly idiotic authetication system.

There is a link down the bottom of this page to get the tool to remove an installation. I haven't had to use it so I hope it works for you.

http://www.ubi.com/US/Games/Search.aspx?plTag=pc

right!

Original Post: Ubisoft Forum

Do you have any data to back that up? It's not for SecuRom but the data UbiSoft published about StarForce strongly suggests that the level of DRM related problems, even with very aggressive implementations, is low. As in sub-1% low. I'm really sceptical that even 1% of this 1 million+ figure is people downloading it "because they had to" after buying it. Occams Razor says the simplest explanation wins - those people are pirates.

I'll throw a few suggestions in here. Flight sims are the best known examples - civilian and combat - but also consider naval sims, such as the Silent Hunter series, and Storm Eagle Studios's Distant Guns and the upcoming Jutland.

Alternatively, have a look at regatta simulators, such as the Virtual Skipper series.

Why not purchase it ... then pirate it. Everyone wins. EA gets more of your money, and you get a product that works.

Ubisoft is already approaching the sale of their products like this - you pay for a product, you play with a pirated version!

> Good luck finding a co-op FPS title.

Rainbox Six Vegas
http://rainbowsixgame.us.ubi.com/vegas/agegate.php?destURL=/vegas/index.php
Rainbox Six Vegas 2
http://rainbowsixgame.us.ubi.com/agegate.php?destURL=/home.php

Great co-op FPS (part 2 especially)

> Good luck finding a co-op FPS title.

Rainbox Six Vegas
http://rainbowsixgame.us.ubi.com/vegas/agegate.php?destURL=/vegas/index.php
Rainbox Six Vegas 2
http://rainbowsixgame.us.ubi.com/agegate.php?destURL=/home.php

Great co-op FPS (part 2 especially)

Shadowbane (http://chronicle.ubi.com/), a fantasy based MMORPG, is completely ad-revenue driven. Plagued by poor performance and crash bugs for many years, they've had an uphill battle to win back players (a real shame, as I often refer to SB as "the best piece of crap I've ever played"). Just this month they went through a series of fixes, including a complete refresh of the worlds and players (easier to do when you can play free). It should be an interesting experiment to see if they can maintain revenue based solely on third party financing, but in this (US) economy, it is hard to beat maintaining your gaming fix without grabbing your wallet! Still, one has to wonder how much of a voice the player base has now that they can no longer "vote with their wallet."

Nice link, but I was thinking something more along these lines ;-p

is coming out on PC, too.

Well, no, it didn't last, but that was mostly a business/marketing issue. StarForce was, if anything, too successful. Too successful because their stuff did actually work, in that when integrated well, it could be months (as you observe) for a crack to be posted. Well, after 6 months of no crack, most people who want the game will have bought it. You might lose the long tail, but dems da breaks. It will be marketed by the DRM companies as a success.

This didn't go down well with a lot of people who were used to getting games for free, as you might imagine! I guess many of us will remember the anti-StarForce campaign that eventually resulted in Ubisoft withdrawing their usage of it in favour of a less tainted brand. The campaign mostly revolved around the allegation that StarForce could break CD drives or cause other nasty technical problems. It wouldn't entirely surprise me if that were true, because these programs do a lot of very bizarre and nasty tricks in order to find emulated CD drives.

Nonetheless, two facts stick in my mind. One is that the company making StarForce offered significant cash rewards to anybody who could send them a machine that was broken in the way being described. AFAIK nobody ever claimed the prize (instead the claims about what broke started shifting). The other is an interesting post from an UbiSoft employee defending their copy protection on the forums. In it they gave a statistical breakdown of the problems reported to their tech support center. As UbiSoft make some very popular games, they had a sample size big enough to be meaningful here.

They found that something like 0.1% of the problems reported to them were tracable to StarForce, and of that 0.1%, about 20% were people who had in fact attempted to crack the game and then had the balls to ask for tech support when it didn't work. That sounds absurd, but when I worked for a commercial software company, we also saw people trying to get (free!) tech support using pirated copies of the program. The rest were mostly people who mistyped their CD Key, or actually did experience blue screens/crashes etc, but their numbers were low enough to be more or less what you'd expect from a population of Windows machines.

Now it's a complex story, and I don't doubt that some people saw very bad problems with StarForce. But I'll take hard statistics derived from 500,000 samples over anecdotes I read from anti-DRM bloggers any day.

There is another ad-supported Ubisoft game called Shadowbane. It is an old MMORPG, but apart from an ad that displays every time you start up the game, is otherwise completely free to play (installer is free, and the online subscription is free). The installer for this one however, can also be downloaded from BitTorrent. Very interesting way to find revenue for games that have become unfashionable, but are still viable in a Long Tail kind of way.

There is another ad-supported Ubisoft game called Shadowbane. It is an old MMORPG, but apart from an ad that displays every time you start up the game, is otherwise completely free to play (installer is free, and the online subscription is free). The installer for this one however, can also be downloaded from BitTorrent. Very interesting way to find revenue for games that have become unfashionable, but are still viable in a Long Tail kind of way.

http://splintercell.us.ubi.com/newspost.php?news_i d=4905

P.S. Found a better forum thread

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/647109687 3/m/7571027493

Just read the Ubi forums to see how bad it is (of course, the forums seem to be down right now--go figure).

Actually, the military route may be even better for a hacker. You get computer training on some advanced tech and you get weapons and other military training.

Organized crime is always looking for ex-cops and ex-military. These guys already know basic tricks of the trade, they know how to use guns, they may have first aid (or better) medical training. They may have covert ops training and if they're really smart and computer-trained, they'll probably have a good handle on military-grade gear as well.

So if the mob wants to arrange for a pair of Sam Fisher's newest goggles, they'll "know a guy who knows a guy".

As far as organized crime is concerned, they are a business. It turns out that some of their best possible recruits (ex-military) are generally poorly-paid. Honestly, this whole thing just sounds like good business to me :)

And now, it's apparently free!

For those of you wondering about the post above check out this link:

The triangle key error

I am not sure if Ubisoft ever did anything about it but the problem was so serious that you could not even beat the game if you did not download the unofficial patch to fix it. It's a PC error and I encountered it during my playthrough.

The fact that Ubisoft released a game so broken it was actually unplayable and then never bothered to fix it, had to rely off of a fan created patch, a bad taste was left in my mouth for this company.

The game starts with a cinematic sequence. It is pretty engaging. Then all of a sudden, you are thrown into battle with the Doms. These are the ultimate enemy of the planet Hillus and the galaxy. As you play the game, you find out why you are here what you are doing. You are a reporter tasked to expose the real thruth and inform the people. Along the way you actively see that teamwork and caring are rewarded. The cities change based on your progress. There are a very sad moments as well as a quite a few feel good moments. It is easy to identify with the main character.

The ending of the game throws everybody for a loop. It is a cliffhanger of galactic magnitude. On the support forum you'll find an online petition to continue the story in a sequel. http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/908103432 /m/907107432/p/1 It is filled with personal stories of how the game affected them and how much they want the story to continue.

It really is a heartwarming game and once you play it, you realize how much it stands out against your collection of games. If you enjoy adventure cinematic epic stories at all and can put up with somewhat limiting character control, the game is really worth your time. About 10 hours worth of your time.

I think it would work something like this:
http://resources.ubi.com/resources/39/39273-11-12. jpg

Besides what innovative gameplay are you experiencing?

Besides what innovative gameplay are you experiencing?

First, let me get the definition out of the way: "slacking" is "not working when one is supposed to be working". Vacation, therefore, is not slacking, but reading Slashdot at work probably is.

There are certainly times when slacking is an issue. If an air-traffic controller is playing her DS when she should be watching the radar, there's certainly a problem. When people slack so much that they aren't meeting the requirements of their work, there's a problem.

But I'd argue that a little slacking in most industries is actually good for business.

The problems really enter when management sees work as quantitative when it is qualitative. Knowledge workers are typically qualitative workers -- that is, it's more important (in general) to do their tasks well then to get a lot done. These people should be allowed to have some unstructured recreation at work (if they were allowed, it wouldn't be "slacking" any more! ;D), because it allows them to do better work.

It's pretty unusual for someone to be able to simply sit and work for long periods of time, every day, on something that requires a significant chunk of brain power. Anyone who's done significant development knows that the best way to solve some kinds of problems is to do something completely unrelated for a while. When I get stumped, I play Lumines for a while. It's usually only a few levels in when I suddenly think of something helpful, and can get back to work.

I've also noticed that the most talented and truly productive (measured in terms of quantity * quality) developers, business modellers, architects, engineers, etc. have long ago recognized this need to "percolate" on occasion. Good management lets people "slack" a little during work time, because they know that these same people are often "working" during their fun time. I know that some of my best solutions have occurred to me late at night while playing Final Fantasy or browsing for fun from home. If work is going to encroach on my "fun time" (and really, it can't be helped in knowledge work, because you can't turn off your brain), then it's reasonable to get in a little fun at work, too.

We don't need more work, or more "slacking" -- we need to stop forcing the dichotomy when it doesn't make sense.

UbiSoft sure doesn't seem to think it's coming out for the 360, at least not anytime soon.

http://assassinscreed.uk.ubi.com/ (only a ps3 logo)

Maybe Sony saw something they liked and paid for it to become an (at least temporarily) exclusive title. Seems to sound like it could've been worth it. And from the impressions I read at GameSpot an IGN they were both watching (though not playing) an actual real-time game, complete with buggy AI and framerate drops. I got this impression, because they were marvelling at how the game looked (not a press reel) and specifically mentioned the AI and framerate issues.

Whatever system it comes out for, I hope it's a hell of a game.