Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Update: Ubisoft have deleted the forum post which was saying the DRM would not require an internet connection! Just removed it from history. Fortunately, we took a screenshot.

Update again!: Now the post is mysteriously back, with a disclaimer saying the details are being checked, and a statement should be coming shortly.

It’s hard to know what to say. After their insisting that From Dust, the delayed PC version from Ubisoft, would not require an internet connection to launch after the first time, of course it does. It’s impossible to launch From Dust, even from Steam in offline mode, without being online. Launching the game fires up their new Ubisoft Game Launcher, which refuses to work unless it can find a connection. And that’s ignoring the fact that the game is in no way properly ported.

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EA have been busy at Gamescom. Here they are showing what it looks like when a team of eight players go on a mission to stop a dangerous bloke escaping a prison, in Bioware’s upcoming space-friends MMO, The Old Republic. Here’s four minutes of unedited (but likely heavily rehearsed) in game footage:
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Atlus have released a trailer (below) for ACE Team’s bonkers rolling destruction puzzle game, Rock Of Ages, which demonstrates, via a tour of gaming history, why rock beats everything. We’d argue that shotgun trumps even that, but we don’t have a video to prove it.
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Via Blue I spy two new trailers for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine-inspired free-to-play MMO, Star Trek: Infinite Space. They’re both game footage pieces, showing space combat in the game’s 2.5D engine as well as (quite briefly) some of the walking around on stations stuff. Looks like it might be pretty solid, although their site is missing a load of pages and info right now. The game is out “soon”, as far as a I can tell.
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CryEngine 3 is now free to use, as long as you’re not making any money from your creations. Crytek explain: “You can use CryENGINE 3 for free in educational facilities, even if you are charging tuition. We have always offered our engine for free to educators, but now individual students can also freely download the engine and use it to learn about real-time 3D development. CryENGINE 3 is also free for non-commercial use; if you are distributing your game or application for free (and not charging for your work in producing it, whether directly or indirectly), no additional license is required.” There’s also apparently an indie license agreement for small projects, but you need to get in touch with Crytek for details.

Let’s kick off the day with a fresh look at Saints Row: The Third. There’s not a huge dose of the series’ trademark silliness on display here, but I suppose they’ve got to try and sell the game to stern-faced grumpy gamers, without a taste for the absurd, too. I do enjoy how the camera wobbles during the fisticuffs, and I’m looking forwards to having a lot of fun in that VTOL plane. Trailer go: Read the rest of this entry »

There was some speculation earlier in the year – I believe after a GFW badge was spotted oozing across the surface of Skyrim box – about whether Skyrim would be using Games For Windows Live for its content delivery, savegames, DRM, and general online nonsense, but apparently not. The official Elder Scrolls twitter typist has confirmed it will be using Steamworks. That means we can sidestep the extra login, and the fear that GFWL will attempt to “update”, breaking irreparably and causing your beloved but distant relatives to catch on fire, pass out, and drown in their soup.

Back in the mists of time there was this game called Modern Warfare 2, and it had a bit of a fling with the idea of not bothering to use dedicated servers on PC. This, as you might imagine, caused a bit of consternation among people who actually wanted to play the game in any sensible way. Fortunately for such people, it seems that this mistake won’t be repeated for the third iteration of the series. Speaking to Eurogamer, Beachhead’s Noah Heller said: “The big announcement today is that we’re supporting dedicated servers for PC, which is really cool.” Hooray! “And of course we’re working really hard right now on the customised version of Elite for the PC [versions of Call of Duty games], because it’s an open platform and has some challenges.” Mmm.

I mean they need to bring sexy back, too, but Electronic Arts – who have removed a bunch of games from Steam and don’t intend to put Battlefield 3 on there – will have to come first, according to this article over on Develop. Valve bossking Newell reportedly said: “We really want to show there’s a lot of value having EA titles on Steam. We want EA’s games on Steam and we have to show them that’s a smart thing to do. I think at the end of the day we’re going to prove to Electronic Arts they have happier customers, a higher quality service, and will make more money if they have their titles on Steam. It’s our duty to demonstrate that to them. We don’t have a natural right to publish their games.”

It’ll be interesting to see whether that can now get resolved. Probably not before Battlefield 3 comes out, eh?

These Assassin’s Creed games are pretty popular huh? I’ve never got on with them particularly well to be honest, and as (to my knowledge) the only games journo out there who actually was an assassin in a past life, I think my opinion counts double. Still, who knows, perhaps Assassin’s Creed 4 (if they want me to stop coming up with silly abbreviations they should revert to numbers) could be the one that wins my affections. Certainly this latest trailer has got oodles of nicely choreographed man-stabbing, and what look like a few new ways to get from A to B. Here’s Ezio & Altair doing what they do: Read the rest of this entry »