Ubisoft Uplay Passport Is Dead: Online Gaming for All!

Like most gamers, I have a love-hate relationship with game publishers. I love that they bring cool games market for us to enjoy, but hate the often idiotic ways they try and prevent piracy and secondhand video game sales. One of the most irritating ways that game publishers like Ubisoft try to squeeze money out of gamers who purchase a used video game was by requiring them to purchase an online pass to play any multiple player aspect of the game.

These games come with an online code when purchased new, but that code is only good for one console. That means if you take the game to a friend’s house or give it away, the second owner can’t play it online without spending money. Ubisoft has now announced that its Uplay Passport online pass system is no more.

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The game publisher has eliminated that online passport on all of its future games including the soon to launch Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag. That means these games will be playable online even if you buy them secondhand. I’m not a big supporter of secondhand video game sales mostly because for an extra few bucks, I’d rather buy new. I’ve sold use games to places like GameStop before so I know what little money they actually give you for the games to turn around and sell them at a very small discount compared to a brand-new version.

Ubisoft said, “The Uplay Passport program was initiated as a means of giving customers full access and support for online multiplayer and features, along with exclusive content, bonuses, and rewards,” Ubisoft said in a statement.

“However, games today are blurring the line between offline and online, between what is ‘single-player’ and what is ‘multiplayer,’” the statement continues. “Based on that and on the feedback we received from you, we recognized that Passport is no longer the best approach for ensuring that all our customers have the best possible experience with all facets of our games.”

I say good riddance to all such systems.

[via GameSpot]

Rockstar reveals new GTA Online details prior to next week’s roll out

Rockstar

Ahead of next week’s GTA Online launch, developer Rockstar Games took to its blog to outline what to expect come October 1st. The post goes to great lengths to establish that the entire experience is free — unless you want to buy in-game currency with real money — and incredibly you-centric. Feedback you provide by emailing or posting on the official forums will help shape the game. Where you spend your time and what you end up doing (Sports! Heists! Chaos!) in San Andreas will affect the direction the developers take with future content and how they tune the overall experience. However, while the entry answers a few questions it also creates some new ones. Specifically, we’re curious about the company’s use of “roll out” to describe GTA:O‘s release. An incremental approach is probably best considering the game’s current server strains, but we’re sure that’s not what its some 16.5 million players will want to hear.

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Source: Rockstar Newswire

Let the god games begin: 22cans’ Godus beta available on Steam Early Access September 13th (update: iOS and Android release dates)

Let the god games begin 22cans' Godus beta available on Steam Early Access September 13th

A collective effort pulled back Curiosity’s curtain early this summer, and now it’s nearly time to play god. On September 13th, 22cans and Peter Molyneux will make the beta release of Godus, the studio’s latest “experiment” in god gaming, available via Steam Early Access for PC and Mac. The early release will cost eager overlords $19.99 and allow them to “sculpt every inch of a beautiful world,” and, of course, destroy those worlds in multiplayer battles with other virtual gods. The Kickstarter-backed nod to Molyneux’s Populous reached its funding goal in December of last year with the promise of PC, Mac and mobile compatibility and continued his focus on the video game as social experiment. Final release details are still under wraps but you can see an updated trailer after the break.

And for more Molyneux, check out our interview from E3 2013.

Update: We had a chance to catch up with Molyneux following his keynote at PAX and, among other things, he revealed release dates for iOS and Android versions of Godus: October 31st (Halloween) and November 14th (Day of the Colombian Woman), respectively.%Gallery-slideshow77099%

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Source: 22cans, Steam

Minecraft creator scraps ‘0x10c’ spaceship game, but fans run with concept

Minecraft creator definitively kills '0x10c' spaceship game

After suffering a “creative block” with development of his 0x10c project, Markus “Notch” Persson has definitively killed the idea, saying he has “no future aspirations” for it. The keenly anticipated game involved space travelers who wake up after an eons-long hypersleep and have to deal with enemies and other problems aboard their spaceship. He broke the news to disappointed fans on a livestream, but some have decided to keep the idea alive via community effort called Project Trillek. While they’d drop the whole cryosleep bit, the team would keep the concept of a crew navigating space and managing their craft with a 16-bit CPU, Minecraft-style. We’re glad it’s not dead yet, but whether it can survive the vacuum of a Notch-less space remains to be seen.

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Source: Joystiq

Grand Theft Auto Online launches October 1st with MMO-like elements (video)

For some, Grand Theft Auto 4‘s multiplayer mode was a promise unfulfilled — it had the open environment of a massively multiplayer online game, but none of the genre’s persistent content. Rockstar is making amends by unveiling Grand Theft Auto Online, an independent counterpart to GTA5 with a few MMO components. While only 16 players can participate in a given session, they all have permanent stakes in the game world: they can raise cash, buy property and build a reputation that unlocks new gameplay. There are “ambient” events, and gamers can even design custom battles or races to share with others.

The new title should also represent a break from Rockstar’s usual business model, which emphasizes blockbuster releases with few (if any) updates. Although GTAO will be available for free to GTA5 buyers on October 1st and start off with that game’s resources, it should receive a steady stream of new missions and purchases. Ultimately, the two GTA games may have little in common. Rockstar hasn’t said whether or not it will charge players for any extras, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they carry price tags.

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Rockstar Games

Microsoft details Xbox One’s Reputation system, keeps gentle gamers together

Microsoft details Xbox One's reputation system, hopes to keep griefers at bay

Good-natured Xbox Live gamers sometimes face a tough choice: they either have to isolate themselves in parties or risk playing against griefers and other ne’er-do-wells. Microsoft could avoid that horrible scenario in the Xbox One era with its recently unveiled Reputation system, which the company just explained in detail to OXM. We already know that the system will punish frequently reported players, but it should also reward contributors. Xbox Live Rewards participants may get a higher Reputation score, for example. The system also pressures troublemakers by ranking parties based on the lowest common denominator — one misfit can spoil the whole bunch. We’ll have to wait until November to verify Microsoft’s promises, but we’re expecting more harassment-free public matches in our future.

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Official Xbox Magazine

Respawn Entertainment talks Xbox Live Cloud, praises its multiplayer servers

Respawn Entertainment talks Xbox Live Cloud, praises its multiplayer servers

Microsoft’s been quick to point out how it’s beefing up the Xbox Live Cloud in preparation for its next wunderconsole, and now Respawn Entertainment is stepping in to detail just what Redmond’s architecture means for multiplayer on Titanfall. The firm’s Jon Shiring, who works with the game’s cloud computing integration, says that the next-gen title boasts vastly improved online play since it leans on Ballmer and Company’s cloud hardware instead of users to host sessions. By taking advantage of Microsoft’s servers, the futuristic shooter benefits from more reliable bandwidth, snappier matchmaking times, extra CPU power and the elimination of latency-based host advantage and hacked-host cheating, to boot. Naturally, using dedicated servers can cost a ton, but Respawn says Microsoft managed to keep things comparatively inexpensive for developers, in part thanks to its Azure tech. For the dev’s comprehensive write-up on just what this revamped Xbox Live architecture may mean for gaming, click the source link below.

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Source: Respawn Entertainment

PS4 to require PS Plus membership for multiplayer play

PS4 to require PS Plus membership for multiplayer play

Sony is delivering mixed blessings here at E3: while it’s more than willing to avoid DRM on the PlayStation 4, it just echoed Microsoft’s approach to multiplayer services. You’ll now need a PlayStation Plus subscription to play online. That may be a small price to pay when both Plus and the PS4 itself are cheaper than Xbox Live and the Xbox One, but it’s an unfortunate extra cost for those used to getting their multiplayer gaming for free.

Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.

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Google APK source code offers glimpse of possible Android game framework

Google Play Services code peek fuels rumors of an Android game framework

Android may be improving its reputation as a gaming platform, but there isn’t a consistent, official service that can tie everything together — Google has no parallel to Xbox Live or Game Center. That might be changing, if Android Police‘s snooping around the Google Play Services component of the MyGlass app is any indication. A seemingly innocuous “games” folder includes what appears to be a Google Play Services gaming framework: achievements, in-game chats, rankings and invitation-capable multiplayer lurk inside. None of these are accessible to regular users, though, so it’s unclear whether the references represent a glimpse into an upcoming gaming strategy or just an instance of developers leaving in code that’s normally destined for the scrap heap. We’re hoping there are some proper answers at Google I/O.

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Source: Android Police

Bird poop and Big Screens: Attempting a multiplayer world record

Bird poop and big screens Attempting a multiplayer world record

There’s no category in the Guinness World Records for the most players in a single-screen multiplayer game. However, that’s likely to change soon thanks to a group of New York University graduate students who created SPLAT, a multiplayer game designed for the 120-foot video wall installed in the lobby of the IAC building on the west side of Manhattan. The screen is a Prysm laser phosphor display and sports a whopping resolution of 11,520 x 1,080 pixels. The game was debuted at a packed showcase event last Friday night, along with the work of other students from an NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program class appropriately called Big Screens.

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Source: BigPlay