Nerd Rage: Ubisoft DRM lifted back in June

What an appropriate topic to follow up my last post about Yves Guillemot's comment about Ubisoft's PC piracy rate. In an interview today with Rock Paper Shotgun, Ubisoft actually confirmed that their 'always-on' DRM that I hated on in that last post was quietly changed back in June. It wasn't until today at their interview that they made an official announcement about it. While this is a fortunate step in the right direction, I will remind readers that their DRM had been like this for years, at least as far back as the release of the first Assassin's Creed on PC which was in April of 2008.

Nerd Rage: 93-95% of PC games are pirated

I'm going to start out by linking my source for this article. Yves Guillemot is the CEO of Ubisoft and in a recent interview talking about Ubisoft's increased amount of free-to-play games, he throws out that statistic: 93-95% of all PC games are pirated. Without a source or anything, just states it as a fact.  If they're pirated, it wouldn't be as if that number is being reported by their servers or by those pirating the software to begin with. I'd love to know how he came up with the number. I think that he probably looked at an expected sales for one of Ubisoft's games on the PC, like say, Assassin's Creed Revelations, and say that they only made 5-7% of what they expected. "Huh, where did those sales go? They must be pirating!" he says to himself. "I guess we better make our DRM even tougher to crack.

Review: Darksiders 2

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death.

I'd originally planned for this review to go out the week of Darksiders 2's release but I found myself too engrossed in the game to do more than take a couple notes on the game. I guess that says a lot about what I think about the game, in and of itself. I went into the game with high expectations after the first game wowed me with a unique take on a fairly familiar theme: angels, demons, Armageddon, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first game was a comfortable mix of Legend of Zelda and God of War with a dash of Prince of Persia and Darksiders 2 is a terrific continuation and evolution of it. Spoiler free details after the page break:

Why I Love and Hate DayZ

That little clip is from a little adventure my buddy, Wamdoodle, and I had this past Saturday. It was an exciting time, we were on top of the world. Then our world came crashing down around us. But our story starts a little bit earlier, it's one of luck, chance, and a lot of schadenfreude (look it  up!). So much of DayZ relies on a lucky event, a singular moment where the winds of fate shift in your favor. All this is a nice pretty way to say; DayZ is awesome for a minute then grinds you underfoot the next.

The Future of Console Gaming

I had hoped to get this post out the same week as the one for PC gaming, but some things got in the way of that. One of those things was the Oculus Rift. Check it out its Kickstarter page, it looks to be virtual reality that the average gamer should be able to afford and there are a number of developers who are backing it. The other thing is the Ouya. A hackable (they encourage it) home console designed to be approachable by indie companies and hobbyists. I'll be doing a write up on Kickstarter programs in the near future as a result of these two products, not to mention the slew of games that have been funded because of it. But this article is about console gaming in general and the potential it has and the changes I foresee in my magic crystal ball (which may or may not be a Magic 8 Ball).

The Future of PC Gaming

With Windows 8 announced to release on October 26th, PC gaming is about to get a bit of a shake up. I won't say that the changes coming in Windows 8 are going to be terrible for PC gaming, but the idea of Valve reaching out to Linux is giving me hope for the growth of PC 'platforms'. Heck, even Apple is looking at letting other companies connect video game controllers to iOS devices. With these developments and changes I thought it might be the right time to talk about where I see PC gaming going and where I hope it might go. Sadly, these things don't always match up.

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

 

I will start off by saying that the events in Aurora, Colorado were terrible and my thoughts and prayers go out to those affected, but that's the end of my discussion on that. So, for the review itself: The Dark Knight Rises did not disappoint and is an even tie with the Avengers for my favorite movie this year so far, The Hobbit is still waiting in the wings. By far my favorite of the Batman trilogy, it gives me hope that the upcoming Man of Steel movie won't be as much of a letdown as Superman Returns was. So, read on for more details, with a few spoilers at the end (plenty of warning, don't worry).