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First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Direct2Drive suing Bioshock Downloaders (tinyurl.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In a PR manouver best described as "different", digital distributor Direct2Drive is attempting to threaten its users into deleting preloaded content (in this case, Bioshock from Irrational Games) with the legal cudgel linked above. Their argument appears to be that users who accessed content early were not supposed to access the encrypted copy of the game until release and that it could not "be located by searching" (which is news to Google's cache from yesterday (http://tinyurl.com/2uc4eo), which shows the offending page quite clearly).
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - IGN Leaks Bioshock, Sends threatening letters (kotaku.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: IGN Entertainment(a subsidiary of News Corp) accidentally allowed pre-order customers of their service direct2drive preload, activate and thus play copies of the hotly anticipate PC-game Bioshock(due out today) this past Sunday. Because D2D isn't encrypted, anyone who had preloaded it basically had the game sitting on their harddrive, waiting for their activation keys and for the activation servers to go live. When they did, word spread, and people started buying D2D copies of bioshock to get activation keys(viewable from your purchase window or sent to you via e-mail).

Upon realizing their mistake, they cut off the preload downloads. The file was set to restrict to their download client only and could not be downloaded because it reported itself as 15EB. Anyone who went to this site(google cache, 2nd result on google for "direct2drive bioshock preload") Sunday evening and began downloading the preload, was awoken this morning by a rather pleasant e-mail. Searching for that download was disabled around the same time(you can no longer find that particular one via fileplanet search).

That letter was sent to people who *paid* for their copy of the game, mind you, and whose only crime was attempting to preload it. I can personally assure you that an activation attempt was not required to recieve one, as I recieved one, and all I did was attempt to preload the thing.

Some kotaku users paint this as a bit of an exploit in "l33t" hackerdom, in one case characterizing it as breaking into a store to grab your preordered and already paid-for copy. In actuality all you had to do was go to fileplanet, click search, and type in bioshock(or go to google and type bioshock direct2drive preload). The "security" was not linking to it off your order page, and the "exploit" was using their own site's search or google. The result was the preload(which had been reported on, to keep D2D even with steam). Alternatively you could get there by someone sending you a fileplanet link.

Is my understanding of this flawed, or is IGN asserting copyrights they don't possess, and attempting to enforce a TOS/contract that would be violated by using their service via a rather unpleasant e-mail?
User Journal

Journal Journal: Really low blow / bad jokes 11

Journal by buffer-overflowed

Re: Foley, other possible members, the alleged coverup, and the current page scandal.

So, I guess we know the *real* reason they're pro-life, eh? Am I right? *rimshot*
Why are republicans anti-abortion? More sweet young congressional pages and orphans to molest! *rimshot*
*crickets*

Thank ya, I'll be here all week.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Fun things 11

Journal by buffer-overflowed

Republicans decide to cut IRS auditing staff after a hearing showing that the super-rich are so adept at tax evasion that it simply can't be dealt with with current resources. IRS continues to go after the little guy, 'cause being wealthy means you're more important to society for all values of wealthy not including Paris Hilton or the Church of Scientology. Never mind that the law is the law and that it should be enforced, regardless of how fucked up the tax code may be or what your belief

Other Game Bundles For the Cost of the PS3 149

Posted by Zonk from the lots-of-options dept.
ImaNumber writes "When Sony announced the price of the PS3 many people were left dumbfounded at how expensive it was going to be. Microsoft joked that people would get the Xbox360 and the Wii instead. Brittlefish has taken this a step further and put together a list of some other gaming 'bundles' that you could buy instead of just getting one PS3. You might be surprised at what you can get for that kind of money."
User Journal

Journal Journal: Politics, Protests, Bellpeppers and Beef 17

Journal by buffer-overflowed

When did we become a nation of cowards?

Oh, please protect me Big Brother, I'm a suburban housewife! I am weak and proof that suffrage was a bad idea. I drive an SUV and kill the planet because I am ruled by fear!

Die in a fire. You will anyway, all the electronic surveilance in the world didn't stop 9/11. The only difference is whether or not your neighborhood gossip was listened to by some incompetant government-employed voyeur.

How the PS3 Hit $600 535

Posted by Zonk from the i-blame-mudflation dept.
Joystiq has up an interesting article today, gathering together information from a couple of places to discuss why the PlayStation 3 is so expensive. From the article: "Kutaragi was demoted after being passed over for the role of CEO and, when former Sony Pictures head Howard Stringer assumed the position, the relationship between the content and technology divisions of Sony became even more intimate. Stringer "quickly dubbed the PlayStation 3 as one of the company's 'champion' products." Kutaragi's desire to stratify the console market with Cell technology in effect wed Sony to the unpalatable prospect of charging an unprecedented price. Coupled with Sony's desire to not only push their own content on HD discs, but to control that medium with their proprietary Blu-ray format, the final price was escalated by two very advanced (and very expensive) pieces of Sony technology."
User Journal

Journal Journal: Evolution of Dance 12

Journal by buffer-overflowed

Yea, I'm kinda removed from the whole "hey this is funny on in the internets" culture these days. But this managed to trickle up to me.

I present... the evolution of dance.

PS. You *know* hammer pants will make a comeback, and we'll all laugh.

Nintendo's Iwata on the Wii Price Point 141

Posted by Zonk from the wiiiiiiiiiiiiiii dept.
kukyfrope writes "Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President, recently talked with GameDaily about the rumors surrounding the $249 Wii price point, his take of the PS3 price point and controller, and to reassure us that the GameBoy is far from dead! 'You may want to check our past records of price points when launching past hardware... I think you'll agree that we always come up with an affordable price point.'"

Sony And The No-Confidence Vote 245

Posted by Zonk from the spending-your-goodwill-currency dept.
Sony continues to spend the goodwill it has achieved over the last generation of consoles. As widely reported over the weekend, last Friday CEO for SCE Europe David Reeves spoke to the press. "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even it didn't have games." This 'you'll buy it anyway' attitude has further annoyed gamers already rankling from the announced pricetag. Next Gen and IGN talk about the two sides of the coin, with IGN laying into the company for the lack of HDMI output in the cheaper model, and Next Generation saying that Sony is far from defeated.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Games - Hey there 9

Journal by buffer-overflowed

Preface to this: I've have yet to be wrong about anything regarding video games. Even going into the N64 I had bad feelings(back when FFVII was displayed on the "project reality" even), I bought it anyway, and in retrospect it didn't disappoint, but at the time, man, yea it really did disappoint.

History of Motion Detection in Gaming 47

Posted by Zonk from the go-watch-the-wizard dept.
kukyfrope writes "In the spirit of the Revolution controller, GameDaily takes a look at the history of motion detection in console games, including U-Force and the infamous NES Power Glove, to name a few." From the article: "When the Sega Genesis came around a few years later, Sega decided to try their hand- and legs and feet- in the motion-sensor game with the release of a device called the Activator. This was a grid-like octagon that laid on the ground and allowed the user to stand in the middle of it, and then use a number of motions to convey actions in a series of games that worked with it, including Sega's brawling titles Streets of Rage 2 and Eternal Champions. But, again, it took too much effort to really figure out how to make it work in a comprehensive manner, and many folks just ended up taking a pass on it."

Best of GDC 2006 6

Posted by Zonk from the thing-that-happened-last-month dept.
Gamasutra has their weekly industry response column up, and this one deals with the best moments at this year's Game Developer's Conference. From the article: "I found one session particularly inspiring. It was refreshing to hear the speaker talk about the inspirations behind his product. Most inspiring, though, was the way he talked about the ideological goals he specifically wanted to express with it, that he had something larger about the world he wanted to show through his entertainment. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, that speaker had nothing to do with the game industry - it was Ron Moore at his Battlestar Galactica keynote. -Borut Pfeifer, Sony Online Entertainment"

A DS In Every Pot 282

Posted by Zonk from the converting-them-one-handheld-at-a-time dept.
At last year's GDC Nintendo President Iwata made the claim that the company was reaching out to everyone, in an attempt to expand the gaming market. They were planning to appeal to hardcore gamers, folks who used to play games, and folks who have never played a game in their lives. At the time, it sounded like a tag line. Today, I have impressions from three titles which suggest they've got what it takes to make us all into gamers. Hardcore players can sink their teeth into Metroid Prime Hunters, and have one of the most intuitive FPS experiences ever to come to a console. Folks looking for some nostalgia can enjoy Tetris DS, blockstacking like it's 1985. Even your grandmother can try Brain Age, proving to her bridge club that even though her license says she's 80 she's got the brain of a 20 year old. Read on for my impressions of three titles that give powerful evidence to support Iwata's grand claim.

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