The Problem With Online Passes

            This past week Ubisoft announced their Uplay pass which makes them yet another game studio that has decided to use online passes to restrict content to their customers and fans.  I am appalled by this sort of “trend” that big out of touch studio heads seem to be flocking to so quickly.  It is an idiotic and misinformed business decision that we as gamers must express our outrage towards.  First EA, than Sony and now Ubisoft are all saying that if you don’t buy their games new you don’t have the right to access all of its features.  If I want to buy a game used because it’s cheaper or rent it to see if I want to buy it I should be allowed to access online multiplayer and features.  They don’t seem to realize that they will kill game rentals for their games which will mean that rental stores will pack less copies of their products, which hurts sales, than since people who rent won’t play their games there will be less word of mouth which is huge for game sales.  All of my friends play games to some extent but only one of them follows gaming news and so when most of my friends want games they find out through either myself or another friend what it is that they should play and I know that is the case for the majority of people who purchase games.  So by preventing people who buy used or rent from trying online multiplayer unless they pay another ten bucks which is usually more than just buying new and more than the entire rental all together you are giving them less to recommend on and hurting your sales and your image by looking like cheap jerks.  There attempt to gain sales by driving people away from used games will just drive them and their friends away all together.  Here is another example that really ticks me off if you lend a game to your friend or let your sibling play on his/her file they cannot play online.  So if you lend an EA Sports game to your friend he can’t play online multiplayer which is huge for those games, unless he wants to pay 10 bucks to play your game online for a little while.  Also if you live with a sibling who plays games, every time you buy a game from EA, Sony or Ubisoft you will have to decide which of you will be allowed access to online multiplayer, co-op with friends and access to bonus content, which could depend on who likes the game more which you won’t know when you start and input the code, either that or pay an additional $10/file to use a game that you own.  Ubisoft will start this terrible plan with the release of Driver: San Francisco this August which means that if you want to play the improved Assassin’s Creed multiplayer this November you will have to buy it new and flip a coin with your brother or sister.  I really think that this is just an awful road these studios are heading down and hopefully their competitors will capitalize by not charging people to access online and show these companies that their plan will cost them money instead of making them money.  However in the mean time we must let these studios know that they are making the wrong choice and that when we buy a game new or used we deserve full access to its content, you can’t lock it up and charge us more just to make a quick buck.   




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Weekly Wrap Up

Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition detailed

            Best Buy has listed the Arkham City Collector’s Edition on their site for $99.99, with some vague details about what will be included.  It is supposed to come with a statue but they don’t say what it will be of, an art book, “animated content” from Gotham Knight which I expect to be either one or two of the episodes on a bonus disk and early access to in-game add-ons.  I assume that the statue will either be of Batman or the Batman and Catwoman pose where they are standing back to back that they have been using on all of their posters and things.  

EA buys PopCap games

            PopCap games the makers of Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled has now been acquired by Electronic Arts.  The purchase was not cheap despite the fact that PopCap only makes casual games; EA paid $650 million cash and $100 million in stock/other payments.  While I see the potential for profit from PopCap I’m surprised at how much EA was willing to pay.  I think that casual games have their place but are and should remain a sub-genre despite the fact that I really enjoyed Plants vs. Zombies.  In fact I have a recommendation for it on the site.

Recommendation: Plants vs. Zombies

Halo CE bonuses

            If you pre-order Halo CE: Anniversary you will receive a code that allows you to download a Master Chief outfit for your Avatar as well as a bonus in-game Skull called “Grunt Funeral” which causes Grunts to explode like Plasma Grenades which is cool because since there aren’t any suicide Grunts in the first Halo to use to wipe out surrounding enemies.  I can’t wait to go back and re-play this classic and see how it stacks up to modern shooters who got a lot of pointers from this game.

Harry Potter Shatters records

            Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 has come out and has apparently shattered box office records all around the world.  It has become the biggest domestic, international and world wide release of all time.  In its opening weekend is grossed over $475 million worldwide which is ridiculous.  I’m not a Harry Potter fan, I watched the first three films and then I just lost interest so while the movies have apparently improved I haven’t seen any of the recent films.  I did however see and I am a fan of The Dark Knight which used to have the biggest domestic opening in history and I just have to say Batman is way better than Harry Potter and there is no way that this movie is anywhere near as good as The Dark Knight.  I just hope that The Dark Knight Rises will make even more money and reclaim the title of biggest domestic opening.

El Shaddai delayed

            El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is an amazingly unique ad stylized game that could have been a great sleeper hit during the summer game drought but it appears that we will have to wait a little while longer to get our hands on this mesmerizing experience.  While the game was slated to be released on July 26, just eight days away it will now be delayed until August 16, another twenty-one days away.  I don’t know why they would delay the game by three weeks when they are so close to launch but if it will improve the game than I am totally for it.  If you don’t know about this game yet you should go onto Xbox Live or PSN, download the demo and see for yourself.  

The Dark Knight Rises trailer

            The Dark Knight Rises is the conclusion of the Christopher Nolan trilogy of Batman films.  The Dark Knight is my favourite movie ever and I have been dying to see how Nolan will surpass it.  Now there’s a trailer!  It’s short and spoils something about Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne but I’m still so glad they finally have a trailer.  You can see it here.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/07/dark-knight-rises-trailer-teaser-nolan-bale.html   




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