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Bioware/EA: Retreat from Security Measures
Bioware and EA have done a strategic withdrawal from the harsh privacy preventing measures they announced a few days ago, with which the authenticity of the game would have been checked every ten days over the internet, meaning that if you don't have access to the internet regularly and you wanted to play it without internet access after having had a break for two weeks you couldn't do it because your copy of the game would be automatically blocked till you have access to the internet again.
This seems to have caused an uproar, because now Jay Watamaniuk from Bioware suddenly lets the disappointed fans in the Mass Effect forum know that
BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate [sic!] as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.
Yes, that's right. We all apparently have to say a big "Thank you" to the armed forces, who are obviously looking forward to Mass Effect and did not really agree with the new security measures, given that their access to the internet and their free-time probably wouldn't allow to play the game and let it check the authenticity every ten days. This is why Bioware now decided to take a step back and to only let the re-authentication process happen every time that someone playing the game wants to download new game content.
Same goes for EA, who announced that the changes made to the protection of Mass Effect will also apply for Spore. The protection of both games will however still only allow users to authenticate each game on three computers. But you don't need the disc in the drive to play or authenticate the game, which is actually a pretty comfortable thing.
All in all, it's good to see that publishers really seem to listen to their customers sometimes.
First screenshots of "Banjo Kazooie 3"
If you hold the N64-era in such a good memory as I do, and this not only for the obvious masterpiece "Ocarina of Time" (which, as designer Shigeru Miyamoto pointed out [link=http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/11/shigeru-ocarina-of-time-could-have-been-in-first-person-perspec/]very recently[/l more...
Take-Two: "Bioshock"-Movie in Development
Bioshock, influenced by the "System Shock"-series, probably last year's most highly awaited game and definitely its biggest hype, will come to the big screen. more...
Bethesda Releases 3 Pieces of Music from Fallout 3
New pieces of information for one of my most anticipated games have been released. Bethesda has put 3 tracks from the soundtrack of Fallout 3 online. You can listen to them here
German readers should choose English language, it seems that the link is not working correctly in the german version of the site... more...
Get Evil with Lord of the Rings: Conquest
The first new title from the recently acquired Pandemic Studios developed for EA is called Lord of the Rings: Conquest. The project is done "in collaboration with New Line Cinema" -- the studio behind the three Lords of the Rings movies (not counting the animated movie from the 80ies, which strangely ended with the Alliance's victory at Helm's Deep). more...
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Sandbox That Gets Sand Up Your Shorts
Elsewhere, I've posted an editorial on the issue of meaningful choices in gaming, specifically discussing Grand Theft Auto IV, called Grand Theft Auto IV: The Sandbox That Gets Sand Up Your Shorts:
id Software announces Doom 4, seeks help
Today id Software announced that the production on the fourth installment for the "Doom"-series (Doom 4) has begun and that the internal team working on it is currently still expanding. Todd Hollenshead, CEO at id Software, said in a press release that he only wants to pick the very best people for this demanding job: more...
Mass Effect & Spore: Piracy Preventing Measures
Many gamers out there were not really pleased last year by the fact that they were only allowed to activate their copy of "Bioshock" on the PC three times before having to contact the support to reactivate it, all thanks to the implemented SecuROM online activation system which was designed to prevent privacy. more...
A Convenient Truth? Harvard Research on Games
It's not really fun to be a videogame these days. Well, videogames can't pick their destiny themselves, they are just produced, no one ever thought about asking them how they feel with this. But: It's easy to guess. Because: How would you feel, when by most critics you would be the main reason made responsible for the bad behaviour of children and for youth violence? more...
Theater of War is Gold for the PC
cdv Software Entertainment's game Theater of War is gold, in duplication and should arrive in stores for the PC on May 19. more...
Peter Molyneux on his next projects, Fable 2 and more 
Read our Spore hands on preview (PC + DS versions) 
Sid Meier on Civilization Revolution and his next plans 
Report: Pixels or Polygons? Why 2D still beats 3D 
Guild Wars 2 & more: We talked to ArenaNet's founders 
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Burnout Paradise announced for the PC
Electronic Arts and the developer of Burnout Paradise Criterion Games, announced yesterday, that the game about racing and mayhem is going to be ported for the PC.
Not much else is known at this point, but they said that the game will have a overhaul for the windows platform, with extra multiplayer content and community driven content.
Where is my Vote button?
Update: Throttled mode is off again.
This is just for those of you who recognize that there are some features missing from the site at the moment (like voting, read counter or the list of most-read
articles under "hot"): The frontend of gamersglobal.com has gone into "throttled" mode, which is meant to avoid lagging when there is very much traffic. We're looking into that right now. more...
Yet Again No Cake? 40 new maps for "Portal"
Diablo3.com acquired by Blizzard
After all this rumors about Diablo 3, this is a real clue. According to diablofans.com, Blizzard aquired www.diablo3.com. We still don't know if the game is far off, or will be presented in Paris soon, as we guessed here, but at least we know that it will be there one day. more...
Iron Man Now in Stores
Sega's game Iron Man has arrived in North American stores for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, PlayStation 2 and DS.
Iron Man is based on the film of the same name (in turn based on the Marvel comic book character) that just arrived in theaters and has players fitting themselves in Iron Man's suit to engage in both ground and aerial combat. more...
Rapala Fishing Frenzy Coming This Summer
Activision confirmed that it plans to release Rapala Fishing Frenzy this summer for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.
Built in conjunction with one of the most prestigious fishing brands around, the game will have players using Rapala gear to fish for 25 species of trophy fish at locations around the world. more...
Certain Gamecock Games to Get With amBX Program
Philips continues to work to get games to support its amBX protocols that allow peripherals to add sensations to PC gaming such as air flow, rumble and surround lighting. Today, Philips confirmed that Gamecock's upcoming games Legendary and Velvet Assassin will support the amBX protocol. more...
Capcom Promotes Beaumont
Capcom Entertainment has promoted Mark Beaumont to the Chief Operating Officer of Capcom Entertainment (in North America) and Capcom Entertainment Europe.
Beaumont has been with Capcom since 2005 and is credited with masterminding Capcom's expansion into Western gaming markets.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour '09 Adds Tiger Woods' Coach
Electronic Arts announced that when the next Tiger Woods golf game (Tiger Woods PGA Tour '09) is released this summer the game will feature Tiger Woods' coach Hank Haney.
Hank Haney will be on hand guide players on how to improve their game and play more like Woods. more...
Ben 10: Alien Force - The Game Coming This Fall
Last October, D3Publisher of America shipped Ben 10: Protector of the Earth, based on the animated television series. Now, D3Publisher is planning to build on its experience, releasing Ben 10: Alien Force - The Game by the holiday season. more...
Valve wants to do Games for Kids
In this inverview on Computerandvideogames.com, Doug Lombardi told that the people at Valve would like to create a game for kids. They would get rid of the big guns they normally have in their games and swap the mouse with the Wiimote. more...
Gameloft Making New The Mummy Mobile Game
Gameloft confirmed that it has secured the right to publish a mobile game based on the upcoming film from Universal Pictures, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. more...
Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets Coming to the PC
Matrix Games and the Strategic Studies Group confirmed that they plan to release Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets for the PC in the near future.
The game will inherit elements from both the Decisive Battles and Battlefront strategy game engines, creating an updated engine that explores WWII battles on the Eastern Front of Europe using turn-based strategy. more...
GamersGlobal's Page Rank
This is just a little self-motivating news, but perhaps some of you contributors and reporters find it interesting, too: I've just noticed that GamersGlobal.com climbed to Google Page Rank 4. This is still very small, but no longer tiny. For your information, one of the leading German games websites, gamestar.de, has 7, gamepro.com has 8, and nytimes.com has 9.
Atari and Infogrames Finalize Re-Merger
Atari has entered into a definitive agreement with Infogrames that will have Infogrames fully acquire the portions of Atari that it does not already own.
Infogrames will acquire all the outstanding stock of Atari that it does not own for $1.68 per share. Infogrames already owns 51.4% of Atari's outstanding stock, and will require the remainder for approximately $11 million. more...
Fatal Inertia EX Coming Next Month to the PlayStation 3
Koei confirmed that it plans to release Fatal Inertia EX for the PlayStation 3 at the end of May.
The racing game is set in the middle of the 22nd century and is a combat racing game that has players piloting low-altitude racers through dozens of courses.
Canada Gets PlayStation Store Justice
Sometimes, it’s not as much fun as I’d like to live in Canada. Never mind the cold – The Canadian dollar has gotten a lot stronger against the American dollar, and that means Canadians are paying a lot more for games and add-ons in the PlayStation Store than our neighbors to the south. more...
Dream Pinball 3D Ships for the PC, Wii and DS
SouthPeak Games has shipped Dream Pinball 3D for the PC, Wii and DS to stores in North America. The game is available for $20 and features six virtual pinball machines for players' entertainment.
Drivers Ed Portable Coming to the DS
JoWooD's DreamCatcher Games label confirmed that it plans to publish Drivers Ed Portable for the DS this fall. more...
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