DMCA Exempt Gaming DRM
Posted by Rocky on Monday, July 26 2010
In their three yearly review of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the Library of Congress announced today some exemptions from the Act. Gamers will be interested particularly by exemption number 4.

What does that mean? Apparantly the two targets here are in fact SecuROM and SafeDisc and their potential for compromising security of gamers computers.

Read more detail on Ars Technica, where there's bigger news on the implications for Apple thanks to exemption number 2.

In related news, a recent court case ruled that DMCA anti-circumvention protection does not apply where a link between 'access' and 'protection' of the copyrighted work cannot be proven. More on that at Courthouse News.

Ubisoft Q1 Sales Published
Posted by Rocky on Thursday, July 22 2010
Ubisoft have recorded €161 million in sales for Q1 2010/11.

Their sales report (which you can download here), details this 94% increase over last years figures, and looks forward to two big releases next quarter with RUSE and HAWX2.

Developer Interaction
Posted by Rocky on Monday, July 12 2010
The kind of developer interaction Ghost Recon fans have been wishing for since, forever, is finally here. A dev team that clearly pours over fan feeback in the forums, a dev team that includes suggestions, resolves issues and where ideas cannot be incorporated, explains clearly why.

The only problem for Ghost Recon fans is, we're describing a different Ubisoft game, the upcoming Real Time Strategy game RUSE. The two gentlemen shown above are Alexis Dressay and Mathieu Girard. If you click that image, it'll take you to a twenty minute YouTube video split into several chapters. In each chapter there is repeated reference to fan forums and community requests showing the dev teams commitment to making the game something that the fans have played a part in shaping.

After the first beta, the game was delayed while fan feedback was fully digested by the dev team. Now they've come back with a new version of RUSE packed with fan suggested features, and to top it off, there's a chance to play the new pre-release multiplayer version free this weekend over Steam.

Visit the official RUSE website, and post feedback in our RTS forums.

Frag Dolls Under Fire
Posted by Rocky on Wednesday, June 2 2010
It must be a bad week for news as at least one gaming journalist has set her sights on Ubisoft's all girl gaming squad, the Frag Dolls.

According to Beth Kasperski at Go Fanboy,..

Words that are sure to enrage booth babes and Frag Dolls alike!

Heroes Unleashed Update
Posted by Rocky on Sunday, May 30 2010
Almost exactly a year to the day, ApexMods have released another huge update to the massive unofficial Ghost Recon expansion pack Heroes Unleashed.

You can read the full list of changes for this latest version in this forum post, or skip directly to the Heroes Unleashed Download entry. Stealth fans will be interested in particular due to the all new and extremely clever stealth scoring system that will display a stealth score at the end of each game based on many new and complex parameters. Good luck Ghosts!

Special Operations
Posted by Rocky on Sunday, May 16 2010
News channel KMOV ran a video item recently out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the home of US Special Operations Forces.

Of course North Carolina is also home to Red Storm Entertainment, Ghost Recon developer. It's little coincidence then that John Sonedecker ex RSE and Ghost Recon developer now find himself at Fort Bragg producing what is claimed to be the ...

John Sondecker isn't the only person featured in the video that Ghost Recon fans might recognise, as there are some of our forum members making an appearance too.

If you're intersted in Special Forces and how they are using the latest gaming technology to prepare troops for combat, check out the kmov video now, then check out the more detailed article at FayObserver.

Advanced Tactical Centre
Posted by Rocky on Wednesday, May 12 2010
We've promoted the Advanced Tactical Centre before, but with a new version out it's worth reminding tactical gamers what a cool tool this is.

With ATC you can plan your game tactics in realtime with your squad, marking up maps with routes and tactics. It's great to see this tool is still being supported, check it out at PlayPrepared.com.

New Ghost Recon FAQ online
Posted by Rocky on Friday, May 7 2010
We've just completed a massive support section facelift on the Ghost Recon FAQ 

Over the years our Frequently Asked Questions have been read well over one million times by Ghost Recon fans looking for help. This upgrade will help us maintain an efficient archive of solutions for issues and commonly asked Ghost Recon questions, including Future Soldier peer to peer support later this year!

Forum Accounts Lost
Posted by Rocky on Sunday, May 2 2010
We had a major server crash over the weekend and although the recovery process is now complete and we are back online, it's not without casualties.

Some forum accounts have been lost, however we have succesfully recovered one account and are working on the rest now. If you cannot login, please bear with us while we attempt to repair the broken accounts. Please contact me using our contact page if you have any issues.

Splinter Cell Conviction Review
Posted by Rocky on Wednesday, April 21 2010
While Scott Mitchell got us all thinking about might align Splinter Cell Conviction with Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Ruin has published a full review of Splinter Cell Conviction.

Ruin's review comments on various aspects of the latest Splinter Cell, and has a movie clip detailing how the new Uplay system works, check it out!

New Forums Online!
Posted by Rocky on Monday, April 12 2010
Our brand new Ghost Recon forums are now online. Thanks to some hard work from NYR32 there are two designs to select from at the foot of the forums, classic Ghost Recon, or all shiny new Future Soldier design.

Over half a million Ghost Recon posts from over 18,000 members, going back over 7 years!

We are still ironing out some bugs so feel free to report anything you find that's not quite working correctly, or indeed any cool new features you find, in this discussion thread.

Forum Upgrade
Posted by Rocky on Saturday, April 10 2010
Starting Sunday we'll be upgrading our discussion forums to the latest secure version, packed with heaps of new features for Ghost Recon fans to enjoy.

The upgrade process will take around 48 hours to complete and test so if all goes according to plan, by Monday evening they should be back online.

Splinter Cell Conviction
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, March 30 2010
Splinter Cell fan's will be getting hyped with the games release only a matter of days away now!

To help pass the time and build expectations, why not check out the official release trailer, it really sets the scene for an interesting storyline. We've the full HD version available for download right here, or if you'd prefer to stream it, click here!

CNET say Wait
Posted by Rocky on Thursday, March 18 2010
CNET have an interesting take on the current Online Services Platform (OSP) DRM being used by Ubisoft. Playing the waiting game for fully patched, more stable, and DRM free games may be the new strategy for PC gamers.

Read more on Josh Lowensohn's blog at CNET.

Find Sam
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, March 16 2010
Ubisoft have launched a Splinter Cell Conviction competition with a limited edition copy of the game up for grabs. It uses new Gigapan technology that allows extreme zooming on images, check it out.

Splinetr Cell Conviction is due out for PC and X360 next month.

CNN on DRM
Posted by Rocky on Saturday, March 13 2010

CNN are reporting on their experiences with Assassin's Creed 2 and it's "not fun" according to their technology journalist. Not surprising, the target for their disdain is Ubisoft's always on DRM system calling it ...

Contrary to Ubisoft's latest statement, CNN also report the the new protection system

Forum discussion here.

Ubisoft Compensation Details
Posted by Rocky on Saturday, March 13 2010

Yesterday we reported on Ubisoft's plan to compensate Assassins Creed 2 gamers for the downtime their authentication servers suffered at the weekend. Details are starting to arrive via an e-mail Ubisoft are sending to affected customers.

Read the full email in our forums.

DRM is a Disservice
Posted by Rocky on Friday, March 12 2010

If you search Google for our headline, you'll probably get almost 9,000 results. That gives an indication of how Digital Rights Management is perceived across the entertainment sector.

Yesterday Gabe Newell brought DRM out into the bright lights of mass media courtesy of the 2010 Game Developers Choice Award ceremony where he was recognised with the respected GDC Pioneer Award.

The introduction to the award will be of interest to gamers, and Gabe's acceptance speech is equally interesting if you want to know where gaming tech is headed, you'll not want to miss his speech.

Where the first round of applause came however, was when Gabe addressed games publishers, referring to DRM has a negative influence

There were actually only two rounds of spontaneous applause during Gabe's interesting speech, one for the DRM put down, and one when his auto-prompter failed.

Watch the speech here, (60 minutes in) , comment on Gabe's insight in our forums!

Downtime Compensation Coming
Posted by Rocky on Friday, March 12 2010

Ubisoft representative have stated that compensation is being planned for users affected by the Denial of Servcie attack that took Ubisoft's DRM authentication servers offline at the weekend. Exact details of the nature of the compensation that affected Assassins Creed 2 and Silent Hunter 5 gamers is expected later today.

RUSE Public Beta
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, March 9 2010

Ubisoft have released a public beta through Steam for their brand new Real Time Strategy game R.U.S.E.

Try it out and let us know what you think in our RTS forums, where you can read the full press release. And to round it off, here's a 100Mb HD video download, hot off the press!

Ubisoft DOS Attack
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, March 9 2010
Ubisoft have responded to yesterdays authentication server downtime citing Denial of Services attacks. Assassins Creed 2 and Silent Hunter 5 servers were both affected, although Ubisoft are stating only 5% of the player base was affected. Unfortunately reports are coming in of further attacks today. 

While some are questioning why Ubisoft seem to have been targeted while other publishers gaming servers remain unscathed, most in the gaming community have responded with derision focusing on Ubisoft's much criticised new DRM system.

Ubi Corrects DRM Hacked Rumours
Posted by Rocky on Thursday, March 4 2010
VG27 are reporting that Ubisoft have spoken out about claims that their new permanent connection DRM has been broken. Referring to Silent Hunter 5 a Ubi rep reports...

And so the saga continues! One has to wonder if Ubisoft will also feel motivated to make an announcement once there new DRM is fully cracked.

Ghost Recon.net Site Updates
Posted by Rocky on Wednesday, March 3 2010
As you've probably noticed by now, we are sporting a brand new front page! Taking advantage of a new wider format and improved coding we can now offer more news, more downloads information, full news archives and all wrapped in a faster more efficient loading webpage!

Coming up we've some even more exciting updates, not least brand new forums complete with new features and a new fresh look on the way.

It'd be great to hear your feedback in our forums!

New DRM Same Old Same Old
Posted by Rocky on Wednesday, February 17 2010
PC Gamer got their hands on Assassin's Creed 2 and are reporting that as far as anti-piracy measures go, Ubisoft's new "must be online" DRM is a case of new DRM same old story - the paying customer suffers.

PC Gamer simulated an interuption to their internet connection while in game and were immediately dropped from the game, losing all progress since the previous save point in the process. This confirms previous reports that in order to play Ubisoft's new games, a permanent internet connection must be available throughout the game session, even during single player games.

While Ubisoft may see this as the best answer to combat piracy, there is unanimous and universal condemnation of this anti-piracy measure that once again would seem to punish the paying customer.

If anyone supports these measures from Ubisoft, we'd love to hear your point of view in our forums, as so far it's all a one way debate! Join in here.

Ghost Recon Xbox Send Off
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, February 16 2010
You may have heard by now that Microsoft is shutting down Xbox Live for original Xbox games, and that of course includes Ghost Recon. It's a sentimental time for members of the original development team, so Christian Allen is setting up a special send off for Xbox Live Ghost Recon in April.

Full details of the send off, plus some important points to note if you do not want to miss out on DLC before the shut down are all on his blog. It's going to be a special few days so make sure you are ready to join!

Ubisoft Financial Report
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, February 9 2010
Hot on the heals of the Future Soldier announcement Ghost Recon publisher Ubisoft have released their 3rd quarter financial results.

The report confirms Ubisofts commitment to existing major titles (like Ghost Recon) in preference to new ventures. Ubisoft also promise a "platform of online servcies" for PC titles. 

Interested in the financial stats? Download the 5 page PDF here.

15mm Ghost Recon
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, February 9 2010
If you've never checked out the 15mm tabletop gaming scene now's a good chance as one fan has been playing out Ghost Recon missions table top style.

Dropship Horizon relive their favourite Ghost Recon missions in unique style, more details at their 15mm gaming website. Forum discussion here!

Big Announcement
Posted by Rocky on Friday, February 5 2010
Rumourville is rife with speculation that Ubisoft are about to make a big official announcement within the next 6 days.

Considering that Ghost Recon Future Soldier is now officially the game worlds worst kept secret, there's a good chance Ubisoft are about to reveal details of what will be one of their biggest titles this year, and one that Ghost Recon fans have waited a very long time for!

Or, perhaps it is something totally unrelated - a new Rainbow Six....?

Rainbow Six forums this way, Ghost Recon Future Soldier this way...

Ubi Reveals New DRM System
Posted by Rocky on Tuesday, January 26 2010
Recently Ubisoft intimated that they were working on their own DRM system to prevent copyright infringment on their games. Today the released details of the new DRM, there is none! There is a caveat though, you need to be connected to play your shiny new Ubisoft game.

Much like Relic with Company of Heroes, each time a Ubisoft game is started it will phone home using your internet connection to verify that it's legitimate. This will happen via existing Ubi or Uplay accounts.

There are pro's and cons to this method of verifying game sessions, so in our forums we have a Q/A from Ubisoft painting the positive side of the debate, and to kind of balance that out we have a slightly more cynical take from member krise madsen. Which is more accurate? You decide.

Happy New Year!
Posted by Rocky on Friday, January 1 2010
Happy New Year to all Ghost Recon fans, from the staff here at GhostRecon.net. 2010 is going to be a big year for Ghost Recon with the fourth installment of the series on the horizon, and some big changes here at GhostRecon.net.

We've a new site design in progress behind the scenes, an improved FAQ section with the very best in Ghost Recon instant support almost ready to open, a new download section with the largest archive of Ghost Recon mods anywhere, and a fresh look for the forums. It's still the same great team behind the scenes though, motivated to support Ghost Recon the best way we can!

Best wishes for 2010, long live Ghost Recon!