Rumor: Driver San Francisco to use 'Uplay Passport' for online play

@Helghast102 Hey developers need their money, so honestly I don't blame them. Those getting upset should be mad at stores like Gamestop and have them discount the game $10 to offset the price, but they won't and attack the developers while still paying for things like Live and $15 map packs.

@Helghast102
Nothing amuses me more than completely unimportant consumers (from Ubisoft's point of view) white knighting shady business practices.

They have you by the palm of their hand, and you're enjoying your stay there.

@The angry pro consumer gaming ga
I don't pay for live or buy map packs, can I be mad?

@Helghast102 Uplay is very poorly implemented though. The worst of the major companies online portals imho.

@Peffse Sure at gamestop for selling used games typically only $5 cheaper. Then again if $5 is that big of a deal then maybe you shouldn't be gaming and saving money instead.

@Peffse I don't buy map pack or pay for Live either, yet I could give a flying F*** with these passes since I buy all my games new during B2G1sales, future game credit, or just waiting for price drops.

@The angry pro consumer gaming ga

Well hello Mr. Fancy Pants. It's not our job to buy games to support devs. It's their job to provide an experience that we want to keep playing. If they can't do that and people trade or sell it on the second hand market in droves then it's their own damn fault. They're trying to squeeze every last dollar out of their potential customers and it only hurting the online experience. So just like Hot Pursuit & other online pass fiascos, I bet Driver will be a well reviewed online experience that fizzles in a matter of weeks because the second hand market isn't getting in on the action.

If they do this with Assassin's Creed it's going to be a very sad day. They can't afford to lose anyone getting in on the online play if they want that game to have any legs or be as well received as Brotherhood.

F online pass BS. I'll buy those games used out of spite.

@Altairio This isn't meant just for you but it may open your eyes a bit on how they make their money http://www.gametrailers.com/player/64279.html

I don't like that they chose to go this route but at the same time I can't complain knowing that when I buy a game Used, for $50 (Compared to their $60) none and I mean NONE of that $50 goes to the Developer or Publisher, it 100% goes to Gamestop.

@Altairio

"It's not our job to buy games to support devs" You are right. But just like that, you are not forced to buy their products. If you don't like that this or that game uses an online pass then don't buy it. What's the problem?

"It's their job to provide an experience that we want to keep playing. " And that job costs money to produce and TO KEEP RUNNING (the online component). When you buy a game used the publisher/developer gets nothing.

"They're trying to squeeze every last dollar out of their potential customers and it only hurting the online experience." Nope. These online passes are a ONE TIME THING (if you buy the game used) and not a monthly fee (like Xbox live of PS+). So, if you buy the game used and you buy the pass for $10, that's it. That's all you pay. Since you buy the game used then you are already paying below the market value of the game. So, at worst the cost of the used game plus the pass will be the same as a new copy. At best you are still paying less than a new copy but contributing to the maintenance of the online component that you seem to be so interested in.

And how is having an online pass "hurting" the online experience? What do you think they do with the money from the pass?

"I'll buy those games used out of spite." Yeah... that will show them: buy a used game for which they'll get no money for (meaning the total number of units sold won't change), only to be unable to use their online component that you don't want to pay a pass for.

If this gets applied to Assassin's Creed, I'm going to be pissed. Buying used it's the only way I've been able to afford getting the Assassin's games now that they annualize it :P

@The Cole Train

You're going to be pissed, and then:

1) you're not going to play it at all?
2) you're going to buy it used and not play the multiplayer?
3) you're going to buy it new?
4) you're going to buy it used and then buy the add on thingy online?

@The Cole Train
How much do you save buying them used? Gamestop barely shave 10% off the retail price.

As for me, I'd rather buy one less used game every year so I buy the rest new and support the developers I like.

@The Cole Train

Buying used WHEN?

For about 3 months after the release date you will probly only find it for 10-15% off the launch price.

If that's all you are complaining about you could easily find that price NEW during a sale or promotional offer from a retailer.

By the way. I bought Assassin's Creed Brotherhood new for $35 (41.67% off) about 2 weeks after it came out.

@The Cole Train

Like Lerkero said, wait 3 months and get it new at a discount (and there might be other promotions in between as well).

After all, if you buy it used a week after release the price of the used copy + the online pass = a new game. Why not get a brand new disc rather than a used one then if you are in a hurry to get the game?

Or get it from a retailer like Amazon or Buy.com which usually, if you order pre- release and up to the launch week, have new games down by $6 dollars which is the same discount you might find at Gamestop for the same game used one or two weeks after the launch.

@The Cole Train

What pisses me off more than anything about U-Play is that for X-Box users, Microsoft hosts the servers, not Ubisoft. So what exactly are they providing?

@Bad Bieber 4 Life

Yeah, this is probly not the game to debut this with

@Bad Bieber 4 Life lol, exactly what I thought. Who's buying this garbage anyways?

@Gunballs I can say "I am" I have played the Driver series since it made its debut in 1999, and even thought Driv3r wasn't a the best game ever, it was still enjoyable and its nice to see them going back to the original gameplay style for San Fransisco (4).

@(Unverified) I've also played this series since the beginning. I don't plan on playing this game because "the original playstyle" did not include spirit-jumping from car to car like some kind of wraith.

@kylecis
LOL. I take it you haven't been buying games very long, eh? The price of games has largely remained flat going back to the Atari 2600 days. Which, if you account for inflation, means you were paying $50-150 for games back then in today's dollars. Meanwhile, the budgets for games have expanded into the millions, with teams of 100 or more people working for years. If you feel you are getting ripped off, considering you can trade in your game for almost full price if you play it quickly, you are monumentally spoiled.

I don't mind this system because billions are being funneled to stores like Gamestop that are nothing but middlemen. If people want to trade in the same digital media over and over (which plays exactly the same as new), artificially lengthening the amount of time that game requires support for online play, then the second-hand buyers need to chip in. A $60 purchase price does not factor in indefinite online play, not in any realistic sense. Most people play a game for a few days, weeks, or months and move on. That's the reality. Second-hand sales muck that up.

@kylecis

But do you know you are not paying $60 + the online pass, right? If you buy the game new all you pay is $60 and you can access the online component. You only pay the pass if you buy the game used, in which case you are contributing to maintaining the online component (which ain't free to keep running behind the scenes, ya know).

And if the used price + $10 for the online pass is the same as buying the game new, why don't you just buy a new one? You don't like that new disc smell?

And Zippo, spot on my friend. That was an excellent explanation.

@Zippon I was thinking the same. I remember scrimping and saving and putting together a little money at a time when I was a kid to buy Street Fighter 2 for SNES. If I remember correctly, it was $49.

@Zippon

I know some games have been high-priced for years, but this underscores the fact that they are priced way too high. Back in the days of SNES and Atari the manufacturing costs of putting games on a cart was much higher than the optical media of today. Costs should go down over time. How much was a computer back in 1985? How much is it today? How much was a black CD-R in 1995? How much is it today? I know more money is spent on development these days (the good games) but they more than make up for that in large sales figures. The market is much larger now.

If games were priced around $30-$35, I think sales would be over double what they are at $60. I know people are going to buy Halo and MW no matter what the price. If it were priced lower they would attract new buyers. I haven't bought a game since Halo Reach, but if LA Noire were cheaper I might have bought that. I probably never will now. There are also many games that I simply don't play because I don't think they are worth that much. However, I would be able to justify $30.

I think this would also discourage people from trading games and buying used games. For instance, I would be much more likely to keep my games if I knew the trade-in value was only $10-$15. Also, why would I buy a used game at $20-$25 when I could have a fresh new copy at $30. I would also be more likely to purchase DLC when it comes out.

Don't think I am for Gamestop. I hate that place. I refuse to shop there mostly because rip people off. I also won't give them a dime because they sell opened demo games as new, yet have a strict policy on non-returns for an opened game.

@nerdydesi1 Then it's "too bad." I learned this the hard way renting Dirt 3 from Gamefly. Some games are willing to give renters a few free days online. I think that generosity is becoming a thing of the past.

@CaptainProtonX

I highly doubt that, things like this will only catch on if people let it, same as DLC, same as $59.99 games, same as XboxLive etc.. I've said this before, but that's because it's a fact.

And I actually find it useful when people post their PC specs in "PC related" forums. I don't think I've ever gone around sites like this, looked in the comments, and saw a comment that was just someone showing off their PC spec for no reason.

@adr916 You know, that actually isn't a bad idea you have there.

@adr916 I agree with this a lot. It makes tons of sense, and would be good for older games to keep life in them.