Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood bonus mission free to European Uplay users [update]]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/20/assassins-creed-brotherhood-bonus-mission-free-to-uplay-users/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/20/assassins-creed-brotherhood-bonus-mission-free-to-uplay-users/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/20/assassins-creed-brotherhood-bonus-mission-free-to-uplay-users/#comments
Launched last year with Assassin's Creed 2, Ubisoft's Uplay has served as an in-game rewards system on top of Xbox Live's Achievements and PlayStation Network's Trophies, letting those who sign up for it unlock bonus items using accrued points across supported games. Recently, these same folks got an email offering them a free bonus mission in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood called "The Trajan Market." The mission was originally available as part of the game's "Codex Edition" and sends Ezio into a marketplace in the middle of Rome, where he fights Borgia guards and discovers a treasure hidden in a ruined tower.

As you can see in the screen grab above, the code was even sent out to Uplay members who don't own the game. If you're not yet a Uplay member, you can sign up on the official site. Also, you didn't tell us there'd be free stuff, Ubisoft! Oh wait, maybe you did.

Update: Ubisoft has clarified that this offer is for European Uplay members.

[Thanks, RobLink and Jason]

JoystiqAssassin's Creed: Brotherhood bonus mission free to European Uplay users [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Assassins-Creed-BrotherhoodAssassins-Creed-Multiplayermembershipmicrosoftplaystationps3the-trajan-marketubisoftuplayxboxMon, 20 Dec 2010 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Xbox Live Silver to be called 'Xbox Live Free Membership']]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/20/xbox-live-silver-to-be-called-xbox-live-free-membership/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/20/xbox-live-silver-to-be-called-xbox-live-free-membership/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/20/xbox-live-silver-to-be-called-xbox-live-free-membership/#commentsMicrosoft is renaming its (free) Xbox Live Silver service to "Xbox Live Free Membership," according to a tweet from European community manager Graeme Boyd. This comes alongside the refreshed Xbox.com and, of course, the Xbox Live Gold price hike, as part of an apparent pre-Kinect relaunch of the Xbox's online presence.

The new name no longer emphasizes Silver's status as subordinate to Gold, but rather highlights the advantage of that level of membership -- the fact that it's free. In a followup tweet, Boyd clarified that the feature set for Silver won't change and neither will the name for the paid membership. If you're Gold now, you'll stay gold.

JoystiqXbox Live Silver to be called 'Xbox Live Free Membership' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>graeme-boydmembershipmicrosoftxboxxbox-liveXbox-Live-Free-Membershipxbox-live-silverWed, 20 Oct 2010 17:20:00 EST<![CDATA[Free Realms offering lifetime memberships for $30]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/27/free-realms-offering-lifetime-memberships-for-30/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/27/free-realms-offering-lifetime-memberships-for-30/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/27/free-realms-offering-lifetime-memberships-for-30/#comments Listen here, you Free Realms freeloader, you. If you've been thinking about throwing some money at Sony Online Entertainment's MMO to get the full experience the game has to offer, you can now get a lifetime membership to the game for a one-time lump sum of $30.

Continue reading Free Realms offering lifetime memberships for $30

JoystiqFree Realms offering lifetime memberships for $30 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>free-realmsmembershipmmommorpgpcSony-Online-EntertainmentsubscriptionTue, 27 Jul 2010 07:00:00 EST<![CDATA[ECA members cry foul over auto-renewal cancellation hassles [update: Halpin responds]]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/02/eca-members-cry-foul-over-auto-renewal-cancellation-hassles/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/02/eca-members-cry-foul-over-auto-renewal-cancellation-hassles/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/02/eca-members-cry-foul-over-auto-renewal-cancellation-hassles/#comments In an attempt to bolster its ranks with thrifty members of the gaming community, the Entertainment Consumers Association recently partnered with a few online retailers to offer its members some nice deals on video games, including a pretty sweet discount on purchases from Amazon. To accompany these offers, the ECA had its own spectacular deal: One free year of membership, which would normally cost $19.99. All applicants had to do was provide their credit card information, sign up and enjoy the discounts that were being passed along to ECA members.

Sadly, this is where the idyllic tale begins to go south. Shortly after the ECA began offering the free year of membership, the Amazon offer mysteriously disappeared. This drew the ire of the group's new members, but would be quickly forgotten when the option to cancel the auto-renewal of the membership fee, through the ECA's website, also vanished without a trace. An ECA forum moderator explained the option only appeared "for some browsers, but it wasn't intended to be there, wasn't a working option and was removed as soon as we became aware."

Now, users who were drawn in by these discounts can only cancel their memberships (and subsequent annual $20 fees) by sending a letter directly to the ECA's accounting department (the address is posted after the jump). What's worse, those who canceled their auto-renewal plans with the temporarily available online option could still be locked into the annual fee, if the moderator's claim that it "wasn't a working option" is accurate. We've contacted the ECA to find out if anything is being done to inform these honorable, due-paying members that they're still, you know, due-paying members.

Update: ECA president Hal Halpin issued a statement in response to the complaints, the full transcript for which can be found after the jump. He explains that the Amazon deal was taken down due to an exploit the ECA's new members found within the offer. He adds that simultaneously, the ECA updated its site as part of a "long planned for Content Management System upgrade," at which point they found a non-functioning feature which "looked to give some members the option to opt-out of the association." The option, which Halpin claims was never functional, was quickly removed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Continue reading ECA members cry foul over auto-renewal cancellation hassles [update: Halpin responds]

JoystiqECA members cry foul over auto-renewal cancellation hassles [update: Halpin responds] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>amazoncancellationcontroversyduesecaentertainment-consumers-associationfeesmembershipWed, 02 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The more you know: How to turn off automatic Xbox Live renewal]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/30/the-more-you-know-how-to-turn-off-automatic-xbox-live-renewal/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/30/the-more-you-know-how-to-turn-off-automatic-xbox-live-renewal/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/30/the-more-you-know-how-to-turn-off-automatic-xbox-live-renewal/#comments
By default, Xbox Live is set to automatically renew Gold subscriptions when a user's current membership expires, but not everyone is down with a surprise credit card charge -- especially if they're rocking a parent's plastic. Thankfully, Xbox Live's Major Nelson has posted a quick guide to help users disable the automatic renewal process. The steps are simple:
  • Sign in to Xbox.com and go to the My Account section.
  • Click the Membership level link on the left.
  • You'll see a page that has your Membership level, and the end date. Under that, you'll see your "Automatic Renewal" status (as shown above).
  • If it reads ON, users can click the ON link and be brought to a page to turn the feature OFF.
  • If you'd like to change the setting to ON or OFF -- Click the link, make your selection, then click next.
  • You'll be returned to your Membership level page, where you can confirm your selection
That's it. Easy as warm apple pie -- now excuse us, we just got hungry.

[Thanks, Juan]

JoystiqThe more you know: How to turn off automatic Xbox Live renewal originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>auto-renewalmembershiprenewalxbox-dashboardxbox-livexbox-live-goldThu, 30 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Rift widens between Silver and Gold XBLA memberships]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/30/rift-widens-between-silver-and-gold-xbla-memberships/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/30/rift-widens-between-silver-and-gold-xbla-memberships/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/30/rift-widens-between-silver-and-gold-xbla-memberships/#commentsFiled under: ,

Xbox Live's Major Nelson announced on Wednesday that the newest Gears of War trailer was available online ... to Gold subscribers only. This marks the first time that exclusive XBL content has been delayed (not denied) for the free Silver members, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. Nelson commented on his blog entry after mixed reaction from readers, "So here is the deal ... Silver members WILL get access to this ... probably in about a week. This is going to happen more and more (Gold getting things before Silver) so you may want to think about upgrading if you want all the latest and greatest trailers, demos etc."

It's not really a big deal at this point, because the trailer was available online within seconds of appearing on the XBLM. The real problem starts when Gold members start getting demos and downloadable game content before Silver members do; perhaps, eventually, the Silver members won't get them at all. Microsoft will find themselves treading a fine line between how much a Silver member will put up with not having, and how much a Gold member needs to feel justified in paying the cost for their features. It's important to note that this trailer is most likely a trial run by Microsoft (through Major Nelson) to see how things go, since it's not even true "exclusive" content. Nelson (can we just call him Larry, already?) admits that this is the same commercial played last week at X06 Canada. So where's the real super exclusive platinum fanboy stuff, eh?

The point is that Microsoft is finally treating the Gold level like what it is supposed to be, a step above the Silver membership. Silver members don't pay for anything; it's a free service meant to provide an "introduction" to XBL. Gold members pay for additional features and, with it, they expect some perks to be delivered. While it's limited to trailers right now, expect to see it expand to demos, downloadable content, and anything else Microsoft can think about leveraging for more subscribers to make the jump up to the next tier while their model for microtransactions seems to be falling apart with the inmates running the asylum.

And just because we love you, check out that Gears trailer after the jump in SD, or click here for the HD version.

[Thanks, E.J.]

Continue reading Rift widens between Silver and Gold XBLA memberships

JoystiqRift widens between Silver and Gold XBLA memberships originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Gears of WarGoldGoWMajor NelsonMajorNelsonMarketplacemembershipmicrotransactionsSilvertrailervideoXBLAXBLMXbox LiveXbox Live MarketplaceXbox-360Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:00:00 EST