Merry Christmas people. I sure had a....wild....night waiting for christmas day. My head hurts, I parked my car in the front lawn...though I'm not sure if it was me driving....and why it was parked there...needless to say a decorative lights deer is not having a good morning either

Can't wait to see what other surprises are in stored the rest of the morning!

Anyway, hope you all have a merry Christmas!

G

Those of us who own a console probably have one or two friends who just need to get every achievement/trophies in a game. Now, we question them, call them crazy, but why do they do it? Some do it for bragging rights, others because they have nothing better to do or simply because they like the game enough to achieve perfection. In the end, all those points count for nothing, but what would happen if they could get something in return for their achievement/trophy hunting? During my recent purchase of Assassins Creed 2 for the Xbox 360, I noticed a little button prompt on the main menu that was labeled as 'UPLAY'.

Now, since curiosity killed the cat, and I'm not a cat, I decided to play the game instead. After 18+ hours of messing with the good people of Italy, I decided to give into the curiosity. However, since I been living under a rock the past few weeks, I had no idea what I was getting into. To my surprise, I had stumbled into the beta stage of a system of in-game rewards. I had no idea how it worked, but there had to be a catch. There's always a catch right? Well after finding out a little more of information, this looked like a reward system in exchange for completing various achievement/trophies. Each reward is tied to an achievement/trophy. All I had to do was complete the achievement/trophy in order to get 'units' which can then be used to unlock the reward. Up to this point, I still was convinced that there had to be a catch somewhere. So I decided to register.

During the easy registration process, I was never asked billing information. I was only asked to make an account by providing an e-mail address and making a password. All of this was done through the console. Once my registration was completed, I was taken into a UI (User Interface) were I could see my account information, as well as see which rewards I could unlock using the 'units' earned. (Note that just for registering, you get 10 units)



This is a shot of the "Win" tab were you see how many 'units' you have, which rewards you have unlocked and which achievements/trophies (labeled as 'Actions') you need to complete in order to receive 'units'.

After the registration process, and a little bit of exploration of this new system, I decided to put this system to the test and try out on Assassins Creed 2. So far, each achievement gave me enough 'units' to unlock all the rewards. Rewards for Assassins Creed 2 included extra throwing knifes, an Exclusive map (aka a new Dungeon to explore), a dashboard theme, and Altair's outfit to use while in game. Everything unlocked and worked perfectly in game (except the dashboard theme which does not work in game)

Finally a system which gives achievement/trophy obsessed players a purpose for their...unique capabilities. However, even I like this new system which in simple terms can be described as a "thank you for playing, here are some rewards" type of system. This is a good move by Ubisoft to try an encourage gamers to buy their games and gives us more reasons to get those achievements/trophies. So far, Assassins Creed 2 is the only game with this system, however, Ubisoft has confirmed that R.U.S.E and Splinter Cell Conviction will have it. Also do take note that this system is on a beta stage, and problems are bound to happen, like your save corrupting. Thankfully, I wanted to do a second run of Assassins Creed 2 anyway.

However, a question rises as to why content already in the game disc is not accessible from the start? I ask this because the in-game rewards were already in the game disc, you just couldn't see them until unlocking. My point, whats stopping producers from making us pay to access content already in the disc? I'm not a fan of non accessible content, but lets hope this new system brings a twist to our video gaming and remains free of charge. It still remains to see whether other big companies like Activision or EA adopt their own version of UPLAY.

If you want to find out more, please see UPLAY's website

G

SO I been dead the last couple of days.....well lets just blame Assassins Creed 2 for that

Anyway, looks like I leveled up. Alright...I guess...

Btw, any of you heard about this new UPLAY thing from Ubisoft? I tried it on AC2 and I have to say, I'm impressed. Finally, get rewarded for achievements by unlocking content already in the game. Crazy.

G

Disillusion: 1. The act of disenchanting. 2. The condition or fact of being disenchanted.

Looks like I'm back on the market -_-

On the positive side, more time for video game and assassins creed 2 comes out on Tuesday.

G

Hi folks:

is yet another one of those random....err.....special Words of Wisdom edition of my blog:

Gallego Says: Don't live with regrets....but if you can't forget them, use beer. (please drink responsibly)

G

Recently, it was brought to my attention that I make short blog...posts. So, since I like to please my....fans....here's a long blog....post about 5 random facts you need to know about me. You need to know them because you never know when any of these facts will appear in a game show were your life is at stake

1. Cubans are known for being good at baseball. Well I'm not good...at all! Infact, I suck!
2. I hate smoking, but I do occasionally have a few victory cigars stored for those moments were smoking a Cuban cigar is necessary ^_^
3. I love rhythm games. Challenge me if you dare ^_^
4. I have the world in my hands! Literally! I have a paper holder that is a globe of the world. So this means that all your bases are belong to me!
5. I love football. No, not American Football, real football.

I'm not taging no one cause this is not one of those "I got tagged now I got no choice but to do this even though no one is forcing me" blogs

alright...maybe not that long of a blog

G

Welcome to 20 years ago Infinity Ward

So I suppose I'm gonna need a TV to play MW2 on my computer now?

G

It was all for freeeeeeee!!! Co..co...co...connections!!!

Now I finally have a USB microphone. My vocals power goes up 200% now

G

Oldest PM message on my inbox

Nov 2, 2005 7:37 pm PT



G

I'm not one to like internet fads, but this one is kinda fun. I finally decided to listen to the song and I like it!

But the fad still sucks, needs to be killed, with a stick of some sort.

G

*points at previous blog*

Viet_Phoenix wins the cookies! (SHe also accepts requests!) But I also want to thank those of you who tried to help me

Here's the new sig



I'm extremely impressed! This signature captures the madness that is Alucard, and it makes me happy to see it

Oh what the heck! Cookies for all!!!!



G

Well I need a sig Yes, it is a matter of life and/or death!

I accidentally erased and lost 90% of my old images Whoever can make me a Hellsing sig that matches my avatar will get a cookie! A cookie! I also accept funny sigs Funny sigs grants you 2 cookies! Two!

G

Welcome to a year ago

How bout them apples?



But seriously, don't tag me, I bite

G

Well I'm sorry, we are not perfect, but at least we try to better ourselves. If you think you can do a better job, then go for it

btw this is a rant.

G

1st. Cod MW2. Why? No dedicated servers, no thanks. I don't want to feel like I'm paying 60 bucks for a PC game, only to get the console version instead.

that is all

G

Woo! I have had this game for PC since 2007, and only recently did I decide to try veteran mode. Crazy! But for the sake of redemption...and achievements >_> it had to be done! I just can't believe I passed Mile High Club in half and hour. But looking back, that level was easy compared to No Fighting in the War room. -_-

Now, if I could only trigger that bloody door to open so I can get the last intel ~_~

G

Today was one of those days that you knew everything was going to be a complete disappointment -_-

I'm not watching sports anymore for at least a year.

G

I want, but why the PC delay?

G

Friends only, period. Enjoy the exclusive club

G

Once in a while, Mexican food doesn't hurt

G