The internet is currently buzzing with all the talk over the latest trailer for the upcoming Tron: Legacy film (to be released Dec 2010). On the back of this film there is a new Tron game called Tron: Evolution. The game is set between the first Tron film and Tron: Legacy. You can check out the HD trailer for Tron: Legacy below.

One of the few available screenshots of the new Tron: Evolution game:

Tron: Evolution is due for release Nov/Dec 2010 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

By popular request, for those of you who want to collect every item, every feather, decipher every glyph in the excellent Assassin’s Creed II then these are the maps for you:

Achievementhunter.com has all the maps from the game showing the locations of all feathers, glyphs and statues. Also when you click on each of the hidden items locations you get a youtube video showing its exact location. Couldn’t be simpler. Happy hunting!

Assassin’s Creed II is out now on Xbox 360 and PS3.

If you have any other PS3 console than a PS3 Slim, DON’T TURN YOUR CONSOLE ON TODAY – 1st March 2010.

Sony has a problem. I’m not going near mine. There’s no way I’m screwing up my saved games. Nice one Sony. Check out what they had to say about it.

The full statement follows:

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:

* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
* When the user tries to sign-in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
* Users are not able to playback certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Update 2nd Mar 10: All fixed now! It was a problem with the PS3 incorrectly recognising 1st March 2010 as a leap year!!!

Earlier on this month I reviewed Ubisoft’s excellent Assassin’s Creed II on the Xbox 360. I won’t be reviewing the PC version of this game, as I will never buy it because of Ubisoft’s idiocy.

With the release of the PC version of Assassin’s Creed II Ubisoft launched their new “online platform.” This platform requires your copy of Assassin’s Creed II to constantly validate itself with Ubisoft’s central servers via the internet. Any break, however tiny, in this connection will result in you getting kicked out of your own game. Yep, kicked out until the game can revalidate itself. Ubisoft is saying that the benefits of this online platform outweigh the hassle of your game constantly validating itself. These benefits include:

• Unlimited installs
• Play the game without a disk
• Save data that is accessible from multiple computers

According to Ubisoft’s marketing director, Murray Pannell:

We are aware that some players will not be able to connect to the internet but with the proliferation of WiFi, the majority of people can connect most of the time, so these instances should be very limited.

Quote via MCV

Personally I think this anti-piracy plan is myopic. I have no problem with Ubisoft wanting to have PC owners buying their games rather than just pirating them as they deserve to profit from their hard work. However, I do have a problem with a game that it stops me playing it just because my wireless connection dropped. When I buy a game I expect to be able to play it whenever I want, which I can on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 versions of Assassin’s Creed II.

Going back to Mr Pannell’s quote, that the “majority of people can connect most of the time”. I’m sorry, most of the time isn’t good enough. This is not an acceptable level of service. The customer buys the product, in this case £26.99 PC version of Assassin’s Creed II, and then the customer has the right to play then game at any time.

There is something I just don’t understand about both games and film companies. Why do they persist in making the legitimate purchases of their products pay for the fact they haven’t pirated them? If you watch a downloaded film from the internet, you don’t have to sit though the awful anti-piracy ads which infect DVD and Blu-rays.

Someone (via @jackschofield on twitter) has summed up perfectly the difference between pirating a movie and watching a legitimate DVD:

Does anyone else think that this approach is counter productive and just plain stupid? Stop pissing off people who buy DVD’s and Blu-ray with all this anti-piracy crap and put more content on the discs (e.g. behind the scenes stuff) instead.

So don’t buy the PC version of Assassin’s Creed II, buy the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 versions instead, otherwise you’ll miss out playing a great game.

Update 7th March 2010: Well it didn’t take long for this crappy DRM solution to prevent people from playing their game. There’s currently a problem with the Ubisoft DRM servers meaning people can’t play Assassin’s Creed II. Just buy any version of Assassin’s Creed II apart from the PC one. Then Ubisoft might come up with a less idiotic DRM solution. The post from acetken nicely sums up the whole mess:

Wow. Bought it for my brother for his birthday and now he can’t play it. Thanks, Ubi! You’ve made this a great weekend.

To quote the front page of Joystiq:
“Find a less abominable DRM policy.”

We’re done until you do. (And improve your tech support while you’re at it. It’s the worst I’ve seen yet.)

SquareEnix has released details of the official UK launch of Final Fantasy XIII. This event is taking place almost 3 years after the Final Fantasy XII (PS2) launch at the same HMV on Oxford Street, London which Weefz covered in her post.

Fans attending the UK launch event on 9th March will be treated to a very rare opportunity to meet both Yoshinori Kitase, the producer of the game, and Isamu Kamikokuryo, the game’s art director, who will be available to sign games and answer questions. High-profile DJ and TV presenter Alex Zane will also be entertaining fans as the MC for the event.

The first 50 people to attend the signing dressed in Final Fantasy costumes will be given a free Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack and everyone who attends the launch will have the chance to win goodies.

You will be able to check out the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and limited collector’s edition of Final Fantasy XIII at the event.

Event Summary:

• Date: 9th March 2010
• Time: 5.30pm – 7:30pm
• Photocall: 6:05pm – 6:15pm
• Address: HMV, 150 Oxford Street, London, W1D 1DJ
• Entry: Free to everyone

Final Fantasy XIII is released on the 9th March 2010 on PS3 and Xbox 360.

I mentioned in my Assassin’s Creed II review that 2 bits of DLC were going to be published by Ubisoft. Well, Battle of Forli (the first DLC) turned up last month to a fairly muted reception. Too easy, too short and therefore too expensive. Here’s hoping that the Bonfire of the Vanities DLC fairs a bit better.

Ubisoft’s Christophe Grandjean has posted 2 pictures taken from the latest Bonfire of the Vanities DLC via his twitter account. Take a look:

Interestingly, the action forms part of memory 13 in which Ezio gains a new move – spring jump – which isn’t available in the rest of the game. I guessing Ubisoft have come up with some suitably clever way of making Ezio “forget”" this new move before the end of the memory sequence. Mmmm, decapitation, head trauma, excessive exposure to lolcats maybe?

Update 18th Feb 2010: This DLC is now available in 2 flavours. For 360 MS points you can get the new memory sequence missions. But for 560 MS points you get 3 secret Templar lairs to explore which were includes in the black edition of Assassin’s Creed.

Assassin’s Creed II – Bonfire of the Vanities DLC is out now on Xbox 360 and PS3.