My copy of Splinter Cell: Blacklist came with an invalid CD Key

Last Saturday was gloomy. It wasn't raining as hard but I still had that feeling to bunker down for the weekend with a brand new title to tackle. But thanks to my cd key being invalid, I was unable to play my copy of Splinter Cell: Blacklist for 4 days.

I headed to the mall, decided on the PC version of Splinter Cell blacklist and rushed home. After installation, I opened my bag of chips, got myself comfortable and as soon as i typed in the cd key included in the case - invalid cd key. I tried again, 10 more times and nothing. It felt like the dreaded error 37 from Diablo 3 was haunting me again, preventing me from playing a game I've been waiting for a long time. I couldn't register my copy! I've double checked my cd key input, did it slowly, heck even asked a friend to try it for me. Nothing.

It was disappointing, my plans to go all out on the weekend was somewhat ruined. this was my first experience of having a problem with a game 's cd key. why do we still have these kinds of problems?

I then called Datablitz for answers, and what I found out got me troubled. As I was explaining my issue, the clerk stopped me mid sentence and asked me if I got any text message from them? I told them no since I haven't given them my cell number. She thought I was the previous caller a few hours ago complaining about the same problem. Two other people apparently was given invalid cd keys for the pc version of splinter cell blacklist.

Why is this troubling? Because they had copies in their shelves with invalid keys, ready for anybody to pick up. No matter what, it's still an inconvenience. since it's a weekend, the Datablitz clerk said a fix can only be done on Monday (it was Saturday when I called). Nothing could be done. I sucked it up and just stayed patient, assassins creed 3 needs finishing anyway.

as days went by, Datablitz was kind enough though to give me updates in the matter, but with not much detail. Everytime I headed to my pc, my copy of splinter cell blacklist was just there, I just had to find a way to get it working. What can I say, im stubborn that way.

So off I go to the Ubisoft forums to find people with similar issues. It took awhile but I eventually found a thread about it, and the people posting on the thread was interesting.

It was mostly pinoys complaining about the same thing. It's obvious at this point that more than three people who were affected. I wasn't  able to find a fix from this two page thread , but A Ubisoft rep did reply at least, but with the most basic and safe answer:

But don't get me wrong,  only a handful is affected by this. A friend of mine confirmed that his cd key worked and he bought the game the same day I did, but from a different Datablitz branch. The best guess I have to why this happened is there was a bunch of keys not yet activated.

four days later, Datablitz asked me to try my key again and thankfully it registered. I replied asking why was the problem, but of course no response after I've confirmed that my key was good.

What I don't get is why doesn't Datablitz bother to verify their products? Why is there an everyday customer support? Your telling me that when I buy a game on the weekends and I have an issue, my concern will only be processed on Monday? That doesn't seem right. I have this gut feeling that there's a miscommunication with Ubisoft and the suppliers. Hopefully everybody affected was also able to resolve the same issue. For those that haven't? Call them. Annoy the hell out of them. Believe me, it will get things moving faster.

Datablitz has always been my number one choice for picking up video games, but when it comes to pc games? I might have to pass for now.

Throwback Thursday - Battle Stadium D.O.N

Another one of these Throwback Thursday things. It isn't really an old game but this came out in 2006 and it's been quite a ways since then so I'd say it counts.

Battle Stadium D.O.N is a 2D action brawler in similar vein as the Super Smash Bros. series but with Shonen Jump characters from Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, and Naruto. You fight for control of the bar on top of the screen by collecting orgs that opponents drop when they get attacked. Earning enough orbs puts you go into a Burst state which grants you insane attack power, enough to knockout opponents in one hit depending on the attack.

Me and Jiks go into a first to five in a 4-player free for all and in a 1v1 scenario. I used to own this game on the GameCube when it first came out but for this video we are running the PS2 version.

NieR with Migoy

I borrowed Arlie's copy of NieR a few months ago and only really got to play it just recently. I've heard a lot of good things about this game but never really got down to buying it because of the mixed reviews it got early on and I wasn't really in the mood to play any RPGs at the time but when I tried this game out, I was surprised at how good the initial impression I got just from how it controls and how the combat feels.

I won't bore you guys with words, you can instead check out my playthrough of NieR on our new Let's Play channel over on youtube. I call it "NieR with Migoy". I'd come with a better title but that doesn't matter, the game is awesome. You can check out the NieR playlist here or you can watch all the parts that are currently live as the writing of this post down below. To catch any new episodes, subscribe to TooMuchGamingLP on youtube.

Drakensang Online - Free to Play Browser MMORPG

When I was in-line at Otaku Expo for the entrance ticket, a guy was giving out flyers for this supposed new game (I guess it's new here) called Drakensang, which I first read as "Dragon's Crown". They had a few PCs setup for people to try the game out and for the most part I saw that the PCs were always occupied. Drakensang Online is a free to play browser based MMORPG on friendster that plays like a lot of MMORPGs back in the early 2000's. It's an isometric view RPG with a medival fantasy setting where you run around and kill monsters. I can't really complain about the game since it's free to play and it runs on java so no need to install the game though if your internet is a subpar, it might take a while before things load. Played a good solid hour of it which you can check out in the video below.

Will I be playing more of this though? Probably not.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 - A Taste of Vanilla

So as you know, I just bought a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 because someone was selling their steelbook edition. This clearly was an impulse buy because I had no idea that a steelbook for MvC3 even existed.

When I bought my Ziggy (my PS3), the first game I got was Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and even though I haven't played the game in over a year, it's still one of my favorite games of this generation. Vanilla marvel is so different compared to ultimate. Anyone who's played it before ultimate came out would know what I'm talking about. Characters feel different from each other, certain combos don't work, certain combos that don't work in ultimate DO work in vanilla, we still tend to mash buttons when doing supers even though you don't need to and the lack of air X-Factor can be such a big factor in a clutch situation.

Anyway, scrubbyness and differences aside, I ended up liking vanilla mvc3 way more than I thought I would after recording this.