Steam Family Sharing announced by Valve

Digital media in video games is moving forward with Valve announcing a new feature to Steam - The ability to share your video game library to close friends and family. They are calling it a game changer, and they could be right. 

This feature allows you to share your whole Steam library with up to 10 Steam members. The owner of the library can set who can access their library, or other Steam members can request access. Once a member's computer gets access to a library, they can download any game and have their own set of achievements and game progress saved in the Steam cloud. Shared library are only available one at a time so if the owner wants to play a game, the one using it will be given the option to exit the game, or buy their own copy to continue playing.

“Our customers have expressed a desire to share their digital games among friends and family members, just as current retail games, books, DVDs, and other physical media can be shared,” explained Anna Sweet of Valve. “Family Sharing was created in direct response to these user requests.”

Not all games though will be able to use this feature. Games with monthly subscriptions and that require a third-party key can't be shared. You will also have access to the shared library's DLC, but you can't purchase any DLC without buying the base game.

The feature will hit limited beta soon and if you want to try it out, join the Steam Family group on Steam. An FAQ is up if you have any more questions regarding the feature.

This is a very ambitious move coming from Valve and if they pull this off and ease the idea smoothly to their community, this could change how we think about digital copies as a whole.

Capcom's PS4 exclusive Deep Down is actually set in 2094 New York

This year's Tokyo Game Show is happening right now in Japan and during Sony's Press Conference, Capcom released new information and footage of their new exclusive title for the PS4 called Deep Down. It was first revealed together with the PS4 back in February and first impressions of the game was a gorgeous looking action RPG fantasy game that could be inspired by either Dragon's Dogma, or even Dark Souls. Well, the new gameplay features does confirm that it was indeed inspired by at least one of the games I mentioned, but the settings is not what I was expecting: 2094 New York?

It was quite a surprise and for some reason a complete turn off when the concept of the settings greatly resembles what the Assassin's Creed series did with the whole Animus project. For Deep Down, it's set in the future, with the ability to revisit the past from various items.  How I wish we'd just keep things simple and go with the fantasy setting.

Deep Down Ono presentation

Personal grips about the setting aside, the game does look amazing. The particle effects from fire and water really shows how strong these next-gen console can be if utilized properly. In this case, Capcom seems to be doing it right with their new Panta Rhei game engine. More footage was shown which focused on the game's combat. Not much detail was mention with the game's RPG elements and such, but they did confirm this being an online multiplayer game that allows you to play up to four players. They also mentioned randomly generated content - Procedurally generated dungeons, and monsters(even their appearance). 

Deep Down trailer

It might be just me, but with how the gameplay and setting is so far, this really feels like an offspring of Dark Souls and Assassin's Creed. I was excited when they revealed Deep Down for the first time. Now, I'll put my guard up on this one.

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection

I just got a copy of the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection and it looks absolutely amazing. I played this on PS2 back in like mid 2011 if not a little earlier and got as far as the 13th colossus but didn't get to finish it due to work. I planned to finish the game eventually but shortly after I heard about the HD rerelease of both games so I thought I'd put my colossi slaying on hold until I got my hands on it.

Originally I was going to get a copy of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate but a friend of mine reminded me about Shadow of the Colossus a few days ago and it made it ask one of the store clerks at Datablitz about it. Priced at 995php (950php cash), how could I resist?

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.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Core Fighters Free to Play on PSN

You read that right. Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Core Fighters is free to play on PSN. Core Fighters is essentially the full Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate but without story mode and with only 4 playable characters.

This was actually announced before Tekken Revolution but was just released on September 3rd for North America and September 5th for Japan. I have never played any DoA game before but was always curious as how to how the game played. Pretty big breasted anime girls aside, the counter system always intrigued me and the combat looked solid. For a time, I was considering getting a copy of Dead or Alive 5 not too long ago until they announced Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate which is Team Ninja's version of pulling a Capcom ala Super Street Fighter IV. Unfortunately with this being the start of new releases left and right, I have no budget for DoA5U so this free to play version was right up my alley.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Core Fighters lets you play all the modes of DoA5U with the exception of Story Mode, which you have to purchase separately. The free to play game includes four characters, namely Kasumi, Hayabusa, Ayane and Hayate. For a limited time, Jann Lee and Hitomi are also playable. Each character will got for $4.99 while Story Mode will be $14.99. You can unlock all the characters for $34.99 but story mode is not included with that price.

With what I've played of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Core Fighters, I actually want to get the full game now though I think buying an R3 copy of DoA5U will be cheaper than purchasing the character unlock pack. With Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Core Fighters, Tekken Revolution and the upcoming Killer Instinct, will these games spark a new trend of free to play fighting games?