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Closed beta registration for German version of Stone Age 2 begins
Joining the English Stone Age 2 closed beta that we saw earlier in the month, a German version of the prehistoric free-to-play MMOG now also has a registration page for a closed beta. The registration can be completed at a newly launched German website for the game -- which is being handled by company Frogster Interactive in this territory, as opposed to Aeria Games -- where you can also find a community forum and a desktop wallpaper. At this stage it doesn't look as though there will be any significant differences between the German and English versions of SA2 -- well, apart from that really obvious one (duh) and the fact that they seem to prefer to leave out the spaces in the German title, making it StoneAge2.
SOE Fan Faire 2008 registration now open
Last month we announced that this year's SOE Fan Faire will be returning to Las Vegas, NV in August, but now we're excited to announce that registration is open! Day passes start at $39 USD, but they give you plenty of motivation for upgrading to the All-Access pass for $89 USD. With this pass, you will: Receive an invitation to participate in the upcoming Free Realms Beta test! Receive an invitation to participate in the upcoming EverQuest II Expansion Beta test! Attend the 2nd Annual Community Address from SOE President John Smedley. Attend lots of social activities, including a Kickoff Reception, a Grand Banquet, a Costume Contest and an offsite VIP Party with lots of fun, games and live entertainment! Encourage Guild mates to pre-register online! Guilds who pre-register groups of 10 or more attendees for the All-Access pass online will receive 50% off the All-Access admission fee. (Offer does not apply to walk-in or day-pass registrants.) Play live demos of SOE's upcoming titles. Receive gifts and in-game items.
AoC account registration begins for pre-order customers
Funcom has opened up Age of Conan account registration for customers who pre-ordered the game. This includes the Early Access service. For a $5 or €5 fee, all those who pre-ordered the game may gain access to the servers on May 17th, three days ahead of the North American launch and six days ahead of the European launch.Previously, Europeans who paid for Early Access could jump into the game on the 20th, but Funcom has announced that those folks may now begin play at the same time as Americans, so the 17th is the day for everyone now! Hopefully some of the performance issues will be resolved by then. It looks like they might be.[Via Ten Ton Hammer]
Russia wants all WiFi devices to be registered
Sure, we've seen the occasional loony look down upon open WiFi access, but Russia is apparently out to really slow down wireless adoption with its latest directive. Reportedly, the Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service (or Rossvyazokhrankultura for short -- no seriously, we swear) is looking to have every user of a WiFi-enabled device obtain permission and register said device before hopping on the world wide web. Even worse, it seems as if every single wireless transmitter and device must be registered, meaning that technophiles will be filling out heaps of paperwork in order to get their handset, laptop, DS Lite, PC and hacked-up Foleo online (legally) via their home-based access point. We're hearing that registering a single PDA or phone would take around ten days, while signing up a new home network would be even more painstaking. We'll spare you the snide In Soviet Russia... remarks, but feel free to concoct your own below.[Via Wi-Fi Net News]
Recent 360 and Live buyers get two free XBLA games
Microsoft offers two free Xbox Live Arcade games if you bought a 360 and Live account over the past year. Fill out a short registration form and enter code "XBX0807" to qualify. However, the site is cagey about which games you'll get. The terms and conditions state that you'll receive an email code by September 30 to download the titles, but the offer "will be for games selected by Microsoft."360 fence-sitters still have until September 15 to buy the console and net the games. And the promotion includes buyers as far back as August 8, 2006. The wording sounds like Live account renewals don't qualify, but we still registered. We've contacted Microsoft for clarification but hadn't heard specifics when this post went live. We'll update you when we learn more.[Update: Microsoft told us it hasn't announced which games you'll get and also stated that the promotion is for new Live accounts only. So officially at least, Live renewals get no love.][Via Dealnews]
Graphical software licenses: a good idea?
Over at the Switcher's Blog (which is actually the blog for browser form manger 1Passwd) they're crowing about their new innovation: software License Cards. These are basically just graphic files that contain the registration information embedded in them. These "cards" are emailed to customers, and the registration is achieved by dragging and dropping the card on the application. They claim these cards are much more Mac-like than the standard method of a hex code.While there's something to that, I don't like this idea as a complete replacement for registration codes for one simple reason: it requires me to keep these card files. With text registration codes it's very easy to keep a list of them in a plaintext file. For instance when I register software I immediately add the new code to my local registration text file, then I email it, as plain text, to myself for backup. I realize that I could email myself these cards as attachments, but it just adds an extra layer of complexity. If every developer used these things, I'd quickly end up with a ridiculous collection of these cards. Further, as some have pointed out, this also precludes printing out and keeping a hard copy of the codes. (All these points apply as well to the related practice of program specific binary keys such as used by Pukka and Overflow). So I have a simple suggestion. Why not use both? In fact, the hex code could be "printed" on the face card itself. That way old curmudgeons like me could keep doing it the old way, but whatever putative benefits these cards offer would still be there. So what do you think? Do you like the idea of License Cards? [Via Digg]
LicenseKeeper tracks your serial number collection
The crew at Outer Level (developers of the kid-friendly, bug-chomping game Bullfrog) apparently have a problem in common with me, and plenty of other Mac users: too many software license codes and no system for organizing them. Excel and FileMaker, too bulky; flat text files, too plain; leave them in email and let Spotlight sort them out... tempting... but no. Enter LicenseKeeper, a $20 solution to this age-old challenge.LicenseKeeper 1.0 will let you type or copy in your registration info, sure -- but it's also prepared to keep track of vendor website URLs, support email addresses, and lots of the other bitsies that tend to go missing when you need them. It will import directly from Mail.app and scan for serial numbers in the inbound registration message (a killer feature if you use Mail; I'm waiting for the equivalent Entourage capability). You can even attach files to the serial number records. A downloadable demo will handle up to five license records and three attachments each before asking you to pay up.There are two other options for this task that I haven't mentioned so far: a general snippet organizer like Yojimbo or KIT, or a free license tracker like Licensed. Either path might work for you if LicenseKeeper isn't to your taste.Thanks to those who sent this in.
WWDC07 Session Tracks Announced
Apple today sent out emails to ADC members announcing the session tracks for the upcoming WWDC07 (June 11-15). They are: Mac OS X Essentials Graphics and Imaging Information Technologies Leopard Innovations Developer Tools Content and Media As I've said before, I barely know which side of Xcode is up, but these sorts of things sound so cool I'd love to drop in. Unfortunately, registration runs $1295, but on the bright side that's the early-bird price, $300 off regular. Heck you can even get five tickets at the price of four for only $5180, so you can take your four closest Mac friends! Nothing says "you're a pal!" like a ticket to WWDC!
MacHeist registration open to TUAW readers for 24 hours
We started out with 25 MacHeist invites for you TUAW readers, but we were quickly blown away by the sheer landslide of interest (over 800 requests and still counting) in this latest Mac software event from the minds behind My Dream App. Since things simply became too difficult for us to manage, Phillip Ryu and crew cut us some slack and opened their registration doors for TUAW readers - but only for 24 hours. Coincidentally, the first MacHeist mission ends in 24 hours (11:59 PM EST Monday, November 13th), so you'd better start clicking. Just follow this link to a super-secret MacHeist registration page for your TUAW-reading eyes only (ok fine: I blogged it, so it might not be secret anymore, but it still sure is super). We're sorry we couldn't hook everyone up who originally requested an invite, but we hope this open registration makes us even.Now, go forth and complete your missions. That safe isn't going to loot itself!
Apple extends WWDC early registration to July 7
An ADC email just arrived announcing Apple's extension of the WWDC early registration deadline to July 7. This email also features John Penn II, Senior/Lead Computer Scientist for Adobe Photoshop - at least now you know one of the guys who's responsible for making [insert idolized star here] look so good in that lifetime tabloid subscription you have. Better yet, if you're a code nerd, maybe you can go learn a thing or two from Mr. Penn II since you can still save $300 on an early registration.
Cheap ass media pass
David Abrams of CheapAssGamer amused the inner Beavis of everyone in Denny's last night by managing to get the word "ass" on his media badge. We wondered just how far the names could go before someone in the E3 registration process decides to create a list of dirty words. It's only a matter of time before some dude from Alaska starts a show called the "Scrotum Gaming Hour." By the way, it turns out CheapyD isn't so cheap after all. He picked up the dinner tab.
Apple's WWDC dates announced
It's that time of the year again. Apple has announced that this year's World Wide Developer's Conference will take place on August 7-11 in sunny San Francisco. There are several pricing levels available (you can see the full list here) and early registration ends on June 23rd, so get those requests in to finance soon.