Tabula Rasa Code Request

After Andy posted that Tabula Rasa was free for everyone, I decided I would check the game out. I've never played a MMO game and figured this looked like a cool game to cut my teeth on. Well setting up accounts and downloading the game were the easy part. Getting the code for the game is a different story.

For several days I did as the instructions asked me to. Start an account on PlayNC: checked, download the game: checked, acquire code from support: where do I do that at.

Each time I clicked the link on their instructions page I was taken to the PlayNC sites sign in page. I would then sign in and a new page would say something about the information requested has been removed. So I did some searching around their site and couldn't find a way to acquire the code needed to actually play the game. So yesterday I decided to email their support staff and this is what they replied back:

Thank you for your interest in Tabula Rasa.

I am escalating this request to the appropriate team for further assistance. They will reply to you again as soon as possible. Because of the high volume of Tabula Rasa code requests we are receiving at this time, please be aware that it may take up to 7 business days for your request to be proceeded.

Thank you for your continued patience as we work to resolve this issue for you.

Well that stinks. I guess there are a bunch of cheap bastards out there, like me, who wanted to play this game after it was free and that tied up their system. Hopefully the game will be really good and generate a lot of buzz and cause the game to stay available. We shall see.

Tabula Rasa is Now Free

Tabula Rasa is a sci-fi MMO developed by Richard "Lord British" Garriott, the father of MMOs having helped create Ultima Online. Last month was the game's one year anniversary and the announcement that Tabula Rasa would be shutting down at the end of February. At the time, they announced the servers would go free in January. Apparently, they've moved that time up because you can now download and play the game for free.

You can click here to download the game's client. Then you need to go to the Support Page of PlayNC to request a code for Tabula Rasa. And you'll need to use that code on your PlayNC account. When making your account, they will ask for a credit card, but they say you will not be charged.

I always thought this game looked good, and if anyone could have made a good sci-fi MMO, I would think Garriott would be the one. For some reason, I've noticed sci-fi MMOs tend to do worse than others. Plus, this game had a character pose for Playboy! (Go ahead, do a Tabula Rasa Playboy image search on Google, we'll wait.)

I'm going to try to get my PC back up and running just to try out this game. (It hasn't worked since June.) Too bad there's not a Mac version...

Remember the game will go offline February 28th so get your free playing in while there's still time. Or better yet, give the file and code to someone as a Christmas gift!

Kane & Lynch DLC Coming

Four new maps for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men will be available as downloadable content April 17th for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The map pack is called "The Dope Bag" and each map will show a different scenario for Fragile Alliance. The cost for this will be $0.

That's right! It's actually a free map pack! Now I don't know if this would still be free if Kane & Lynch hadn't gotten a tarnished reputation from that whole review debacle, but I always like free stuff.

Sign Up for Quake Live Beta

I'm not sure how old this is, but if you are interested you can sign up for the beta of Quake Live. Just go to their site www.quakelive.com and put your email address in there and hit submit.

id Software is working with IGA to provide Quake Live at no cost to the end user. The only thing you have to put up with is ads.

Valve and Steamworks

Valve is releasing tools for game developers and gamers called Steamworks. The best part is that they are releasing it for free. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a full press release showing the things that will be possible with Steamworks.

"The suite will allow developers to perform many of the tricks that have distinguished Valve, such as monitoring sales stats, hefty anti-piracy measures, automatic updating, voice chat, multiplayer matchmaking, social networking and even the ability to run beta testing. The possibilities this opens up for independent developers, and smaller publishing companies, could be enormous."

Valve is allowing the end user to build out their game and even sell it on Steam with the ability to give updates. It will be interesting to see where game developers will take this and how much free gaming will come from it.

Free XBLA Game This Week

Remember when Microsoft had those Xbox Live problems around Christmas because of all the new gamers? And remember when Microsoft promised a free XBLA game to make up for the outages? (And then remember when some moron thought that wasn't enough and tried to sue Microsoft for $5 million?) Well, the free game is availabe this week!

The free game will be Undertow, a relatively new XBLA game that takes place underwater and has had a lot of good reviews. The game normally costs 800 Microsoft Points($10). If you already have the game, they say you can contact Xbox Support about a "possible" refund. Don't hold your breath, though.

Undertow will only be free for Gold and Silver members from January 23rd - January 28th.

Happy Birthday, Xbox Live!

November 15th is Xbox Live birthday. The gaming service turns five years old. Soon it'll be off to kindergarten to learn about tying shoes, the alphabet and socializing with others.

But in order to celebrate the birthday, Microsoft is giving gifts to its Xbox Live members. Free Carcassone XBLA games for everyone! (Provided you log in and download it on the 15th.)

What the hell is Carcassone? Some kind of medieval risk type game with cards. I guess. I really have no idea. It's one of those Xbox Live Arcade games that probably most of us have ignored. It came out in June.

But I'm still happy about Xbox Live turning five. I've enjoyed the service very much. (Even though it's been laggy and buggy the last week or so - growing pains, I guess.) And I look forward to enjoying it for years to come.

Also, anyone who joined Xbox Live in 2002 will get 500 Microsoft points. (I might actually qualify for that. It was close, but for me it might have been January 2003.)

Free Gaming Magazine

You want some free news? Other than the free news you steal from us?

Here is a free year long subscription to Games for Windows: The Official Magazine. Supplies are limited so hurry up.

I know I will use my free subscription to try and post some PC news so you crybabies stop saying there's not enough PC news.