Some investigation revealed that there were ten reviews giving the game one star and they all put forward the same complaints that I have numerous times.

My problem is that these people are giving games ratings that will influence people’s choices on whether or not to buy the game. People who have a console and a PC will likely look at the ratings for the various games and decide to get the console version. I fully well understand that people don’t like DRM and SecuROM and the feeling that it is infringing on their supposed freedoms and such like.

It isn’t just Dead Space that is suffering at the hands of these people, Far Cry 2 has 39 one star ratings, as does Red Alert 3 and Crysis Warhead has even more. Lets not forget Spore which has a massive 379 one star reviews.

Almost all of the reviews I am talking about are simply complaining about DRM, this is going to do more harm than good as developers are likely to take the easy option of not releasing their game on the PC and just do away with the potential piracy issues and damaged reputation.

So stop this madness, it isn’t going aid in the efforts to combat DRM and, if comments I read on forums and chat rooms are anything to go buy people will actually go out and pirate the game because of the DRM. This will only serve to the prove the ideas of people like Cliffy B and Michael de Plater right.

If you want to help stop the spread of DRM then send well thought out e-mails, not insults, don’t pirate the game and hell don’t buy the game if you are that put out buy it. Simply put, use your brain to think about what is the best way to stop the spread of DRM. One star reviews on amazon isn’t the answer.

- We will authenticate your game online when you install and launch it the first time.

- We will never re-authenticate an installation online after the first launch. In other words, no reaching out to a central server post-install to see if you’re “allowed” to play.

- You will be able to install and play on up to five computers. If you uninstall the game while connected to the Internet, the entitlement will be preserved and that install can be transferred to a different computer.

- This system means you don’t have to play with the disc in your computer. Personally, I think this is a huge improvement over our previous copy protection requirements, which have always required a disk to play.

- Life happens. I know it’s unlikely, but for those unlucky few who install the game and have their machines nuked (virus, OS reinstall, major hardware upgrade, etc.) five times without being able to do a clean uninstall first, EA Customer Service will be on hand to supply any additional authorizations that are warranted. This will be done on a case-by-case basis by contacting customer support.

-You can, of course, play offline without impediment or penalty.

First off this is a much better system than what is currently being used with Spore. With a maximum of five simultaneous installations of the game you get two more than with Spore, and as ever if you uninstall the game while being connected to the internet then you will redeem an install. I must say that I hope that anyone who needs to get in touch with customer support for new keys doesn’t get shafted too much, I have no experience with EA but many support teams just don’t care.

The online activation is to be expected in this day and age, there may be a minority of people who will be affected by this, but hopefully not too many. It is also good to note that only one activation is required, none of this reactivation malarky that we nearly had with Mass Effect and Spore.

The one shining light to come out of all of this is the simple fact that after installing the game we will no longer require the disk to be in the drive to play the game. This is a great move, and while it may only be a small step to cutting back on the shit we often have to put up with in regards to DRM, it is a good sign.

EA RTS Community Manager Apoc’s comment regarding how the game is tied to EA account as follows:

You can only go online with one serial key at a time. So if you have the game installed on multiple machines, only one can go online on multiplayer at a time if that’s what you mean.

Some famous faces, some famous voices and some ludicrous Russian accents. Red Alert 3, that is what it is all about.

Who doesn’t like a game when you see the enemy’s conscripts leave the forest…. burning!

Hope everyone else gets in the Beta somehow.

Considering it is already the 26th of July does this may mean that the public beta will be going live sometime next week, however nothing is for definite in the world of EA and Command and Conquer.

Comrades,

If you are receiving this e-mail then you are officially registered for the Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Multiplayer Beta Test and are in our queue. Soviet Kirov’s bombed our beta test satellite communications around the launch of Kane’s Wrath in a deliberate attempt to halt our initial beta test communication e-mails to you upon your registration. While they were successful in their attempt, we were still able to retrieve all data and have continued to collect Beta Test registrations in numerical order since Kane’s Wrath shipped. We’ve recently reconstructed our communication technology with far better systems and defenses and will now be sending you frequent updates throughout the course of our multiplayer beta test. So fear not Comrade, we did not forget you!

The Red Alert 3 Multiplayer Beta Test is set to launch publicly very soon. When we activate your registration, you will be sent an e-mail with your Red Alert 3 Beta Test key and instructions on downloading and installing the beta. As previously mentioned on our website, we will activate registrations for the beta test based on the date & time in which you registered on our beta test website with the serial key from the insert contained in your copy of Kane’s Wrath. We may also consider the country in which you reside as a component for when you will be activated in the queue as we are aiming to get global feedback in as much as possible for our beta test. If you registered for the beta test within the first couple of weeks, it is very likely you will be activated close to our first public launch. We will then continue to ramp up and activate registrations weekly, and potentially even multiple times a week. We will activate registrations primarily based around the status of our software. Certainly if we are experiencing any super critical issues, we will halt activations until they are resolved. It is our intent to start the beta test small, and make every effort to quickly ramp up to thousands of players in a matter of days and weeks throughout late-July and August.

We’re committed to collecting your technical/bug and balance feedback and improving Red Alert 3 before we ship later this year. If you are receiving this e-mail, you will absolutely be a part of the Red Alert 3 Multiplayer Beta Test. This is the first of many communications. We wanted to give you a general update that the Red Alert 3 Multiplayer Beta Test is slated to go officially public very soon.

You may have heard that we have actually already started an internal-only testing period this week called “EA Friends and Family” where we are using a few hundred people to work out any potential technical issues with connectivity and the state of the game. It is our intent to collect constructive feedback from you during the beta test; however, we’re spending a few days doing an internal-only trial run with friends and family of our development team, including all studios of EA. If you’ve heard rumors about our beta test launching today or even this week, they are referring to the process noted above. We have not activated any keys in the public queue yet however, so don’t worry…you’re not late to the party!

We have also opened up our official Red Alert 3 Beta Test forums where you will be encouraged to post your constructive feedback to help us improve the game. Since the beta test is starting to trickle out, we chose to open up this forum section early during our trial run. We will make sure to keep it updated with sticky threads and updates and certainly the moment we start to activate people in our public queue, you will hear about it on our boards and via e-mail communications (hopefully one of those e-mails will be your activation key if you registered early!)

Get ready to wage a crazy war with the Soviets, Allies, and the Empire of the Rising Sun, the Red Alert 3 Multiplayer Beta Test will be activated soon.

So after my interview back in February with Frank Klepacki this new video comes out and shows that he is in fact returning to work on the Red Alert 3 soundtrack! Expect Hell March III goodness then come October.

What thoughts go through my mind after watching that?

- Great to have Hell March playing, a sign of Frank Klepacki to be involved in the game?
- Classic sounds from the GIs and other troops, reminds me of Red Alert 2…always good!
- Damn they really could do with having used a new engine for this. Looks good, but not great.

Pretty much it for my initial thoughts! October though…interesting!

Showcasing the new attitude of the Soviet Premier and his legion of comrades, we are unveiling our brand new Soviet Faction Logo for Red Alert 3, the “flower and the sickle”. While this is certainly a departure from the legendary hammer seen in the Soviet logo for Red Alert 1 and 2, we felt it was critical to showcase the growth of the Soviets power in the upcoming Red Alert 3 through the “flower”: a powerful symbol which represents the blossoming of a new seed, a rebirth of the Soviets if you will.

Oh how I wish this were true and not just an April Fools!

Find more wallpaper sizes here.

Official comment from C&C Community Manager – shhh, hehe

IGN: Tell us about the setting and the story, and is it directly related or connected to the events of the last game, or is it a completely different timeline?

Chris Corry: I touched on that time travel theme. The events that kick off Red Alert 3 really come back to that. Our story opens with the Allies and the Soviets going at it again, but this time the Allies have beaten the Soviets back and have the upper hand. The Soviet leadership is cowering behind the walls of the Kremlin; their defeat is imminent and all but certain. At that point, sort of crazed with desperation, the leadership descends into the bowels of the Kremlin into their secret labs where they have this skunk works project going on. They fire up this prototype of this device which is a time machine that’s never been used before. And their intention is to go back in time and erase Albert Einstein from the timeline. Of course, Albert Einstein in the previous games has been instrumental in the technological advances that made the Allies so successful…

There are also a bunch of sexy new screens and the wealth of information is immense. Check it all here.

Final note – why can’t I get an interview like this! Damn being told to wait until April :(