As predicted last month, Battle.net is introducing new paid services for Starcraft 2.

Namely, Paid Name Services. =]

Your first name change is free and subsequent name changes will be accompanied by a fee.

Here's the direct link to Blizzard's news announcement: Source

This is really just the beginning and there will certainly be more paid services and other forms of micro-transactions incoming for Blizzard's other new games too.

What's interesting though is that Blizzard stated that SC2 would never have any micro-transactions. And, a long time ago they also said the same thing ("Blizzard Says No Micro-Transactions for WoW") about World of Warcraft. (Source 1 & Source 2)

When I talked about Blizzard's directives to monetize Battle.net (how Blizzard doesn't always tell the "truth" and I predicted that SC2 would have paid services like name changing) it met with a little bit of hostility. =]

I allow anonymous comments on the blog so that people can easily make posts without having to create new accounts. However, there have been many comments (Blizzard fanboys and Blizzard themselves) that I've had to delete because of swearing, but mostly because they provide no insight, supporting documentation, or signs of intelligence (e.g. "ur wrong!!"). It could also be that "Blizzard indoctrination" that I've been writing about. Apparently, it was a "retarded theory" that Starcraft 2 would have paid services though (that's actually what the Blizzard employee posted.) =]

In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned that Rockstar Toronto would most likely be the team doing the Red Dead Redemption PC Port.

Well, there's been some minor activity there.. finally. They've closed off their IT Manager position offer, and have opened up a new position: User Interface Designer.

Here are the current positions that they're hiring for:

1. Character Artist
2. Game Programmer
3. Gameplay Scripter
4. Graphics Programmer
5. User Interface Designer

The artist/game designer positions haven't changed in years mind you.

On the Rockstar Toronto homepage, the IT Manager text was quietly swapped out with UI Designer. And the new position was posted on Monster a couple days ago, and on Craigslist just yesterday.

There has been some concern from the employees at Rockstar Toronto because of Take-Two/Rockstar's many lay-offs and uncertain future. Whether the UI Designer position is because of attrition or because of a new project - it's still a good sign.

The reason that this is a good sign is because RDR requires a new user interface for Windows (the current UI isn't designed for keyboard/mouse interaction). All of the voice, music, and graphics content and assets have been created already. In order for a PC Port to be created, the development team will need a couple designers, a few scripters, a project lead, and a lot of programmers. Maybe a level designer and a few artists too if they intend to add extra content to the RDR PC version. Rockstar Toronto already has the required team members, except that they were missing a UI Developer. =]

Also, Jerome Lacote was the User Interface Artist at Rockstar Games (San Diego) who did all of the UI design and artwork for Red Dead Redemption. He left the company just last month (July 2010), and they're looking to hire someone with the same qualifications in Toronto. Here's a link to his resume if you're interested.

We should know more by the first week of December 2010 (when Take-Two makes their official announcements), unless there's an early leak from the next Quarterly shareholders meeting.

* UPDATE (08/27/2010)

They've just updated their website again (www.rockstartoronto.com), and have removed the "Gameplay Scripter" position. This is probably the most activity the webpage has seen in several years.. =]

So, apparently the PS3 has finally been hacked.

The manufacturer's webpage (http://psjailbreak.com) is currently down, but the USB Dongle is available from OZModchips (Link) at a debut price of $170.

Prices will eventually drop (you know, that whole supply and demand thing) if that's a little out of your price range. =]

The dongle, called "PS Jailbreak" allows you to copy your original PS3 games onto a FAT32 hard drive, and play from there. It was designed for the latest 3.41 firmware, however it works on some of the older versions as well.

Other than that, it's for PS3 games specifically, so you cannot dump PS1/PS2 or Bluray movies. It's very user friendly, does not void your warranty (you do not need to open up the case), and online play currently works with it.

I'll be following PS3 hardware and software sales numbers to see if this will actually have any impact on piracy rates.


* Update (08/20/10):

Apparently the dongle might not be anything special and can be cloned onto most USB devices. There's one version floating around right now that only functions on dev kit PS3's. It might not be too long before we see a USB image for retail PS3's on torrent websites. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough once people's orders start arriving (could be a JIG dongle with some minor protection to protect sales.)

Don't get impatient with this one, there will be plenty of people releasing trojan horses that will either infect your PC or brick your PS3. Wait until it's fully tested by other foolish users. =]

$170 is a little pricey, but it will probably drop when you start seeing the image available. And of course, the vendors will issue many warnings about where to obtain the USB device from. You'll see some standard scare tactics like: "Torrent sites can't be trusted", "Risk of trojan", "Risk of ruining for PS3", "Buy from us, you can trust us." etc. etc.