U-Play adds dimension to Console Gaming

When UbiSoft originally announced its plans to launch the U-Play Service for console gamers the result was a fair bit of head-scratching and doubt. The console interface has not lent itself to that sort of expanded level of services from the individual publishers and studios, to the point where gamers have stopped expecting to see the level of game involvement that PC users take for granted.

Statistically there is a pretty good chance that as you read this, you are scratching your head and asking yourself: "What is he talking about? What is U-Play?"

U-Play is a Community

According to the folks at UbiSoft when they envisioned U-Play it was intended to be both a community and a system that spans across all platforms through which new and exclusive in-game content could be delivered to the players. Are you a player? Well then it sounds like U-Play is for you!

The service is free to join, and appears as a menu item in all of the U-Play enabled games (see the list below) to make it easier to access, as well as through its website (www.uplay.com), where members can check their accounts, their current reward points, and review the list of items available -- and the items that they have already unlocked -- through the service.

Joining is free, takes only a few minutes, and can be accomplished through the U-Play enabled game you are playing.

Beginning with Assassin's Creed II, the service expanded to include a program called Uplay Win, that offers the players a chance to obtain exclusive new weapons, maps, and ammunition just for exploring the games that they are already playing!

One of the interesting aspects of the service is that it treats the points you unlock as bankable currency -- that is useful because while you may have unlocked a bunch of points in one game, you may not want to spend them in that game's rewards -- instead you can save them to use on a new game that is coming out, giving yourself an edge in the game by already having access to some of the more advanced resources through the UWin and U-Play rewards catalog!

The service is a community as well, with news feeds using all of the popular formats, and a forum for members to chat with boards for the Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed Series.

U-Play is available across all of the gaming platforms, including the PC and MAC, XBox 360, PS3 -- no Wii support as yet -- and at press time included support for the following video games:

• Assassin's Creed II

• Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

• R.U.S.E.

• Shaun White Snowboarding

• Splinter Cell: Conviction

• Tom Clancy's Endwar

• Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.

• Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2

• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

So what are the Rewards?!

There are the to-be-expected wallpaper and console theme rewards -- after all game studios know that you just love that sort of thing -- but there is also a slew of rewards that consist of very useful -- even desirable -- in-game items, such as:

• A Fully-loaded special weapon's pack for your A-10 Thunderbolt II in H.A.W.X.2

• A chunk of bonus XP in Prince of Persia that will make hitting that next level a lot easier!

• Special Weapons and kit in Splinter Cell, including the SCAR-H, and SV7 Assault Suit!

• Special weapons, and exclusive maps, kit, and outfits in the Assassin's Creed games.

Those are just a sampling of the rewards that can be unlocked in U-Play, which is turning out to be one of the best game features you never heard of -- until now!