Ghost Archives - knowtive

Ghost Recon: Wildlands Closed Beta Gameplay Details

With the next closed beta kicking off tomorrow, Ubisoft reveals what sort of content and map size players will be able to play through in Ghost Recon: Wildlands this weekend.

Ubisoft is firing on all cylinders lately as the company just wrapped up another successful closed beta session for its upcoming melee game, For Honor, along with getting ready to send out the final known expansion for The Division known as Last Stand. Rainbow Six Siege is also getting ready to launch its first season 2 content with Operation Velvet Shell, which introduces two new Spanish operators and a new map. Next on the to do list is Ghost Recon: Wildlands, as another closed beta test which is scheduled to kick off tomorrow and run through the weekend.

Thanks to a recent guide from Ubisoft, fans now have a good idea on what kind of content will be waiting for them starting tomorrow. Even though the map in Ghost Recon: Wildlands is quite massive with 21 regions, only the Itacua province will be available, though even this region appears to be pretty sizable. Every main story mission as well as all side activities will be unlocked in this region, and players have the option to play through them solo alongside three AI bots or with up to three human co-op players.

In addition to checking out the gameplay and missions, players also have full access to both the player character customization tools and the Gunsmith. Though briefly detailed last year in a trailer, Gunsmith is essentially the tool that enables players to look at and customize their currently unlocked set of weapons in the game. With over 50 customizable guns in the game, players can use Gunsmith to add or remove attachments, switch weapons, and further customize them with sprays and other items as they see fit.

Most fans will also be happy to note that even though this is a closed beta, Ubisoft is not including an NDA and is encouraging players to share and stream the beta content. Considering that most fans enjoy getting in-game loot in exchange for participating in beta events, Ubisoft has also promised a free Llama shirt for all beta players to customize their character with once the full game launches in March.

Players already accepted into the beta can start preloading the tactical shooter now in preparation before tomorrow. While not everyone will be able to experience the beta, reports from players have begun to trickle in over not being able to use their unlock code or not receiving invites at all. With a bit more time left before the servers go live, hopefully these issues can be sorted out before the beta officially starts tomorrow.

Are you looking forward to this open world title or are you in wait and see mode before committing? Let us know in the comments below.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands closed beta will be available from February 3 to February 6 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game then releases in full on March 7, 2017.

[Source:- GR]

The ghost of Windows XP still haunts SMBs

Microsoft’s deceased operating system is causing firms to fail the Cyber Essentials scheme

Windows XP security issues are causing business to fail the government’s brand new Cyber Essentials programme, according to one of the scheme’s certification bodies.

Emma Philpott, CEO of the IASME consortium, which helped set up and now certifies SMBs for the the government’s Cyber Essentials programme, told delegates at the ISSE conference in Berlin this week that around 25 small businesses failed the certification standards, mainly because they are still using Windows XP.

Redmond put the aged operating system out to pasture in April 2014, meaning it has not been receiving security updates since support ended then.

“This is usually the reason why they can’t pass in a couple of days. Windows XP is used by so many companies, big and small,” said Philpott. “If a company is using Windows XP, or any unsupported software, they cannot get Cyber Essentials unless it is completely ringed off and separated.”

Many small businesses, she said, also feel that cybercrime is not something they need to worry about and that it isn’t something that will affect them, despite the government and industry setting up the Cyber Essentials scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber attacks.

“The number of times people say to me ‘oh, we run a small company so other government states aren’t going to try and hack in and steal our secrets’,” said Philpott.

“They don’t have any comprehension that the biggest threat is cybercrime and that it’s the crime on a massive scale that is probably going to get their money,” she said.

There is also a problem of comprehension, she said, adding that much of the guidance is complicated enough that small businesses may not be able to follow it even if they want to.

Security also ends up near the bottom of small businesses’ list of priorities as they have more pressing immediate issues, such as cashflow and staffing.

“These are going to bring them down faster than a cyber breach, in their minds,” said Philpott.

However, SMBs in particular can have an easier time getting ready for certification because it can be less expensive to change systems or implement new ones, but they have to be helped to do this.

“Whatever you do with small companies, it has to be simple – they have to understand it,” Philpott said, adding that it is very easy for those in the security industry to use jargon that non-specialists will not understand.

Also, security professionals need to encourage as well as criticise SMBs.

“We have to make it positive,” she said. “I always talk about eating healthily: I confess, I don’t always eat five pieces of fruit and vegetable a day, but it doesn’t mean to say I only eat sausages.

“So with small … companies, maybe they can’t get Cyber Essentials today, maybe they’re not doing all those great things, but are they doing onething? Maybe tomorrow they can do another thing, and that should be celebrated.”

[Source:- ITpro]

EA Abandons Ghost Trademark After Ubisoft Fights Them

EA chooses not to fight Ubisoft over their attempted trademark for the name of development studio Ghost Games, withdrawing their trademark application.

A month ago, Ubisoft served a lawsuit against EA for their use of a Ghost logo and an attempt to trademark the term for one of the development studios under the general EA umbrella. While it may have seemed like a frivolous lawsuit to some, it would appear that EA has decided it’s not worth fighting over.

EA has officially dropped the attempt to trademark the term Ghost for the development studio Ghost Games, known for creating the Need for Speed games. Ubisoft threatened legal action against EA for their trademark attempt, claiming that there would be confusion between the Ghost Games trademark and Ubisoft’s own series, Ghost Recon. Chances are that Ubisoft was particularly on edge about EA’s use of the term since Ghost Recon: Wildlands has just recently been announced, and they may have felt that their ability to promote it could have been infringed upon.

The studio in question will presumably continue to create games, but it will have to be under a different name. At this time, there’s no telling what EA will choose, but they’ll presumably take some time to make sure that they’re not stepping on another company’s toes in the process, even if it’s only a loose association between the two names.

ghost recon character closeup

Considering that Ubisoft is currently attempting to avoid a hostile takeover by Vivendi, this lawsuit could have turned into a very messy event for both EA and Ubisoft. If EA hadn’t dropped the trademark and Vivendi became a major shareholder, there’s no telling whether or not they would have continued to fight the trademark.

There’s very little resemblance between a cute ghost logo and the simple name ‘ghost’ and the easily recognizable, long-running Ghost Recon series that Ubisoft sought to protect. Considering that ‘ghost’ is just a word, and that it only makes up a portion of the title of Ghost Recon (which has nothing to do with apparitions typically referred to as ghosts), there’s a strong likelihood that this legal action wouldn’t have been a success for Ubisoft. Other developers who’ve gone on the offensive by attempting to trademark single words or terms, like the developer of Candy Crushattempting to trademark the word ‘candy’, or Sony’s outlandish attempt to trademark the term ‘Let’s Play’ have been abject failures.

We’ll have to wait and see what EA chooses to take the place of the Ghost Games studio. In any case, given its standing as an existing studio that’s produced prior games, chances are it’ll be back in action under a new moniker sometime soon.

[Source:- Gamerant]