Tweetbot for Mac is finally here… but it costs $20 and is in limited supply thanks to Twitter’s API restrictions

Tweetbot for Mac launched today, but Twitter's new API guidelines has left Tapbot with no choice but to sell a limited number of copies for $20.

Tweetbot’s Mac app finally launched in the Mac App Store today, but there’s a catch: Tweetbot for Mac will cost you $20, which is actually a reasonable price considering the circumstances.

The circumstances are these: Mark Jardine of Tweetbot developer Tapbots explains that Tweetbot for Mac will cost $20 “because of Twitter’s recent enforcement of token limits.” Tweetbot only has a limited number of user tokens it can implement and is therefore limited to hosting a small number of users — and because that potential pool of users will be restrained, the company has to charge a higher price. “These tokens dictate how many users Tweetbot for Mac can have,” Jardine says. While initially Tweetbot said it was working closely with Twitter as a result of the API restrictions, collaboration seems to have fallen to the wayside as alpha testing was squeezed out and later the Tapbots developers headed to App.net to try their luck there. 

Despite the bumpy road, the Mac client is finally  here, although there are some strings attached. One thing to note is that the number of Mac tokens available to Tweetbot are independent of the tokens available for Tweetbot for iOS users, which should be a relief to all the Tweetbot iPhone users out there who want the app for their desktop too. Once the number of tokens available for Tweetbot on Mac are used up, however, Tapbots will discontinue further sales — so you may want to act fast. 

An estimated fewer than 100,000 individual user tokens will be made available to Tweetbot based on Twitter’s API guideline Version 1.1. Existing third-party Twitter apps will be offered an additional 200 percent of the app’s current user token, but since Tweetbot for Mac is launching today without an existing user base, this unfortunately won’t apply.

To expand the number of tokens available Twitter explains that it reviews requests on a case-by-case basis. Jardine is aware of this and at the end of his announcement points to Twitter’s support account saying, “feel free to let Twitter know how you feel about it.”

If you were an early participant in the alpha or beta trial of the Tweetbot Mac app but have no intention of purchasing an account, Tapbots is kindly asking these testers to “please do us a huge favor and Revoke access.” With limited tokens available on Tweetbot for Mac, it frees up more space immediately for buyers.

With new stipulations attached to distributing this (and once-free) software, we have to wonder what may  happen to buyers that stop using Tweetbot for Mac. We reached out to Tapbots to find out if the company would possibly consider buying back accounts from inactive users. We will update you with their response.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Win a copy of XCOM: Enemy Unknown on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360!

We have five copies of XCOM: Enemy Unknown to give away, two for the PS3, two for the Xbox 360, and one for the PC via Steam. Winning a copy is as simple as posting a comment. Read on for details on how you can enter to win!

Let’s get down to brass tax: A lot of you out there may not be into real-time strategy games, and that’s fine. The genre had its day in the sun, and with the exception of a few major franchises that appeal to a dedicated fan base, there isn’t nearly as much mainstream appeal as there once was. If you are among those that has lost their taste for the RTS style, you should consider getting over that for XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Firaxis Games did something remarkable with XCOM: Enemy Unknown, it took a classic game and reimagined it for a new generation. You hear that word a lot these days, “reimagined,” but usually those using it mean they took an existing property and made their own thing under the name of the old. That is not the case here.

Firaxis identified what it was about the last game that worked, then it built a game with modern technology that carried over those key ideals. It was a long process, but a fruitful one.  The result is a game we liked so much we gave it a 9.5. For more details on the development, check out our recent interview with Garth DeAngelis, one of the lead producers for the game.

So if you have been on the fence about this game, or maybe it is on your list but you just haven’t had the chance to pick it up yet, put your money away and enter for your shot at winning a copy on us.

We have five copies to give away to five winners: two PS3 copies, two Xbox 360 copies, and one PC copy that we have a Steam code for.

To be entered to win, all you have to do is post a comment below telling us what your favorite old school PC game was. Just post a comment, and you will be entered to win. Be sure to include what system you are hoping to win a copy on (multiple systems if fine, but each winner will only receive one copy).

The contest will run until Wednesday, October 24 at noon PST.

Good luck to all!

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Following Halo 4 leak, Microsoft bans pirates from Xbox Live

Retail copies of Halo 4 slipped out into the wild weeks ahead of the game's official November release. Creator 343 Industries is undeterred, continuing work on extra content for the game, but Microsoft has responded to the Halo 4 leak by permanently banning players on Xbox Live.

There’s just no keeping media under wraps in the modern age. Microsoft and 343 Industries’ Halo 4 is the latest video game to leak onto the Internet well ahead of its November release date. Images of retail discs of the Xbox 360 exclusive appeared online on the web forum NeoGAF on Thursday, as well as images of the game running on an Xbox 360 dashboard. Full video playthroughs of the game began appearing online later on. “There are people putting the whole thing on YouTube,” Halo franchise director Frank O’Connor told Polygon, “Microsoft is addressing that a single case at a time, it just takes a little while to handle.” The leak is thought to have originated at a manufacturing facility.

While O’Connor said that the team at 343 Industries is unsurprised by the leak, and undeterred from its in-progress development of downloadable content for the game, like new Spartan Ops episodes, Microsoft is getting more aggressive in its pursuit of Halo 4 pirates.

Anyone playing the game on an Xbox 360 connected to the Internet, for example, is receiving a lifetime ban from Xbox Live. These users, according to MCV, are receiving emails to tell them they have been suspended from the service.

“This email is to notify you that your Xbox Live privileges have been permanently suspended due to illegitimate prerelease title play. Because your conduct is in violation, the Xbox Live Enforcement Team has issued a permanent suspension. Your Xbox Live privileges will not be reinstated.”

These users have little recourse as, according to Microsoft’s Xbox Live Code of Conduct, the company reserves the right to suspend new accounts opened by users trying to get around suspensions, provided Microsoft identifies them.

This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has sought and permanently banned Xbox Live users. In 2011, Microsoft discovered a number of users that had illegitimately accessed Xbox Live Marketplace items and began issuing bans from the service that would last until the date 12/31/9999. It has also regularly banned cheaters from using the service. It actually isn’t even the first time it’s banned players for playing pirated Halo games. A number of players received permanent Xbox Live bans in 2010 for playing Halo: Reach a month before it was released.

With Halo 4 appearing on Torrent sharing websites, will the release of Microsoft’s big holiday game be hampered by lost sales? We’ll know in November.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com