Command and Conquer series saved from GameSpy shutdown thanks to community effort

Games for Windows Live might kinda sorta still be going for the time being (despite rumours that its death would occur on July 1st), but multiplayer server thingamajig GameSpy is definitely, definitely dead.

Games for Windows Live might kinda sorta still be going for the time being (despite rumours that its death would occur on July 1st), but multiplayer server thingamajig GameSpy is definitely, definitely dead. EA's Command & Conquer games were among the casualties, but after only a short amount of downtime, C&C3 and Kane's Wrath, Red Alert 3, Generals and Generals: Zero Hour are once again playable online. This isn't EA's doing, but rather a community effort over at the aptly named C&C: Online. Details below.

C&C: Online is free, but you will need to sign up for an account to be able to play these games online. Not everything is working at the moment - statistics, ranking and automatch are all out for the time being - but you will be able to host, join and play games, and chat with other players while you wait for your skills to be aggregated and compared against your rivals. Here's a tutorial video showing how to set the system up:

(Thanks, Blue's News.)