During a recent Ubisoft preview event, Michael McIntyre, director of level design for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, talked to Joystiq about the new sequel to the old trilogy, establishing its connection to the Sands of Time game series and the Bruckheimer film. The Forgotten Sands is a side story, based in the Sands of Time universe, bridging the seven-year gap between the original Sands of Time game and its sequel, Warrior Within.

Clearly, Ubisoft has positioned the next game to piggyback on the Bruckheimer blockbuster and ideally generate renewed sales for the brand (which underperformed in its 2008 iteration). Forgotten Sands is also an opportunity for Ubisoft to finally justify the Prince's remarkable transformation from carefree hero to brooding, emo warrior.

Continue reading for our full interview with Michael McIntyre -- after the break -- in which he reveals new (and rewinding revisited) elements in the game and the return of a familiar voice.

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Call to mind Wii Sports' tennis, and you don't have to stretch your imagination too much further to arrive at Ubisoft's Racquet Sports. If you own a Wii, you already own this experience, to which Ubisoft has added some variety, including ping-pong, badminton, squash, and beach tennis, and a more fleshed-out art direction than Nintendo's pack-in or even its sequel, Wii Sports Resort. There's no Mii support, but Racquet Sports offers its own dollish avatars, customized with unlockable trinkets. There's a derivative multicultural vibe, too, as the characters and playing courts span the globe in classic and fantastic scenarios. Grandma vs. dashiki-clad boy in an aquarium squash court? Yes.

Of course, the experience you don't own is "tennis" played with a motion-tracking camera. No, not Natal -- not at all. Ubisoft's USB camera, first bundled with scarcely-reviewed Your Shape (featuring Jenny McCarthy), might be on the cutting edge of a revived and revamped gaming tech trend, but its implementation in Racquet Sports is painfully dull.

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In a statement released this morning by Rebellion's Jason Kingsley, concerning the Australian Classification Board's so-called "ban" of Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator game, the CEO expressed his studio's disappointment with the board's ruling, but added, "as we understand the law in that country the authorities had no choice as we agree strongly that our game is not suitable for game players who are not adults."

The subtle swipe at the Australian ratings system, which tops out at an MA15+ classification, turned into a full-on blow as Kingsley concluded, "We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."

Ouch! You feel that too, Germany? "It is for adults," Kingsley insisted of AvP, "and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent." Clearly, that's why PEGI assigned an 18-rating. Check out the box art for PAL territories that will release the game -- for adults -- come February 2010 worldwide:

A slowdown in Wii production can only mean one thing: Nintendo has cured the injured, ailing and aged -- there's no more work left to be done. While saving the world proved vastly lucrative for Nintendo, it also benefited the manufactures behind the scenes; or, as we like to call them, the magic makers. Nikkei reports that Wii parts suppliers, Mitsumi Electric Co. and Hosiden Corp., have significantly reduced their yearly profits forecasts following a decrease in orders to assemble Wii consoles.

Mitsumi predicts its net profits will fall 52 percent year-over-year to ¥5.3 billion ($61.2 million), down from the previously projected ¥7 billion. Hosiden expects a similar drop, from the forecast ¥7.5 billion down to ¥6 billion. These percentage changes are eerily similar to the figure reported in Nintendo's half-year results, posted at the end of October. Are the numbers trying to tell us something? Yep, there's still plenty of money being made and, apparently, more world to save.

[Via MarketWatch]

Source – "As Wii Stumbles, Parts Suppliers' Earnings Tumble" [Nikkei.com; subscription required]

FIFA 10, the latest iteration of EA Sports' biggest global franchise, itself based on the world's most popular sport, is selling well. That's an understatement. Worldwide, EA estimates game sales have surpassed 4.5 million units since the October 1 launch, including a so-called record-setting first week, in which 1.7 million units were sold in Europe to make FIFA 10 the world's "fastest-selling sports video game." What better time to announce that the game will receive a fresh pair of legs?

EA today announced the pending release of FIFA 10 Ultimate Team, a DLC management mode -- introduced to the series last year (and ported to this year's slumping Madden game) -- that has been made over with a "redesigned chemistry system built around player relationships." Think: God game governing platonic dating-sim played with a deck of cards, and ... you're there. Come February, Ultimate Team will be available for download for 400 or $4.99 via Xbox Live and PSN.

Seeing as how the whole "Macbeth with gunz" thing has already been done (see: movie starring Aussie heartthrob Sam Worthington, above), we're ever so curious to learn more about Marc Ecko's canned game concept for a "completely re-imagined Macbeth." Unfortunately, the famed clothing designer -- turned failed game designer -- has his lips sealed. "I don't want to give it away," Ecko told Destructoid, after admitting that the rumored project was at least, in some form, quite real.

Sadly, we're left to contemplate what could have been from a single, proposed gameplay mechanic: "cutting people's heads off." Surely, Shakespeare's inclusion of only one, climactic beheading -- and "off stage" at that -- in the accepted original Macbeth was merely a limitation of the special effects of the playwright's day. Just imagine how much more epic Renaissance works could be as video games ... Oh, right.

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