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Ubisoft reports first-half sales drop, deems Q4 most important quarter in company history

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 4th 2009 at 3:45PM }

Ubisoft has reported financial results for the first half of its fiscal year, ending September 30, 2009. Coming in at €166 million ($246 million), this year's sales represent a drop of 52% when compared to the first two fiscal quarters of the previous year. Second-quarter sales totaled €83 million ($123 million) -- a drop of 53.1%, though one that Ubisoft states falls within previously issued guidance.

Standout titles released during the period include the Western-themed first-person shooter, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (which has shipped 'close to 900,000 units'), reptilian brawler Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up and, "in certain countries," the Pelé-powered Academy of Champions.

Ubisoft points to its fiscal third quarter -- that's October to December on your official Secretive Hunks of Third Echelon Calendar -- as "the most important quarter in Ubisoft's history." Sales are expected to reach €540 million ($801 million) during the period, thanks to Assassin's Creed 2, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game, Rabbids Go Home and Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage. Ubisoft's also counting on several new casual and self-improvement games for the Wii and DS, which we imagine will help the financialz quite a bit.

Halo Waypoint live with Dashboard preview program, includes Avatar Awards

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 30th 2009 at 5:15PM }

It's not quite Wonka's chocolate factory, but the Xbox 360 Dashboard update preview participants are getting a taste of some delectable bonuses regardless. Earlier today, those lucky folks were granted their promised early access to the Halo Waypoint beta. Lo and behold, 11 Avatar Awards arrived alongside the addition (five for each gender's Avatar, one for both), unlocking based on various Achievements from Halo 3: ODST, ranging from Recon helmets to ODST t-shirts. Microsoft has provided little in the way of details on the addition, so feel free to let us know if you see anything particularly strange or interesting.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Left 4 Dead 2 getting Avatar rewards

by David Hinkle { Oct 28th 2009 at 4:02PM }

Over on the Steam forums, there was some hullabaloo earlier about potential Avatar awards for the Xbox 360 version of L4D2, all stemming from uncompressed files found on a dedicated server for the PC demo. Well, we're glad to inform you that Valve has confirmed Avatar awards will be included with the game (via G4) and that there will be a total of nine different Avatar rewards, six of which we currently know about.

These awards will run the gamut from a med kit backpack to a frying pan prop right down to Rochelle's Depeche Mode shirt you see above. And, unlike some other Avatar awards, you won't need to max out Gamerscore to get 'em; L4D2 Avatar awards unlock after you've completed more manageable tasks, such as winning ten games of Versus or killing 10,000 infected.

If you want to see some of the items in the flesh, head past the break for a virtual tour courtesy of G4.

Continued →

'Splosion Man Avatar awards unlocked; delicious steaks to be distributed

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 27th 2009 at 12:28PM }

We've got good news all around for fans of Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man, as well as advocates for tender red meat. The developer has announced that a title update has fixed laggy online multiplayer sessions and added those unlockable Avatar awards to the highly combustible Xbox Live Arcade platformer. To unlock all four shirts seen above (two for female Avatars and two for males), you must accomplish two feats: break a single pane of glass (easy!) and beat the entire co-op campaign (considerably less easy).

Oh, right, the meat thing. In one of the greatest nonsensical partnerships in the history of civilization, Omaha Steaks has teamed up with Twisted Pixel to give away "hundreds of top-quality steak filets" to 'sploders across the nation. To register for the giveaway, just download and equip a special 'Splosion Man gamerpic, and then play a few online multiplayer matches before November 22. If you win, you get steaks. If you're vegan, you give them to us.

Source – Title Update for Splosion Man [PDF]

James Cameron's Avatar launches for everything Dec. 1

by Xav de Matos { Oct 23rd 2009 at 1:00AM }

Ubisoft's website lists James Cameron's Avatar as launching across all platforms -- Xbox 360, PS3, PC, DS, Wii, PSP, Wifi-enabled Toilets and Toasters that also cook hot dogs -- for December 1. As we're often skeptical with what we read on the Internet, we decided to find out if the listing was accurate. According to Ubisoft, the game will indeed launch in North America on December 1.

The date thrusts gamers into the Avatar universe more than two weeks before the film hits theaters on December 16. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players -- with the proper set up -- will also be able to experience the game in 3D. Whether or not James Cameron will record what seems like an hours-long video introduction outlining every detail of the game and movie experience to accompany the launch is unclear.

Gallery: James Cameron's Avatar (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)

NFL jerseys hit Avatar Marketplace, wallets

by Randy Nelson { Oct 8th 2009 at 3:45PM }

Is everybody ready for some pricey Avatar football jerseys? Microsoft hopes you are, having launched men's and women's tops for all 32 NFL teams at 320

($4) a pop on the Avatar Marketplace.

Just for comparison, national soccer (or football for most of the world) jerseys are ... oh, that's right, they're free. Most licensed game shirts sell for 80

($1). We can only imagine the extra $3 in this case gets divided up between the NFL, the teams, EA and the Coalition for Expensive Avatar Clothing. It wouldn't be quite so bad if purchasers could actually pick their jersey number, instead of feeling like a total zero.

Avatar Marketplace update: Mass Effect dress shirt, Mako RC

by David Hinkle { Sep 30th 2009 at 11:30AM }

Click image for massive size

We thought we had a grasp on this month's Avatar Marketplace content, but some late arrivals have just popped up, namely the two Mass Effect items listed in the title of this very post! If you're playing catch-up on what's in the Avatar Marketplace, check out our extensive look at its launch on Xbox Live.

Mass Effect Alliance Dress Uniform - 160 ($2)
Mass Effect Mako RC - 240 ($3)

[Thanks, James!]

Avatar: The Game: The Developer Diary

by David Hinkle { Sep 19th 2009 at 3:00AM }

Ubisoft has released the first of its developer diaries for Avatar: The Game. This video mainly covers the Avatar universe and how the game will be directly related to the film. Avatar: The Game is not your typical licensed game -- at least in respect to its story, by being officially recognized as canon in a larger universe.

Those of you looking to see some gameplay will notice some snippets above, though the video is mainly developers and Cameron talking about the game. Don't worry, though: Cameron doesn't pull another Cameron.

Xbox 360's 'Deal of the Week,' Games on Demand, Avatar DLC for Sept.

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 8th 2009 at 8:30PM }

Tossing the usual drip-fed weekly schedule aside for the moment, Microsoft has released the full details for its "Deal of the Week," Games on Demand and Avatar DLC releases (in the US) for the entire month of September. Let's start with Games on Demand:

Games on Demand (no prices noted)

Sept 8: Civilization Revolution
Sept. 15: FIFA Street 3
Sept. 22: Shaun White Snowboarding
Sept. 29: Fable II: Game Episodes -- (we'd hold out for that "game of the year" edition)

Check after the break for the "Deal of the Week" and Avatar DLC details.

Continued →

James Cameron's Avatar gets PSP incarnation with PS3 connectivity

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 27th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Not much is known about the upcoming PSP version of Avatar: The Game. Heck, we didn't even know it existed until just now. According to PlayStation: The Official Magazine (via IGN), the handheld game has you taking up arms as the film's blue-skinned Na'vi aliens after their village is destroyed by the human RDA force. Based on the plot similarities, it's likely that the PSP game is based on the Wii version and not the PS3/360 game.

Like Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, the two PlayStation Avatar games will be able to communicate with each other. One feature revealed so far is the ability to transfer "Effort Points" from the PSP game to the PS3. That's not immediately exciting stuff, but we're hoping that more interesting connectivity features will be revealed at a later stage.

Dress up your Avatar with these Mass Effects

by Ben Gilbert { Aug 25th 2009 at 11:45AM }

BioWare's Pinnacle Station DLC for Mass Effect landed this morning on Xbox Live, and along with it came a mess of new Avatar items to ~~play dress up with~~ clothe your virtual self. The 14 items range in price from 80

($1) to 320

($4) and encompass everything from regular ol' t-shirts to full-on (and terribly adorable) N7 Armor.

With the sudden appearance of the new DLC on Xbox Live, the premium theme that went up for sale yesterday, and all this new Avatar accoutrement, all we need now is a downloadable Mako in which to drive our virtual friends around.

Avatar's first gameplay trailer unsurprisingly full of blue people

by Ben Gilbert { Aug 22nd 2009 at 11:00PM }

We imagine you're just as excited for James Cameron's upcoming film, Avatar, as we are. How can you go wrong with blue people, right? The game's first trailer though -- it unfortunately lives up to our expectations for games based on licensed properties, including cheesy rock music right on cue at the one minute mark. We're hoping a demo lands before the game's planned December release window.

As pointed out in our hands-on with the game, the visuals certainly do pop with color, but the action itself seems to lean toward the generic side of things. That being said, we hear the blue giants are playable in the game. That's something different, right? Right?!

... where are you going?

Impressions: James Cameron's Avatar

by James Ransom-Wiley { Aug 21st 2009 at 7:00PM }

Today being "Avatar Day" (what, didn't your calendar tell you?), we figured it's the perfect time to fill you in on what we've seen of the gaming side of James Cameron's much-talked-about mega-project, James Cameron's Avatar. The Game, as it's subtitled, is split into two distinct products on consoles. (Additionally, there will be portable versions for DS and PSP.) The games aren't typical movie-license rehashes and tell their own stories, separate in plot from the movie, in turn contributing unique elements to the Avatar universe.

Ubisoft likens Avatar to Harry Potter, "an incredible entertainment phenomenon." Understandably, you might not have made the same connection, but then, the marketing push is only now beginning to rev up (did you catch the movie trailer yet?). Excuse us then, if we prematurely deflate some air out of the tires:

Xbox 360
(PS3/PC)

Wii

Jump to a platform-specific preview above or read both after the break.

Continued →

Darwinia avatar clothing revealed

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 16th 2009 at 10:15AM }

As PC indie-darling Darwinia takes the long way to consoles, it's time for developer Introversion to show off some Darwinia+ Avatar merchandise -- where the real money from the game is made. A couple weeks back the studio showed off two shirts that'll be available to Avatars at some point in the future, probably when the game finally launches.

Although we're not sure if the clothing items will cost anything on the Avatar Marketplace, it'd be pretty hard to resist the purchase of little Darwinians as a prop. They'd be so cute skittering about our virtual representation's feet.

Let's go shopping in the Avatar Marketplace!

by Dustin Burg { Aug 12th 2009 at 9:30AM }

You'll find screenshots of every single item that's purchasable via the newly launched Avatar Marketplace conveniently placed in a few galleries below. Not only did we diligently snap photos of each and every item, but we also catalogued each item's name and pricing information and even put together a text-based list of all collected information. We were bored, okay?

Feel free to browse the virtual clothes racks, take a gander through our hand-picked 20 Most Interesting Avatar Items and (if you're daring) navigate through photos of all 190 Avatar items. Fun fact: if you were to purchase every single item available, the total damage would amount to about ~~17,680~~ 24,720

or roughly $309. [Update: We've added an additional 58 female-only Avatar items to both our screenshot and text-based catalogs.]