beyond-good-and-evil posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Ken Levine lists favorite games again, changes mind on a few

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 28th 2009 at 2:00AM }

Ken Levine plays video games. Shocking, we know! Speaking with IndustryGamers, Levine, who is currently working on a super-secret project, listed his ten favorite games. Occupying the top five spots in descending order are: World of Warcraft, Civilization, Beyond Good & Evil, Ultima Underworld and Company of Heroes.

Back in 2007, Levine produced a similar list for MSNBC. His top five have apparently shifted in the last two years, though, as Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past have fallen even beyond the BioShock developer's top ten. How hast these games forsaken thee, Ken? What hast they done for thou to banish them from thy heart likest so?

Ubisoft NA prez missed memo that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is totally confirmed

by Randy Nelson { Jul 23rd 2009 at 7:45PM }

Ubisoft North America president Laurent Detoc admits that the publisher is "working on some some Beyond Good and Evil stuff," but tells IndustryGamers that the decision on "whether there's going to be a new game or not" is "something for the future."

Wait a second. Shouldn't that have been "something from the past" ... ?

Series creator Michel Ancel has flat-out talked about the sequel and some of his plans for it. More importantly, Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot himself debuted the game to the world's gaming press at last year's international Ubidays event -- which was also streamed live worldwide via the web, no less. (Oh, and Guillemot also spoke more about it later, as well.)

Mr. Detoc, if you're reading this, here's a handy link you can click before your next interview -- which is almost certain to include more questions about Beyond Good & Evil 2 (a.k.a. that game your company is so making).

Gallery: Beyond Good & Evil 2

Rebellion games hit GOG.com, we give them to you (just like that) [update]

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 9th 2009 at 2:25PM }

Before teaming up with Sega recently for a new iteration of Aliens vs Predator, UK development house Rebellion made a handful of classic PC titles (yes, we know, including the original Aliens vs Predator). Starting today and continuing over the course of the next few weeks, GOG.com will be offering the company's titles through its site (DRM-free, XP and Vista compatible game, priced to move), starting with Ground Control (Dark Conspiracy expansion included) and Evil Genius. Lords of Magic, Empire Earth, "and more" are in the pipeline for the next few weeks.

To celebrate the release, the fine folks at Good Old Games were nice enough to hand us a few codes -- seven in all, just to keep you on your toes -- for not just the games released today but, well, anything on the site you'd like. That's right, folks, you can use the codes on anything from Elixir's Evil Genius to Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil to Epic's Unreal Tournament (and everything in between, in case you were wondering). All you have to do is keep your eye on the Joystiq Twitter page over the course of the day to try and win one of them. Hit the break for an exhilarating explanation of how to redeem a code.

Update: All codes have been redeemed! Thanks to everyone who participated and to GOG.com for providing us with the codes.

Continued →

Beyond Good & Evil 2 likely skipping E3

by Richard Mitchell { May 14th 2009 at 12:45PM }

According to UGO, it looks like Beyond Good & Evil 2: Pey'j and Jade's Bogus Journey (working title*) will not be appearing at E3. When booking E3 appointments, UGO was told by Ubisoft, "We're not doing any BG&E stuff at E3." Furthermore, Ubisoft even said not to expect a showing of the game during its press conference.

So, there you go, don't expect any BG&E 2 news or hands-on sessions. Rest assured though, if we hear anything different when we touch down in LA, we'll be clawing our way to the front of the line for a chance to play. Not because we're dying to play it. No, we'll do it for you.

[Via VG247]

*By "working title" we mean "completely fabricated title."

Rumor: Beyond Good & Evil 2 footage leaked and lovely

by Randy Nelson { May 8th 2009 at 6:30PM }

Video of what appears to be Beyond Good & Evil 2 gameplay (or a target rendering of such) has made its way online via Kotaku. The one minute clip depicts a character who either is -- or looks incredibly like -- series heroine Jade escaping pursuers in a crowded marketplace using parkour moves a la Mirror's Edge's Faith.

Of course, this could very well be an elaborate -- and well-executed -- fan project and the character might not be Jade at all, but she certainly appears to reflect the updated character design seen in the all-too-short teaser for the game Ubisoft released last year. Oh, and Maybe-Jade, is that a sword on your back?

Perhaps someone in France -- Ubisoft's home turf, and where the site Kotaku says the video originated is located -- just had to slip this out oh-so-very-close to E3. If it is BG&E 2 and is actual gameplay, then wow. If someone's toying with our emotions? Totally. Not. Funny.

Ancel says 9/11 influenced Beyond Good & Evil

by Ben Gilbert { Apr 4th 2009 at 12:30PM }

Thanks to the fine French-speaking folks at Eurogamer France, Eurogamer has a more thorough translation of Michel Ancel's interview regarding his upcoming game for Ubisoft, Beyond Good & Evil 2. According to their translation, Ancel reveals inspiration in "the theme of September 11 - the CNN show with army messages and the fear climate," among other, totally different things, like Hayao Miyazaki for instance.

He also revealed that this sequel will be a direct continuation of the story from the original BG&E, saying, "The story continues and we'll react on important events of the first." We've still got no good information on platforms or release date but hopefully the upcoming re-embiggened E3 Expo will shed some light on the game. "Players who like the first should like the second," Ancel left the interviewer with. We're keeping hope alive.

[Via GamePolitics]

Gallery: Beyond Good & Evil 2

Steam offering Ubisoft quadruple-pack for $10

by Griffin McElroy { Mar 28th 2009 at 4:15PM }

Steam's week-long celebration of French gaming industry juggernaut Ubisoft (which kicked off with a 50 percent discount for Far Cry 2) is coming to a close, but not before the digital distribution leader performs a coup de grâce on wallet-wary consumers -- this weekend, the service is offering the Ubisoft Classic Pack, which includes Far Cry, IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and Beyond Good & Evil, for just $10.

We highly suggest checking it out -- the four-pack seems to cater to all sorts of gaming interests, whether they be horrendously gaudy hawaiian shirts, World War II-era dogfighting, demonic fantasy combat or titles that got royally shafted by the game consuming populous during their initial release.

Beyond Good & Evil, PoP: Sands of Time added to GOG's lineup

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Mar 26th 2009 at 9:25PM }

The fine purveyors of DRM-free classics at GoG.com have announced an agreement with Ubisoft, which sees good old(ish) games like Beyond Good & Evil and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time added to the downloadable lineup. Joining action journalist Jade and the time-swindling prince are ... the aeroplanes of IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946! We guess they weren't really going for much of a theme outside of all three costing $9.99 each.

Other Ubisoft titles slated to hit the PC service "in the coming weeks" include Heroes of Might and Magic, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Not Tom Clancy's Far Cry.

Princess of Persia plays dress-up as Jade from Beyond Good & Evil

by Randy Nelson { Dec 2nd 2008 at 9:00PM }

Given the close working relationship between the Prince of Persia team and Jade Raymond's Assassin's Creed group at Ubisoft Montreal, our first thought upon hearing this news was that Ubisoft included a Jade Raymond skin for Elika in the latest PoP. It actually turns out to be – as Destructoid has discovered – a freebie that "tranforms" the Prince's sidekick into Jade, the lead character from the underrated platformer Beyond Good & Evil.

The Jade skin is obtained simply by finishing the game, which goes on sale today. Creating an account on Ubisoft's site and registering your copy also provides an unlock for the Prince's previously revealed Altaïr (Assassin's Creed) costume. Considering that we've seen neither hide nor ~~hair~~ swine of Ubi's BG&E sequel since it was announced earlier this year, we'll consider this a consolation gift for the delay. (And, hopefully, proof that Ubisoft hasn't forgotten about the game.)

Surprisingly rare and expensive GameCube games

by David Hinkle { Nov 21st 2008 at 7:10PM }

We love a lot of GameCube games. In fact, when Play on Wii was announced, it felt like a dream come true. See, we imagine many GameCube games being retooled for Wii. Now, we're glad its actually happening for some of those games.

But, not all titles are destined to get that touch of Wii magic. And, what if you never had a chance to try some of them? Well, unless you've got a suitcase buried in the back yard, there are a few titles that might be a bit out of reach, according to the list over at Video Game Price Charts.

Of all of them, which would you say is the "must own" title?

[Via digg]

Rumor: Beyond Good & Evil being reissued this month for $10

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 17th 2008 at 7:00AM }

A NeoGAF user apparently snapped the photo seen above, featuring a promo for a $10 Beyond Good & Evil reissue coming this month. The sheet, allegedly stuffed in a GameStop binder, shows the reissue is only for the PlayStation 2 version. It'd be a shame considering the GameCube version would work perfectly well in all those millions of Wiis. The Xbox 360 does not currently support backwards compatibility for the Xbox version of the title.

We've contacted Ubisoft for confirmation of the information on the sheet. Meanwhile, this is a good a time as any to remind you of our "Where to find BG&E" post from earlier this year.

Update: Ubisoft's response to our inquiry: "We sell a PC Download of Beyond Good & Evil for $10 through our digital store." Um, that wasn't the question.

[Via Game|Life]

Born for Wii: Beyond Good & Evil

by Wesley Fenlon { Jul 8th 2008 at 10:15AM }

When Friedrich Nietzsche wrote his famous philosophical work Beyond Good and Evil in the late 19th century, odds are he didn't think that it would be a source of inspiration for video games over a century later. Namco proved him wrong with their trilogy of Xenosaga RPGs, each of which had a subtitle referencing a Nietzsche work (such as "Jenseits von Gut und Böse"). But it's another wannabe trilogy that owes its moniker to Nietzsche that's up for recognition.

Beyond Good & Evil was published at the height of the Christmas rush in December 2003, and despite its war-on-all-fronts release on the GameCube, PS2, Xbox, and PC, it simply failed to sell. The game received widespread critical acclaim, but competition from other games caused it to be given a jarring price drop mere weeks after its release. Even so, those in the know played Beyond Good & Evil and saw it for what it was -- a fantastic adventure with a unique world and an appealing cast of heroes. And though it took four years, Ubisoft finally gave a sequel the green light -- so it's time to show the original game some much-deserved love.

Gallery: Born for Wii: Beyond Good & Evil

Continued →

Get all the Ubidays 08 content at Big Download

by Xav de Matos { May 30th 2008 at 3:30PM }

By now you've undoubtedly seen the trailers for Beyond Good & Evil 2, Prince of Persia and Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., but more than likely you've only witnessed the Ubisoft library in standard def blurriness. Well our little brother site , Big Download has you covered with high-def downloads for all of Ubisoft's upcoming games.

Head over to Big Download now, or click on each title below to bring you to its respective download page.

Beyond Good & Evil 2
Teaser

Prince of Persia
Teaser
Speed Drawing (Prince)
Speed Drawing (Elika, the Prince's new ally)

Shaun White Snowboarding
Intro
Trailer

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
Trailer

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Trailer

Where to find Beyond Good & Evil

by Alexander Sliwinski { May 29th 2008 at 12:59PM }

We realize that with yesterday's announcement of "Beyond Good & Evil 2," some folks may have tragically missed out on the first entry in the series. We've put together a quick list of places where those not familiar to the series can get the game and meet up with Jade, Pey'j and -- our favorite personal assistant -- Segundo.

Steam (PC) -- $10
GameTap (PC) -- $1 for the first month, $10 after that.
GameFly (Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube) -- Various rental plan prices, but currently copies are subject to availability.
GameStop -- Currently, we can only find the somewhat dodgy PS2 version available online for $8. Check your local shop and you may get very lucky.

Those who find a GameCube version can rely on the Wii's backwards compatibility to play the game, and PS3 owners can pop in the PS2 game if their systems support BC. The Xbox 360 currently does not offer backwards compatibility for the Xbox version of BG&E. We're sure there are more corners of the internet to find Jade & Co., but it appears that $10 is what you're likely to pay.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 revealed [Update]

by Xav de Matos { May 28th 2008 at 3:00PM }

At the end of the Ubidays 2008 conference today, CEO Yves Guillemot left the audience stunned with a final teaser--Michel Ancel's Beyond Good & Evil 2. We've heard rumblings of BG&E2's development in the past and Ubisoft has finally come clean on the sequel to the critically acclaimed title.

We will have the official teaser trailer, showing off the ragged Uncle Pey'j and an older Jade, as soon as its mad available.

Update: Check out the teaser trailer starring everyone's favorite hog, Uncle Pey'j and a glimpse at an older Jade after the break.

Gallery: Beyond Good & Evil 2