Joystiq

Ubisoft continues to just dance around fiscal year losses

James Ransom-Wiley — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:14:00 EST

A year ago, as Ubisoft reported net losses of €43.671 million for its 2009-10 fiscal year (ending, March 31, 2010), CEO Yves Guillemot brushed aside concern, saying, "We forecast a return to profitable growth in 2010-11." Well, here we are -- and Ubisoft isn't exactly basking in the sun.

For the 2010-11 fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, the publisher's net losses slumped further to €52.120 million (about $74 million). Yet Guillemot again played the role of the optimistic fortuneteller as he looked to the company to "post further growth in both sales and current operating income in 2011-12 and 2012-13." (Notice how he didn't drop the P-word this time.)

He put a positive spin on the 2010-11 fiscal year, too, observing "a sharp upturn in revenue." Indeed, sales were up 19 percent over the previous fiscal year to €1.039 billion. In addition to "another success" with Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Guillemot attributed much of the sales growth to a rebounding casual market, which Ubisoft dominated with its (just) dance game segment, as well as strong support for the Kinect and 3DS launches. Notably, 38 percent of the publisher's game sales over the 12-month period came from Wii titles.

Ultimately, Ubisoft's bottom line suffered from reorganization costs, which amounted to €95.9 million in non-recurring charges, including unspecified project terminations (so, Am I Alive?). Presumably, if Ubisoft is now appropriately restructured, it can focus more effectively on making successful products again. "For example," Guillemot offered, "we plan to launch a free-to-play world based on our highly popular franchise for young girls, Imagine."

Ubisoft continues to just dance around fiscal year losses originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 May 2011 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rock Band Weekly: John Lennon's 'Imagine' album

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:15:00 EST

John Lennon's "Imagine" album will be next week's Rock Band DLC. The acclaimed set of songs joins the title track, which is one of the Rock Band 3 on-disc songs. The album's DLC launch comes about a month after the worldwide celebration of the 70th anniversary of Lennon's birthday.

No need to imagine the album's track list, it can be found after the break.

Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: John Lennon's 'Imagine' album

Rock Band Weekly: John Lennon's 'Imagine' album originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rock Band 3 getting John Lennon's 'Imagine' album as DLC

Ludwig Kietzmann — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:20:00 EST

Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that John Lennon's acclaimed 1971 album, "Imagine," will be among the first albums available for download in Rock Band 3. We imagine all the people who purchase the new keyboard peripheral will be very eager to play some of Lennon's ballads.

An exact release date and price has yet to be announced (should that have been a "Gimme Some Truth" joke?), though you can expect Lennon's nine tunes (the title track is already on the disc) to join The Doors and Billy Joel online sometime after the game's October 26 launch. And even if you buy it a bit late, there's no better way to commemorate a legend's 70th birthday. Remember how disgusted Grandpa was when you gave him a quarter of a beetle inside a velvet box?

Continue reading Rock Band 3 getting John Lennon's 'Imagine' album as DLC

Rock Band 3 getting John Lennon's 'Imagine' album as DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft confirms closure of Brazil studios within the calendar year

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:50:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Ubisoft has confirmed to Joystiq that "development activities in its Brazilian studios will ramp down by the end of this year." The publisher states that due to the current market conditions, it can't "achieve the goals initially set for the studios." There is no set date when the Brazil shops will close, but it will be before the end of the calendar year.

There are currently 25 people working between the two studios in Brazil, who are "finishing DS and PSP projects which they will see to completion." The company could not confirm the official number of layoffs, as "some" team members may take positions at other Ubi studios.

The Brazil studios had worked on the casual Imagine series, which doesn't currently fit in with the company's focus on major franchises -- a priority for the major, new (subsidized) Toronto studio.

Ubisoft plans to continue its business presence in Brazil and is "currently evaluating opportunities." Overall, the publisher states that its "production headcount" should remain stable this year.

Ubisoft confirms closure of Brazil studios within the calendar year originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft reviewing its Brazilian operations

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Ubisoft's future in Brazil is unclear. Following a report by Canal dos Games that the publisher was shutting down all operations in the country, Ubisoft was forced to comment, telling UOL Jogos it was reviewing its plans for the region.

Ubisoft opened up its first studio in Brazil back in 2008. The company followed that up by acquiring Southlogic Studios, which has diligently worked on the Imagine series for the past couple years. We've contacted Ubisoft to find out if its casual-focused developers in the region will have to Imagine unemployment.

Ubisoft reviewing its Brazilian operations originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft Imagines a blockbuster 'Games for Everyone' holiday lineup

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Clear your holiday schedules, folks. We know there are a bunch of high-profile releases you're planning on tucking into as the year concludes, but Ubisoft's recently revealed "Games for Everyone" collection probably won't leave you much time to play all that junk. Pretending to own a resort or work as a veterinarian or design clothes is taxing stuff, you know.

Click past the jump to see the full list of Imagine and Petz titles set to drop later this year, then spend the rest of the day thinking about what order you'll be playing them in. We're thinking about doing Style Lab Fashion Design first, then making the jump to Imagine Fashion Stylist. You know, so we can learn the basics before going totally commercial.

Continue reading Ubisoft Imagines a blockbuster 'Games for Everyone' holiday lineup

Ubisoft Imagines a blockbuster 'Games for Everyone' holiday lineup originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft details first quarter 2010 releases; reveals Anno for iPhone

David Hinkle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:50:00 EST

Ubisoft's latest sales report details the company's proposed fourth quarter fiscal year releases -- the period beginning January 1, 2010 until March 31, 2010. It's pretty much everything we expected, with profits for Ubisoft relying on four key titles, three of which are on the PC platform: Assassin's Creed II: Director's Cut, Red Steel 2, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom and Silent Hunter 5: Battle for the Atlantic.

However, other notable titles will also release during this window, including Racquet Sports and the upcoming Assassin's Creed 2: Multiplayer on iPhone -- oh, and a bunch of new Imagine games, obviously. Outside of detailing these games, Ubisoft also announced that its popular Anno series is coming to the iPhone. Exact details on the game haven't been revealed, but it's a safe bet that city planning and real-time strategy will somehow be involved. Head past the break for the full list of releases.

Source - Ubisoft Q3 sales report [PDF link]

Continue reading Ubisoft details first quarter 2010 releases; reveals Anno for iPhone

Ubisoft details first quarter 2010 releases; reveals Anno for iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft bringing Imagine franchise online with Imagine Town

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:45:00 EST

Image above is from Imagine: Babyz for the DS. You probably figured that out already, though.

According to a recent Ubisoft press release, launched alongside its Q3 earnings report, either this year or the next will see the introduction of what may be the company's most profitable property to date -- Imagine Town, an online extension of the popular series of casual DS games. Little is known about the platform so far, though the presser stipulates that it will be "a virtual world" which will be seamlessly folded into "UbiWorld[TM], the portal dedicated to young girls." (In any other context, that would be an extremely creepy thing to say.)

We realize this news probably means very, very little to you, so allow us to frame it to you in a different way: Imagine Town is going to be the thing that lets Ubisoft afford to make Beyond Good & Evil 2. See, now you're interested.

Ubisoft bringing Imagine franchise online with Imagine Town originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Overheard @ E3: Imagine laughing it up

Justin McElroy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:00:00 EST

Classic moment to remember from the Ubisoft press conference: As the company displayed its roster of Imagine games the crowd was so tickled by the surreality of the moment, that the chuckling got pretty bad. It was quieted fairly quickly though when one large gentleman remarked "Laugh it up, my daughter buys all this shit, and I'm the one paying for it."

If there's a better summation of the casual market, we've never heard it.

Overheard @ E3: Imagine laughing it up originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft announces Style Lab casual franchise

Griffin McElroy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:50:00 EST

Ubisoft's press conference just took a turn for the boastful as the publisher praised its highly profitable casual franchises, Petz and Imagine. In order to rake in more solid gold bars of gold, Ubisoft is attempting to achieve a sales nirvana they're calling "Tween Games 2.0." The latest push in this attempt? An all new for-kids (let's be honest, for little girls) franchise known as "Style Lab."

The franchise will feature games that implement the DSi's camera for various girly reasons -- take a picture of yourself, and tart yourself up with make-up, or design your own jewelry which you can submit online and order in real life. Day. One. Purchase.

Ubisoft announces Style Lab casual franchise originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft: full-year sales up 14% in 2008

JC Fletcher — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:51:00 EST

Ubisoft announced its financial results (PDF link) for fiscal 2008 (which ended on March 31, 2009), and for the most part news (or Newz, if you prefer) is good. Full-year sales for 2008 grew to €1.058 billion, up 14% over last year's €928 million total.

The company explained the strong results of its last quarter with "a continued very strong showing" for its Wii lineup, including Raving Rabbids TV Party, Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip, and My Fitness Coach. One million units each of Shaun White (not just limited to the Wii version), Tom Clancy's HAWX and the Petz and Imagine games were shipped to retailers in Q4.

Ubisoft's sales target for the 2009 fiscal year is €1.1 billion. It expects the first quarter sales of 2009 to be weaker than 2008's, due to the relative lack of major releases (Q1 2008 included Haze and Assassin's Creed on PC), with growth to occur in the second half of the year.

Source (PDF document)

Ubisoft: full-year sales up 14% in 2008 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft moves 1 million Imagine unitz

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST

Ubisoft is adding on to its enormous acquisition war chest, and the Imagine series is bringing the duckets: The company just hit the 1 million mark on its casual series for 2008 in the UK. Speaking with CasualGaming.biz, Ubisoft group brand manager ~~Sgt.~~ Mark Slaughter said, "The Imagine series and the broader Games For Everyone portfolio now represent a significant part of Ubisoft's business."

That makes a lot of sense, considering the company sold nearly 300k "unitz" of Imagine titles in just the four weeks leading up to Christmas (with Imagine Teacher and Imagine Dream Weddings heading up the sales spike, obviously). Who knows what'll happen when blockbuster Imagine "gamez" like Imagine Fashion Designer New York make it to Europe? Ubisoft uber alles!

UPDATE: We contacted Ubisoft, but the company couldn't confirm Mr. Slaughter's 1 million units number, instead telling us the series has sold over ~~8 million~~ 11 million units worldwide. Michael French, Editor-in-Chief of CasualGaming.biz did, however, confirm Mr. Slaughter's number, saying, "This is a UK only figure."

[image]

Ubisoft moves 1 million Imagine unitz originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Imagine Ice Champions

JC Fletcher — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

Last week, Nintendo offered a demo of My DoItAll, and we didn't really mind, because despite being kid-focused and a non-game, it was kind of a novelty, worth trying out for a few minutes. This week, though, we're faced with the dreaded "I" word: Imagine. The one new demo on the Nintendo Channel this week is Ubisoft's Imagine Ice Champions, the sequel to Imagine Figure Skater. Maybe there's some novelty value in getting to try an Imagine game without any commitment -- just to see what it's like -- but we doubt this is going to send anyone running to the Wii.

We've got the full list of returning demos after the break, as well as this week's rather large crop of videos.

Continue reading This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Imagine Ice Champions

This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Imagine Ice Champions originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DS Daily: Imagine

Alisha Karabinus — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: DS Daily

You may have noticed that we occasionally poke fun (and bile) at Ubisoft's Imagine series, and frankly, today isn't going to be any different. We're still holidayed out, and that means we need to have a little fun ... and that means it's time to design your own Imagine title. Imagine Making Piles of Cash might be fitting (if somewhat depressing, really), and no one really wants to play Imagine The Guy Who Washes Your Car, but it might have hilarious boxart. Anyway, imagining new games for Ubisoft is totally in the spirit of the franchise, right? Sure. We're playing Imagine Working for Ubisoft.

Apologies to anyone who works at a car wash (or Ubisoft). You were an easy target.

DS Daily: Imagine originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's move 'away from the hardcore' cited in N-Revolution mag's closure

Randy Nelson — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo Wii, Business

MCV reports that Imagine's Nintendo-only UK magazine, No.Revolution, will cease publication. In this day and age, with ad revenue and readership down - not to mention a little thing you're using called the internet - this move doesn't exactly come as a surprise. Its publisher's reasoning for the closure does.

Imagine's managing director, Damian Butt, says that Nintendo's focus is shifting away from the magazine's readership, i.e. core gamers. "It has become increasingly obvious that Nintendo's strategy...has moved increasingly away from the hardcore gaming community that is our specialty," Butt explained.

Still, Butt says that Imagine - which also publishes gamesTM - will continue to work with Nintendo to "drive purchases of Nintendo software." We're sure it will be in an entirely objective, unbiased, above-the-board way ... of working with a company to positively influence software sales through editorial. What could be wrong with that? Oh.

Nintendo's move 'away from the hardcore' cited in N-Revolution mag's closure originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DS Daily: A little too much

David Hinkle — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: DS Daily

As DS gamers, we get exposed to a lot of games. Are there any you wish would just stop flooding the handheld? Are you sick of seeing training games? What genre/series are you fed up with hearing about? What do you think the DS could use less of?

DS Daily: A little too much originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DS Daily: Imagine some random job

Alisha Karabinus — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: DS Daily

So we've got what now ... rock star, teacher, babyz (sitter), chef, animal doctor (because veterinarian probably has too many syllables for a single word), and now wedding designer. There are probably even a few of Ubisoft's Imagine titles that we missed in that list, but hey -- we can't remember them all. But we can imagine the future of the line. What do you think about Imagine: Trophy Wife, or Imagine: Reality Show Star?

DS Daily: Imagine some random job originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E308: Imagine Rabbidz

JC Fletcher — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

I couldn't think of a worse place to demo Imagine Party Babyz than E3. There are no very small children, no casual gamers, and no ... whoever else could conceivably be expected to be in the audience for the Imagine series -- just jaded, bitter journalists. And me.

As far as I could tell, I was the first person to try it (or among the first, I'm guessing, because the attending Frag Dolls didn't seem to have been forced to play the demo hundreds of times, even though I did lose at multiplayer). And far from the nefarious destroyer of gaming you may imagine, Party Babyz is actually kind of a good game. Because it takes its design cues straight out of Rayman Raving Rabbids. Only with doughy little sprogs instead of rabbids.

The minigame I played, in which you bottle-feed your baby character, is exactly the burping minigame from Raving Rabbids 2. You start by shaking the Wiimote to shake the bottle, then you upturn the Wiimote to simulate holding the bottle up. Points are awarded for every second or so that the baby drinks. When the baby has had enough, you lower the Wiimote and hit A to burp the baby. I don't know if it would still be fun if I weren't thinking about Rabbids while playing, but it was definitely actual fun under those conditions.

E308: Imagine Rabbidz originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine Figure Skater could be good, might not be

Phil Larsen — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:45:00 EST

Filed under: News, Screens

This could really, totally be a good game. Last time we checked, figure skating is a sport accompanied by music. It requires rhythmic motions and impeccable timing. All of these features are perfect for adapting to the touch screen on the DS. Tracing skating lines, tapping at the appropriate times, using smooth stylus skills -- yep, sounds like a winner.

Imagine Figure Skater is marketed towards young girls, what with the absence of any male characters and the emphasis on hair and accessory customization. Sure, some of us might not have considered playing a figure skating game in any form, but we probably said the same thing about lawyers. In any case, the first screenies are in the gallery to start you down the long, complex road of "Should I buy this game when it comes out in August?" The answer is ...

Gallery: Imagine Figure Skating

[Via press release]

Imagine Figure Skater could be good, might not be originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Babies Party their way onto Wii

JC Fletcher — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: News

The most notorious game in Ubisoft's Imagine series of girl-focused casual games is headed to the Wii -- as a party game, of course. Babies Party combines the babysitting theme of the DS game with 30 minigames including (according to the press release) "memory games, puzzles, coloring and cutting up activities."

You can choose to play either as a baby or a babysitter. It's unclear exactly how the gameplay will change, but we imagine that there are different minigames involving taking care of babies as opposed to being babies. As with pretty much every Wii game that gets announced, Babies Party will support the Balance Board in some games.

Babies Party enters the exciting genre of baby-based party minigames created by the Korean arcade series Come On Baby, which also made use of innovative controllers.

Babies Party their way onto Wii originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 May 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine a ton of screens for Ubisoft's casual/training games

JC Fletcher — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Screens

Ubisoft released information for four Imagine series games at their Ubiday event: Imagine Teacher, which we're in the uncomfortable position of kind of liking; Imagine Rock Star (Imagine Girl Band in the UK, because apparently there are no rock stars there); My Fashion Studio (Imagine Fashion Model in the UK); and My Secret World by Imagine. We've heard of Imagine Rock Star before, but the other three are new as of yesterday, and we had yet to see screens of Rock Star and its nonsensical drum kit. My Secret World is a diary program, including some scrapbook-type stuff and custom avatars. My Fashion Studio is precisely what it sounds like!

We've got galleries for Imagine Rock Star, Imagine Teacher, My Secret World, and My Fashion Studio, all visible after the break. You'll have to head over to IGN for videos of My Secret World and Imagine Teacher. The style of Teacher tells us right off that it's not for us (as if the Imagine name didn't do the trick), but we still think the implementation is inspired. As for the rest: My Secret World is almost incomprehensible, and My Fashion Studio is a paper doll simulator.

Read - My Secret World video
Read - Imagine Teacher video

Continue reading Imagine a ton of screens for Ubisoft's casual/training games

Imagine a ton of screens for Ubisoft's casual/training games originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 May 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We're learning to like the idea of Imagine Teacher

JC Fletcher — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

During their Ubidays press event, Ubisoft unveiled a new entry in their infamous Imagine series of games that someone guessed girls might like (based on what girls on TV seem to enjoy or something). Imagine Teacher trains girls to ... well, train children, using, of course, a series of teaching-themed minigames.

The game traces an elementary school teacher's job duties chronologically, starting with lesson planning and seating charts, and progressing to individual lessons. Each subject's lesson is presented as a minigame, followed by another minigame in which you grade your students' work. The day ends with classroom cleanup and parent-teacher conferences.

We're trying our hardest to hate this, but the truth is that Imagine Teacher sounds irresistably clever, and we would really like to play it. Pretty embarrassing, but there, we said it.

We're learning to like the idea of Imagine Teacher originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 May 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubisoft announces unimaginative 'Imagine Rock Star'

Kyle Orland — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Rhythm, Fashion

Say what you will about Ubisoft's Imagine line of games (targeted at girls aged 6 to 14), they're generally pretty original. There are precious few game makers trying to tap into the figure skating, fashion designing, and animal healing segments of the burgeoning DS game market. Unfortunately, the same can't really be said for Ubisoft's latest Imagine game announcement, Imagine Rock Star.

Not to focus on the negative, but when Imagine Rock Star comes out in June, it will bump up against a veritable cornucopia of competing DS rhythm games, including a couple that have a very similar premise of multiplayer, "join a band" action. We don't want to sell it short before we see it, but we find it hard to "imagine" (ha!) that this game will bring something new to a genre that's already getting a bit overcrowded. Especially when the "ability to customize the look of each band mate in order to become the most stylish rockers" is a major selling point. Then again, we aren't girls aged 6 to 14, so what do we know?

Ubisoft announces unimaginative 'Imagine Rock Star' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Buy two games, save ten bucks at Toys R Us

JC Fletcher — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Sales

We'll take almost any encouragement to buy a bunch of games, and there's little better incentive than a package deal, through which we "save" money by buying more stuff. Retailer Toys R Us knows this, and has dangled the carrot of reduced-price DS games at us with a "buy one, get $10 off" sale. The ad says "all DS games," but the sale is actually restricted to a selection of TRU's offerings.

That's fine, though, because there's enough here for just about anyone to be driven into an impulse purchase! Standouts include Flash Focus, Professor Layton, WordJong, Cooking Mama 2, and even some pre-release stuff like Rondo of Swords! Or you could finally pick up the whole Imagine collection.

Buy two games, save ten bucks at Toys R Us originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GoPlay magazine goes online-only

Andrew Yoon — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

There are tons of fan-published PSP magazines out on the Internet, and now they're going to get some serious competition. GoPlay, "the UK's best-selling independent PlayStation Portable magazine," will soon switch from its traditional newsstand distribution to a strictly online-only one. According to GI.biz, the format change will "make it easier for readers to access content on their PSPs".

The current issue of the magazine features Star Wars: Lethal Alliance and costs £3.99 on newsstands. It's not clear how much the digital version will cost, if anything at all.

GoPlay magazine goes online-only originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine Publishing behind GTA4 hoax

Richard Mitchell — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Cheats

QJ reports that they have discovered the nefarious creator of the fake GTA4 screenshot. It turns out that the infamous email from a "disgruntled Rockstar employee" came from the mail servers of none other than Imagine Publishing. Imagine is responsible for several UK gaming mags including X360 and Retro Gamer. So why in the world would a publishing company release a fake screenshot? I think QJ has the right answer: Imagine wanted a story for their next issue.

What do you think? Was it a prank gone too far or a diabolical corporate scheme?

Imagine Publishing behind GTA4 hoax originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jun 2006 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blast from the British gaming industry's past

Jennie Lees — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Retro

Nothing beats a good dose of nostalgia, and this BBC 2 documentary from the mid-eighties is certainly a joy to behold twenty years on. It focuses on Imagine Software and Ocean Software and their struggles to create innovative titles on a platform which has been pushed to the limits, in a market flooded with hundreds of developers and beset by piracy.

For those who watch this video and wish they were back in the heyday of the bedroom coder, we hear you; casual games seem to be the way forward for indie developers, until a working time machine hits the shelves.

Blast from the British gaming industry's past originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 13 Feb 2006 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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