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Ubisoft envisions a future of 3-D movies, games

by Richard Mitchell { Dec 1st 2009 at 2:00AM }

Older readers out there might think that the 3D gaming revolution began with the advent of consoles like the PlayStation, N64 and the Sega Saturn, but the real 3D gaming revolution is just beginning, according to Ubisoft. 3D gaming doesn't refer to three dimensional graphics anymore; nowadays it means that the game jumps out of the screen and into your eye holes. Beginning with the game adaptation of James Cameron's Avatar, Ubisoft Montreal's Yannis Mallat tells the Financial Post that he sees the company becoming a "360-degree entertainment content provider."

As the wording suggests, Ubisoft's future won't necessarily be restricted to games. Mallat hopes that future game consoles will be able to render photorealistic graphics, enabling Ubisoft to create games and films using the same assets -- similar to what the company did with the Assassin's Creed: Lineage short films.

Of course, enjoying this "360-degree entertainment" will require a special television set. Still, Mallat is firmly behind the technology, saying that it does for images what Dolby did for sound. "No one wants to go back to mono," says Mallat. That's all well and good, but a huge number of gamers have yet to even upgrade to an HDTV at all, let alone one that can take advantage of 3D technology.

[Via VideoGamer]

Prince of Persia dialogue writer wins UK Writer's Guild award

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 30th 2009 at 8:00PM }

The 2008 reboot of the Prince of Persia franchise (which, apparently, is getting shut down) featured some of the most enjoyable snark and pith we've ever heard in a video game. Fortunately, Andy Walsh, the man responsible for the Prince and Elika's sharp-tongued exchanges, was recently recognized for his witty dialogue when he won the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Games Award last night in London.

Normally, this is where we'd drop in a quote from Walsh about how excited he was to receive the award, but it doesn't seem that anyone initiated the optional dialogue with him following the Writers' Guild awards ceremony. Too bad, something tells us we've missed out on the best part.

Ubisoft first-half profits plummet into loss

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 30th 2009 at 4:01PM }

Among the comprehensive list of numbers in Ubisoft's first half fiscal 2009-10 report, measuring performance in April through September 2009, one figure stands out: the French company's reported €52,027,000 in not-profit. That's right, Ubisoft's profits are down by more than €70 million (over $100 million) from the same period last year to rest firmly in the red.

From a profitable first half of fiscal 2008-09 of roughly €24 million to just over €52 million in losses in the first half of fiscal 2009-10, Ubisoft's profits have experienced a year-over-year change of -316.53 percent. However, CEO Yves Guillemot remains steadfast that projected sales figures for Assassin's Creed 2 and Avatar will ease Ubisoft's financial woes. This is, after all, the most important Q4 in the company's history.

Ubisoft planning 10 games for Natal, '4 to 5' for PlayStation Motion Controller

by Christopher Grant { Nov 30th 2009 at 2:25PM }

During the question and answer portion of an investor conference call this afternoon, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot clarified his company's commitment to developing games for both the Xbox 360's still-codenamed Project Natal and the PlayStation 3's hopefully-still-codenamed PlayStation Motion Controller. "We have about ten games that will come for Natal during the first six months of the launch of Natal, and we expect between four to five games for the new controller from Sony," Guillemot explained. "That's the picture at the moment, it can change in the next twelve months." (That "twelve months" reference doesn't bode well for Sony's purported "Spring 2010" third-party launch lineup for the motion controller.)

When asked if those games were all new properties, or motion-enhanced updates of existing franchises (like Prince of Persia), Guillemot responded, "I didn't count the games that in fact are supporting the new functions that those accessories will bring. I was more speaking about casual games that we are doing on those two machines; we can consider that on those games it's 70 percent new property." Or – if you consider Guillemot's suggestion of ten games for Natal and "four to five" for PlayStation Motion Controller – that's roughly ten new casual properties coming from Ubisoft.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands to continue 'Sands of Time' series

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 30th 2009 at 12:33PM }

Ubisoft has just announced a new Prince of Persia -- but it's not a sequel to 2008's polarizing adventure (if desired, add unhappy emoticons to sentence). Instead, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will continue the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ~~trilogy~~ series, complete with "many of the fan-favorite elements" and "new gameplay innovations that gamers have come to expect from the Prince of Persia brand." Oh, and an accompanying film!

You can catch the game's premiere trailer on Spike TV's Video Game Awards on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 8 p.m. EST. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is scheduled for release on "consoles and handhelds" in May 2010.

Avatar mutliplayer trailer pits giant blue things against humans

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 29th 2009 at 7:30PM }

It could happen this week, it could happen next week, but sometime in the month of December, Ubisoft will decide to liberate Avatar from the shackles of game development. And when that happens, we're prepared to go directly online and start popping 10-foot blue things with our big human weapons. This is about survival, ya dig?

It appears that in addition to simply plugging bullets into the creatures, Ubisoft will also be allowing for some form of capture the flag (wait, isn't this about survival?). Other than that one crucial detail, the only info we gleaned from the multiplayer trailer above is that there'll be a ton of explosions, even more mid-air flip-kicks, and explosion/flip-kick-laden jungle combat when the game does finally come out. For now, unfortunately, you'll have to sate yourselves with something totally boring like Modern Warfare 2. Humans against humans? Pssshhht, that's so mid-November.

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

Report: Splinter Cell: Conviction to have co-op, new multiplayer mode

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 29th 2009 at 10:30AM }

According to a recent post on CVG, the publishing partner of PC Zone magazine, the next issue of the latter will drop some knowledge on us regarding Splinter Cell: Conviction's multiplayer modes. CVG reports that the last issue of PC Zone teases an article on Conviction, claiming the piece will feature "hands-on, co-op reveal and a brand new mode."

If the game truly does have co-operative play, then we're kinda bummed about the aesthetic changes the title has undergone over the past year. Can you imagine: Secret two-man hobo operations to blow up a whole park's worth of hot dog stands? Party game of the year.

Gallery: Splinter Cell Conviction

So there's this squid in Assassin's Creed 2

by Justin McElroy { Nov 25th 2009 at 3:40PM }

As if you needed another reason to love Assassin's Creed II, the video just below the break shows that it also contains our very favorite kind of squid: a secret squid. Apparently, staring into a pool in the last chamber of the Santa Maria Delle Visitazione for just under a minute will net you a visit from the sizable cephalopod you see in the image above.

Just as a warning, the video has a couple of instances of profanity. Why you'd want to sully such a beautiful moment is, frankly, beyond us.

[Thanks, Sean!]

Continued →

OPM: Ubisoft writer claims 'pretty exciting' Far Cry 3 in the works

by David Hinkle { Nov 24th 2009 at 7:30PM }

Kevin Shortt, master wordsmith at Ubisoft Montreal, has allegedly confirmed to Official PlayStation Magazine UK (via CVG) that Far Cry 3 is in development at the Canadian super-studio. Most of you know that we had no problem heaping copious amounts of praise upon Far Cry 2, one of our Top 10 games of 2008, so a third installment is most certainly welcome in these parts. Sadly, Shortt didn't say whether Ubisoft has decided to go with Africa again for the setting, but offered that what he's seen of the game looks "pretty exciting."

So ... that's pretty exciting, right?

Sony replaces faulty Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines download

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 24th 2009 at 5:00PM }

"Yes, there was an issue with the original download," a Sony Europe spokesperson has told Eurogamer. Said issue, which rendered PAL digital copies of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines dead on arrival, was rectified by replacing the PSP file on the European PlayStation store -- though this came at a cost to those who had already been greeted by the defective copy's never-ending loading screen. According to the spokesperson, "It was pulled from the store and we are issuing replacement codes for those people who purchased the content before 12PM GMT on November 20."

Developed by Griptonite Games, Bloodlines follows the protagonist of 2007's Assassin's Creed, complete with 3D free-running and an Altair native control scheme.

Ubisoft: Assassin's Creed II sold 1.6 million in first week

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 24th 2009 at 10:45AM }

A recent Ubisoft press release has revealed that the company is just so darn proud of its latest bundle of joy, Assassin's Creed II. According to the publisher's own internal estimates, the game has sold 1.6 million units worldwide in its first week of availability -- a 32 percent increase over the launch week sales of Assassin's Creed the First. The company also touted the game's impressive critical reception, highlighting the game's 94 percent user rating on Gamespot and an average critic's rating of 91 percent on GameRankings.com.

We're glad to hear Assassin's Creed II is doing so well despite being the follow-up to a fairly polarizing blockbuster. Also, here's a cool Digital Foundry time-lapse video showing off the game's day and night cycles. Yeah, we know that has nothing to do with what we were just talking about. Deal with it. We drop non sequiturs like Ezio Auditore drops corrupt, 15th century Italian noblemen.

Talent, not just tax breaks, drawing devs to Canada

by Justin McElroy { Nov 20th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Tax breaks are a great way to get developers interested in Canada, according to minister of economic development and trade for Ontario Sandra Pupatello, but they may not be the best way to keep them there. Pupatello worries that while trying to entice devs, competing provinces could drive tax breaks to an untenable position. She says that nuturing a talent pool should be the bigger focus, an approach that has worked in Ontario.

"We knew that Ubisoft establishing a significant footprint in Ontario would in itself would help tell the story of what's available," Pupatello told Develop. "Why would Ubisoft come unless they knew that they were going to get absolutely the best talent?"

Uh, free health care and the staggering availability of Tim Hortons?

Users report faulty digital copies of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 20th 2009 at 2:30PM }

Some of those eager to immerse themselves in Altair's portable crusade in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines have allegedly been denied entry into the Animus. This has, in turn, led to animosity being expressed on Sony's message boards and our tips line. According to complaints, the downloadable version (the game is also available on UMD) freezes during its initial loading screen, regardless of PSP model.

Based on user comments, the hobbled file originated from the European PlayStation Store and has since been bumped off -- to be replaced with a working version soon, hopefully. We'll keep an eye on things (and your comments below) while we await a response from Ubisoft.

Update: Sony has replaced the faulty download and offered replacement codes to those affected.

Source -- Official PlayStation Forums
Source -- EU PlayStation Blog comments
Source -- Youtube video [Thanks, Gian]

DigitalFoundry compares Assassin's Creed II on 360, PS3

by Justin McElroy { Nov 19th 2009 at 9:00PM }

Okay, if you want honesty: we can't usually tell the difference between Xbox 360 and PS3 clips when put side-by-side. We've been gaming since characters were less detailed than gingerbread men, so comparison clips always look like two gateways to the future chugging along next to each other. But if DigitalFoundry tells us there's juddering, then we're inclined to believe them, no matter what juddering actually means.

Luckily, the team seems to be pretty happy with the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed II, following the original iteration's disappointing performance on the platform. That said, though the two consoles versions are much closer to each other this time, the site still leans towards the Xbox 360 version of the game for its sharper picture and smoother performance.

For what it's worth, we think they're both winners.

Avatar's third dev diary is all about choices

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 18th 2009 at 5:00PM }

Okay, okay – we'll admit that the transparent dry erase board thing is a bit on the "too much" side of things, but Avatar's third dev diary contains enough interesting information about the game in it otherwise that we feel okay forgiving the clip's director. The emphasis here is on the game's many choices, and, more specifically, the one major choice which mirrors the movie's plot. Will you choose the path of the human and murder a tall blue alien ... thing, or stand up for all that is righteous and good in the world? The choice is yours (you monster!).