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Far Cry 2 Coming, Sayeth Ubisoft

Far Cry 2 logo

Ubisoft doesn’t think you should be getting too excited about Crysis. According to them, Far Cry 2 is going to be the new hawtness. In fact, they’re pretty confident that Far Cry 2 is going to be the game to raise the bar in the FPS arena:

“Far Cry marked the beginning of a new era for shooters. An era of gorgeous graphics and of advanced artificial intelligence,” declared John Parkes, EMEA marketing director at Ubisoft. “We are confident that Far Cry 2 will have the same impact again on the FPS genre landscape.”

Never mind the fact that Far Cry 2 isn’t being developed by Crytek, or that they don’t have shiny screenshots to show off. It’s just going to be awesome. Plus, you’ll be able to look forward to the ports! Far Cry 2: Instinctual Predation - Evolution of Vengeance coming soon to the the PS2, Wii, Gamecube, Xbox, GBA, and your cell phone.

Snarkiness aside, the game will be developed by Ubisoft’s Montreal Studios who also worked on Splinter Cell and the Prince of Persia series, so we can probably expect some pretty good things. From the look of the preview website, it looks like the game may take place in the African savannah, but we’ll have to wait for Ubi to give us any more tidbits of info (such as platforms, release dates, and all that other important stuff).

Read More | Far Cry 2 Teaser Site

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The Min-E3 2007 Games Lineup

E3 logoSure, the convention is much smaller this year and all, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a ton of games to be seen. Eurogamer has posted a list of the announced lineups and then some of what you’ll be seeing at E3. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have been quiet on what they’ll be showing, so it looks like we’ll need to wait until their respective showings to know for sure. The event is taking place next week, so expect it to be a busy week in news.

But please, please, please, Nintendo, show me Animal Crossing Wii. Something. Anything. Please?

Read More | Eurogamer

Assassin’s Creed Coming This November

Assassin's Creed

The highly anticipated Prince of Persia-like Assassin’s Creed has finally been given a timeframe for release; the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions will all be released in November. Naturally, a limited edition will be available for what is becoming the standard price of $69.99 (unless your name happens to be Grand Theft Auto or Halo), and includes the following:

  • Tin box
  • Penny Arcade comics
  • Altair figure
  • Mini strategy guide
  • Trailers, documentaries, other videos

Normally I’m ready to pounce on the fact that every single game nowadays has some sort of Limited Special Collector’s Edition, but Assassin’s Creed is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year; this one looks like it deserves an LE.


Ubisoft Milks Raving Rabbids, Steals Ad Ideas

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo DS, Party Games, Ubisoft, Wii,

Raving Rabbids 2 Logo

So the real gaming news is that Ubisoft will be releasing Rayman: Raving Rabbids 2 for the Wii and DS. According to IGN.com, the game will focus much more on the Rabbids themselves, and much less on Rayman. Personally, this sounds to me like a great idea - the bunnies have enough charm to be a franchise all their own, so there’s no need to tie in a popular platformer character (especially when the game retains little of what the original Rayman series was all about). The game is expected to hit in Fall 2007, no exact date given yet.

OK, now with all that NEWS out of the way, isn’t it just a little odd how closely that graphic above resembles the advertisement for a certain other hyper-kinetic rabbity thing? I’m guessing Telltale Games will have a good sense of humor about Ubisoft using their idea, but maybe RRR2 should give Max a cameo as compensation…

Read More | GoNintendo.com

Original Prince of Persia Hitting XBLA

Prepare to work hard to get these achievements… the original Prince of Persia, that’s right the 2D side-scroller with play-control of doom will be making its way to the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade. As a bonus, it’ll feature updated graphics (think 2.5D) and from the look of this trailer you can expect a few added surprises. As Joystiq is keen to point out, this game will tie in graphically with the Sands of Time game, featuring the emo-prince character model that we’ve all come to know and love (except in Warrior Within of course - there was nothing loveable about him there).

The original PoP and it’s 2D sequel are some of my fondest old-school gaming memories, so I’m hoping the folks developing this re-telling don’t screw it up. It’s all in the ridiculously hard play control, guys. We’re guessing around $10.00 for pricing (800 MS Points), and it’s slated to be released Q2 this year.

Read More | YouTube.com

Assassin’s Creed Dated, Pre-Orders Available for 360, PS3

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, PlayStation 3, Rumors, Xbox 360,

Assassins Kickin' it Old Skool

Looks like Assassin’s Creed may be taking a chunk of time out of your beginnig-of-quarter studying schedule, for all you gamer-students out there. If Amazon.com‘s listing is correct, the game will be launching on September 25th this year. Currently, you can pre-order the Ubisoft game for either Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3, from Amazon’s website, for $59.99. Interestingly, there’s also an Assassin’s Creed DS listing over at Amazon, but we’re not going to give that too much credibility.

Personally, I can’t wait to see if there’s any difference between the 360 and PS3 versions of the title. Given that the game was one of the most visually impressive demonstrations of the PS3 hardware, it’ll be interesting to see how the worst-kept non-exclusivity secret in gaming plays on supposedly inferior hardware.

Read More | Amazon.com

TMNT Confirmed For Xbox Live Arcade

TMNT ArcadeUbisoft has confirmed that the classic Konami arcade game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade in the near future. One of the best parts about the original arcade game was four-player support, and this will make its way over to the Xbox Live version, supporting co-op play locally or over Xbox Live. The game will sell for a mere 400 Points ($5) and should appear by the end of the month, to tie in with the upcoming movie release.

Read More | IGN

Ubisoft Announces “Cosmic Family” for Wii

Cosmic Family ScreenshotWhile the Xbox 360 is the current king of the online arena, there’s likewise little doubt that the Wii is quickly becoming king of the mini- and micro-game arena. Rayman: Raving Rabbids and now WarioWare: Smooth Moves have proven to be great entries on the mini-game front, and Ubisoft will soon be releasing it’s second entry, Cosmic Family. The Fam’ will be a more (surprise!) family-oriented game and is “designed to improve children’s memory, hand-eye coordination, creativity and imagination.” It sounds like a great idea, especially given the Wii’s implementation of a simple point-n-click interface.

Any bets on whether the Wii may be taking a chunk of business away from the LeapFrog in the near future?  Cosmic Family will be launching in mid-2007, and we’ll keep our eyes open for screenshots and gameplay impressions as the title develops.

The full press release can be found after the jump…

Click to continue reading Ubisoft Announces “Cosmic Family” for Wii

Read More | Ubisoft.com

Ubisoft Announces New Titles, Raises Profit Forecast

Ubisoft LogoUbisoft today announced their first semester results, and sales overall were up 13% to €172 million year over year. In addition, the company revised its 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 guidance based on their software line-ups for the next semester and upcoming fiscal year. While titles Assassin’s Creed and Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway have been pushed into the 2007-2008 fiscal year, Ubisoft announced that a new title, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 would be launching in their stead. Ubisoft also announced that seven Wii titles would be available at launch, with seven more following by March 2007, including a mystery title yet to be named. Overall, it appears that Ubisoft is championing their current line-up for next-generation consoles, and is leveraging its position on the Wii towards its revised growth figures.

Read More | Ubisoft

Ubisoft To Charge $19.99 For Big Hunk Of Plastic

Wii WheelUbisoft’s steering wheel controller for the Wii, essentially a circular frame for the Wii remote, will be included free with two of its launch titles. However, gamers that would like to buy this big piece of molded plastic separately will have to pay $19.99 as reported by GameSpot. Given that there are no electronics in the wheel “add-on” it seems likely that an enterprising third-party could do something very similar for much cheaper.

Read More | GameSpot

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