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Prince of Persia source code successfully rescued
If you're a programmer, you may find inspiration in the source code for the original Apple II version of Prince of Persia. 23 years after the game's release, and about two weeks after finding his old floppies, Jordan Mechner has posted the source code to GitHub, where it's freely accessible.The copying took place at a "megacopy" party, assisted by digital archivist Jason Scott using various modified computer hardware. We're glad people like Mechner exist who can do things like "write Prince of Persia," and we're glad people like Scott exist who can figure out how to preserve this material for computers that aren't 35 years old. We're here to ... appreciate the effort? We're totally doing our part!
Original source code for Prince of Persia posted to Github
Before Ubisoft, there was Jordan Mechner, a Yale University graduate and video game designer. He may not be a household name among younger Apple fans, but vintage Apple aficionados fondly remember his first title, Prince of Persia. The story about this game took an interesting twist recently when the source code for the title, presumed to be lost, was found by Mechner's father. The classic game was published by Brøderbund for the Apple II back in 1989 and became an instant hit. Variations of the game eventually made its way to almost every video game platform thanks to Ubisoft which joined forces with Mechner in the early 2000s. During this transitional time from indie title to video game stardom, Mechner stored the original Prince of Persia disks and forget where he put them. According to Mechner's blog post, his father was spring cleaning and found a box of odds and ends that he sent to his son. Mechner was shocked to discover the original 3.5″ Apple ProDOS disks containing the Prince of Persia source code in that box. With the help of digital archivist Jason Scott, Mechner was able to retrieve the code and view it on his Macbook. He has now shared it on Github for the world to see.
Prince of Persia creator finds lost source code, cues delicate chip fanfare
No, we don't mean the modern interpretation and its moody sequels -- this is the 1989 original. Jordan Mechner created the first Prince of Persia game for the Apple II. However, the source code ended up lost in the sands of time -- until Mechner's dad discovered a box filled with 3.5-inch ProDOS disks. The creator's now attempting to transfer the code across to his MacBook Air and get it working on modern platforms. We just have to remember how to beat our evil reflection.
Jordan Mechner finds original Prince of Persia source code
Imagine if you happened upon a set of floppy disks containing the original source code for Prince of Persia. Chances are, you'd be pretty excited -- even if you'd already seen the code when you were writing it.Jordan Mechner, who did write Prince of Persia, received a box from his father containing a few retail Prince of Persia and Karateka packages, along with a couple of 3.5" disks. Those hold what Mechner believes to be the original Apple 2 source code for the platformer.The best news (for people who aren't Jordan Mechner): as soon as he figures out how to "extract something useful," he plans to put it online, providing a rare look at gaming history, and perhaps fodder for weird remix projects.
Prince of Persia Classic HD launches, grabs onto ledges on iOS
It's a great time for reinterpreted Jordan Mechner games. First, Mechner announces a radically updated Karateka game, and now Ubisoft has released a new remake of Prince of Persia to the iOS App Store.Prince of Persia Classic HD purports to be the original game with a new HD look -- likely very similar to that of the 2007 XBLA remake by Gameloft. But on your phone or iPad. If you prefer a more vintage presentation, that's also on the App Store as Prince of Persia Retro. It's a roughly SNES-era look.
'Prince of Persia' for Wii and 3DS, 'Rayman' for 3DS rated
Ratings have popped up in Australia for 3DS games called simply "Rayman" and "Prince of Persia," along with a Wii "Prince of Persia." Ubisoft has done plenty with both of these franchises, ensuring that we can't know for sure exactly what's been revealed here. The simplest explanation is that these listings are all for Virtual Console downloads. Prince of Persia was released on both the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, making it eligible for the 3DS Virtual Console -- and it was made for almost all of the platforms supported by the Wii Virtual Console. In addition, a game called "Rayman" was released on Game Boy Color, which was a combination of elements from Rayman 1 and 2 -- and thus providing an example of why we'd have a hard time knowing what the plain "Rayman" title referred to. [Image: GameFAQs]
Prince of Persia leaps to Commodore 64
Finally, those stalwarts who refuse to "upgrade" from their trusty Commodore 64 computers can experience that hot new game, Prince of Persia. Homebrew developer mrsid ported the 1989 game from its original Apple 2 version, making the cartridge image available for download from his site. If you have a C64 or 128 and a flashable C64 cartridge -- or, more likely, if you have a C64 emulator -- you can check out the achievement. The rest of us will have to settle for this video, which looks remarkably smooth for an unofficial port on such an old system. It drew the attention of Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner, who commented to say "I'm amazed and humbled by the amount of work this must have taken." Mechner also solved the mystery of why there wasn't an official C64 version, even though there were so many ports: "Back in 1989, when I was making POP on the Apple II, I couldn't get anyone interested in doing a C64 port," he commented, "because it was too old a system."
Ubisoft week kicks off on Steam with Prince of Persia discounts
Ubisoft's chosen to kick off its week-long series of discounts on Ubisoft titles with the company's most acrobatic franchise. For today only, shoppers can grab individual Prince of Persia titles for 66 percent off, or the Prince of Persia complete pack for 75 percent off.
Ubisoft founds motion picture division, vows to keep Jake Gyllenhaal working
Quick show of hands: how many of you like playing video games? And how many of you would like to watch movies based on video games you've played? No doubt slightly more sophisticated market research went into Ubisoft Motion Pictures, the game maker's unique approach to adapting games like Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell for film and TV, meaning we'll finally see movies about assassins. Last year's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time film grossed $335 million worldwide, surely thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal's smoldering yet boyish intensity, and the French game publisher clearly wants a bigger slice of Hollywood pie -- it also recently bought visual effects studio Hybride Technologies. You might as well get in line now for Battle Tag: The Movie.
Jordan Mechner on Prince of Persia, respecting game writers
In 1985, Jordan Mechner was thinking about baggy pants, arches and columns -- images that could be clearly conveyed in a low-resolution, pixelated computer game. While delivering his Prince of Persia postmortem during GDC earlier this month, Mechner delved into his memories, his journals (which you can read online) and his temporary departure from the game midway through development to pursue a screenwriting career in Hollywood. Mechner's interests and techniques have always been embedded in cinema. He filmed his brother David running about in a Reader's Digest parking lot with a VHS camera, and layered drawings on top of those movements (in a process called rotoscoping) to capture the protagonist's movements in Prince of Persia. You've heard that part, but you might not know about the fate of the camera that captured such iconic scurrying. According to Mechner, he purchased it, recorded the necessary footage, and then returned it within a 30-day guarantee. "I felt a little guilty about it, but I was trying to keep costs down," he said. Initially dubbed "Thief of Baghdad" (and inspired by the film of the same name), the game continued to come together in a modular fashion, at one time incorporating a full level editor that Mechner had to persistently test, making sure users couldn't introduce game-breaking bugs. "My job title was programmer, all those other things were extra."
Ubisoft puts titles on sale for iOS, PSN and PC
Squeaking in right before we all head out for the holidays, Ubisoft has announced a sale on many of its games across Apple's App Store, the PlayStation Store and its own PC game store. You can find Prince of Persia Retro, Silent Hunter Mobile and a few other iOS titles on sale in the App Store for just a buck. Ubisoft's game packs on PSN are at half price (one features the old school Prince of Persia bundled with Cell Factor, and the other contains Scott Pilgrim, TMNT Reshelled and Voodoo Dice) and the official online store for Ubisoft has 33% off most of its PC titles (with a full list after the break). None of these sales are super crazy (though that 99 cent deal for the original Prince of Persia on iOS is pretty good), but if you've been thinking of picking up something from the Assassin's Creed series or a Tom Clancy title, this deal should get you at least a few bucks off. The sale lasts until midnight PST on Christmas Day.
OnLive prices flat-rate 'PlayPack' plan at $10 per month, begins MicroConsole shipments
When we last wrote about OnLive, the "cloud gaming" service had just announced a price and ship date for its MicroConsole hardware. At the time, we also reported that it was planning to launch a flat-rate pricing plan for access to older "back catalog" titles and indie games, with a price to be announced. This morning, the company has set what's now known as the "PlayPack" plan at $9.99 per month, and will make it available to all OnLive users on January 15, 2011. PlayPack is available right now to those with the OnLive MicroConsole -- or soon to get one, as they've begun shipping to Founding Members today -- in "beta" form, free of charge until the official roll-out. Currently, the PlayPack beta offers access to a collection of about a dozen games, some new to the service (like Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider: Underworld) while others, like Unreal Tournament 3, have been on the service since it launched last summer. OnLive says it will have a library of 40 games ready for PlayPack subscribers when the for-pay tier launches in January. Looking at the finer print, some of the games "require a mouse and/or keyboard" -- which are supported in both wired and wireless flavors by the MicroConsole. Check out a partial list of games included in the PlayPack beta after the break.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time HD on PSN today
Well, that didn't take very long. A high-definition update of Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is set to arrive on the PlayStation Network starting today. Launching in Europe later this week as a single Blu-ray disc, the remastered Prince of Persia Trilogy will be brought to the American PlayStation store in three separate flavors: original, smoldering and nutty. According to the PlayStation Blog, Warrior Within (that game they made because you didn't buy Sands of Time in the first place) and The Two Thrones will launch on PSN in December. All three adventures boast 720p resolution, Trophies, 3D support and $14.99 price tags. That's $45 for the original trilogy -- and you can probably find The Forgotten Sands in a bargain bin if you're looking for even more of the classic Prince's elegant environmental puzzles.
Prince of Persia: Trilogy in HD screenshots appear on Amazon
The European PS3 re-release of the Prince of Persia trilogy is looking more real, with a trio of screenshots on the game's Amazon.co.uk listing -- of course, the existence of that listing at all provides further evidence of the game's veracity. The listing states that the collection will be released November 19. The three screens of Prince of Persia: Trilogy in HD show Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones, upscaled to 720p. According to ScrawlFX, the disc will also support stereoscopic 3D. We're following up with Ubisoft about North American plans, or at least to get some kind of real confirmation that this is actually a thing. Update: Ubisoft has informed Joystiq that the re-release is a real product, being released in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) territories only.
Ex-Ubisoft art director reveals canceled plans for modern Prince of Persia
Ubisoft once considered a rather drastic reboot for its Prince of Persia series, former employee Jonathan Jacques-Belletête revealed to Xbox World 360. Now working for Eidos, Jacques-Belletête described the canceled project as Prince of Persia "in the contemporary world." The pitch was described as "a bit Day After Tomorrow, but replace the snow with sand." The pitch was eventually shelved, likely due to the continued progress of the already in-development cel-shaded Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed. Considering the direction Ubisoft is taking the latter series, a modern PoP may have been perceived as too similar. However, given Ubisoft's quick decision to abandon the cel-shaded reboot, we wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft reconsiders reviving this idea from its vault.
Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell HD collections listed by UK retail site
High-definition updates of last generation's Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia games have popped up again, this time on a UK retail site. Eurogamer points to listings on Zavvi.com of the two Ubisoft trilogies, bundled on PlayStation 3 for £30 MSRP. Splinter Cell has a late November date attached, while PoP is listed for March 2011. Last month, the two HD collections emerged on Amazon France, both with an early November release date. The PS3 already has the God of War Collection out there, with Sly Cooper and ICO / Shadow of the Colossus bundles on the way. We've contacted Ubisoft for official word on the Splinter Cell and PoP bundle matter, but should that fail we have an asset on standby to extract the information ... through any means necessary.
Rumor: Ubisoft releasing Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia trilogies on PS3
According to Amazon France listings spotted by The Sixth Axis, both Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia franchises could be getting the Blu-ray treatment in the coming months. Unfortunately, other than a 39.95 Euro ($54) price tag and a November 2 release date, neither listing provides any real detail on what the trilogies might contain. If Ubisoft is planning to re-release these games as compilations, it's possible that they might feature updated graphics, much like last year's God of War Collection. With a Sly Cooper collection on the way -- and rumors of a Team Ico Collection refusing to go away -- we'd hardly be surprised to see third-party publishers giving their own classics another spin.
Xbox Live Avatars update: PoP, Deadliest Warrior, Monkey Island 2, Super Street Fighter IV
Wanna beef up your virtual wardrobe? Xbox Live now has new goods from The Forgotten Sands, Monkey Island 2: Special Edition and Deadliest Warrior. Or, come July 15 for 320 MS Points ($4), you can play virtual dress-up as one of the Super Street Fighter IV fighters above. Virtual cosplay is still cosplay, right?
Prince of Persia becomes highest grossing video game-based movie
Though Jerry Bruckheimer's latest opus, a film adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, wasn't received with commercial fanfare in the U.S. (it's only pulled in about $80 million domestically), it's fared far better overseas. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie's received worldwide earnings of $293 million, making it the highest grossing game-to-film adaptation to date. The previous holder of this prestigious title was the original Tomb Raider film, which currently stands at $274 million worldwide. We're overjoyed that Prince of Persia managed to surpass this record -- mainly because, hey, it's about time someone took Jon Voight down a peg or two.
XBL deal of the Week: PoP Classic for $5
The crux of the following post is this: Prince of Persia Classic is on sale for 400 ($5) this week. There are some other things on sale as well, but you don't really need to know about them. You can just proceed directly to the bottom of this post and follow the Xbox Live Marketplace link to Prince of Persia Classic. ... Okay fine, if you really want to know what the other deals are, here we go. First, you can pick up some Transformers 2 DLC for 400 ($5). Second, Watchmen: The End is Nigh is available for 800 ($10) instead of the usual, ridiculous 1600 ($20). There. Happy? Now go buy Prince of Persia Classic. Xbox.com: Add Prince of Persia Classic to your Xbox 360 download queue ($5) Xbox.com: Add Transformers 2 Character and Map Pack Plus to your Xbox 360 download queue ($5) Xbox.com: Add Watchmen: The End is Nigh to your Xbox 360 download queue ($10)
