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Red Steel 2 hitting store shelves in Wii MotionPlus bundle
As one would assume, a samurai western video game with a heavy focus on the implementation of a peripheral that allows for alleged 1:1 digital sword maneuvering will be hitting store shelves bundled with said attachment. Or, to put it in monosyllabic terms, we just learned at the Ubisoft press conference that the Wii MotionPlus exclusive Red Steel 2 will be bundled with Wii MotionPlus at launch. Are you like, totally surprised?
Ubisoft gives clearer picture of Splinter Cell, Red Steel release dates
We still have no idea why it's taken Sam Fisher so long to return to us, but at least now we have a better idea of when he'll be back. Ubisoft narrowed the release date for Splinter Cell: Conviction to Q3 of this fiscal year (between November 2009 and December 2009) in a conference call this morning.We also got narrower release windows for games like Assassin's Creed 2 (Q3), Red Steel 2 (Q3) and Ghost Recon 4 (Q4). You can check out the full list right here.
Analysts predict over ten million sales for MotionPlus
Both Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter and EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich expect the Wii MotionPlus peripheral to achieve sales of around ten million units in the US and Europe. The two just disagree on how long it will take. Pachter believes that the sales will happen early on, driven by bundles of early MotionPlus compatible software: "I think around 20 percent of Wii owners in the US and Europe will have bought Wii Sports Resort, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 or EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis," Pachter told Edge, "so that's around eight million." He added, "I think another two million will buy MotionPlus with new consoles."Divnich thinks three million units will sell through this holiday season, but it will take an additional year to achieve the ten-million-plus level of sales. "For the Wii MotionPlus, we currently expect the install base to reach over 11 million units by the end of Nintendo's next fiscal year in March 2011, a 15 percent penetration."Both analysts think Red Steel 2 is a risk that could pay off for Ubisoft. "Red Steel 2 may come along at precisely the right time, around when people are ready for another [MotionPlus] game," Pachter said. "The risk is really more a function of competition, compounded by the risk that Ubisoft could make a bad game." Both analysts believe that Red Steel 2 will be bundled with a MotionPlus.
Red Steel 2 promo video lands on YouTube
Where did it come from? Who knows. What we do know is that a promotional video for Ubisoft's recently revealed, Wii-exclusive Red Steel 2 -- prefaced by a screen bearing the words "Destination PlayStation" for no logical reason -- has been uploaded to YouTube. The roughly minute-and-a-half video talks up the game's Wii MotionPlus-infused gameplay and depicts a guy (we'll call him "Joe Gamer") swinging away in his living room as some surprisingly good looking gameplay footage is shown.We say "surprisingly" because it appears to be much sharper than Wii's 480p visuals are capable of. It is nice and smooth, which is in keeping with the game's purported 60 frames-per-second action. Pre-rendered or not, we totally dig the visual style, Ubisoft. More, please.Get thyself an eyeful after the break.[Via GoNintendo]
Red Steel 2 is MotionPlus exclusive, cel-shaded
As you probably already know, the latest issue of Nintendo Power blows the doors off of the recently announced sequel to the Wii's slightly disappointing, sword/gun-toting FPS launch title, Red Steel. Now that the mag has landed in a few quivering, anticipatory hands, more details about Red Steel 2 are beginning to surface.First and foremost, the title will apparently be cel-shaded -- hinted at by the sole piece of concept art we received yesterday, and confirmed by a number of scans which are beginning to creep onto the internets. Also, we recently got confirmation from Nintendo Power itself that the game will be "Wii MotionPlus exclusive," a phrase we can only interpret to mean "you need a MotionPlus dongle to play it." (Are you guys comfortable with calling it a dongle? That's such a lovely word. Don-gle.)We'll let you know when we hear even more facts about the game. And by facts, we don't mean "my brother's girlfriend's sister's stepmom goes to a beauty parlor where she read about Red Steel 2 while waiting for her bouffant to dry."[Thanks, Fernando Rocker!]
Red Steel 2 coming in holiday 2009
Click to embiggen. The Red Steel 2 media onslaught continues today with the official announcement from Ubisoft. There's not a lot new to talk about, but we did learn that Ubisoft Paris is on development and that we'll get to slice and shoot our way through the game this holiday season.They also sent along some not particularly enlightening concept art that you can see for yourself by clicking the snippet above.
Red Steel 2 goes to the Wild West, adds MotionPlus support
Red Steel 2 is real ... and it's not really what we were expecting. The June 2009 issue of Nintendo Power will feature Ubisoft's Wii-exclusive sequel, and the cover reveals two things: MotionPlus makes wielding the sword feel "as real as you'd always dreamed!" Red Steel 2 seems to take place in the Wild West ... with swords. WTF? Now, before you freak out, let's not forget that the Wild West and the East have merged together quite successfully in the past. If Red Steel 2 turns out anything like the Charles Bronson / Toshiro Mifune mashup Red Sun, it should be the best game ever made. Check out the cover after the break.[Thanks, Fernando Rocker]
Guillemot accidentally confirms Red Steel 2
Ubisoft has stopped short of saying HEY GUYS RED STEEL 2 IS TOTALLY COMING, but we can be reasonably certain it's on the way.Previously, the game's producer has talked openly about the sequel to Ubisoft's Wii launch slash-a-thon, and now it seems Ubi CEO Yves Guillemots has really given the game away, with a careless slip of Gallic tongue.Speaking at a conference call earlier today, Guillemots announced that "We have lots of products coming for the Wii next [fiscal] year. We have Red Steel --," before halting himself mid-sentence and apologizing. Whoops! Call us wild rumor-mongers if you like, but it's safe to assume that the next word out of Guillemot's mouth would have been "2."%Gallery-42920%
Assassin's Creed 2, Red Steel 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Ghost Recon coming by March 2010
Straight out of Ubisoft's Q308 earnings call comes news that Assassin's Creed 2 – the not-so-secret sequel to the 6 million plus selling megahit – will be silently leaping onto consoles "by March 2010" according to the Twitter feed of gaming gournalist Geoff Keighley Ubisoft's third quarter earnings report.Ubi's forecasting for its 2009 fiscal year – running from April 2009 through March 2010 – takes "into account ... 7 franchise titles" including Assassin's Creed 2, the mysterious (still Xbox exclusive?) Splinter Cell Conviction, and Ghost Recon. Some quick finger-based math tells us that leaves four unannounced "franchise titles." Beyond Good and Evil 2, maybe? Red Steel 2, perhaps? Throw us a bone here!Update: Ubi's CEO Yves Guillemot "mentioned a game that [he] wasn't supposed to mention" during today's conference call. Guillemot blurted out, "We have lots of products coming for the Wii next [fiscal] year. We have Red Steel" before apologizing for his indiscretion. We imagine a room full of PR reps rolling their eyes. Sacrebleu!PDF – Ubisoft Q308 earnings report
Ubisoft director: Red Steel 2 to support Wii MotionPlus
Ubisoft Executive Director Alain Corre has revealed in an interview with Gamesindustry that Red Steel 2, at one time Ubisoft's worst-kept secret, will support the new Wii MotionPlus attachment (which is exactly what we speculated in our Wii Sports Resort hands-on). "It's true that on Red Steel it's the typical product that will appreciate the new device," said Corre, who also indicated that he found out about the peripheral during Nintendo's press conference, like every other developer. The first Red Steel launched with the Wii console and met with tepid reviews, and while Corre admits the game was "a bit rushed," he also said the game is still selling well – "at a lower pricer, of course." While the thoughts of precise swordfighting has intrigued, we don't want to get our hopes up.
MotionPlus accessory adds hope to Red Steel 2
The Wii MotionPlus accessory is probably the best thing that could happen to Red Steel, and, luckily, Ubisoft has figured out this staggeringly obvious fact. The company has announced that they'll be using the new motion-tracking device in Red Steel 2, which is still yet to be officially announced itself. Although now that the game's producer is giving interviews about it, we can be pretty sure it's coming.Adding the new technology will no doubt add to the already lengthy development cycle of the sequel, and accordingly no release window is given for Red Steel 2. This is the first game other than Wii Sports Resort that has been revealed to use the MotionPlus peripheral, so it's at least ahead of the curve in aspects not related to actually being available in a store.
