assassins-creed-2
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BAFTA people's choice GOTY voting now open
Do you live in the UK and dream every night about the possibility of one day voting on a people's choice game of the year award? Right, us neither, but if you're into that kinda thing, UK retailer GAME is holding the second annual GAME British Academy Video Games Awards at the London Hilton on March 19 and you can vote for the awards show's top "honour." Sure, you can't actually buy tickets and attend or anything crazy like that (the event is live-streamed online, in fairness), but you still have just over a month to put in your vote for one of the 10 games in the running -- games that were chosen from a list comprising "the top selling games of the year sold in GAME stores." At the very least, voters will automatically be entered into a contest to win a "Sony Home Entertainment Package," so, if nothing else, there's always the possibility of winning a Sony ... something (or somethings). Click through or glance a few inches up for the people's choice award contestant list.
Assassin's Creed 2 ships 8 million, next game returns to Rome
Speaking in an investor call, following the release of Ubisoft's fiscal third-quarter financial results, company CEO Yves Guillemot made it abundantly clear as to why another Assassin's Creed will unsheathe its stabby things before April 2011. According to Guillemot, Assassin's Creed 2, which launched in November 2009 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, has shipped 8 million copies. The original Assassin's Creed had sold just as many by June 2009 -- roughly 18 months after its debut. Although details regarding the new Assassin's Creed -- set to star Ezio and some online friends -- remain slim, Guillemot wasn't mum on milieu: "This time, [Ezio] will strike directly against the templar's order in Rome." Can this Rome be built in a year, just in time for Holiday 2010?
Ubisoft details first quarter 2010 releases; reveals Anno for iPhone
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]
Assassin's Creed 2 MP on iPhone isn't the teased multiplayer game
Okay, internet, deep breath. In. Out. Good. Now, the news: It turns out that the recently revealed iPhone title, Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer, is totally, 100 percent NOT the multiplayer Assassin's Creed game that Ubisoft announced last month. While Ubisoft didn't see fit to respond to our (multiple) inquiries, the company informed MTV's Multiplayer that the two different projects are, in fact, two different projects. Specifically, when asked if the iPhone game and the multiplayer project were the same, an Ubisoft representative responded, "Nope." Of course, that doesn't mean it's not another iPhone game. We'll just have to wait and see.
Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer announced for ... iPhone?
We thought that, for a change, we'd give you the facts before we got into the crazy, reactionary speculation. There is a page on Ubisoft's website announcing an odd-looking, top-down multiplayer game for the iPhone called Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer. In it, you attempt to kill three other players across WiFi before they kill you. Last month, Ubisoft announced a new Assassin's Creed game with a multiplayer mode that would feature Assassin's Creed II star Ezio. It did not note a platform. OK, facts out of the way. BWAH?! It's not, right? No, they can't be the same thing. At least, we're pretty sure they're not. ... You know what? We're just going to call Ubisoft. Well, it's early on the West Coast yet. We'll email. Don't you worry, dear reader, we're going to get this all sorted out. [Via Touch Arcade; thanks, Colmiak]
Assassin's Creed II: Discovery back on iPhone
Like, for serious this time! We know the game initially snuck into the App Store, only to evade our attempts to download by vanishing into the night almost as quickly as it came, but now it's back for good. Ubisoft has announced that iPhone and iPod Touch users can now download Assassin's Creed II: Discovery for $9.99 -- around twice the cost of hiring a pack of 15th-century prostitutes to distract some guards for you. Nowadays, you don't even want to know how much that costs. Thanks, inflation! Download Assassin's Creed II: Discovery - $9.99 %Gallery-83533%
New costumes, spaces are Home-ward bound
Sony's official Playstation blog has posted a rundown of what's new in Home this coming week, and it looks like you'll have a few different costumes, personal spaces, and even a couple of contests to pick from. First up, the costumes: Not only will the Bioshock suit finally be available, but there's a special edition Ezio costume from Assassin's Creed II as well. There's a brand new personal space named London Pub created by VEEMEE, complete with dart game, beer taps, and working restrooms. And there are new items for the Paris Clock Tower personal space, as well as Fantasy and Victorian clothing bundles to buy. As for contests, they're currently running MAG contests in Central Plaza (where you can get free t-shirts of the game's factions), and Zombieland contests that ask you to answer trivia questions posted around the environment. Other than those promotions, new stuff ain't cheap: The London Pub is $5.99, and the other items and costumes will cost you, too. But what's the cost of one beer at a swanky authentic pub when you could buy a virtual copy of the whole place?
Assassin's Creed 2 for PC arriving in Europe on March 4
Assassin's Creed 2 on PC will apparently land at European retailers (both digital and brick-and-mortar, presumably with both hidden blades extended) on March 4, an Ubisoft rep has told Joystiq. Like the North American iteration, AC2 on PC will have the "Battle for Forli" and "Bonfire of the Vanities" DLC packs included in the "Director's Cut" version of the game. You've got about two months to get started on building that dream PC you've always wanted to handle the game's specs -- we suggest you get crackin' immediately. %Gallery-49869%
'Splosion Man 'splores $5 price point next week
Twisted Pixel's highly combustible Xbox Live Arcade platformer and object of Joystiq adoration, 'Splosion Man, will headline the upcoming Marketplace schedule (as relayed by Major Nelson) with a temporary 50-percent price reduction. After dropping to 400 ($5) for the week of February 1, 'Splosion Man should prove more challenging to blow off than up. Other highlights include Chime, February 3's non-profit Xbox Live Arcade release from Zoe Mode and OneBigGame, the Halo 3 Mythic 2 Map Pack, and the first part of Assassin's Creed 2 downloadable content, "Battle of Forli." Expect a Joystiq review on that closer to its January 28 launch.
Assassin's Creed II PC specs, date revealed
Joystiq's #2 game of 2009 is finally leaping onto PC on March 16. Ubisoft doesn't seem too apologetic about the four-month delay, pricing the game at $59.99 (a higher price usually reserved for console releases) for both retail and digital versions. However, the PC edition of Assassin's Creed II will act as a pseudo "director's cut" of the game, and it will include two upcoming DLC episodes, Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities. In addition to the standard PC version, Ubisoft has announced a special "Black Edition" of Assassin's Creed II for $64.99. The press release is incredibly vague about what extras it may contain, simply referring to them as "additional content." An Ubisoft representative remained cryptic about the bonuses, too, promising a "reveal in February," which suggests that the content could differ from the "Black Edition" released on consoles. Check out the PC specs after the break.
Assassin's Creed 2 DLC 'Battle of Forli' available Jan. 28
Ubisoft has just tweeted what we've all been waiting for: the release date of the first promised bit of DLC for Assassin's Creed 2, "Battle of Forli." The add-on will be out next Thursday, January 28, for a meager sum of 320 / $3.99 on Xbox Live and PSN. We say "meager" because, well, Ubisoft could totally get away with charging us more. We very much liked that Assassin's Creed 2 game, but shh, don't tell them that! We wouldn't want to give them any ideas for pricing the "Bonfire of Vanities" DLC next month! The "Battle of Forli" has players defending the Forli base against the attacking Orsi brothers. Ezio enlists the aid of Machiavelli and Caterina Sforza in this task across the segment of six new playable memories.
Nathan Drake hoping to take home more shiny trinkets at AIAS awards
We're in the thick of awards season, and video games are no exception. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced its finalists for the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards ("The 'Racties" -- we're kidding but that's what they should be called), and, as you might have guessed, award hog Uncharted 2: Among Thieves leads the pack with 15 nominations. The rest of the nominees include more of the usual suspects from 2009: Assassin's Creed II with 10 noms, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with nine and Batman: Arkham Asylum with eight. This year's awards also features three new categories, including Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Portable and Social Networking Games of the Year. You can find a list of selected categories and their nominees after the break, or check out the Academy's full list in PDF form. The awards will be given out at the DICE Summit on February 18 in Las Vegas, where Activision's Bobby Kotick is scheduled to keynote. We can only guess that he'll go all Kanye on the podium if Modern Warfare 2 doesn't win.
GTA tops the list, and other game news
For some reason there's a flood of gaming news coming from the App Store this afternoon. So we've rounded it up for you to take in all in one read: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [iTunes link] has reached the top-grossing spot on the store in just two days, which means it's probably taken over the previous record holder. Good news for full-scale gamers: we can expect to see more direct ports from other handheld platforms like the DS and the PSP. Still not sure if GTA is worth the $10? Stay tuned for our review later tonight. Sega is releasing an Ultimate Genesis Collection on the App Store, which is more or less an official emulator. You get Space Harrier II with the free download, and then in-game purchases allow you to pick up other Sega games: Sonic for $6, Ecco the Dolphin for $3, and so on. They've released these games separately before, but this will give them a one-stop hub for official versions of older classics. Assassin's Creed II Discovery, the iPhone version of the Ubisoft hit, will reappear on the App Store in February at $9.99. In this interview with Appmodo, producer Ben Mattes talks about the iPhone and what Ubisoft plans to do with it. Finally, Magnacarta II is an RPG for the Xbox 360 that now has a character guide iPhone app. We've seen PC titles release complimentary apps before, but this is the first instance (I know of) where a console game has supplemented their release with an iPhone guide. Something to keep an eye on. Exciting news all around! Looks like some major developers are finally starting to figure out some interesting and profitable ways to take advantage of Apple's handheld platform.
Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery pouncing onto iPhone this Feb.
Besides that hidden blade you've fashioned for yourself out of old rollerblade bearings and a letter opener, there hasn't really been a great way to get the feeling of Assassin's Creed 2 while on the go. Sure, there's the Nintendo DS game, the first AC on iPhone, and the limited time accidental release of Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery a few weeks back, but now we've finally got an official release date of February 1 for the DS-to-iPhone port. Like the DS game, Ezio's adventures on the iPhone will take him to 15th-century Spain where he's tasked with rescuing assassins that are "being held under the guise of the Inquisition," when he learns of "a Templar plan to sail west and discover the New World." What a bunch of discoverers those guys are -- sheesh! In preparation for the game's imminent release, we've got a handful of new screens below. %Gallery-83533%
GDC Awards nominees announced, Drake leads the pack
We've just received a press release revealing which titles will be vying for top honors at the 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, held in conjunction with GDC 2010 on March 11. If you're not familiar with the show, picture the Kids Choice Awards, only ... with video game developers choosing the winners instead of teenagers. Or, alternatively, imagine the VGAs, only without all the half-naked women, pot references and awards named after highly caffeinated soft drinks. You'll see some familiar names on the full list of nominees posted after the jump. Uncharted 2 netted seven nominations, Flower managed to grab five, and Assassin's Creed II ended up with four. Will Ezio be snubbed by Nathan once more in the Game of the Year runnings? We'll find out at GDC!
Report: New Assassin's Creed will star Ezio, follow AC2's story
Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft is targeting its new, multiplayer-enhanced Assassin's Creed game at the six million of us who bought Assassin's Creed 2. An Ubisoft rep told CVG that the new game will "take place with the same hero, which is Ezio, and will follow-up the story that took place in Assassin's Creed 2." This, combined with the new multiplayer, makes us believe that the new game will be a spin-off and not Assassin's Creed 3 -- since, presumably, a full-on sequel would highlight a new assassin and a new time period. Oh, and if you were worried that you weren't going to be able to pay $60 for it, you can rest easy: CEO Yves Guillemot said that the game will be sold at a "full price point".
Analyst: Assassin's Creed 2 to sell 8.5 million by April
Considering Assassin's Creed 2 managed to stab 1.6 million wallets in its opening week alone, 8.5 million units sold by March isn't that crazy of a forecast. Add star talent and some upcoming DLC to give the game a second wind, and that potential sales figure seems somewhat reasonable -- even for a titlle that doesn't feature machine guns, 'nades and nukes. When we saw Stern Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia call that very number over on Industry Gamers, we kinda shrugged and thought, "Sure, it's possible." Bhatia says Assassin's Creed 2 was initially off to a slower-than-expected start (thanks Modern Warfare 2!), but for the December quarter, its sales expectations rose "from [roughly] 5.5 million units to 6.5 million units." Thus, Stern Agee raised its sales forecast from 7.5 million to 8.5 million units by the end of March. Hey, we told you the game was good!
Assassin's Creed 2 mistakenly leaked to App Store, then taken out
For a while last night and today, there were two ways to check out Assassin's Creed II: Discovery before its official release on the iPhone App Store: Have a Nintendo DS Download the early version that somehow made it to the App Store before the official release date The mistakenly-listed game has since been removed, with Ubisoft reps telling Touch Arcade that it not only was it an early release of Discovery, but it wasn't the final build, and thus may have had some bugs that will be ironed out by release. It was also incorrectly priced at $11.99. Just a big old whoops all around. Even if you didn't manage to snag a copy of the game, Touch Arcade did, and the site courteously recorded some footage for us all. You can see that after the break.
Joystiq's Top 10 of 2009: Assassin's Creed II
When he reviewed Assassin's Creed II, Justin assured, "If you were burned by the first Assassin's Creed and are worried about getting bored by the sequel, I understand your skepticism, but trust me: it's misplaced." Did I trust him? Of course not. I slogged through the first Assassin's Creed until the bitter end. And boy was I bitter. The tiny sliver of hope I held for the game -- for the franchise -- had been buried by disappointment, and then ultimately by disinterest. Assassin's Creed was dead to me. Imagine my surprise, then, when hope was unearthed -- nay, resurrected! -- in an experience this callous critic can only describe as a miracle. Actually, scratch that. Assassin's Creed II is not miraculous, but rather it's the result of meticulous design. It's big-budget development at its finest, its most daring, in an era when sequels seek not to challenge their predecessors but to clone them. Sure, Assassin's Creed II borrows heavily from the first game, but it builds up that core experience -- and then leaps from the edge! Short of Grand Theft Auto III's revolutionary move away from GTA2's simple top-down perspective, there hasn't been a sandbox-style sequel that has trumped its precursor as soundly as Assassin's Creed II defies the original. If taking the empty shell of a game that was the first Assassin's Creed and bringing it to life (with customization, coordination and character) is the cake, then let us not forget the icing. What seals Assassin's Creed II as one of 2009's very best for me is the game's unlikely side task of becoming a pseudo-historian. This brilliant addition is really two-fold: the hands-on exploration of Renaissance Italy and the puzzling mystery of a massive holy conspiracy-war. That, since playing Assassin's Creed II, I've started several conversations by suggesting, "Did you know, in Italy, back in the day they ...," is a testament to the design team's engaging recreation -- from scalable architecture to someday-priceless works of art -- of a vibrant historical place and period, which the developers have padded with colorful, encyclopedic entries built into the gameplay. While not certifiable "edutainment," Assassin's Creed II is the start of a blueprint for how we might one day learn history. Of course, sewn into the fabric of Assassin's Creed II's Renaissance Italy is a fictional thread of intrigue. Pieced together through a series of brain twisters, which are an abrupt, yet wonderful departure from the dashing and dueling, and sneaking and stabbing, the franchise's mystery is no longer an idea hovering over the game world, but one woven within it. Assassin's Creed II is an extraordinary achievement of playable narrative and, really, you must play it. %Gallery-49869% << Back(3) | Comment | 1. Among the best >>
Assassin's Creed II DLC was cut from main game due to time constraints
Yes, forthcoming DLC packs, "The Battle of Forli" and "Bonfire of the Vanities," were originally intended to be included in the main Assassin's Creed II story. But, as the game's creative director Patrice Désilets told Kotaku, "I felt that, 'Okay, there were too many things to do and to finish.' So we said, 'Ok, let's take a portion of the game that was planned and we'll give it in DLC.'" The candid Désilets went on to point out, "I think we gave them so much content that they cannot say that we owe them, that we didn't give them a lot for their 60 bucks." So, don't think of the missing chapters as something torn from your disc of Assassin's Creed II that you paid good money for. Think of it as dead content that's getting a rebirth thanks to the wonders of DLC.
