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Ghost Recon Online gets a new title, April Steam release
The online-only, free-to-play shooter Ghost Recon Online has ditched its redundant subtitle for something a little more bomb, yo. Ghost Recon: Phantoms will launch on PC via Steam in April, publisher Ubisoft has announced. "With all the changes the game has undergone since its conception, the team felt it deserved a 'fresh identity," Producer Corey Facteau explained in a Q&A post. Its arrival in April as Phantoms will end the game's 21-month-long beta phase, add new visual flair and continue the franchise's showcase of "a realistic depiction of tomorrow's battlefield." Along with its new level design and lighting, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Phantoms also features new character classes, fresh gear, and plans for "even more" additional content following its official launch next month. [Images: Ubisoft, Dean Koontz, Paramount Pictures, Our Hearts]
Assassin's Creed 3 director Jamie Stowe joins 22cans
Assassin's Creed 3 level design director Jamie Stowe recently joined Peter Molyneux's 22Cans studio. Stowe will assume the role of technical director for Godus, the developer's spiritual successor to Populous. Stowe worked at Codemasters as a QA lead and level designer prior to joining Ubisoft Singapore in 2009.22Cans successfully raised £526,563 ($852K) on Kickstarter in December 2012 to fund Godus' development. Molyneux and his crew posted a new video update to 22Cans' Facebook page, which welcomes Stowe to the team.
Ghost Recon Online gets 'Arctic' pack September 12
The first expansion for Ubisoft's free-to-play shooter Ghost Recon Online drops next Wednesday, September 12, bringing with it new gear, weapons and the games largest map to date. Additionally, "over 300 balance changes, improvements, and bug fixes" will also be included in the update. The new map, "Tomsk-9," is a Conquest map tucked far away in the arctic circle, in what appears to be a very cold and very snowy Russian nuclear reprocessing complex. Six arctic-camouflaged weapon variants, three arctic-camouflaged headgear variants and two arctic-camouflaged armor variants will have you looking the part, provided you've got the real and/or virtual currency to pay for it. While the arctic headgear and armor will be permanent additions to the game's shop, the weapon variants will only be available for two weeks after the update hits.%Gallery-164567%
Building a Revolution: The four teams behind Assassin's Creed 3
Ubisoft Montreal is kind of a big deal. Since being established in 1997, the company's first North American studio has been home to some of the biggest franchises in Ubisoft's entire portfolio: Splinter Cell, multiple Prince of Persia reboots, and Assassin's Creed.Ever since Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed 2 introduced Ezio Auditore in 2009, the number of studios working on the franchise alone has increased dramatically. For 2010's Brotherhood, four additional studios signed on for support: Singapore, Bucharest, Québec City, and Annecy. For 2011's Revelations, yet another was added (Ubisoft Massive), putting the total at six.For this year's Assassin's Creed 3, the army of studios has been restructured to four: Montreal, Annecy, Quebéc City, and Singapore."Annecy is still doing an evolution of the multiplayer," Creative director Alex Hutchinson explained to Joystiq. As we already know, Ubisoft Annecy is working on some form of -- potentially co-op -- multiplayer."There're a few things that are being done in the Québec studio. So there's an evolution there," he said. Despite prodding, he wouldn't reveal what specifically that tease meant. "We cannot talk about specifically what they are working on." The Québec studio assisted with level design (among other things) in the past two Assassin's Creed titles.Even though an army is attached to Assassin's Creed 3, it's Montreal that has been focused on the project for the past two and a half years. "80 percent of our team have come through from AC1, AC2. A lot of them didn't do ACB or ACR 'cause they were working on AC3," Hutchinson said. "The turnover has actually been scarily low for a franchise that's been going for seven years. You still have the same lead writer who wrote the first words on AC1, you have the same guy doing the navigation that did AC1.""At its core," Hutchinson said, "it is a Ubisoft Montreal game." He told us, "The thing with other studios is that they have different skill sets. At the end of the day, it's what makes it sometimes harder to manage the game, but it also makes the game richer." It's a formula that, thus far, has worked astonishingly well for Ubisoft. We'll find out if the company strikes gold once more this October when Assassin's Creed 3 launches.
Assassin's Creed 3: Rebuilding a series during the birth of a nation
Back in late 2009, creative director Alex Hutchinson and a handful of others started drawing up plans for what would become Assassin's Creed 3. In those two years, the team rethought core elements of the series: cities, combat, and the franchise's signature "free running" mechanic. Even the engine, Anvil, was examined and updated (now dubbed "AnvilNext").But before all of that, Hutchinson needed a setting and a character. He wouldn't tell us why or how he settled on the American Revolution (nor would he say what other ideas came up), but he did explain why he believes it'll be a success. "We really believe this is the strongest setting so far in an AC game. Why? Because we think it's the most relevant setting," he said during a group presentation. "This is the birth of the nation. But even for other countries, especially in Europe, it's a key historical event."By the way, for all his U.S pride, Hutchinson is an Aussie and he lives in Canada. We assume he's spent a lot of time watching Independence Day.%Gallery-151408%
Ghost Recon Online is a free-to-play shooter, closed beta 'this summer'
While Ghost Recon Online is decidedly a video game (unlike some of Ubisoft's other experiments of late), it's clear the French publisher is eager to invest in new markets like, for example, the free-to-play shooter market. Ghost Recon Online (GROnline?) is a third-person, cover-based tactical shooter –- that's what Ghost Recon games are, after all. The big difference in this Ubisoft Singapore-developed title is that, unlike its console-based counterparts, GROnline will be freely downloadable when it launches "in the second half of 2011." Too long to wait? A closed beta kicks off this summer. Like most other free-to-play titles, Ghost Recon Online will allow microtransactions, giving players the ability to purchase "premium items" to "personalize their experience" (and enhance their abilities). "The online market has evolved into an important new frontier for video games and for gamers," Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot said in a press release. "With Ghost Recon Online, as well as with other important upcoming projects, Ubisoft is confident that we're creating high quality, innovative online experiences, and that our customers will benefit from the choice and creativity that Ubisoft brings to the market." If you want to get in on that beta, head over to the Ghost Recon Online site and share that email! If you just want to watch a trailer for the game, that's okay too – you'll find it just past the break. %Gallery-124261%
TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled tops September PSN sales
Once again proving that regular people don't care about what critics have to say, TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled managed to climb to the top of the PSN download chart for September. With Final Fantasy VII and Marvel Vs Capcom 2 also maintaining enviable positions, it's clear that people love paying for nostalgia. 1) TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled 2) NBA 2K10: Draft Combine 3) Final Fantasy VII 4) Marvel Vs Capcom 2 5) Fat Princess 6) Battlefield 1943 7) Zombie Apocalypse 8) Silent Hill 9) Final Fantasy Tactics 10) SimCity 2000 We'd also like to point out that this may be the first month Mortal Kombat II is not in the top 10. Did everyone in the world finally buy it?
X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
Break out your old Ninja Turtle Halloween costume -- you know you have one -- because today is the day that TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled hits Xbox Live Arcade. If by chance you don't have a TMNT costume lying around (or a pile of action figures), this week's release might not be for you. Even at a reduced price of 800 ($10), Turtles in Time is really only for those with a glint of nostalgia in their eyes (and wallets). Watch the latest episode of XBLA in Brief and see if there's enough turtle power left in the franchise to inspire one more purchase.Download the trial version of TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly.[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[M4V] Download the M4V directly.
This Wednesday: Turtles in Time comes out of its shell on XBLA
Eastman and Laird's "heroes in a half-shell" slash and kick their way back onto Xbox Live Arcade this week in TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. The game, which Ubisoft dropped the price on in the eleventh hour to 800 ($10), is -- for those of you who've been hiding in your shells -- a fully polygonal, HD remake of its classic 1991 arcade namesake. (The Turtles first appeared on XBLA in March of 2007 in the direct port of their original 1989 coin-op debut.) Like that game, this one will support local and online multiplayer for up to four players. So, who will you play as? (Please refer to this list of their abilities from the 1987 animated series' theme song before choosing.) Fun fact for US gamers: The gang is known as the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in the UK and parts of Europe because the glorification of ninjas (those sinister assassins!) was seen as bad for kids -- but this wasn't?
TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled gets re-priced to 800 MS points
Cowabunga! Bodacious! Other TMNT saying! Pardon the hoopla, but Ubisoft has confirmed to Joystiq that next week's XBLA "Summer of Arcade" release, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, will debut at 800 ($10), 400 ($5) less than the originally announced 1200 ($15) price. "We wanted to give something to the loyal TMNT fans in honor of the 25th anniversary," Ubisoft responded when asked about the last-minute change. Then again, dare we really question the generosity of a mega-publisher when it actually want us to shell out less for its games? (Oh, and for those eyeing the 800 [$10] rebate from MS for buying everything in the Summer of Arcade lineup? Well, it just got $5 cheaper to buy "everything.") [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
TMNT: Turtles in Time: Through the Ages: A Comparison Video
You know what the best thing about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time is? Throwing enemies into the screen. Thankfully, that feature is retained in the upcoming XBLA remake. The HD remake is obviously going to be a much prettier version of the original game -- but how good does it really look? The fine folks at GameVideos have made a stellar comparison video that highlights the sleek new look of this 2.5D remake. Watch all the way to the end to see how even the voice overs have -- for better or for worse -- changed. %Gallery-64711%
Hands-on: TMNT Turtles in Time Re-shelled (XBLA)
click to enlarge Excuse us as we take a deep breath in order to introduce one of XBLA's upcoming titles for the "Summer of Arcade" -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled. The ridiculously long-titled downloadable is a complete HD remake of the classic Konami arcade brawler, coming first to the Xbox 360 (a PS3 version is in the works). Our time with Ubisoft's TMNT update was brief, but only because the game suffers from what all arcade brawlers in downloadable form do -- the levels are extremely short. Coming from an age where difficulty was ramped up to suck as many quarters as it could from a player's pocket, the new version of TMNT allowed us to quickly blaze through two levels of the game without pumping another 25 cent piece into the Xbox 360 console. %Gallery-64711%
TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-shelled a timed Xbox 360 exclusive
Kotaku is reporting that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled has received a release date of July 22, and will be a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360. Since we're not in the business of just believing everything we read, we decided to contact Ubisoft for some clarification. Our rep at Ubisoft indeed did confirm the release date and the timed exclusivity on Xbox Live Arcade, which is likely to tick off a few PS3 owners out there. We'd suggest copious amounts of Infamous and, if you're lucky enough, the Uncharted 2 beta to get you through these tough times.
Turtles in Time remake in development for XBLA, possibly PSN and WiiWare
The 25th Anniversary Tour for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is traveling across the country right now, and reports are rolling in from those lucky enough to stop by one of the locations that a remake of Turtles in Time is currently in development. The Alpha build of the game is being demoed on the Xbox 360 throughout the tour, but we're getting reports it could possibly makes its way to PSN and WiiWare as well, though there is no confirmation of that right now. One of our tipsters pointed us to the Twitter account for Hyperfludd (who stopped by and snagged some pics), but we've also found other sources confirming this game's existence. Turtles in Time is arguably the best Turtles game ever, so remaking it is definitely a smart idea. Kind of like putting peanut butter on pizza. [Via Gamerbytes; Thanks, Daniel!] %Gallery-51504%
