ubidays
Latest
Ubisoft's Ghost Recon team developing Beowulf game
Let's face it, the only way an epic English poem is going to make the jump to video game form is if there's a movie adaptation in-between. Beowulf is quite the lucky (or unlucky, depending on your level of cynicism) piece of literature then, as Ubisoft has announced the development of a game based on the upcoming Robert Zemeckis film of the same name. MCV notes that the Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter team is behind the poetic adaptation of the poetic adaptation, with the voice talents of Beowulf stars Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins expected to feature.Speaking at the ongoing Ubidays conference in Paris, Ubisoft Europe chief, Alain Tascan, promised that Beowulf would "reinvent the hack and slash genre." Perhaps the publisher plans switch things up, defy convention and craft a slash and then hack game instead? Let's aim for another King Kong and not another TMNT, shall we?
Dark Messiah blesses Xbox 360, forsakes PS3 and Wii
At the ongoing Ubidays event in Paris, Ubisoft has announced a console port of the first-person fantasy title, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. The singular use of "console" should be emphasized, as the Xbox 360 will be the sole recipient of Arkane Studios' Source-powered adventure. Eurogamer reports that Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements will be the same as last year's PC version, with the exception of a clumsy subtitle and new content. Presumably, said content includes technical stability and a framerate that can be taken seriously. A release date has not yet been announced.
Assassin's Creed trailer leaves us wanting more
Ubidays 2007 has brought us a brand new Assassin's Creed trailer (kindly embedded above) and after giving it a watch, we just want more. Maybe it's the whole assassin mystique or the way he gracefully climbs about the town, we aren't sure. What we do know is that Ubisoft's little gem gets us feeling all funny inside and we want more. It's like crack, we just want more. Assassin's Creed impresses us and we have yet to play it or even get our head around its mysterious time traveling story. But enough about our opinions, what do you think about Assassin's Creed?[Via Joystiq, Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Haze will have four-player co-op campaign
Although Ubisoft's Haze was always expected to have four-player co-op campaign, apparently it wasn't confirmed until today. Free Radical (Time Splitters) studio head David Doak confirmed at the Ubidays conference in Paris that the game will allow for the co-op campaign both online and off. Now that we're starting to see this four-player co-op concept take flight in games like Haze and Too Human, is there a chance it'll show up in Halo 3?Doak also rehashed some of the information from earlier that Haze is "not just about war itself, it's about your perception of war". They're really pushing this mature "make you think" angle of the game. Listen, we'll be more than happy to debate the merits of war with our friends online as long as the four-player co-op runs smoothly and gives us a truly great squad game in campaign mode.
Ubisoft CEO Guillemot dismisses E3 as 'only for the US'
Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot is on fire! Last week he just flat out says the PS3 costs too much and now he dismisses E3 (Min-E3, get the name right Guillemot) as "only for the US." Guillemot made the statement at the Ubidays event in Paris during a kick-off Q&A session.This doesn't mean Ubisoft is pulling out of Min-E3, 'cause you know they still have to deal with those pesky Americans and their money. Guillemot was just saying, "E3 is now only for the US, so we wanted to do something to help everybody see our products ... So we decided to do E3 but in France and call it Ubidays." You know, E3 ... in France ... with one company.We don't mock though because who knows how Min-E3 will play out? The international press used to be at E3 in full force. Who knows if they'll find it worthwhile if the companies are starting to do stuff like this and come to them? What we do know is that despite there being no E3, it's still genetically built into the companies to do something during this time. Ubisoft is doing this Ubidays, Sony just had their event, Microsoft announced Halo 3's date and Nintendo is doing their thing right now. There may not be "E3," but that doesn't stop the information from flowing in May.
Tom Clancy's EndWar to be fully voice-controlled
EndWar's controls truly are nothing like the controls for Battle for Middle-earth. The Tom Clancy-branded RTS will be playable using only voice commands directed through a headset, Ubisoft confirmed today during its 'Ubidays' event in Paris. While the option to use a gamepad will still be available, the voice-controlled default setting might solve the difficulties of navigating a console RTS without a mouse n' keyboard -- or, it might not. Of course, being the "end war," why not risk it all with a novel control scheme?Further impressions will likely arrive tomorrow, as EndWar is expected to be featured on the Ubidays show floor.
