prince of persia
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Prince of Persia devs have 'planned something special' for PS3 owners
You may or may not be aware that there's a vote taking place on the official Prince of Persia website. This poll allows people to pick one of three Xbox 360 achievements for the final game. Not much use to PS3 owners, but Ubisoft has done its best to keep us sweet. The poll itself states that PS3 fans need not take umbrage and that they have "planned something special" for us too. Whether this will have anything to do with the upcoming trophies for the game, or something else entirely, there's no real indication. Needless to say, however, we're looking forward to seeing whatever it is Ubisoft comes up with. What can we say, we love surprises. [Via 1Up]
Choose your favorite Prince of Persia achievement
These days, achievements are getting to be a big deal among 360 gamers, so much so that Ubisoft and their Prince of Persia dev team have noticed and want your achievement opinion.Over on the official Prince of Persia webspace, Ubisoft is asking fans of the series to vote on their favorite of three possible achievements to include in the upcoming release of Prodigy. You know, to thank the community for supporting the franchise, etc. etc. So, to cast your achievement vote, simply make the jump and use your Ubisoft account to choose your favorite achievement, either "Longest Grip Fall", "Xkm" or "Combo Specialist". Then, come July 1st, Ubi will announce the winning achievement thus giving fanboys across the globe a warm-fuzzy knowing that they participated in the implementation of a Prince of Persia achievement. Joy![Via Major Nelson]
Ubisoft needs help picking Prince of Persia achievements
Say what you will about him, but we think new Prince of Persia has already achieved quite a lot. Most notably, he's totally made us forget about old Prince of Persia, thanks in no small part to old Prince's ever-increasing resemblance to Criss Angel. Apparently though, Ubisoft still isn't satisfied, asking fans to come up with yet another hurdle for new Prince to overcome.Right now, you can cast your vote and help select between three different 360 achievements on Ubisoft's website. They all make sense (master combos, run through a level, etc.) but after consulting the above picture, we'd like to suggest a more obvious choice: Find that girl's legs.
Ubisoft wants to up its game: be on par with EA, Activision Blizzard
With "bigger and better" becoming a mantra of sorts for modern game design, it seems only logical for the developers and publishers of our favorite blockbusters to expand their operations in tandem with their goals. Speaking to Develop, Ubisoft head of global development, Christine Burgess-Quémard, has said that the Tom Clancy and Prince of Persia publisher is always looking to widen its worldwide business. "We want to continue our strategy of innovation, and in order to do that, we need to have more people and generate more business," she explained. "Every blockbuster we work on, we invest in new studios, new teams and new projects." As for measuring up to rival monoliths, EA and Activision Blizzard, Burgess-Quémard states that Ubisoft (or is that Take-Twobisoft?) won't be caught resting on its laurels. "We are in the race, definitely – and we're not in it to come last."Now, please remember the other half of the aforementioned mantra, Ubi. Bigger and better. We could certainly do with fewer giant corporations pumping pollution into our virtual environments.
Prince of Persia co-op a 'possibility'
Hey, remember how that new cel-shaded Prince of Persia game features not only the Prince but a new AI controlled partner named Elika? Wouldn't it be cool if a second player could plug in a controller and play as her? We think it would be cool. If you think so too, then we have some potentially good news for you. Speaking to Videogaming247, Prince of Persia community development manager Chris Easton has stated, "There are no plans for co-op as of now, but we may explore the possibility."So, in other words, the game might, might have co-op. However, given that the game is scheduled to release this holiday, if co-op hasn't even been planned thus far, we're not counting on it. Here's hoping.[Via Joystiq]
Prince of Persia co-op: 'possibility' being explored
In an upcoming interview with Videogaming247, Prince of Persia's "community development manager" Chris Easton apparently backtracks from producer Ben Mattes' assertion that there would be no co-op support, despite the clearly cooperative gameplay between the prince and Elika, his deadly new ally.Easton told the site, "There are no plans for co-op as of now, but we may explore the possibility" – which, according to our Noncommittal Marketing Speak to English dictionary, puts the chances of co-op being added into the game somewhere between "not happening" and "potentially not not happening." For what it's worth, Joystiq would like to throw its full support behind adding more gameplay options to highly anticipated games. We know that sounds radical, but that's just how we feel.%Gallery-23908%
Alfred Molina, Ben Kingsley join Prince of Persia film adaptation
Jerry Bruckheimer's Prince of Persia adaptation has picked up two more high-profile actors. Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley have been cast, according to Variety. They join the previously announced Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arteron who play Dastan, the 6th-century Persian prince, and Tamina, respectively. Molina will portray Sheik Amar, who becomes a mentor to Dastan and shows him how to use metallic tentacle arms to his advantage. Kingsley's role is currently unknown, though /Film is predicting he'll portray the villain Vizier (that's assuming they retain any of the PoP storyline). Although the casting of the prince is complete, we're still hoping actor, swordfighter and actual Persian prince David Zandi uses his magical time-bending dagger to somehow nab the lead role.[Via Cinematical]
MMOs may not inherit the Earth after all
A lot of attention has been paid in recent months to the notion, espoused openly by Phil Harrison and quietly acquiesced to in much of the rest of the MMO industry, that single player games as we know them are going the way of the dodo. With technology connecting people to each other in greater numbers than ever before, many people see the logical end of this being the complete co-option of the traditional single player experience that has prevailed in games for so long.In a recent interview with Ben Mattes, producer for the new Prince of Persia game over at Ubisoft, Mattes rejects this notion, insisting there are experiences in a single player game that you can't reliably replicate in a multiplayer context. Players still crave these distilled bouts of fun, and will continue to flock to them in the future as long as companies keep making them. Obviously, being the producer on a big budget single player title doesn't make Mattes the most unbiased source in the world, but we have to agree with him. While the greater trend is towards connectivity and multiplayer, there's always going to be a market for a well-told single player story.
Imagine: Princez of Persiaz
The Wii might not be Prince of Persia-less, after all. With Ubisoft's track record on the Wii, though, we're not even sure that's a good thing.Recent rumors "reveal" that Ubisoft made mention of a new Prince of Persia game for the Wii at Ubidays. According to LiveWii, it will be a spin-off of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, but other than that, few details are known.As you might imagine, gamers can't help but be jaded by such a rumor. If it's an Ubisoft Wii game, it must either be bad or full of minigames, right? We love it, though, when people put such cynicism into picture form. That's why we've posted a handful of them (made by NeoGaffers) after the break. Even if this turns out to be a rumor, we're glad it existed just so that we could look at such silly and cynical images.Be warned: One of the following pics is adorably NSFW. (That will make sense once you see it.)
Get all the Ubidays 08 content at Big Download
By now you've undoubtedly seen the trailers for Beyond Good & Evil 2, Prince of Persia and Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., but more than likely you've only witnessed the Ubisoft library in standard def blurriness. Well our little brother site , Big Download has you covered with high-def downloads for all of Ubisoft's upcoming games. Head over to Big Download now, or click on each title below to bring you to its respective download page. Beyond Good & Evil 2 Teaser Prince of Persia Teaser Speed Drawing (Prince) Speed Drawing (Elika, the Prince's new ally) Shaun White Snowboarding Intro Trailer Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Trailer Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway Trailer
Ubidays '08: Prince of Persia producer on sidekick, new prince
click to enlarge Ubisoft wasn't showing off much of its new Prince of Persia title at the Ubidays event in San Francisco earlier this month, but it did trot out producer Ben Mattes to acrobatically dodge – and sometimes answer – the queries of a room full of journalists left unsated by the beautiful, if not particularly informative, CGI teaser trailer. First, what do we call it? Though the Ubidays press materials listed the title's name as Prince of Persia Prodigy, the very same name recently trademarked by the IP-owner Jordan Mechner, Mattes wouldn't confirm that that was the final title: "I don't think we've announced the final title."If you're still unable to wrap your head around where this new prince fits into the existing franchise, Mattes wants you to forget about everything that's come before. "The Sands of Time trilogy is over. We're finished that story," he explains for what we're guessing is the hundredth time that day. "It's a new prince, with new challenges. There's no chronological connection with what's gone on in the past."%Gallery-23908%
Download the Ubidays 2008 trailers here
If you're interested in owning an HD copy of the Beyond Good & Evil 2 teaser trailer (and really, who isn't?), our file sharing friends at BigDownload (Update: and GameDaily) are offering all the HD trailers from yesterday's Ubidays 2008 event as, erm, big downloads. Check out all the trailers below, including two Prince of Persia speed sketches of the Prince and Elika (here's a game: count the number of times the artist changes brush settings). Beyond Good & Evil 2 teaser (217 MB) Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway trailer (111 MB) Prince of Persia teaser (62 MB) Prince of Persia speed drawing: Prince (9.4 MB) Prince of Persia speed drawing: Elika (13 MB) Raving Rabbids TV Party gameplay trailer (59 MB) Raving Rabbids TV Party teaser (55 MB) Tom Clancy's EndWar trailer (111 MB) Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. trailer (181 MB) Shaun White Snowboarding intro (150 MB) Shaun White Snowboarding trailer (110 MB) Soul Calibur IV Yoda gameplay trailer (25 MB) Soul Calibur IV Darth Vader gameplay trailer (31 MB) Soul Calibur IV cinematical trailer (106 MB) Rabbids, Persian Princes and Beyond Good & Evil 2? Check out all our coverage (and a bountiful amount of screenshots) from Ubisoft's Ubidays 2008 event.
Prince of Persia's concept 'Elika' is unmistakably Natalie Portman
Take a close look at this concept art for the new Prince of Persia. Does it seem familiar? To us, the model is unmistakably reminiscent of actress Natalie Portman. Some, but not all, of that familiarity has transferred over to the in-game model. Was Portman an artistic inspiration? Is she directly involved? Our attempts to reach Ubisoft's Montreal offices resulted in failure.The use of real-life personalities in games and game design is not unprecedented. The default Commander Shepherd model in Mass Effect is based on Dutch model Mark Vanderloo. Chell, the protagonist in Portal, is based on voice actress Alésia Glidewell, and Kristen Bell not only provided her likeness but also voiced a character in Assassin's Creed. Not to mention, of course, nearly every video game based on a movie or TV show. Rabbids, Persian Princes and Beyond Good & Evil 2? Check out all our coverage (and a bountiful amount of screenshots) from Ubisoft's Ubidays 2008 event.
Ubidays 2008 screenshot roundup
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Ubidays_2008_screenshot_roundup_Princes_Pigs_and_Rabbids'; More rabbids! More abso-freaking-lutely gorgeous new Prince of Persia screens! More Beyond Good & Evil! There's been a lot of great eye candy coming out of Ubisoft's Ubidays 2008 Event. Check out all the new screenshots below (also after the break). %Gallery-23908% %Gallery-23890%
This is what 'next gen' Prince of Persia looks like
Another great reveal today besides that of Beyond Good & Evil 2 (which we mentioned earlier) is Prince of Persia. The trailer for this game looks exquisite, and we're really excited to see more. In this trailer, we see this iteration's prince fighting monsters while keeping his face concealed; we also get to watch his new ally Elika help out.Thankfully, there were no odd cross promotions going on -- say if the prince took off the layers of cloth covering his face only to reveal that he was indeed ... Jake Gyllenhaal (who is set to star in the movie). That would be disturbing.
New Prince of Persia screens and video
As the embargo for Ubidays ends and news about the new Prince of Persia game begins to flood the tubes, the more promise the game seems to have. Ubisoft Montreal is looking to refresh the franchise by taking elements from everything from Ico to Assassin's Creed. The main change is the female character, Elika, who will be your AI companion through the game, similar to Yorda from Ico.Unlike Yorda however, Ubisoft Montreal is looking to make Elika only helpful and never detrimental. As seen in the trailer Elika is now the source of many of your time powers, and she'll be intergal to the new combat system. The new system focuses entirely on single combat and you'll never find yourself in any fight that isn't a duel. Ubisoft is making some big changes with this one, lets hope it's a success!%Gallery-23436%
New Prince of Persia teases 'deadly new ally'
Well, it's nice having a deadly new thing on your side for a change. Ubisoft's teaser video for the new Prince of Persia, hitting Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC this holiday season, doesn't reveal much, but it does provide a glimpse of the title's touted, open world and the princely protagonist's lovely assistant, Elika. We lika very much, actually.%Gallery-23908%
New Prince of Persia: Prodigy Screens
Since the reveal the that franchise would be continuing in a different form, the cel-shaded look has received both admiration and criticism. Unfortunately, there were only magazine scans until now, and with hi res direct shots of the game the debate about the graphical style at least has some sort of shared resources. Whether you you like the style or not, the shots are worth a look and obviously have some good art direction behind them. Click below readers! %Gallery-23436%
Prince of Persia speed art video reveals Elika as a character
While most of the video is dramatic music as an artist at Ubisoft does a speed drawing on the computer of the newly-revealed female companion to the ... "prince" ... in the upcoming Prince of Persia title, there's still a little bit of information about this mysterious Elika. She'll be integral to the plot, naturally, since she's supposed to give players and the main character someone to connect with and someone to grow attached to. That's mostly PR speak for "she's going to be around, she'll be cool, and sparks may or may not fly". Either way, it's just cool to see the drawing take form in a time-lapsed fashion.
A cleaner look at next-gen, cel-shaded Prince of Persia
An Ubisoft rep tells us, "We haven't officially released any screenshots online for PoP" -- kinda hard to believe when there's a fresh cluster warming up the server on Czech Republic site Tiscali Games. (There's a preview too, in Czech -- and here's Google's best effort.) While the images look virtually identical to those seen in the leaked Joypad feature from last month, being online screenshots, these new offerings have an obvious advantage over the scans we were forced to make due with previously. As for when Ubi plans the official release of screenshots online: "All screens and artwork will be available on the Ubidays press kit on Wednesday, May 28th."In addition, we've posted a new "Speed Art" trailer after the break, depicting Elika, a "powerful companion who accompanies the Prince throughout the game." Elika will apparently be integrated into the actual gameplay, assisting with acrobatics and combat. Just think of her as the new Dominic Santiago, you know, minus the Hispanic meathead part.[Via NeoGaf]
