After playing Assassin’s Creed last year and playing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time a few years back, I was pretty stoked about playing the latest installment of the Prince of Persia series. Sadly, I was stoked only until I actually played the game because it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.

The newest Prince of Persia is a totally different game than the Prince of Persia: Sand of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones trilogy.  Hell, even the Prince is different — he’s a total douche in this game and quite annoying when he talks (voiced by the actor from Uncharted, actually). The story starts off with the Prince searching for his donkey when he suddenly bumps into a girl, Elika, running away from some guards. He eventually pursues Elika and saves her from the guards and her father, the King, who has destroyed the Tree of Life and released the evil god, Ahriman.

Once the Prince finds out that Elika is a Princess and on a mission to stop her father and Ahriman from corrupting the lands with evil, the Prince decides to help her. Elika explains that she and the Prince must reach and heal the multiple fertile grounds in the area in order to give the tree of life power once again, imprisoning Ahriman. Obviously, the story goes on but any more about it and I’d be spoiling it for you.

The gameplay is quite similar to the past Prince games, with tons of wall-running and acrobatic moves, but this time there aren’t distinct levels, but an actual free-roaming, open world. In this new Prince of Persia, players aren’t just flying through the level wall-running and jumping to the next part, but must actually take their time to find their way from one point to another, which worked well with the open world. This is actually one of the best things about the game, but was also one of the game’s miscues.

I think the open world was a great idea, but it seemed to me like the developers over at Ubisoft Montreal wanted to make the game much longer than it had to be because they had an open world. This led to many repetitive missions, going from healing one fertile land to another, and continuing this same process. To me this became really boring, but at least the combat somewhat made up for it.

The combat system in the game definitely made up for some of the repetition in the open world. Unlike the hordes of enemies and button-mashing combat from the previous Prince games, the combat in this new Prince of Persia is set to 1-on-1 at all times and has a slower pace, using guard breaks and a combo system to add strategic elements. The combat also boasts some pretty nice attacks with aerial attacks and drawn out combos, leading to some great cinematic presentations with stunning finishing moves.

Although the combat may be better in this game, the acrobatic and aerial movements are no match to that of last-gen’s Prince. Most of the time the movements actually feel like they are on autopilot, seeming more like a scripted animation. The previous Prince of Persia games had smooth and quick gameplay elements, focusing on players skillfully executing aerial movements to continue on, whereas this new Prince really slowed the pace down and made the player think with different sorts of puzzles and contraptions to work with to proceed.

Oh, and did I mention you can’t die in this game? Yep, your new girlfriend Elika has all these strange powers and with them she keeps you from dying, whether it be falling to your death, being swallowed up by the evil corruption, or just being stabbed by a baddie. This part kind of reminds me of Sands of Time when you used the Dagger of Time to stop and go back in time and keep yourself from dying. Not being able to die isn’t necessarily a bad thing because essentially it’s just a restart point, and if you die, you’d restart anyway.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous, and I love the new direction of the art style Ubisoft Montreal went with. The Prince, Elika, and all other characters in the game are extremely detailed and the open world is just stunning. The graphics are definitely one of the game’s finer points.

Prince of Persia has been overly hyped and highly praised, but I really don’t see why. The game is repetitive, pretty easy, way too long and, well, kind of boring. But with all the bad there’s still some good in this game, just not enough. I’d say it’s a rental rather than a buy — have fun with it for a few hours, then return it… unless you like it more than I did.

Before we get to our top pick, we thought it might be nice to share with you all of the asses that were considered for this list. Of course, some of these are pretty fine posteriors that you may think are more deserving of Top 10 status than the ones we actually chose, but let me tell you — it was a difficult process, much more difficult than I expected it to be.

‘Not Safe For Work’ content inbound.

Honorable Mentions – The Mass Effect chicks

Even though they were in armor most of the time, the girls from Mass Effect had some pretty nice asses. Fan favorite Tali was unfortunately not one of your choices when it came down to which chick you want to get it on with, something the Internet has mocked us about (slightly NSFW).

Speaking of getting it on, the sex scene is Mass Effect is actually a bit different depending on which girl you choose. Liara (the blue chick) has a longer, more revealing cutscene, and we’ve provided that for you here:

Yes, that was a nice ass, Liara, and we thank you. Even so, it just wasn’t great enough to make the top 10.

The Soul Calibur chicks

The girls of the Soul Calibur games are always making their way into these lists, usually because of their huge knockers. For this list, however, those knockers do nothing to help them in their ranking. Everyone has their individual preference, and you can argue in the comments if you want.

A lot of dudes think Ivy’s the hottest thing in the gaming world, but just because she has more of it and ain’t afraid to show it doesn’t mean it’s actually all that great. Taki also scores points just because her outfit is painted on, and the innocence of Sophitia’s white undies makes her another favorite. Seriously, how could you choose just one? Simple — you don’t. That’s a life lesson right there. When it comes to asses, however, the Soul Calibur chicks just weren’t tight enough to make the top 10.

The Final Fantasy chicks

Specifically, Yuna and Rikku from Final Fantasy X and X-2, and even better are Fran and Ashe from Final Fantasy XII. I’m actually a pretty big fan of Fran’s booty, but I couldn’t find a decent picture or video of her ass anywhere. It wouldn’t be much of post without all of the awesome pictures to go with it, so I decided to put the one nice pic in with the other Final Fantasy chicks as an honorable mention. Sorry, Fran!

Nova (StarCraft Ghost)

Let’s face it: as great as Nova’s ass looks in this picture, she technically doesn’t exist yet in the world of videogames because StarCraft Ghost has never been released. Being that it’s on-hold “indefinitely”, it would be unfair to put her in the top 10 and have her game never come out or have it release with a less beautiful ass than the one we see here. Sorry, Nova, maybe next year.

Other Considerations

As much as I would like to put a description of every ass considered along with an explanation of why they didn’t make it, I’m sure that in the grand scheme of things you really don’t care. What you want is pictures of hot videogame-related chicks’ asses. Understandable. Here are a bunch of butts that I’ve seen recently that were at one point in the running for the Top 10 Nicest Asses in Videogames (click to enlarge):

Dishonorable Mentions – Shahdee (Prince of Persia: Warrior Within)

You actually may be somewhat surprised to see such a nice ass as a dishonorable mention, but there’s good reason for it. When Shahdee initially walks out, you are first greeted to this lovely shot of her good side. Unfortunately, this is followed up shortly thereafter by the reveal that she is actually Leon Kennedy circa Resident Evil 2. This is the kind of girl that begs you to cut off her head. What? Oh, alright, you can just put a bag over it.

Video proof:

While she would never make a ‘Hottest Chicks’ list, Shahdee definitely has what it takes to make a list about round rear ends, even though she’s on the bad side of it.

The Dead or Alive chicks

Let’s face it: everyone seems to think that the pretend innocent sluts of the Dead or Alive series of games are hot. I, too, once fell victim to their charms, but careful study has lead me to the truth — they don’t really have nice asses.

Team Ninja seem to be a bunch of boob men, or maybe they think that most other men are boob men. Either way, the DOA chicks all have huge floppy racks and a decent set of hips, but take a nice, hard look at those asses and what you’ll see is a boxy, flat, boring hunk of booty. Need visual proof?

Sorry I had to do that to you. It’s a difficult truth, I know.

The Rumble Roses chicks (Rumble Roses XX)

Okay, the Rumble Roses chicks have big fat asses. There are lots of people that like big fat asses, but I’m not one of them. Sorry, Rumble Roses girls, but your asses are too fat for this list. I’ll put up one more pic for the people that are into it, just to be a good sport.

Wow, after all of that, who’s left? What ass could possibly be at the number one spot? I know you’re curious, so check back tomorrow for the best booty of them all as we finish off our countdown of the Nicest Asses in Videogames.

All the Asses: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Special Mentions | 1

If you are a fan of things that are awesome, this is a pretty good time to be a gamer. Gears 2, Left 4 Dead, and now Prince of Persia. Stock pile food and drink, bar the door shut, and dim the lights … Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia deserves your full attention. Hit the jump for the full release announcement.

PRINCE OF PERSIA® SHIPS TO STORE SHELVES

All-New Epic Adventure Hits Stores, Is Poised to Reign This Holiday Season

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – December 2, 2008 – Today Ubisoft announced that Prince of Persia for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system has shipped to store shelves. Additionally, the complementary adventure exclusively for the Nintendo DS(TM) system, Prince of Persia®: The Fallen King, also shipped to retailers. Prince of Persia has an ESRB of “T” for Teen and will be available at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $59.99 for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 systems. The Windows-based PC version of the game ships to stores on December 9th and will retail for $49.99. Prince of Persia: The Fallen King has an ESRB of “E” for Everyone and will retail for $29.99.

“Prince of Persia is one of the most innovative and critically acclaimed franchises in video game history,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Ubisoft. “This new chapter will continue to set the standard for the action-adventure genre and is a definite must-own title this holiday season.”

About Prince of Persia
Set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, the warrior Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness that pits the God of Light, Ormazd, against his brother, Ahriman, the destructive God of Darkness. After witnessing the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life – an act which unleashes Ahriman’s corrupted darkness onto the land – the Prince and his deadly companion, Elika, embark on a journey to heal the world from the evil Corruption and defeat Ahriman once and for all.

Led by the all-star team that previously created the Prince of Persia® Sands of Time trilogy, Prince of Persia has been in development at Ubisoft’s Montreal studio for over three years. The video game opens an entirely new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe in addition to introducing a fresh illustrative art style, evolved combat system, open world structure and dynamic AI – most notably in the form of the Prince’s powerful ally Elika.

About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has teams in 28 countries and distributes games in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2007–08 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of 928 million euros. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.

Only a few noteworthy games coming out this week, as many of the AAA titles were all released in early November. Still one AAA title in Prince of Persia for the Xbox 360 and PS3, but other than that not much else to brag about this week. Oh, maybe Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC? Or Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon? Maybe not.

Hit the jump for my pick of the week (which I bet you already know) and the full list of game releases.

Pick of the Week: Prince of Persia (Xbox 360, PS3)

Xbox 360:

• Prince of Persia
• Destroy All Humans! Path Of The Furon
• The Tale of Despereaux
• Banjo-Kazooie (XBLA)

PS3:

• Prince of Persia
• SingStar ABBA

Nintendo Wii:

• King of Fighters Collection- The Orochi Saga
• Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek
• My Fitness Coach
• The Tale Of Despereaux
• Safecracker
• Family Party: 30 Great Games
• Mushroom Men: Spore Wars
• Ski & Shoot
• Bigfoot Collision Course
• SPRay

PS2:

• The Tale Of Despereaux
• Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
• SingStar ABBA

Nintendo DS:

• Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
• Heavy Armor Brigade
• Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi
• The Tale Of Despereaux
• Slingo Quest
• Wordfish
• My Fun Facts Coach
• Animal Boxing
• Happy Cooking
• Dreamer: Puppy Trainer
• Emma at the Farm
• Emma in the Mountains

PC Games:

• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Shaun White Snowboarding
• Zoo Tycoon Ultimate
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• Disney’s Bolt
• The Tale of Despereaux
• A Vampyre Story

Prince of Persia games have a history of being an all-around awesome gaming experience (unless you happen to be playing on PSP). So it’s not surprising that the music also excels in quality. A mix of traditional eastern instruments with a dash of the all-time American favorite electric guitar and some orchestral flair gives you a quality of music normally associated with blockbuster movies. So it’s no surprise that some familiar names are returning to the series to bring us a soundtrack for the new game that Ubisoft boasts will be “a compelling and epic original score.” You hear that? It’s gonna be freaking epic!

The magicians behind the previous few Prince of Persia games, Inon Zur (Two Thrones and Warrior Within) and Stuart Chatwood (Sands of Time, Two Thrones, and Warrior Within) are once again joining forces to create a musical experience that will hopefully lend itself well to the tone and gameplay of Prince of Persia.

“Inon’s music underlines sumptuously the dramatic and the cinematic
qualities of the story,” said Simon Landry, Music Supervisor for
Prince of Persia. “Bringing together, in a video game perspective,
tragedy, humor, violent confrontations, romance and moral dilemmas is
a huge challenge but the new Prince of Persia soundtrack makes it
happen, reaching new artistic heights and emotional depth.”

Boasting many instruments will silly names such as Santoors, Sarods, Sitar, Zournas, and Tamboura, the soundtrack for this game looks like it’s in good hands. One of the many games this season that I’m sure many are salivating over hungrily. Om nom noms begin December 2, 2008.

Want a reason to dip into your trick-or-treater stash before the little buggers start taking it all? The scarily good X-Play line up tonight is the perfect excuse. Adam and company will be interviewing gaming icon, Shigeru Miyamoto, as well as debuting the US trailer for Killzone 2 on the PlayStation 3.

Airing tonight will be the first part of a two part interview with Miyamoto, where the legendary creator shares his thoughts on Wii Music and his love of music in general.

The Prince, Fallout 3, and Pacific Rift factor in too, so make sure to check out the rest of the show highlights in the press release after the jump.

X-Play’s Big Show Delivers TONIGHT, Wednesday, October 29, only on G4

Part 1 of a 2 Part Exclusive new Shigeru Miyamoto Interview

Exclusive new US trailer for Killzone 2 on the PS3

Fallout 3 Review

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift Review

All Access Preview of Prince of Persia

Don’t miss X-Play five nights a week, at 8pm ET/PT, only on G4

The MCM London Expo has grown incredibly in size since its first iteration, and this year was no exception. I attended the Expo last year, and it was the biggest exposition I had ever been to, and this year it was at least three times as big. ‘MCM’ stands for ‘Movies, Comics, Media’, but don’t tell the legions of people who go every year– over half of the people that attend, including sellers, are only interested in anime and manga. Nevertheless, since this year was so huge, there were a number of videogame stalls, some of which I managed to barge my way over to and have a go.

I’ll stick to tradition and start my story with the beginning of the day. During the train ride into central London, since I seemed to be the only one who knew the way to the Excel Centre, I managed to gather a troupe of what I can only describe as weirdos. You’ll never know public shame until you’ve had someone with pink hair, someone with a full ball gown, and about 20 others follow you into a tube train.

At the Excel Centre, we were greeted by what could be the longest queue I’ve ever seen. Here’s an idea of how big the Excel Centre is:

Well, the queue was the length of the hall, and at one point was doubled back on itself.

About an hour later, we were in. Obviusly, I went straight for the games. First thing I played was Prince of Persia. Despite the unskippable cut-scenes, I held on to my sanity long enough to play a little. The animations of the Prince are great, and the stylised graphics are pretty, but the game is sluggish; it feels like the Prince is a dead weight. He can run across walls and jump about like in the other games, but the controls aren’t as natural as you might think.

From these early impressions, I’d say it won’t be able to compete with PoP:Sands of Time in terms of playability. The section I played was pretty repetitive, too. Perhaps it’ll improve later in the game, but for now I’m passing on Prince of Persia.

Next, I headed straight for the Dead Space booth. As you can see, it was set up like a futuristic container, just like something from the game. On the inside, there were two rooms– in the first, there were a couple of trailers, nothing special (besides the severed foot hanging from the ceiling). When they had finished, Issac himself burst through the door to the other room and beckons for you to go through and play the game. As you might be able to tell, this was awesome. I played the game for a bit, but I’ll direct you to Roly’s review for impressions.

Capcom had a Street Fighter IV arcade with about five machines set up, and as you might be able to tell, it was intensely crowded all day. Regrettably, I wasn’t able to play it, and likewise for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (although from the latter I did get a free T-Shirt). I did however play the incredible Monster Racers DS. I held down ‘right’ on the D-pad for 30 seconds and won. Now that’s what I call gaming.

Before I move on, a word of advice: don’t piss off a bunch of Stormtroopers.

After the shenanigans with the games, I moved on to witness a Guinness World Record: the most people dressed as videogame characters in one place:

The usual Marios and Dantes were of course present, but there were some really awesome characters, too:

Finally, I met with two people I have grown to admire: Jim Sterling and our very own John “Wardrox” Kershaw. A good time was had by all. The London Expo may pale in comparison to the likes of PAX and even the now-defunct E for All, but it is almost all we have over here in the UK. Thankfully the London Games Festival seems to be promoting bigger and better events; those of us in the UK can look forward to decent shows in the future. If you’re attending any gaming events in the future, UK or US, why not start a thread in the forums? Hey, you might even get to meet one of us!

Ubisoft has released two new video interviews highlighting the combat and acrobatic aspects of their upcoming Prince of Persia next-gen title. I have taken the time to watch each and put together a some detailed notes and opinions for your reading pleasure.

Hit the jump, double jump, co-op jump, and prepare to “jump jump” your ass straight out of your seat. Anyone who saw previous footage of the game and said” it looks good but I just don’t understand how the controls are going to work” is going to have their questions answered — right now.

Prince of Persia Combat Interview

Combat Highlights

Ubisoft’s goal with the latest Prince of Persia was to reinvent the way people fight in an action game. This brought on the development of a new 1-on-1 fighting system, which they describe and being similar to that of Soul Calibur.

The relationship of combat to acrobatics has changed, as the two are more clearly defined and separated this time around. Exploration type acrobatics will navigate your to battle, but once engaged in a fight, you will be locked in until either you or the enemy has been killed. This is a significant change over previous Prince of Persia games which allowed gamers to escape and essentially reset a fight.

In addition, you will not be able to use moves like the Grip Fall and your co-op jumping ability while in combat, but that certainly doesn’t mean the fights will lose their acrobatic feel. As you have likely seen in the previously released footage of the game, you will still be able to interact with your environment during a boss fight (as will the enemy), however your interactions will not mirror those available in exploration mode.

One example shows the Prince pushing a boss off a ledge causing him to plummet to his death. The interesting thing here, is that you can supposedly do this regardless of your enemies current health state. In other words, you could potentially maneuver a boss at full health towards a ledge and push him off for a quick win. No word as to how many encounters will feature environments that make this possible, but it’s definitively a nice treat.

In terms of attacks, the team describes melee and magic as the two major forms at your disposal. The sword being the main weapon for the Prince, capable of faster attack speeds, and greater damage when compared to Elika’s magical counterpart. The drawback to the sword is that it requires you to be within melee range, and can be countered as well as deflected by the enemy. Of course, you will be able to perform all those nasty damage dodging abilities too if you keep your eyes open and your reflexes sharp.

As stated above, Eleka’s attacks are based on magic, and while they can be utilized from a greater distance (which will likely prove to be key in certain battles), they take longer to perform and don’t do as much damage as the Prince’s sword.

What about the combat acrobatic maneuvers we promised? And to think I thought you would never ask. The action button, which is also used to perform acrobatic moves when out of combat, serves the same purpose in battle. It allows for a movement the developers describe as “quick steps”, which can be activated while in strafe mode. With this button, you will also be able to jump up onto your enemy as long as you are within melee attack range.

The last ability mentioned in the video utilizes the “Lift/Gauntlet” button, granting you the ability to launch your enemy into the air for a few quick juggle type combo hits. I’m not sure that I am completely in love with this one, as it would seem to take the edge off a more daunting enemy such as The Warrior. There is a chance that some bosses are immune to certain attacks, although they have yet to mention anything like that.

Prince of Persia Acrobatics Interview

Acrobatic Interview Highlights

The developers talk about the game’s “ingredients” in this segment, specifically referring to interactive objects in the game. Each object that you can utilize to make your way through world has been coined an ingredient. Hmmmm, maybe someone was baking a cake during one of their brainstorming sessions.

Regardless, “ingredients” are a key element in this installment of Prince of Persia, and it is worth noting that all of them, be it pole or ledges, will require the same gameplay mechanic in order to interact with them.

I’m all for this idea. It’s very possible that the goal was to simplify things, helping to make repetitive actions such as swinging and grabbing a ledge become second nature to the user. Gears of War did this well with their one button approach to most of the things you could do in their blockbuster game. Kudos Ubi, here’s to hoping it works as well as I’m envisioning it will.

With new gear, comes new moves, and even more responsibility. The Prince (as you may have seen) is sporting a new gauntlet on his hand, and that little puppy opened up the game like a — well, like something being opened up.

Grip Fall, the Prince’s new wall scraping ability, allows him to slowly lower himself from one point to another. Think nails on a chalkboard — a really really big chalkboard. The addition of this new ability, forced the developers to rethink how they looked at the level design, as this one move alone opened things up for a much more vertical type of environment.

Remember how I said jump, like three times in the intro? Yea, well here’s why. The game is going to feature ass-loads of jumping. More jumping than some Man Show Juggies on a trampoline. You chew on the video for a bit while I hit the head.

[writer away from keyboard - requests you watch the clip below]

[writer returns to keyboard and begins typing]

So yea, you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to jump your heart out. According to the developers, the “jump centric” controls are the backbone of their “jump anywhere philosophy”, allowing for single jumps, double jumps, and the occasionally sexy co-op jump.

So what is the next-gen version of Prince of Persia all about? Speed and rhythmic movement. Previous iterations of the game had acrobatics that were slower and more puzzle like, but those days are long behind us now. The new Prince is in town, and he’s got places to go.

Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia hits stores on December 2nd, 2008, and is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

TGS 08 brings us a new Prince of Persia trailer featuring artist “Sia” performing her song “Breathe Me”. The Prince and Elika acrobatically make their way through the world and close with a battle against The Warrior .

At the risk of my sounding like a broken record, I simply have to say that no matter how many times I see footage of this game I inhale a little each time.

Have at it after the epic Prince like leap.

The second installment of Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia Developer Diary was sent to us today, and the game just keeps looking better and better each time I see it.

This session showcases a massive new boss known as “The Warrior” with another high speed sketch, and delves into details on Ahriman’s Corruption.

The accompanying press release and video clip are both available after the jump.

UBISOFT RELEASES SECOND DEVELOPER DIARY VIDEO FOR PRINCE OF PERSIA

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – October 6, 2008 – Today, Ubisoft announced the release of the second Developer’s Diary for the upcoming Prince of Persia. Now available for immediate posting, this new video gives us an exclusive inside look at never-before-seen details of Ahriman’s Corruption and provides in-depth information about the game’s massive second boss: The Warrior. The Prince’s deadly new companion, Elika also takes center-stage as the developers highlight their distinctive acrobatic style combat as well as reveal new details about Elika’s magical abilities and the role that they will play in the game.

Prince of Persia is scheduled to release December 2, 2008 for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and PC.

About Prince of Persia
Set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness: the God of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the destructive God of Darkness. The Prince arrives just in time to witness the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life – an act which threatens to plunge the entire world into eternal darkness. Manifested in the form of the Corruption, a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with Elika, a deadly companion, to heal the world from the evil Corruption.

I am absolutely in love with this fucking game. Did I just type that out loud? Oh well.

Ubisoft has released a new seven minute video walkthrough and several new in-game screens available after the jump. If you enjoy them as much as I did you may need to take a short nap afterwords.

Prince of Persia

15 Photos

 

Ripten’s own Michael Geslani is down in San Diego for Comic-Con 2008, where Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner discussed the upcoming film adaptation during a panel. Read all about it after the break.

According to Mechner, who is writing the screenplay for the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time movie, he had to start from scratch when adapting the game into a film. While that could be a great thing, it could also lead to a movie that strays quite a bit from its source material. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Mechner also discussed the film’s cast, saying that he was “delighted” with the casting choices. The core cast includes Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, and Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan, the titular Prince of Persia. Someone asked if they had looked into Persian actors for the role, to which Mechner responded that they looked at a wide range of actors, but in the end, you can only pick one.

He also commented on Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Sands of Time’s less-than-popular sequel.

“I don’t like to criticize a particular game, basically what I meant to say was that the style wasn’t my style. It wasn’t what I would’ve done, but it is what it is,” he said, addressing previous statements. “I’d rather focus on the positive and hope that the [new Prince of Persia game] is really awesome.”

Prince of Persia “Next-Gen” debuted with a splash in the CG pond, failing to excite those who had already spied beautiful screenshots of the game’s cell-shaded art style.  Now we can experience the first in-game footage of Ubisoft’s new Prince of Persia, backed by the beautiful sounds of Sigur Ros.

Great, we’re happy for you, Ubisoft. You’ve saved yourself from being swallowed by the mammoth that is EA. Just keep making Assassin’s Creeds, Splinter Cells, and keep the MyWordCoach away from my 360, and I’ll continue to love you just as much as I do now. And that Lost game better be good or there’ll be hell to pay.

Oh and about that not-so-inadvertently-semi-confirmed game I was talking about: It’s business as usual, Prince of Persia. Also expect another GRAW, Rainbow Six (after Vegas 2), and Splinter Cell.

Hell, why not? They have a license to print money with those few franchises. As long as they keep releasing AAA-quality titles, more power to them.

Ubisoft fanboys and spin lovers rejoice, for here is the press release in its entirety:

Sales for the third quarter of 2007-08 came to €450 million, up 44.4%, or 50.1% at constant exchange rates, compared with the €311 million recorded for the same period of 2006-07. Sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2007-08 totaled €711 million versus €483 million in the corresponding period of 2006-07, representing an increase of 47.2%, or 52.1% at constant exchange rates.

Third-quarter sales outstripped the guidance that was raised to €410 million on13th December, 2007. This very good performance was fueled primarily by the following elements:

A further exceptional showing from Assassin’s Creed. In Europe, this was the best-selling game in 2007 for the PS3 and the number 2 best-seller for the X360.
In the United States, it was the second best-selling game in 2007 for the PS3 and the number 3 best-seller for the X360.2

Excellent sales levels reported by our casual games including Fashion Designer, Babyz and Animal Doctor for the Imagine series; Horsez, Hamsterz and Catz for the Petz series; and MyWordCoach for the MyCoach series.

Games for new-generation consoles represented 84% of the Group’s sales in the first nine months of 2007-08, versus 55% for the equivalent period of 2006-07.

Ubisoft continued to gain market share in calendar 2007, and was ranked as follows:

* Number 2 independent publisher in Europe, reporting 58% growth (versus 25% for the European market as a whole), and market share of 8.7% (6.9% in 2006).
* Number 3 independent publisher in the United States, where growth came in at 49% (compared with 29% for the US market as a whole), and market share represented 6.1% (5.2% in 2006).

Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft, stated

The vast majority of our games reaped the benefits of particularly strong market momentum over the Christmas period. Two new long term multi-million franchises were created, Assassin’s Creed and Imagine, generating sell-in sales of 5 and 2.5 million units respectively. They will join our existing portfolio of 12 franchises.

As a result, Ubisoft moved up from fourth to third place in the overall ranking of independent publishers in 2007 – a year that saw the video game industry enter new dimension with previously unheard-of visibility. This revolution stems from the greater accessibility of Nintendo’s consoles as well as from the superb cinema-like visual experience provided by Sony and Microsoft consoles.

We expect this situation to significantly drive up market performance once again in 2008, with overall market growth representing at least 10%. Against this backdrop, Ubisoft will continue to leverage its strong brands and design capacities with a view to outperforming the market.

Fourth-quarter 2007-08 will see the following main releases:

* Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for PC, the X360 and the PS3,
* Assassin’s Creed for PC and the NDS
* The game based on the Lost television series, for PC, the PS3 and the X360,
* New casual games for the NDS and Nintendo Wii.

Haze, which was originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2007-08, will now be released in fiscal 2008-09.

The Group expects sales for the fourth quarter of 2007-08 to total around €165 million, representing a 16% contraction compared with the same period of 2006-07.

In light of the Group’s third-quarter performance and initial positive trends for the fourth quarter of the year, Ubisoft has raised its performance targets for full-year 2007-08. The 2007-08 sales target is now approximately €875 million, compared with the forecast of €840 million announced on December 13, 2007, and the Group expects current operating income before stock options to represent at least 13% of sales, versus the previous estimate of at least 12%.

At the same time, in order to take into account the postponed release date for Haze, Ubisoft has raised its 2008-09 sales target to approximately €1 billion, compared with the previously-announced forecast of around €975 million. The Group is maintaining its target for current operating income before stock options to represent at least 11% of sales.

The 2008-09 line-up will include notably the following key titles:

* 7 franchises, including Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Brothers in Arms, Far Cry, Prince of Persia and Anno,
* 5 new brands, including Tom Clancy’s EndWar, Haze, the Shaun White snowboard game and a Tom Clancy air combat game,
* New games in the Petz, Imagine and MyCoach series as well as a new line of casual games.

Market share: Excluding Asia, Ubisoft was the third-leading independent publisher in the world in 2007. It ranked number 3 in the United States with 6.1% market share (compared with number 5 and 5.2% one year earlier); number 2 in Europe with 8.7% market share (compared with number 2 and 6.9%); number 2 in France with 9.3% market share (compared with number 2 and 7.7%); number 2 in the United Kingdom with 9.1% market share (compared with number 3 and 7.6%); and number 2 in Germany with 7.9% market share (compared with number 2 and 6.6%).

Ubisoft closes the acquisition of the Japanese video game development studio Digital Kids: Established in 1996 with offices in Nagoya and Osaka, Digital Kids currently has a team of 20 developers specialized in games for the NDS. The studio has worked regularly for a number of Japanese publishers and has developed several successful titles for Ubisoft’s Petz line of games, including Hamsterz Life.

Thanks to BeNintendo.de for the image.

There have been smidgens of review scores from PSM3’s Christmas Edition, but not so much has been seen of the news section in the magazine. And oh, there are a bunch of treats held within its pages. There’s news on Resistance 2, as well as next-gen outings of Hitman, Prince of Persia, and Syphon Filter. Carry on reading after the jump.

For those of you that missed PSM3’s review scores, this is for your benefit:

PS3
Assassins Creed – 81
Call of Duty 4 – 94
Need for Speed ProStreet – 79
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga – 80
Beowulf – 41
The Simpsons Game – 70
Kane and Lynch: Dead Men – 58
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock – 90

PS2
Crash of the Titans – 62
Thirllville: Off the Rails – 69
Jackass: The Game – 60
Singstar R&B – 70
The Sims: Castaway – 55
High School Musical: Sing it! – 32

PSP
Silent Hill Origins – 82
SOCOM Tactical Strike – 78

A lower than expected review score for Assassin’s Creed, but make sure you come back here for our thoughts on that game next week. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we can move onto the good stuff. Within the pages of this Christmas Edition lies nuggets of insider news. From Warhawk downloadable content, to EA working on a snowboarding game…which just might be a next-gen SSX.

However, there’s more exciting stuff. Firstly, Infinity Ward is rumored to be working on an all new IP, expected to hit in 2009. Second, a next-gen Hitman should be coming in the Summer of 2008, and thirdly Ubisoft Montreal is bringing Far Cry to the PS3 in 2008, possibly even early 2008, but at the moment they are busy working on Prince of Persia (!).

Yet, perhaps even more exciting than all of this, is the news that Insomniac is in full swing with Resistance 2. We told you a few weeks ago, based on information we received from a trusted source, that Insomniac was looking to hire game testers for the sequel, and it appears now that our source was right on.

With the games global unveiling due for early next year, Insomniac hopes to release the game late 2008. That is insane. A strong PS3 game every year without fail just shows how incredibly talented those guys at Insomniac are. At this rate Resistance 2 might even release before Metal Gear Solid 4 (I jest). Finally, the magazine states that Sony is busting their butts to have Syphon Filter ready for release on the PS3 in 2009.

So there you have it, lots of exciting things going on away from the publics eyes. Here is PSM3’s remaining insider news:

- Street Fighter 4 won’t look like the teaser trailer.
- NBA Ballers 3 in April 2008.
- Sega has selected Eurocom to develop the official 08 Beijing Olympics game.
- Lego Indiana Jones to tie in with the new movie release date.

Assassin’s Creed is one of the few “next-gen” games we’ll be experiencing this year – whatever that means, seems to be the buzz word these days. Coming from the makers of the classic Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, it has lofty expectations to live up to.

The game takes place during the Third Crusade, with the player taking the role of a secret Assassin, Altair. Altair means “the flying thingy” in Arabic, where the word “thingy” should be replaced with “one” to avoid any childish visions. This flying bloke, or Altair as he will henceforth be referred to, has the objective to slay individuals who promote hostilities. What hostilities? The Third Crusade, young one. Pay attention.

The game promises to contain historically accurate cities and interactive environments. You’ll be able to climb any building you fancy, buildings complete with historically, accurately, coloredly bricks. You are but an archaic Spider-Man (minus the red and blue tights) making your way through cities dressed in an assassin’s hawk outfit.

Yet, there is something on top of all this “gloriousness” that Ubisoft Montreal has kept swept under their grandmother’s carpet; a “sci-fi” twist that is suggested in the game footage. But should we give a monkey’s (or a rat’s ass as you American’s like to say) about this twist, and could it potentially spoil the game’s integrity?

An Assassin fallen from grace, Altair must prove himself to be a worthy stealth killer by assassinating nine historical figures who are propagating the Crusades. The Crusades? How interesting. Please tell us more, you cry. Well, if I must.

It says here on Wikipedia, that the Third Crusade is also known as the King’s Crusade. Good website that Wikipedia is, and if you type in my name there, it’ll come up with a “List of Winniepeggers”. Now, I don’t know what they are exactly, but they sound amusing, and I’m vaguely proud to be associated with them. Anyway, the Third Crusade, also known as the King’s Crusade, saw European leaders trying to reconquer the holy land from Saladin.

Who’s this Saladin fellow? Did he make salad? Actually he should properly be introduced as “Salah al-Dīn Yusuf ibn Ayyub” better known to his friends by his hip short rapper name “Saladin”. He was a Muslim leader from Iraq who led the resistance against the European Crusaders from infiltrating Jerusalem, which Saladin had captured years before.

Well, little Saladin was defeated by Richard I of England at the end of 1191, and the two came to an agreement over Jerusalem in 1192, where it would remain in Muslim hands but was open to Christian pilgrimages. This was a time when the opposing rulers had large mutual respect for one another, so much so that Saladin offered his personal physician to an injured RIchard I, sending replacement horses, providing fresh fruit, and even giving the King snow to keep his drinks cold. Ah those were the days. Fast forward to 2007, and we’re stuck with a pleb who calls an air strike against an adversary for hiding “invisible weaponry amongst oil reserves. That’s the end of our history lesson, so we must move on.

As Altair, the bird man, you have the power to impact events in the year 1191 AD, by tracking down and assassinating key figures on both sides of the conflict. Three cities will be your playground: Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus. But why is Altair called the flying thingy? Does he have wings, or a nifty glider to glide him from place to place, or perhaps even a funky colored hot-air balloon. No, he has no such transport, though at times, a wee pony will be gracious enough to carry him on her back. What he does have are some amazing abilities in free-running.

You might have seen “free-running” at the beginning of Casino Royale, or even better you might have watched Top Gear where James May raced a couple of free-runners through Liverpool in a Peugeot 207 – the runners won of course. Yes, it’s that jumpy jumpy, climby climby stuff. To escape from the deed you have done, you must climb the buildings, jump over the roof tops from beam to beam, and generally act like a flying fox floating from place to place with your nimble feet.

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You must agree that this sounds beyond splendid. Playing an Assassin in the Third Crusade, targeting individuals from both sides of the conflict whilst skipping from location to location, sounds like a veritable ball. Some might say that Jerusalem is a bit of a touchy subject, but how many World War II games have we seen in the past years, glorifying the Americans, and vilifying the Germans as Nazi encrusted robots? Moreover, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare takes place in a fictitious adaptation of the present day Middle East. Thus I think, in comparison, 816 years is plenty of time between now and The Crusades for it to be a safe and welcome change from other games.

There must be a catch, right? A catch maybe not, but there is a twist – a sci-fi twist. In interviews and game footage there has been a suggestion of “something else” in the Assassin’s Creed universe. There are visible effects, such as electrical interference encroaching across the screen like a TV with bad reception, and character’s outlines flashing with a blue glow when you approach them. Some have theorized that the historical setting may be a simulation, or even the “genetic memory” of present day people trying to discover information about past conflicts. This was put into the minds of those who frequent the sticky web that is the Internet by one of the character actors for the game, Kristen Bell. She said in an interview with IGN:

“It’s actually really interesting to me. It’s sort of based on the research that’s sort of happening now, about the fact that your genes might be able to hold memory…And it’s about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into people’s brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is.”

Well since then, the game’s producer, the stunningly gorgeous Jade Raymond (I wonder if she’s an unlockable skin in the game…hmmm), has stated that it’s not like the Matrix, and Altair is not a time traveller. Yet, in a gameplay demo at X06 a few little snippets seemed to support the genetic memory theory, with the words “memories/01”, “hard drive” and “access your genetic memory” appearing after Altair had died. Furthermore, in the background of the official website and in the “making of videos” are visible DNA strand patterns. So, the plot thickens for Assassin’s Creed, the supposed historically accurate game set in 1191AD. What’s clear is that the developers don’t want to talk about any of this yet, but have tried to make it certain that this is not a gimmick.

Now this worries me, because if this twist is an integral part of the game, then it’s not really set in 1191AD, and you can’t really get immersed into the atmosphere of Jerusalem and the Crusades.

What really gets on mon wick as I watch game footage, are these electrical glitches that interfere with the screen, which are said to have roles in the gameplay – such as being able to change the camera angle in real-time cutscenes. Even worse are the electrical readouts and outlines around the many characters within these cities, that apparently identify who you can interact with. Still, these effects are far from subtle.

It seems such a shame that Ubisoft Montreal have gone to all the trouble to accurately create these holy cities, from the architecture, to the clothes of the characters, to then just stab the player’s eyes with futuristic effects. Yes it’s a game, but games are meant to engage and engross and make you suspend disbelief. These “glitches” act as a knocking down of the fourth wall, taking you out of the immediate action and shouting at you “There’s a twist, don’t forget the twist young Assassin, oooh glitchy glitchy this is not as it seems, everything’s all Matrixy”. I’m all for twists and turns, but it fails to be a twist when the game tells you there’s a twist every five seconds.

Rumour goes that this sci-fi twist is actually revealed in the first 10minutes of the game, and that Gamesradar, the cunning foxettes that they are, have already worked it out by reading a chapter from the Assassin’s Creed comic. Let’s be honest, one is too cowardly to spoil the game by reading a piddly comic, and I doubt you, fine reader, would like the game experience to be spoiled like a freshly killed badger being run over by a two seater Cadillac (I mean I could have had that for my dinner!), either.

So, all in all, I could be wrong. This twist could in fact enrich the gameplay, supplement your interest in the game, and further engross you in the story.  All the while the game’s plot will play with your little mind, confusing your thoughts like a Bishop confuses a choir boy when he leads him to the confession box.

Anyway, the long and short of it is young hobbit, is that there’s something else in this game, something bigger, more clever, and we all know it’s coming (well, you do now) and I for one am not convinced that it will help this game. In fact, right at this moment, I think that this twist will detract from the gameplay.