Crispy Gamer News

Hey. Someone got their Assassin’s Creed in my Prince of Persia. And yet, much like peanut butter and chocolate, this looks like it may be two great tastes that taste great together.

In a bit of a surprise announcement, Ubisoft clued gamers in on a new perk for linking their Ubisoft.com user accounts with either their Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network accounts. By doing so, players who pick up Prince of Persia will gain access to a special character skin of Altair from Assassin’s Creed.
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Today Ubisoft reported financial results for the first fiscal quarter that ended on June 30, 2008. Ubisoft’s first quarter sales were up 25.8 percent, compared with the €134 million ($209.32 million) recorded for the same period of a year ago.

The company attributed first quarter profits to Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Assassin’s Creed and Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. The Games For Everyone brands including the Petz, Imagine and My Coach series also played a big part, representing 33 percent of sales versus 11 percent in the first quarter of 2007-08. Titles launched in the first quarter of 2008-09, included Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for PC, Haze, and My Weight Loss Coach which got off to a promising start, according to Ubisoft.

Ubisoft is raising its guidance for full-year 2008-09 sales to approximately €1.02 billion ($1.59 billion) from the previously-announced €1 billion ($1.56 billion) as a result of several factors including favorable market conditions for the video games industry, Ubisoft’s solid first-quarter sales performance (particularly by the Games For Everyone range), and the positive reception given to the games presented at E3. The Group is maintaining its target for current income before stock options to represent at least 12 percent of sales.

Ubisoft announced that the PC version of Assassin’s Creed will be available at retailers nationwide in March and that it will feature some additional content above and beyond the console versions of the game. Assassin’s Creed for PC will feature four new types of investigations, providing more ways to explore the various locations of the Third Crusade. Players will assume the role of the main character, Alta?r, and will work to stop hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict as a master assassin. Assassin’s Creed for PC is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB and has an MSRP of $49.99.

The 2007 Game Critics Awards were announced today, revealing the top 10 very best games of 2007 as chosen by this year’’s crop of judges from leading publications including Games for Windows Magazine, EGM, GameSpy, Newsweek, Wired and many others. This is the very first time that the Game Critics awards have been given out Game of the Year awards; the group usually reserves that distinction for E3.

This year’’s judges for the Game of the Year awards began the process by submitting ballots listing 10 of their favorite games of the year. Judges were then given 100 points to spread out across their favorite games, which were then compared and audited by two outside sources. The end result is what you see below:

2007 Game Critics Awards: Game of the Year
BioShock (464 Points)

2. The Orange Box (387 Points)
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (361 Points)
4. Rock Band (349 Points)
5. Super Mario Galaxy (323 Points)
6. Halo 3 (232 Points)
7. Mass Effect (213 Points)
8. God of War II (103 Points)
9. Assassin’s Creed (88 Points)
10. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (87 Points)

The interactive entertainment industry raked in $17.9 billion dollars in sales for 2007, a record-breaking year for an industry that continues to grow, thanks to products like the Wii and games like Rock Band opening up the market to new demographics. According to retail data research firm NPD, hardware and software sales rose by 43 percent in 2007 compared to 2006. Sales for December were an impressive $4.82 billion. Some of the key products driving this growth were Nintendo’’s DS and Wii, along with strong software sales — Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero III, Halo 3, and Super Mario Galaxy.

First, the hardware: When you break the hardware numbers down, there are a few things worth noting; for one, the PlayStation 2 did extremely well in 2007 if you consider that system was left for dead by many software publishers. The PS2 moved a respectable 3.97 million units in total, with 1.1 million sold in the month of December alone. The life-to-date number: 41.12 million.

Likewise, PSP sales really picked up in 2007, with a total of 3.82 million units sold during the year, putting its installed user base at (life-to-date) 10.47 million — that’’s higher than almost every system except the PS2 and Nintendo DS. This year could be a banner year for the PSP if it starts to see more games like it did in the fourth quarter of 2007 (read: games players want). Here’’s a breakdown of hardware sales:

PS2: December — 1.1 million; Full Year — 3.97 million; Life-to-Date — 41.12 million

PS3: December — 797,600; Full Year — 2.56 million; Life-to-Date — 3.25 million

PSP: December — 1.06 million; Full Year — 3.82 million; Life-to-Date — 10.47 million

Wii: December — 1.35 million; Full Year — 6.29 million; Life-to-Date — 7.38 million

DS: December — 2.47 million; Full Year — 8.50 million; Life-to-Date — 17.65 million

Xbox 360: December — 1.26 million; Full Year — 4.62 million; Life-to-Date — 9.15 million

As you can see, the DS moved the most units in 2007, with the Wii following closely behind. For software, the top-selling games for December were:

Xbox 360: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision) — 1.47 million

Wii: Super Mario Galaxy — 1.40 million

PS2: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock — 1.25 million

Wii: Wii Play w/ remote — 1.08 million

Xbox 360: Assassin’s Creed — 893,700

Xbox 360: Halo 3 — 742,700

DS: Brain Age 2 — 659,500

PS2: Madden NFL 08 — 655,200

Xbox 360: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock — 624,600

Wii: Mario and Sonic: Olympic Games — 613,000

What is most interesting about December’’s numbers is that the PS2 version of Guitar Hero III was in the top three. This should give pause to publishers that are foolish enough to write off a system that still has lots of life left in it.

As for the best-selling games of 2007? Halo 3, Wii Play, Call of Duty 4 and — big surprise — Guitar Hero III for the PS2 were at the top of the pile. The PS3 failed to break into the top 10, while Sony’’s last-generation system managed to land three. Here’’s the full list:

Xbox 360: Halo 3 — 4.82 million

Wii: Wii Play w/ remote — 4.12 million

Xbox 360: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — 3.04 million

PS2: Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock — 2.72 million

Wii: Super Mario Galaxy — 2.52 million

DS: Pok?mon Diamond Version — 2.48 million

PS2: Madden NFL 08 — 1.90 million

PS2: Guitar Hero 2 — 1.89 million

Xbox 360: Assassin’s Creed — 1.87 million

Wii: Mario Party 8 — 1.82 million

While Microsoft has got to be happy that Halo 3 sold more than any other game released during the year, that’’s not the big story here. The most telling data is the PS2′’s strong numbers. They show how viable the PS2 is in terms of software and hardware sales, especially for savvy third-party publishers.

But no matter how I read the numbers, you can expect the big three console makers to spin the numbers to their favor, and each will have a valid point to some degree in a year where gaming ruled.

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences issued a press release today revealing the nominees for the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, with two games taking the lion’’s share of the nominations. The nominations for these peer-based awards have been dominated by two titles: BioShock (2K Games) and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision) by receiving over 10 nominations from its peers. Finalists in close lead with top nominations include The Orange Box (Electronic Arts and Valve Software), Rock Band (MTV Games) and Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo of America), all up for the Overall Game of the Year Award. Below is a partial list — the full list of categories and nominees can be found at the AIAS Web site:

Overall Game of the Year:
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy
The Orange Box

Computer Game of the Year:
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Crysis
The Orange Box
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Console Game of the Year:
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Mass Effect
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy

Handheld Game of the Year:
Drawn to Life
Jeanne d’Arc
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:
Assassin’s Creed
BioShock
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy
The Orange Box

The awards ceremony will take place during The D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit 2008 on Feb. 7 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, with comedian Jay Mohr returning for his third year to host the award ceremony.

It’’s been one of the worst-kept secrets on the DS, with listings and display boxes popping up in stores across the country, but Ubisoft made it official this week: Assassin’s Creed is getting the DS treatment next month.

Ubisoft fired off a press release this week touting the February release of Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles, a DS prequel to the fast-selling Assassin’’s Creed console game. In Alta?r’’s Chronicles, players get to learn more about Assassin’s Creed protagonist Altair and the history leading up to the events of the first game. Alta?r’’s Chronicles will feature a fully realized 3-D world in which players will travel and battle through four cities of the Crusade’s Middle East, using acrobatic moves and exhilarating combo attacks that mix sword skills and high-flying kicks.

The success of Assassin’s Creed worldwide has been incredible and we’re excited to delve deeper into the story and bring it to the Nintendo DS, said John Parkes, EMEA Marketing Director at Ubisoft. Assassin’s Creed Altair’s Chronicles will be a title that resonates with those who played the console version as well as those who have yet to discover the secrets of Assassin’s Creed.

Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles is due out on Feb. 5, carrying a T (Teen) rating from the ESRB and a retail price of $29.99.