The Tanooki » Ubisoft

Rayman Origins new screens show off 2D renaissance

Christian Ponte — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:00:14 +0000

Mega Man. Super Mario. Sonic the Hedgehog. Everyone’s getting a back-to-roots revival these days, and Ubisoft’s Rayman isn’t getting left behind.

Rayman Origins, originally planned as an episodic, downloadable title, is getting a full retail release later this year. Fans of the original games’ 2D platformer gameplay will probably want to keep an eye on this new title. In it, Rayman, with the help of best friend Globox and the Teensies duo, must help to save the Glade of Dreams from the “nefurrious” Darktoons.

The four-player co-op seems to function much like that of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, so that should be a fun bonus on top of the 60 levels, 100 characters, and 12 environments that come with the game. You can read all the details and check out the gallery after the break!

UBISOFT GOES BACK TO ITS ROOTS WITH RAYMAN ORIGINS

Michel Ancel, celebrated creator of Rayman®, Beyond Good & Evil® and the Raving Rabbids® returns to his roots to bring us Rayman® Origins: a high-definition, 2D side-scrolling, platforming adventure in full 4-player co-op.

Play Rayman Origins and discover or rediscover the magical universe and legendary 2D gameplay that captured the hearts of millions of fans.

When the Glade of Dreams is overrun by “nefurrious” Darktoons, the Fairy Council hastily invokes Rayman to save the day; but the hero of light isn’t quite all there…To help him, Rayman teams up with his best friend, Globox, and two crafty wizards, the Teensies. Together, the world’s most hilarious team of heroes will need to restore peace to the Glade or watch as their beloved home vanishes like a bad dream…

Key Features

Rebirth of a Platforming Legend: It’s been 15 years since the first launch of Rayman. Rayman Origins brings back many of the classic characters, revived in their original 2D form, as well as a whole new world of characters and environments. Discover the roots of Rayman by collecting pieces of the Glade’s history, and assemble them to reveal the truth behind Rayman’s origins.

4-Player, Jump-In/Jump-Out, Co-op Gameplay: Play as Rayman in the solo campaign or have up to three friends jump in at any time to play as Globox or as one of the two Teensies. Players can leave at any time without affecting the others’ progression.

Unique Approach to 2D Art: A rich world with over 100 characters and 12 unique environments created by some of the VG’s most reputed artists and animators. This creative approach to 2D design will recapture the hearts of platformer fans and introduce a new generation to one of the industry’s best-loved characters in his original 2D form.

A Vast Playground: Rayman Origins includes over 60 levels of 2D platforming gameplay designed for all ages and playing styles. Unlock new abilities progressively and return to previous levels to discover new paths and secrets.

Variety of Gameplay: Rayman Origins is a platformer at its core, but it has elements of many game genres. Rayman, Globox and the Teensies gain unique abilities as they progress through the adventure, including swimming, diving and the sensational “HairlyCopter.” The game also features many elements of action, adventure and beat-’em-up gameplay.

Epic Boss Fights: A giant pink monster with hundreds of eyes… A possessed, mountainous golem… An evil daisy-cum-carnivorous plant… Rayman Origins will put players to the test with these and many more challenging boss battles!

A Handful of Highly Talented Artists and Engineers: Rayman Origins was developed by the UBIart team in Montpellier and is built on an open-source game engine—the UBIart Framework—designed by Michel Ancel to allow much smaller teams of artists and developers to produce incredibly high-quality graphics and gameplay quickly and efficiently. This garage-game approach has led to great strides in creativity and innovation.

Product Specifications:
Publisher: UBISOFT
Developer: UBIart Montpellier
Ship Date: Holiday 2011
Genre: Platformer, Action/Adventure
Platforms: PlayStation®3 system, Xbox 360®, Wii™
Rating: ESRB E

Pre-order Rocksmith, receive $25 toward guitar purchase at Guitar Center

Holly Green — Mon, 09 May 2011 23:29:34 +0000

Excited about Rocksmith, but lacking your own guitar to jam? Ubisoft’s is looking to lighten the load by offering at $25 voucher towards any Guitar Center guitar with your pre-order. The $80 title, which will allow you to plug in any electric guitar with a standard quarter inch jack into your Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or PC, already has a lineup spanning Interpol to Rolling Stones, and despite the price of a guitar, is surely a must-have. Get your pre-order in before Rocksmith launches this fall.

PRE-ORDER UBISOFT’S ROCKSMITH VIDEO GAME AT GAMESTOP AND RECEIVE $25 TOWARD A GUITAR AT GUITAR CENTER

SAN FRANCISCO – May 9, 2011 – Today, Ubisoft announced a unique pre-order offer with GameStop, the world’s largest retailer of video games, and Guitar Center, the world’s largest musical instrument retailer, for its fall 2011 release of Rocksmith. Rocksmith is the first and only game that lets players plug any real guitar with a standard quarter-inch input jack into a PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, an Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® or a Windows-compatible PC. Consumers that pre-order Rocksmith at GameStop will receive a $25 voucher toward a guitar purchase at any Guitar Center location or at its online store.

“Ubisoft is excited to partner with GameStop and Guitar Center on a pre-order offer that is the first of its kind for the company,” said Adam Novickas, director of marketing at Ubisoft. “This special offer is the perfect synergy for both video game players and musicians.”

Rocksmith will be available at all major retailers for $79.99. For more information on Rocksmith, please follow the game on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rocksmithgame, or visit www.rocksmith.com. To find a GameStop location or to pre-order online, visit www.GameStop.com.

Ubisoft hosts Call of Juarez bar nights at US colleges

Joey Levin — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:36:33 +0000

As a part of their campus representative program, Ubisoft Entertainment is hosting bar nights at college campuses around the nation promoting their upcoming Call of Juarez: The Cartel title. The game is slated for a release this June for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I attended one of these events held at the University of Illinois. Guests were treated to free cowboy boot drink koozies, fitting the western theme of the title. Cowboy hats were also provided to attended that pre-ordered the game online that evening.

Tied into these promotions, Ubisoft has teamed up with GameStop and has launched an interactive roadmap on Facebook tracking the total number of pre-orders on the game. Fans can follow along online and when the total number reaches certain milestones everyone who has reserved the game is treated to exclusive in-game content. A link to this interactive road map and more pictures from the Illinois event are provided below:

Call of Juarez Facebook Road Map

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Ubisoft and Virgin Gaming team up for free Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Tournament

Joey Levin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:04:26 +0000

Throughout the month of March and beyond, Ubisoft has teamed up with Virgin Gaming to offer a free online ladder and tournament for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood on both the XBox 360 and Playstation 3. Participants will compete to win their share of a $25,000 prize pool, with a grand prize of $5,000 going to the best player on each console. The tournament is structured with a preliminary ladder round open to all players who own a copy of the game and an active online account for their perspective consoles. Following the open ladder round, the top 128 ranked players on each console will move onto a final tournament to compete for the cash prizes. The qualifying round began on March 3rd for the XBox 360, and will end on March 28th. The Playstation 3 ladder has not opened yet, but should be available soon.

What is particularly interesting about the mechanics of this tournament is that Virgin Gaming has developed a system where the results of each match are pulled automatically from the game servers after the match has ended. This process occurs all on its own and the tournament does not require players to report results or present proof of a win. Having spent some time playing in the tournament myself, I must say that the system works quite well and offers a unique type of online gaming competition.

For those of you wondering the more technical details about the tournament, the game type played is Wanted. Opponents pair up in matches on the Virgin Gaming site, meet up in a player match lobby within Brotherhood, and compete in a standard Wanted game against other random online opponents. For the ladder and tournament, the system only looks at the scores of the two competitors regardless of their final places within a given game. In other words, to earn a win in the tournament you only need to beat your opponent’s score. Match winners are awarded 2 points, and the losers are awarded 1. The top 128 players with the most points on each console at the end of the preliminary rounds will move onto the final round of the tournament.

For more information and to join in on the competition, visit Virgin Gaming’s Website.

Ubisoft sponsors Dance Marathons to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network

Joey Levin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 02:30:54 +0000

Ubisoft, the developer of popular franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance has teamed up with Dance Marathon organizations at universities around the nation to raise money for hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network. For those of you unfamiliar with Dance Marathons (as I was before this event), they are fundraisers where participants are sponsored to stay awake and on their feet for an entire night. All of the proceeds are donated to hospitals that treat children with terminal illnesses or life-threatening injuries. Attendees participate in numerous dance-related events throughout the night, including rounds of Just Dance 2 on the Nintendo Wii courtesy of Ubisoft. I recently attended one of these events held at the University of Illinois, and was truly inspired by the experience.

Throughout the night, participants are visited by children who were patients at the very hospitals the marathons raise money for. These kids and their families share inspiring personal stories, and cheer attendees on in their mission to remain awake and standing throughout the entire night. As a corporate sponsor of these events, Ubisoft has donated funds to each Dance Marathon and provided copies of Just Dance 2 to entertain participants as they stay awake for charity.

On top of the contributions to each Dance Marathon, Ubisoft is hosting a contest on their Just Dance 2 Facebook page open to all schools that held one of these events. During each Dance Marathon, participants danced as a group to one of the songs featured in Just Dance 2 and made a video of their performances. These videos will all be posed on the Facebook page over the next few weeks. The school whose video earns the most views and votes will win a $3,000 donation from Ubisoft to the hospital they sponsor. The video posted above is the submission from the University of Illinois. (A shameless plug, but it’s for the kids!)

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Ubisoft to Release Free Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Map at 1 Million Facebook Fans

Rhody Tobin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:27:06 +0000

Do you like Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood‘s multiplayer mode (or Assassin’s Creed in general)? How about free stuff? Well, have I got news for you. The official Assassin’s Creed Facebook community is approaching 1,000,000 likes, and to commemorate this momentous occasion, Ubisoft is preparing a few goodies, including the spiffy new Venezia by Night multiplayer map, which will be released for free. Other bonuses include a commemorative shirt (which probably won’t be free), a special Thank You video from the development team, and a 24-hour 15% discount from the UbiWorkshop online store (presumably on everything). Oh, you can also expect some giveaways on Facebook, which could lead to even more freebies, if you happen to be incredibly lucky.

Click the link below to see the official Facebook fanpage. Only 37,000-ish more likes until the big moment. (I counted that on my fingers.)

Official Facebook Community
via Joystiq

New Rayman game for Nintendo 3DS confirmed by ESRB

Christian Ponte — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:30:50 +0000

Rayman’s headed into the third dimension! Confirming suspicions for a 3DS Rayman game that arose when Australia rated the game for an unknown platform, the ESRB has added a listing for Rayman 3D, specifically for Nintendo’s upcoming stereoscopic handheld.

That’s pretty much all the info known about the game at the moment. It’s been pointed out, however, that with the game rated in two major regions, the game’s release could be much closer than we think.

Nintendo Everything

Ubisoft bringing “sexy” dare game to Wii and PlayStation 3

Christian Ponte — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:00:39 +0000

In a way, this is a publisher releasing a game that not for all audiences. In another way, you could say they’re thoroughly trying to reach every niche out there. Ubisoft’s got a new game showing up on Australian release lists, according to retailers. While the game hasn’t been announced, several details are known about the game. For starters, it’s called We Dare Flirty Fun For All, and right off the bat, it sounds like it’s a console version of an “adult” Truth or Dare game. Am I right?

The game, which arrives in Australia on February 10th, is described as being “a unique party game for young adults looking to SPICE UP their parties with SEXY challenges.” It features mature settings, matchmaking features, “innovative” use of the Wii and PlayStation Move controllers, provocative controls, and “frisky” adult humor. The various game styles are specified to include dancing, trivia, and physical contact between players.

Oh, and the game is rated PG in Australia. I might not be from Australia and might not be as familiar with their ratings system, but I don’t think that’s right…

Aussie-Nintendo (pic)

Amazon Deal of the Day is Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Christian Ponte — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:40:13 +0000

Ten days left until Christmas, and I’d bet more than half of you still haven’t finished your holiday shopping. To help you out, Amazon’s got a pretty good Deal of the Day in place for gamers on this fine Wednesday: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Gold Box Price knocks off 37% from the list price, allowing you to nab this one for only $37.99 each!

Of course, be sure to check out Amazon’s Lightning Deals for today, which last about an hour each. They’re selling pink and matte blue DSi handhelds for $127.00 at this very moment!

Amazon

Video Games Live gets Might & Magic segment

Christian Ponte — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:40:00 +0000

Those of you planning on attending the Video Games Live concert in Paris, France this Friday just got an extra treat for the evening!

Ubisoft has announced that a brand new segment featuring themes from the Might & Magic franchise has been added to the show’s repertoire, specifically getting its world premiere in Paris on the 17th. The segment will comprise of music by series composers Rob King and Paul Romero, and will even feature the “Haven Theme” from the upcoming Might & Magic Heroes VI game slated for release next summer.

I wonder how much last-minute airfare to Paris would cost me…

VIDEO GAMES LIVE™ TO PREMIERE THEME FROM UPCOMING
MIGHT & MAGIC® HEROES® VI

Paris, France – December 14, 2010 – Today, Ubisoft® announced that the worldwide touring music show Video Games Live™ will feature a Might & Magic® segment consisting of 5 themes taken from the franchise including the “Haven Theme” from the upcoming Might & Magic® Heroes® VI. Video Games Live will be doing the world premiere in Paris, France, on December 17th, 2010.

The Might & Magic segment will consist of the following themes:

Heroes of Might & Magic® II – Knight Town
Heroes of Might & Magic® II – Sorceress Town
Heroes of Might & Magic® IV – Academy Town Theme
Heroes of Might & Magic® V – Credits Theme
Might & Magic® Heroes® VI – Haven Them

Veteran game composers Rob King and Paul Romero have been writing for the franchise since the beginning and worked closely with the Video Games Live team to create a new and unique arrangement exclusively for the show. Video Games Live is the most successful video game concert tour in the world. An immersive event created by the game industry featuring the best game music performed by top orchestras and choirs combined with synchronized lighting, video, live action and audience interactivity.

Developed by Black Hole, Might & Magic Heroes VI will include all the characters and features that have made the brand a worldwide success, in addition to a wealth of new innovations. The game will be available worldwide on Windows® PC in 2011.

For more information on Might & Magic Heroes VI, visit www.mightandmagicgame.com

Videos explore Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Project Legacy

Jason Leavey — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:16:18 +0000

You’ve barely had enough time to rip the plastic of your fresh new copy of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, but that’s not going to stop Ubisoft from preparing a brand new behind-the-scenes trailer for your viewing pleasure. The above is a developer’s walkthrough, giving you a bit of insight into what it takes to become a skilled assassin, mainly by dominating in the virtual training ground, while utilizing the game’s new sync system.

And below the break, we’ve got a look at the new Facebook game, Assassin’s Creed Project Legacy. The “social RPG” will link together with Brotherhood, to deepen your Assassin’s Creed experience. Learn more by watching the developer’s behind-the-scenes video down below.

Final setlist revealed for Michael Jackson’s Wii Experience

Jason Leavey — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:09:29 +0000

Well this looks painful…

Before Ubisoft’s Michael Jackson: The Experience releases on HD consoles in 2011, Wii owners are graced with the gloved-wonder’s presence starting next week. And today, the entire setlist of songs has been revealed.

Experience allows players to dance just like Michael, in similar fashion to the Just Dance video games. The Wii version will also support 4-player local multiplayer.

Here’s the full 27-track setlist below. Did your favorites make the cut?

·         Another Part of Me*
·         Bad
·         Beat it
·         Billie Jean
·         Black or White
·         Dirty Diana

·         Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough
·         Earth Song
·         Ghosts
·         Heal the World
·         In the Closet
·         Leave Me Alone
·         Money
·         Remember the Time
·         Rock With You
·         Smooth Criminal
·         Speed Demon
·         Streetwalker
·         Sunset Driver
·         The Girl is Mine
·         The Way you Make Me Feel
·         They Don’t Care About Us
·         Thriller
·         Wanna Be Startin’ Something
·         Who Is It
·         Will You Be There
·         Workin’ Day and Night

Prince of Persia trilogy coming to PSN in HD, 3D

Jason Leavey — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:30:08 +0000

Before releasing a new adventure, three titles from the Prince of Persia back catalog are about to undergo an epic re-release, exclusively on the PlayStation Network. A trilogy of Ubisoft Montreal’s Persia titles originally released on the PS2 have been given a visual overhaul, now presented in stunning 720p. All three titles will also fully support 3D, an important note for the few rich souls that may already have a 3D TV set.

The first release is Prince of Persia The Sands of Time available today, followed by both Prince of Persia Warrior Within and Prince of Persia The Two Thrones coming this December. Each title will sell for $14.99, but since they’re part of the first wave of video games — in frickin’ 3D!! — we can’t really complain.

PS Blog

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood launch brings new multiplayer mode

Jason Leavey — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:36:42 +0000

Having only Seann William Scott’s artful interpretation of parkour in the flick Cop Out to keep us satisfied this year, audiences became eager for the return of the original Italian Spider-Man, Ezio Auditore. Ezio returns with a brand new adventure, with today’s launch of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. The title boasts an epic single-player experience, which has already received quite the warm reception from critics. For the first time in the series however, the game brings forth a brand new multiplayer mode.

Take on the role as an Abstergo agent, where training will give you the skills needed to conquer rival assassins. Naturally, this involves a crap load of stabbing, slashing and all sorts of brutality, as shown in the above trailer. For a closer look at the game’s single-player mode, view the new trailer below.

Brotherhood is now available on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Scott Pilgrim DLC launches today on PSN, XBLA next month

Jason Leavey — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:25:32 +0000

From Ubisoft today comes a delicious serving of new downloadable content for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. The DLC arrives solely for the PSN version of the game, while XBLA gamers will have to wait until next month. Today also marks the release of the well-received film on DVD and Blu-ray.

Aside from the series’ nostalgic charm, the $2 DLC download will bring forth the new playable Knives Chau, and the new Battle Royale and Dodge Ball modes. And oh yeah,… drop-in co-op! The download includes a free patch which will automatically upgrade the game to support co-op play. Not a bad deal for 2 measly bucks.

The high-action DLC trailer showing off the new content is above for your visual enjoyment.

The Tanooki » Ubisoft

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