Ubisoft's Paris presentation to press and retail channels alike went off tonight in what SPOnG's Adam calls, "A big impressive hall under the Louvre".
The French mega-company has been showing off its latest offerings including Free Radical's Haze, the addictive (seriously) first-person shooter; some spectacular cut-scene footage from Assassin's Creed and more...
The only real news to come out of the event was that Ubi' will be bringing out the supporting video game to Paramount Pictures', Robert Zemeckis directed, animated movie Beowulf, which stars Angelina Jolie. The movie's due out in November 2007, the game will follow in time for Christmas.
The event saw developers and big-wigs (yes, even top man Yves Guillemot made a few funnies) trooping on to what was a decent looking stage - occasionally being interrupted by silhouetted footage of what became called "those bloody" rabbits - giving the kinds of speeches you know were aimed at retailers and not cynical journos or hard-bitten gamers.
So, here are the edited highlights:
Yves Guillemot : “The market is going to be growing very fast, we expect 50% growth in the next few years. We expect 13 to 15% growth this year.”
Splinter Cell Conviction: An impressive game demo sees Sam Fisher dressed in a hoody, bearded and hiding. Sam's a fugitive and the game environment is built to provide him with weaponry. According to the presentation, "You used to have all these weapons. Now you have to find them on the black market." The main game-play change, however, is that "Hiding in the dark is useless".
In terms of game mechanics, the controls are simple with a sports game kind of three-button control used throughout the gameplay.
EndWar: “This is the first new Clancy brand we’ve created since Splinter Cell. Our mission was to bring WWIII into your living room. We created a team of industry veterans – from Rome Total War, C&C, Battle for Middle Earth. Plus console specialists - This game is really built for consoles," went the presentation. We were also told to, "Imagine your team from Ghost Recon times 50."
In terms of the good stuff, how the game is played and why it is aimed at console: "We bring the camera right down to the level of the troops. Think of a tactical sports game like Madden."
The main difference to it all however, is that, "We have a game that is entirely controlled by your voice from start to finish. You have specific commands you to have to say to them. It’s a set of commands you’re choosing from a list."
This kind of put into context a further piece of hyperbole, as a play-tester had apparently said of the game that it is “strategy at the speed of thought”.
Brothers In Arms, Hell’s Highway: This was apparently an interactive demonstration starring real-life ex-soldier Colonel Jon Antal, who got a rather embarrassed crowd of hacks and shop owners to call out: "Everybody fights. Nobody quits. Always attack. Huoah!” having first explained that, “To be a good commander you must love your soliders. But to win in combat you must risk the things you love.”
That was the 'interaction'...
This was followed by President of Gearbox software – Randy Pitchford - telling everybody that he loved being in Europe. Oh, there was a demo...
Haze: Then Dave Doak and Derek Littlewood took to the stage and waxed enthusiastically lyrical about the game that, if we're honest (which we are), the SPOnG newsroom is looking forward to immensely. While being an fps (stop yawning at the back), the game's looking great and the subject matter and potential for a good, relevant story well-told is immense. Dave and Derek took us through a live game demo ("We're the brave brothers") which came off and looked impressive, and then proceeded to hint at the potential downside of 'Nectar' the soldier's infusion giving superhuman abilities to fight and kill.
“There may be a downside to nectar as well… War isn’t always black and white," was the enigmatic pay-off.
Casual Gaming: Look, we know you're busy, we're busy, it's getting late. Suffice to say the high point here for what is obviously going to be a huge market for Ubisoft as it, like Nintendo, searches for the elusive causal gamer was watching the studio reps dodging one question from Alexandra - our apparently bobbins presenter. That question was, "But is it addictive?"
The word - once beloved of video game developers - is now the equivalent of saying "mixed race wedding" at a KKK rally. Successfully dodged, the poor Montreal-based devs were then confronted by a simple, "Why should I play this when I can just read?" before exiting gracefully.
That said, Ubi's offerings - from a horse game for girls called, Horses ("It teaches responsibility") via "a guitar in your pocket" game called Jam Session right up to My Word Coach and My Life Coach - are all clear indicators of where the money is at.
As we were told, “We think this kind of games can change your life. It’s not aimed exclusively at women”. The whole thing was polished off with the kind of trailer that screamed "Wii!" and showed no 'game-play', and ended with the clarion call, "Games For Everyone” – I Saw The World Play".
Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja: The Xbox 360 exclusive was given short shrift with no real presentation other than the game trailer. Looks very cartoony... as you'd expect what with its manga heritage.
Assassin’s Creed: There's some dissent in the newsroom about this. Some of us think that the trailer looked stunning. Some of us are more impressed that there is a hands-on demo finally going to be available in July - yes, although this wasn't stated, it's going to have to be at E3.
Finally, with enough live white rabbits on stage (and some falling off or simply cowering) to have The Daily Mail screaming about Watership Down-level genocide, it was all happy faces and off for a night on the town. Oh, and a rather good Ravin' Rabbids trailer.
More detail on all this once we've processed all the hand-cranked film we took.
The French mega-company has been showing off its latest offerings including Free Radical's Haze, the addictive (seriously) first-person shooter; some spectacular cut-scene footage from Assassin's Creed and more...
The only real news to come out of the event was that Ubi' will be bringing out the supporting video game to Paramount Pictures', Robert Zemeckis directed, animated movie Beowulf, which stars Angelina Jolie. The movie's due out in November 2007, the game will follow in time for Christmas.
The event saw developers and big-wigs (yes, even top man Yves Guillemot made a few funnies) trooping on to what was a decent looking stage - occasionally being interrupted by silhouetted footage of what became called "those bloody" rabbits - giving the kinds of speeches you know were aimed at retailers and not cynical journos or hard-bitten gamers.
So, here are the edited highlights:
Yves Guillemot : “The market is going to be growing very fast, we expect 50% growth in the next few years. We expect 13 to 15% growth this year.”
Splinter Cell Conviction: An impressive game demo sees Sam Fisher dressed in a hoody, bearded and hiding. Sam's a fugitive and the game environment is built to provide him with weaponry. According to the presentation, "You used to have all these weapons. Now you have to find them on the black market." The main game-play change, however, is that "Hiding in the dark is useless".
In terms of game mechanics, the controls are simple with a sports game kind of three-button control used throughout the gameplay.
EndWar: “This is the first new Clancy brand we’ve created since Splinter Cell. Our mission was to bring WWIII into your living room. We created a team of industry veterans – from Rome Total War, C&C, Battle for Middle Earth. Plus console specialists - This game is really built for consoles," went the presentation. We were also told to, "Imagine your team from Ghost Recon times 50."
In terms of the good stuff, how the game is played and why it is aimed at console: "We bring the camera right down to the level of the troops. Think of a tactical sports game like Madden."
The main difference to it all however, is that, "We have a game that is entirely controlled by your voice from start to finish. You have specific commands you to have to say to them. It’s a set of commands you’re choosing from a list."
This kind of put into context a further piece of hyperbole, as a play-tester had apparently said of the game that it is “strategy at the speed of thought”.
Brothers In Arms, Hell’s Highway: This was apparently an interactive demonstration starring real-life ex-soldier Colonel Jon Antal, who got a rather embarrassed crowd of hacks and shop owners to call out: "Everybody fights. Nobody quits. Always attack. Huoah!” having first explained that, “To be a good commander you must love your soliders. But to win in combat you must risk the things you love.”
That was the 'interaction'...
This was followed by President of Gearbox software – Randy Pitchford - telling everybody that he loved being in Europe. Oh, there was a demo...
Haze: Then Dave Doak and Derek Littlewood took to the stage and waxed enthusiastically lyrical about the game that, if we're honest (which we are), the SPOnG newsroom is looking forward to immensely. While being an fps (stop yawning at the back), the game's looking great and the subject matter and potential for a good, relevant story well-told is immense. Dave and Derek took us through a live game demo ("We're the brave brothers") which came off and looked impressive, and then proceeded to hint at the potential downside of 'Nectar' the soldier's infusion giving superhuman abilities to fight and kill.
“There may be a downside to nectar as well… War isn’t always black and white," was the enigmatic pay-off.
Casual Gaming: Look, we know you're busy, we're busy, it's getting late. Suffice to say the high point here for what is obviously going to be a huge market for Ubisoft as it, like Nintendo, searches for the elusive causal gamer was watching the studio reps dodging one question from Alexandra - our apparently bobbins presenter. That question was, "But is it addictive?"
The word - once beloved of video game developers - is now the equivalent of saying "mixed race wedding" at a KKK rally. Successfully dodged, the poor Montreal-based devs were then confronted by a simple, "Why should I play this when I can just read?" before exiting gracefully.
That said, Ubi's offerings - from a horse game for girls called, Horses ("It teaches responsibility") via "a guitar in your pocket" game called Jam Session right up to My Word Coach and My Life Coach - are all clear indicators of where the money is at.
As we were told, “We think this kind of games can change your life. It’s not aimed exclusively at women”. The whole thing was polished off with the kind of trailer that screamed "Wii!" and showed no 'game-play', and ended with the clarion call, "Games For Everyone” – I Saw The World Play".
Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja: The Xbox 360 exclusive was given short shrift with no real presentation other than the game trailer. Looks very cartoony... as you'd expect what with its manga heritage.
Assassin’s Creed: There's some dissent in the newsroom about this. Some of us think that the trailer looked stunning. Some of us are more impressed that there is a hands-on demo finally going to be available in July - yes, although this wasn't stated, it's going to have to be at E3.
Finally, with enough live white rabbits on stage (and some falling off or simply cowering) to have The Daily Mail screaming about Watership Down-level genocide, it was all happy faces and off for a night on the town. Oh, and a rather good Ravin' Rabbids trailer.
More detail on all this once we've processed all the hand-cranked film we took.
Companies:
Ubisoft
Read More Like This