Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian may claim that the European game market is equal in size to that of North America, but for Ubisoft, it’s even larger. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz at the Leipzig Games Convention last week, Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot explain that, thanks to the strength of the pound and euro, Europe is a larger market than the U.S. by more than 5%.

First, our money – the pound or the euro – is very strong and because of that the turnover from those countries is heavier than they used to be. So for Ubisoft turnover Europe is actually more important than the US now, and by more than 5 per cent. It’s become a very strong market for us.

I think there are lots of customers that want to play – because in Europe we love to play – the only problem we had was that the games were becoming more and more difficult to play. Now that there’s more accessibility, some accessories that are helping people to have fun, I think this market has no limit in the growth it can have if we can make sure that the people that are coming in are staying.

A game like EndWar, for example, which you can control by voice – it’s totally changing the industry because it gives you the opportunity to command what’s happening, and to have a quick answer to the orders you give. And it’s the same for a lot of other games, like the party games you can play – the games with guitars are also helping things to increase the fun, and bring more people. Because when you have fun with your family on the game, you take them into more games with you.

While Guillemot didn’t mention it specifically, you can’t help but think he’s referring to the Wii (and DS) when talking about there being “more accessibility.” Nevertheless, it’ll be interesting to see if the current economic predicament that the U.S. is in will result in other publishers finding greater percentages of their revenue coming from other territories.

All the votes are tallied for the Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2008. Fallout 3 took two wins out of the three nominations it received including Best of Show. LittleBigPlanet was the only other game to win two categories and took Best Console Game. Here’s the official Game Critics Awards Winner’s Circle for 2008:

Best of Show
Fallout 3
(Bethesda Softworks for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Original Game
Mirror’s Edge
(DICE/Electronic Arts for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 36)

Best Console Game
LittleBigPlanet
(Media Molecule/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 3)

Best PC Game
Spore
(Maxis/EA)

Best Handheld Game
Resistance: Retribution
(Bend Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment for PSP)

Best Hardware/Peripheral
Rock Band 2 Ion “Drum Rocker” Set
(ION Audio/MTV Games for Xbox 360)

Best Action Game
Gears of War 2
(Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Dead Space
(EA Redwood Shores/EA for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Role Playing Game
Fallout 3
(Bethesda Softworks for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Racing Game
Pure
(Black Rock/Disney Interactive Studios for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Sports Game
Madden NFL 09
(Tiburon/EA for All Systems)

Best Fighting Game
Street Fighter IV
(Capcom for Arcade)

Best Strategy Game
Tom Clancy’s EndWar
(Ubisoft Shanghai/Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Social/Casual/Puzzle
LittleBigPlanet
(Media Molecule/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 3)

Best Online Multiplayer
Left 4 Dead
(Valve/EAP for PC, Xbox 360)

Interestingly enough only one of the winning games, Madden NFL 09 will make it to the Nintendo Wii or the DS. Far be it from me to suggest that it could have anything to do with Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata’s declaration that E3 is no longer the appropriate venue for core games.

The Ubidays event in Paris is officially over, and instead of bombarding you with post after post of screens, we decided to release them in parts so that you would not have to visit a game site that is nothing but screenshots. While it is indeed true that events like Ubidays and the forthcoming E3 tend to produce tons of media, it gets a little tiring to just look at pretty pictures all day long, thus these bulky posts.Therefore, here is the third and final installment in our Ubidays Screenshot Extravaganza. We hope you enjoyed it.

Prince of Persia: Prodigy

Tom Clancy’s EndWar

Far Cry 2

The private beta for Tom Clancy’s EndWar is beginning soon, and if you would like to get in on it you can go on over to the official website and apply – that is, if you are currently an Xbox Live “Gold” member. If not, you are out of luck.

The Private Beta will take place for 3 weeks in June and July, and will be available in English only. The Beta will feature 3 maps and be playable exclusively online in 1v1 and 2v2 matches. The Beta will be available for Xbox 360, and you will need to be an Xbox Live Gold Member, with a broadband internet connection, and 3 GB of free space on your Xbox 360 Hard Drive.

The version will be in a Test state and you will likely encounter some bugs and crashes. Your contribution will be very important and will help us to produce a better and more polished final product. Your participation in this Beta will be strictly confidential, and you will not be allowed to share your experiences playing EndWar anywhere outside of this website.

Those with a PS3 may not be able to get in on this particular beta, but the consolation prize is pretty neat. Apparently, the PS3 version of EndWar will support hand gesture commands when using the PlayStation Eye camera peripheral and also be able to move the map around as well. This is not the case with the Xbox 360 and its Vision Cam, the reason is because it lacks a stand unlike the PlayStation Eye. However, it must also be noted that this feature is not guaranteed for the final game, since the developers are working on “feature parity” for each version. They are still hopeful that it will make the cut, but that will be announced at a later date.

EndWar definitely sounds like a game that will either change the industry and the way games are made or just be a complete flash in the pan. My hopes are for the former because it does sound extremely immersive and just plain cool. Hopefully soon, one of us will be able to get our hands on it and let you know one way or the other.

To apply for the beta click here.

Tom Clancy’s EndWar will have a demo released for the game according to a recent post over on CVG.

Ubisoft confirmed this during Ubidays and said that the EndWar demo will hit Xbox Live and PSN in plenty of time before the release later this year. The demo will precede the two closed betas which will help Ubisoft confirm proper balance for the game.

According to content director Julian Geright:

“The balance of these games is the win or lose of the games. We’ve balanced it fairly well, but we’re doing two different beta tests – one limited and one much much bigger, and then a demo where we’re going to be able to balance on the results. We’re doing a playtest with professional gamers to make sure there are as few exploits as possible before launch.”

One would think that tweaking the game would already be finished come launch, but this is apparently not the case. Considering the fact that EndWar is not only voice-commanded strategy game but also a game with a persistent world, the developers plan to continue said balancing after launch a la World of Warcraft.

Geright continued:

“We’re going to balancing even post-launch. It’s an important thing for a strategy game to remain fun. They have those small imperfections that people latch on to, and then you change them.”

Check back with us often as a release date for the demo is announced.

Via: CVG

There’s a new trailer up for Tom Clancy’s EndWar which actually shows some honest to goodness game footage. At least, I think it does; that’s what they’re claiming in the video. Unfortunately, it’s still hard to tell exactly how the interface will work. I’m still mostly curious about how smoothly the voice commands will work and what the game will actually look like when I’m sitting on my couch playing it. Still no release date though, so who knows when we’ll get to find all that out?

It seems Ubisoft has finally decided to just acquire the whole “Tom Clancy” name in general. This way, they won’t need to ever pay royalties for using the name; a move that is estimated to save them around $5 million a year in operational income. They also have not only acquired the rights to use the name for video games, but also for books, movies, and any merchandising products.

“The future of our industry lies in our capacity to create and develop brands that captivate consumers and that present a myriad of opportunities for the full spectrum of entertainment, be it video games, books, movies or other media,” said Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer at Ubisoft. “The most recent example of such value creation through brand management is the EndWar book, based on the video game story, which has been in The New York Times’ top-10 Paperback Mass Market Fiction bestseller list for the last four weeks. [W]e will take the Tom Clancy game brand to the next level of the global entertainment industry.”

Really, it’s about damn time. With few exceptions, it seems like the Tom Clancy name is like a license to print money; and no one has cashed in on this more than Ubisoft. Hopefully they put that extra five mil to good use down the line.

Via Daily Game

This new trailer for Rainbow Six Vegas 2 was recently released, which shows what you can get if you buy the limited edition version when it comes out. So what do you get for a few extra bucks? Essentially, a key chain, a preview of Tom Clancy’s EndWar, and a video of tips from pro gamers, including the Frag Dolls. Yeah, so basically you get a couple of videos that are sure to find their way online eventually and a little doodad. Yay.

Microsoft may have some serious customer satisfaction issues right now, but the great games keep coming for the system and will certainly have a huge impact on the continued success of the 360. Despite XBLA and XBL issues, I believe that the 360 will have another great year simply because of the great games coming to the system. Below, I have listed 15 games that are at the top of my wish-list for 2008 Xbox 360 titles. For now, all of these games should be releasing this year, but as always, expect at least a few to be delayed. I truly believe that the Sony PS3 will finally have a good year and could possibly outsell Microsoft, but it’s a long year and no one knows how things will go down. The following 15 games certainly look like we could be experiencing another great year in gaming: (note that some of these titles are still rumors)

Ubisoft has announced that three anticipated titles will be delayed in 2008.

Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy’s EndWar and Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway will be pushed back into fiscal 2008 – which begins in April.

The sacrifice has been made to boost financial gains as Ubisoft cashes in on Assassin’s Creed sales and its developers churn out casual titles to fill shelves. The controversial Assassin’s Creed title tops several best selling charts around the globe.

via Eurogamer