Ubisoft has listened to PC gamers over the past year and figured out that they hate DRM. So the company is releasing the retail version of Prince of Persia with no DRM. The Steam digital download of PoP will still be locked into Steam’s authentication system. It sounds really good on paper, but is Ubisoft really doing this for the PC gamers’ benefit?

The community manager of the Ubisoft Prince of Persia site has told ars technica that the move to publish DRM free is a challenge to those PC pirates who claim they would buy the title if it weren’t for the DRM. He says has no faith that these gamers will put their money where their mouth is and expects to see figures on piracy of PoP to come in higher than ever.

It’s a pretty good strategy on Ubisoft’s part. If gamers buy the PC DRM version of PoP, then Ubisoft makes money. If they don’t then Ubisoft can say I told you so and justify putting DRM on future titles. Read the full article, PC Prince of Persia contains no DRM. It’s a trap!, on ars technica for all the sordid details.

In preparation for it’s Dec. 4 release, Ubisoft has unveiled a new launch trailer for the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Fallen King. This new game arrives on the DS about the same time as it’s console big brother, but sporting some cartoony graphics. This is the first time I’ve seen some actual gameplay for this title, and for a DS side-scroller, the game looks pretty slick. It looks like they’ve actually translated the Prince’s signature acrobatics into 2D pretty well. Guess we’ll find out how the whole thing plays in a couple of days.

Ok, so I know that December 1 was yesterday, but I am off on Mondays therefore we will just pretend it never happened and list the games that came out yesterday anyway, ok?. There are loads of games being released this week (schedule subject to change) which is all leading up to the grand finale of the holiday shopping extravaganza.

Most games are hitting today, especially the more hyped ones like Prince of Persia, Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi, Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC, and SingStar ABBA (god no!). Tomorrow, those who have not gotten Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts yet, can play  the original via the Xbox Live Marketplace until Santa puts it in their stocking.

Without further ado, here is the list:

Nintendo DS

Animal Boxing – December 2
Burger Island -December 2
Cate West: The Vanishing Files – December 2
Dreamer: Puppy Trainer – December 2
Emma at the Farm – December 1
Happy Cooking – December 2
Heavy Armor Brigade – December 2
Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi – December 2
My Fun Facts Coach – December 2
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King – December 2
Slingo Quest – December 2
The Tale of Despereaux – December 2
Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge – December 2

Nintendo Wii

Bigfoot (Racing) – December 3
Family Party: 30 Great Games – December 2
King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga – December 2
Metal Slug 2 – December 1
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars – December 2
My Fitness Coach – December 2
Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek – December 2
Pit Crew Panic (WiiWare) – December 1
Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure – December 2
Ski and Shoot – December 2
Space Invaders Get Even (WiiWare) – December 1
Summer Sports 2: Island Sports Party – December 2
The Tale of Despereaux – December 2
Wordfish – December 2

PC, PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360 are listed after the jump.
Read the full article

A new dev diary of sorts is out for Ubisoft’s upcoming Prince of Persia game where Ben Mattes, the game’s producer, talks a bit about the “hero factor” of our main protagonist, the prince.

While watching the video, you will no doubt notice the eye-candy that is the game, along with some real faces that may be familiar to you should you be a viewer of G4’s “Attack of the Show”, or a reader of gaming sites other than this one.

Enjoy.

Ubisoft has released the list of achievements you can attain when playing the Xbox version of Prince of Persia. You can expect the game to land in retail on December 2 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and on December 9 for the PC. There are a total of 50 achievements with a total of 1050 points to gain with the display string, how-to, GP, and type of challenge listed in order below. WARNING: May contain spoilers.

1. First Meet Encounter Elika: 15– Event
2. Save me please: Discover Save Me– 15– Event
3. All the basic:  Completing the Canyon– 155– Completion
4. Explorer: Use Compass (first time)–15– Other
5. Beginner Healer: Healing 01– 30– Checkpoint
6. Master Healer: Last Healing :90– Checkpoint
7. Hunter’s end: Kill Hunter in his lair– 15– Event
8. Warrior’s end: Kill Warrior in his lair– 15– Event
9. Concubine’s end: Kill Concubine in her lair– 15– Event
10. Alchemist’s end: Kill Alchemist in his lair –15–Event
11. Ahriman’s end :Kill Ahriman– 30–Event
12. Explorer: Explore every part of every region–15– Completion
13. Block Master: Blocking 50 attacks–15–Performance
14. Deflect Master: Deflecting 20 attacks–15–Performance
15. Biggest combo: Do 14 combo hits in fight–15–Performance
16. Be gentle with her: Do less than 100 save-me throughout the game–90– Performance
17. Breaker: Use a enemy to break something–15–Performance
18. Against the wall: Win a wall mini-game in fight–15–Performance
19. Race- Ruined Citadel: Run from the Sun Temple’s Fertile Ground to the Fertile Ground in Windmills in 5 minutes– 15–Performance
20. Race- Observatory: Run from the Fertile Ground in the Construction Yards to the Fertile Ground in Heaven’s Stair in 6 minutes–15–Performance
21. Race- High Castle: Run from the Fertile Ground in the Royal Gardens to the Fertile Ground in the Coronation Halls in 4 minutes–30–Performance
22. Race- Lava Rift: Go from the Fertile Ground in the Tower of Ahriman to the Fertile Ground in the City of Light in 7 minute–30–Performance
23. Warrior Special: Dodge 20 warrior attacks in one fight–15– Performance
24. Hunter Special: Deflect hunter 5 times in one fight–15–Performance
25. Alchemist Special: Defeat the Alchemist without using the acrobatic button–15– Performance

Read the full article

Ubisoft has announced that Prince of Persia has gone gold for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and will be released on consoles December 2 and the PC December 9.

With interesting looking storyboard-style graphics, you play the (as usual) the Prince of Persia who finds himself caught in a 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 (goo looking stuff) that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with Elika to heal the world from the evil Corruption.

Want to spice up your game a bit with more Middle Eastern flair?  Once you have a copy of Prince of Persia in your warm, sticky hands, you can link your Ubisoft account to your PSN screen name or Xbox Live Gamertag  to gain access to an exclusive reward: The game skin of Altair from Assassin’s Creed. This really does not seem like much of a stretch considering the majority of us who played Assassin’s Creed thought that the Prince and Altair were a bit similar in some instances anyway.

To create a Ubisoft account, visit the Prince of Persia website here and once you begin playing the game, you will be able to immediately unlock this exclusive reward.

Screens for the Altair skins are posted after the jump.

Read the full article

With the new and drastically different looking Prince of Persia game destined to hit shelves on December 2, Ubisoft has taken it upon themselves to announce the minimum specifications for the PC version on the official forums. According to the post, “there are no recommended specs as basically anything you have over this will run it nicely”:

• Supported OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista
• Processor: Dual core processor 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better recommended)
• RAM: 1 GB Windows XP/2 GB Windows Vista
• Video Card: 256 MB DirectX 10.0–compliant video card or DirectX 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list)
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0–compliant sound card (5.1 sound card recommended)
• DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0 libraries (included on disc)
• DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
• Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
• Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller (Xbox 360 Controller for Windows recommended)
• Supported Video Cards at Time of Release: ATI RADEON X1600/1650-1950/HD 2000/3000 series NVIDIA GeForce 6800/7/8/9 series

If you currently do not have enough space on your hard drive to run this, you may need to do a bit of housekeeping and get rid of some of the junk taking up too much room–like those pictures of you and your buddies at the Roswell UFO Festival. However, since the game runs on the Assassin’s Creed engine, if you happened to purchase that particular Ubisoft game, you will notice that the specs are the same, only the hard drive space is 4Gb less.

The game will also be made available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 should your system not meet the minimum specs or you decide you would rather go the console route. While you mull your options over, check out our preview of the game here. Also, just in case you have forgotten, Prince of Persia: The Fallen King will also be hitting store the same day for the Nintendo DS.

Take a look at the footage above. If you played the original Prince of Persia — before he donned a strapping blue turban, elf shoes, and red-vest-with-no-shirt combo — then you should be getting a wicked flash of deja vu. You’re looking at the original reference footage used in the classic game, as shot by series creator, Jordan Mechner. Back in the 80’s, game designers didn’t have any fancy motion capture setups, so they had to rely on the next best thing: getting your kid brother to dress up in white pajamas and jump around in the backyard, while you later tried to recreate his antics using less pixels than there are in this sentence. At least it paid off, since Prince of Persia astounded people with some of the most fluid character animations of the time.

PS3 owners waiting “On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness” can finally get your hands on Penny Arcade Adventures Episode One.  The episodic game joins the new line up at the PSN store complete with trophies, ranking and Background Music Management for $14.99. Prince of Persia Classic is also in stock. You can grab Ubisoft’s retread of the 1989 Prince of Persia for the PC for $9.99. The free demos of LEGO Batman and the rapidly upcoming Valkyria Chronicles are also available.

Rock Band DLC for this week features the Nirvana 01 pack with “Breed”, “Lounge Act”, “On a Plain”, “Polly”, “Something in the Way, “Stay Away” and “Territorial Pissings” for $10.99. You can also grab Mötley Crüe’s “Dr. Feelgood”, “Kickstart My Heart” and “Rattlesnake Shake” or any individual Nirvana track for $1.99. Guitar Hero World Tour has a Classic Rock track pack with “Hot Blooded” by Foreigner, “Rock and Roll Band” by Boston, and “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield for $5.49 or $1.99 each. The Zakk Wylde and Ted Nugent Guitar Duels from GH World Tour and the Neversoft track pack featuring “Anything” by An Endless Sporadic and “Electrorock” by Sworn are free.

There’s lots of DLC this week starting with Yoda for Soul Calibur IV at $4.99.  Mega Man 9 has Super Heroic Mode, Heroic Mode and a Special Level for $.99 each. New High Velocity Bowling DLC is also out including two new bowlers: Foxy Powers complete with 70’s disco ball and Chastity Falls for a Redneck spin on your game. You can get these ladies and a Halloween themed set for $.99 each. Check the PlayStation.Blog for a complete listing of new offerings.

Ubisoft is in the process of giving all in-house games a subtitle options in order to allow the hearing impaired to enjoy gaming more. The first games to sport this new feature will be Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia and Shaun White Snowboarding. In order to do this, they will be modifying all in-house gaming engines and try to introduce the subtitle option into games that are already currently in development.

“This commitment entails modifications to some of our game engines, as well as the inclusion of subtitles in the conception phase of game development,” stated the company.

You may recall that Ubisoft was crucified for not making Assassin’s Creed with subtitles when it came out, bit it looks as though they do not plan on making the same mistake again – and that is a great thing. All gamers, no matter what their handicaps should be able to enjoy a game just as much as the rest of us.

The company has also announced Handigo: The Game, which was created in partnership with the charity  Handicap International. Part of the charity’s new “Ability Together” campaign, the game is to help the public  understand the difficulties that disabled people face day to day. It was created free-of-charge by Ubisoft, and includes three mini-games featuring a different handicap and helping the user learn to tell the difference between certain disabilities and the obstacles a person with restrictions face on a daily basis while living their lives.

via Game Informer