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Ubisoft bringing select titles to Mac gamers

by David Hinkle { Feb 19th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Through a partnership with TransGaming Inc., Ubisoft is poised to bring select titles to Mac gamers (yes, we repeat: "Mac gamers") through retail and digital download channels. The two most significant offerings will be Prince of Persia and Shaun White Snowboarding, although Ubisoft will also provide CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence, Rayman Raving Rabbids and Petz Sports to retail locations for the first time. Those games are currently only available through Ubisoft's website.

You can download Prince of Persia and Shaun White Snowboarding for Mac from Ubisoft's site (and look for the other games on retail shelves) next month.

Ubisoft: It's not hopeless for third-party devs on Wii

by David Hinkle { Dec 11th 2008 at 3:44PM }

The biggest competition for a third-party developer on Wii is, obviously, Nintendo. But, that doesn't mean it's hopeless. Ubisoft is just one of the third-party developers that have found success on the console. How? Through strategic and careful planning.

"We saw that at the end of this year, there were not so many Nintendo products, and we thought there was a window of opportunity," said Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez at the UBS Global Media Conference this week. "I believe to date, Nintendo is about 30-35 percent market share. So that means if you are aggressive, and if you come up with the right products, you can gain market share there." Because of this, the company expects Shaun White Snowboarding and Raving Rabbids TV Party to sell 1 million and 1.5 million units each, respectively.

It's not like Nintendo is making it so that third parties need to wait for the stars and planets to align, however. "Nintendo is surely not making it impossible for people to make good games [on its systems]," Martinez added. "They've been helping us make games. So it's up to us."

Of course, this isn't to say that Ubisoft has had nothing but luck with the Wii. They've tried to pile some stinkers on us in the past. But, monkey see, monkey do. The more successful third-party developers are on Wii, the more it attracts others to reach for their own slice of that pie.

Gallery: Raving Rabbids TV Party

Shock! ESRB rates more PS1 downloadables

by Andrew Yoon { Dec 2nd 2008 at 12:10PM }

Maybe Sony hasn't completely given up on releasing PS1 games for download onto PS3/PSP. The sharp eyes of David B. discovered two new games added to the ESRB database: Rayman 2 and Medal of Honor. While we're pretty certain the latter hasn't aged too well, we're more than glad at a chance to play Rayman 2 again.

Of course, we have to remember -- just because the ESRB has rated a game doesn't mean it'll release any time soon.

Shock! ESRB rates more PS1 downloadables

by Joystiq Staff { Dec 2nd 2008 at 12:10PM }

Retail and download releases for the week of November 17th

by David Hinkle { Nov 17th 2008 at 9:00AM }

Just as we all found out last week, today marks the release of the fourth episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Oh, and we're also getting a bunch of other games. This week, seriously, has a lot of games. Head on past the break for the full list.

Also, our apologies. There likely won't be a VC Monday Madness video today, but we'll try to get it up as soon as we can. Sorry!

Gallery: Animal Crossing: City Folk

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GameStop letting the rabbids out of the bag early?

by David Hinkle { Nov 13th 2008 at 4:27PM }

Reader Joshua is one lucky dude. He managed to score a copy of Raving Rabbids TV Party from his local GameStop. Being that they specialize in games, we're surprised to hear about them violating the street date for this title. Sure, it's only a week early, but while Joshua is sitting at home, enjoying his game, we're writing about him enjoying his game. Oh, how we wish we were him!

If you're looking to score a copy early, you might want to hit up your local GameStop, as Joshua suggests. They might do the same thing for you. And if you're looking for some video from the game, hit up Joshua's site here.

Gallery: Raving Rabbids TV Party

Rabbids go hog wild with farm equipment

by David Hinkle { Oct 16th 2008 at 5:25PM }

IGN has uploaded a pair of new videos showing off minigames for the upcoming Raving Rabbids TV Party. The video above focuses on the minigame Monster Tractors, which, you guessed it, has you racing around the farm on tractors. Of course, with this being a Raving Rabbids game, it's not your normal tractor race. These are some souped-up tractors of epic proportions racing about in a highly comical fashion. Man, we love those crazy little rabbids.

After you check out the video above, head on past the break to see video from the Mega Balls minigame. It's, uh ... weird.

Gallery: Raving Rabbids TV Party

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Joystiq impressions: Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party

by Zack Stern { Oct 6th 2008 at 8:45PM }

The Rabbids are back. We liked the original, thought they dozed on the sequel, and hope the combination of randomness and fun returns for TV Party. More than 50 mini-games are shipping with the new Wii game, most of which will be playable with four people. About 30 percent of the games will be able to use the Balance Board, although the ~~fad~~ device won't be required.

We played three mini-games at the Nintendo Media Summit and are hopeful that this will be the best version yet. We'll know for sure after the November 11 release.

Gallery: Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party

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Rabbids discover their heroic side

by David Hinkle { Sep 25th 2008 at 3:25PM }

If there's one thing we don't tolerate, it's rabbid hate. All of the rabbid haters can suck on a lemon, for all we care. And, like previous teaser trailers, this latest one does not disappoint and haters have no grounds to ... well, hate. It's a spoof on the television show Heroes, which is incredibly appropriate given that Raving Rabbids TV Party is doing the spoofing.

Better luck next time, little guy!

Gallery: Raving Rabbids TV Party

Rabbid and Rabbid at the Olympic Games

by JC Fletcher { Aug 19th 2008 at 9:16PM }

Raving Rabbids TV Party is all about making fun of TV programming -- and what is more televised than the Olympics? It's natural, then, that Ubisoft would release some silly trailers showing their new mascot characters running rampant through Olympic events in Beijing. Also there are probably some Olympic-style minigames in the actual game.

The latest trailer, above, combines the usual yelling-based Rabbid humor with some classic Bugs Bunny. We've embedded the last Olympic-style clip, from last week, after the break. It's also funny, yes, but it also makes us feel genuinely bad for the poor, stupid Rabbid for the first time, because it looks profoundly painful.

Gallery: Raving Rabbids TV Party

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PSN Thursday: Rayman, Elefunk and E3

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 18th 2008 at 11:35AM }

We've been a little busy with all the E3-ing and being hosts, so here's the PSN Thursday update for this week. PS1 classic Rayman is available, along with PSN game Elefunk. There's also several E3 videos and just sunshine with rainbows. So tired ...

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E308: Wii Fanboy reacts to Nintendo's keynote [update]

by David Hinkle { Jul 15th 2008 at 6:00PM }

[Updated: Now with JC talking about things!]

With so many highlights from this year's Nintendo E3 keynote, we're finding our live chat wasn't enough to cover our thoughts and opinions on what was shown. So, below, you'll find some impressions akin to what we did last year. Enjoy.

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Mother's campaign to bring video game seizure concerns to British Parliament a success

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 15th 2008 at 1:30PM }

By now, you've probably noticed the seizure warnings interjected into the start-up screens of many games, giving the .02 percent of the population that suffers from photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) a heads-up that the following game may not be entirely safe for them to play. However, Gaye Herford, a mother residing in England, has brought her concerns over game-related seizures to British Parliament after her 10-year-old son suffered a seizure following a round of Rayman: Raving Rabbids on the Nintendo DS.

Parliament has agreed to debate whether or not rigorous testing for seizure-inducing material in video games should be required by their developers on a heretofore undecided date. Television and films are already tested in this manner, but no countries require similar checks for games. Ubisoft has independently agreed to begin performing these tests on all their future titles, though we find it difficult to imagine how one makes a mini-game compilation featuring hyperactive, mutant rabbits without using some PSE-sensitive material.

Mom wins her fight in Rayman Raving Rabbids epilepsy ordeal

by David Hinkle { Jun 12th 2008 at 6:00PM }

Over the last year, UK mom ("mum" is the word over there, we believe) Gaye Herford has been fighting to change the way games are tested before they are sent to retail. Her 10-year-old son, while playing Rayman Raving Rabbids, went into an epileptic fit. She had no idea that games could send players into photo sensitive epileptic (PSE) seizures. We guess she hasn't seen the intro splash screen Nintendo has had around since the Pokémon incident.

But, after a long year, she has won her battle. Ubisoft has volunteered to do the testing itself and will try to ensure such a thing does not happen again. Herford also managed to secure a debate in Parliament, for a future date that is yet to be determined. "As a parent myself, I was shocked that a single game could possibly trigger a sudden first-time seizure, with its life-long implications," says Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose, who helped Herford in her battle. "Right now, most electronic game publishers simply issue written warnings about PSE on or inside their products - and that's on a voluntary basis. But that's no good for the thousands of people with dormant PSE because they don't know the warnings - if they even read them - apply to them."

At the time of the article, no comment was made by Nintendo. Ubisoft did say, though, that testing of Rayman: Raving Rabbids on the DS "showed that no images posed a high risk for photosensitivity epilepsy. However, we made a corporate decision to pre-screen and pre-test all Ubisoft in-house developed games regardless of platform, prior to publication."

Ubisoft wants to up its game: be on par with EA, Activision Blizzard

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jun 11th 2008 at 4:00PM }

With "bigger and better" becoming a mantra of sorts for modern game design, it seems only logical for the developers and publishers of our favorite blockbusters to expand their operations in tandem with their goals. Speaking to Develop, Ubisoft head of global development, Christine Burgess-Quémard, has said that the Tom Clancy and Prince of Persia publisher is always looking to widen its worldwide business.

"We want to continue our strategy of innovation, and in order to do that, we need to have more people and generate more business," she explained. "Every blockbuster we work on, we invest in new studios, new teams and new projects." As for measuring up to rival monoliths, EA and Activision Blizzard, Burgess-Quémard states that Ubisoft (or is that Take-Twobisoft?) won't be caught resting on its laurels. "We are in the race, definitely – and we're not in it to come last."

Now, please remember the other half of the aforementioned mantra, Ubi. Bigger and better. We could certainly do with fewer giant corporations pumping pollution into our virtual environments.