Game Stooge

E3 ‘09: Ubisoft Press Conference

• Scribbled on June 1st, 2009 by Jonah Falcon
• Filed in E3, Game Genres, Platforms

It was a trial getting into Ubisoft’s press conference in the ornate (theater name), as the start of the conference was delayed an hour, as they experienced difficulty in giving passes to the throngs of media waiting to enter the theater. The crowd was immense to get a first hand look at the games Ubisoft promised to show off: Assassin’s Creed 2, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game, Splinter Cell: Conviction (which had been demoed by Microsoft earlier in the day), Red Steel 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rabbids Go Home.

Ubisoft stressed the “confluence” of films and games, hiring from the film industry, having received the services of such notable filmmakers as James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, and Kathleen Kennedy, as well as buying special effects company Hybride. They also bragged about being among the first with new technologies Red Steel (Wii remote), Rayman Raving Rabbids (balance board), Shaun White Snowboarding (balance board) and Tom Clancy’s Endwar (voice recognition), and promised support of Microsoft’s Project Natal. They are even developing special effects shots for Avatar, showing the two way nature between film and video games, as well as developing short films based on Assassin’s Creed 2.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game

James Cameron was introduced to thunderous applause, as he discussed the difficulty in getting Avatar produced, and how it was made possible by the latest advances in CGI and mo-cap. Avatar takes place in the 22nd century on a moon of a gas giant called Pandora, filled with thousand foot tall trees and mysterious creatures. The sentient beings, the Navi, are ten foot tall, blueskinned, tiger-tailed humanoids who appear to be primitive. The story centers around Human/Navi hybrids called “Avatars”, who can live in the atmosphere that poisons humans, and who are controlled by Humans as psychic puppets. The protagonist is a Marine who has an Avatar, and falls in love with a Navi girl, and eventually is forced to take sides. The film culminates in a gigantic battle.

Cameron stated it was the biggest film he’d ever been involved with, which is something coming from the director who made The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Titanic. Cameron admitted that most licensed games “sucked”, and he did not want Avatar: The Game to “suck”, which is why he chose Ubisoft, presumably due to their success with other IPs such as the Tom Clancy novels. Avatar: The Game uses assets from the film, as well as designed things like vehicles for the game, and some aspects of the game were used in the film, such as bioluminescence. The game allows players to make their own moral choices and decide which faction they’ll support. The game was developed in parallel with the film so it won’t be a quickie title to cash in on the merchandising. (We’re looking at you, Terminator: Salvation.) Cameron claimed it was the first video game to make him afraid, when enemies attacked.

Red Steel 2

Of course, Red Steel 2 utilizes the Wii Motion Plus, and the trailer was shown off. The first level was then demoed by the developers. Your main character began, waking up from being unconscious, then being dragged by a motorcycle, being dragged through the desert, avoiding cactus, under a truck, into the Los Angeles River, through a flame wall, before finally taking out the motorcyclist with a shot from a sawed off shotgun. After the gameplay, the training screen was shown off to show off the motion control, before showing from combat with live targets. Some of the more advanced combat was like playing Devil May Cry 4 in first person. Finally, they showed off a boss battle, “The Heavy”. The game runs at 60 fps as well.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage

Academy of Champions Football

Pele was brought out to introduce this cartoon-style soccer title, which presents a roleplaying universe which might be best described as a soccer version of Harry Potter, with soccer as quidditch.

Splinter Cell: Conviction

The developers spelled out which innovations would be in Conviction. They wanted to make Sam Fisher use stealth as more of an aggressive tactic, as a “dangerous predator”. After the trailer, the game was demoed. Sam Fisher has left the agency, and free of any constraints – more brutal and deadly. The game allows for The Punisher-styled interrogation.

Since Sam is no longer with the agency, he has to get his own tools, such as breaking a rear-view mirror to create a mirror to look under doors. The gameplay allows the player to choose ahead of time which targets to focus on first. The “Last Known Position” allows you to see where you were spotted, so that you can use it as a weapon to flank where the enemies will be searching.

The visual style is fluid and fast-paced; objectives appear on walls and the sides of buildings, while information is usually projected in black and white on walls. The game is like playing an action film like Jason Bourne. The game looks like a real winner and will surpass its previous iterations. It’ll come out this Fall.

R.U.S.E.

Trailer at Ubisoft not available yet.

Rabbids Go Home

They demoed a rabbid inside a Wiimote, getting abused by the movement of the controller. The game plays like a platformer version of Katamari Damacy.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up

UbiSoft conference trailer not in.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

Announced, but no trailer.

Assassin’s Creed 2

November 17, 2009 release date.