Ubisoft announces Assassin's Creed (formerly Project Assassin)

[Bad_Boy]

He was asked some stupid question about HD-DVD vs BR and he replied with an equally stupid fluff statement about how great BR is, even going as far as to cover up for the relatively slow read speeds (relative to the competition, and the technology available today) by comparing them to a 6 year old system.

Cover up? lol I repeat for the 20th time, read in context. If they say their focus is 100% on blu-ray does that mean they would even attempt to compare hd-dvd vs br when they havent used HD-DVD? Hell, he even said he couldnt comment on it. I repeat, it seems like they really plan on taking the advantages of blu-ray into AC. Whats wrong with comparing the ps3 to the ps2? Especially when they havent announced any other version of the game! This is next gen after all. Again this has nothing to do with my orginal point and if you were to read exactly what I typed, you would know. Instead you seemed to abort into putting words in my mouth.

Seems like you are focused on talking about are the negatives of blu-ray, and not the positives which obviously outweight the negs. Have you ever thought about the negatives of DVD? This really isnt going anywhere.

Agree to Dissagree?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

On the reverse, why did MS advertise it at X05?

It could well have been planned then, and since changed to exclusive/timed exclusive/ Heavenly Sword was initially 'advertised' for PC, XB360 and PS3, but plans change.

It is typical of timed released games (like FNR3, GRAW, GTA:SA, etc) not to mention the other platforms until AFTER you have released the exclusive.

I agree, but Scooby was saying no exclusive, released for both platforms in March. That may be true, but I can't fathom the reasoning behind creating a website for your game and ensuring you have the logo for one platform on it and not the other platform, if both games are going to be released at the same time. Where's the sense in that? Why would Ubisoft choose to do that?

 

[pc999]

BIA was initially announces for Q4 06, but then pushed back to Q1 2007, EM had no publisher when this list was released, we now know ubisoft is releasing it, Naruto was confirmed for 360 very recently, time after time this list is proving accurate....maybe it's just my tinhat speaking, but if I had to bet, I would say a March release of AC on both 360 and PS3.

Many may think this list is false just because there are Wii titles along with next gen games and no RS in there (althought I thought there is a unanunnced game for wii here).

Althought I agree that these is very convicent.

 

[Arwin]

I'm expecting an honest assesment of the streaming capabilities. A 12x dvd is perfectly feasible at this point in time, to be given half of that, and try and pass it off as great by comparing it to a 6year old system is nonsense.

To be given half that? For streaming purposes the DVD's minimum speed can only be considered, and that is actually a slight bit slower than the BluRay's constant speed. I also imagine it is slightly easier to have a constant bitrate for streaming, as it is easier to predict.

Of course we couldn't maintain the same ratio of read speeds to memory, but that's beside the point. I'm talking about him spinning a bad thing as a good thing, which is my definition of PR. In 2006, having a drive that is ~1/2 to 2/3 the speed of a 12x DVD is not a good thing.

It is not slower than 12x DVD's minimum read speed - which is unfortunately what counts for streaming - and has the benefit of packing a decent amount of extra space. A game like Assassin's Creed, which uses the Unreal Engine as far as I know, may actually use up 20Gb+ in data, as art creation has become more important - Epic predicted that Unreal itself would be expected to be about 20Gb as the previous game already was 6Gb compressed.

More to the point, on the PS2 they also had to account for the slowest read speed of that drive. And do you happen to know what the speed of the PS2 drive was? Because this is not quite as common knowledge. Is it more than 2x? You do, probably, remember that load times were much longer on the PS2 as they were on the Xbox.

Since they are comparing the PS2 with the PS3, that's the only relevant point in this discussion.

Personally I'll wait for the 360 version to see how much use they made of the BR drive, not listen to a dribble from a PR person.

He's not actually a PR guy, but the Art director. But anyway, the rest of this sentence makes a lot more sense (and the next one too ... ).

 

[scooby_dooby]

Why would Ubisoft choose to do that?

Maybe for the same reason EA choose to hype FN3 at E3 2005, and dodged the question of it coming to 360? Now..why in the world would EA do that? Hmmm... $$$?

The same reason UT2007 is being used as a showcase title for PS3 and won't be confirmed for 360. Sony needs showcase titles, and they either pay for a timed exclusive, or work out a deal that gives the perception of an exclusive. They did it with FN3, thatr's a fact, and they seem to be doing it with UT2007 as well. It's a short term tactic to build hype which is probably very cost effective for Sony, until I hear an official announcement of exclusivity, I'm leaning towards this being another case of that tactic.

Or maybe Sony just bought timed exclusives, could be, I'll wait for the official word though.

btw: based on the original press release for Bioshock*, I would also lean to that being a ps3 title. The only difference is MS hasn't shown this tactic in the past, but they may be learning from their Karate masters.

* - 2K Games has multiple titles in development at Irrational's North American and Australian studios. The first title to be published under the 2K Games label will be BioShock, a role-playing shooter for next-generation console systems and PC.

 

[Arwin]

The same reason UT2007 is being used as a showcase title for PS3 and won't be confirmed for 360.

Bad example, as we know they're focussing on Gears of War for the 360 instead. Besides, they did announce Unreal more or less already - when Mark Rein said that he wasn't sure yet how to release Unreal for the 360 considering it doesn't have HD-DVD/BluRay, " probably on two discs", he added.

The only difference is MS hasn't shown this tactic in the past, but they may be learning from their Karate masters.

DTM2 was announced as an exclusive, then released on PS2 half a year later. And what's more, inside sources had already suggested to us that this would happen.

Right now, most games run too big budgets to be kept exclusive on either 360 or PS3, I think. So they probably try to make the most of it with the timed exclusive thing.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Bad example, as we know they're focussing on Gears of War for the 360 instead.

No. What we 'know' is they have 3 separate teams GOW, UT2007, and the engine development, so that theory doesn't hold.

Also, they are releasing on PC first, and consoles later, so the UT2k7 team is concentrating on the PC version right now.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Maybe for the same reason EA choose to hype FN3 at E3 2005, and dodged the question of it coming to 360? Now..why in the world would EA do that? Hmmm... $$$?

I understand the argument, but there's a big difference IMO to making a showcase of your technology on a platform at E3, and a general website. Perhaps Sony are paying Ubisoft to keep quiet. That strikes me as being pretty costly though. If you assume less advertising = less sales (and all companies do which is why they advertise) then Sony would have to make up for lost sales on the XB360 platform. I dunno. I can see it being cross-platform, but I don't understand the business decisions of advertising for one platform and not another, even considering money changing hands, unless it's a timed exclusive. At the end of the daty, if people are hyped for PA on PS3, and then when it launches it's also available on XB360, Sony's expense at keeping it quiet for that platform will have been useless - it'll be across the internet in a flash and in the shops alongside the PS3 version. So short of some sort of exclusive, I don't see sense in what's happening regards presentation of this game.

 

[Arwin]

No. What we 'know' is they have 3 separate teams GOW, UT2007, and the engine development, so that theory doesn't hold.

Yes, well, GOW still uses the Uneal engine.

Also, they are releasing on PC first, and consoles later, so the UT2k7 team is concentrating on the PC version right now.

Not fully though - they're doing some paralel work at least. I wouldn't be surprised for instance if they use UT2007 assets to test out PS3 engine developments. Considering the amount of games using the Unreal Engine, that would make a lot of sense. They definitely would have used them to sell the engine to devs.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Not fully though - they're doing some paralel work at least. I wouldn't be surprised for instance if they use UT2007 assets to test out PS3 engine developments. Considering the amount of games using the Unreal Engine, that would make a lot of sense. They definitely would have used them to sell the engine to devs.

Yeah, they have been working next to the PC version since before e3 2005. Of course they are going to give the PC more attention as that has always been the main platform for UT, but the PS3 is right behind it getting ported over and adjusted accordingly for console gameplay.

getting kinda OT though.

 

[TheChefO]

At the end of the daty, if people are hyped for PA on PS3, and then when it launches it's also available on XB360, Sony's expense at keeping it quiet for that platform will have been useless

Wrong - What they are paying for is hype right now - the debate that has been going on in this thread. People questioning whether or not it is coming to 360. FUD. People that are jazzed for this game and want to ensure they can play it when it comes out will make the decision to get ps3 and not "risk it" by purchasing 360 from now until UBI soft says otherwise. This in combination with other "perception exclusives", should help them drive demand for their console whether it's false or not. That is worth quite a bit to Sony.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Dunno about you, but I'd much rather cough up money for game to be exclusive, rather to cough up money for no one to know its not exclusive. Sounds like a stupid concept, even if it does give you temporary hype. Who knows what ubisoft is really doing, and why.

 

[TheChefO]

Dunno about you, but I'd much rather cough up money for game to be exclusive, rather to cough up money for no one to know its not exclusive. Sounds like a stupid concept, even if it does give you temporary hype. Who knows what ubisoft is really doing, and why.

Agreed - but I'm quite sure Sony is not paying as much for this "perceived exclusive" as they would for the real deal.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Agreed - but I'm quite sure Sony is not paying as much for this "perceived exclusive" as they would for the real deal.

What makes you so sure sony is paying at all, for this "perceived exclusive"? What if they are just not ready to announce a 360 version just yet due to development schedule or some other reason.

 

[TheChefO]

What makes you so sure sony is paying at all, for this "perceived exclusive"? What if they are just not ready to announce a 360 version just yet due to development schedule or some other reason.

I don't have factual information, but based on it's recent "change of direction"/"mystery" that wasn't there before e3 I'd say its safe to say money was involved.

 

[Bad_Boy]

I don't have factual information, but based on it's recent "change of direction"/"mystery" that wasn't there before e3 I'd say its safe to say money was involved.

So simply based on speculation and rumors?

 

[TheChefO]

So simply based on speculation and rumors?

Look over the previous posts on where/how this game was being promoted vs its current promotion.

 

[Nemo80]

Dunno about you, but I'd much rather cough up money for game to be exclusive, rather to cough up money for no one to know its not exclusive. Sounds like a stupid concept, even if it does give you temporary hype. Who knows what ubisoft is really doing, and why.

Agree. Sony never ever claimed that this would be exclusive. It's all UBIs statements. If it was exclusive in any way, Sony would have praised it as such, because it's a potential system seller. On the other hand UBI would harm themselves if they wouldnt do some advertising on a potential 360 version (which they dont do right now).

So that leaves only one logical possibilty. At the moment, it's not in development for 360, maybe because of technological limitations (Blu-Ray).

 

[Arwin]

Look over the previous posts on where/how this game was being promoted vs its current promotion.

However, it is still entirely possible that there are multiple strategic and practical reasons working together. Say that, for instance, the PS3 has slightly more power, the Unreal Engine is in a slightly more advanced state on the PS3, the streaming on BluRay is slightly easier to code for, and the extra space on the BluRay disc saves Ubisoft from having to be scrupulous in texture and mesh resolutions, pre-calculated scenes, pre-rendered movies and what not. Sony might just add to that by handing over some cookies for timed exclusives, or maybe they don't.

Then when the PS3 version is launched, they can get the game running for the 360 and in the process work on optimising the code and downgrade the graphics (or optimise the graphics so that no downgrades are necessary). This could in the end result in a 360 game that is almost the same as the PS3 version, thanks to additional development time helping to compensate for slight system inferiority. This happened to PS2 and Xbox games as well, after all - the PS2 had half the RAM of the Xbox, and although I don't doubt DirectX ate some of the difference, the Xbox still had power and resources to spare in most scenarios I presume.

It is just a possibility. My main point, really, is that we don't have to come up with just one reason.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Look over the previous posts on where/how this game was being promoted vs its current promotion.

Like Nemo80 said, You dont see Sony hyping this game up at all. It's more Ubisoft.
Note; im not saying there is no money involved, its just theres no proof or any real evidence. Just speculation and rumors.