Raymond will be working under the "governance" of Yannis Mallat, CEO of Ubisoft's Montreal and Toronto development studios, at Ubisoft Toronto which is said to be home to some 800 jobs. As of right now, Raymond is toiling away as executive producer on Assassin's Creed II and "other Ubisoft projects" according to the release.

Jade joined Ubisoft's Montreal studio in 2004 as a producer on the original Assassin's Creed, but has kept a lower profile during the development of the sequel while still impressing the powers that be at corporate. We wish the Ubisoft Toronto team best of luck and godspeed to new executive headshots.

During a demo of the game in New York played on the PlayStation 3 E3 build of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II on Wednesday, Raymond capably flew her new game's hero, Ezio, over the streets of 15th century Venice using Leonard da Vinci's winged flying machine. She swooped him down to murder some bad men. And she managed to simultaneously field every question I could think of about how the new game will compare to the first Assassin's Creed.

Raymond described new hero Ezio as a more "badass" assassin than the first game's Altair. She emphasized this while having Ezio unsheathe blades tucked under his sleeves and simultaneously stab two soldiers, one in front of him to his left and one in front of him to his right, dead. Part of this new viciousness is attributed to a sterner motivation. Ezio's father and brothers have been killed during a power struggle of Italian nobles. His mother and sister are in hiding.

To demonstrate an Assassin's Creed game is to demonstrate new ways to murder. Raymond had Ezio scale a tower and pull a guard from over its ledge to a plummeting death. She had Ezio get up from a bench, kill a man, and then put him on the bench, an exhibition of how the locations that in the first game were just hiding spots are now also places to stash corpses. Later, when she had Ezio swan dive into a wagon of hay, she showed how the sequel's smarter enemies will root through hiding places. Bad move, smarter enemy. Raymond had Ezio kill the man and throw his body into the hay. One limitation: while Ezio can swim, he can't yet kill anyone while underwater. Room for character growth in the sequel?

Raymond promised more assassinations in the new game than in the first. And she said that players will be forced to use more varied strategies. "In Assassin's Creed, people had one strategy, like 'I always run away,' or 'I always stop and fight,'" she said. Not this time. Bigger guards will be tough to stand and fight but will be slower and easier to escape on foot — retreats helped by Ezio climbing more swiftly than Altair did. Smaller guards will be swifter, though even they can be evaded once the player gets out of an area of alarm, denoted, Grand Theft Auto-style, as an unsafe zone on the player's mini-map. Getting out of that zone gets Ezio out of trouble. "There won't be any endless chases," she laughed.

Some new systems will make Assassin's Creed II play differently than its predecessor. A new notoriety system will get Ezio into greater trouble if he's played as a reckless killer. A faction system will enable Ezio to gain alliances. For example, doing missions for thieves would make it possible for thieves to return the favor by pickpocketing guards and causing distractions. Raymond described the flow of the game as more narrative-driven than the previous game. She repeatedly referred to the first game's flow as falling into a "pattern." The player would get their assassination assignment, go to the assassin's guild in a given city, perform a few basic and recurring mission types, progress toward the assassination itself, flee and then repeat. Patterns won't hold in the new game. And instead of just a few recurring mission types, Raymond said the new game will offer 15. She wasn't one to say the first game had problems. "Frustrations," was her word, and they've been recognized and are being addressed.

The sequel has a day-night cycle, which Raymond said will affect how crowded the game's streets are. The first game's hero, Altair, could blend in with monks to avoid the suspicion of law enforcement. In the new game, Ezio can blend in with anyone in a crowd, appearing to be lost in conversation (though, sadly, he isn't going to stand on his head with the clowns who play at a party in Venice, Raymond informed me). A thinner evening crowd will leave the player fewer civilians with whom to blend.

Like the last game, the new one will cover more than one metropolis. Ezio will have a horse and travel across Italy. The regions and his adventures will be stitched together, as one big landmass in the first Assassin's Creed merged Altair's exploits in 12th-century Jersusalem, Acre and elsewhere. Ezio will travel from Venice to Florence to the Tuscan countryside, the connecting terrain being better filled, Raymond said, with gameplay opportunity than the barren hub zone of the first game. Players will be able to fast-travel to locations they've already discovered and utilize other, still-secret methods of transportation.

Former Newsweek reporter N'Gai Croal, dropping in on our interview, stumped Raymond when he asked if Ezio's horse was a descendant of Altair's. She was on surer footing in addressing my question about the return of collectible flags, saying that this time the items that can be collected in the game will unlock things, like new areas to visit.

As with the first game, the sequel will occasionally bring players to the present. In fact, the game will pick up with where modern-era protagonist Desmond left off — right after the cliffhanger conclusion of the last game. Raymond described the modern sections of the game as being "more focused on action sequences," which, compared to the placid locked-room modern moments in the first game, wouldn't be a hard goal to attain. She said that players will go to the present less frequently than they did in the first adventure.

Players of the upcoming PSP Altair-based Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines will be able to transmit money and weapons into Ezio's arsenal for the PS3 game. That's a fun Easter egg, but players of Hideo Kojima's 2008 Metal Gear Solid 4, which included an alternate Altair costume for hero Solid Snake, might imagine a cooler possible Easter egg for Assassin's Creed II. Is Kojima returning the favor and letting his franchise seep into Ubisoft's? Raymond's response was a laugh, a smile and the words: "Maybe… maybe not."

Assassin's Creed II is slated for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 release on November 17.

Short answer is...yes. And sorry Nintendo fans, the Smile Machine didn't make it. But these two did.

Seems lonely men on the internet have still not forgotten 2007, Ubisoft's Jade Raymond coming in at #82, while on a more flimsy premise, Attack of the Show's Olivia Munn also earned some votes (well, more votes), finishing up at #62.

Jade Raymond [AskMen]
Olivia Munn [AskMen]

If you missed this past weekend's MTV Video Game Awards show, you're not alone and you're probably not German. The people of Deutschland get their own video game kudos broadcast, one big enough to get both Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond and Metal Gear Solid series producer Hideo Kojima on an international flight. You can't watch these clips online — they appear to be region restricted — but you can bask in the beauty of MTV's first video game lifetime achievement "game cube" award and drool over Kojima's sharp salary man suit. You can also watch Jade Raymond talk.

It's not quite official confirmation, but Gamekyo has the trademark document for the game over at their site, so there's a pretty good chance this is a solid rumor. Still, even a solid rumor is still a rumor. The only thing that really strikes me as odd about the whole thing is I known people from Chicago, and no piddling city-destroying earthquake could take them down.

Jade Raymond working on I Am Alive [Gamekyo]

Jade Raymond and Patrice Desilets and the entire Assassin's Creed development team did an excellent job to create the game.

I view Jade as a very skilled and creative producer, the success of Assassin's Creed leaves no doubt about that and the attention she received from the media is due to the anticipation, buzz and quality of the game. She's currently working on a new project but it's a little too early to share more about it.

I don't think there are many games that tackle violence head on...When you hit someone or inflict pain, faces get disfigured for example, and I want to make games that show that sort of thing.

If you don't see the pain, you can't understand what you've done, and you'll pass through battles without taking responsibility for your actions. I don't want to ignore that. I want players to think, even if it's just a little, about what violence and war are.

Jade Raymond interviews Hideo Kojima [via n4g]

I think there have been enough women in the industry now that there really isn't any pressure as a woman to prove yourself anymore. I think there has been so many great people out there doing things that right now, I think it's completely open-ended. Anyone who comes in, you just want to know that they're good. Their gender is irrelevant.

Women Working in Games: 'Assassin's Creed''s Elspeth Tory on Jade Raymond and Entering the Boys' Club [MTV Multiplayer Blog]

I don't know exactly how it happened, but I think Ubisoft noticed the amount of press that she was getting, and they did what most companies would do, which is they exploited that. I like Ubisoft and all, but they don't care about Jade as much as they care about their bottom dollar, and they're going to do what they think works. And if the GameTrailers interviews that have Jade on them get like 20 times the hits as any other product that they put out, what are they going to do? They're going to put her in front of the camera. I think they created a lot of resentment though, both internally and maybe externally. I think a lot of men were resentful of her stature, and maybe some of them thought she didn't deserve it, and they deserved it more or whatever. It's difficult. It's complicated.

I think that's just the nature of who we are as human society. That's why there is this celebrity culture and why we revere attractive people, and then also can't wait to tear them down. [Laughs] I think it's a confluence of factors. It's the fact that Jade is attractive to the gaming press, of course you're going to write about her. And once that happens Ubisoft is going to push her more because they realize she gets press and then she's going to continue to do it because it's her job, and as a producer what do you want? You want to sell copies of your game and make sure the game is successful. You do that by going out and doing interviews, representing your game. You know, you can't fault any of them really for doing their jobs...

This column does not assert that games themselves are - or are not - the cause of this apparent escalation in hostile, unstable behavior in our community. And it is an overall behavioral trend; two extreme incidents are are demonstrated here as examples, but take a glance at review archives alone and there's almost guaranteed to be, in the comment threads, a reaction to a reviewer's opinion that seems unnecessarily venomous, excessively upset. And nor does this column levy accusations against all of us as a whole; it's most likely that this encroaching trend of apparent hardening, of an increase in cruelty in our audience, is attributable to a vocal minority .... It's also important to note the positives that have come out of gaming communities online - friends supporting each other through difficult times, game-inspired charity organizations and events.

And yet. I once made the rather unpopular assertion that we must examine game violence and resolve our relationship with it in order to be justified in defending ourselves against the knee-jerk, sensationalized accusations of the mainstream media, politicians and TV psychologists using us to get attention. Unpopular though it may be, I offer that perhaps we ought to examine ourselves some more. What are we learning from games, from our anonymous online communities, and from our relationships with one another?

Regardless of whether you agree or (vociferously) disagree with either piece, they're food for thought. I really do think some amount of nasty arguments are simply unavoidable - but I guess the main difference between the gaming community and, say, the academic communities I'm familiar with is that the academics manage to be a little more mature while advancing their personal opinions, no matter how much they (actually, in real life) hate the person they're attacking. Then again ... it's the internet. And the most innocuous of topics can turn into a firestorm given the right prevailing winds.

'The Aberrant Gamer': Are The Kids Alright? [GameSetWatch] and Good games, bad games, ugly games [Tale of Tales]

Lowtax responded in the expected Something Awful fashion, posting "I don't know where this image is located, I do not know who drew it, and the only vague connection to this site is because somebody posted a link to it on these forums." His full response to Ubisoft's legal council is worth the read.

As I said, the comic seems to have been removed from its previous hosts, but those expecting something worthwhile should look elsewhere.

In the meantime, I'm deleting all known copies of my Patrice Desilets erotic fanfic comics, just in case. It's a shame, as I really thought the beard turned out perfect.

Ubisoft is going to sue me and I think it's probably your fault [Something Awful Forums]

The Smash: Last night at the Assassin's Creed shindig, producer Jade Raymond personally told Guest Editor Geoff Keighley that those rumors were totally untrue and that she's never do something like that. She actually seemed somewhat offended people thought she would. Ubisoft PR got so many inquiries about it almost had to issue and official statement. So, while this rumor so SMASHED, please don't rule out Creative Director Patrice Desilets' Maxim spread!

Personal Appearance by Jade Raymond and Demonstration of Assassin's Creed at HMV Oxford St, London this Saturday 27th October LONDON, UK -23rd October: As part of London Games Festival, Jade Raymond, Producer for Assassins Creed by Ubisoft, is set to make a special appearance at HMV's flagship store on Oxford Street, London this Saturday 27th October. New levels from the latest version of the game will be presented at this one off event in anticipation for the release of the game next month.

The presentation is open to all members of the public and will take place at 3pm and then again at 4.30pm on the day. Jade will meet and answer questions from the public and also sign merchandise available for the game.

Kyd has a slew of gaming soundtracks under his belt, including various Splinter Cell and Hitman jams. His musical contribution to Assassin's Creed has been described as "fused with both traditional medieval instruments and modern synth sounds" by producer Jade Raymond. She, by the way, has great taste in sneakers. Kyd describes his own work as having been taken "to the max." I deem this description totally badical.

More info after the jump, with a score provided by me.

UBISOFT ANNOUNCES ASSASSIN'S CREEDTM VIDEO GAME SCORE COMPOSED BY AWARD-WINNING JESPER KYD

London, United Kingdom - October 16, 2007 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced the score for the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed™ video game is being composed by British Academy Award-winner Jesper Kyd. Players will become truly immersed into the mindset of Altair, the game's main character, and the rich environments of the game through Jesper's thematic score. The combination of epic orchestral compositions with acoustic, percussion and vocal performances delivers a deeply spiritual aesthetic with Hollywood flair. The rich and melodic palette, created exclusively for Assassin's Creed, will be discovered by players worldwide this November.

"We listened to many composers before finding the right person for Assassin's Creed. Jesper Kyd turned out to be the perfect match for the title because he is able to create epic historical pieces fused with both traditional medieval instruments and modern synth sounds," shared Jade Raymond, producer of Assassin's Creed. "For Assassin's Creed we wanted the score to capture the gruesome atmosphere of medieval warfare but also be edgy and contemporary. Jesper not only achieved this balance but also underlined the changes in gameplay and pacing in a way that immerses the player even further into the
Assassin's Creed experience."

While the graphical beauty and detail of Assassin's Creed is quite evident visually, the music takes on the same level of precision and attention. Each setting within the game has its own theme and distinct musical identity, ranging from the tragedy-stricken city of Acre to the proud stoic stronghold of Damascus to the powerfully spiritual and multicultural capital of Jerusalem.

"I was inspired by the deep and engaging world of Assassin's Creed and working with the visionary team at Ubisoft Montreal was a fantastic experience," said Jesper Kyd. "It was truly refreshing to be given so much creative freedom for such a high-profile blockbuster title and I believe we took it to the max."

In such instances as the surreal and hypnotic compositions that accentuate the Assassin's approach to his target, Kyd instilled his immersive style and film scoring techniques in Altair's interior meditation and stealth modes, while also capturing the action, combat and escape sequences with measured tone that crescendos into a fast-paced fervor.

About Assassin's Creed
The game is set in 1191 AD, when the Third Crusade was tearing the Holy Land apart. Shrouded in secrecy and feared for their ruthlessness, the Assassins intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict. Players will assume the role of the main character, Altair, and will have the power to throw their immediate environment into chaos and truly experience the art of a master assassin.

In 2006, Assassin's Creed received the Game Critics Award: Best of E3 2006 for "Best Action-Adventure Game" and swept the "Best PS3 Game" category across numerous video game websites.*

For more information, please visit www.assassinscreed.com.

*1UP "Best PS3 Game," GameSpot "Best PLAYSTATION 3 Editors' Choice Winner," GameSpy "Best of E3 PS3 Game of the Show," Games Radar "Best of E3 PLAYSTATION 3," GameTrailers "Best of Show," IGN "Best PS3 Game of the Show"

About Ubisoft:
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified lineup of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 21 countries and sales in more than 50 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. Ubisoft generated sales of 680 million Euros for the 2006-07 fiscal year. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.

© 2007 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION", and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

No, we're not making a demo. This game is more like a sandbox style game where there's a lot of things, so it's not a linear mission where you can say, OK, we're making a demo and we're giving you this mission...

there's no way to say, OK, we're going to cut up this square of the city and give that to you in a demo because then you can't run around or do the gameplay. There's no way to really make a demo and i think that's the same reason game's like GTA don't have a demo...

Jade Raymond confirms there will be no Assassin's Creed demo [maxconsole]

I saw you at E3, played your game, had a great time, we bonded. And now I find out - from GameTrailers no less - that you don't even know my name. I'm just another piece of E3 meat to you, is that it? Some "guy from Kotaku," another blogger for your little black book. A notch on your controller.

The name is Brian, it's spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

AC Shows Its Artistic Direction [VGB]

All these questions and more are yours to explore, with the grand prize of $10,000 and a 360 with Assassin's Creed on the line. The winning film will also be included in the limited edition of the game as well as airing on the IFC channel in November when the game launches.

On behalf of everyone who ends up having to watch the results of these movie contests...please stop. You are hurting us. If you enjoy hurting us, hit the jump for details. Michael Fahey

Ubisoft and IFC Announce Short Film Competition Inspired By Assassin's CreedTM Video Game

SAN FRANCISCO - June 25, 2007 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, and the Independent Film Channel (IFC), the first and largest network dedicated to independent film, announced the creation of a short film contest inspired by the video game Assassin's Creed™ due out in November.

Beginning today, film students, video game fans and media arts aficionados are encouraged to submit their short film of six-minutes or less, based on Assassin's Creed themes for judging via IFC's Media Lab (http://medialab.ifc.com), a ground-breaking, integrated program which offers filmmakers a destination for posting their independent films online. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000, an Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, an Xbox 360 version of Assassin's Creed and inclusion of their short film inside the Limited Edition version of the game. The winning film will also be aired on the IFC television network in November to coincide with the launch of the game.

"Assassin's Creed has the cinematic look and feel of an epic movie. This contest allows film makers of all levels a chance to showcase their creativity by expanding upon the mystery and themes of the Assassin's Creed video game," said Tony Key, vice president of marketing at Ubisoft. "Video games, like films, have the ability to tell rich and dynamic stories and the partnership with IFC for the Assassin's Creed short film contest is a way for Ubisoft to show its appreciation to the art. We're excited to see what people bring to the table; I have a feeling we won't be disappointed."

The Assassin's Creed franchise has captured the attention and imagination of video game audiences worldwide and the Assassin's Creed short film contest is an opportunity for fans and others to explore the mysteries and depth of the Assassin's Creed story, providing their own interpretation to what is poised to be one of the year's best video games.

"IFC reaches a tech savvy audience that is passionate about gaming and film, so it is a natural fit for us to team up with Ubisoft and present an Assassin's Creed film making competition. As a multi-platform brand, we fully intend to utilize both our on-air and online presence to make this venture a success," stated Lee Sparer, vice president of partnerships for IFC. "Assassin's Creed is one of the most visually stunning games to date and combined with the tremendously talented filmmakers on Media Lab, we are expecting to see some truly spectacular films."

Finalists will be selected by a panel of IFC and Ubisoft judges and their films will be posted on the IFC Web site, to be viewed and voted on by fans and visitors who will ultimately choose the grand prize winner. Two "runner-up" prizes include $2,500 cash, an Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, an Xbox 360 version of Assassin's Creed and inclusion of their short film inside the Limited Edition version of the game. Their short film will be aired on the IFC television network. Winners will be announced on or before November 30.

Ubisoft's Jade Raymond, whom Famitsu REPEATEDLY refers to as the "beautiful female producer," explains the difference between the crossplatform versions of her upcoming title, Assassin's Creed:

There shouldn't be any differences at all. We're sharing the exact same assets. The engines have the same capabilities. Both systems have different things going for them. With PLAYSTATION 3, currently, you can see maybe a slight difference in some of the textures. With Xbox 360 right now you may see a little bit smoother framerate, maybe a couple more frames per second right now. It's so negligible right now that unless you're sitting there looking at them both side by side, you're not going to see any difference. And that's our goal — to deliver the exact same experience on both of them.

While Jade laments the lack of anything truly "next gen" (AKA "this gen") that's out currently, she says that Assassin's Creed won't take advantage of the SIXAXIS's motion controls. And what about a Wii port? "Totally out of the question," she says. How's that for to the point? Brian Ashcraft

Jade Raymond Interview [Game Informer]

VH1 Games Harold Goldberg, who I hear once dated Jade Raymond, had a chance to sit down with Jon Bon Jovi recently to talk about Electronic Arts' Arena Football: The Road to Glory.

To summarize the Q&A:

JBJ isn't a gamer, but played a touch of Pong and loved pinball and his kids love video games.

Anyone who loved pinball, and how could Jon Bon Jovi not be a huge pinball fan, I mean look at that hair, is A-OK in my book. Brian Crecente

Exclusive: Jon Bon Jovi: Old School Gamer? [Game Break]