Depending on your opinion of the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace, tomorrow brings either a wondrous new addition or another ridiculous thing to waste your money on - pets! Microsoft has most of the bases covered in its pet lineup, with three types of dogs (including Dog in Bag), three cats, birds, snakes, fish, guinea pigs, and of course, monkeys. They'll even have a pony up for sale, making countless childhood dreams come true with the push of a button.

The downside? Each pet will run you 240 Microsoft points. The upside? They don't pee on your girlfriend's robe, who then tries to cuddle you while wearing it because she has a cold and can't smell it, leaving you with the moral dilemma of whether or not you should tell her she smells. That's just an example, mind you, and certainly didn't happen in my apartment last night.

Yes, you can haz Pony [Major Nelson]

That's right: Petz was my devious strategy to get a good look at Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines. Was it worth it? Actually, yes – if I hadn't done it, I never would have discovered that there is in fact a lavender-colored PSP out there with a glittery finish.

Seriously, it's no wonder nobody would go near that part of the venue. It's like they could sense the glitter.

What Is It?
Petz is a pet simulation game where you adopt any one of a number of cute animals, depending on the pack (hamsterz, horsez, babiez, whatever).

What We Saw
The pack I spent time with was a puppy pack and the screens Sony provided for this preview look like they're for horses — on a home console, not the PSP.

How Far Along Is It?
The game ships in November.

What Needs Improvement?
We're Not To Tamagotchi Yet: I'm not advocating the slaying of pets in any way, shape or form. However, I'm disappointed that there are almost no consequences for neglecting your pet. If you fail to feed them or refuse to pet them, the worst thing that happens is that they run away back to the adoption center where I think you can just re-adopt them. That's… kind of upsetting. I'd like it better if PETA showed up at your virtual door, rescued the pet and then punched you in the face.

Leave It On The DS: The PSP version of Petz tries to mimic stylus controls with the analog stick – such as petting your puppy on the head or flinging a Frisbee. It doesn't work well at all.

What Should Stay The Same?
It's Cute: That is the sole purpose of this game – to be cute – and at that, it excels. So much so that I caught myself making the noise I make in real life when petting a cute puppy. And I almost forgot my brilliant plan about sidling up to Bloodlines when nobody was looking.

Final Thoughts
Pets sims have their place in the world and it's not for me to say that place isn't on the PSP. I just wish they'd changed the control scheme to something more appropriate for the analog stick and maybe added something PSP-specific. Like a dog park editor – I could totally get in on that.

The company took in $890.2 million in the 12 month period ending on March 31, 2009. Up from $852.8 million the year before. But operating income was down from $158.0 million from $183.0 million.

The company boasted that its casual line netted nine million units sold for Imagine games, two million units for the My Coach line and five million sold for the Petz games.

New Ubi games Shaun White and HAWX managed 2.8 million and one million units, respectively.

The company also signaled that some sequels sold better than their preceding titles in their series. For Far Cry 2, that unit sales increase from its predecessor was 64% and up for Prince of Persia by 10%. Brothers in Arms was said to be up 35%. (We've asked Ubisoft p.r. if those percentages are in terms of units or sales.)

Starting on March 23rd, Wendy's kids meals will come packaged inside a special bag covered with fun Petz activities, which children will quickly discard in order to get to the toy hidden inside. Each week's meal will contain one of five pieces of Petz merchandise: the Petz Catz PC game, Petz Dogz PC game, a Catz toy balancer ball, a Dogz plush toy, or a Petz-themed card game. I'd say this was the first time a PC game showed up as a children's fast food premium, but I'd probably be wrong. Parents might want to hold onto the bag, as it contains a discount coupon for Ubisoft's Petz Dogz Pack for Nintendo DS or Petz Sports for the Wii.

This marks the first time Ubisoft has teamed up with a major fast food chain to offer such a promotion. While I was personally hoping Splinter Cell would be the first game to get the kids meal treatment (Real Working Garrote!), I suppose this is a start.

With news that the eagerly anticipated survival title I Am Alive has been pushed back, seemingly within the last day, Ubisoft's earlier 2009 release list is overwhelmed by children's titles and casual games. Of all of their releases, air combat title Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. is really the only mainstream game that is new. There are a handful of games that they're only publishing in other countries - Chrono Trigger, Disgaea 3, and The Last Remnant for instance - but the rest of the list is chock full of Petz, Imagine Titles, and Jake Power DS games.

Four Petz titles are in the lineup, including Petz: My Baby Panda, which everyone should buy just to make it sad. Then we have four Jake Power titles, and a whopping seven new games in the Imagine line, from Cheerleader to Family Doctor.

Check out the full list below, or print it out and use it as a convenient checklist.

“We’re excited to introduce our young fans to a new way to interact with their favorite Petz games,” said Andy Swanson, senior director of strategic sales & partnerships at Ubisoft. “The partnership with Commonwealth Toy provides users with a unique opportunity to play with their toys in both an online and offline environment.”

The first wave is made up solely of catz and dogz, which feature codes for the DS titles Petz Dogz Pack and Petz Catz Clan, with monkeyz on the way in the spring. Bad move Ubisoft...you always lead with monkeyz. Always.

Ubisoft® Expands PETZ® Franchise with Innovation Licensed Toy Line

SAN FRANCISCO — November 3, 2008 — Today Ubisoft and Commonwealth Toy announced the release of a new series of UbiPetz™ plush toys in North America for Ubisoft’s Petz Dogz® Pack, Petz Catz® Clan and Petz Monkeyz™ House games for the Nintendo DS™ system. Ubisoft’s Petz games allow young players to create and care for cute, furry pets chosen from many different breeds of dogs, cats, horses and monkeys.

The initial series of furry plush toys includes a variety of dog and cat characters, with a line of monkeys debuting in Spring 2009. Each animal has a unique code on the bottom of the toy that the consumer can scratch off and enter on Petz.com to unlock exclusive UbiPetz items, including activity games and coloring pages. After entering the code online, users will receive a secret password to enter on Petz Dogz Pack, Petz Catz Clan or Petz Monkeyz House games to bring their plush toy to life as a character in their Nintendo DS game.

“We’re excited to introduce our young fans to a new way to interact with their favorite Petz games,” said Andy Swanson, senior director of strategic sales & partnerships at Ubisoft. “The partnership with Commonwealth Toy provides users with a unique opportunity to play with their toys in both an online and offline environment.”

The UbiPetz plush toy series features over nine assorted breeds of cats and dogs, available in the toy section at major retail locations including Target and Toys ‘R Us in the U.S. and Canada, and they will also be sold at Limited Too in November. Target stores will feature additional, exclusive cat and dog characters.

Petz Dogz Pack is available at retailers nationwide on November 4, 2008, and both Petz Catz Clan and Petz Monkeyz House will be released on November 18, 2008.

For more information on UbiPetz plush toys and Petz games, visit www.petz.com.

According to Ubi's by-platform breakdown, an impressive 39% of the publishers sales came from Nintendo DS titles, almost twice that of its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases, each of which accounted for 20% of sales. That might help explain why there are seven games in the Imagine line and five in the Petz line due over the next three months, about one a week.

Ubisoft pushed back strategy game Anno 1401 A.D. and an "as-yet unannounced franchise" into its 2009-10 fiscal year.

“Ubisoft develops some of the most engaging, popular video game franchises and we look forward to enhancing the Petz gaming experience by producing accessories that capture the personality and excitement of these titles,” said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz.

No word on what sorts of accessoriez we can expect, but I'm thinking carrying cases for the DS, maybe a custom stylus or two. May the union of the misspelled animals be a fruitful one.

Mad Catz Secures License Agreement to Produce Ubisoft’s Petz® Branded Accessories
SAN DIEGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ), a leading third-party interactive entertainment accessory provider, announced today that it has secured a license from Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, to produce branded accessories for the Petz® series of video games on Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ video game system platforms. The multi-year agreement allows Mad Catz to distribute products licensed under the agreement throughout the United States and Canada.

Petz is a series of games in which players adopt, raise and care for cute, furry pets chosen from many different breeds of dogs, cats, horses, hamsters, dolphins, tigers and bunnies. The series currently includes Petz Dogz®, Petz Catz®, Petz Horsez®, Petz Hamsterz Life™, Petz Bunnyz™, Petz Wild Animals: Tigerz and Petz Wild Animals: Dolphinz.

“Ubisoft develops some of the most engaging, popular video game franchises and we look forward to enhancing the Petz gaming experience by producing accessories that capture the personality and excitement of these titles,” said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “The addition of the Petz franchise license further strengthens and diversifies what we believe to be the video game accessory industry’s most extensive portfolio of brand licenses that already includes all of the major North American professional sports leagues and many of the most popular recent and upcoming software titles.”

"Ubisoft is extremely excited about the partnership with TransGaming to bring our titles to the Mac," said Jay Cohen, senior vice president of publishing at Ubisoft. "This is the perfect opportunity to reach the growing Mac community so they can enjoy games such as CSI: Hard Evidence and our Petz franchise with Catz and Dogz."

Oh. That's...nice? Finally Mac gamers will be able to experience the titles PC gamers have been raving about for ages! I assume we'll see something a bit more meaty (yes, I know Petz have meat) as the partnership continues.

TransGaming to Bring Ubisoft Titles to Mac

Ubisoft® Games for Mac Now Available for Purchase and Download at GameTreeOnline.com

Toronto, Canada – July 2, 2008 – TransGaming Inc. (TSX-V: TNG), has announced that video game publisher, Ubisoft (PARIS:UBI.PA), is collaborating with TransGaming to distribute video games on Mac via TransGaming's CiderTM Portability Engine. TransGaming, a leading developer of portability technologies for the electronic entertainment industry, has signed a multi-title agreement with Ubisoft that will bring titles immediately to the Mac community via gametreeonline.com, TransGaming's digital distribution portal. The partnership extends TransGaming's publisher network and offers both parties a revenue-sharing model in addition to TransGaming's Cider licensing fee.

"Ubisoft is extremely excited about the partnership with TransGaming to bring our titles to the Mac," said Jay Cohen, senior vice president of publishing at Ubisoft. "This is the perfect opportunity to reach the growing Mac community so they can enjoy games such as CSI: Hard Evidence and our Petz franchise with Catz and Dogz. To expand our business position and serve the growing Mac gaming community, additional key titles will follow later this year, including several day-and-date releases this Fall.

Ubisoft ranks among the top three independent publishers of video games in the world and has chosen to leverage TransGaming's technology to deliver multiple Mac titles each year. All titles for Mac are being made possible using TransGaming's Cider Portability Engine, that acts as a "wrapper" around the game software, enabling it to run seamlessly on Intel-based Macs. This collaboration by two industry leaders will serve to provide the Mac gaming community with a significant increase in the availability of video games, while simultaneously improving the timeliness of Mac games on sale to the consumer market, a dual benefit rarely possible prior to TransGaming's Cider Portability Engine.

"We are delighted to offer consumers Ubisoft's titles through our digital distribution portal, GameTree Online, and at traditional Mac retail locations over the next few years. Ubisoft has been creating award winning games for Windows-PC and I have no doubt that Mac consumers everywhere will be thrilled to have access to this great content," commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming Technologies. "Leading publishers continue to recognize the value of TransGaming's Cider Engine to bring their high quality content quickly and efficiently to the growing Mac community. The addition of Ubisoft titles further broadens the Mac games market and provides further evidence that TransGaming is the partner of choice for Mac enablement."

Ubisoft's Petz® series will be available immediately for consumers to purchase and download at www.gametreeonline.com. Other Ubisoft titles that have never been available on Mac before will be deployed throughout the Summer, and simultaneously in the Fall with the Windows-PC platform releases.

Serving the gaming industry for many years, TransGaming is a technology leader signing Ubisoft, another top-tier publisher, will ensure all Mac consumers have the game-title availability they demand. TransGaming is 'Broadening the Playing Field' as more and more consumers choose Mac as their personal entertainment solution.

Ubisoft's Galarneau On The Rise Of The Petz [Gamasutra]

The bad news for gamers, however, was that the Xbox 360 exclusive game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction will miss its original winter '07 release, instead arriving in the company's fourth quarter, sometime between January and March of 2008. Far Cry 2 will also be released within that three month window.

Moving Splinter Cell Conviction into next year was probably a good move on Ubi's part. It would have been eaten alive alongside this year's pre-holiday '07 releases. Plus, it will give fanboys a good rival in Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PLAYSTATION 3, which makes for fantastic nitpicking.

Ubisoft reports first-quarter 2007-08 sales Results

First quarter sales up 90.5% to €134 million ($180.66 U.S) and forecasts revised upwards for 2007-08 sales and current operating income1, Ubisoft and 20th Century Fox team up for the video game based on James Cameron's "Avatar," Calyon carries out its first sale of Gameloft shares.

PARIS, July 24, 2007 - Today, Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, reported its sales for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2007.

Sales for the first quarter of 2007-08 came to €134 million ($180.66 U.S.), up 90.5%, or 94.5% at constant exchange rates, compared with the €70 million ($94.37 U.S.) recorded for the same period of 2006-07.

First-quarter sales for 2007-08 exceeded the forecast of approximately €120 million ($161.78 U.S.) announced when Ubisoft released its sales figures for fourth-quarter 2006-07. This performance was primarily attributed to the following:

o The continued success of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas on Xbox 360™ as well as its launch on PLAYSTATION®3 and PSP™.
o The release of Surf's Up™, Prince of Persia®, Oblivion™ and Call of Juarez™.
o Back catalog games, which accounted for over one third of total sales for the period, particularly thanks to the Petz® series and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™.

In first-quarter 2007-08, 79% of the Group's sales came from games for new-generation consoles, compared with 42% in the comparable prior-year period. This increase particularly reflects a sharp rise in sales of games for the PLAYSTATION®3 (21% of sales) and the Nintendo DS™ (16%, versus 3% in the first-quarter 2006-07).

Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft stated "Ubisoft has made a solid start to the year, and continued to win market share. Momentum was particularly strong during the period for European sales, which climbed 109% thanks to the ramp-up of new-generation consoles and the impact of PS3 game sales, including Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas and Oblivion. Our performance during this quarter has once again proved the relevance of our early positioning in the casual gaming sector, as demonstrated by the success of our DS and Wii games. Lastly, we were able to present one of the best game line-ups in the industry at this year's E3, in terms of both quality and diversity. Assassin's Creed, Brothers in Arms, Haze, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction and Tom Clancy's End War are some of the most highly anticipated games of the year. At the same time, our portfolio of upcoming casual games will enable us to strengthen and broaden our current offering, and to reach new consumers."

Outlook

Ubisoft expects second-quarter 2007-08 sales to remain stable at approximately €105 million ($141.56 U.S.) . The period will see the following main releases:

* Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter®2 on PLAYSTATION®3, PC and PSP™.
* The Settlers®6 for PC.
* Jam Sessions™ on Nintendo DS™.
* The European launch of the game based on the animated movie Surf's Up™.

Future games releases

* Far Cry® 2: The multi-million selling brand will be back for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2007-08, as announced on July 19, 2007.
* Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction™: originally scheduled for the third fiscal quarter of 2007-08, this game will now be released in the fourth fiscal quarter.

Outlook for full-year 2007-08

In light of our first-quarter performance, which exceeded forecasts, as well as the positive feedback for our games at this year's E3, Ubisoft has raised its performance targets for full-year 2007-08. The Group's 2007-08 sales target is now approximately €825 million ($1,112.27 U.S.), and it expects current income before stock options to represent at least 9% of sales, compared with the previously-announced forecasts of €800 million ($1,078.56 U.S.) and at least 8% of sales.

Ubisoft and 20th Century Fox team up for the video game based on James Cameron's "Avatar".

In a separate press release, Ubisoft announced today that it will develop and publish the video game based on Twentieth Century Fox's "Avatar," the upcoming feature film written and directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker James Cameron, whose previous films include "Titanic," "True Lies," "The Abyss," "Aliens," "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." The game is expected to release in conjunction with the movie's planned opening in May 2009.

First sale of Gameloft shares by Calyon

On July 17, 2007, Ubisoft announced that it had sold its 18.89% stake in Gameloft (13,367,923 shares) to Calyon. At the same time, Ubisoft entered into an equity swap agreement with Calyon under which Calyon has 24 months to sell the shares on the market and any and all changes in the Gameloft share price will be recorded in full by Ubisoft. This transaction will only impact Ubisoft's income statement and generate cash inflows when Calyon sells the Gameloft shares on the market.

As of July 24, 2007, Calyon had placed 4,167,923 Gameloft shares on the market at a price of €6.064 ($8.17 U.S.). This initial transaction led to a €25.3 million ($34.11 U.S.) cash inflow for Ubisoft. The Group will record a related net gain of €14.5 million ($19.55 U.S.) in its 2007-08 income statement under "gain/loss from operations of discontinued business segment", representing the difference between the share sale price of €6.064 ($8.17 U.S.) and the value of the Gameloft shares on Ubisoft's balance sheet (€2.54 ($3.42 U.S.) per share at March 31, 2007), after deducting 1.65% in taxes.

Recent highlights

Market share: In the first six calendar months of 2007, Ubisoft was the number 3 independent publisher in the United States with market share of 6% (compared with number 5 and 6% one year earlier); number 2 in Europe with 8.4% market share (compared with number 2 and 7.3%), number 2 in France with 7.9% market share (compared with number 2 and 7.3%); number 2 in the United Kingdom with 10% market share (compared with number 2 and 8.5%); and number 2 in Germany with 6.9% market share (compared with number 3 and 6.4%).

Strategic expansion of the casual games offering: Ubisoft has invested in the expansion of an internal development structure dedicated to the creation of Games for Everyone. Among the new team's first projects are the launches of two new product lines - "My Coach" and "Imagine™" - as well as the expansion of the already successful Petz® franchise.

Creation of Tom Clancy's EndWar™, a new brand in the Tom Clancy series: Led by strategy veteran Michael de Plater, Tom Clancy's EndWar™ is being developed by a world-class team at Ubisoft's Shanghai studio whose members have experience working on Ubisoft's hit franchises including Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon®, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell®.

Ubisoft to develop the video game based on the motion picture "Beowulf": Ubisoft, Paramount Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment have announced a partnership to create video games based on "Beowulf™", the upcoming feature film from Robert Zemeckis, starring Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and John Malkovich. The movie is scheduled to open in late 2007.

Planned expansion of Ubisoft's Moroccan studio, with the aim of creating 150 new positions by 2010.

In addition to adding new species to its popular Petz series, confirming that horse, cat and dog care sims would be coming to the Wii, Ubisoft revealed the first titles in its My Coach series. My Word Coach, which Ubi reports is "being developed in collaboration with linguists and will help players improve their verbal communication and vocabulary in a fun way" will hit the Nintendo DS and Wii this fall. Following that is My Life Coach for the Nintendo DS, a motivational personal coach for strengthening willpower.

You may remember that we posted recently about some Ubisoft language training games, also under the My Coach label, showing up on retailer sites. Now if we can just get some software to address Fahey's need of a furry coach.

More in the press release. Michael McWhertor

Ubisoft Announces Strategic Casual Video Games Expansion

Introduces New "My Coach" Line and Brings "Petz" to New Platforms

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — May 21, 2007 — Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced that it is expanding its casual video game business. Ubisoft has made significant investments and formed an internal development structure dedicated to the creation of games for everyone. Among the first projects of the new team are the introduction of the new "My Coach" product line and the significant expansion of the already successful Petz® franchise.

"Ubisoft has a proven track record of publishing and creating video games for non-traditional gaming audiences, with multimillion-selling brands like Petz and Rayman," said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer at Ubisoft. "The timing is right for us to leverage our creativity and to open up the video games market to new consumers who will be attracted by content that can help them learn, grow and feel better in an entertaining way."

Ubisoft's new casual games structure will be led by Pauline Jacquey, executive producer of casual games at Ubisoft. Pauline joined Ubisoft in 1998, working as a producer on some of Ubisoft's best-selling brands including Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® and Rayman®. Ubisoft will also continue to partner with third-party developers to publish casual game titles for the mass market.

"Ubisoft's vision for this business is unique," said Pauline Jacquey. "We are developing projects that make people feel that playing games is worth their while, allowing them to spend quality time with family and friends, learn a new skill, or improve their daily lives. By creating games with real-life benefits, we are creating games that appeal to everyone."

The "My Coach" series of games will allow players to improve themselves and learn in an interactive and stimulating way. The first two games in the line are "My Word Coach" and "My Life Coach." "My Word Coach," is being developed in collaboration with linguists and will help players improve their verbal communication and vocabulary in a fun way. "My Word Coach" can be played alone or with friends on Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ and will be released in Fall 2007. "My Life Coach" is being developed in collaboration with a behaviorist. "My Life Coach" is a personal coach that gives anybody concerned about their well being the willpower they need to change their habits the way they want in a motivating and fun way. "My Life Coach" will be available for the Nintendo DS in Christmas 2007.

Ubisoft will also continue to grow its extremely successful Petz® line of games and allow young players to learn how to take care of that special cat, dog or horse on their Wii for the first time. The Petz series sold more than 3.5 million units worldwide in fiscal year 2006-07.