That Ubisoft/Kojima April Fool's joke was pretty elaborate! Snake running around MGS4 dressed as Altair, looking for all the world like it was actually in the game...so would it surprise you to hear that it wasn't really a gag? Yeah, that's right. It was announced at the MGS4 wrap party today that MGS4 players will indeed be able to unlock an Assassin's Creed outfit for Snake (we won't tell you how), which were it not for the silver moustache and trademark cigarette would have you thinking Altair himself had time-travelled his way into the final Metal Gear title. How's this happening? Why's this happening? Who knows, the mind boggles.

Where In The World Is Brian Crecente?

San Francisco. That game would have been a whole lot shorter if they had just been upfront about things. I didn't even ask you guys a geography question! Crecente is out for the better part of this week, hopping between San Francisco and LA for various events with companies such as Electronic Arts, Sony, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Eidos, and Sega. While he is out of the tower he'll still be posting, in fact he should be posting some rather interesting information, starting this evening. Keep your eyes peeled, while the rest of us concentrate on juggling keeping the site from exploding while randomly uploading videos of our pets onto YouTube.

Take us out, Rockapella!

Far Cry 2 - Play The Game You Want To Play

It's about giving the player the opportunity to play the game he wants to play the way he wants to play it.

Haze Demo Hits North American PlayStation Store Tomorrow

Europe is already knee deep in Haze demo enjoyment, but North Americans will get their fill of Ubisoft's first person shooter starting tomorrow. That is, provided that your fill of Haze is the game's first level and a sampling of drop-in, drop-out four-player co-op. It may have the most hyphens of any PS3 game to date. The official PlayStation.blog brings word on what to expect, including voice chat—noteworthy that it's off by default—and the ability to set up private co-op games. Welcome shielding against internet douchebaggery!

HAZE lifts on PSN demo tomorrow [PlayStation.blog]

Korn Talks Haze

Ubisoft Brings Protöthea Shump to WiiWare

"Ubisoft is excited to bring Protöthea exclusively to the platform and we feel it's a must-have WiiWare title,” shared James Regan, vice president of third party operations, Ubisoft. "Protöthea really reminds me of some of the best arcade games, with the Wii Remote as an added dimension. It's just a flurry of fast-paced action that anyone can simply pick up and enjoy.”

It will not be a port, according to Ubisoft. Nintendic, citing the latest edition of Edge magazine (I couldn't find the story online) quotes Ubi thusly: "It's connected to the game in a very interesting way, but it's not a port. A complementary experience, shall we say?"

Not sure exactly what that means, but the game's publisher also told Edge, "We are investigating it very seriously. You would never see a port of the game we're making however. That'll never happen."

The unnamed Ubisoft spokesperson acknowledged that Prince of Persia: Two Thrones Rival Swords, last year's port of Rival Swords The Two Thrones, was a little disappointing. "The controls were not fully optimised, did not take full advantage of the Wii, but a lot of people saw the POP universe could certainly have a home on Wii."

Sounds like Ubisoft wants a do-over?

Ubi "Investigating" Bringing Prince of Persia to Wii [Nintendic]

More Prince Of Persia Info, Screen

We haven't heard squat from Ubisoft on the next Raving Rabbids game. No announcement, no screens, no carefully-worded press release, nothing. Just this video. But after watching it, is it safe to assume that Ubisoft know which of Nintendo's cash-making coattails to grab next, and will be making the next Rabbids game at least partially compatible with the Wii Fit Board? You know the answer.

The black goo that previously obscured glowing blue glyphs has oozed away from the front page of Ubisoft's Prince of Persia website, revealing a brilliant blue logo and the promise of things to come. Right now registering with the site will grant you access to future exclusive content and updates about the next chapter in the series, officially announced yesterday via handy dandy press release. Signing up and logging in does indeed open up new areas of the website, but said new areas merely confirm that once new media and updates are available, I'll be able to see them. Head on over and sign up today!

Prince of Persia Official Website [Ubisoft - Thanks ES!]

You know, I don't play Assassin's Creed, I don't own a PC, don't game on PCs, but every time I watch this video I feel a mixture of amusement, sympathy and outrage. Plus I love the jolly music. I imagine it as an accompaniment to some poor bastard stepping on rakes and skateboards cleaning out his garage. Or a Rube Goldberg contraption gone horribly wrong.

And Rube Goldberg describes this Mousetrap of a quit process to a T. The comments on the YouTube vid page helpfully point out he can Ctrl-Alt-F4 on this but, really, unless this is a sick joke, what goddamn imbecile speced out this process? Two load screens. 11 steps. A buck-thirty on the clock. "Loading?! No! I want to quit! Fine ..."

Assassin's Creed, I Can't Quit You [YouTube]

Ubisoft: Years Of Assassin's Creed To Come

Assassin's Creed as a brand will be around for "years to come," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during today's conference call.

Assassin's Creed has sold 6 million units since launch, Guillemot said, as he summarized a corporate strategy that relies on enduring in-house brands balanced against the introduction of new franchises.

No mention of February 2008's Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles for DS was made during the call, but Ubisoft's enthusiasm for the original game's "better-than-expected" performance seemed to indicate an interest in more adventures for Altaïr in the future.

Well this is certainly a new look for Ubisoft's official Prince of Persia website. Clicking on the link below takes you to a flash animation of glowing blue glyphs (words?) that slowly get engulfed by a mass of oozing black goo. Could this have something to do with the recently trademarked Prince of Persia Prodigy, or is this something completely different? Will we finally see what happens when the Prince comes up again Spider-Man's archenemy, Venom? Probably not. Trying to believably mix established gaming icons with comic book heroes and villains is a silly idea. I suppose we'll just have to wait until either the big reveal, or they morph the slime into some sort of damned countdown clock.

Official Prince of Persia Website [Ubisoft - Thanks ES!]

Assassin's Creed PC Patched, DirectX 10.1 Support Silently Killed Off

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 On PC Has Problems Of Its Own

Brothers in Arms: Hells' Highway -- New Trailer and Screens

Preview HAZE In A Not-Too-Gimpy Demo

Remember Haze? It was the cross-platform game that went PS3-exclusive last year (when it was originally supposed to be released). Now it's slated for a US launch on May 20th and it's got a demo to boot—with 4-person, drop-in drop out multiplayer (all on top of a more standard single-player experience).

Whether or not Haze looks like just another FPS or something better, the still undated demo will give us all a chance to decide for ourselves before the game comes out. It reminds us a lot of what Criterion gave us with Burnout Paradise—a small, robust chunk of the entire gameplay experience. Good stuff.

Assassin's Creed On "Hollywood's Radar"

...a few big games like "Bioshock" and "Assassin's Creed" are, I hear, on Hollywood's radar.