Remember this mystery mailing I reported receiving yesterday? Your theories as to its true nature were, sadly, off the mark.
Some readers thought the package, which came with the three pictured games and no explanatory note, was an elaborate tease of a new Prince of Persia game.
Some suggested that these three games were bound by the fact that their protagonists were all replacements.
One reader helpfully noted to me that all three games were published by Ubisoft.
The envelope they arrived in only indicated that the Family Feud would be inside. So I wondered if the person mailing it just threw some extras in. Then I heard from other people in the games media who received the same package.
Well, the dull truth is that these games were part of Ubisoft's mailing to judges for the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards this year. A company rep confirmed the details to me today. These and other games that didn't make it into that package — unless the mailman snatched himself an early copy of Assassin's Creed II or something — are titles the company hopes will be considered for some of the possible VGA categories.
Prince of Persia may have been released in December of 2008, but it just qualifies for the December 2nd 2008 date of eligibility for this year's VGA. Games released through late November 2009 are eligible. The awards air on Spike on December 12.
So, it's not a hint of a Prince of Persia sequel. Sorry.