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All Articles: Assassin’s Creed III
Call of Duty: Black Ops II nukes the competition in November 2012 NPD report
Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Halo 4 set records in November 2012. The Wii U also opened strong with sales of over 400,000 consoles. And the Christmas rush resulted in big numbers for new releases like Assassin’s Creed III, Just Dance 4, and Need For Speed: Most Wanted. But that still didn’t stop The NPD Group from reporting that retail game sales dropped 11% from November 2011.
“Despite an overall retail video game decline of 11 percent, November had the smallest year-over-year decrease we have seen for dollar and unit sales so far this year. This is a sign of momentum going into the December holiday period,” said NPD analyst Liam Callahan.
You can view the complete top ten from last month after the break, and remember, despite what The NPD Group says, the console game market is still in good shape. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Assassin's Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, FIFA Soccer 13, Halo 4, Just Dance 4, Madden NFL 13, NBA 2K13, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, NPD, Skylanders Giants, WWE '13
Assassin’s Creed III Review: New World, Old Problems
I’m going to open this review with an honest disclaimer, I’ve never liked the Assassin’s Creed franchise. While the concept of an open-world assassination game sounds just fine, quite exciting even, the actual execution felt lacklustre with cumbersome controls and free roam diluted down to near nonexistent levels. “Kill your targets any way you want,” the adverts said, but what they failed to mention was that unless you adhered to Ubisoft-approved killing methods within Ubisoft-sanctioned locations your open-world experience would suddenly feel like a confined cardboard box as the game punished you for not playing it right. I tried the second game for all of an afternoon before the masquerade fell away and left me feeling cold, cheated and unloved. All subsequent games failed to rekindle our relationship; I just couldn’t get interested, but for some reason (clue: my interest in Colonial America) I somehow found myself falling for the hype and giving this franchise another chance with Assassin’s Creed III. (more…)
New Releases: Wii U, Hitman Absolution, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, More
The Wii U is finally here! If you managed to pre-order one, you’re likely playing it right now. And you also probably know that 29 games will be available on day one including New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land, ZombiU, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Assassin’s Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Mass Effect 3. Wow.
In non-Wii U release news, Square Enix will release Hitman: Absolution, the first game in the series in over six years, for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Also available this week is Sony’s PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale (PS3, Vita), Activision’s Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (PC, PS3, Xbox 360), and Sega’s Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PS3, Vita, Xbox 360, Wii U).
Disney Interactive and game development legend Warren Spector have teamed up again to bring a second Epic Mickey title to stores. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360) is available today, along with its 3DS spinoff, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.
Finally, Atlus plans to release Persona 4: Golden for the Vita this week.
Looking for more new releases? You can find them after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Assassin's Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Epic Mickey 2, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse, Hitman: Absolution, Mass Effect 3, New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land, PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, ZombiU
2012 Spike TV Video Game Awards nominees announced
It’s hard to believe that Spike TV has been handing out their Video Game Awards for ten years, but that’s exactly what will happen when the 2012 edition of the awards shows airs on Spike TV (and simulcast on Xbox Live) this December.
Once again hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, this year’s “Game of the Year” will come from a list that includes Assassin’s Creed III, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3, and The Walking Dead. Journey actually scored seven total nominations, making it one the most honored games at the 2012 VGAs (an honor it shares with Halo 4 and Borderlands 2).
This year’s slate of “Spike TV VGA World Premiere Trailers” (always the highlight of every VGA show) will include several unannounced projects as well as hugely anticipated 2013 releases like The Last of Us, Gears of War: Judgment, and South Park: The Stick of Truth.
The 2012 Spike TV Video Game Awards will take place on Friday, December 7. The complete list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Gears of War: Judgment, Journey, Mass Effect 3, South Park: The Stick of Truth, The Last of Us, The Walking Dead
PSN Today: Assassin’s Creed III, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Okami HD, More
Sony has added another massive mess of new games to the PlayStation Store, so let’s not waste any time…
This week’s biggest new release is, without a doubt, Assassin’s Creed III. The PS3 game brings the Assassins versus Templars feud to Revolutionary times and marks the end of the AC trilogy as we know it. But never fear, Assassin’s Creed spinoffs are coming, such as the Vita-exclusive Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, which is also available to download today.
Speaking of PS3/Vita pairings, Criterion’s Need For Speed: Most Wanted is available in both a PS3 and Vita version. Each edition of the game will have to purchased separately, but you can challenge those cops whether you’re at home or on the road.
Capcom’s beloved Okami has also been added to the PSN today in a special HD remake. If you’d prefer something a little more action-packed, the Twisted Metal reboot is also available on the PS Store today. Rounding out the rest of the PS3 releases are two Move-based titles: Sports Champions 2 and Toy Story Mania.
Vita owners will also get three more games to choose from: the Norse mythoogy of Ragnarok Odyssey, the brain training of Smart As…, and the bricky lit of Lego Lord of the Rings.
Hit the jump for more information on all of these (as well as one PS2 Classic and two PSP games) and check out the PlayStation Blog for all the latest game add-ons recently added to the PlayStation Store. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PSP, Vita
Tagged Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Lego Lord of the Rings, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, Okami, Twisted Metal
New Releases: Assassin’s Creed III, Need For Speed Most Wanted, WWE 13, More
The Fall gaming rush is definitely in full swing now as nearly 50 new games will make their way onto store shelves next week. Here are the highlights:
- Ubisoft’s time travelling trilogy comes to a close with Assassin’s Creed III (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) and its Vita-exclusive side story, Assassins Creed III: Liberation.
- Criterion recreates the classic Need For Speed game Need For Speed: Most Wanted (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Vita).
- Your yearly dose of video wrasslin’ returns to the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 thanks to THQ’s WWE ’13.
- Fly you fools… And be sure to check out Lego Lord of the Rings (3DS, DS, PS3, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360).
- The Underrated Zone of the Enders series has been remade for HD consoles and repackaged as Zone of the Enders HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360).
- Finally, Level-5’s Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask makes it way to the 3DS today. So that’s cool.
Hit the jump for a complete detailing of this week’s new releases. (more…)
Assassin’s Creed III Season Pass takes on Tyranny of King Washington
Assassin’s Creed III is jumping on the Season Pass bandwagon with an alternate-alternate history of the American Revolution told in three downloadable parts.
“The Tyranny of King Washington” posits what the fledgling nation of America would be like if George Washington decided that a more royal reputation was in order for the office of the President after being elected in 1789. In addition to the three episodes of “King Washington,” the Assassin’s Creed team at Ubisoft will release new multiplayer content including “new maps and characters.”
The Season Pass will be available for $29.99 (or 2400 Microsoft Points) on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Wii U owners will also receive access to “The Tyranny of King Washington,” but the packs will have to be purchased separately.
“History is our playground – and AC teams have always loved playing with historical facts and their consequences as a way to better understand a time period,” said Sebastien Puel, Executive Producer at Ubisoft. “While Assassin’s Creed III concentrates on history as it happens, we wanted to take some liberties with this DLC and tell you how things ‘could have happened.'”
No timetable was announced for the Assassin’s Creed III DLC, but Season Pass owners will be able to download the DLC one week before the general public.
Assassin’s Creed team moving on to new projects, including more Assassin’s Creed
With the game nearing release, it appears the huge development team behind Assassin’s Creed III is moving onto other projects, or, in the case of Creative Director Alex Hutchinson, hoping for a holiday. Although he does admit that the world of the Assassins and Templars could soon tease him back:
“The franchise can go in many different directions and it’ll be much healthier for it. As for the team, they will now disperse through the company, taking on different roles on future projects. Some people are moving to different stuff in the universe. Some people are doing other stuff at Ubisoft. The amount of people and the type of people you need to start are the different than the people you need at an end of a project.
I’d love to do more Assassin’s Creed stuff, [but] not if it started Monday! But I always say that, then you go away for two weeks, and then someone says I have this idea, and you’re like that’s really cool, let’s give it a shot.”
So there you have it, more Assassin’s Creed is definitely coming along with other stuff, which is possibly Tom Clancy or Rayman-related since we’re talking about Ubisoft. Hutchinson has been with the series since the beginning and The Verge also gave him a chance to reflect on his baby:
“When you lay [the development process] out linearly you realize it’s huge. We might have made a monster. I think it’s fun as well. It’s kind of a nervous excitement. There’s still a bunch of stuff in there people don’t know about, which is fun. The idea that games can still have surprise left in them, that games can still have sense of wonder and discovery, I find really attractive.”