What this demonstration of the game presents is the world promised by early previews, one in which the gamer lives in a sea of information. As citizens of this connected Chicago walk by, the user has the option of hacking their electronic connection to everything. Name, occupation, cash, and all.

Watch as a woman named Chandra Prince walks by the hacker hero of this game and, with a tap of the display of his smartphone, he finds her age, occupation, income, hobbies – and has the option to steal from her bank account digitally. Every citizen of this city has a machine in their pocket or in their hand, and through that machine they’re open to attack.

It’s in this world that Watch Dogs is shown to be not just the silent killer’s playground of games like Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, but one where a villain can – at first – walk around in broad daylight. Of course once the user finds himself on the wrong end of the law, the police make cameras and sound detection tools an all-encompassing web for our hero.

As you’ll remember from SlashGear’s previous investigation into the world of Watch Dogs, this city has Batman-like sound detection capabilities. It’s not safe to speak without a muffler – not if you want to remain anonymous. Fire a gun and you’ll be triangulated – break a window and it’ll be heard by the cops.

Just as it is with any caped crusader-type situation, the player of this game will soon find themselves addicted to making full use of their ability to see and hear all. As “potential criminals” roam the streets with Crime Probability meters attached to them, following them like a Pre-Crime unit will be the gamer’s prerogative.

This video game will be able to be played in an open-world fashion if the user wishes, this the same sort of deal made popular by the Grand Theft Auto series on the original PlayStation. They’ll also be able to follow plotlines that lead them into heavy trouble with both digital crime syndicates and the police, both of which have access to the big brother cover that intertwines the city.

Watch Dogs will be coming to a gaming machine near you on November 19th. It’ll be released to your high-powered gaming PC, WiiU, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and more – those four bases being the first wave only. This game will eventually also have mobile components so the user can continue playing while on-the-go on smartphone and tablet machines, making the game as real as its story – watch yourself! And don’t forget your stealth skill!

Senior Producer Dominic Guay spoke at a preview of the game this week in San Francisco, letting it be known that the contents could be seen as a warning as much as a normal, every day third-person thriller. Here the player will be working as Pearce, a hacker living in a futuristic Chicago blanketed with a “Smart City” installation that can access essentially any information wirelessly.

What’s more, this new-age Chicago’s smart system doesn’t just work with and control public service systems, it helps police hunt down and capture bad guys. Using systems like the very real SpotShotter, as pointed out by Venture Beat (they also attending this San Francisco preview of the game), the in-game police can track gunshots by triangulating the sounds with city-wide sound recorders.

“The problem is, if you start spying on people in every aspect of their lives, it becomes addictive. hat if you see a woman being mugged in a back alley or a man being extorted? It becomes hard to do nothing.” – Dominic Guay

The game’s hero Pearce will be aiming at and avoiding not only the police, but corrupt 3rd party users and gangs, each of them also taking advantage of the connectedness of the city and its citizens.

Much in the same way Batman is able to hone in on sound signals throughout a city by tapping in to the cellphone signals of its citizens, here too anyone with access will be able to hear all. Batman’s ability to do this appears in the movie The Dark Knight as well as in the video game Batman: Arkham City. In Watch Dogs, this sound system is part of the larger ctOS (City Operating System).

Helping to advance the realism of the game to a point that’s essentially creepy, Kaspersy Lab has been confirmed to be working with the developers of this game in its last phases. Speaking at the game preview this week with Joystiq, Guay made their involvement clear:

“We’re working with Kaspersky Lab, a big security firm. They have really hardcore experts there on hacking. We send them some of our designs and we ask them feedback on it, and it’s interesting to see what gets back. Sometimes they say, ‘Yeah, that’s possible, but change that word,’ or, ‘That’s not the way it works.’” – Dominic Guay

It’s also become clear that this game will not be restricted to your gaming console – it’ll not just be a game you play on Xbox 360, PC, Xbox 720, PlayStation 4, and the rest. Instead you’ll have gameplay expansion available on smartphone systems and on tablets as well. This game will, like the hero of the game, be played on the move, as well.

Expect Watch Dogs to be solidified with detail galore by the time of its final release later this year. At the moment it would appear that Watch Dogs will be set for a November 22nd release date and will be appearing on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC at the start.

Whether or not the game will launch on the Xbox 720 the same day as the other consoles is still up in the air. It all depends if Microsoft plans on launching its next-gen console before Watch Dogs’s November 19th debut. We should be getting the full details of the Xbox 720′s official launch date come May 21st, when Microsoft will be holding its next-gen Xbox event at its campus.

But if the various rumors of the Xbox 720 needing an “always-on” internet connection is true, consumers may choose to purchase Watch Dogs on a different system, perhaps Xbox 720′s direct rival, the PlayStation 4. The Always-on requirement has been said to be the “worse thing in the gaming industry”, yet for some reason companies like EA and Microsoft don’t seem to understand why.

Being unable to play Watch Dogs because your internet decides to act up, or because Comcast decides that 7:00 P.M. on a weekday is a great time to do service maintenance, is a deterrent to gamers. The Always-On requirement seems more of a punishment to gamers rather than a safeguard against piracy. Many developers have also chimed in saying that the Always-on DRM is more hurtful than helpful.

Another deterrent from players purchasing Watch Dogs on the Xbox 720, or even purchasing the Xbox 720 altogether, is a leak discovered that suggests gamers won’t be able to play games directly from their game discs, but instead will have to install their games onto their Xbox, similar to how the PC system works. We’ll see what happens on May 21st. If Microsoft confirms all of these speculations, then gamers may opt to purchase Watch Dogs, and other games, on another gaming platform instead.

With this presentation today we’ve seen as many people suggesting it’s a real-deal presentation as we have people saying it’s a joke. At the moment there’s no “official” word from Ubisoft, but given the build-up to this moment, we must assume it’s either going to represent one of the most daring downloadable additions to a game in recent memory OR we’re going to see a real DLC (long awaited, either way) rather soon. We’re certainly hoping for the former.

NOTE: See our full 2013 April Fool’s Day roundup now for every one of the most wild and crazy tricks tossed out today!

As noted by Gamespot, there’s already a Brazilian classification rating for the game as well as notes for the title (Blood Dragon and everything) being ready for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC soon! If you’ve been waiting anxiously for this title, you also know that Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot has made it clear that you’ll have it in your hands soon.

Also according to Gamespot, Far Cry 3 lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem let it be known that what he was working on “will be surprising” when it’s announced. He added that, “it definitely is a ‘strike while the iron’s hot’ thing.” Could it be that this game is both a joke and a real release in one? Again, we certainly hope so!

“The year is 2007. It is the future. Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear war and new paths for peace must be found. A U.S. cyborg army may have found a solution: a powerful bioweapon on a distant island. A Mark IV Cyber Commando, Sergeant Rex Power Colt has been sent over to gather information and figure out what the hell is going on.”

Have a peek at the Far Cry 3 BLOOD DRAGON official webpage right this minute and decide for yourself. Don’t forget, too, that you’ll want to enter the Konami code to get a special treat! Hint: it involves a sweet GIF!

If the website does happen to go down some day, we’ll not want to be lacking such excellence, even if only in screenshot form. Have a peek at the tiny gallery below to see what this monster is (and perhaps in the future was) all about!

Poix currently manages 3 Ubisoft studios and a variety of popular gaming franchises, including Just Dance, Ghost Recon, and the much delayed Rayman. He stated that Ubisoft likes to start development on newly launched gaming platforms, like the Wii U, because doing so will help it grab much more sales in the long run. Also, with new gaming platforms, Ubisoft is free to experiment with new games, like ZombiU, that has no ties with its currently popular game franchises.

Poix believes that the main setback for Wii U sales is the gamepad. He says that the “new controller would be something harder to convey than the Wii,” but that people just need to adapt to the idea of the gamepad and the innovation it can bring to console gaming. He says,

“For our games we really wanted to show the innovation. In ZombiU for instance, the players are really fond of the multiplayer mode because it’s totally new; it’s like one FPS player against an RTS player. We pushed the limits of that so it can be a real gameplay challenge to look at two screens.”

Poix also believes that the Wii U just needs more “system-selling” games. The Wii U is still fresh, so he believes that once more developers push out games from their popular franchises, the Wii U’s sales will rise rapidly. Poix says that Ubisoft is expecting its upcoming Rayman Legends game to be one of those system-sellers. He says,

“We know from the fans that the majority of what will be the system sellers are not yet available. And on our side, Rayman will be one of them for sure. We really expect Rayman to be a huge system seller on the console.”

[via Games Industry]

We saw the official launch trailer earlier when the game was confirmed, but that specific trailer was nothing more than cutscenes. This time around, we get to see actual in-game footage. The trailer features our new assassin, Edward, and his adventures on the high seas. We get to see a lot of action, including some underwater scenes, as well as the expected cannon shootouts with enemy ships.

Of course, we saw some leaked screenshots earlier this month that hint at what to expect from the game, but it’s nice to finally see the game in action. The graphics look pretty great, and the detail is quite outstanding. The underwater scenes look especially good, and we’re guessing those will be a huge hit when the game eventually releases.

The game will launch on the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and the Nintendo Wii U on October 29 in the US, with the UK getting it on November 1, and the rest of Europe getting access on October 31. The game will also launch on PS4, but no release date has been determined for that version. Furthermore, if Microsoft ends up announcing its next-generation gaming console at some point this year, we should expect the new Assassin’s Creed installment to be available on that console as well.

These leaked screenshots give you more of a glimpse inside the new game, so if you’re were slightly disappointed by the teaser trailer, which consisted of all cutscenes and no actual gameplay, these screenshots may quench your Assassin’s Creed thirst. While the screenshots don’t feature actual gameplay footage, they offer some details that we haven’t heard before.

Specifically, we see that whales may be a focal point in the game, according to several previews which mention the ability to harpoon the creatures. We also get a look at some of the scenery in the game, including the forest and the villages. Plus, it looks like waters won’t be calm at all in the game, according to the screenshot of the two ships.

Overall, though, the style and the feel of the game doesn’t appear to get away from the traditional Assassin’s Creed style that we’ve known and loved throughout the past three installments of the series, but since there’s a new protagonist with a new time period and setting, it’ll be interesting to see how the game plays out.

[via Forbes]

Earlier this morning, Ubisoft announced the rest of the details for the new game, including the release date, which is set for October 29 in the US and the UK on November 1, with the rest of Europe getting it on Halloween. The official trailer was also released today, which includes a lot of cutscenes and doesn’t feature a lot of gameplay.

Obviously, this is the same trailer that leaked over the weekend, so if you’ve seen the leaked trailer, there’s nothing new to report on that front. However, Ubisoft has confirmed that Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be coming to the PS4 in time for the holiday season. However, the PS4 version of the game does not have a release date yet, since Sony still has yet to announce the launch of the console itself.

Other than that, the game will launch on the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and the Nintendo Wii U on October 29. Furthermore, if Microsoft does end up announcing its next-generation gaming console at E3 in June, with a launch date sometime before the holidays, then we should expect the new Assassin’s Creed installment to be available on that console as well.

[via Joystiq]

The game has already been confirmed for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Wii U, so we should now see it arrive for the PlayStation 4 and the rumored Xbox 720. Of course, this isn’t too surprising, as the release date for the game will hit around the same time that the next-gen consoles should launch. However, the screen capture suggest that the game will be releasing on October 29 for next-gen consoles, suggesting that the PS4 and Xbox 720 will be out by then.

The landing page where the release date was leaked is now replaced by a countdown for the Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag “world premiere trailer,” which is set to launch in four days and 12 hours from the time of this writing. At that point, we should know more details about the upcoming installment.

The leaked screenshot also means that pre-orders will be available for the game, and those who pre-order the title will receive a collectible Todd McFarlane poster, a cartoonist who used to draw Spider-Man comics for Marvel. Since the release date was pulled and replaced with the trailer, it seems like Ubisoft will announce the release date for the game early next week when the trailer launches. Stay tuned!

[via Gaming Everything]

There’s no clear details past the the name of the game and the box art, but we can clearly tell that the game will be pirate-themed. However, we already know that the game will feature a new protagonist and will be set in a new time period from past installments. According to the embargo lift date, more information about the game will be revealed on Monday.

However, on the Assassin’s Creed III Facebook page, where the box art was posted, we’re at least given the name of the new protagonist, along with “possible scenarios” and locations. Our new hero for the game is Edward Kenway of Britain, and as for locations of the game, “Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico, and maybe any England city with seaport” are possible.

However, take all that with a grain of salt since that Facebook page isn’t the official fan page from Ubisoft. As for a release date of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, that’s still not known either, but Ubisoft has said that we should expect sometime during Ubisoft’s fiscal year 2014, which could be anytime between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014.

Ubisoft has been trying to turn things around, and one way to do that was to launch its UPlay gaming service. Alongside UPlay, Ubisoft has teamed up with several 3rd party companies, like EA Games, Warner Bros, Telltale, and Bohemia, in order to bring more games to its service. Perotti says, “Announcing all these partners for Uplay and a wider choice of PC games, it shows our commitment to PC, and we want to improve our relationship with the PC community.”

Perotti says that the company is constantly looking at customer feedback in order to improve their platform. She said that the company is improving with every PC game that they release, and that Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed III on the PC were “very high quality”. Though many gamers have rebutted the case with Assassin’s Creed III, with many players experiencing terrible frame rates even with high-end Gaming PC builds.

As of right now, there are currently 30 available titles in the Uplay service. Ubisoft hopes to expand that number within the coming months. Ubisoft also plans on selling digital cards, similar to those offered by Xbox Live, the Playstation Network, and Steam, through various retailers. The company has also alluded to the possibility that Uplay may be heading to mobile devices in the future.

[via MCV]

UPlay will now offer a handful of games from Electronic Arts, Warner Bros., Bohemia Interactive, Telltale Games, Robot Entertainment, and more. This includes titles like Batman: Arkham City, Crysis 3, Orcs Must Die 2, The Walking Dead, and To the Moon. To celebrate the expanded library, Ubisoft is offering gamers a free game download if they purchase a game for $19.90 or more.

In return, EA is listing a handful of Ubisoft games on Origin, including Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 3. EA has been offering third-party games on Origin for a couple of years now, but that doesn’t lessen the excitement of even more games becoming available on the service, and this will no doubt instill a bit more confidence in gamers that game publishers don’t have to be complete DRM fanatics.

In total, Ubisoft’s UPlay will gain 25 games from 12 different publishers, and it’ll allow the smaller indie games to get more exposure through Ubisoft’s store, while also helping out Ubisoft itself grow its library of games. Of course, no other digital distribution service is quite up to par with Steam, so both EA and Ubisoft have a lot of catching up to do.

[via Ars Technica]

However, this next game in the series will take see quite a shift. Guillemot promised that a major leap forward was coming for the Assassin’s Creed series, and he indicated that the game will be developed under a new development team this time around. It’s not said what platforms the game will launch on, but it’s safe to say that it’ll be coming to Microsoft’s and Sony’s respective consoles, possibly even their next-gen consoles.

The latest in the series is Assassin’s Creed III, which was released in late October last year and has shipped more than 12 million copies to date. The game took place during the American Revolutionary War and featured a half-Native American protagonist named Connor. It’ll be interesting to see where the next Assassin’s Creed game will take us.

In addition to the Assassin’s Creed series, Ubisoft also discussed the future of the Far Cry franchise, saying that fans should expect another Far Cry game in the near future, hinting that gamers won’t have to wait as long this time around as opposed to past Far Cry releases, which is definitely a good sign for fans.

[via Kotaku]

According to the letter, Sega has bought Relic Entertainment (makers of the Company of Heroes series) for $26.6 million, THQ Montreal was bought by Ubisoft for $2.5 million, Evolve (a game currently in development at Turtle Rock Studios) was bought for $10.89 million by Take-Two Interactive, and Volition, Inc. (makers of the Saints Row series), as well as Metro, was bought by Koch Media for $22.31 million and $5.88 million, respectively.

Furthermore, Homefront (which is planned to get a sequel) was bought by Crytek for $544,000, and a South Park license was sold to Ubisoft for $3.27 million. Some THQ assets, however, including their publishing businesses and some other intellectual properties will be held onto for a while as a part of the company’s Chapter 11 case, but they plan to find buyers eventually.

So, what does this mean to all of the THQ employees? Most of the employees of the divisions that were bought out will most likely be offered employment by the new owners. Then again, it’s very possible that the new owners will make some changes, and it may turn out that they don’t need all of the workers, but employees should find out in a couple of weeks whether they have jobs or not.

Unfortunately, employees of divisions that were not included in the auction sale will lose their positions, and it turns out that many of them are taking to Twitter to express their grief, but to also think back on the time they spent with THQ, while others are begging for a job over the social network. It’s certainly a sad day for THQ, as well as gaming as a whole. THQ has been a big part of the gaming industry, and while many of its studios and games will continue on, we’ll miss seeing the THQ branding on all our video games.

[via Kotaku]

To say that is actually being generous, because aside from the price and the title of the bundle, we know nothing about it. GAME will apparently be offering the Ultimate Far Cry bundle for £39.99 on PS3 and Xbox 360, while PC gamers will enjoy a price of £29.99. Those equate to right around $64 USD and $48 USD respectively, which is very close to the price you’d expect to pay for new console and PC releases.

Though it’s impossible to be sure at the moment, those prices suggest that Far Cry 3 will be included in the Ultimate Far Cry pack. Of course, it wouldn’t really be an “Ultimate” bundle if it didn’t include all of the games in the series, but given the fact that Far Cry 3 only launched in December, it would be understandable if Ubisoft wanted to leave it out of the offer. In any case, the game listing says it’ll be out sometime this year, but doesn’t get any more specific than that.

These early retailer listings are generally a pretty good way of determining what a company is plotting, so it sure does seem like Ubisoft has an Ultimate Far Cry pack incoming. We’ll have to wait for official confirmation from the publisher, but considering the title is already listed on GAME’s website, it might not be much longer before we have an announcement. Check out our story timeline below for more on Far Cry 3.

[via VideoGamer]

It seems like Ubisoft isn’t all that interested in buying THQ as a whole, but rather some of the company’s key properties. An anonymous source tells MCV that Ubisoft has entered into “lengthy discussions” to try to hammer out a deal, but an Ubisoft offer may not come until THQ is forced to begin selling off individual properties. In other words, Ubisoft wants to make some of THQ’s big franchises – Saints Row, Company of Heroes, Darksiders, so forth – its own, but it doesn’t want to pay a premium price for them.

Little surprise there, as Ubisoft has expressed interest in buying up THQ’s properties in the past, so now is definitely the time to strike if Ubisoft wants to act on those desires. It may have some stiff competition from other publishers though, as a number of THQ’s franchises are very much loved among the gaming community. We imagine that more potential buyers will come out of the woodwork before long, so Ubisoft may have quite the wait ahead of it if it wants to hold out until THQ starts selling off properties on the cheap.

THQ has been heading toward bankruptcy for quite some time now, but throughout the whole decline, it never really seemed like any of its franchises were at risk. It was always assumed that some other publisher would swoop in and buy up the company’s properties when the time was right, if not the entire company itself, and it looks like we’re starting down that road now. Stay tuned, because this is only beginning to get interesting.

Of course, what’s a milestone announcement like this if Ubisoft isn’t going to share insane gameplay statistics? The publisher did just that in an infographic posted to its Facebook page. The infographic tells us that players have spent over 82 centuries in single player mode, while multiplayer mode is a little less popular with only five centuries’ worth of time played.

Those who have been spending their time playing single player mode have collectively racked up more than 3 billion assassinations while playing, so it looks like we’ve got an adept group of killers on our hands. Jumping over to multiplayer, we have 250 million assassinations, with 1.2 million deathmatch sessions played and 22 million knives thrown. That isn’t bad for the latest game in what some considered to be a tired franchise.

Indeed, Assassin’s Creed III seems to have revitalized the franchise. Before it was revealed, some gamers were saying that they had grown bored of the Assassin’s Creed series, but once Ubisoft showed off ACIII for the first time, those complaints went away. Are you one of the many players contributing to these ridiculous statistics?

The upcoming film will be written by Eric Warren Singer, who also wrote The International which starred Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. This will be Singers third movie as a writer. The Splinter Cell film doesn’t yet have a studio locked in, but Ubisoft is said to have had preliminary talks with Warner Bros. and Paramount.

Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, says that Hardy “is currently one of the biggest talents in the film industry, and he has a phenomenal ability to take on complex and varied roles with his broad range of acting skills.” Hardy is most known for playing the infamous role of Batman’s nemesis, Bane, in the recent Dark Knight sequel The Dark Knight Rises.

Ubisoft has sold over 23 million copies of Splinter Cell since the series’ debut in 2002. Six games have been released so far, with Splinter Cell: Blacklist releasing next spring. Ubisoft is also working on an Assassin’s Creed movie, which will feature Prometheus star Michael Fassbender, who is also on board to co-produce the Splinter Cell film.

[via Variety]

Image via Flickr

Today we had two massive companies deliver quarterly reports – Apple is looking pretty good despite a few under-performing sectors, but Amazon posted an operating loss of $28 million. Earlier in the day we heard that the LG Nexus 4 has a release date of October 30, and then more evidence of the rumored Nexus 10 surfaced in the form of a (supposed) quick start guide. iFixit gave the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display the teardown treatment today, while we heard whispers that Apple will launch a new online music service in 2013.

EE confirmed today that it will be offering the iPad mini and the iPad 4, and Nokia was seen touting its NAVTEQ True technology today. Nintendo revealed that it will be selling the Wii U at a loss, and we learned that T-Mobile’s Galaxy Note II has hardware support for LTE. Microsoft has turned Times Square into its own Windows 8 advertising space this evening, just in case you forgot that Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface are launching tomorrow.

Speaking of that launch, Microsoft laid out upgrade options for Windows 8 today, and told us that once we experience the glory of touch, we’ll want it on everything. Today Ubisoft told the world that Assassin’s Creed III is its most pre-ordered game ever (since Assassin’s Creed: Revelations at least), and we caught wind that the rumored Nexus 7 3G cleared the FCC. The Sony Xperia TL will be hitting AT&T on November 2, and finally tonight, the iPad Mini goes up for pre-order tomorrow, so be sure to get those in quickly if you want to get one at launch. That does it for tonight’s evening wrap-up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

Naturally, Ubisoft didn’t share any specific numbers (publishers never do), but the company did say that pre-orders for Assassin’s Creed III have already doubled pre-orders for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. That’s saying quite a bit, considering that Revelations was Ubisoft’s pre-order record holder before Assassin’s Creed III came along. Even without exact numbers, we can all probably imagine that pre-orders for Assassin’s Creed III are off the charts.

To make things even better, Ubisoft said in its announcement today that the Assassin’s Creed franchise as a whole has topped 40 million sales to date. With that many sales on the books, don’t expect Ubisoft to slow down on the Assassin’s Creed releases anytime soon. Then again, that won’t be much of a problem if Ubisoft keeps giving us new adventures and settings like it’s doing with Assassin’s Creed III.

Indeed, we’re not surprised to see Assassin’s Creed III doing so well pre-release. It seems that Ubisoft actually listened to fans when they asked for something different, and now the company is reaping the benefits. Are you one of the many who has pre-ordered Assassin’s Creed III, or are you waiting until the reviews come in to make your decision?

“What we’re trying to do is bring some finality to Desmond’s story,” Masters said. “To actually wrap up what you’ve opened and experienced with him. So we’re trying to make it a little bit more direct with the storyline, but at the same time there are still going to be plenty of little mysterious bits for you to dig into, especially in the side stuff.” It sounds like Masters is trying to say that even though Desmond’s story will begin to wrap-up in Assassin’s Creed III, he’s hesitant to make the claim that the game will be the final chapter in the long-running narrative.

Masters and the rest of Ubisoft are aware, however, that some fans find the cliff hangers in the Assassin’s Creed series annoying, and in Assassin’s Creed III, the studio is looking to change that. Even if this game doesn’t conclude Desmond’s story, it will make some serious strides as far as actually telling the story goes. According to Masters, Assassin’s Creed III will offer a story that players can “sink their teeth in to,” rather than telling a story that leaves players guessing.

Whatever ends up happening in Assassin’s Creed III, it sounds like we can at least expect some major progress in wrapping up Desmond’s story. Ubisoft may need another game to fully close the story of Desmond, but one thing is sure: Desmond won’t be a mainstay in the Assassin’s Creed series for much longer. What do you think?

If you’ve been waiting for either the DROID RAZR HD or the RAZR MAXX HD, good news: you’ll be able to pick them up from Verizon in just one short week. The Samsung Galaxy S III Mini was officially unveiled today, though its specs aren’t much to write home about, and we learned that the sales ban on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been lifted. Google boss Eric Schmidt expects Android to hit 1 billion activations within the next year, and today Sprint confirmed that it has been in buyout talks with SoftBank.

Apple has released a new iPod ad called “Bounce,” while Nokia was busy delivering prices for its Lumia 920 and 820 accessories in the UK. Apple was awarded an interesting new patent today, and Verizon says that it will keep its 2G/3G service active until at least 2021. Today Acer revealed both the new M5 and V5 lines of Windows 8 notebooks, and we heard that at one point, Nokia was planning to bring an N9 MeeGo tablet to Verizon.

Facebook is looking to improve its apps with stricter Open Graphs policies, and Gearbox announced a new DLC pack for good ol’ Borderlands 2 today. Ubisoft delivered a new trailer showing off the weapons in Assassin’s Creed III, while a new compilation called the Rockstar Games Collection: Edition 1 was announced. Anonymous has apparently gone to war with Facebook, bringing down the social network across Europe today, but thankfully it seems that things are slowly coming back online. Finally tonight, we go hands-on with both the Huawei Ascend D Quad XL and SHADOWGUN: DEADZONE‘s new multiplayer beta, while Chris Burns tells us why the Galaxy S III Mini represents a missed opportunity for Samsung. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, go out and enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

Yes, players will be able to use a freaking battle axe in Assassin’s Creed III. Also on display in the trailer are a musket, a bow and arrow, and Connor’s rope darts. Basically, you probably won’t experience a shortage when it comes to the weapons you’ll be using to kill red coats and yanks alike.

The launch of Assassin’s Creed III is coming up pretty quickly here, with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game releasing on October 30. The PC version will follow on November 20, while Assassin’s Creed III will be a launch title for the Wii U, which releases in the US on November 18. To make the deal even sweeter, Assassin’s Creed III is built on the AnvilNext engine, which is a new engine that promises some impressive visuals and environmental effects.

Indeed, a lot of players are excited for Assassin’s Creed III, mostly because it looks to offer an exciting spin on the series. After Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, players were getting a little tired of playing as Ezio, but in Assassin’s Creed III we get a new protagonist in a brand new setting. It doesn’t get much better than that, and we’re excited to get our hands on a copy. Are you?

The LG Nexus G has been tipped for a reveal later this month, and it looks like problems with component yields might mean that we’re headed for iPad Mini shortages (assuming the rumored tablet actually exists, of course). The Kindle Paperwhite has officially been jailbroken, and Rovio was spotted teasing a new Star Wars-Angry Birds tie-in earlier today, leaving us to wonder what’s in the pipeline. Sprint might be looking to rain on T-Mobile’s MetroPCS parade, and Anonymous is at it again, this time bringing down government sites in Sweden in the name of The Pirate Bay and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Wii U pre-orders are hard to find these days, but provided you’ve got the cash to burn, you can pick one up on eBay. iPhone cases were popping up left and right today, like this Loop Mummy case for the iPhone 4/4S and these Moshi cases for the iPhone 5. Xi3 has gone to Kickstarter to fund its new X3A and X7A modular computers, and one analyst is saying that HP’s stock should be worth negative $2. Ubisoft gave us a brand new ZombiU development diary, and we heard that increased iPhone 5 quality demands led to a strike at a Foxconn factory in China today.

New algorithms may eventually lead to cell phones that charge twice as fast, while NASA explained why Curiosity is collecting dirt from the surface of Mars. Motorola has managed to fight off Microsoft in a patent dispute over in Germany, while astronomers say they’ve discovered a new star circling a black hole at the center of our galaxy. Pokemon Black and White 2 launch in the US this Sunday (are you ready to be the best?) and we found out today that New Zealand authorities may have been spying on Kim Dotcom much earlier than they’ve admitted.

Finally tonight, we have quite a few original articles to share with you. Don Reisinger asks if Bill Gates will be remembered in the same way as Steve Jobs when he’s gone, Chris Burns explains why the iPad Mini will be free when it launches and what the iPad Mini needs to fix when it comes to Apple tablets, and Chris Davies has a review of the Synology DS213air NAS. That does it for tonight’s evening wrap-up – we hope you have a fun weekend!

We already know that the story in ZombiU is centered around apocalyptic prophecies made by John Dee, an actual mathematician and astrologer who served as an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. Set in London in 2012, Dee’s Black Prophecy is being realized, and the game focuses on three different survivors as they fight their way through the zombie-overrun city.

The game will play out across many real-world locations in London, including Buckingham Palace. The three main characters – The Prepper, a survivalist who is prepared for the apocalypse; Sandra, a leader of the secret society named “The Ravens of Dee”; and Dr. Walker, who is frantically searching for a cure to the infection – all have a different take on Dee’s prophecies, and will have to use their unique skill sets to make sure that they all live through the zombie outbreak. Have a look at the development diary below:

ZombiU, despite having an incredibly stupid name, is shaping up to be a really great looking game. There are plenty of Wii U launch titles to get excited about, but ZombiU might just take the cake. We’re definitely excited to see more of this game, and even more excited to get our hands on it at launch, so keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more details.

After we had finished up with Nokia’s event, it was straight over to Gotham Hall, where Motorola and Google held an event of their own. Google’s Eric Schmidt took the stage first to boast the latest Android numbers, before Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside hopped up on stage to outline the company’s plan for the “The New Motorola.” After that, it was all about the reveals. Motorola revealed three new phones in total: the long-rumored DROID RAZR HD and the DROID RAZR M, which has had its share of rumors as well, along with the surprise announcement of the DROID RAZR MAXX HD. If you were waiting for Motorola’s new devices, you’ll be pleased to know that we have a couple of hands-on posts that cover all three devices.

Woodside also said today that any Motorola phones from 2012 that don’t get updated to Jelly Bean by the end of the year will be a eligible for a $100 voucher, and it was announced that the developer editions of the DROID RAZR M and the RAZR HD will come with unlockable bootloaders. A little bit later on in the day, we found out that the PureView ad Nokia showed during its presentation may be a little bit misleading, and even though there was a ton of Nokia and Motorola news today, there was still time for a new iPhone leak, this time giving us an up-close look at the battery. Windows Phone 8 will be getting screenshot support, and today the EC approved a mobile wallet team up between three European carriers, much to Google’s chagrin.

Sony is putting its massive 84-inch 4K TV up for pre-order tomorrow, T-Mobile has rolled out unlimited 4G data across the country, and Getac has revealed its new Z710 Android tablet, which looks to be capable of taking a few hits. Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy Note II have opened in the UK, where the new device has an expected mid-October ship date, and Ubisoft has announced that it will stop implementing always-on DRM in its PC games. Valve has been forced to impose a submission fee for those looking to list something on Steam Greenlight, Epson has unveiled a pair of home projectors, and finally tonight, NASA scientists today delayed the second engine firing of the Juno spacecraft, which will be headed for Jupiter before long.

That’s all for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up! Remember to check in with us tomorrow, as we’ll be at Amazon’s press event, where it’s expected to reveal a couple of new devices in the Kindle line!

As many of you already know, Ubisoft’s always-on DRM required players to have a constant internet connection while playing its games. Losing your connection while playing meant that you were booted from the game – even when playing single player – which is something that didn’t sit well with the people who payed good money to play. Ubisoft was met with outrage from fans every time it implemented this DRM, and it seems that the company has finally had enough of the vitriol.

Now, instead of requiring a constant Internet connection while playing, Ubisoft will only require that you be connected to the Internet while you activate your game. After that, you’re free to play offline to your heart’s content. Even better is the fact that you’ll be able to activate your game on as many machines as you want. Perotti says that this has been Ubisoft’s policy since June of 2011, but that isn’t entirely true. Ubisoft titles like From Dust and Driver: San Francisco were stuck with the DRM when they released in fall 2011, only to be removed later when fans started complaining (and, in the case of From Dust, started demanding a refund from Ubisoft and Valve).

Still, it seems that from here on out we won’t have to worry about dealing with Ubisoft’s always-on DRM. This appears to be just one part of Ubisoft’s new commitment to the PC platform, as Perotti also says that Ubisoft will be trying to improve communication with PC players. That includes attempting to get PC releases out the door at the same time as their console counterparts, which is a huge plus. If Ubisoft is serious about getting back into the PC community’s good graces, then the publisher will likely be rewarded with more sales, so this could potentially be beneficial for everyone involved. Bask in the glory, PC players, because for a while many of us were thinking that this day would never come.

That’s why the publisher will now be focusing on free-to-play, because Guillemot says that will guarantee income for the company. According to him, free-to-play will allow Ubisoft to get payments from countries where its games are pirated the most, and he continued by saying that such a transition is a way to make sure that the company gets long-term income:

It’s a way to get closer to your customers, to make sure you have a revenue. On PC it’s only around five to seven per cent of the players who pay for F2P, but normally on PC it’s only about five to seven per cent who pay anyway, the rest is pirated. It’s around a 93-95 per cent piracy rate, so it ends up at about the same percentage. The revenue we get from the people who play is more long term, so we can continue to bring content.

Ubisoft has come under fire many times in the past for implementing DRM that forces consumers to have a constant Internet connection while playing. It’s also caught some flak for habitually releasing the PC versions of its games after the launch of the console versions, which is a trend it will be continuing with the upcoming Assassin’s Creed III. There has been no lack of negative comments directed at Ubisoft for these practices, so maybe this increased focus on free-to-play titles will mean less always-on DRM.

That 93-95% piracy rate quoted by Guillemot seems to be incredibly high, but if it’s legitimate, then it’s kind of hard to blame Ubisoft for implementing that DRM gamers hate so much. Nevermind the fact that Ubisoft would be missing out a lot of money that way, but shareholders would be on Guillemot’s case all the time, trying to get him to come up with a solution to the problem. We’ll see if this free-to-play shift ends up working out soon, as the company announced a number of new free-to-play titles at Gamescom. Stay tuned.

With the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions launching on October 31, this means that PC players will have less than a month to wait before their own version of Assassin’s Creed III is released. That’s a new thing for Ubisoft, as typically it waits more than a month to launch the PC version of any given game. That probably won’t do much to make PC players happy given the fact that delaying its PC games appears to be one of Ubisoft’s favorite things, but hey, at least it’s a start.

Ubisoft still hasn’t explained why it delayed the PC version of Assassin’s Creed III, but that isn’t anything new. Ubisoft often delays these PC games without giving any reason at all, leaving us to guess at the reasoning behind the decision. That isn’t a quality exclusive to Ubisoft either, as many publishers like to do the same exact thing.

So, we’ll probably never know why Assassin’s Creed III was delayed on PC, but at least now we have a solid release date for it. PC delay woes aside, Assassin’s Creed III does look quite cool, as it appears to actually mix things up within the series. After three Assassin’s Creed games featuring Ezio, a shake up was sorely needed in order to keep fans interested, so Ubisoft is definitely on the right track with Assassin’s Creed III. Stay tuned for more information.

[via Joystiq]

Use of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is on the rise, while some XDA developers have discovered that Android 4.1 Jelly Bean has at least partially implemented support for multiple user accounts. Speaking of Android, the CyanogenMod team announced today that they will be dropping support for the Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 with CyanogenMod 9, so you S1 users may want to start looking for a different custom ROM. Samsung started sending out invites today for its “Pushing Boundaries” press conference at the end of the month, and we have a feeling that a new Galaxy Note device will be revealed there.

Sadly, we’ve got some bad news about Nokia, as new reports say that it has shuttered its Qt offices in Australia and laid off staff. SHIELD, a new bill that has been introduced in the US House of Representatives, looks to stop patent trolls in their tracks, and it turns out that around 83 million of Facebook’s users are fake profiles. With Facebook quickly approaching the 1 billion user mark, this means that about 9% of the profiles on the site are fake. AT&T announced its planned acquisition of NextWave Wireless today, a purchase which should help it boost its 4G LTE service.

Astronomers have taken a very clear picture of a spiral galaxy that has produced two supernovas in the past 30 years, so be sure to have a look at that one. Apparently Prometheus 2 is a thing now (raise your hand if you knew that was coming), and we talk to the director of Total Recall about a certain strange-looking dollar bill that appears in the movie. As far as video games go, today Gameloft began teasing its first game made with the Unreal engine, and we tried our best to guess what it is. Assassin’s Creed III got a new trailer today, but this particular trailer takes a closer look at what players can expect with Ubisoft’s new AnvilNext engine. Needless to say, it looks very… snowy.

That’s about it for the news, but there are also a couple reviews we suggest you check out. First up is Vincent Nguyen with a review of the 2013 Cadillac ATS, and Chris Burns has a review of Total Recall. Is Colin Farrell a good replacement for Arnold Schwarzenegger? You’ll just have to read the review to find out. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday evening everyone!

The trailer posted below serves something of a double purpose – it not only exists to boast about the power of AnvilNext, but it also gives us a more in-depth look at the enviorments ACIII protagonist Connor will find himself in. Like previous Assassin’s Creed games, your surroundings will play a big role in whether or not you’re successful, but Assassin’s Creed III looks like it’s going to make your surroundings even more important. The trailer says that Connor will have to deal with “extreme conditions in all four seasons” so be ready for that.

We’re also promised the “most detailed third-person action character ever created” in Assassin’s Creed III, as Ubisoft developed over 1,000 new character animations specifically for Connor. You’ll have new combat maneuvers at your disposal, and you’ll need them too, since AnvilNext is capable of producing up to “2,000 NPCs in a single sequence.” The trailer also reminds us of the naval battles that will take place in Assassin’s Creed III, and if they’re as cool as they sound, then we’re all in for a good time.

All in all, Assassin’s Creed III certainly seems like the answer to the franchise fatigue many of us were undoubtedly feeling after the release of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. Here’s hoping that’s actually the case, and we aren’t just being misled by the new setting and character. We’ll get our chance to find out in a couple of months, as Assassin’s Creed III is scheduled to launch for Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 30, with the PC release following shortly afterward.

Next up we’ve got some Apple and Samsung news that isn’t related to the trial, with Hulu Plus landing on Apple TV today (along with our examination of why it took so long), and Samsung reportedly working on a 11.8″ 2560 × 1600 tablet codenamed “P10.” Samsung Music Hub also launched in the US today, and the company is giving Galaxy S III owners a free 30-day trial. Be sure to check it out if you recently picked up Samsung’s latest flagship device.

Microsoft launched Outlook.com earlier today, and we’ve got a hands-on with the new service so you can learn all about it. Meanwhile, we caught wind of Sony’s new Xperia tablet thanks to some leaked presentation slides, and those who pre-ordered the Google Nexus Q found out they are being treated to a free device as the company halts Nexus Q sales in order to take some time to improve it. Unfortunately, today brought more bad news for RIM, which is reportedly gearing up to lay off 3,000 employees on August 13. The bad news doesn’t stop at the reported layoffs, however, as it was also revealed that TAT founder Hampus Jakobsson has left both the company and development on Blackberry 10 behind.

Got $150,000 burning a hole in your pocket? Maybe you should drop it all on this Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge. Today Ubisoft discussed the recent controversy over the security holes discovered in its UPlay launcher, telling gamers that it takes their security very seriously. Finally, by far the biggest piece of gaming news from today is the announcement that Star Wars: The Old Republic will soon be going free-to-play. That’s right: soon you’ll be able to ride Ewoks without paying a monthly subscription fee (you can ride Ewoks in this game, right?).

That’s all for today’s evening wrap-up folks. Now, go off and enjoy your Tuesday night!

Today Ubisoft spoke out about the vulnerability and the patch itself, telling gamers that it takes security seriously and will be monitoring new reports as we begin to move away from this embarrassing blunder. “We have made a forced patch to correct the flaw in the browser plug-in for the UPlay PC application that was brought to our attention,” a spokesperson for the company said. “Ubisoft takes security issues very seriously, and we will continue to monitor all reports of vulnerabilities within our software and take swift action to resolve such issues.”

In order to ensure that the plug-in is updated correctly, Ubisoft suggests that players install the UPlay update without a browser window open. Alternatively, an updated version of the installer is available from the UPlay website, and comes complete with this new patch. Hopefully this fix solves the issue for good, but even if it does, we can’t imagine that gamers will be willing to forgive and forget as quickly as Ubisoft would prefer.

Sadly, this probably won’t do much to get Ubisoft to reconsider its use of always-on DRM. Ubisoft is a company that has major problems with PC piracy, and investors want that rampant piracy reined in, regardless of the hassle it may cause paying customers. It’s an understandable position, but it still isn’t hard to crack a smile when always-on DRM keeps shooting itself in the foot like this.

[via MCV]

Moving right along with the Apple news, it looks as if the company might be planning to reveal the iPhone 5 during an event taking place on September 12, and there were also a few whispers about the rumored reveal of the iPad mini. Mac OS X Mountain Lion seems to be lining Apple’s pocket with even more cash, as it was announced today that the launch of Mountain Lion has become the most successful OS launch in company history.

In other news, 16GB Nexus 7s are now available at the Google Play Store again! They have an estimated shipping time of 3-5 business days now, but you might want to grab one sooner rather than later if you’re planning on buying – considering the speed at which the last batch sold out, we wouldn’t be surprised if Google ran out again soon. Microsoft announced that Surface will be launching alongside Windows 8 on October 26, and over the weekend an actual Xbox 720 developer kit was spotted in the wild, complete with a $10,000 price tag. Is the next generation Xbox closer to release than Microsoft is letting on?

Do you believe the National Security Agency is spying on American citizens? That’s what one former NSA agent claims. Ubisoft made a pretty big fumble when it was discovered that its UPlay client had some major security vulnerabilities, but thankfully the publisher was able to deliver a patch for the service quickly. The first round of Google Glass Explorer hangouts on Google Plus didn’t quite achieve the desired effect, and today we got our first true introduction to the new Wikipad gaming tablet. Will it replace your gaming desktop? No, it certainly won’t, but that weird-looking controller makes us want one anyway. Finally, the Curiosity rover will be landing on Mars soon, and NASA is planning on livestreaming the entire event. If you’ve ever wanted to watch history in the making, you’ll soon get your chance.

That does it for the news, but we’ve also got a couple original posts for you to check out too, with a new column from Philip Berne and a review of the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note by Chris Burns. Enjoy the rest of your Monday evening, folks!

That’s according to Google information security engineer Tavis Ormandy, who explains on Seclists.org that he discovered the vulnerability as he was installing Assassin’s Creed Revelations. “While on vacation recently I bought a video game called ‘Assassin’s Creed Revelations’. I didn’t have much of a chance to play it, but it seems fun so far. However, I noticed the installation procedure creates a browser plugin for it’s accompanying uplay launcher, which grants unexpectedly (at least to me) wide access to websites.”

Obviously, this is a major problem. The vulnerability affects all of the games that use Ubisoft’s UPlay DRM (Geek.com counts 21 in total), ranging from all of the Assassin’s Creed games since AC2, a handful of Tom Clancy games, and more recent titles like Driver: San Francisco. Thankfully, Ubisoft has since fixed the vulnerability, updating UPlay so that the browser plugin can only access the UPlay application.

Still, despite Ubisoft’s quick delivery of a patch, this is an extremely scary development. We’re willing to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt and assume that it didn’t leave that backdoor in on purpose, but whether it was intentional or not, that doesn’t change the fact that UPlay housed a potentially devastating security vulnerability in the first place. The publisher catches enough flak for its use of always-on DRM, and we’re sure that already-disgruntled gamers aren’t going to let Ubisoft forget about this oversight anytime soon. Stay tuned, because we have a feeling that the vitriol hasn’t even begun to fly yet.

“We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market,” Guillemot said. “I understand the manufacturers don’t want them too often because it’s expensive, but it’s important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity.”

Guillemot said that when new consoles arrive on the scene, developers and publishers are more willing to take risks and experiment with new franchises. These days, however, companies are less willing to introduce new IPs and instead stick with franchises that are proven money makers, like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty.

Likewise, Guillemot points out that gamers are sticking to what they know too, buying the newest titles in those popular franchises because they know those are the games all of their friends will be buying. What results is a circle where neither consumers nor developers are willing to take any risks, and that’s a problem which could potentially be solved by introducing new consoles and getting consumers excited about spending money on what’s new rather than what’s popular.

The Ubisoft executive brings up a pretty good point. One only needs to look at the releases for the latter half of 2011 to see that developers and publishers are clinging to tried-and-true franchises and aren’t letting go: Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Saints Row: The Third, and Modern Warfare 3 (to name a few) were all released within months of each other as 2011 was winding down. Looking at it that way, a new console generation might just be what the doctor ordered after all.

“I think Desmond needs to end,” Hutchinson said. “At some point. You know what I mean? Things that go on too long lack resonance. We’re asking people to remember seven years’ worth of story. Which is like saying you were in junior high and now you’re finishing college. And you need to remember what you were doing in junior high.”

Hutchinson compared Desmond’s part in the Assassin’s Creed universe to Rod Sterling’s role introducing each episode of The Twilight Zone, saying despite the fact that each episode had its own unique story, Sterling was there at the beginning of each one. Therefore, Desmond and Sterling both kind of serve as the one constant in an otherwise always-changing universe.

If you’ve seen any screenshots or trailers for Assassin’s Creed 3, then you know it’s a pretty radical departure from the rest of the series. Hutchinson says that it’s “90% a new game” and, were it not for the continuation of Desmond’s story, Ubisoft “could have called it anything else, and people would have said okay.” Assassin’s Creed 3 won’t be the only title in the series to step into uncharted territory, as the PS Vita‘s upcoming Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation doesn’t even feature Desmond at all. It looks like Desmond’s last hurrah may be coming up sooner rather than later folks, so get in some quality time with the character while you still can.

Ubisoft creative lead Alex Hutchinson announced the delay during a panel today at the San Diego Comic-Con, and even though he couldn’t talk actual dates, he did tell Joystiq that the PC version will still be releasing “near the console launch.”

Of course, this is just the latest in a long, long line of PC delays coming out of Ubisoft. It seems that most – if not all – of Ubisoft’s recent PC games have been hit with a delay at some point during development. The reason behind these delays is unknown; some claim that Ubisoft delays the PC version of its multiplatform games in order to persuade gamers to go for the Xbox 360 or PS3 version instead, while others are willing to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt and cite a need for additional polish. Whatever the reason, Ubisoft likes doing it a lot.

So, sorry to say it PC gamers, but it looks like you’ll be left waiting past October 30 for Assassin’s Creed 3. It could be worse though – Ubisoft could have just cancelled the PC version outright, so perhaps we should be thankful it chose not to go that route.

[via Joystiq]

The folks at the video game company known as Ubisoft (producers of the game) will be developing the film on their own. The game was previously going to be produced as a film last year with Sony Pictures, but talks quickly disintegrated. The last film Ubisoft was involved in was Prince of Persia with Jake Gyllenhaal and Sir Ben Kingsley. This film did not do so well in the box office, but the game developers have been quite vocal about their apparent lack of creative input on the project.

Here the company has begun signing on crew and actors, creating a production package before speaking with major studios about a director and distribution rights. Ubisoft will be using their own in-house production studios for visual effects and has noted that Fassbender will not only be starring in the film, he’ll be co-producing it as well.

Michael Fassbender has been part of an interview SlashGear did earlier this year for the film Prometheus and has previously starred in X-Men: First Class and the film Hunger as well. Have a peek at this live-action trailer for the video game due out in October of this year, and get pumped up for the film version also coming soon – we hope!

[via BBC]

If there’s one thing that pretty much everyone can agree on, it’s that Nintendo failed to attract a lot of third-party support with the Wii. A lot of the third-party Wii titles that performed the best were ones that were multi-platform releases so by their very nature they didn’t do anything to spur hardware sales.

THQ game ZombiU seemed to be one of the best examples of a third-party Wii U game, and based on its name it seemed very unlikely that it wouldn’t be a Wii U exclusive. But when you think about it, that doesn’t mean THQ couldn’t just change the name and slap it on another console. And that may be exactly what it’s planning to do.

“ZombiU at its core was designed to be a great Wii U game and in order to make that work on other platforms they would have to change a lot of what makes the game cool. And I’m not saying that can’t be done, but not in the next six months, you know?” Ubisoft sales and marketing SVP Tony Key said in an IGN interview.

[IGN]