Nintendo trio of awards plus Assassins Creed Halo 3 and Cooking Mama celebrate

MCV Industry Excellence Awards 2008: Winners Announced

The games industry's most prestigious accolades unveiled; Nintendo bags unique hat-trick; Assassins Creed, Halo 3 and Cooking Mama also celebrated.

The sixth annual MCV Industry Excellence Awards were unveiled last night, as over 600 industry executives gathered at the Brewery, London, to celebrate the best gaming achievements of the past 12 months.

Hosted by industry news bibles MCV and MCVUK.com and presented by Simon Amstell, the BAFTA nominated comedian, the MCV Industry Excellence Awards 2008 saw Nintendo grab three honours (Games Publisher, PR Team and the prestigious Grand Prix Award). Other big winners included Assassins Creed as new Games Brand, GAME as Specialist Retailer, Play.com as Online Retailer and Cooking Mama as Sales Triumph.

The MCV Industry Excellence Awards are voted for by a panel of over 100 of the industry’s most influential executives. The judges are spread across all areas of the business, offering an unprecedented pool of knowledge and influence.

If Nintendo’s trio of awards wasn’t success enough, this is also the third time the publisher has bagged the ridiculously-prestigious Grand Prix Award: awarded by the magazine’s editorial team to the firm or individual they feel has contributed the most to the business in the previous 12 months.

“The last 12 months has been an amazing – and often unpredictable – ride for the games industry,” says Stuart Dinsey, managing director of Intent Media, publisher of MCV and MCUK.com. “From the departure of Ken Kutaragi in April 2007, to this month’s launch of Wii Fit, it’s been an incredible year – and it’s been an honour for MCV to be right at the heart of the business yet again. The winners of a 2008 Industry Excellence Award can quite rightly claim to have been at the very top of their game – during gaming’s biggest ever year.”

The MCV Industry Excellence Awards Winners in full:

INDEPENDENT RETAILER

Winner: Grainger Games
Finalists: Playtime Video Games, Console Connections, Powerplay, Ninja Games

SPECIALIST RETAILER

Winner: GAME
Finalists: Gamestation, CHIPS, Gameseek, Gamestop

ENTERTAINMENT RETAILER

Winner: HMV
Finalists: Zavvi, Woolworths, Blockbuster, Asda

ONLINE RETAILER

Winner: PLAY.COM
Finalists: Amazon, Gameseek, Shopto.com, Tgrav.com

STAR STORE

Winner: ZAVVI, OXFORD STREET
Finalists: Gamestation (Hull), Playtime Video Games (Doncaster), Gamestation (Birmingham), HMV (Trocadero)

PR TEAM

Winner: NINTENDO/RED
Finalists: Microsoft/JCPR, EA/Shine, SCE/Shine, Vivendi/Indigo Pearl

GAME CAMPAIGN

Winner: HALO 3 (MICROSOFT)
Finalists: Touch! Generations range (Nintendo), FIFA ’08 (Electronic Arts),
Mario & Sonic (Sega), Call of Duty 4 (Activision)

NEW GAME BRAND

Winner: ASSASSINS CREED (UBISOFT)
Finalists: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCE), Mario & Sonic (Sega), Bioshock (2K Games), Mass Effect (Microsoft)

TRADE MARKETING TEAM

Winner: ELECTRONIC ARTS
Finalists: Sony Computer Entertainment, Activision, THQ, Microsoft

MARKETING TEAM

Winner: NINTENDO
Finalists: Microsoft, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment

UK DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Winner: CODEMASTERS
Finalists: Bizarre Creations, Sports Interactive, Criterion, Rebellion

DISTRIBUTION TEAM

Winner: CENTRESOFT
Finalists: Koch Media, Gem, Advantage, Trilogy

SALES TRIUMPH

Winner: COOKING MAMA (505 GAMES)
Finalists: HSM: Sing It! – Disney Interactive Studios, Mario & Sonic – Sega,
Assassin’s Creed – Ubisoft, Devil May Cry 4 - Capcom

SALES TEAM

Winner: UBISOFT
Finalists: Activision, THQ, Electronic Arts, Nintendo

GAMES PUBLISHER

Winner: NINTENDO
Finalists: Ubisoft, Activision, Electronic Arts, Microsoft

RETAIL ADVISORY BOARD: SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Winner: PAUL DONNELLY (GEM)
Finalists: Rob Gross, Dave Gould (Vivendi Games), Jonathan Grimes (Microsoft),
Penny Humphrey (Electronic Arts), Rosemary Buahin (Sony Computer Entertainment)

GRAND PRIX

Winner: NINTENDO

Assassin's Solid - Assassin on the Battlefield video

Assassin's Creed- Director's cut edition PC video game

Assassin's Creed- Director's cut edition

PC Product Description

Assassin’s Creed is the next-gen game developed by Ubisoft Montreal that will redefine the action genre. While other games claim to be next-gen with impressive graphics and physics, Assassin’s Creed merges technology, game design, theme and emotions into a world where you instigate chaos and become a vulnerable, yet powerful, agent of change.

The setting is 1191 AD. The Third Crusade is tearing the Holy Land apart. You, Altair, intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict.

You are an Assassin, a warrior shrouded in secrecy and feared for your ruthlessness. Your actions can throw your immediate environment into chaos, and your existence will shape events during this pivotal moment in history.

Key Features

• Be an Assassin
Master the skills, tactics and weapons of history’s deadliest and most secretive clan of warriors. Plan your attacks, strike without mercy and fight your way to escape.

• Director’s Cut edition: experience exclusive PC content
Four PC-exclusive investigation missions make the game an even better experience than its console predecessors, including the Rooftop Race Challenge, a race to a specified location and the Archer Stealth Assassination Challenge, where the player must assassinate all archers in a certain zone to help out fellow Assassins.

• Realistic and responsive environments
Experience a living, breathing world in which all your actions have consequences. Crowds react to your moves and will either help or hinder you on your quests.

• Action with a new dimension – total freedom
Eliminate your targets wherever, whenever and however. Stalk your prey through richly detailed, historically accurate, open-ended environments. Scale buildings, mount horses, blend in with crowds. Do whatever it takes to achieve your objectives.

• Relive the epic times of the Crusades
Assassin’s Creed immerses you in the realistic and historical Holy Land of the 12th century, featuring life-like graphics, ambience and the subtle, yet detailed nuances of a living world.

• Intense action rooted in reality
Experience heavy action blended with fluid and precise animations. Use a wide range of medieval weapons, and face your enemies in realistic swordfight duels.

• Next-gen gameplay
The proprietary engine developed from the ground up for the next-gen console allows organic game design featuring open gameplay, intuitive control scheme, realistic interaction with environment and a fluid, yet sharp, combat mechanic.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
(Both Minimum and Recommended):

Supported OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista (only)
Processor: Dual core processor 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better recommended)
RAM: 1 GB Windows XP / 2 GB Windows Vista
Video Card: 256 MB DirectX 10.0–compliant video card or DirectX 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list)*
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0–compliant sound card (5.1 sound card recommended)
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0 or10.0 libraries (included on disc)
DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller (Xbox 360 Controller for Windows recommended)

*Supported Video Cards at Time of Release:
ATI RADEON X1600*/1650*–1950/HD 2000/3000 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800*/7/8/9 series
*PCI Express only supported

Laptop versions of these cards may work but are NOT supported. These chipsets are the only ones that will run this game. For the most up-to-date minimum requirement listings, please visit the FAQ for this game on our support website at: http://support.ubi.com.

NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some disc and virtual drives.

Assassin's Creed on PC - video game launch Your Questions Answered...

Assassin's Creed PC

March 4th Q&A

1 The game is being released four months after the console versions. How did you use this extra development time ?

Based on the feedback we got after the release of the console versions, we decided to add even more variety by developing a total of 4 new investigation types (Archer assassination, rooftop race challenge, merchant stand destruction challenge and escort challenge). The archer assassination requires the player to assassinate the archers in a dedicated zone without being seen. In the rooftop race challenge, the player will meet an informer and will have a set amount of time to reach a second informer. In the merchant stand destruction, some merchants have ties to the assassination target and their activities must be stopped by Altaïr. Finally, in the escort challenge, the player needs to securely escort a fellow Assassin from point A to point B.

2 Will the game exploit DX 9 and DX10 ?

The game comes with both DX9 and DX10 executables. If you own a DX10 card running on a Vista system, the game will use the full capabilities of the board to optimize the performances of the 3D graphics. You'll be able to play the game at high resolutions with minimal impact on your framerate.

3 In your opinion, what is the average machine needed to play the game ?


Any dual-core machine running at 2.2GHz and over with a decent graphic card (such as a ATi HD2600 or a NVidia 8600) will give great performances.

Our minimum requirement is a Pentium D 2.4GHz or a AMD X2 Athlon 3800+, equipped with a Shader Model 3.0 card (ATi X1300 and better, NVidia 6600 and better).

4 AC has been perceived as a new milestone on consoles but pretty repetitive at times – did you try to tune this on the PC version ?


As mentioned in the first question, we included 4 new investigation missions to increase the variety so in total, we now have a total of 9 investigation missions. Also, you can now skip from one city to another without going through the kingdom once you visited every city.

5 How did you manage to adapt the gameplay to the PC and to the PC controls in particular ?


Even though we support the Xbox 360 controller just like the console version, the user can choose to play with the keyboard and mouse for a more direct control over the camera and access to the menus. There are 4 default keyboard and mouse configurations that can all be customized to the player's needs.

6 It’s been said quite a few times that the AI on guards and on the crowd was not always as “ideal” as promised : have you managed to, improve this on the PC version ?

We modified the reaction of guards in certain occasions. Blending when close to a dead body doesn’t work anymore; guards will spot you if you stay too close. Also, the reaction of the guards to stealth assassination is now based on the number of NPC around you making it more realistic. If there is no one around you, guards will spot you much faster and if the crowd is bigger, you won’t be spotted that fast.

7 How are the X360 achievements translated to the PC version ?

You can still collect flags and templars but there is no achievement in the PC version.

8 What is the game due to be released ?

The game will ship in the early days of April.

Load Inc. partnership with Assassin Studio

Today, Load Inc. announced a partnership with the serious folks at Assassin Studio in Seattle. The two companies are teaming up to give a fresh start to Mad Tracks PC. After tremendous release on Xbox 360™ Live Arcade this summer, Douglas Boze, CEO of Assassin Studios will be on the lookout for a distribution and retail partner in North America for the great PC version. Now why ‘Assassin’ you wonder? Our award winning AD, Herve Nedelec, has his own version: “no doubt about it, Douglas kills the competition”.

“There’s a great thing about Mad Tracks PC once you start you can actually stop! And that comes in handy when it’s time for a New Years Eve dinner” says Thomas Leinekugel, VP project manager at Load Inc. and fine food enthusiast.

“With over 1.2 million downloads of the trial version of Mad Tracks on PC and over 630,000 XBLA downloads, we are very excited about the possibilities of coupling this product with the right distributor in North America”, says Douglas Boze, CEO of Assassin Studios.

Jade Raymond hints at co-op mode in Assassin's Creed 2

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) is an awesome game. If you agree with the previous statement, then you'd probably be interested in finding out more about the game's development and what we should expect on Assassin's Creed 2.

We previously posted an article on the first part of the interview where game producer Jade Raymond talked about Assassin's Creed. In the second part of the interview, she mentioned that the biggest thing they cut out from the game was multiplayer co-op. Interestingly enough, she hinted that this feature might be in the sequel of the game.

We're pretty sure that you'd rather be hearing all the juicy facts about the game from the lovely Jade Raymond herself, so we're not going to spoil it for you. Head on over to GameTrailers through the via link below to watch the interview.

Watch the video here

Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers. Don't get a life just yet.

It's like a buffet that's filled with 100% gourmet food—as opposed to a bunch of congealed fats at the mercy of a few struggling heat lamps, sloppily topped with bread crumbs, cheese or icing.

We're in the midst of one of the most incredible launch seasons in the history of video games the known Universe.

Both Super Mario Galaxy and Assassin's Creed would be a massive release during any month, but instead we get both in a week, sandwiched between other goodness.

So are you doing any shopping this week?

Assassin's Creed Stalks Stores

Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced its highly anticipated Assassin's Creed video game is now available in retail stores nationwide in North America.

Easily one of the most anticipated games for the holiday season and the game has arrived on the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft at the MSRP of $59.99 with the Limited Edition priced at $69.99. It is rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB.

"Assassin's Creed is an incredible experience unlike anything else available this holiday season and we're thrilled with the buzz and attention the title has received," shared Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. "We anticipate having a strong sell through for Assassin's Creed and it's exciting to push the industry with such a breakthrough title in terms of technology, design and story.

The development team in Montreal set out to redefine the action-adventure category and we now know that they have accomplished their goal."

Actress Kristen Bell Featured in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed

Provides Likeness and Voice Acting for Lead Character in Highly Anticipated Video Game

Today Ubisoft announces that Hollywood actress Kristen Bell will appear in Ubisoft’s highly anticipated video game, Assassin’s Creed. Kristen Bell will play a key character in Assassin’s Creed, whose mysterious role is an important part of the game’s intricate storyline.

“It was crucial to find an actress who could convey the emotional range and talent needed to play this key character in the Assassin’s universe,” said Jade Raymond, producer for Assassin’s Creed. “Kristen Bell is a remarkable actress who was able to bring her character to life in a dynamic way that I don’t think anyone else could have done properly. Her professionalism and dynamic personality were a perfect fit for this project.”

“I was a big video gamer growing up, so working on Assassin’s Creed is my chance to be a part of video game history,” said Kristen Bell. “It’s something completely different than what I’ve done before, so it’s cool I get to branch out and try another entertainment medium. I was attracted to this project because of the intelligent storyline and the character I play. Plus I admire the artistry of the graphics of video games. I look forward to seeing what my character will look like and I can’t wait to play the game and see if I can beat it!”

Assassin’s Creed will be available in North America in November for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, with an MSRP of $59.99 and the Limited Edition priced at $69.99 – Assassin’s Creed is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, please visit http://www.assassinscreed.com.

Assassin's Creed Video Game

Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, and IFC, the first and largest network dedicated to independent film, announced that Greg Reid's short film "The Ultimate Weapon" won the short film contest inspired by the video game Assassin's Creedâ„¢ due out in November. As part of the prize package, "The Ultimate Weapon" will debut on IFC on November 14.

Greg Reid's "The Ultimate Weapon" was among more than 100 valid entries submitted for judging via IFC's Media Lab (http://medialab.ifc.com), a groundbreaking, integrated program which offers filmmakers a destination for posting their independent films online. Submissions were narrowed down to a top 10 list by Ubisoft (including key members of the development team in Montreal) and IFC, with the eventual winner chosen by fans and visitors who voted on IFC.com for the film they liked best.

"While the top 10 entries were all very solid, video game and film fans alike voted Greg Reid's ˜The Ultimate Weapon' the clear winner," said Tony Key, vice president of marketing at Ubisoft. "Ubisoft's partnership with IFC yielded some great films and proved to us that Assassin's Creed is able to engage people's imagination and spawn creativity. The story and mystery of the game itself has already struck a chord with fans of video games and film."

"The Assassin's Creed short film submissions we received were outstanding and any of the top 10 entries had a chance to win, but Greg Reid's entry proved itself the best of the field," stated Lee Sparer, vice president of partnerships for IFC. "Part of IFC's mission is to provide a voice to independent filmmakers on all levels, and so it is exciting for us to have offered this opportunity and challenge to our talented filmmakers on Media Lab. We look forward to participating in other similar contests in the future to help platform short films and other video content being produced by undiscovered talent around the country."

Greg Reid claims his grand prize of $10,000, an Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, an Xbox 360 version of Assassin's Creed and inclusion of his short film inside the Limited Edition version of the game. To view the winning film online, and the other top entries, please visit http://medialab.ifc.com/assassinscontest.

"I'm really excited that our Assassins Creed short film, ‘The Ultimate Weapon' was selected as the winning film, amid a very competitive line-up of entries," shared Greg Reid, the director and co-writer of short film The Ultimate Weapon. "Assassins Creed has it all from a gaming perspective. Joel Poehlmann and I wrote a film, inspired by the rich and dynamic backdrop of the game. We wanted to create a film and storyline that had it all; a little intrigue, fast-paced action fight sequences and killer still animations. After making the film, I can't wait to play the actual game myself."

About Assassin's Creed
The game is set in 1191 AD, when the Third Crusade was tearing the Holy Land apart. Shrouded in secrecy and feared for their ruthlessness, the Assassins intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict. Players will assume the role of the main character, Altair, and will have the power to throw their immediate environment into chaos and truly experience the art of a master assassin.

In 2006, Assassin's Creed received the Game Critics Award: Best of E3 2006 for "Best Action-Adventure Game" and swept the "Best PS3 Game" category across numerous video game Web sites.*

Assassin's Creed will be available on the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and on Xbox 360 at the MSRP of $59.99 in North America, with the Limited Edition priced at $69.99 - rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB. In addition, those who pre-order Assassin's Creed at GameStop will receive an exclusive Assassin's Creed art bonus book when they pick up their game. For more information about Assassin's Creed, please visit www.assassinscreed.com.

*1UP "Best PS3 Game," GameSpot "Best PLAYSTATION 3 Editors' Choice Winner," GameSpy "Best of E3 PS3 Game of the Show," Games Radar "Best of E3 PLAYSTATION 3," GameTrailers "Best of Show," IGN "Best PS3 Game of the Show".

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