{"id":238,"date":"2009-06-01T18:57:23","date_gmt":"2009-06-02T01:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/?p=238"},"modified":"2009-06-01T18:57:23","modified_gmt":"2009-06-02T01:57:23","slug":"e3-09-ubisoft-press-conference-quickies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/?p=238","title":{"rendered":"E3 09: Ubisoft Press Conference Quickies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Ubisoft was up next with the press conferences today. For an awful conference where little happened, here&#8217;s my attempt at quick takes: <span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Nothing against <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Talk Soup<\/em> host Joel McHale, but having &#8220;personalities&#8221; open conferences with 5 minutes of lukewarm jokes sucks unless they&#8217;re really funny. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot takes the stage. Hooray for presenters with super-thick accents! Guillemot&#8217;s rambling opening represents one of the things I dislike about Ubisoft: they&#8217;re full of themselves. Don&#8217;t tell us how great you are; SHOW US. That&#8217;s why we&#8217;re here. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Some Other French Guy is on stage talking about James Cameron&#8217;s <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Avatar, <\/em>and<em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"> <\/em>I swear he just said &#8220;dEEEv-LOPPing.&#8221; It&#8217;s a pointless 5 minutes, because \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6James Cameron is on hand to talk about the game. Nice! But he goes on a long time, losing the audience. Seriously, a half-hour in, Cameron is still talking about <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Avatar<\/em> (it&#8217;ll have a unique story apart from the movie plot) we&#8217;ve not seen footage of a single game. I want to watch <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">The Beatles<\/em> <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Rock Band <\/em>trailer again. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">McHale is back to introduce the <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Red Steel 2<\/em> trailer, which has awful footage of people playing in front of their TV. There&#8217;s actually a live demo afterwards, which looks mildly fun, but nothing super cool. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">Shawn White Snowboarding: World Stage<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">: another snoozeriffic trailer featuring White and live actors. <span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Ubi&#8217;s got a soccer game, <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Academy of Champions<\/em>, and Pele is here to show it off. Another good get. Of course, the video doesn&#8217;t work, leading McHale to riff awkwardly with Pele, who, for someone who &#8220;doesn&#8217;t speak English,&#8221; is easier to understand than the French guys. They finally get the trailer up, which has a very kid-friendly feel &#8212; it feels like it&#8217;s set at Harry Potter&#8217;s Hogwarts, except at a school for soccer instead of magic. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">Splinter Cell: Conviction<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"> time. The trailer looked OK, and more French people telling us about new abilities before a live demo. For some reason, I just can&#8217;t get excited for <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Splinter Cell<\/em> games. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">On to a RTS called <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Ruse<\/em>. Is it a RTS? Again, it&#8217;s a trailer with lame live-action gamers moving units on a holographic tabletop. Awful. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Annoying Marketing and Sales Guy Tony Key is out to talk about the Imagine brand, a huge success on the DS aimed at tween girls. The next five minutes are essentially a shareholder presentation. Yawn. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Felicia Williams comes out to talk about fitness games. Camera integration will REVOLUTIONIZE your games! Of course it will! <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Your Shape<\/em> will be a camera-integrated game for the Wii, and out holiday 2009. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">Rabbids Go Home<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">: they&#8217;re back and they want to go home. Hey, me too! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">: seriously, this might be a decent beat-em-up, but by this point, I&#8217;ve lost the will to live. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\">: No trailer, no demo, just a splash screen with a logo. Really, the jokes write themselves now. <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">There&#8217;s a project from Tetsuya Mizuguchi&#8217;s Q Entertainment that Ubi is publishing. Not even a logo, just that he&#8217;s in the audience. <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoListParagraphCxSpLast\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt 20.25pt; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"mso-list: Ignore;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">&#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Finally, the merciful end: <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">Assassin&#8217;s Creed 2.<\/em> It&#8217;s just a trailer, but it&#8217;s the first thing all afternoon I&#8217;ve found myself remotely interested in playing. <em style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt 2.25pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Overall: an awful press conference with too much clich\u00c3\u00a9d boasting and little in the way of interesting demos. <strong style=\"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;\">D.<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ubisoft was up next with the press conferences today. For an awful conference where little happened, here&#8217;s my attempt at quick takes: \u00c2\u00a0 &#8211;\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing against Talk Soup host Joel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-e3-2009"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bytica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}