ubisoft

Ubisoft tool brings 2D art into video games

Unlike many video game studios that hire animators and 3D artists with backgrounds in game design, Ubisoft reports that it can now recruit traditional painters, illustrators, and graphic designers to design a video game world.

The game studio did just that in creating Rayman Origins, a game for which it translated traditional 2D art into video game scenes via its new digital-art tool, UbiArts. Rather than having to reinterpret 2D art into 3D-rendered imagery, UbiArts lets 2D talent directly create a game.

Rayman Origins, set for a November 15 release, is the latest game in the long-running franchise. Rayman was Ubisoft's first hero and the first major franchise for the publisher in 1995. Since then, Ubisoft has released three more games in the franchise and positioned it as an art-centric game with picturesque graphics and environments.

According to UbiArts inventor and Rayman creator Michel Ancel, Ubisoft wanted to return to the roots of visual creation.

"We wanted to work with people who haven't typically worked in the gaming industry to get a fresh perspective," Ancel said from France. "So we found artists of all kinds--people in animation studios, painters--and we used a scanner to take their home drawings and put them directly into an engine." … Read more

Ubisoft pumps Black Eyed Peas for Wii, Kinect

Some things are certain in life, like death, taxes, and hearing the Black Eyed Peas pretty much every time you turn on the radio. Now, unsurprisingly, the inescapable quartet is getting its own video game.

After launching a string of successful music-oriented titles such as Just Dance and Michael Jackson: The Experience, Ubisoft has announced the Black Eyed Peas Experience for Wii and Kinect for Xbox 360. The upcoming game will put players alongside will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie to deliver songs such as "Boom, Boom, Pow," "Rock That Body," and "Let's Get It Started."

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Ubisoft studios in Quebec and Paris are working on the Wii version based on Just Dance, in which players hold the Wiimote controller and imitate dance moves onscreen. The Kinect equivalent, which will enable gamers to create an onstage avatar and dance using their body movements, is under development by Japanese video game developer iNiS (known for the Lips franchise). Both versions will give vocalists the chance to sing while lyrics scroll onscreen. … Read more

Child of Eden: Candy for your Kinect

Games, to me, are like movies: I rarely go with the mainstream. Genres tire me out. I get excited about the element of surprise, of the new and unusual. It's why I'm initially drawn to new gaming hardware: the shock of the new promises surprises, the unknown. When Microsoft's Kinect debuted last fall, I wondered how Xbox 360 games might change because of its hands-free design.

Except for a few games (Dance Central, mainly), the answer is not much at all. Post-E3, it looks like more Xbox games will tack on Kinect-ready features as opposed to designing … Read more

preGame 51: Interview with Ed Boon; Outland demo

On today's preGame we'll interview Mr. Mortal Kombat himself, the co-creator of the entire franchise, Ed Boon. It's been a few weeks since the latest iteration of Mortal Kombat hit store shelves, and we'll ask Mr. Boon all about the game as well as the series' history.

But first we'll run down the hottest gaming news of the week including word that a new Alan Wake game will be hitting the Xbox 360, hopefully this year.

We'll also discuss what Microsoft buying Skype means for Xbox 360 owners and then run through a new … Read more

Report: Game developer Ubisoft to open film studio

Ubisoft is trying its luck in the film business, a new report claims.

The new studio, dubbed Ubisoft Motion Pictures, will be charged with bringing the game developer's many popular game franchises to the silver screen, Variety is reporting. The publication said the film studio will be led by Jean-Julien Baronnet, former chief of France-based film studio EuropaCorp. Jean de Riviere, former head of distribution at Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures France, will handle marketing and sales for the division, Variety says.

Ubisoft was founded 25 years ago in France. In 2004, Electronic Arts acquired about 20 percent of Ubisoft … Read more

The 404 763: Where we tagger easy (podcast)

Doug from Pennsylvania inadvertently started another 404 Podcast meme in yesterday's video voice mail with his sign-off salute, "Tagger easy!" We dedicate today's show title to him and WhiteWhine, a Tumblr for First World problems.

More than 200 protesters in Libya have been killed with Qaddafi's machine guns and large-caliber weapons, but some nerds in America are more concerned with the future of .ly domains like Bitly. How will we shorten our links to a Tweet-appropriate size if Libya shuts down the Internet again?!

Don't freak out yet, because Internet restrictions by the Libyan government will not affect those domains, since most of the servers that give access to .ly links are located outside of Libya, and most administrators like Bitly CEO John Borthwick are already using precautionary measures to ensure their stability.… Read more

Google the vote

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Google launches search tools to help Americans vote

Sophos unveils free antivirus software for Mac users

T-Mobile announces a $10 Android phone

Hotmail now works with other e-mail accounts, even Gmail

Google blurs images of homes and faces in Germany on Street View maps

Ubisoft's Michael Jackson Experience game will come with a free sparkly glove if you preorder the Wii version

Martha Stewart launches an iPad app to help you make the best holiday cookies on the block

A Kinect skeptic's take on Ubisoft's first offerings

I'll be the first to admit I'm a complete skeptic when it comes to motion control in games. I like controllers. A lot. And it's going to take a lot to sway my opinion on that.

Microsoft's upcoming Kinect accessory is the farthest you can get away from a controller and still have control of what's happening on the screen. Unlike Sony's and Nintendo's offerings--both of which can be had right now, Kinect, which becomes available at the beginning of next month, uses no controller. Instead, it tracks your body movements with its … Read more

Six years later, EA sells stake in Ubisoft

After a contentious six-year relationship, Electronic Arts has sold off its entire ownership interest in Ubisoft, according to news accounts Tuesday.

According to Dow Jones Newswires, which first reported on the sale, Electronic Arts sold its stake in Ubisoft--14.8 percent of the company--to unidentified investors. The major game developer declined to say how much it sold its stake for, Dow Jones reported.

Back in 2004, Electronic Arts acquired approximately 20 percent of Ubisoft, which at the time, reflected EA's desire to "be a consolidator" in the gaming business as developers buckled under the immense cost of … Read more

How Ubisoft scored the Michael Jackson dancing game

LOS ANGELES--When it comes to making a video game based on the life and performances of Michael Jackson, you can bet that the project didn't just happen by accident.

After all, the rights to the music and the likeness of the king of pop are still some of the most valuable in show business. So it was no small feat for game publisher Ubisoft to pull together not just a game based on and named after Jackson, but to be able to guarantee that the game--scheduled for a holiday 2010 release--will feature, at a minimum, mega-hits "Billie Jean" and "Beat it."

Ubisoft announced the forthcoming game at the mammoth E3 convention here on Monday, just shy of a year since the superstar died last summer. The company said that the game will have Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo Wii and DS versions, and will be compatible with both Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's Move motion control systems. It's not known if it will be one of the 15 launch titles that will be available for Kinect when that system goes on sale on November 4.

The game will "provide an interactive experience that enables players to step into the shoes of Michael Jackson himself and re-live his most iconic performances through their own singing and dancing," Ubisoft said in a release announcing the upcoming title. It "will include the most famous tracks from Michael Jackson's extensive catalog...as well as an array of his awe-inspiring dance moves for players to learn and emulate within the game." … Read more