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Lending some convincing creed-ence (OOF!) to those nearly forgotten rumors, the DS version of Assassin's Creed has appeared on Nintendo's "holidays and beyond" release list. Those hoping to abandon their Pokémans in favor of, uh, poking a man in the back with a dagger should note that the game falls into the "beyond" part of Nintendo's schedule. Ubisoft's pint-sized bump-off sim is currently set for release in February 2008.
Aside from a release window, not much is known about the game. Will it play anything like November's console versions? Will the stylus be used to simulate violent and inevitably controversial slashing motions? We've already sent the appropriate demand to Ubisoft: Your assassinz, let you show me them.
We'd heard about the Collector's Edition for Assassin's Creed, but now that we've laid eyes on that 12-inch figurine, our lust for it has reached fever pitch. Listen to that ... if you're quiet, you can almost hear significant others from all across the country wondering aloud "Where you're going to put that ugly thing" from more than a month in the future.
While the Altair figure does look incredible, we're having some Big Daddy flashbacks looking at his weapon. Anyone else think Ubisoft should go ahead and set up the "Broken Stiletto" figure replacement site now?
Oh tome, neither secret nor old, what information lies between the cover's fold? Whose to say if this promo material, reportedly obtained at a GameStop manager conference or a Best Buy Gamer's Day in Toronto if we're to "BELIEVE" NeoGAF, actually ruins Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed for you. It ultimately depends what you consider spoilers.
Opinion: It doesn't contain any "Darth Vader is your father" level reveals, opting for more "Porkins dies in the Death Star fight" style non-spoilers. However, if you want to maintain your Assassin's Creed story virginity, you better steer clear of sidcuddlesGHIII's Photobucket account, which contains the entirety of the comic.
Oh, Jade. You surely are Ubisoft's finest asset, with your playful and inquisitive eyes inviting us to relive the many adventures we had after our first and far too brief meeting. If only we could be reunited and take some more pictures of our escapades. If only mere images could capture your boldness, allure and glistening green lips! Where is Beyond Good & Evil 2?
Putting our reminiscing aside, we can talk about the other Jade at Ubisoft -- Jade Raymond, producer of big budget bump-off epic, Assassin's Creed. More specifically, we can talk about us talking to her about sandboxes, flower boxes, pushy crowds and Star Trek's Holodeck in a brief Tokyo Game Show chat. Find it after the break.
We can't speak to the quality of Assassin's Creed at all. When it's (supposedly) released in November, we have no idea if you'll love it, if you'll hate it or if you'll be indifferent. What we can say with plenty of confidence though is that the person in charge of making trailers for Assassin's Creed should win a major award. We're not sure what award you get for making really short movies that make viewers want to flip out and stab people, but they should win that one.
We're sure you all remember this one, now we have this rad new offering. We don't even want to tell you much about it, for fear of ruining it. Just know that the Knights Templar are involved. ... As is a bloody feather. OK, seriously, that's it. You need to go watch.
During our recent hands-on session with Assassin's Creed, which we found to be very impressive overall, we were also greeted with some unfortunate news. We hope you don't have your heart set on trying out Altair's acrobatic antics via an Xbox Live Marketplace or Playstation Network demo, because our Ubisoft rep informed us that the company has "no plans" of releasing a demo for the game. Disappointing news to be sure, but then again, you probably already knew whether or not you were going to buy it anyway.
Fueled solely by caffeine and pure grit, we managed to get some hands-on time with Ubisoft's much anticipated action game, Assassin's Creed at E3. Our session with Ubisoft began with a representative walking us through a sample mission (which, incidentally, is the same one Jade Raymond walked us through last night at the MS press conference) to show us the ropes. Of course, like any good company rep, he also made sure to lay down some readily quotable stats. First of all, the city featured in the demo, Jerusalem, is fifteen times larger than the city featured during last year's E3. Pulling the camera back, we could see that the city was indeed pretty damned big. What's more, our rep informs us that all of it is interactive. You can climb it, throw enemies into it, use it to hide, whatever. Every surface that extends more than 2" from a wall is scalable, and Altair -- AC's protagonist -- will make his hand-holds realistically. In other words, there is no canned climbing animation. Finally, the city is populated with lots of NPCs, some of which can be hostile (guards and mad vagrants), others can be helpful, and the rest are neutral. And of course, they all have dynamic AI and other quotable features. But how does it play?
Didn't we play this game already? After unleashing yesterday's avalanche of release dates and promptly crushing the month of November in the process, Ubisoft has removed any date and mention of the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Haze from the list. Speaking to an Ubisoft UK representative, Joystiq was told that the mysterious disappearance could be attributed to the PlayStation 3 being "the only confirmed platform for Haze." Oh dear, it's Assassin's Creedall over again.
Just last month, Ubisoft described the politically charged shooter as "leading on PS3," noting that "no exclusivity for any platform has been officially announced." Despite Free Radical's director, Steve Ellis, stating that the developer's chief challenge was "designing a solution that will work well across the platforms," Haze was theorized to be at the very least, a timed PS3 exclusive. The week-long release gap between the PS3's Haze and other versions shown on Ubisoft's initial schedule rendered such a conclusion comical, but not untruthful. What of the vanishing Xbox 360 and PC versions then?
When we asked directly whether Haze was a PS3 exclusive or not, Ubisoft simply reiterated that the system was "the only confirmed platform." It's the same line we kept hearing when Ubisoft was dodging questions about the exclusivity haze surrounding Assassin's Creed -- a game which started out on "PlayStation 3 and at this time, no other platform has been confirmed." Ubisoft later admitted a PC version would "indeed see the light some day" (the same day, actually) and then finally confirmed an Xbox 360 version to an unsurprised audience.
Can we expect the same sequence of events for Haze, or are negotiations between suits still active? We expect to get some answers (simple "yes" or "no" ones, preferably) at next month's Min-E3.
Ubisoft has revealed the release dates for all of its major 2007 titles, asking the majority of them to form a neat line in November and proceed to remove the contents of your wallet one by one. You're more than welcome to make a fuss about it, but having the sneaky men of Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell: Conviction within grasp of your neck renders such action unwise.
A more notable entry in the release schedule (as posted by Eurogamer) is Free Radical's sci-political first-person shooter, Haze, previously described as "leading on PS3" in a display of timed exclusivity:
Haze (PS3) -- 23 November
Oh, you'll be wanting the release date for the other platforms as well:
Haze (Xbox 360, PC) -- 30 November [Update: Oh dear, Ubisoft has removed the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Haze from the current release list. We're waiting to hear back from Ubisoft on the matter.]
There's nothing more pleasing than infiltrating a dense crowd of oblivious strangers, stabbing your intended victim in the back and then making a daring escape by scurrying up walls and leaping across rooftops. Of course, on a rainy day you'll probably just want to play Assassin's Creed. 1UP reports that Ubisoft plans to release the hugely anticipated medieval stalker sim on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this November in standard and limited editions.
You'll surely want to inform all your friends via your Mybook or Facespace page, so please try to avoid embarrassment by spelling the game's title correctly. We'll advise you to remember the first part by breaking it into three simple and highly memorable words: "ass", "ass" and then "in." Don't bother using this technique to talk about your recent visit to the psychotherapist though, as that becomes an unsettling "Psycho the rapist."
GameStop recently listed an interesting title with a September 25 release date: Assassin's Creed for the DS. Videos from the game really tickle our "over the top" meter, but could a DS port be anything but ... shoddy? Admittedly the source is about as reliable as a canoe made out of Cheetos, so we shouldn't get our gamers' hats all in a bundle just yet. Assassin's Creed DS could take the Battles of Prince of Persia route and share very little with its console brethren. Still, our interest has been piqued and we're ready to hear more. If more exists.
As our significant others are so keen to remind us, we're easily swayed by advertising here at Joystiq. Take, for example, the announcement that Assassin's Creed will have a limited edition release on PS3 and Xbox 360. Normally we'd like to know a little more about a product before we agree to buy it, but after watching the trailer we posted yesterday, we were ready to mail our credit card to Ubisoft with a heart-shaped slip of paper with our signature on it.
For those who demand a little more info with their purchases, we humbly oblige. The $69.99 tin-encased game apparently really will be in limited quantities and will come with a figurine of titular assassin Altair, Penny Arcade comics and some short films, along with some other bonuses that we didn't have time to read before we totally went to the store to buy it. Not that it was on sale yet, but, like we said, we're really susceptible to advertising. Let's just hope there's no marketing for GTA IV or BioShock ... ah, crap, we'd better just start saving.
Over two gigs worth of screenshots, videos, and concept art was apparently accidentally posted by Ubisoft on their public ftp server. Whoops. While some of these games have already been announced, some haven't, although there aren't any real surprises here: Assassins Creed, Farcry 2, Farcry PSP, Farcry Wii, Lost, Naruto, Open Season, Prince of Persia, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Rocky PSP, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Splinter Cell Conviction, Surf's Up, Star Wars PSP, Shaun White, TMNT, and TMNT GBA.
Ubisoft isn't too pleased about the leak either, stating,"The publication of this type of information can only be harmful to the game development process and we will take all steps necessary to prevent this from happening in the future."
While we can understand why Ubisoft wouldn't want employees or summer interns posting confidential information on the internet, how does it harm the game development process? We can understand if the raw code for Splinter Cell: Conviction got out, or if a disgruntled programmer posted a disk image of Far Cry 2, but screenshots and videos? And while TGS is unfolding?
Lending some convincing creed-ence (OOF!) to those nearly forgotten rumors, the DS version of Assassin's Creed has appeared on Nintendo's "holidays and beyond" release list. Those hoping to abandon their Pokémans in favor of, uh, poking a man in the back with a dagger should note that the game falls into the "beyond" part of Nintendo's schedule. Ubisoft's pint-sized bump-off sim is currently set for release in February 2008.
Oh, Jade. You surely are Ubisoft's finest asset, with your playful and inquisitive eyes inviting us to relive the many adventures we had after our first and far too brief meeting. If only we could be reunited and take some more pictures of our escapades. If only mere images could capture your boldness, allure and glistening 
During our recent 
Over two gigs worth of screenshots, videos, and concept art was apparently accidentally posted by Ubisoft on their public ftp server. Whoops. While some of these games have already been announced, some haven't, although there aren't any real surprises here: 
