Rayman Legends

[Ronnie]

I'm finding it very difficult to remember any of these so called 'fantastic' levels in Mario U. Beyond a couple of themed ones, I can't recall a single one, which is a bit sad.

[Phube]

All I'll say is that the MarioU Challenges need the 'online' competitiveness of the to be released Rayman Demo's.

[yesteryeargames]

Nsmb u is great , but certainly does not even come close to Mario world , 3 2 and 1

[Zechs Merquise]

All I'll say is that the MarioU Challenges need the 'online' competitiveness of the to be released Rayman Demo's.

 

That for me is the one area that Nintendo have fallen down on in all their Wii U launch software - online connectivity.

 

The Miiverse integration in the game is superb, but not having at least online leader boards for the challenges is a stupid omission.

 

It's things like this that do let Nintendo down - as they did with Nintendo Land!

[liger05]

Interview with Yves Guillemot (PS4, cloud, Watch Dogs, Vita, Wii U sales,etc.) #1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Quote:

Guillemot (Ubi): "Very important that next gen arrives"

 

Interview by Yukishiro - Thursday, 21/02/2013 at 13h 10

 

Kingmaker in the world of consoles for 5 years, Parisian publisher Ubisoft has naturally bonded with Sony around the PlayStation 4 as it did with Nintendo's Wii U

 

 

 

First, what are your impressions on the PlayStation 4?

 

We are extremely pleased that Sony took everything they could from social gaming, such as a connected machine that can receive data passively, and which includes all the elements the game has on PC or on the phone. In addition, the processor and the capabilities of the machine, which will allow us to make powerful and immersive games.

 

You never missed an opportunity in the past two years, to emphasize the need for Sony and Microsoft to change generations. Your wish is granted, why was it so important to you?

 

It is very important that the new machines arrive. We live in a rapidly changing world, technology is changing, and consoles have to keep up the pace. And instead of having a five-year cycle, as before, they now have seven or eight years of exploitation. And inevitably, the consumer ends up getting tired and believes that there is less creativity than before. I think these new consoles give creators creativity and consumers the opportunity to go to these new games.

 

Sony claims to have developed its PS4 closely with developers. Has Ubisoft been consulted? What was your relationship with the manufacturer?

 

We've been here for 26 years and Ubisoft has seen a number of cycles. So, we came to understand what manufacturers expected from the evolution. We went to them with all our wishes, and we held regular discussions around specs. Sony has incorporated elements they had not taken into account in the first place. It is a dialogue that leads to the best possible of what was invented before.

 

Does a multiplatform publisher such as Ubisoft want for consoles to differ in terms of specs? Has uniformity between the PS4 and the future Xbox, in terms of architecture and power, been at the heart of your discussions?

 

Yes, but this is a request that we have all the time. After, the manufacturer chooses to listen or not, because they want, of course, to be different. It is a natural demand. After that, if Sony thinks it can make a real difference and stay afloat financially, they'll do it.

 

A word also on the PlayStation Vita. You have been particularly visible in 2012, with Assassin's Creed Liberation distributed to 600,000 pieces. What conclusions do you draw from this experience? Can the convergence logic with the PS4/PSV revive interest for Sony's handheld, in your opinion?

 

What I liked about the presentation is that they use the power of the Vita to use it as a PS4 controller. If they could get enough PS Vita in the hands of consumers, we could use this double screen feature. It would be fabulous. Now we need to be able to do it, because the Vita has a fairly high cost. I'm waiting to see more on the subject.

 

 

 

You mention dual screen. Could this mean that you could, for instance, only develop one Assassin's Creed game PS4 and Vita would show the same game, instead of creating a game specifically for the handheld?

 

What is needed is for more Vitas to sell. The greater the install base, the more publishers will want to utilize it.

 

Is cloud gaming the future?

 

I compare cloud gaming to the Internet from a few years ago, where you could not make action games because it was not fast enough, etc. And developers have tended to favor the kinds of games that could afford to have a high latency. Cloud gaming has the same kind of situation: it addresses many issues, but it still does not work as well as what we want. Meanwhile, it should only be used for certain types of games, more analytical...

 

Sony was able to rely on the copious presentation of Watch_Dogs, a Ubisoft game, during the conference. The game is also scheduled on PS3 and Xbox 360, for which generation was the game originally designed? PS4 to PS3, or the opposite?

 

Today Watch_Dogs is a game created on next-gen consoles. It's then ported on other machines. We will seek the power of the new generation, then ask other teams to try to incorporate those elements in the current consoles.

 

It is viable, financially, to work on two generations at once for a single game? It is known that PS3/Xbox 360 development require significant resources. Not to mention the PS4...

 

These are indeed challenges for all companies who create. But we noticed that when you arrive early enough, with innovation, the games you launch sell for a long period of time. This is the challenge that we did with Watch_Dogs, with interesting sales the first year, which go on for two or three years.

 

You will then continue to feed two generations of consoles at the same time with the same games?

 

We won't be able to do it on the long term. More you push the next generation towards its limits, the more you will have difficulty in adapting to the "old gen". So we are going, little by little, to migrate to the new generation of consoles. I think that by 2015 we will have completed this transition.

 

 

 

Ubisoft has recently distinguished itself with its strong support for the Wii U, for which you gave several exclusives. Can you imagine such an exclusivity policy for the PS4, or do you rather stand as inseparable from the Xbox / PC?

 

I think it's the second option. We are much closer to the games that will run on the PC and next-gen, than to pure exclusives on these machines.

 

But to talk about the Wii U, you are aware that the abandonment of Rayman Legends' exclusivity made a lot of noise. Is there a problem between Ubisoft and that machine?

 

No problem with the Wii U. In fact, we saw the opportunity, by giving more time, to have the best game ever made for the Wii U. Teams began to show what they made with the whole social aspect, which they will release in April. This makes it possible to make a social part which was impossible until now, and additional bosses. The goal is to make one of Ubisoft's best games. The team is fully on Wii U to do that, but it also works on other generations, to arrive on several generations at the same time.

 

To rephrase: you have nothing to say about the current sales of the Wii U?

 

We can not say we're satisfied with the sales of the Wii U. They were good in the United States in November / December, but did not go well in January 2013. We're waiting to see the evolution of things, we look at this closely.

 

A recommendation as a publisher? Is a price drop necessary for you?

 

I don't have a recommendation, Nintendo is big enough to analyze the different things to do. Many games are coming soon, which should help the machine to resume.

 

http://www.gamekult.com/actu/guillem...e-A107532.html

[Dcubed]

Seems that Michel Ancel may be looking to leave Ubisoft...

 

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=515226

 

Loose Translation:

 

"Two delays and the loss of temporary exclusivity for Rayman Legends on Wii U might have pissed off players, but it's also causing quite a stir at Ubisoft Montpellier.

 

Based on several sources, Michel Ancel might be thinking of leaving Ubisoft with his own team once Legends is finished, and start a new project with other people (different company?). He talks about wanting more liberty in creating and organizing his project. This is not the first time Ancel has spoken of leaving, but so far he's always stayed with Ubi.

 

Development of Rayman Legends is pretty much over, even though there is some work left to do on the PS3 and X360 versions. Ancel would like to calmly leave Ubisoft, taking some people with him. If it should happen, it wouldn't be a crying affair. Ubi is aware, and they might choose to be involved in Ancel's next project either way, even if he chooses to leave, as per an anonymous developer. Another source says Ancel has already given notice he is leaving, as he has other contacts and projects he'd like to work on. Five or six Montpellier personnel would be ready to leave with him. The idea is that Ancel would remain "tied to Rayman", whatever happens.

 

This might explain in part the further delay and the premature announcement of the Rayman Legends port to other platform. With Ancel possibly on his way out, he would have less motivation to contest the decision to port, as he is already looking to greener pastures. Several sources state Ubi and Nintendo were unable to come to an agreement on distribution and marketing of Legends, which was a reason for the port to PS3 / X360.

 

Ubisoft and Ancel categorically deny these rumours. We probably won't know much more until a couple more months, unless more sources start spilling the beans."

 

Like I said guys, just a quick translation.

 

This wouldnt be the first time he's been prepared to leave. He supposedly was about to leave when Beyond Good and Evil 2 was cancelled and only decided to stay when Ubisoft gave him his own team to make Rayman Origins...

 

Ohhhhh Nintendoooooo... You have a French R&D team who could use some staffing...

[Wii]

Random Time! - Amazon feels our Rayman Legends pain

 

Coming from AmazonGames on Twitter...

 

 

Man, I guess the people behind Amazon's game-focused Twitter really know what's going on in the industry! The delay was sad news, but at least we get this excellent tweet.

 

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=196936

 

Ubisoft wants Rayman Legends to be one of their best games, thanks to more dev time

 

"The Wii U the team is working hard on the Wii U [version] to make sure it continues to improve, so it can become one of the best Wii U games. We hope it can be one of the top games Ubisoft creates. What's very important to consider is that when a team has more time, they are able to continue to improve the quality of the game. When we saw we had more time, we saw all of the possibilities. Some of the possibilities are the social features that we are seeing today, but also new bosses, new possibilities that will take the game to a level that people will love." - Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot

Let's hope this extra time doesn't lead to feature bloat and less focus on the core of the game. Bells and whistles are great, but only when the main course works.

 

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=196922

[david.dakota]

When Waddlewings Attack drove me crazy, crying shame we can't post that video to Miiverse- it was an awesome achievement. Completing it at home was, err, slightly more difficult.

[Kagato]

The WiiU game is finished and im willing to bet the game has gone gold and discs have been pressed, we are not going to see any meaningfull new content come to the WiiU game so they can pretty much make up all the excuses they want and im not buying it. Im no longer interested in Legends, its going to come out in a busy period of bigger and better games so im going to give it a miss, ill hold out for Watch Dogs and that new pirate themed Assassins Creed.

[bryanee]

So this is getting 30 new levels and 7 new bosses

 

Rayman Legends delay: 'I wasn't shocked by the backlash,' says Michel Ancel

"It was really hard for us"

 

Posted by Thomas East on 10th Apr 2013 at 11:03

 

Michel Ancel has told ONM that fans' reaction to the Rayman Legends delay didn't surprise him.

 

In an exclusive interview that appears in the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine, Ancel told us what it was like for the Montpellier studio when Ubisoft took the decision to delay his team's new platformer in order to release it at the same time as Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

 

Rayman Legends was meant to be released in February 2013 but fans slammed the decision to delay it until September, with some even protesting outside Ubisoft Montpellier's office. However, Ancel wasn't shocked by the fans' fury.

 

"No, I wasn't shocked, but it was really hard for us. Of course, there are more important issues and problems in the world but we worked really hard to make something and were so involved, it was difficult for us and the fans."

 

However Ancel, together with Senior Game Manager Michael Micholic, have used the extra time to create new content for the game. The result is 30 extra levels and some new boss battles.

 

Micholic said: "Trust me, the things we are adding aren't minor. We're not talking about adding some polish here and there, but 30 new levels and several new bosses."

 

You can read the full interview with Michel Ancel and Michael Micholic in the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine which is out now. You can buy it here.

 

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/48483/rayman-legends-delay-i-wasnt-shocked-by-the-backlash-says-michel-ancel/

 

The Wii U is still getting that second demo with exclusive Wii U level.

[Londragon]

The Wii U is still getting that second demo with exclusive Wii U level.

 

The second demo has been dated as coming in Late April;

http://wiiublog.com/exclusive-wii-u-rayman-legends-demo-coming-late-april/

[Serebii]

The Rayman Legends Challenges game is out this week for free

[yesteryeargames]

Yay free , ubi won't be getting a penny of my money for this game , 2 Nd hand all the way people

[Ronnie]

Yay free , ubi won't be getting a penny of my money for this game , 2 Nd hand all the way people

 

Great way to reward the developers for all their hard work [/sarcasm]

[daftada]

The dev team have worked bloody hard on it so I'm picking it up to show my appreciation. Wasn't their fault it got delayed, and anyway the demo levels are incredibly fun so I'll get some enjoyment out of it

[dazzybee]

Yay free , ubi won't be getting a penny of my money for this game , 2 Nd hand all the way people

 

Way to make sure we the Wii U loses yet more support...

[yesteryeargames]

They can get extra sales on Xbox and ps 3 tho so not to worry , don't support ubi the assholes In charge need a lesson

[M_rock]

I rather buy this game and support the developers, scumbags on the top aside, this game remains brilliant artistically seen, the demo I played in stores was one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen in my life.

[Ronnie]

They can get extra sales on Xbox and ps 3 tho so not to worry , don't support ubi the assholes In charge need a lesson

 

Ohhhh, they get 'extra sales' so that makes it alright.

 

What are you 12? Just buy the game and enjoy it, none of this boycotting rubbish.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Don't buy Rayman out of protest.

Game sales on WiiU suck.

Ubisoft look at WiiU sales, see their game doesn't sell on WiiU.

No more Rayman games on Nintendo home consoles.

Potentially lose other franchises, too.

 

 

Buy the game on WiiU because you want to support the developers.

Game does well on WiiU.

Ubisoft look at WiiU sales, see their game sells well.

Potentially more Rayman games on the system, as they sell.

Potentially other franchises worth putting on the system, as there is a market for their games.

 

Not buying the game is probably the worst thing you can do in the long run.

[Magnus]

All I got from that was, "don't buy Rayman".

[Fierce_LiNk]

All I got from that was, "don't buy Rayman".

 

But whyyy? :p

 

Game looks awesome. They've managed to out-platform Nintendo on their own system.

[Magnus]

Because this part would be hilarious:

 

Ubisoft look at WiiU sales, see their game doesn't sell on WiiU.

No more Rayman games on Nintendo home consoles.

Potentially lose other franchises, too.

 

Squirm, Nintendo fanboys! Squirm!

[Fierce_LiNk]

Because this part would be hilarious:

 

 

 

Squirm, Nintendo fanboys! Squirm!

 

I don't think Serebii's heart could take it. :p

 

[Dog-amoto]

App thingy is out now on eShop. Gonna attempt to download it...wonder if the main game will be out by the time it finishes o_O