Kotaku reports that during Ubisoft’s full first-half 2009-2010 financial results briefing today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that while big titles from Ubisoft like Assassin’s Creed 2 helped the company out considerably on the financial side of things, all of their “Nintendo-like quality” games released over the past few years have actually hurt the company more than help it.

Thanks to this post by NeoGaffer grandjedi 6 you can see the actual journey Ubisoft took from an interesting start with the system during it’s launch, and see the gradual downward spiral as more and more of those quality titles were coming out. Right around the time it seems when Ubisoft declared that they take the money from the Wii titles they were making money off of and use the money to fund games for the HD consoles. But they still came out with a lot of Wii titles since then! A….a lot of them. A lot of, crap.

Thanks to IGN, you can actually see the entire catalog of Ubisoft’s Wii efforts here.

Their efforts.

Wii
1701 A.D.
Academy of Champions Soccer
American Popstar: Road to Celebrity
Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard
Arthur and the Two Worlds War
Avatar: The Game
Avatar: The Game (Limited Edition)
Babysitting Party
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars — The Director’s Cut
Brothers in Arms: Double Time
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Deadly Intent
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Cook Wars
Cosmic Family
Cranium Kabookii
Dawn of Discovery
Dogz 2008
Driver: Parallel Lines
Eden
Emergency Heroes
Family Fest Presents Circus Games — 20 Big Top Classics!
Family Fest Presents Movie Games
Family Feud: 2010 Edition
Far Cry Vengeance
GT Pro Series
GT Pro Series (with Racing Wheel)
Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout
Grey’s Anatomy: The Video Game
Hell’s Kitchen
Heroes
Imagine: Fashion Party
Imagine: Party Babyz
Just Dance
Killing Day
Monster 4X4 World Circuit (standard edition)
Monster 4X4 World Circuit (with Racing Wheel)
Monster 4×4: Stunt Racer
Monster 4×4: Stunt Racer (with Racing Wheel)
My Fitness Coach
My French Coach
My Spanish Coach
My Word Coach
Nitrobike
No More Heroes
No More Heroes / Red Steel — 2 Games, One Low Price
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Open Season
Petz Rescue: Endangered Island
Petz Rescue: Wildlife Vet
Petz Sports
Petz: Catz 2
Petz: Crazy Monkeyz
Petz: Dogz 2
Petz: Horse Club
Petz: Horsez 2
Press Your Luck: 2010 Edition
Prince of Persia: Rival Swords
Protöthea
Rabbids Go Home
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
Red Steel
Red Steel 2
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (Target Edition)
Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage
Spelling Spree!
Sports Party
Surf’s Up
TMNT
Team Elimination Games
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
The Adventures of TinTin
The Dog Island
The Price Is Right (2008)
The Price is Right: 2010 Edition
Tom Clancy’s HAWX
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas / Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter — 2 Games, One Low Price
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent
Vacation Sports
Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey
Wordfish
Your Shape

EFFORTS

Note that some of those titles were actually canceled and haven’t been removed from the above list.

However, yes Petz: Crazy Monkeyz is an actual title they released to market.

– The Ben

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but the crew spent the weekend with their families. This week Brian brings you a collection of the E3 elevator pitches he collected. This collection includes some new pitches you haven’t heard yet including Relic’s Space Marine (34:36). Next week we return to our regular programing.

 

 Life Inside the Box – 070 – Turkey day clip show. [38:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, Brian, Kyle, Stephen, and Kevin lament the massive cuts by EA this past week, including Pandemic Studios. They also touch on the continuing legitimization of the gaming industry into the entertainment world, and, yes, yet again Modern Warfare 2 makes the news with the advent of hacked dedicated servers for the PC version. Also in the news this week is something Kyle has been dreading for a long time – OnLive and iPhone in the same sentence.

 

 Life Inside the Box – 069 - Pandemonium at Pandemic [79:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Brian Perry

The weekend has come around and it’s time to play, so here’s your weekly guide to what’s on sale at your favorite downloadable services.

Impulse - This week’s Impulse buys:
Prince of Persia $22.49
Supreme Commander Gold $22.49
Scrapland $9.99

Steam - Weekend Deals:
Star Wars Galaxies $9.99
Frontlines: Fuel of War $7.49

Luxor Complete Pack $14.99
Including:
Luxor $2.99
Luxor 2 $2.99
Luxor 3 $2.99
Luxor: Mah Jong $2.99
Luxor Amun Rising $2.99
Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife $2.99

Good Old Games –
In COld Blood $4.99

Settlers Pack $9.98
Including:
Heritage of Kings: The Settlers $6.99
The Settlers 2: Gold Edition $6.99

Direct2Drive
Torchlight $14.99 Use code 5OFFTORCH (Our Review)
Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures Premium Plus Pack $9.95
Star Wars(TM) Classics Pack $24.95
Including but not limited to:
Star Wars Republic Commando(TM)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars Jedi Knight II : Jedi Outcast

Gamers Gate
Tropico Reloaded $7.49

XBLA
3 on 3 NHL Arcade 400 msp

By Brian Perry

After the fantastic Grand Theft Auto IV, the announcement of downloadable expansions from Rock Star were immediately heralded as a great thing. Now, after both downloadable episodes are completed, they have been compiled together into a single stand alone expansion disk for those who may not have internet access or no longer have access to an original GTA IV disk.
(more…)

Via the International Game Developers Association’s Blog, the IGDA has announced the IGDA Healthcare Program. Any current IGDA member in good standing (anyone who doesn’t have the last name Langdell) is eligible for a IGDA HP membership for a small fee. While not a health insurance carrier directly, the IGDA is partnering up with Association Health Programs which is a broker for different insurance carriers across the USA according the blog. By having an IGDA HP membership, the rates for these carriers will be lower than if you did not have this membership.

While not exactly an exciting piece of news, it is an interesting development in the growing development of the industry through the IGDA. While it’ll be a long time before the industry can officially state they have unions or have any sort of solidified industry that isn’t just trying to mimic the larger and more mainstream entertainment brethren, it is a positive step forward in the growth of at least this particular section of the gaming industry. – The Ben

This week Brian, Stephen, and Kevin get together and discuss the new games they have been playing this week. Then it’s into the news where they cover what is hopefully the last of the modern warfare news, as well as the bad goings on inside EA. Plus a Indy revolt against Tim langdel’s Edge tradmark. Then it’s NPD’s and more to wrap up the show.

 

 Life Inside the Box – 068 – Getting Edgy With it. [93:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Brian Perry

The weekend has come around and it’s time to play, so here’s your weekly guide to what’s on sale at your favorite downloadable services.

Impulse - This week’s Impulse buys:
Demigod $14.99
Tropico Reloaded $7.49

Steam - Weekend Deals:
Dreamkiller $19.99
Crysis $14.99
Crysis Warhead $14.99
QuantZ $4.99

Overlord Complete Pack $8.75
Including:
Overlord $1.50
Overlord II $7.50
Overlord: Raising Hell $2.50

Good Old Games –
Elixer Games Pack $9.98 50% Off both games
Including:
Evil Genius $6.99 30% off
Republic: The Revolution $6.99 30% off

Direct2Drive
Borderlands $44.95 Use code 5OFFBORDER

Gamers Gate
Fairy Tales: Three Heroes $14.95
Darkstar One $4.95
Company of Heroes Complete Pack $29.95

XBLA
Saints Row 2: Ultor Exposed 560 msp

Last months numbers were something else eh? Well thank the stars balance has been achieved and normality has been restored reports the NPD Group via NeoGaf:

PlayStation 2 117.8K
PlayStation 3 320.6K
PSP 174.6K
Xbox 360 249.7K
Wii 506.9K
Nintendo DS 457.6K

UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES (PS3; Oct-09) 537,000
WII FIT PLUS* (WII; Oct-09) 441,000
BORDERLANDS (360; Oct-09) 418,000
WII SPORTS RESORT* (WII; Jul-09) 314,000
NBA 2K10* (360; Oct-09) 311,000
HALO 3: ODST (360; Sep-09) 271,000
NBA 2K10* (PS3; Oct-09) 213,000
FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 (360; Oct-09) 175,000
KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS (NDS; Sep-09) 169,000
FIFA SOCCER 10 (360; Oct-09) 156,000

The PSP Go launched this month didn’t-…yeah it did didn’t it? Yeah October 1st. That’s….that’s some low PSP hardware numbers for a new hardware SKU launch. I think even the GBA Micro helped the GBA Brand more than the Go’s helping the PSP the month it came out, and by then the GBA was already being put to pasture. The Micro was like the “NES Top Loader” of the GBA Line.

Well looking at software for October we’ve got Uncharted 2 making a respectable debut. Almost seems like it’s this generation’s Metroid Prime as a slow burner of a series that doesn’t quite match the sales with the gigantic critical acclaim they garner. Hmmm Forza 3 numbers look okay nothing special. Kingdom Hearts from last month surprisingly showing up near the bottom an-…wait where’s Brutal Legend? Oh God it’s happening again! It’s happening again it’s the Schaferfuede we always think Tim’s next great title is going to make his studio and himself recognized finally after all these years and the games turn out to be slow sellers.

It’s Schaferfuede I tells ya.

Well as interesting as these numbers are, they won’t compare in the slightest to November’s Large Marge-Sized Numbers on all fronts. Sure we already know MW2 will lead the software pack, will the HD Console Numbers reflect the release of the newest “Biggest Entertainment Launch in History” ?- The Ben

Update: From Geoff Keighly:

FYI, Brutal Legend sold 215.4K across PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

Ah, well that’s more respectable then. Schaferfuede confirmation delayed for now folks.

Reuters reports that Modern Warfare 2 broke all boundaries with a record breaking 4.7 million copy launch on Tuesday with $310 Million sales generated by the game alone; no word on how the strategy guide and various MW2-related swag are selling.

Now, we all knew this was going to happen. Activision knew it was going to happen. Grand Poobah Bobby Kotick knew the game was going to do this well. The question is, did they know skimping on the PC Version would have as much backlash at it did and if so, do they really care? They’ve got all the money in the world right now to make peace to the PC gamers, are they even going to bother fixing the bridges they burnt within the last two or three weeks with the disgruntled members of that community, or is it not even necessary at this point? – The Ben

By Stephen Holowczyk

It’s been ten years, but there’s finally a Diablo clone that’s better then the original Diablo. That’s right, you heard me. It’s Torchlight, and it should come as no surprise. After all, two of the lead designers, Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer worked on both Diablo I and II. The rest of the team is rounded out by many people who made Mythos, another action-RPG made by former Blizzard employees.
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This week, Brian, Kyle, Stephen, and Kevin put together a extra long edition of the show, weighing in on the potential for this year to be the year of the PS3, citing the recent price drop, the slowing of Wii sales, and an apparent trend to the PS3 for this year’s popular sequels. Then, they dive in to the latest controversy over this week’s newly released Modern Warfare 2. Then it’s a heady debate over Remedy Entertainment’s decision on whether or not to include the ending of Alan Wake in review copies, and much much more. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

 

 Life Inside the Box – 067 – Modern Bullshit [105:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Brian Perry

The weekend has come around and it’s time to play, so here’s your weekly guide to what’s on sale at your favorite downloadable services.

Impulse - This week’s Impulse buys:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – Shadow of Chernobyl $9.99
Flock $7.49
Shattered Suns $14.99

Steam - Weekend Deals:
Nation Red $6.99
Mass Effect $9.99

Good Old Games –
Lords of Magic: Special Edition $4.19
Lords of the Realm 3 $4.19
Lords of the Realm: Royal Edition $4.19

Direct2Drive
Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising $0.00 Use code 5OFFOPFLASH

Gamers Gate
Death Track: Resurrection $9.95
Painkiller $6.96
Painkiller Overdose $3.46

XBLA
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Including:
Variety Map Pack 400 msp

This week Brian, Kyle, Kevin and Stephen take a trip to the borderlands this week talking about Gearbox’s new shoot and loot game. Then it’s the news with Netflix going to the PS3 and Wii, a new Excitebike game and a long discussion about the beginning of infinity wards upcoming game Modern Warfare 2 and the controversy it’s causing.

 

 Life Inside the Box – 066 – Controversy! [68:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download