PS3 Fanboy

We'll be honest, we're surprised to hear that Prince of Persia is going to make it out this year. We've seen very little of it at the various Summer trade shows. Only E3 judges have actually played it. Despite that, an official release date of December 2nd has been announced. From what we've seen, this game will be worth picking up on art style alone, but probably isn't worth prioritizing over the likes of LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space or Mirror's Edge. Which all come out earlier, anyway. Up to you though, really.

There usually isn't much of an incentive to pre-order games from shops. Putting down cold hard cash long before ever having the pleasure of owning a game sounds pretty preposterous to some. However, perhaps the pre-order campaign for Prince of Persia will make hard-of-parting gamers rethink their ways.

So, what makes the Prince of Persia deal so good? Well, if you pre-order the game in North America, you'll be treated to a free upgrade to the Limited Edition version. This is the only way to get the LE version, and we must say it's a rather nice way of doing things. Considering that most Limited Editions add on an extra 20 bucks, this free, no additional cost set feels mightily attractive. For the full details on what's included in the LE version, check right after the break.

Download to PSP

While we typically focus on PS3-exclusive games, we can't help but get enchanted by a number of multiplatform games. Prince of Persia has been revamped and cel-shaded, and this seven minute developer walkthrough will give you a great idea on what the game will be like. Listen carefully to the main character: does he sound a little familiar to you?

He should.

One of the greatest retro revivals of all time may finally be heading to the PS3, if this update to the ESRB is true. Ubisoft's Prince of Persia Classic revived the original game, but used completely modern graphics a la Bionic Commando Rearmed. Classic debuted exclusively on XBLA last year, but it appears it won't be long until PS3 fans will get a chance to play the game.

The ESRB has always been a reliable source of game leaks, and we doubt this case is any different. PSN is already a showcase to stellar PS3 exclusive downloadables, and getting XBLA's best games on our service only makes it even better. See the original XBLA trailer after the cut.

[Via NeoGAF; Thanks, Gambit07!]

Now, we're all about grabbing up leaked game footage and delivering it to your computer screen. But this leaked Prince of Persia footage almost made us toss it right into the garbage can. The reason? Less-than-YouTube-quality video is one problem, but the footage is just of the camera doing its thing. The characters just sit there and look bored -- literally. They want to do something, obviously, but no. They must sit there whilst the camera runs free. Enjoy your first cross-eyed look at Prince of Persia!

You may or may not be aware that there's a vote taking place on the official Prince of Persia website. This poll allows people to pick one of three Xbox 360 achievements for the final game. Not much use to PS3 owners, but Ubisoft has done its best to keep us sweet. The poll itself states that PS3 fans need not take umbrage and that they have "planned something special" for us too.

Whether this will have anything to do with the upcoming trophies for the game, or something else entirely, there's no real indication. Needless to say, however, we're looking forward to seeing whatever it is Ubisoft comes up with. What can we say, we love surprises.

[Via 1Up]

Another great reveal today besides that of Beyond Good & Evil 2 (which we mentioned earlier) is Prince of Persia. The trailer for this game looks exquisite, and we're really excited to see more. In this trailer, we see this iteration's prince fighting monsters while keeping his face concealed; we also get to watch his new ally Elika help out.

Thankfully, there were no odd cross promotions going on -- say if the prince took off the layers of cloth covering his face only to reveal that he was indeed ... Jake Gyllenhaal (who is set to star in the movie). That would be disturbing.

While most of the video is dramatic music as an artist at Ubisoft does a speed drawing on the computer of the newly-revealed female companion to the ... "prince" ... in the upcoming Prince of Persia title, there's still a little bit of information about this mysterious Elika. She'll be integral to the plot, naturally, since she's supposed to give players and the main character someone to connect with and someone to grow attached to. That's mostly PR speak for "she's going to be around, she'll be cool, and sparks may or may not fly". Either way, it's just cool to see the drawing take form in a time-lapsed fashion.

While the new Prince of Persia is still a little ways off, we have a few pieces of artwork and some old-ish screenshots for you to look at thanks to Game Informer Online. What we'd really like to see is this game in motion -- taking on the Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter art style is a big risk, especially for an established franchise. Still, it looks pretty nice on its own and the artwork shows off some potential areas to explore as well as the new main character's blade. Enjoy!

Consider the headline for what it is: an ideal. Ubisoft is quite optimistic with the idea they'll be able to launch the new Prince of Persia title in the third quarter of this fiscal year (October - December). This is, of course, pretty stunning to gamers because the title had been in the dark until very recently and is getting released in a matter of months. We say it's an idealistic goal because, like most games this generation, delays are nearly inevitable. We'll hear more during Ubidays at the end of this month, we're sure. Until then, fingers crossed!

Wow -- Ubisoft wasn't kidding when they said they were going to take the Prince of Persia franchise is new directions. A new article in Edge magazine explains a lot of the concepts and ideas going into the game, so let us know if you decide this is too much of a change, too fast. The game remains in Ubisoft Montreal's hands -- so you're getting the same team that worked on the first trilogy of games. The team will be using the same engine used in Assassin's Creed (which we expected). The difference between this game and Assassin's Creed is the visual style. The team wants to go for "fantasy, but credible" like those found in the new Street Fighter or classic animated film like Princess Mononoke.

This is a new story. The sands of time are gone and so is that cast of characters, including the prince. You're a wanderer lost in the desert. You're thrown into a conflict between two gods: Ormazd and Ahriman, light and darkness respectively. Ahriman has released a plague on mankind or something, so you decide to meddle in this war and stop it. This is where the changes happen.

Past Prince titles launched you into a world that was filled with a room, then enemies, then another room in an incredibly linear, but satisfying, pattern. Say farewell to that. This game is truly non-linear and will allow you to progress the game in whatever order you see fit. Every fight in the game will be a duel -- you won't be slicing around bad guys like an overpowered acrobat anymore unless it's one-on-one. You don't even win a lot of these duels, apparently -- you just make the enemy retreat for a time and then fight them off again until you manage to defeat them. More secrets are being kept, so we'll inform you as soon as they are revealed!

It's been a while since we've been able to really show anything off regarding the new story arc coming up in the next Prince of Persia game. Finally, some scans from the magazine Joypad show off the art style being utilized as well as some gameplay elements. We think. See, we don't speak French very well, but we can definitely look at pretty pictures. What do you guys think? The new prince and the new cel-shading: pass or fail? We'll find out.

Ubisoft Montreal have announced that the Prince of Persia franchise will be making its giant leap onto next-gen systems. The as yet unnamed sequel to the rejuvenate the action-adventure genre" with the next Prince of Persia as well as introducing a "brand-new illustrative art style" to the series.

No doubt we'll hear more about this at Ubisoft's Ubidays at the end of this month. Until then you'll have to remain satisfied with the knowledge you'll be playing an all new -- next-gen -- Prince of Persia before the end of the year. Even if it doesn't have a name yet.

[Via Press Release]

The folks at Ubisoft, who brought us Assassin's Creed, are apparently hard at work, developing the next title in the Prince of Persia franchise. While we're certain the prince we know has ended his story arc, a new prince will probably emerge in the next title slated for a surprising release date of fiscal year '08 (anywhere from this April to March of '09).

While that may seem vague, it's pretty interesting to know absolutely nothing about a game then get wind of its impending release within, roughly, one year. No word on which development house is in charge, or anything else. We'll keep you posted as details emerge from, yes, the sands of time. Oivey.