Ubisoft

Awards, contest winners, and Dan Weissenberger? This can only be our Fifth Annual Holiday Awards Spectacular! We dish on the best and worst of 2012, Brad's son drops in to share his best and worst of the year, and we give out some fabulous prizes based on a really cool random number generator. Featuring Dylan Collins, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Dan Weissenberger, Richard "It's not really a spoiler" Naik, and Tim "The Brett Farve thing is getting old" Spaeth.

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British publisher Titan Books has decided to celebrate the gorgeous artwork that provides the basis for our favorite digital adventures in two new books: The Art of Assassin's Creed III and Awakening: The Art of Halo 4. If you've got a finicky game-lover on your holiday shopping list, both of these books could make fantastic presents.

Just when you're ready to argue that no one is excited about the Wii U or its software, a video is leaked onto the Internet that appears to show Ubisoft's Rayman Legends running on a Wii U (development kit) and demonstrating Wii U-specific features.

Surely we can't find anything negative to say about Rayman Origins, right? Errrrr.... Plus the truly uncanny X-Men Destiny (why hast though forsaken me, Denis Dyack?) and our take on whether games journalists should ever write for free. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard Naik, and Tim "Quack" Spaeth.

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Not Quite Worthy of Worship

HIGH The "Emergence" mission is awe-inspiring.

LOW The frustrating "Wildfire" mission comes too early in the campaign.

WTF The awful, abrupt non-ending.

While no one at Ubisoft seems to know for sure whether there will be an actual sequel to Michel Ancel's Beyond Good & Evil, there is no doubt that an High-Defintion (HD) version of the original game will be making its way to the current-gen HD consoles.

Set for release on Xbox Live Arcade (March 3rd) and the PlayStation Network (at a later date), this update features 1080p visuals (improved character models and textures) as well as a remastered soundtrack. Achievements, trophies and online leaderboards will also be added.

You didn't really think Ubisoft was going to make a sequel to Beyond Good & Evil did you?

IndustryGamers: Most publishers make decisions based on sales, so what made Ubisoft decide to pursue Beyond Good and Evil again?

Laurent Detoc: Well, I didn't say there's definitely going to be another game. I said something had leaked, which means we've been working on some Beyond Good and Evil stuff, but whether there's going to be another game or not, that's something for the future. But getting to your question as to why there's work on the IP again, it's a creative people business; the creative talent is interested in it and possibly exploring how to do it from a new angle.

(Via Disability Studies, Temple U):

Penny L. Richards, scholar with UCLA's Center for the Study of Women and historian of disability and special education (among other things) asks about the game Raving Rabbids: TV Party (emphasis and bold in the original):

Crazy, wacky, raving, and rabid too... which all apparently mean screaming with wide open mouths and unfocused eyes, causing havoc, chaos, destruction? "Get ready for you and all your friends to go insane." Lovely.

There's been a lot of disability-related goodness going on at Ubisoft lately. After taking action against an ableist slur in MindQuiz last year, the publisher announced this past September that all its games developed in-house will be subtitled. Also, Ubisoft is partnering with organization Handicap International for a campaign called Ability Together. This campaign raises awareness of the problems disabled people face, particularly those in developing countries. And it includes Handigo The Game, a series of free minigames starring characters with different impairments: one is blind, one uses a wheelchair and one has learning difficulties.

Game Description: Red Steel is an exclusive Wii launch title that takes full advantage of the console's innovative controller and puts players directly into the action. Your fiancée has been kidnapped and her father—a Japanese mafia kingpin—murdered by a rival gang. The only way to save your loved one and defend your honor is to journey from Los Angeles to Japan and confront the Tokyo underworld.