So, Ubisoft’s in trouble.

It’s not just that somebody’s trying to buy Ubisoft

The publisher behind Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Just Dance could be the next major acquisition in the world of video games. Reports by Bloomberg and Kotaku have suggested that there are several private equity firms circling the company.

…it’s why somebody’s trying to buy Ubisoft.

Those who’ve followed Ubisoft for more than a few years will remember that the company famously staved off a hostile takeover from Vivendi back in 2018. Since then, the 35-year-old publisher has suffered from a wave of departures from senior staff and the already mentioned production troubles with some of its biggest upcoming titles.

Continue reading So, Ubisoft’s in trouble.

Star Wars and LotR news.

Some interesting stuff. First off, there was a suspiciously-comprehensive leak to TheOneRing.net which confirms that Amazon’s LotR series is set in the Second Age, which means Rings of Power, maybe the Fall of Numenor, all that good stuff. The good news here is the map that came along with the leak, which looks like it was checked by somebody who knows when Mordor was founded (it is not named on the map). That’s a little thing, but they got it right, so I’m just the tiniest bit more hopeful now.

Speaking of hopeful: an open-world Star Wars is coming, and it’ll be by Ubisoft and not the GA… excuse me, I mistyped that. Clearly I meant ‘EA.’ Ubisoft has its own issues, but I can’t quite believe that the company would blow up inhabited planets… no, wait, I’m mixing up EA/GA again. Sorry about that!

The Division 2 trailer.

Not as awesome as Cyberpunk 2077, but that’s OK.

I enjoyed The Division, despite not quite finishing it.  Which I suspect that I’ll end up rectifying in the next couple of months. I understand that the game has been refined considerably since the last time I played it.  This looks fun, although I hope that it’s primarily single-player.  I play other games for group content.

The ‘Assassin’s Creed: Origins’ gameplay trailer.

There’s a giant snake in Assassin’s Creed: Origins.  Like, Conan-sized.  I am not exactly sure why there is a giant snake. I am not opposed to there being a giant snake, but I would like there to be some sort of explanation as to why. I believe that this reasonable, surely.

I may have to give up on Assassin’s Creed 2.

I’m facing the endpoint of one of the tombs.  I know the answer (lots of jumpy-flippy stuff); but I just don’t have the reflexes to execute the answer within the freaking time limit.  There’s no way to adjust the difficulty level, there’s no way to abort the mission, there’s no way to revert to a previous save and simply go do something else, and there’s no freaking cheat code to let me stop having to do a part of a game that I don’t, you know, enjoy.  After a couple of days I just gave up and fired up Mass Effect.  I’ve only finished that game once; I can still get enjoyment out of it.

I think that Assassin’s Creed 2 is the first Ubisoft game that I’ve ever played – and if they’re all like this in terms of customizing game play then it’s probably going to be the last one, too.