Videogamer writes: "Welcome to the Rumour mill, VideoGamer.com's run-down of the big rumours currently doing the rounds in the video game industry. Every week we'll hunt down the juiciest stories and give our opinion on how legit they are. So, whether you want the ridiculous or the plausible, read on.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 in development

The Rumour: Final Fantasy designer Yoshitaka Amano has joined Ubisoft and will be working on Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Verdict: It's a title fans have been crying out for and we'd certainly love to see a sequel, but Ubisoft hasn't so much as hinted that a sequel to its 2003 action adventure title is coming. Despite almost unanimous critical praise the game wasn't a commercial success and with so many blockbuster franchises in the Ubisoft locker it would be a risk to choose this over a new game in a franchise with a stronger fan base.

Plausibility rating: 2/5"
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Avid Gamer writes;

"Several titbits for you steam users out there. The first is that you can now grab Assassin's Creed on the PC off Steam. The PC version comes with four PC exclusive missions; Rooftop Race, Archer Stealth Assassination Challenge. If you're a US / Canadian reader then you can now pre-purchase Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for $49.95."
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Knowing Assassin's Creed would be coming out on the PC, I made a conscious effort to avoid the console versions for the past several months so that I could have an unspoiled experience on my platform of choice. I'm finally having that experience, and it was worth it, but one thing has been bothering me: it's impossible to stop playing. And not in the "Just five more minutes" way that Sins of a Solar Empire is impossible ... » Read More

Kotaku reports that the arrival of Ubisoft's catalog on Steam continues to clunk along, as gamers hoping to be "one of the first to play the PC adaptation of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed" find themselves without a playable version. The PC port is currently on sale at traditional retail locations but the digital unlocking won't happen until 5 PM PDT, it seems. It's an unusual exception in the Steam world, where those awake at 12:01 PDT the day off can burn the midnight oil with their pre-loaded purchases.

The same holds true for Direct2Drive and Ubisoft's own digital store, should you shun Valve's service.
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Megarom has announced that Assassin's Creed DS will be released this Friday across South Africa.

Assassin's Creed Altaïr's Chronicles is a Nintendo DS exclusive. It is a prequel to the console version of Assassin's Creed. Discover more about Altaïr as you travel through a 3D world, battling through four cities of the Crusade's Middle East.

South African gamers can also look forward to the PC version of Assassin's Creed, which will also be released this Friday. The PC version includes four PC-exclusive investigation missions, including the Rooftop Race Challenge and the Archer Stealth Assassination Challenge.

Assassin's Creed is set in 1191 AD when the Third Crusade was tearing the Holy Land apart, the Assassins were both shrouded in secrecy and feared for their ruthlessness. Players assume the role of Altair, a master assassin as the Assassins attempt to suppress the conflict on both sides and stop hostilities.
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PC gamers and handheld players will have to wait two weeks longer than originally anticipated for the PC port of Assassin's Creed and the DS spin-off, Altair's Chronicles.

Both originally dated for February, Ubisoft previously delayed them until March 28, only to now move them further back to April 11.
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VG247 is reporting that the minimum spec of the PC version of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed has been altered. The disc space required has been dropped by a third and a recommended Gb of RAM has been removed, the site reports.
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The biggest flaw Assassin's Creed had was that even though the game world was magnificently realized, there wasn't much to do in it except the same things over and over again. And after being forced to it nine times, this mechanic had outstayed its welcome for far too long.
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Four new investigation types are slated for Assassin's Creed on PC, which is due out at the end of the month.The console original was criticised for a lack of variety once you progress into the game. Ubisoft is trying to iron out the complaints with four new investigation types.And they are; Archer assassination, rooftop race challenge, merchant stand destruction challenge and escort challenge.In the words of Technical Lead Charles Beauchemin: ... » Read More

VG247's reporting that the PC version of Assassin's Creed has now slipped from March to April, and that a new set of "average specs" have been released by Ubisoft.

"Any dual-core machine running at 2.2GHz and over with a decent graphic card (such as a ATi HD2600 or a NVidia 8600) will give great performances," said Beauchemin. "Our minimum requirement is a Pentium D 2.4GHz or a AMD X2 Athlon 3800+, equipped with a Shader Model 3.0 card (ATi X1300 and better, NVidia 6600 and better)."
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Some of you may remember the earlier news about the rather steep minimum requirements of the forthcoming PC version of Ubisoft's hit Assassin's Creed. Those specs were quickly pulled from the web, but Ubisoft have done the right thing and put them back up, with changes.

The differences are minor but they do bring the specs back down, closer to Earth!
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From pc.gamezone.com:

"Today Ubisoft announced that Assassin's Creed for PC will be available at retailers nationwide in March.

Assassin's Creed for PC follows in the wake of the critically acclaimed and worldwide console hit Assassin's Creed, and will feature four brand-new exclusive types of investigations, providing even more ways for players to explore the various locations of the Third Crusade. Players will assume the role of the main character, Altair, and will work to stop hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict and experience the art of a master assassin. With more than 2.5 million units of the console versions sold to date in North America alone since its mid-November 2007 launch, Assassin's Creed for PC is set to expand upon this success. "
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The PC version of Assassin's Creed features four missions not appearing in the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions.

As such, the PC edition of the game is going under the name Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut. Ubisoft has confirmed it'll release in March.
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Ubisoft has revealed via its release schedule that Assassin's Creed will be available in retail stores on March 28th 2008 for both the PC and DS, giving them both a month's delay.
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French publisher Ubisoft has announced its third quarter fiscal results for the all-important holiday period ended December 31, 2007. Sales climbed more than 44 percent to 450 million euros ($625.81 million), significantly better than the guidance Ubisoft had provided for 410 million euros (which itself had already been raised back on Dec. 13). For the first nine months of the fiscal year Ubisoft's sales were up an impressive 47.2 percent to 711 million euros ($988.78 million).

The publisher's solid performance and continued growth were largely driven by the success of Assassin's Creed, which sold five million copies, and its expanded casual business ¿ most notably its new Imagine line, which sold 2.5 million units. In Europe, Assassin's Creed was the best-selling game in 2007 for the PS3 and the second best-selling game on Xbox 360. In the U.S. it was the second best-selling game in 2007 for the PS3and the third best-selling on 360. Ubisoft also reported "excellent sales" for its other casual games series such as the Petz line and the My Coach franchise.
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You're going to need a kick-ass PC boosted by a flux capacitor to get a decent frame rate in Assassin's Creed for PC if spec requirements published on the 'net are accurate. "In order to play this game properly, your PC MUST meet or exceed these minimum requirements," a post on Ubisoft Solution Centre, before dropping the almighty bombshell: (Make sure you're sitting down…) Supported OS: Windows XP / Vista (only) Processor: Dual core processor 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon ... » Read More

These specifications are neck-and-neck with Crysis' minimums, even a bit beefier in some respects. If the performance of Crytek's FPS on sub-standard hardware is anything to go by, Assassin's Creed on PC will chug on a system with the aforementioned capabilities.
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Game Critics Awards: "The judges of the Game Critics Awards are honored to announce the first annual Game of the Year awards. Considering games across all platforms, released commercially in North America between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007, the judges have voted to decide on the best of the best for the year.

To arrive at the top ten games of 2007, the judges applied a points system. Each judge nominated 10 games and awarded a score between 5 and 30 points to their chosen games, with a total point allotment of exactly 100. The cumulative total for each nominated game was then calculated to generate the ten highest scoring games. More details are available in the rules section".
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Exophase.com writes "A reliable anonymous source has sent along details on the system requirements for the PC release of Assassin's Creed. The specs look rather demanding and it's clear that you'll need a Crysis-capable PC to run Assassin's Creed in its full glory on PC.

Minimum System Requirements:
* Windows XP or Vista
* 2 GB RAM
* Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
* 256MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card, or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader Model 3.0 or higher
* DirectX compatible driver
* DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
* 16 GB free hard disk space
* DirectX libraries (included)
* Vista compatible sound card
* Keyboard, Mouse
* Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller (optional)

Recommended System Requirements:
* Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo, or better processor
* 3 GB System RAM
* ATI HD2900 series, Nvidia GeForce 8800 series, or better video card
* 5.1 sound card
* Microsoft Xbox 360 controller

*Supported Video Cards at Time of Release

DirectX10 compatible cards, recommended ATI HD2900 series, Nvidia GeForce 8800 series

Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader Model 3.0 or higher

The PC version of Assassin's Creed is scheduled for a March 25 release in the states."
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DS Fanboy:

"Does anyone else find it suspicious that Assassin's Creed is due out on the DS in one month and we still haven't heard even the most basic of information? We haven't seen one screen -- we don't even know what kind of game it is. We could interpret this seeming blackout in one of two ways: first, and most likely, that the game isn't actually going to come out next month; and second, that Ubisoft knows they have dead weight on their hands and hopes to slip it quietly out to stores, where people will buy it for the front cover."
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