MTV Multiplayer writes:

"Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" is finished, announced series creator Hideo Kojima at Konami's press conference in San Francisco last week.

The last adventure of Solid Snake is almost ready for gamers. It's been a long time coming - more than four years of development - but on June 12, "MGS4? will finally become a reality on PlayStation 3s worldwide.

Fans can stop worrying, though; this isn't the last "Metal Gear," explained associate producer Ryan Payton in an interview with MTV Multiplayer. "I think there's been some misconceptions that this is the last 'Metal Gear,'" said Payton. "This is really just the last chapter of the saga of the Solid Snake story."

More after the jump...
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Developer and publisher Ubisoft has announced its full year financial report, with sales rising 36 percent to 928 million euros ($1.46 billion), and a holiday quarter up 10 percent to 217 million euros ($340.5 million) on strong sales of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Assassin's Creed.

Full year sales were up from 680 million euros the year prior, and fourth quarter sales from 197 million euros, a stronger showing than the company's expected 165 million euro fourth quarter.
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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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In response to GamePro's article, Microsoft's global marketing director, Albert Penello, offered the following response:

"We have to disagree with your conclusion that the trend of Xbox 360 versions of games being best is changing, especially when you look at the entire catalog of multiplatform titles available. We also feel there were some key features of Xbox 360 games that deserved a little more play in your reviews. For multiplatform console owners, Achievements and Gamerscore have to be listed as an influencing factor to purchase the Xbox 360 version; their success and popularity is undeniable. The fact that other consoles have not implemented anything like this across every game should not be a reason to leave these features out of consideration. Plus, with Xbox 360 the capability for controller rumble comes standard, not as a future option and you get all the benefits of Xbox LIVE and its community of more than 10 million members.

'The cold, hard truth' is that Xbox 360 has the best games - and industry reviewers and consumers agree. Xbox 360 has more games with an aggregate review score of 90 or higher than the competition combined and multiplatform titles regularly sell better on Xbox 360. The majority of games are still lead developed for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE simply makes games better. The competition between platforms is great for gamers and in 2008 we are going to continue to work with developers to push the boundaries of our platform and the LIVE service to make sure the best game experiences continue to be on Xbox 360."
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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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UPDATE: This story has been requested to be removed.
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From the article: "Jesper Kyd's original score for ASSASSIN'S CREED (Ubisoft) was awarded 'Best Original Musical Score in a Video Game' at the 2nd Annual Elan Awards www.theelans.com, the Canadian Awards for the Electronic and the Animated Arts. The awards show was hosted by Seth MacFarlane"
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Titled Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles, the game's touch screen will apparently be used to interrogate suspects and pickpocket those around you, while the top screen features a fully 3D environment for you to explore. Other than that, though, we don't have much else to go on -- but we'll let you know when we do.
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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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VGChartz is reporting for Week Ending 19th January 2008, the American Chart was as follows:

Hardware Total:

DS: 161,736 (+36%)
360: 70,769 (-16%)
PSP: 67,102 (-6%)
PS2: 59,473 (-2%)
Wii: 55,141 (-4%)
PS3: 47,536 (-10%)

Total Software:

360: 805,220
Wii: 722,008
DSL: 596,161
PS2: 531,297
PS3: 347,921
PSP: 217,08

Top 10 Software:

1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) 82,379 2,896,309
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare(360) 71,689 3,046,068
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) 68,551 2,766,635
4. Assassins Creed(360) 58,031 2,064,721
5. Wii Sports (Wii) 55,141 8,651,583
6. Halo 3 (360) 50,074 5,182,309
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (360) 47,488 1,779,871
8. Mario Party DS (DS) 43,143 673,196
9. Wii Play (Wii)40,862 4,485,905
10. More Brain Training (DS) 36,406 1,552,208
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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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Software Total:
DS: 609,840
Wii: 570,059
PS3: 238,450
360: 203,563
PS2: 134,850
PSP: 24,268

1. Wii Sports (Wii) 119,835 6,379,604
2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) 96,291 1,322,339
3. More Brain Training (DS) 83,439 3,111,330
4. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) 68,012 1,563,768
5. Brain Training (DS) 65,928 4,900,545
6. Wii Play (Wii) 55,725 2,715,265
7. New Super Mario Bros (DS) 47,174 3,855,957
8. Assassins Creed (PS3) 46,113 1,137,639
9. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS) 40,318 681,888
10. Nintendogs (DS) 39,444 8,685,024
11. Pokemon Diamond / Pearl (DS)38,614 3,267,347
12. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune 38,285 545,022
13. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2) 34,657 2,157,160
14. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS3) 31,894 928,084
15. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) 30,592 962,322
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Valve's Portal and 2K Boston/Australia's BioShock lead the nominees for the eighth annual Game Developers Choice Awards with five nominations each, including the coveted Game of the Year title, organizers have announced.

The Game of the Year category also includes Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4, which follows with four nominations and, with both games receiving two nominations each, Harmonix's Rock Band and Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy.
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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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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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TeamXbox Readers' Choice polls closed down on January 2, and all of the results have been tallied. Here are the results:

¿ Developer of the Year: BioWare
¿ Sports Game of the Year: skate
¿ Action Game of the Year: Assassin's Creed
¿ Best Sound of the Year: BioShock

¿ Role-Playing Game of the Year: Mass Effect
¿ Fighting Game of the Year: Virtual Fighter 5
¿ Hardware/Peripheral of the Year: Xbox 360 Elite
¿ Sleeper Hit of the Year: Crackdown

¿ Best Graphics of the Year: Call of Duty 4
¿ Xbox Live Arcade Game of the Year: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
¿ Best Visual Style of the Year: BioShock
¿ First-Person Shooter of the Year: Call of Duty 4

¿ Best Story of the Year: Mass Effect
¿ Music/Rhythm/Party Game of the Year: Rock Band
¿ Racing Game of the Year: Forza Motorsport 2
¿ Multiplayer Game of the Year: Halo 3

¿ Game of the Year: Call of Duty 4

View the full report for other nominees in each category.
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January 3, 2008 Official ELSPA Entertainment Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 29 December: 1 (2) Assassin's Creed (PS3, Xbox 360) 2 (4) FIFA 08 (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, DS, Wii) 3 (1) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) 4 (3) The Simpsons Game (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii, 5 (5) Need For Speed: ProStreet (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, DS, Wii) 6 (13) Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, DS) 7 (7) WWE SmackDown! vs Raw ... » Read More

The battle between Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty 4 continues at the top of the Xbox 360 chart...
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These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade, full versions purchased this week. Here are the top 3 for each charts, see the source for the complete top 10 list.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Gears of War

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1. Sensible World of Soccer
2. Arkadian Warriors
3. Tempest

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1. Halo 2
2. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
3. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
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ActionTrip's 2007 Game of the Year voting poll registered 10673 participants. 1809 registered users voted for Call of Duty 4, 1279 for Halo 3, 1192 for Assassin's Creed, 837 for "None of the Above", 716 for BioShock, 710 for Crysis, 627 for The Orange Box, and so on. The rest of the results can be viewed in ActionTrip's voting poll section.

¿ People's Choice: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
¿ Runners-up: Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box

¿ Game of the Year (ActionTrip Staff): Portal
¿ Runners-up: Mass Effect, Halo 3, BioShock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, The Witcher

¿ Best Action Game: Halo 3
¿ Runners-up: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, God of War II, BioShock, Crysis

¿ Best Strategy Game: World in Conflict
¿ Runners-up: Supreme Commander, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

¿ Best RPG: Mass Effect
¿ Runners-up: The Witcher, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer

¿ Best Sports Game: FIFA 08
¿ Runners-up: SSX Blur, NHL 08, Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

¿ Best MMOG: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
¿ Runners-up: Tabula Rasa, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

¿ Best Rhythm/Music Game: Rock Band
¿ Runners-up: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

¿ Babe of the Year: Joanna Krupa
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