According to Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD offers “a complete graphical overhaul, re- mastered music and sound effects, a revamped gameplay experience, and new missions that dive deeper into Aveline’s story.”

The HD version of Liberation features the same story as the PS Vita version, although some cutscenes were added to clear up the story somewhat.

Liberation HD is in development at Ubisoft Sofia, and will see a release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2014.

The other title, Assassin’s Creed Pirates, is being developed by Ubisoft Paris for high-end tablets and smartphones. Ubisoft says players will be able to manage their crew and search for treasures, and ships will be customizable, with players given the freedom to buy upgrades such as “more cannons for your deck, a new rudder or better sails.”

AC Pirates tells the story of Alonzo Batilla “as he rises through the ranks of the fearful pirates of the golden age.” Ubisoft promises “an adventure that will reveal the truth about La Buse’s mysterious treasure” as well as interactions with “the Templars and the Assassins as they struggle for supremacy and meet the famed figures of the era: Blackbeard, Bellamy and Hornigold.” Pirates will offer “dozens of side missions, treasures quests, perks and achievements” and “groundbreaking 3D visuals.”

Ubisoft also stressed that Assassin’s Creed Pirates is a standalone title, in that it isn’t tied to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag in any way, shape or form.

Talking on the PlayStation Blog, Revolution Software Co-founder Charles Cecil said:

“The PS Vita is an ideal device for an adventure game — the combination of the front and rear touch screen, as well as the analog stick and shoulder buttons, gives us so much scope to create a really great user interface.”

This fifth entry in the series will take protagonists George Stobbard and Nico Collard all the way back to conspiracies originating in the World War II era. A stolen painting, though visually not worth much, is said to have been cursed by the Devil, and the trusty duo are back to solve another supernatural mystery.

EA Capital Games is heading development, formerly known as The KlickNation, responsible for hit games Superhero City and Age of Champions.

Executive Producer Jeferson Valadares spoke to IGN about the game.

“We all like CCGs, RPGs, and squad-based tactics games, but they can be a little niche. The idea for Heroes of Dragon Age was to take those ideas and make them more strategic. We set out to make an accessible strategy RPG that takes full advantage of the Dragon Age universe’s cool characters and locations.”

HoDA will not tell any new stories, but will instead focus on “What If?” scenarios that will keep the action going. Every quest is self-contained and will allow players to relive significant moments from the Dragon Age timeline, be it games or books. You can have Alistair and Morrigan fighting alongside Darkspawn, for example.

HoDA will launch with more than 100 unique characters, each with four potential variations and evolutions. After the game’s launch, the character count will increase, adding characters from Dragon Age: Inquisition, among other, unexplored bits and pieces from the series’ lore.

Valadares added:

“Characters are sorted into four different factions and have rock/paper/scissor-style pros and cons. Players construct their team and pick their placement ahead of time and the battles then play out automatically. The planning stage still keeps everything strategic. You might want to keep multiple squads on hand that are optimized to take down specific types of opponents, for example.”

“Everything is available just through playing – nothing is locked off. Players that spend money can just increase their odds of getting rare characters. Fairness is very important to us,” said Valadares, regarding potential pay-to-win issues.

In AGB’s words:

According to those we spoke with who have knowledge of the in-development hardware, Amazon will be leveraging the titles already available on its platform. Each day, the company offers one productivity or game app for free and stocks a healthy library for its own devices, like the Kindle Fire. The console will also have its own, dedicated controller.

At this point, and following reports of Google choosing the same path, I think there’s a trend with Android-based consoles. What’s your take?

With the top-selling games for the platform having only sold a few thousands at best, Uhrman still says it’s encouraging and successful.

“Monetization on Ouya is so far better than we expected. It takes time to build what traditional consoles have had decades to build. “

She also said it was “too early” to draw conclusions from early stats, that suggest many gamers are taking full advantage of the game’s library of free-to-play demos, and are not upgrading to full versions. A very discouraging figure is that 27% of owners have paid for a game on Ouya, adding that 13 of Ouya’s 20 top grossing games have managed an average rate of 8% of gamers upgrading from the free to paid versions. Matt Thorson, developer of the best-selling Ouya game, has made around 21.000$ since the console’s launch last month.

“There are a lot of social and mobile app developers that would kill for an eight percent attach rate on a platform that’s 30 days old. These numbers will grow as more gamers pick up consoles, and as we attract more developers, and I believe that by the end of the year, we’ll see a few developers telling us they’ve made more than a million dollars on Ouya. To say developers can’t make money on Ouya, I take offense to that. The console has only been out for a month, and developers have only had access to the hardware for about six months. We really like what we see so far, and so do developers and gamers.”

“We’ve heard reports that players would like their stats and progression to transfer from current to next-gen in #BF4. We’re investigating.”

iOS and Android tablets will also be getting a free Commander Mode app.

“There is a free stand-alone Commander Mode app that you can download to play the game on your tablet. Commander Mode will only support iOS tablet devices including the iPad as well as Android tablets such as the Google Nexus.”

And the last bit of news is that the Premium service will be making a return with the fourth core series’ entry.

“Yes. There will be a premium version of Battlefield 4,” reads a Tweet. “We’ll share more info on a future date.”

According to WSJ, demonstrations of the Android-powered device were led by then Google executive, Andy Rubin. WSJ mentions the device allows for the streaming of YouTube videos, TV shows and movies, with a core feature of Google’s video-conference, Hangouts. Through the device, users could also use Android apps and games, as well as “potentially” accessing media services like Netflix and Pandora.

Thank you, WSJ.

It is set during the early colonial era of America, and it is currently unknown if it will tie in to Assassin’s Creed III or Liberation. The game combines city-building and battle mechanics, and players will represent the Assassins as they start colonizing America. Gamers must then defend their encampments from invaders through asynchronous 3D battles.

Does this sound good to you?

What is your take on the recent influx of classic games being re-released for phones and tablets. Are you happy you can take some of your old favourites on the go or do you think they are ruined by sometimes dodgy touch screen controls?

When last did the games industry, more specifically the console model see a disruption? You can’t remember. That’s how long. Can Ouya, the $99 Android-based video game console change the game and cause Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, the big three to alter their strategies in response? The people backing Ouya sure think so.

Here’s Ouya core creator and former IGN veteran Julie Uhrman:

“We don’t think the console-makers are dead. We just think it’s time to rethink how they do their business. We don’t like it when people pay $60 for a game and feel cheated. We don’t like it when developers can’t work on a platform because it’s too expensive.”

Ouya, a fully hackable console with the same Tegra 3 chip as the new Nexus 7 tablet and a twin-stick controller that also includes a touchpad, is being pitched as a platform for both indies and big companies, a console that is fully open to develop for and one on which every game will be free either initially as a demo or as a free-to-play game.

The new console however will only be made with crowd-funding, so today Uhrman and her team, which includes early Xbox pioneer Ed Fries and One Laptop Per Child designer Yves Behar, are calling on gamers the world over to help them on the crowd-funding service Kickstarter. They’re asking for $950,000 over the next 29 days. If they hit their goal, they’re promising their new console by March 2013.

The Time Is Right

Now’s the right time to release the console, contends Uhrman, the avid gamer and former boss of IGN’s downloadable games division recognizes a “brain drain” among console developers. She sees top talent opting out of the expensive business of making games for PlayStations, Xboxs, and Wiis, for more creative freedom and better profits. That market is mobile, where tablets and Smartphones rule the day – the problem with that is, those new games being made by breakaway developers don’t run on TVs, and without a controller.

Ouya would work just like an Android platform: “Every console is a debug kit,” Uhrman reckons, making clear one of many distinctions between her console and the big three’s.

The current model, Uhrman believes, stifles creativity and is out of sync with the current trend (simply take a look at Apple’s app store and Google play). “I see unbelievable indie content out there, and watching ‘Indie Game the Movie’ and watching their faces as they wait for Microsoft to approve [their game], it just didn’t make any sense.”

The new console will be open and its backers are looking forward to what geeks will be able to do with it.

“We decided, ‘let’s take this as far as it can go,” Uhrman said. “So if you want to go in and hack the box, go ahead and do it. We hope you do it.”

“The circuit board will have well-documented test points. People can swap out chips, add, etc. We may even publish the hardware design if enough people are curious. Because Ouya will also have Bluetooth and a USB, hardware hobbyists can also make their own peripherals (someone already suggested pinball controls to us). Regarding the software, you’ll be able to root the device easily. It won’t void your warranty. Every unit has a debug console. We are even working on the idea of a “plant”—which will restore your profile after rooting your device (reverse your root). Because it’s built on Android, you’ll understand the source code well, too. (Obviously if a hacker roots the device, our integrated user experience and game store will no longer be available while the device is rooted — so there is, as always, a tradeoff between customizing your device and enjoying the benefits of standardization. We expect the true hackers to be an elite, but small proportion of the total number of people who buy the box. Most people will probably just use the standard setup.)”

Ouya Specs: Ouya Specs

Console

Tegra 3: Quadcore ARM CortexA9 + GPU
1 GB LPDDR2 RAM
8 GB on-board flash
HDMI connection to the TV at 1080p HD
WiFi 802.11bgn
Bluetooth LE 4.0
Enclosure opens with standard screws
No disc drive

Controller

Wireless controller with 2.4Ghz RF
Standard game controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button)
Touchpad, for porting mobile games more easily
2x AA batteries
Enclosure opens with standard screws 


OS and Software

Android 4.0
Custom TV UI
Integrated custom game store — find and download games (and other apps)
Includes SDK for game development
Ability to root device without voiding warranty

“We believe this is really the people’s console and we want to get their support,” said. “More importantly, we need the money. If the world does not support this we will not exist.”

Are you in? If so, show your support on Kickstarter.

Ouya Kickstarter.

The sale begins right now on Apple’s App store. The series recently surpassed $30 million in sales.

“With millions of players worldwide, the original Infinity Blade remains one of the most popular games ever launched on the App Store,” said Donald Mustard, creative director, Chair Entertainment. “We’re excited for this opportunity to invite even more gamers to try Infinity Blade and test their skills against the God King!”

Infinity Blade was first released in December 2010.

A little more information is forthcoming regarding Ace Attorney 123 HD: Phoenix Wright, a prettied-up version of the first three games for iOS and Android devices. Here’s a gallery wherein you can see how Wright and Partners acquit themselves in HD; the full versions will be available in Japan soon, for individual or discounted bundle purchase. Expect English-language versions soon after, assuming the next six-odd months sees Westerners continue our love affair with all things touch-screen and/or litigious (which you best believe we damn well will).

According to Fox News, PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii are the last major gaming consoles we’ll see, as said medium is being beaten to death by Android and Apple devices.

So what’s the game pushing said consoles to their death? Zynga’s Angry Birds.

“Big changes coming to the world of console gaming,” said Fox News Science and Technology Editor Jeremy Kaplan. “So we have a couple of major gaming systems out there right: Xbox, PlayStation Nintendo Wii, if you don’t use it, at least you know what it is – massive powerhouses and these are companies that have built large fortunes, let’s be honest, on the backs of console gaming.”

He then spoke of the rise of Angry Birds, and how soon we all will be playing it on our Android and Apple devices.

“Recent changes indicate, that console gaming might be going away and I think it’s a lot because of things like the iPhone and the Google Android. If you’re one of those people that does gaming on your phone, you’re not alone. Angry Birds, anyone heard of this thing? A million – billion people are playing Angry Birds,” he exclaimed.

“Angry Birds is a cute little time-waster. You have these birds fly and they hit bricks, whatever. It’s time-wasting, a lot of people call it casual gaming, and the power of casual gaming has taken a lot of emphasis away from consoles,” he said. “Very interesting because for a long time, consoles were these incredible powerhouses. When Sony put out the PlayStation 3, their latest version, they built a special processor just for this thing called the Core.

Now we haven’t heard anything from Sony about the next generation in years.. Market has moved. People are doing things very differently these days.”

He also said that he didn’t know what would happen to Sony and Nintendo now that “core” gamers are going away, and that “we all are gamers now playing Angry Birds”.

As part of its massive Next Generation Portable reveal today, Sony’s announced ‘PlayStation Suite”. It’s a new service that will bring PlayStation content including PSone games to all android devices.

Sony’s Kaz Hirai said “We will first emulate the first generation PSP titles to be available on PS Suite devices.” In fact some games were shown, and they were all PSone classics. They include Cool Boarders 2, Syphon Filter, Rally Cross, WIld Arms, and MediEvil.

Also, Sony intends to use the PlayStation Suite as a framework for the development of all-new games for mobile platforms.

Here’s the press release:

Sony Computer Entertainment to Unveil ‘PlayStation®Suite,’ Delivering the World of PlayStation® to Androidâ„¢ Based Portable Devices

Simultaneously Launching “PlayStation®Certified” License Program to Provide PlayStation® Content and Development Support for Androidâ„¢ BasedPortable Devices

TOKYO, Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — SonyComputerEntertainment Inc. (SCE)today unveiled “PlayStation®Suite” (PS Suite), delivering the PlayStation® experience to Androidâ„¢ based portable devices*(1). Through this entirely new initiative, users will be able to enjoy PlayStation content on an open operating system for the first time in PlayStation history.

In the dramatically evolving and diversifying mobile market, the number of users who enjoy games casually on a variety of devices including mobile phones, smart-phones and tablet PCs, has been increasing significantly. By offering “PlayStation quality” content to this rapidly growing market, SCE will not only deliver the PlayStation experience to a wider base of users around the globe, but will also be able to offer game developers and publishers the potential to further expand their business opportunities to these devices.

In providing the PlayStation experience on Android based portable devices, SCE will commence a “PlayStation®Certified” license program for hardware manufacturers. Through this program, SCE will offer necessary support, including development support as well as logo licensing, to ensure the delivery of PlayStation quality experience across various devices.

On the software front, SCE plans to provide PS Suite content within this calendar year, starting with original PlayStation games*(2) (PS one® classics) that will allow users to enjoy “PlayStation quality” gameplay on their Android based portable devices. SCE also plans to open PlayStation®Store where users will be able to download content in an easy to use environment, directly via the Android based portable devices. Moreover, SCE will provide a new game development environment in an effort to ensure new and compelling content is delivered on PS Suite, which will also offer opportunities for a wider base of developers and publishers to further expand their business on various portable devices.

Newly developed content for PS Suite can also be enjoyed on the next generation portable entertainment system (codename: NGP), which SCE announced today. Users who have never experienced PlayStation content can get a taste of the PlayStation experience through PS Suite and from there, they can enjoy the ultimate portable entertainment experience that is only possible on NGP.

SCE will vigorously enhance the entertainment world, delivering the PlayStation experience to a wider base of users.

*(1) Androidâ„¢ 2.3 or beyond is required.
*(2) PS one game console software title. We will announce the titles when ready.