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In a recent interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Ubisoft's Michael de Plater, who served as creative director for EndWar, gave some context for the Q1 2010 release window for the developer's next strategy title, RUSE. It's fairly familiar territory -- de Plater explained, "it's a bit tough to launch a new IP exactly at Christmas when you're head-to-head with blockbuster sequels," and added that the RTS title was following in the footsteps of many other Modern Warfare 2-fearing franchises.

That's just the thing, though -- de Plater mentions that the ol' Q1 shuffle is a popular move as of late. We wonder if he (and Ubisoft as a whole) realize that RUSE might have jumped out of the frying pan, and into ... an adjacent frying pan, filled with even more delicious, sizzling bacon.

Ubisoft has reported that sales for its fiscal first quarter of 2009-10 (April through June) were down just over 50 percent from the same period a year ago. The publisher posted roughly $118 million (€83 million) in sales last quarter; a far cry from the $240.24 million (€169 million) cash injection from the first quarter of 2008-09. "We are currently experiencing a very sharp slowdown in our sales for Nintendo DS as well as sales of back-catalog titles, in the context of a market that is tougher than anticipated," CEO Yves Guillemot said. During today's conference call, Guillemot repeatedly singled out Prince of Persia and EndWar as the top under-performers of the company's recent back catalog.

Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft has revised its second quarter target ... straight downward. As the next three months rest on the performances of a few shaky releases, including the multiplatform adaptation of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (not a particularly promising forecast, indeed), sales expectations have plummeted 54 percent from $184.9 million (€130 million) to just $113.8 million (€80 million).

While Ubisoft's apparently failing business of selling kids their imaginations (one idea at a time), along with oodles of equally imagined, yet previously irresistible petz, is troubling for its future outlook -- "games of only good quality are not sufficient anymore," Guillemot noted -- the company insists that Wii sales of, let's call them, not-so-good-quality titles are increasing and expected to compensate for the losses in the DS market soon enough.

The voice-controlled RTS EndWar didn't garner the most media attention. But, with 1.5 million units sold, it certainly warrants a sequel. Ubisoft Shanghai is creating a follow-up using a "smaller team,"creative director Michael De Plater told VideoGamer.com. With EndWar's successful implementation of voice controls, the development team can focus on one of the most lacking aspects of the original: the presentation of the single-player campaign. "After the first one, now we have a really good understanding of what to do ... Giving more attention to the single-player is straightforward to address and will make the game a lot of fun."

While De Plater is quick to highlight faults being addressed for the sequel, he remains proud of his team's accomplishment with the first game. While still under the "Tom Clancy" moniker, he considers EndWar an original IP. Considering the challenges that surround launching a new IP, De Plater is more than happy with sales numbers. "We still sold more than Red Alert 3, sold more than Company of Heroes, sold more than World in Conflict. It's still, along with Halo Wars, the biggest new RTS in the last four or five years. Even with those faults it's still up there."

Speaking with VG247 at the Develop Conference in Brighton, UK, EndWar development boss Michael de Plater said that he thinks Microsoft's Project Natal could reinvigorate the console (and PC?) RTS market. Comparing Natal's potential "power" and "precision" to menu scrolling in the film Minority Report, Plater anticipates Natal's combination of voice and gesture control to potentially be "really powerful and immersive."

During E3 2009, Ubisoft showcased the upcoming RTS RUSE on Microsoft's touch-screen-enhanced Surface table. While Plater knows the $12,000 home furnishing isn't going to be a regular household accessory, Project Natal has the potential to work with software in a similar fashion. "If the technology works -- so you could translate the interface they've already got working really well on RUSE into Natal -- it could work very, very well."

Hopefully Microsoft will reveal when Natal is hitting stores and what the device's final price will be soon and Joystiq won't have to put so much money into developing its own set of drug-addicted "precogs."

Newegg.com is selling the Tom Clancy's EndWar headset bundle for only $40. That's a considerable savings, even over Amazon's already reduced price. If you've been waffling over whether to pick up EndWar, or even a headset, this deal is worth a look.

Now, that's all well and good, but the bigger news just might be that you can also pick up Rock Revolution complete with the sweet drum kit for $40 as well. At that price, it's almost worth giving it to a friend as a prank.

Almost.

[Via Cheap Ass Gamer]

Source - Newegg.com -- Tom Clancy's Endwar w/Headset
Source - Newegg.com -- Rock Revolution w/Drum Kit

[Via VG247]

Ubisoft has given first-person disaster-survival title I Am Alive an enigmatic March release window. That puts the launch anywhere from six to ten weeks from now, a very short amount of time considering we've seen approximately zilch in terms of gameplay footage. After being hyped up so much at E3, there's been little to no promotion for the game. We're a bit perplexed by this one, and hope it's not a foreboding sign.

Other games slated to come out in March include Tom Clancy's HAWX, a PC version of EndWar and Broken Sword Wii. Tenchu: Shadow Assassin, a Wii exclusive, has been given a more exact March 6 date.

Looking for a new excuse to scream at your television? Yesterday, Ubisoft released the Faction Elite Pack for the voice-activated RTS, Tom Clancy's EndWar. The DLC includes three new battalions and six new upgrades (one and two per faction, respectively) for 300 ($3.75 USD). As an added bonus the pack will grant immediate access to six exclusive unit upgrades including Ceramic Armor for the Spetnaz Guard Brigade and Caseless Ammunition for The European Federation's Gunships. Get crackin' soldiers.

[Thanks, Xenocide]

This is the last week to finish your holiday shopping, so we figured we'd sift through the Sunday retail ads to find the best Xbox 360 gaming deals. And, wouldn't you know, those deals are conveniently listed below.

Best Buy is selling World at War and Force Unleashed for $35, giving out a free $50 gift card with Xbox 360 and controller purchase, selling the GHIII bundle for $50, the EndWar headset bundle for $50, and a whole mess of EA Sports games are on sale from $38 on up. Reward Zone members can also score a free $10 gift card with purchase of Midnight Club: LA.

Circuit City is selling EndWar and Web of Shadows for $45 as well as Halo 3 and Madden '09 for $50. At Toys R Us, they're giving away a free 12 month Live subscription with Xbox 360 purchase and selling Golden Axe for $40 which is a part of their Buy 1 Get 1 Half Off sale that also includes Saints Row 2, Smackdown vs. Raw, Web of Shadows, World at War, World Tour, Madagascar 2 and Quantum of Solace. Happy holiday shopping.

As far as specifics go, the 442MB EndWar Escalation Expansion costs 800 MS points and includes four new Skirmish missions (firebase in Kursk, assault on Devon beach, raid on Rota naval base, and conquest of Dorsey Knob) as well as three unit upgrades and some new achievements achievables. Yes, achievables! Now, to decide if all that EndWar goodness is worth the 800 points.

IGN has the scoop on fresh EndWar downloadable content and a title update that'll be releasing ... this Thursday, December 11th! Yikes, talk about short notice.

The EndWar Escalation Pack content will release for 800 Microsoft points and include a few new maps, three new unit upgrades and ten additional achievements worth 220 Gamerscore. The title update will focus on eliminating a few exploits, improving stability, making the leaderboards more reliable and (the biggest change) will up maximum players from four to eight. That's, like, doubling the amount of action and potentially doubling the fun!

[Thanks, Lightsout565]

Ubisoft is deploying new downloadable content tomorrow for Tom Clancy's EndWar (via IGN). The Escalation Pack includes four new maps, three new unit upgrades, and 10 new Achievements and Trophies for Xbox Live and PS3, respectively. The pack will be 800 ($9.99) and will be released simultaneously for both consoles.

Additionally, a free title update is also due out tomorrow (only for Xbox 360; the PS3 patch is expected sometime in 2009). Beyond the usual connectivity, leaderboard and bug fixes, the update will raise the maximum player cap from 4 to 8, making possible 4-on-4 games in both Skirmish and Theater of War modes.

If you need a game, this week's for you. While we can't vouch for the quality of all the releases (or even, uh, half), but we can say one thing: there's a lot of 'em. And by a lot, we mean dozens. Well, if you add up all the regions, anyway. Look, don't get technical. It's a lot. See for yourself.

As an aside, after seeing this week's releases, we should stop crying about not having any more Professor Layton -- the first title is only just now being released in Europe! And what's up with Korg DS-10? It's been turning up on releases for a while. Maybe we'll actually see it this week.

• Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune
• Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess
• Dragonball: Origins
• Exit DS
• futureU: The Prep Game for SAT
• Goosebumps HorrorLand
• Guitar Rock Tour
• Hello Kitty Daily
• Imagine: Interior Designer
• Imagine: Wedding Designer
• James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
• Korg DS-10
• Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
• Monster Lab
• My Baby Boy
• My Baby Girl
• Petz Dogz Pack
• Pony Friends: Mini Breeds Edition
• Princess on Ice
• Real Soccer 2009
• Theresia
• Tom Clancy's EndWar
• Winx Club: Mission Enchantix
• Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals

Is there a more boring month than November? It's like there's nothing worth playing this month at all. After the debacle that was last week, this week is completely bereft of anything even remotely resembling fun in even the most infinitesimal way. Seriously, have you seen what's coming out this week? Just take a look.

• Gears of War 2
• Tom Clancy's EndWar
• Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrifice
• James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
• Namco Museum Virtual Arcade
• Legendary
• History Channel Civil War: Secret Mission

See? Nothing. Ah well, maybe we'll finally get something worth playing next week.

[Image: sweet mandy kay]

[Via Joystiq]

So, if we have this right, the point of the EndWar launch trailer is that World War 3 is basically inevitable. In addition to this, it's apparently going to be awesome, what with giant firefights breaking out right in front of the US Capital Building, France's Eiffel Tower, and even the Kremlin. Seriously though, why not? If the world just has to be embroiled in a massive war, said war might as well take place in some dramatic places, right? Just because we're doomed doesn't mean we can't end it all with a little flair.

The game, incidentally, drops next week.