BG&E and POP still due on Xbox/Cube

By Tom Bramwell Published 5 January, 2004

Ubisoft responds to rumours.

GameCube and Xbox versions of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil have not been canned in Europe, Ubisoft confirmed today, quashing rumours circulating over Christmas that poor sales of the PS2 and PC releases had led to their cancellation. Release dates for both should be announced shortly - both versions were completed ages ago and made it out in the US last year.

Speaking to CVG today an Ubisoft spokesperson said: "We always planned to release both titles on GameCube and Xbox in 2004 and that hasn't changed." Having been deprived of two of last year's best games thanks to a deal that tied them up as European PS2 exclusives, disgruntled Cube and Xbox fans would probably point out that the confusion is entirely Ubisoft's fault, as widespread discounting in light of poor sales, delayed release dates and disappearing product pages prompted anxious gamers to wonder out loud on internet forums.

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 9 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Vex #1 9 years ago

    Can't believe these have sold badly, they are really good games. Particularly Beyond Good and Evil.

    At least in my opinion they are!! ;-)

  • BartonFink #2 9 years ago

    That's the problem Ubisoft should change their name to EA-Ubisoft stick a dirty great EA in the middle of their shiny new logo and bobs yer uncle. Instant success with the masses.

  • markypants #3 9 years ago

    Will be buying them both, for my green child of Bill gates to enjoy!

    ~markypants

  • Blerk #4 9 years ago

    Ubisoft should change their name to EA-Ubisoft stick a dirty great EA in the middle of their shiny new logo and bobs yer uncle

    Almost. They'd also need to rename the games to:

    Beyond Good and Evil 2004
    Prince Of Persia: Sands of Time 2004

  • Blerk #5 9 years ago

    Now somebody bloody hurry up and ask them if they're doing the 'buy Prince, get Splinter Cell for free' deal in Europe.

  • Thamuhacha #6 9 years ago

    Both of these will be bought for ickle purple box.

    Hooray.

  • prettyboytim #7 9 years ago

    Yay. 'nuff said.

  • StixxUK #8 9 years ago

    *sigh*

    /brings down jolly roger
    /puts away pirate hat
    /sews hand and leg back on
    /pops eye back in


    Oh yeah;
    /kills parrot.

  • yegon #9 9 years ago

    Excellentay! Could have bought them for the ol' PS2, but I'm pleased I waited.

  • jellyhead #10 9 years ago

    i'll probably do POP for xbox... rumours of all other pop games there as unlockable extras and BG&E on cube.
    heh, may do both for cube to spite mirco$fot.
    Not that Nintendo could give a hoot it seems.

  • Sid-Nice #11 9 years ago

    All It took was a phone call to UBI Soft, told them I'll need a new Graphics card for the PC version and under the circumstances I refuse to purchase the PS2 version.
    I was reassured do not worry mousier Sid. Viva La France.

  • jellyhead #12 9 years ago

    Thanks for the heads up Mr Bogus and Cheers for your call Mr Nice. :)
    my mind is now calm and happy again.
    Jelly stars for you both.

  • Zero Beat #13 9 years ago

    A little help for those undecided on PoP versions.

    ----------------------------------------

    Content -

    PS2 -

    Prince of Persia 1
    Prince of Persia level remade in 3D


    Cube -

    Prince of Persia 1
    Prince of Persia level remade in 3D
    Making of Documentary
    GBA-GCN link-up: Alternate way (completing game will do the same thing) to unlock Prince of Persia, also hook up to regenerate Prince's energy.


    Xbox -

    Prince of Persia 1
    Prince of Persia level remade in 3D
    Prince of Persia 2
    Making of Documentary
    XBLive Aware (people can see what you're playing and offer you invites to other games during single player quest)

    ----------------------------------------

    Graphics -

    PS2 -

    Solid in every respect but framerate dips and has the usual 'raw' appearance.


    Cube & Xbox - Cube has sharper textures, but more subdued (and less effective/attractive) lighting than both PS2 and Xbox. Xbox has slightly sharper textures than PS2 and the strongest glow filter and lighting (not by much) of the bunch. It also has the highest and most consistent framerate of the lot, plus slightly higher polygon counts on the odd character (e.g Prince has separate fingers).

    ----------------------------------------

    Sound -

    Cube -

    Lowest sound quality, some of the narration is actually quite difficult to make out.


    PS2 -

    Not far behind Xbox, less separation.


    Xbox -

    clearest samples, best separation.


    The PC version has all the advantages of all versions except Xbox's higher polygon count, and of course Live functionality, but woo - MSN.

  • Aretak #14 9 years ago

    According to IGN, that article above is a load of bollocks.
    Edited by Aretak at 05/01/04 @ 18:03

  • thebuzzard #15 9 years ago

    But IGN is US based.

    BG&E is a pretty good game but a bit too short. Its also a copy of the Zelda games, which is not a bad thing.

  • Zero Beat #16 9 years ago

    Why would IGN say (a cut down version of) their H-2-H is bollocks?

  • KiLlerKnight #17 9 years ago

    Although they are great games, especially PoP, I am really laughing at the poor sales. This European Ps2 exclusivity smells like crap. We Europeans already get our games months after Japan and the US, and then Ubisoft, for God's sake an European company, made this ridiculous deal with Sony. So basically you have the best line-up of this Christmas of all the publishers and you just screwed it up. Good work Ubisoft, you can make good games, but you can't sell them. Maybe you all have to learn from EA, crappy games, top sales.

  • thebuzzard #18 9 years ago

    I dont blame Ubisoft for the PS2 exclusive deal since PS2 sales will dwarf Xbox and GC combined. And Ive got the Xbox versions of both anyway :E

  • Retroid #19 9 years ago

    Thanks for the multi-fomat info, Zero Beat. Why don't more magazines or sites offer this kind of comparison? Most of the time that's all the extra info I need before I make a purchase; I have all three main machines so I want to know if there's any advantage to a particular format.

  • Khab #20 9 years ago

    I'll PROBABLY get the Cube version of POP, using the GBA connectivity as an insta-cheat, sounds like it might cut down on frustration.... OTOH, the Live-awareness of the Xboxen version beckons strongly.

  • gizmo #21 9 years ago

    The main thing that put me off the cube versions was the fact that the audio is all down-sampled to fit on the disk. Not good.

  • Blerk #22 9 years ago

    I really hope you're taking the piss there, mate.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #23 9 years ago

    "putting the Xbrick in front of Game Cube name is suggesting that the xbox is a better system and that GC is second best to it. Thats not right, please retract that"

    I have a tendency to vary it. If you go back through the archives I can't seem to make my mind up!

  • mal #24 9 years ago

    Wheee! Picked up BG&E from Virgin for 15 notes. I was planning to hold out for a cube release, but really I'm having so much fun playing it now that I don't care any more.

  • StixxUK #25 9 years ago

    Not only is the Xbox before the cube, but if you look at that slash, you could take it as looking like a fraction, where the Xbox is on top of the cube as well (portraying it as superior)!

  • daveo #26 9 years ago

    Medal of Honour - Space Stealth Assault
    Medal of honour - Prince of Persia Assault

    That should do it...

  • moggsy #27 9 years ago

    You wouldn't believe how pissed of I was to pay £38.99 for BG&E (great game, impulse purchase) and then see it on Amazon a couple of weeks later for £14.99. I've never seen a game (especially a good one) drop in price so quickly...

  • daveo #28 9 years ago

    I've never seen a game (especially a good one) drop in price so quickly...
    Haven - Last Christmas it was down to about 20 quid about a day after launch (This year it's down to a tenner)
    Edited by daveo at 07/01/04 @ 07:54

  • Blerk #29 9 years ago

    Primal! That was down to £20 on the day it came out!

  • Lutz #30 9 years ago

    Hmm... not sure about BG&E...
    /tries to find a review or two for it...

  • Chris Gardiner #31 9 years ago

    Get it! It's fab!

    / Goes back to playing BG+E

  • Lutz #32 9 years ago

    I dunno...
    I can't actually find any decent reviews at the moment.

    Admittedly I've looked at 1 site...

    Actually I've not checked EG. I may do that... O_o

  • Blerk #33 9 years ago

    You didn't check EG? :-)

    IGN gave it 9.0 if you like that kind of thing.

  • AnotherMartin #34 9 years ago

    Average scores from GameRankings.com for BG&E

    Number of P/Reviews: 141 PlayStation 2 86.5%

    Number of P/Reviews: 85 Xbox 86.7%

    Number of P/Reviews: 60 PC 81.7%

    Number of P/Reviews: 98 GameCube 86.4%