Ubi plans three DS launch titles in Europe

You may not be able to Touch! yet, but you can See! and Hear! that Ubisoft is planning to have three games on the shelves alongside the Nintendo DS in Europe next... year. (Yes, there are still no specifics on when in the mythical first quarter we'll get our grubby styluses on it.)

Rayman DS, Sprung and Asphalt Urban GT will all be official launch titles in Europe, says Ubi. Marketing chap John Parkes says the company is "thrilled to develop such innovative titles on this new console."

But enough about him. Rayman DS will be the first 3D Rayman title on a handheld, and will take advantage of the touch-screen and the console's multiplayer features (presumably wireless), while Sprung (working title) is a dating simulation set in a "hip ski resort" featuring "gender-specific adventures, entertainment dating missions and a hilarious script written by North Shore (FOX) writer Colleeen McGuiness."

Asphalt Urban GT, meanwhile, is the only one of the three already on shelves in the US, and, in case you hadn't guessed, it's a racing game - featuring licensed cars from the likes of Lamborghini, Jaguar, Hummer "and more". Unfortunately, its release in the US means we already know what it's like, and the general consensus is that it's not brilliant.

We should be getting our hands on a DS this week though, so we'll let you know whether we agree in due course. In the meantime, do some See!-ing and check out screenshots of Asphalt and Rayman elsewhere on the site.