Ubisoft Giving North American Gamers The Boot

… Again

by exterminat

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

Because I’m on such a roll with Ubisoft this E3, I might as well express my opinion on how distressed I am with them once again.

First, the overall press conference from a core or hardcore standpoint did not appeal to me (but hey, they’re making money, and expanding a broader user-base these days, so go for it).

Then, the Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 announcement which royally pissed off the huge worldwide Brother In Arms fanbase.

And now we have a new topic to get us riled up again: Ubisoft is giving North American gamers the ‘boot’ so-to-speak (again) with the North American version of the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Limited Edition.

There has been no confirmation on if we’re getting anything else other than what I list below, so I do run the risk of looking like an idiot. Nothing new!

What we get

Over here in ‘glorious’ North America, we get the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Signature Edition. By pre-ordering at everyone’s favorite store, Gamestop, you get a free upgrade to this edition.

It contains a bonus single-player mission, an exclusive multiplayer character, weapons capacity upgrades, a short film of sorts about the AC universe, and a soundtrack of the game. It’s all on the disc, by the way.

For standard $60 price, that doesn’t seem too shabby, eh?

I can already hear you angrily typing rude comments directed toward me and my evil life for saying we’re getting ripped off, so hold your horses and keep reading. You’ll understand why when you see what our friends in the eastern hemisphere are getting.

What we’re missing

Animus Edition

Animus Edition includes:

• The Animus box: break the Assassin seal to unveil its content
• In-depth encyclopedia, with comprehensive entries on the major characters, events and other important aspects of the Assassin’s Creed® universe.
• Embers: The animated short movie.
• Assassins Creed Soundtrack.

In-game content:

• Explore the prison of legendary Vlad the Impaler, the scourge of Constantinople who inspired the myth of Dracula. Seek out the hanging cell of the infamous leader to retrieve his personal blade, a deadly close quarters dagger capable of dispatching any foe.
• Capacity upgrades for your hidden gun bullets, bombs & crossbow arrows to give you a decisive advantage in battle.
• Play as two additional multiplayer characters: The Crusader & a character from Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood revamped with a Constantinople flavour: the Ottoman Jester
• The Armour of Brutus from Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood
• One exclusive customization item

The Animus Edition is the edition based throughout most of the Eastern Hemisphere. Australia, on the other hand, has two additional ones.

Special Edition – GAME

• Box with exclusive artwork
• Single player theme soundtrack – exclusive to GAME

In-game content:

• Turkish Assassin Armor (Singleplayer) – exclusive to GAME
• 1 Multiplayer Ottoman Doctor character from AC Brotherhood (Multiplayer) – exclusive to GAME
• 1 Multiplayer The Crusader character from AC Revelation (Multiplayer)

Collector’s Edition – JB HI FI

• Special Collector’s Edition packaging
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations 50 page Artbook
• Embers: The animated short movie
• Assassins Creed Soundtrack

In-game content:

• Explore the prison of legendary Vlad the Impaler, the scourge of Constantinople who inspired the myth of Dracula. Seek out the hanging cell of the infamous leader to retrieve his personal blade, a deadly close quarters dagger capable of dispatching any foe.
• Multiplayer characters The Crusader and Ottoman Jester

History repeats itself

Seems pretty crappy when compared to what we get, huh? Ours isn’t even collectible, and that’s kind of the point of a collector’s edition.

It’s about getting something physical to hold in your hands, and make everyone jealous with. It’s about having something that can’t be purchased anywhere else. It’s about getting something that looks awesome on your shelf, not disc-based DLC.

At least the non-Animus editions are different, and at the minimum got a different cover or case.

In terms of North American collector’s/limited editions, Ubisoft has had a recent history of doing this.

Splinter Cell: Conviction gamers across the pond got a badass Sam Fisher statue, a full soundtrack and a bunch of ingame content.

What did we get?

A SteelBook case, an art book, stickers, and a USB drive that didn’t work among DLC that we already received via preorder..

And it didn’t stop there. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood collector fanatics across the pond got the Limited Codex Edition, which came in an awesome “Renaissance Collector Chest”, and came packaged with a Codex book containing detailed information on the franchise, A bonus DVD with behind the scenes and a full soundtrack, cards showing each multiplayer character, a DVD containing the Assassin’s Creed: Lineage series, ingame content and a map of Rome.

Our version?

We got the map, a Jack-in-The-Box that was either the Doctor or the Harlequin from multiplayer, depending on where you purchased it from, an art book and a bonus DVD with the soundtrack on it and a 5 minute making-of video.

We didn’t even get a nice case; it was inside a normal case of the game.

The boot loves North America.

What really makes me wonder is that these two series are largely based in Ubisoft Montreal, which is a part of North America. Why would they give their own home area such a short end of the stick?

Well, that’s about all the ranting I can do in one article. I’m sure I’ll be reprimanded, but the point remains: Why, Ubisoft? Why?! I’m a fan who wants to give you my money. And we all love money. An explanation sure would be nice…

What do you think? Is it a sign that the UK/EU/AUS editions will be cheaply made and they are sparing us? Or could it be they think North America has fallen to the Call of Duty Syndrome and does not care enough about these editions to get them?

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Blogbanter, Console gaming, GameBanter, New Xbox 360 Games, PS3 News, Xbox 360 Tagged: | Assassin's creed, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, assassins creed: revelations, Constantinople, Eastern Hemisphere, Single-player video game, Special Edition, Ubisoft