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The last time we spoke with Shaun White on The 404, he was promoting his multiplatform video game Shaun White Snowboarding. We got to sit down with the Olympic gold medal winner again this week at an Ubisoft event in lower Manhattan where he explained what's new in Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage, an exclusive title for the Wii.

With the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver around the corner, World Stage focuses on taking snowboarding globally. The game will once again take advantage of the Wii Balance Board, allowing you to sway back and forth like you're actually carving down a mountain.

The title also improves on many fronts; you notice better board responsiveness in addition to more playable characters (including Shaun himself) and an overhauled graphical presentation. There are tons of new environments to ride through including one that blew us away: a surreal halfpipe stage smacked right in the center of Times Square.

Make sure to watch our full interview with Shaun where he tells us about lending his voice to the game, what we can expect from the soundtrack, and how he's preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver.

The follow-up to the sword-slashing original, Red Steel 2 will make full use of Wii MotionPlus, promising a 1:1 representation of your movements on screen. Developed by Ubisoft, the company plans to bundle the accessory with the game as well. While no release date has been set yet, Red Steel 2 will be available exclusively for the Wii when it does launch.

Be sure to check out Friday's episode of The 404 where we welcome pro snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White to the studio. He talks to us about his new game from Ubisoft coming out on Sunday called Shaun White Snowboarding.

The title will be available for all major gaming platforms and allows you to roam freely on various mountains. Shaun talks to us about his role in the development of the game and what it was like recording voice-overs and motion capture. We talk about his other input on the game, including compiling the title's very respectable soundtrack.

Shaun also gives us his thoughts on adding skateboarding to the Summer Olympics and lets us in on his favorite places to ride in the U.S.

Keep listening to The 404 all next week to hear how you can win a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding signed by the man himself.

Update:

On a related topic, Blues News has wrapped up a few stories today regarding DRM-related installation issues with the PC versions of Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3. It seems that alternate installers are required in some cases. While we remain grateful to Ubisoft for helping us out, it's plain that current DRM methodologies continue to place an undue burden on legitimate consumers.

Original post:

For providing us with the means to use Far Cry 2 as a PC gaming benchmark for the next year or so, we'd like to give game publisher Ubisoft and its Ubisoft Montreal development division a quick shout-out today.

The game's DRM limits you to installing the game on only three systems out of the box, but we run our gaming tests on roughly 120 desktops and laptops each year. Ubisoft graciously worked with us to find a way to accommodate so many installs. You can expect to see the first reviews using Far Cry 2 as a benchmark next week (Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3...it's been a good run, sort of).

Far Cry 2' amazingly useful benchmark software.

(Credit: CNET)

We'd also like to point out that unlike pretty much every other graphically advanced PC game of the last year, Far Cry 2 does indeed include an extremely robust, easy-to-use benchmarking tool. Dig into the bin directory in your Far Cry 2 folder and you'll find the .EXE file. The game comes with three fly-throughs of various lengths, and it also lets your record your own runs. The settings options also provide all of the necessary toggles for adjusting the image quality, the physics, and the enemy AI. It's also well-designed enough so that any curious PC gamer can play with it

So again, thanks Ubisoft, both for enabling us to adopt Far Cry 2 as a test, and also for making the tool so easy to work with. DRM may remain an annoying reality for consumers, but for review purposes you've set an example for other PC game makers (and yes, Electronic Arts, that means you).

Based on a post on the Ubisoft forum today (via Blue's News), it sounds like the French game publisher is trying harder than its Electronic Arts to make digital rights management less cumbersome on its customers. An Ubisoft forum manager outlined the DRM plans for the PC version of its upcoming shooter Far Cry 2. Assuming it works as described, you'll get a bit more freedom to reinstall the game at your leisure than EA has offered with Spore and Crysis: Warhead.

According to the Ubisoft Forum Manager:

• You have five activations on three separate PCs.
• Uninstalling the game "refunds" an activation. This process is called "revoke", so as long as you complete proper uninstall you will be able to install the game an unlimited number of times on 3 systems.
• You can upgrade your computer as many times as you want (using our revoke system)
• Ubisoft is committed to the support of our games, and additional activations can be provided.
• Ubisoft is committed to the long-term support of our games: you'll always be able to play Far Cry 2.

The biggest difference between Ubisoft's and EA's DRM is that EA lacks the "revoke" function. Once you've installed one of its games on three systems, you need to contact EA's customer support and ask for authorization for future installs.

Far Cry 2 will feature a forgiving DRM scheme.

(Credit: FarCryGame.com)

Interestingly, EA CEO John Riccotello was quoted yesterday by PaidContent saying, "We implemented a form of DRM and it's something that 99.8 percent of users wouldn't notice." That speaks to the question, who needs to load a game on more than three systems? We suspect that Riccotello is correct, and that install limits on its games won't affect the majority of its customers.

Still, we applaud Ubisoft for taking the extra step and empowering PC gamers to, in effect, manage their own digital rights. We'll also confess a personal interest, in that we've had our eye on Far Cry 2 as a new PC gaming benchmark. We still need to learn more about how it really works, but what we've heard so far sounds promising.

(Credit: Ubisoft)

We had sly grins on our faces. Not because we were here chatting with Ubisoft at the company's NYC showcase. Not because we got our hands on one of the most anticipated games this year. We were reveling at the destruction, you see.

We took our flamethrower, lit up a patch of dry brush in the African savanna, and observed as the flames spread to a small bungalow from the prevailing winds. Just as a group of enemy soldiers ran over to investigate the damage, we ambushed and mowed them down with our M16. We're not in the tropical island jungles anymore.

Far Cry 2 throws you into the swamps and jungles of the African continent this time around with a new cast of characters and a new setting, further drawing players into the open-ended first-person game that the first game pioneered. While Crytek (developer of the original game), is off working on the sequel to Crysis, Ubisoft Montreal came to the helm for this game, developing a brand new engine, dubbed Dunia.

Yes, we enjoyed lighting him up too.

(Credit: Ubisoft)

We were first shown a early mission in the game. The premise of the game, as already covered by Video Games Blogger, leads up to the "assassination of 'The Jackal,' an arms dealer who has been selling weapons to both sides of the conflict that's tearing apart a small fictional African country. The way to complete this task is entirely up to the player. There are various factions involved, where a player can do missions to earn influence."

As we were told during the demo, for example, at the beginning of the game your character is infected with malaria. The only way to alleviate the symptoms (as there is no cure) is by receiving medicine from an underground faction for doing missions and also subsequently earning reputation.

However, if you wreak too much havoc, such as killing innocent civilians, to the countryside and thereby draw attention to the faction, expect to be shunned and lose your precious supply of drugs.

(Credit: Ubisoft)

We got a chance to sit down with the new Prince of Persia game from Ubisoft Montreal last night at the company's New York showcase. And now we have a much better idea of what we can expect this time around, including the story of the game and the role our new female companion Elika will play.

First off, you can forget most of what you already know about the Prince of Persia series. It was made very clear to us that this new Prince game is a huge departure from what we're used to. Most apparent is the brand new art style in the game. We don't want to call it cel-shaded, but it definitely borrows a few components from that technique. Up close, the details on the Prince and Elika are astonishing, as are those in the enormous environments you'll be playing inside. ... Read more

The 'Prince of Persia' series found much success in the previous generation of video games. Now Ubisoft is back with a new 'Prince of Persia'--complete with a unique art style and a brand-new fighting mechanic. You'll also be joined by a Elika, a female character who helps you fight enemies and solve puzzles. 'Prince of Persia' is set to release by year's end for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Video game giant Ubisoft has agreed to purchase Tom Clancy's name for use in video games and other media products. Previously, Ubisoft had licensed the Clancy name.

(Credit: Ubisoft)

Tom Clancy has sold his name.

French video game giant Ubisoft said Thursday that it has agreed to buy all "intellectual property rights to the Tom Clancy name, on a perpetual basis and free of all related future royalty payments, for use in video games and ancillary products including related books, movies and merchandising products."

So, strictly speaking, Clancy, the author of megahit books like Patriot Games, The Hunt for Red October, and The Sum of All Fears will get to continue to use his own moniker in his personal life. And even on his books.

But when it comes to video game properties based on his work, and even, apparently, most other media, well, Ubisoft is his daddy.

Of course, Ubisoft has already been publishing a series of Clancy-branded games, such as the Ghost Recon series and the Rainbow Six series, but those were done under royalty arrangements.

Ubisoft didn't release the financial terms of the deal, though it did say in a press release that it expects to have a net cash position of 130 million euros ($201 million) at the end of fiscal 2007-2008, versus 150 million euros ($232 million) prior to the deal.

In addition, Ubisoft said it will make additional payments to Clancy in fiscal 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.

"On the basis of past performance of Tom Clancy-branded video games, and excluding any potential contribution coming from sales of ancillary products," the company wrote, "the royalty savings generated by this acquisition are estimated to have an average positive impact on Ubisoft's operating income of a minimum of 5 million euros per year."

To me, this is just bizarre. Maybe I've missed previous such deals, but I don't recall ever hearing of someone like Tom Clancy out-and-out selling his name like this. I won't liken it to selling his soul to the devil, because I'm sure Ubisoft is a perfectly nice organization, but it's an unusual situation to be sure.

But, Clancy probably saw the opportunity to get a massive amount of money up front and some substantial additional payments for the next few years and figured that there wasn't much downside. As noted above, Ubisoft is a major-league organization and has done well with its Clancy properties, so it's not like this will water down the Clancy brand.

With that in mind, then, I suppose I'll have to consider selling the rights to my own name. I doubt I'll command millions of euros, but you never know. Let me know if you're interested, and we'll talk turkey.