Ubisoft unveils new games from Michael Jackson, Eric Chahi

French publisher Ubisoft has unveiled a number of previously unseen games at their pre-E3 press conference in LA, including a new game from Another World creator Eric Chahi and a dance title based on Michael Jackson.

One of the first games demonstrated was Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, which was given a November 16 release date in the US and will be one of Ubisoft's key Christmas titles on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

In-game footage of Shaun White Skateboarding was also shown for the first time, alongside spring 2011 title Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - which was revealed to support stereoscopic 3D images..

Also debuting at the event, but having previously been announced as a new title, was Driver: San Francisco - the first entirely new game in the series since Ubisoft acquired the franchise from Atari in 2006.

Much of the rest of the company's line-up were previously unheard of, including Child of Eden from Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Q Entertainment - a spiritual successor to cult on-the-rails shooter Rez.

Ubisoft also revealed relaxation title Innergy, which works in conjunction with a new peripheral that measures the user's pulse. The concept appeared very similar to the Wii Vitality Sensor and was described using almost identical language to Satoru Iwata's speech at Nintendo's 2009 pre-E3 conference. The formats for the title though have yet to be clarified.

The format for Ubisoft's most unusual reveal of the show was also unclear, as a number of actors took to the stage to demonstrate Battle Tag. The product uses real guns and sensors similar to Lazer Tag and other real-world games, but also uses consoles to track scores and issue missions. The title is due out this autumn.

Ubisoft has two launch titles scheduled for Kinect, with Your Shape: Fitness Evolved already featuring prominently in Microsoft's own conference and joined by mini-game collection Motion Sports.

Two new digital distributed games were demonstrated at the event, from two of France's most famous game designers. The title currently codenamed Project Dust is from Another World creator Eric Chahi, who has not released a new game since 1998's infamous Heart of Darkness. The new game has already drawn heavy praise for its artistic style and is due on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC.

The second downloadable title was a new 2D Rayman game from series creator Michel Ancel, which has been created with just a five-man team but features numerous artistic styles for the main character.

It was unclear if Ancel was involved in new Wii exclusive Raving Rabbids: Travel In Time, due for release on November 9, and there was no update on the status of pet project Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Although not featured at the conference a new trailer for the disaster movie influenced I Am Alive did surface, although like many of Ubisoft's titles the exact formats it will be appearing on are unclear.

One of the final announcements of the show was ManiaPlanet, which Ubisoft introduced as an entirely separate games platform for the PC. TrackMania developer Nadeo will be contributing a new TrackMania title, with ShootMania due next spring and QuestMania currently preparing for beta testing. As well as sharing a common interface all of the games will encourage user-created content and sharing, in the manner of current TrackMania titles.

The final reveal was a new Michael Jackson title, apparently influenced by Ubisoft's successful Just Dance on Wii. Michael Jackson: The Game is due to be released this Christmas on 360, PS3, Wii, PSP and DS. It will be compatible with both Kinect and Move.

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