About this time of year I usually write about Assassin`s Creed whatever being the most sought after collectible game of the year. There is something different about this years iteration and I believe this outing will be less popular amongst core collectors than previous chapters.
There are several reasons why I consider this to be the case.
First the draw of previous Creeds has been authentic historical locales where religions,sects,science and historical characters weave intricate webs of conspiracy and deceit. Whether it is ancient Jerusalem, or Leonardo`s Italy, those playgrounds were a big draw for fans. I fear setting this game in the Americas of old though, with a distinct Last of The Mohicans Michael Mann vibe is not going to appeal or appease the Creed faithful. A very large part of the obsessive fan base for this series is European. Using a colonial setting even with a half English/Native American hero is not going to sit well with us ex colonials , not least because very few of us even know that period of history in any detail outside that Roland Emmerich Mel Gibson vehicle The Patriot..naturally our colonial pride tends to ensure that period of history is kind of erased from our collective psyche and blamed on a mad chief of state and bad fiscal policies ..wait ...psyche!..Playing a game in that setting just does not have the draw of previous Creeds, where you could be proud or awed to monkey around some of the most significant pieces of architecture and moments in history... history as taught in the old world...
I just do not see the average European gamer recognising the significance of the places ,events or characters of Assassins Creed 3 or getting in tune with them the way they could with previous games in the series. I look forwards to how Ubisoft intend to cater for us ex colonials still reeling from the loss of our most precious colonies over the price of tea...which. interestingly no one in the colonies drinks anyhow .. How uncivilised..
Second Ubisoft have cast their net so so wide with different physical collectors editions, PS3 exclusive content, a PS Vita spin off, a season pass, downloadable PSN bundles, Steam and or Uplay releases that the gamer or the person who is buying for the gamer can get mighty confused or overwhelmed. Or the jaded seasoned gamer will just wait: So many games and years into the series fans know you can pick up the PC version with DLC 50% off in the upcoming Steam sales which will come very close to the PC launch date of the game, and you will see a game of the year version by February on consoles...
Still pundits (linked to distributors) are claiming this is the most pre ordered Assassins Creed game ever. That may be for the vanilla version but I just do not see this iteration taking off in markets like the EU as prior instalments have..
Game play as always should shine through, right now though I do not feel the buzz about this game with only a week before launch on consoles and a month or so before we see the PC version.
It is great thing to finally see a Native American hero Ratonhnhaké:ton ( ok they made him half English too..though why ..we will find out soon..) and an African French ( hmmh I see a pattern here) heroine in a game (Assassin`s Creed Liberation) .. this hasn't really happened since Turok on the N64 (cool) or the abysmal Prey ( which had it's Native American hero crawling through Unreal engined 3D Alien anus) and Urban Chaos the last game to have an African female gaming heroine of note and I am straining my Animus memory strands or shards...to find those examples . You can see what Ubisoft is doing here they are conscious of the disconnect between European and US gamers , so everyone has to be mixed race ,decent or nationality to give the characters appeal to gamers from both sides of the pond...
But Assassins Creed gaming is about the setting far more than the characters backgrounds.. in previous games ,the thing about Europe and old Palestine was the detail and significance of the the architecture of that time, exploring those great buildings and bustling streets formed a major part of the pleasure of playing those games for both non European and Europeans .It is a big draw for fans . that draw really sold the Limited and Black and whatever special editions. In the time period Assassins Creed III is set we are going to have to be sucked in more by narrative and action rather than locations which are going to be as familiar to fans as the historical figures and events of that time which we colonials happen not to be taught in school much..or talk about much ...or even watch films about much... funny that..
This may explain why the Ubis have flooded my email account with videos of the game, more so than any other Assassins Creed game . They be edgu-katin me and my colonial kin... I of course refuse to watch and have sufficient knowledge of the time period thanks to Mr Emmerich and Mr Mann and of course the legend that is Wes Study and his Mogwa... as well as that guy who was in My Left Foot...
The game is spread so wide across all formats from PC to PS Vita to Wii U that I can see stock at retailers falling in price, the best way to get the game for Christmas may just be to get it bundled with a console. And you know what happens to games bundled with consoles? They drop in price at retail rapidly.
Of course in a week I will be hunting wabbit and colonial with Connor /Ratonhnhaké:ton and Aveline de Grandpré fighting for the right to cheap caffeine beverages so that one day there will be Starbucks and in that Starbucks there will be wifi and with that wifi I will type this on mine new new iPad 4 or Surface with its kickstand up...
As far as collectible games go once again I will predict that Call of Duty Black Ops II will have a stagnant if not falling price, Halo 4 Limited Edition too. If there is any hope of a collectible game rising in price then it rests with Assassin`s Creed 3, but I have a bad feeling about this, whilst the critics cry revolution the fans may cry freedom and look elsewhere.
The wild card for collectors or sellers this year is the Wii U .. there is a high probability of a sell out combined with a high number of punters ready to pony up beyond the asking price months in advance of the consoles release.
Or they could all just be buying new new iPads, Surfaces, Windows 8 Pro tablets and PCs
By this point, way before this point all Assassins Creed Limited Editions have usually sold out .. not seeing it this year, not least because the EU fan base has been decimated by financial oblivion...if Assassin`s Creed III is to rise or fall it will depend largely on the US fan base, I see no evidence of Ubisoft`s campaigns persuading the EU marginals and faded colonial powers that they should take up virtual arms against virtual representations of their colonial empire building ancestors... back stabbing Illuminati in Renaissance Florence or Rome or playing hooded rooftop running Devil`s advocate between Crusading sects in the Holy Land seem to fit a gaming groove that the fan base adored..
For my money if I had Ubisoft`s money I would set Assassin`s Creed 4 during World War 2 .. that would give our Assassin War Time London, Berlin,France, Russia, Japan in fact the whole world to run around in as you dig there's a whole World War going on.....Think of the historical figures and events you could weave into the Animus DNA strands with that setting. Yes that is a game I see selling .. Preventing the assassination of the US president about to enter World War 2 by Axis assassin sects, assassinating Nazis from Berlin rooftops , eliminating Nazi Illuminati conspirators in London, aiding the Resistance in War time Paris ..look its Ezio IV on the Eiffel Tower leaping down into the ..errh strategically placed bail of hay....or Monty or Rommel in El Alamein, running through the rubble of wartime Stalingrad ,or flitting along the roof tops of Berlin before sneaking through the rallying crowds in Berlin to back stab some evil Nazi Illuminati sect member and I can just see Altair's descendant scaling the Eagles Nest now ... joining the D Day landings or helping them by stealthily eliminating defences or wonder of wonders aiding the invasion errh liberation of Italy .. returning as Ezio`s descendant in a World War 2 Rome, Italy, Sicily, Fiorenze and Milan.. woah now I am really disappointed with Assassins Creed 3
Now that is a game, which not least has a lot of potential for DLC sales, that is an Assassins Creed game that would appeal to everyone .
Assassins Creed 3 though, worries me, any game with such a deep reliance on the graphical rendering of wigs or Whigs and white knee length socks worries me, of course I will happily be proved wrong this time next week when Assassins Creed III rises or falls taking Ubisoft with it..right time for tea...
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