Ubisoft: Stronger Currency Makes Europe 'More Important' Than US, EndWar Will Change Industry

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Stronger European currency has caused French publisher Ubisoft to view Europe's market as more important than that of the US, CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed.

"Turnover in Europe is actually more important than the US now, and by more than 5%," Guillemot told GamesIndustry.biz, owing the shift to the strength of the pound and euro. "It's become a very strong market for us."

Echoing Nintendo's mission statement with its Wii and DS hardware, the Ubisoft executive expressed his belief that games such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Ubisoft Shanghai's upcoming voice-controlled RTS effort EndWar (PS3, 360) are increasing the popularity and appeal of games by making them more accessible.

"A game like EndWar, for example, which you can control by voice--it's totally changing the industry because it gives you the opportunity to command what's happening, and to have a quick answer to the orders you give," he explained. "I think this market has no limit in the growth it can have if we can make sure that the people that are coming in are staying."

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
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    August 27, 2008 9:54 AM

    lol Seriously? What are the numbers in Europe versus America?

    Also, voice control is going to take over the industry? Is that why everyone is clamoring taking advantage of the DS's microphone for their games or the countless Seaman and Lifeline clones out there? /sarcasm

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      August 27, 2008 9:57 AM

      the rainbow six on the original xbox had that voice command thing. You would say "open and flash", "go" and your teammates would open the door, throw a flash then storm the room.

      Why are they acting like its a new thing? It was a ubisoft game too!

    • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      August 27, 2008 10:01 AM

      Way off topic. But i could so see Batman trying to get voice control to understand what he's saying.

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      August 27, 2008 10:15 AM

      He didn't actually say that voice control was going to take over the industry. It sounds to me like his comment was more in passing than this article title suggests. He was just talking about how the industry is continuing to evolve with new ideas and gave EndWar as an example.

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      August 27, 2008 10:19 AM

      voice command in games is awesome when it works...I remember the first socom you could give out orders to your teammates through the headset...it was sweet when it worked...in an rts...especially console rts games it'll make a huge difference since the controller is a terrible input device to play rts games...voice control I'd imagine would make it far more easier (and much more cooler)...maybe not much so in pc games as some may be able to click faster than they speak along with hotkeys....but if it's done right then it'll change console rts games for sure

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        August 27, 2008 11:04 AM

        Agreed. I believe the first game I had that made a serious attempt at Voice Control was the updated Command: Aces of the Deep. The voice control was surprisingly passable for the level of power computers had in those days (circa 1995). Nothing like barking out commands to your U-boat crew in the midst of battle. Ahh, good memories. "Crash Dive! Schnell!"

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      August 27, 2008 10:27 AM

      Yes seriously, it was already increasingly apparent when i was at EA a little while ago now.

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