“Historically, Boulevard Saint-Laurent in Montreal was the dividing line and meeting point for all the cultures of Québec; English to the west, French to the east, and everyone else in between.

It’s little surprise then that the French company Ubisoft chose it as the location for their first North American studio in 1997, and the multiculturalism (and multilingualism) of contemporary Québec continues to suit the company well. ‘It’s very convenient for us to be able to talk the same language with creators in France, and at the same time the people in Québec are close to the North American market,’ Yannis Mallat, CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, told Gamasutra shortly before a tour of the studio. ‘They watch the same programs, they have the same entertainment, so they know what works.’”

I am 25 today! Gamasutra have decided to celebrate the day of my birth by publishing the second article I did for them while in Montreal; an interview with Yannis Mallat which is also (sort of) an overview of Ubisoft Montreal. I think some of the most interesting stuff in this interview is the stuff about Campus Ubisoft, which I had never heard of before the trip. The website isn’t even available in English yet, that’s how bleeding edge it is.

Or, in English, “The Difference between Wii and Wheee!”

Written roughly around about the time everyone was reacting to the OMG CRAZY name of the new Nintendo console, I stand out by declaring I’m not going to have an opinion (in my opinion column, of all places) and am “waiting to see the games, not names.” I then go on to cuss Red Steel for looking like a depressingly boring FPS (I was way ahead of the curve, here, it seems) and rant and rave about how awesome Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast is (it really is, you know) before briefly chatting about the “Blue Sky in Games” campaign. Never so much a campaign as it was this one isolated blog post that everyone got excited about, I still agree with them anyway.

As always, you can download a PDF of this issue at the Game Reactor website.

“Apart from the camera, WinBack 2: Project Poseidon is consistently entertaining, with the combat mechanics and movement smooth and satisfying, but in general it’s also rather lacklustre, full of flaws that are too glaring to ignore when considering a recommendation. Some aspects are incredibly polished and fun, but others are terrifically broken, and while there’s a real sense that it could have earned a lot more than a five, overall it doesn’t.”

I spend rather a lot of time bitching about the horrible camera (unfortunately a feature of most Cave games) but it was just one of many flaws in Winback, which is a fairly interesting game to talk about right now, because it used a quite sophisticated cover system, similar in some ways to the current trend seen in Gears of War and Rainbow Six: Vegas (though to my memory, without blind fire.) However, the game was generally just not exciting enough to be noticed, so wasn’t really all that groundbreaking. And with cover systems and stealth action done so much better elsewhere, there’s little to recommend Winback 2, in the end.

“Raphael Colantonio, the outspoken and charismatic CEO and creative director of Arkane Studios, was recently in Montreal for the Montreal International Game Summit, where he presented the session ‘Building a Small Independent Studio in a Big Publisher World’ (subtitled ‘Lifting the Mountain’). Based in Lyon, France, Arkane Studios recently opened a studio in Austin, Texas, and most recently completed Dark Messiah of Might and Magic for Ubisoft, to critical acclaim.

Gamasutra talked to Raphael before his session about his start in the industry, the difference between working in France and in the US, and the passion that drives him and the company on.”

The first of my feature length articles from my time in Montreal during the week of the Montreal International Game Summit, this is a rather nice little Q&A with Raphael Colantonio, who instantly won me over by loving the mid-period Looking Glass and Origin Ultima games.

And yes, the title of the article is perhaps a bit of a tired pop-culture reference by now, but Colantonio talks of passion so much (and is so passionate about his craft) how could I resist?

“Can you believe that Unaccompanied Minors features three out of five Kids in the Hall? Neither can we! Or that the film is directed by Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig and features lots of other excellent folks such as The Office’s BJ Novak. We can still believe it sucks, though. Which, apparently, it does. Called “a generally lousy movie” by Now’s Deirdre Swain, she notes, oddly, that Tyler James Williams is a “particular standout, as uncomfortable as it is to see the black kid turned into a clown.”

What on earth does that mean? Hasn’t she heard of Clowning?”

Nothing else of note this week at Torontoist; I was in Montreal for some of the week, I admit.

“Who’d want to be a farmer? Foot and Mouth, Mad Cow, Bird Flu – these are only some of the epidemics that threaten them. Crop farmers aren’t exempt from suffering either, as supermarkets demand the best quality produce at the lowest cost, while consumers bitch about pesticides and genetically engineered food.

Then again, it’s probably best not to put too much stock in the lessons of Magical Melody, because if you do then you’ll probably decide that farmers are meant, even encouraged, to go out into the forest and hug all the animals – be they raccoons, squirrels or even monkeys. Meanwhile, moles should definitely be hit with a mallet. It’s just the done thing.”

The best Harvest Moon currently available, as far as I can see. I haven’t had a chance to try Harvest Moon DS, but I’ve heard little good about it. I quite liked A Wonderful Life, even if it started far too easily (and must require about 500 hours to complete. Has anyone done it?) but it pales in comparison to Magical Melody. The Harvest Moon titles aren’t for everyone, but if they’re for you, this is the one to get.

“Rayman Raving Rabbids might be short, but it’s incredibly sweet, with the unique Gallic charm that has defined the series since Rayman’s appearance in 1992; in what other game could you imagine a reference being made to Les Choristes, the 2004 film about a chorus group at a French boarding school, as seen here in the genius minigame “Bunnies Have a Great Ear for Music”? This kind of attention to detail drenches the game; making it something special, and a hidden gem in the Wii line-up.”

Currently my favourite game in the Wii line-up due to the endless charm of the Rabbids, the one problem with this title is that it’s just so short. Oh, it also ends in a wildly unsatisfying way, as if they left it to the work experience boy to write and animate the finale, or something. The mini-games are fun in solo play or multiplay, but my favourite bits were the on-rails shooter section, which have informed me that I would pay a decent amount of money to Sega if they’d release a Sega Ages: Rail Chase compilation for the Wii.

Rail Chase… What a strange series of games to have fond memories of. As far as I can remember, they’re not even that good!

“Pokemon Link is a truly pleasant surprise – a Pokemon puzzle game that’s not only a competent puzzle game, in which the theme doesn’t obscure that fact. Though it does have a distressingly small number of modes, the core adventure mode can be as fun in quick bursts as Zoo Keeper or Meteos, and the multiplayer features are fantastic, even if they’ll sadly rarely be used. I can’t in good conscience truly recommend it over Zoo Keeper’s simplicity, or Meteos’ beauty, but third place ain’t bad.”

Also known as Pokemon Trozei! here in North America (and Pokemon Torouze! in Japan, apparently) I enjoyed this game a great deal more than I thought I would; really just a version of Yoshi’s Cookie with dropping blocks, there’s something strangely addictive about it and astoundingly for a Pokemon game, the style and storyline is part of the fun. It was rather a shame Tetris DS, which is basically pointless thanks to the “easy spin” came out at roughly the same time, meaning this was forgotten almost completely.

“Metroid Prime Pinball is a game that requires that you’re a bigger fan of the ‘Metroid Prime’ part of the title than you are of the ‘Pinball’ part. While fun can be had here, it’s from the mini-games and the experience rather than solid table designs – and that’s a cardinal sin in pinball.”

Even with the (terrible) rumble pack included, Metroid Prime: Pinball is just such an incredible waste of money. Offhand, the legendarily tough Stu Campbell disagrees with me, and we have argued over how easy it is without any particular conclusion, but still: avoid this. I’d even recommend Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire for the GBA over it.

“That’s perhaps the crux of the problem with Excite Truck, even ignoring the flawed controls; there’s simply no excitement here. And as a launch title for a system that’s supposed to offer something special, something different, that is damning. In the end, there’s one more thing that Excite Truck has in common with Excite Bike other than the name: compared to other titles on the market today, it is simplistic, outdated, and forgettable.”

I didn’t like Excite Truck at all. I remain unconvinced that the Wii remote can work as a “wheel”; I hear that someone (Ubisoft?) created a steering wheel cradle for it to go with one of their games, but control difficulties aside, Excite Truck is just so… Not exciting.