May 13, 2010May 18, 2010

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – Back to his (PS2) roots

Hi everyone, my name is Graeme Jennings and I’m the producer for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands on PlayStation 3. With the game coming out so soon and everyone at Ubisoft excited to see what you guys thought of it, we wanted to get your opinions on the PlayStation.Blog and have the chance to answer some questions you guys might have for us.

To start off, let me explain a little about Forgotten Sands. The first thing I wanted to mention is to let you all know that this is not a game based on the Sands of Time film, in fact, we are bringing the prince back to the roots from the PlayStation 2 era by having this game take place in the seven year gap between Sands of Time and Warrior Within. We think you’ll notice a lot of reminiscent elements of the original trilogy in Forgotten Sands.

Some other things we’re extremely excited to talk about are the elemental powers and epic battles that take place n the game. Thanks to new innovations in technology we are able to pull off huge battles, from a boss that’s over 30 feet tall to fights with up to 50 enemies on the screen at once; the Prince definitely has his work cut out for him in this one. We are also providing the Prince with new powers over the elements, abilities like being able to solidify water to climb on it, creating a trail of fire behind you, and blasting enemies away with a tornado to name a few.

Finally as an added bonus for PlayStation users, if players connect their PSP and PS3 together, they will unlock extra experience points to put towards upgrading the Prince’s arsenal.

So if you have any questions for us on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands feel free to ask them and we’ll do our best to answer. One of the best opportunities to see how we did with a game is to hear it directly from you. Thanks, hope you all enjoy the game!

Comments are closed.

103 Comments

28 Author Replies

carton_azul
May 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm PDT

since TSOT I have an obsession with this series and seems it won’t dissapoint me now specially with that graphics
KidCommando
May 13, 2010 at 7:36 pm PDT

You are so proud of your game that you give us a CG cut scene video?

The gameplay videos are underwhelming and just plain sad.
Onvertic
May 13, 2010 at 7:41 pm PDT

Question:

Will there be a Sands of time port for the PSP? It would be nice to have the trilogy on a portable console.
tinyspacerobot
May 13, 2010 at 8:11 pm PDT

I seriously love the SoT design on the Prince compared to than this one. :( But nevertheless, I’m still excited for it.

Question, are you planning for this to be a trilogy (or more) too?
SpeciesOne
May 13, 2010 at 8:14 pm PDT

I am really excited that you’re bringing the old prince back, even though I do hope to see a sequel to the pop 2008.

I would really like to see the old trilogy released in HD for the PS3, just like Sony did it with God of War. They are some of my fave games of all time. They look like crap on my HD TV. :(

Also, I hope you didn’t abandon the 2008 storyline. Please, please, please continue working in the sequel.
Rated-Rsuperstar
May 13, 2010 at 8:15 pm PDT

Will Forgotten Sands get a soundtrack release on Amazon or Itunes?
ajaybs88
May 13, 2010 at 8:15 pm PDT

Dear Graeme Jennings,

I really appreciate the fact that you are being very friendly and replying to most comments and I’m really excited for forgotten sands.

I would like to state a request on releasing the original prince of persia trilogy on HD, the new gen consoles.

You see I only got to play the Prince of Persia Warrior Within, and it’s hands down the best game I’ve ever experienced. And don’t get me wrong, I have played all sort of games from Halo to Dead Space to Modern Warfare 2.

I never got a chance to play The Sands of Time or The Two Thrones.

I know it’s not fully up to you, but I’m pretty sure you could at least contact Ubisoft and ask them what they think of the idea.

MAYBE THEY COULD RELEASE THE TRILOGY AS A COLLECTORS EDITION.

Please sir, there are a lot of people asking for this, it’s not only me.

Sorry this comment was too long but hopefully I’ll get a response.

Thank you sir,
Ajay
SpyDudeFX
May 13, 2010 at 8:37 pm PDT

Thx for skipping a very important question for most Home users. Ubi already released a cool dynamic theme for 360, no idea why PS3 would need to be a secret. Hopefully we’ll see PS3 content too.
Talon281
May 13, 2010 at 9:17 pm PDT

i was a huge fan of the sands of time trilogy, and i really enjoy the games you guys create however i grow concern when developers revisit series’. i notice that the continuity of the universe isn’t always upheld and although i have full faith in you guys i still worry…

i have two questions regarding prince of Persia both old and new,
first: in Warrior Within it was mentioned that during the time lapse between games the Prince was being hunted by the Dahaka, for disturbing the time line, and that is how the second game began. so in forgotten sands will we see the dahaka, is that plot point still crucial or has it been forgotten by the team?

and second: although different, i still really enjoyed the reboot of prince of persia in 2008 on ps3 and was both excited and annoyed by the cliff hanger. months later the epilogue was released and it ended very abruptly, and with an even bigger cliff hanger. will we see the conclusion to that story or was that prince not deemed worthy for a finale?
- Graeme Jennings
  May 14, 2010 at 11:12 am PDT
  
  I appreciate and understand your concern… we know that the Sands of Time series is extraordinarily important to a great many people (and I’m not trying to toot Ubisoft’s horn, I just need you all to hear that we are fully aware of the how important this is to you and other fans).
  
  So, again with the Dahaka… he’s not in The Forgotten Sands, but that doesn’t upset the storyline. As you say, Warrior Within begins with the Prince being chased by the Dahaka, basically with the introduction of the Dahaka… it wouldn’t necessarily make sense for us to have them hanging out in The Forgotten Sands because they aren’t particularly well acquainted at the very start of Warrior Within. Trust me, we though a lot about this point, because we know how central the Dahaka is to the overall plot, but for The Forgotten Sands, it didn’t make sense to include the Dahaka.
SSDKing
May 13, 2010 at 9:25 pm PDT

dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this look real life holllllyyyyyy definitely playing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Demonspeed7
May 13, 2010 at 9:25 pm PDT

I’m one of the people that actually enjoyed 2008’s Prince of Persia. I liked the cell shading graphics and the acrobatics. I think the only thing that wasn’t perfect, was the combat. The combat that was there, was actually very good and action packed. There just weren’t enough battles, with regular minions. I hope you’re still working on a sequel for that game as well.
Demonspeed7
May 13, 2010 at 9:26 pm PDT

As for this new POP. It looks interesting. However, I’ve only played Sands of Time and didn’t get to play Warrior Within and Two Thrones.I’m with everyone else, as far as having the ps2 POP Trilogy ported over to ps3 like they did with God of War 1 and 2.Ohh, and if UBI does decide to port the trilogy over, please have trophy support and hd graphics like the God of War collection. Honestly, UBI should have done this move, before the Forgotten Sands released.

UBI could have made some more money off an existing I.P.=intellectual property like the Sands of Time Trilogy and it could have helped to build anticipation for the Forgotten Sands at the same time. Not to mention, that it would have gotten some of us who haven’t played the whole Sands of Time trilogy up to speed.

Maybe you should give me a job as a consultant, because I would have made you folks a lot more money and your fans would be happier as well. I am a business major by the way.
- Graeme Jennings
  May 14, 2010 at 11:19 am PDT
  
  Okay, really quickly, I’d like to address what seems to be a common misconception about “porting” games to new hardware, as Sony did with God of War – it’s not as easy as you might think.
  
  I’m sure Sony can tell you that it involves lots of planning and a lot of work to turn something like this out.
  
  Again, I can’t say whether this is being worked on or not, but I would like to explain that it is not a simple cut and paste job.
BlooodyCow
May 13, 2010 at 9:37 pm PDT

So what exclusive content will PS3 owners be missing out on? Everyone know Ubisoft has a “tight” relationship with Microsoft base on the exclusive contents and games you guys bend over backward to give them.

Is it too late for me to demand my money back from buying that azz of a game with the last PoP on the PS3/Xbox360? Out of the 125+ games I purchased this generation, I have only regret buying 2 of them and both of them are from you guys. Prince of Persia and HAZE.
ChronoScythe
May 13, 2010 at 9:54 pm PDT

will the game be consistent with storyline or simply just go forward. what i mean is, does the prince magically have the medallion or dagger, or does someone actually give it to him?
since in warrior within the prince has the medallion but we can only assume where he got it from.

and sry a second question, theres a sandwraith skin for the prince, does this foreshadow anything?
- Graeme Jennings
  May 14, 2010 at 11:26 am PDT
  
  Hmmm… I hadn’t considered using “magic” to simply grant the Prince things without bothering to explain anything, I’ll have to keep that in mind for future reference, hahaha.
  
  Yes, The Forgotten Sands is consistent with the series.
  
  Foreshadowing? I don’t think I had better say anything about that.
liggityliam123
May 13, 2010 at 10:04 pm PDT

good luck on making the game, i’ve played all the first 3 games and they were really so hopefully this should be better. Also is there still a rewind time power?
- Graeme Jennings
  May 14, 2010 at 11:27 am PDT
  
  Yup, The Forgotten Sands has rewind, and we explain how the Prince gets this power… though I won’t go into detail here in order to avoid spoilers.
liggityliam123
May 13, 2010 at 10:07 pm PDT

*really good*
Paradron_Bomb
May 13, 2010 at 10:37 pm PDT

I’m not dropping a dime on another PoP game until Ubisoft wrap up the 2008 continuity proper.

Platinumed it, cliffhanger ending. Bought the ‘Epilogue’ DLC, even more of a cliffhanger. Then Ubi’ scrap it all to go back to the old continuity for a quick buck?! In the middle of an arc?! Who does that? It’d be like going back to the Michael Keaton or Adam West ‘Batman’ continuity after ‘The Dark Knight’. What a burn.

Can’t continue the Ubisoft Splinter Cell series on Playstation either despite buying all the other Splinter Cell games up until ‘Conviction’. Another storyline I’ll never finish. I see a pattern here Ubisoft.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…nah…I’ve learnt my lesson.
whatisdelicious
May 13, 2010 at 10:41 pm PDT

The biggest problem I have with this game so far is that it doesn’t look genuine. It just looks like it’s going through the motions of a Sands of Time experience. Especially watching the intro and the gameplay footage of the Prince wallrunning (with needless arrows flying at him for no reason or threat to the player) and engaging soulless, bland enemies in combat that doesn’t look at all interesting. I know you guys have said in interviews that the PoP audience moved to God of War and now you’re going to win them back, but that shouldn’t have been your inspiration for the combat. Batman: Arkham Asylum should’ve been. That game is like Sands of Time’s combat on crack. It’s amazing.

That, and the Prince’s face looks like some weird amalgamation of the Sands Prince, or the Warrior Within/Two Thrones Prince, or even Jake Gyllenhaal.

I’m sorry for all the negativity. I want this game to surprise me with how good it turns out. I LOVED Sands of Time.
SolduNuts
May 13, 2010 at 10:43 pm PDT

First off thankyou Ubisoft for all the great games you guys produce.

Please don’t forget about the last prince because that story was left with a cliff hanger (I am sure you guys know that already).

Also please rerelease the original POP trilogy just like Sony did with the first two God of War’s. Make the trilogy run in 720P at 60 FPS with three platniums on one Blu Ray disk and that thing would sell like hot cakes. If you guys don’t have the time and/or resources you could always outsource it just like Sony did with… I can’t remember their studios name, sorry, but they have stated that it only took several months to get God of War up and running on the PS3.

Thankyou again for making such great games and keep up the hard work.
Gedrehten
May 13, 2010 at 10:44 pm PDT

I loved the three PS2 games, so i just want to say thank you for going back to that game play style. The one previously released was honestly kind of a let down compared to them. There was little to no action, hack and slash, element. The combination of actrobatics and hack and slash is what maded this frachise great and honestly more entertaining than a more popular and slightly over rated competitor. I look forward to picking up Forgotten Sands and enjoying Price of Persia the way i remember it.
worojack
May 13, 2010 at 11:43 pm PDT

This game was awesome on the PS2! I’ll buy it for sure.
plaztiksyke
May 14, 2010 at 12:38 am PDT

Let me first put in my vote for releasing the Sands of Time trilogy on a single bluray. My husband and I loved, loved, loved Sands of Time, tolerated Warrior Within, and liked The Two Thrones. Playing them in 1080p with losslessly compressed audio would be really, really awesome. I pre-ordered the God of War Collection and would pre-order a PoP collection as well. Please include the original PoP and PoP2 as well :)

I already pre-ordered TFS, but have some questions:
1. Is it 1080p native? Any use of MSAA to avoid aliasing artifacts?

2. are the cutscene videos 1080p? is the audio 24-bit?

3. please tell me that a secondary character is actually playable. We’re tired of these passive, secondary female characters. Some role reversal at various points would be nice, like in Broken Sword 3.

4. was the score recorded with live instruments? is the soundtrack playable outside of the game? is the music 24-bit and/or losslessly compressed?

thanks in advance for answering! :)

PS: I’d really like to see the TMNT game that was based on the PoP engine come to the PS3 natively. I’d love to see it on PSN, especially to make up for the bad (unresponsive controls, screen tearing, etc) Turtles in Time game you released.
Lucreto
May 14, 2010 at 1:19 am PDT

It saddens me that Ubi abandoned the 2008 POP game. I loved the game and I plan to platinum the game during the summer.

I will not be getting this game because of it. Bring back the 2008 series then we will talk.
exenpipp
May 14, 2010 at 2:09 am PDT

Hey guys! Looking forward to the game! :]

Will there be any demo?
Guts05
May 14, 2010 at 2:53 am PDT

I doubt I’ll be picking this up right away, Ubisoft still has no clue how to properly develop for the PS3, just look how unstable AC 2 was.
InVaDeR_010
May 14, 2010 at 3:44 am PDT

is the game gonna have alot of cut scenes like assassin’s creed 2 cuz i really hated the long cut scenes
DainBramage
May 14, 2010 at 6:31 am PDT

“The first thing I wanted to mention is to let you all know that this is not a movie based on the Sands of Time film”

I am so glad you didn’t make the prince look like that guy.

[DELETED] Cowboy != Prince of Persia
Gunwing
May 14, 2010 at 6:54 am PDT

I know the gameplay vids are toned down for showing off the engine. I was reading an interview with Ubisoft on Twitter and they confirmed that the dificulty in the gameplay vids was lower then easy mode. In fact it was on a special super easy mode only used for development, and testing.

IE as he stated here enemies are faster, smarter, and they will be much harder to kill in the final game even on easy mode. Plus I have seen footage of the boss fights and they were way over the top cool.

I would love to buy this on my PS3 as it’s lacking in Multiplatform games. Any chance we could get exclusive DLC on the PS3? Seeing as PoP was first on the PSone, and PS2 before it made the jump to Microsoft platforms. I highly look forward to this title as the texture and model detail are vary good.
StarFoxMania
May 14, 2010 at 6:58 am PDT

Please stop the spoiler-like questions AND ANSWERS. Is Dahaka there? Is Fara there? what’s wrong with you people? Why would you even want to get the game once you knew that? And what’s wrong with ytou dear Miss Jennings to answer those questions, geez.

Now as far as the trailer goes, A pre-renedered cut scene means nothing. We’ve all seen the difference between in-game footage and pre-rendered, unless you are Naughty Dog or Santa Monica of course, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

@24 Read the post from the dev staff before asking questions. Gosh how effing lazy are you?

My question (which I am amazed nobody asked yet, or if they did it wasn’t answered) is: How will the PSP connect? Do we need a PoP PSP game? I was very unclear on the connectivity, because I remember when Gamecube and Gameboy Advance used to be linked, both systems needed games. Can you please answer that? Thanks in advance.
alfian2
May 14, 2010 at 7:42 am PDT

lol, he stopped answering question
tenshin78
May 14, 2010 at 8:21 am PDT

PoP Trilogy in HD for the PS3, same way as the God of War Collection, you will have my money that way!
plaztiksyke
May 14, 2010 at 8:30 am PDT

… and more requests for the Sands of Time trilogy Collection: full-palette hi-res 16-bit textures, re-record Warrior Within’s dialogue with Sands of Time’s original voice actor, use the Xbox/PC character models/animations which looked amazing (or update them), don’t make the mistake the God of War collection made — re-render/re-encode still art and cutscenes in 1080p and with losslessly compressed audio. and lastly, don’t forget to add trophies! each game in the trilogy should have it’s own platinum, like God of War Collection.

thanks!!!

ps: would love to se Ubisoft publish Revolution’s Broken Sword games in HD on PSN
AriesWarlock
May 14, 2010 at 8:30 am PDT

Hey Graeme, I also advocate for a Prince of Persia Collection for PS3 after this game comes out. Such games cannot be lost in time, they should always be available for new generations of gamers!
miva2
May 14, 2010 at 8:53 am PDT

@Traffordman2008, post 50
Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the first trailer. Oh well, I hope I’ll get used to it.

Thanks for having answered my few questions already.
With a team like Ubi Montreal behind a game of the PoP series, there shouldn’t be much to question :)
I’m definitely a big PoP fan, although I have yet to play TTT and 2008, getting it whenever I decide to get a ps3 :) but please get the bugs out so that i don’t have to start the game all over again before i completed it (like happened a few times in WW with me)
looking forward to it :)
KOS-TAS
May 14, 2010 at 8:55 am PDT

The only thing i have to say is that I have played the trilogy over than 7 times especialy the title Warrior Within.I am so impatient to see what your minds are up to.Just keep up the good work and be sure that I am going to be the first person to buy it!!;)
soldiercell
May 14, 2010 at 9:25 am PDT

Im gonna get it. I am a huge prince of persia fan, gotta continue bad or good! I actually liked the last game, I just hope they added some new stuff, going back to the roots is good and all, but change is better!
BalramRules
May 14, 2010 at 9:32 am PDT

i personally feel dat the prince is already a greater leader than his brother, (although he does not think da same way as i do) :1
Cry_Wolfxx
May 14, 2010 at 9:48 am PDT

Hello everyone,iam just wanna ask about the pc and the ps3 version because i will have it in those and i just wanna know that the story in the pc and the ps3 are different or it is just the same,sorry for the question…. and am just wanna said to ubisoft that it’s fantastic espesially this year and before i see the game it is fantastic at least they back to the last series cause pop 4 was very bad sorry for that
and thankx alot
Frejim
May 14, 2010 at 10:37 am PDT

I’ve just pre-ordered from Amazon, and use the code!!!!

Thanks!!!!!
lipscomba
May 14, 2010 at 11:30 am PDT

@Traffordman2008: I have the same question. Is he the prince of Persia or prince of Europe?
ATHF89
May 14, 2010 at 11:50 am PDT

So can’t wait for this.
plaztiksyke
May 14, 2010 at 12:14 pm PDT

re: porting Sands of Time,

Ubi should have a much easier time porting SoT to the PS3 than Sony did with God of War: SoT was cross-platform, whereas GoW was extremely platform-specific. Floating point rounding/precision issues, proprietary texture formats, and all the other PS2-specific nightmare crap shouldn’t be nearly as much of a problem for you guys. The fact the TMNT game was based on the same engine and already ported to current-gen consoles should indicate the engine’s readiness and the team’s know-how on this front.

While it isn’t a “copy & paste” job, as you say, it also should be significantly easier to port. Especially since you could just re-use the shader and texture assets (at the laziest) from the Xbox/PC versions since the PS3 has a similar NVidia chip in it. (Using the Xbox/PC build as a leaping off also makes it easier to get on the 360 as well, of course.) Naturally, it would be nice to have uncompressed, full palette textures, high-resolution bump/glow maps, and a few new shaders thrown in.

The three games, decently ‘remastered’ in 1080p onto one disc, each with its own platinum trophy, would easily fetch $45 of my dollars.
CloudStorm87
May 14, 2010 at 3:44 pm PDT

Really can’t wait to get my hands on this game!

But y’know what I’d love to play also? The PoP PS2 trilogy completely remastered in HD for the PS3 just like the God of War Collection. Please Ubisoft, make it happen! I guarantee it will sell like crack. :D
Merc21ty
May 14, 2010 at 9:36 pm PDT

alright one question will any of the powers from sands of time be on there and one more will there be any new weapons?
ChronoScythe
May 15, 2010 at 2:59 pm PDT

if you guys don’t have a remake of the sands of time trilogy planned for the near future i’ll be more than happy to take over that task. i plan to go into game design as a career, so if by the time i’m ready to start working on a project, if the opportunity is still there, you know who to contact

oh and of course, if you do make the remake, i suggest you keep it to 360 and PS3 only, not wii, honestly, it won’t work
Zapages
May 15, 2010 at 4:42 pm PDT

Hi Graeme

As you are answering questions regarding PoP Forgotten Sands. I was wondering if Ubi knew any updates concerning Prince of Persia Legacy being hosted by Ubisoft. My former hosts, Gamespy/IGN ended all of their hosting services in late September 2009. Since then I’ve talked with Ben Mattes about it and he passed the information along to Florence, the brand manager for Prince of Persia series. The last I heard was from Peter Dalope in mid October of 2009, which he told me that there was a solution and someone will contact me about it. Also Ubisoft renamed one of their forums as Prince of Persia Legacy, which was dedicated to all old Prince of Persia games. Unfortunately I never received any further details about the solution. Although they did change one of the forum sections to Prince of Persia Legacy. I would really appreciate it if you can look into this. Thanks.

One last question regarding Forgotten Sands, how many ending should we expect with the game? Is it like Warrior Within with 2 ending or like Sands of Time which had only one ending.

Sincerely,

Zain aka Zapages
Zapages
May 15, 2010 at 4:45 pm PDT

Another question I always had is please port POP 2: The Shadow and the Flame in the form of Prince of Persia Classic as us old school Prince of Persia fans would love to see it. Also it will be a great way to introduce it to new fans that liked PoP Classic.

PS: I really like how the PSP version looks and plays, is there any plans on releasing it on PSN for the PS3 in the future?
ted95on
May 16, 2010 at 3:13 am PDT

Is there the possibility to choose the difficulty in this one ? I know there is Normal and Easy difficulty, but what about Hard ? Maybe if we beat the game once or something…

One thing I wanted to say: Ubisoft is so much concerned about its DRM, and the PC piracy, meanwhile, the Xbox360 has been pirated and most of the game is already on Youtube. Maybe you should be concerned not about the PC, because it seems more like it’s the Xbox360 version that’s being pirated, but yet you blame the PC gamers. I won’t watch the videos on Youtube, because I don’t want to spoil it more for me.

Cheers.
Sance233
May 16, 2010 at 7:00 am PDT

Hi Graeme!

Thanks for answering fan questions. How long is TFS compared to previous PoP titles? Can we expect more games starring the SoT Prince? Also let me have a provocative question: why is that you deny any conncetion to the SoT movie, yet it’s pretty obvious that the outfit of the Prince is identitcal to Jake Gyllenhaal’s in the movie? I think it really seems that the artistic direction was inspired by the movie, however that’s not a bad thing.

And about the SoT series: why was PoP Classic never released on PC? Can we have it at last, please!
thunder_12
May 18, 2010 at 4:54 am PDT

Sorry for the length and postage date. 2 questions – 1st is what will the prince be using to manipulate the sands of time i.e. the dagger or the medalion because at the end of POP TSOT we see the prince hand back the dagger to farah and then later on in WW we discover the prince is able to manipulate the sands of time with the medalion. But in the 1st cenematic trailer were the prince is 1st in a sand blizzard then we see him running towards a big sand cloud thing we get a slight glimpse of what looks like the dagger of time. So my question is what do we use?

2nd question – does the prince use his left or right hand for sword fights as i’ve seen pictures of the new prince with sword stored away on his left side meaning it would be used for his right hand but in TSOT the prince uses his left hand, so which hand? Thanks for replying whenever you do.