Prince of Persia Message Board

#princeofpersia In 1985 Jordon Mechner was a student at Yale riding high on a mix of euphoria over the surprise success of his first video game, Karateka, and trepidation over the idea of turning that success into a career. More »

Finally, those stalwarts who refuse to "upgrade" from their trusty Commodore 64 computers can experience that hot new game, Prince of Persia. Homebrew developer mrsid ported the 1989 game from its original Apple 2 version, making the cartridge image available for download from his site. If you have a C64 or 128 and a flashable C64 cartridge -- or, more likely, if you have a C64 emulator -- you can check out the achievement.

The rest of us will have to settle for this video, which looks remarkably smooth for an unofficial port on such an old system. It drew the attention of Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner, who commented to say "I'm amazed and humbled by the amount of work this must have taken."

Mechner also solved the mystery of why there wasn't an official C64 version, even though there were so many ports: "Back in 1989, when I was making POP on the Apple II, I couldn't get anyone interested in doing a C64 port," he commented, "because it was too old a system."

#fineart An acclaimed motion picture artist, Joseph Mclamb has helped shape the creative vision of movies as big as Avatar and Clash of the Titans. More »

#cutapersianrug It's funnier when you realise, three seconds in, that anyone who's ever played the original Prince of Persia has done just this. Only maybe not to such catchy music. [via Boing Boing] More »

In 1985, Jordan Mechner was thinking about baggy pants, arches and columns -- images that could be clearly conveyed in a low-resolution, pixelated computer game. While delivering his Prince of Persia postmortem during GDC earlier this month, Mechner delved into his memories, his journals (which you can read online) and his temporary departure from the game midway through development to pursue a screenwriting career in Hollywood.

Mechner's interests and techniques have always been embedded in cinema. He filmed his brother David running about in a Reader's Digest parking lot with a VHS camera, and layered drawings on top of those movements (in a process called rotoscoping) to capture the protagonist's movements in Prince of Persia. You've heard that part, but you might not know about the fate of the camera that captured such iconic scurrying. According to Mechner, he purchased it, recorded the necessary footage, and then returned it within a 30-day guarantee. "I felt a little guilty about it, but I was trying to keep costs down," he said.

Initially dubbed "Thief of Baghdad" (and inspired by the film of the same name), the game continued to come together in a modular fashion, at one time incorporating a full level editor that Mechner had to persistently test, making sure users couldn't introduce game-breaking bugs. "My job title was programmer, all those other things were extra."

According to the ESRB's website, the Splinter Cell and prince of Persia HD collections due for the PlayStation 3 will also be making an appearance on the Xbox 360. More »

#2010yearinreview There were so many things to get excited about in 2010! So many things to cherish! Sadly, life isn't all kittens and rainbows, and for every up, there must be a down. More »

Squeaking in right before we all head out for the holidays, Ubisoft has announced a sale on many of its games across Apple's App Store, the PlayStation Store and its own PC game store. You can find Prince of Persia Retro, Silent Hunter Mobile and a few other iOS titles on sale in the App Store for just a buck. Ubisoft's game packs on PSN are at half price (one features the old school Prince of Persia bundled with Cell Factor, and the other contains Scott Pilgrim, TMNT Reshelled and Voodoo Dice) and the official online store for Ubisoft has 33% off most of its PC titles (with a full list after the break).

None of these sales are super crazy (though that 99 cent deal for the original Prince of Persia on iOS is pretty good), but if you've been thinking of picking up something from the Assassin's Creed series or a Tom Clancy title, this deal should get you at least a few bucks off. The sale lasts until midnight PST on Christmas Day.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is back! The second chapter of the epic Prince of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy is now available for your downloading and playing pleasure in full HD on the PlayStation Network for $14.99. In the combat-focused Warrior Within, you’ll fight an entire island of brutal and unrelenting creatures in stunning HD and stereoscopic 3D (for those lucky enough to own a 3D TV).

Wield two weapons at once, manipulate the environments and control your enemies with the Sands of Time AND rock out to some Godsmack while you hunt the mighty Dahaka! Long flowing jet-black hair + man-scara + M-Rating + Godsmack = Best. Week. Ever.

Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within HD and Prince of Persia Sands of Time HD are available for download on the PlayStation Store for $14.99. For more information about the game, wall run your way over to the Prince of Persia Facebook page. Come on, you KNOW you wanna “Like” it !

Well, that didn't take very long. A high-definition update of Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is set to arrive on the PlayStation Network starting today. Launching in Europe later this week as a single Blu-ray disc, the remastered Prince of Persia Trilogy will be brought to the American PlayStation store in three separate flavors: original, smoldering and nutty.

According to the PlayStation Blog, Warrior Within (that game they made because you didn't buy Sands of Time in the first place) and The Two Thrones will launch on PSN in December. All three adventures boast 720p resolution, Trophies, 3D support and $14.99 price tags. That's $45 for the original trilogy -- and you can probably find The Forgotten Sands in a bargain bin if you're looking for even more of the classic Prince's elegant environmental puzzles.

The Prince of Persia Trilogy will be available for download exclusively on the PlayStation Network, giving you the opportunity to re-live the critically-acclaimed developed by Ubisoft’s Montreal studios. These PS2 classics have been upgraded with HD graphics and are ready for 3D-enabled televisions for the first time ever!

Do you remember fighting the Vizier? Chasing the Dagger of Time? Trying to save Farah? Well, that was 7 years ago… This huge PS2 hit is prettier than ever on your PS3 in 720p, and for the lucky owners of a 3DTV, added 3D effects to immerse you more than ever in this awesome Arabian Nights tale from Jordan Mechner and Ubisoft Montreal. Getting this game on PSN is simpler than reversing time, right? So don’t wait, jump, wall run, solve puzzles and rewind time today on PSN with Prince of Persia The Sands of Time.

Prince of Persia Warrior Within and Prince of Persia The Two Thrones, the 2 other chapters of this epic tale, will be available in December. Each game will be available for download on the PlayStation Store for $14.99. To join the Prince in his quest for total awesomeness – Prince the warrior, not the singer – visit us on Facebook.

#clips While the screenshots from yesterday had me thinking Captain America meets Castle Wolfenstein, the gameplay trailer for Next Level's Captain America: Super Soldier shows off an acrobatic hero that could give the Prince of Persia a run for his money. More »

#ubisoft The previously rumored Prince of Persia Trilogy 3D for the PlayStation 3 has been confirmed by publisher Ubisoft today, stuffing three PS2 games onto one Blu-ray disc, which will only be available in Europe. More »

The European PS3 re-release of the Prince of Persia trilogy is looking more real, with a trio of screenshots on the game's Amazon.co.uk listing -- of course, the existence of that listing at all provides further evidence of the game's veracity. The listing states that the collection will be released November 19.

The three screens of Prince of Persia: Trilogy in HD show Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones, upscaled to 720p. According to ScrawlFX, the disc will also support stereoscopic 3D. We're following up with Ubisoft about North American plans, or at least to get some kind of real confirmation that this is actually a thing.

#ubisoft The Prince of Persia franchise may have dodged a bullet this generation, saving fans from the discomfort of seeing the series thrust into the modern age, an idea that was ultimately scrapped for a PoP reboot of a different nature. More »

Ubisoft once considered a rather drastic reboot for its Prince of Persia series, former employee Jonathan Jacques-Belletête revealed to Xbox World 360. Now working for Eidos, Jacques-Belletête described the canceled project as Prince of Persia "in the contemporary world." The pitch was described as "a bit Day After Tomorrow, but replace the snow with sand."

The pitch was eventually shelved, likely due to the continued progress of the already in-development cel-shaded Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed. Considering the direction Ubisoft is taking the latter series, a modern PoP may have been perceived as too similar. However, given Ubisoft's quick decision to abandon the cel-shaded reboot, we wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft reconsiders reviving this idea from its vault.

#ps3 Two rumored high-definition ports of PlayStation 2 games, bound for the PlayStation 3, look less like rumors today, as box art for the Mortal Kombat HD Arcade Kollection and Prince of Persia 3D Trilogy has apparently been outed by retailers. More »

#cosplay It doesn't matter that the Prince of Persia is a dude. A chesty dude. Meagan VanBurkleo wanted to dress up like him, so dress up like him she has. And what a cracking job she's done. More »

#ubisoft First there was God of War, then Sly, now it appears two more franchises are taking their PlayStation 2 entries and tarting them up for a release on the PlayStation 3. More »

According to Amazon France listings spotted by The Sixth Axis, both Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia franchises could be getting Blu-ray treatment in the coming months. Unfortunately, other than a 39.95 Euro ($54) price tag and a November 2 release date, neither listing provides any real detail on what the trilogies might contain.

If Ubisoft so chooses, however, the trilogies could reflect the God of War Collection released last year, with upgraded, HD graphics -- perhaps add online multiplayer to the older Splinter Cell titles? We just don't know. Rumors have also been swirling for quite some time that Team Ico is perhaps hard at work on something similar for its first two titles, though no European Amazon listings have popped up to bolster that possibility ... yet. As far as we can tell, either there's a lot of wishful rumoring going on, or Sony could be starting a trend with HD-ifications of God of War and Sly Cooper that will extend to other franchises.

Though Jerry Bruckheimer's latest opus, a film adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, wasn't received with commercial fanfare in the U.S. (it's only pulled in about $80 million domestically), it's fared far better overseas. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie's received worldwide earnings of $293 million, making it the highest grossing game-to-film adaptation to date.

The previous holder of this prestigious title was the original Tomb Raider film, which currently stands at $274 million worldwide. We're overjoyed that Prince of Persia managed to surpass this record -- mainly because, hey, it's about time someone took Jon Voight down a peg or two.

#feature The pressure was enormous. Legions of fans worried. Prince of Persia, the movie, was more than a summer blockbuster. "Maybe I'm being melodramatic," says movie scribe Doug Miro. Then again, maybe he's not. This was a Hollywood video game adaptation. More »

The crux of the following post is this: Prince of Persia Classic is on sale for 400 ($5) this week. There are some other things on sale as well, but you don't really need to know about them. You can just proceed directly to the bottom of this post and follow the Xbox Live Marketplace link to Prince of Persia Classic.

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Okay fine, if you really want to know what the other deals are, here we go. First, you can pick up some Transformers 2 DLC for 400 ($5). Second, Watchmen: The End is Nigh is available for 800 ($10) instead of the usual, ridiculous 1600 ($20). There. Happy? Now go buy Prince of Persia Classic.


Xbox.com: Add Prince of Persia Classic to your Xbox 360 download queue ($5)
Xbox.com: Add Transformers 2 Character and Map Pack Plus to your Xbox 360 download queue ($5)
Xbox.com: Add Watchmen: The End is Nigh to your Xbox 360 download queue ($10)

Quest of Persia takes inspiration from Prince of Persia, but the game, its developer points out, is more Persian. The full story over at Slate. More »

#ipad I was delighted to discover this morning that you can buy the original Prince of Persia for both the iPhone and iPad for a penny shy of a dollar on either system. More »

Real Princes, real Persians. Quest of Persia takes inspiration from Prince of Persia, but the game, its developer points out, is more Persian. The full story over at Slate. More »

#film Prince of Persia director Mike Newell tells Reuters that he's worried that the film is "a little homogeneous". Critics are already saying the film is a whitewash — filled with white actors. But is it, and are they correct? More »

#hollywood Fans of perfectly sculpted pecs and Jake Gyllenhaal are no doubt ecstatic about the upcoming release of Disney's new Prince of Persia movie, but the casting decision to put Chesty Jake in the starring role isn't sitting well with everyone. More »

#redcarpet Who was at the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time big-time Mann's Chinese Theater premiere in Hollywood yesterday? These folks, among others... More »

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 movie 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 the Anvil Engine from Assassin’s Creed II we are able to pull off huge battles, from a boss that’s over 130 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!