Ubisoft, for whatever reason, really got shafted last holiday season. Prince of Persia, the best multi-platform game released last year, was a bust at retail, barely cracking 200,000 copies on the PlayStation 2 alone during the month of December (combined sales were somewhere around 425,000 for all platforms). Likewise, Ubisoft's other big holiday titles, XIII and Beyond Good & Evil by Rayman creator Michel Ancel, effectively tanked.



The fact that the best selling game in the developer/publisher's stable is a game of the year contender and didn't even garner a million copies sold over the holidays highlights two very blatant things: 1) the gaming press just doesn't influence anything about a game's sales and 2) gamers are a generally stupid lot if they'll shell out cash hand over fist for yet another update to Madden (in record-setting numbers, no less), but will ignore a couple of brilliant games.



Luckily, it appears those in charge of doling out awards at France's IMGINA awards in Monte Carlo, Monaco earlier this month were quick to pick up on the merits of not only PoP, but the gorgeous BG&E and the highly stylized XIII. All three games managed to garner 6 of the 11 awards in the video game category.



"We are very proud that the quality and creativity of our games have been distinguished by such a renowned and skilled panel of judges," gushed Ubisoft France Managing Director, Geoffroy Sardin. "These awards once again reinforce our strategy of internal development and prove the expertise of our internal studios."



Ubisoft picked up the following awards in these categories:



[blockquote]-BEST WRITER AWARD-

"Beyond Good and Evil" (Ubisoft Montpellier / Ubisoft)

Jacques Exertier and Michel Ancel, for Beyond Good & Evil 's scenario



-BEST GAME DIRECTOR AWARD-

"Prince of Persia The Sands of Time" (Ubisoft Montreal Studios / Ubisoft)

Patrice Désilets, Creative Director



-BEST SOUND DESIGNER AWARD-

"XIII" (Ubisoft Paris / Ubisoft)

Alkis Argyriadis, XIII's Sound Designer



-BEST GRAPHIC DESIGNER AWARD-

"XIII" (Ubisoft Paris / Ubisoft)

Nathalie Moschetti & Nathalie Provost



-MOST INNOVATIVE FRENCH GAME TEAM AWARD-

"In Memoriam" (Lexis Numérique, Ubisoft)

Eric Viennot , creator of In Memoriam (Lexis Numérique)



-GAME OF THE YEAR TEAM AWARD-

"Beyond Good and Evil" (Ubisoft Montpellier / Ubisoft)

Award received by Frédéric Houde, Lead Game Play Programmer of Beyond Good & Evil, on behalf of Michel Ancel and the whole team.

[/blockquote]



They may be high honors from Ubisoft's native land, but they're high honors nonetheless, and absolutely deserving in the case of the above mentioned titles. Do yourself a favor and get out and pick up these titles. Ubi has already created some amazing deals, slashing the price of BG&E to about 20 bucks, and will toss in the full version of Splinter Cell with any purchase of Prince of Persia. Now git on out there and pick them up. Go on, git!