Aspirations, thoughts, and Operator overloading

Prince of Persia might be a new release, it might be hyped as a NODRM game, and going by the reactions from anti-DRM proponents it could be a great seller, but where is it? I see it online at Amazon, Toys”R”Us and other online retailers (such as NewEgg.com), but I couldn’t find it locally at Walmart, Target or Toys “R” Us over the weekend.

If you don’t see it in the retail stores, you’re really hurting sales. I saw Assassins’s Creed and Far Cry 2 though (two other Ubisoft titles), so I know Ubisoft sells through those stores.

Weird. It’s almost like they want this experiment to fail? I wouldn’t think so, but it does seem a little odd.

Edit: I also found it for $30 or less at CD Universe.

Edit #2: Perhaps the hold up is due to the game just being released last week? I’ll check those stores again late this week to see if they’ve arrived yet. In the meantime, I may go ahead and order through CD Universe; the Target option via Amazon.com seems to have disappeared.

Edit #3: Found it on Walmart.com and GoGamer.com for $30 or less.

I had some uplifting news come across my feed reader today. Now granted it wasn’t anything as spectacular as a war ending, the economy righting itself (mine might be worsened by $30-$50 actually) or other dancing in the street worthy celebration.

Instead, it was a somewhat quiet revelation that a new retail release (digital download copy still has DRM) in a popular franchise is DRM free. What’s the game?

Prince of Persia, from Ubisoft. Yeah, that’s right. The same Ubisoft that DRM’d the hell out of Far Cry 2. I had no idea this was coming.

That’s right, if you buy the retail copy, you’ll get a DRM-free game and likely at a good price. Amazon (via Target) and Toys”R”Us currently have it priced at $30 USD. Other online retailers (such as NewEgg.com) are $40 and up, but they may also come down once they take a look around.

Metacritic.com currently has it rated at 86/100 and with only 2 days since the release, Ubisoft’s goal of PoP reaching a score in the 9s seems feasible.

From Metacritic.com:

Set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness: the God of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the destructive God of Darkness. The Prince arrives just in time to witness the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life – an act which threatens to plunge the entire world into eternal darkness. Manifested in the form of the Corruption, a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with Elika, a deadly companion, to heal the world from the evil Corruption.

I don’t think I’ve ever played the Prince of Persia series before, but I’m off to download a bunch of trailers to make my mind up. I’m almost 90% sure I’m going to get this to support Ubisoft in this decision.

The system requirements don’t look too crazy; they’re pretty standard for recent releases. If your system is several years old though …

Edit: Shacknews just stumbled across the news.