Ubidays at the Louvre

Video games filled the halls of the world famous Louvre in Paris and Ubisoft was the coveted artist behind it all.

(CBS) 
Ubisoft also showed off combat in the present day, as well as in the past. Far Cry 2 takes the action to Africa and puts players in a virtual world that measures 50 square kilometers. (It literally takes 45 minutes to hop in a dune buggy or any assorted vehicle and drive from one side of the world to another.) The objective of this completely open game is to take down 'The Jackal', an arms dealer who provides weapons to both sides of an on-going war that has ravaged the country. To do this, the player must work both sides against the other by establishing relationships with non-playable characters that will become allies and even save your life from time to time. Of course, while relationships are nice, the meat of this game remains combat and there are tons of upgradable weapons (which will actually experience wear and tear as you use them), vehicles (including boats, jeeps and a hand glider) and gadgets to help you along the way.

During World War II, the Allies attempted to end the conflict early in September 1944 with Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne invasion in history. That attempt failed miserably, which challenged developer Gearbox Software to create a game experience in which history has already written the failed ending. Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway puts players in the thick of battle as Sergeant Matt Baker and his squad of U.S. Airborne soldiers. Players will engage in real battles that take place on meticulously recreated battlefields. The game features a lot of new weapons and vehicles that were not available to soldiers, or players, at Normandy. In addition, next generation consoles allowed for more realistic cover, which disintegrates as it takes fire. And more intelligent German foes will try to take you out this time around.

Ubisoft enters the extreme sports genre with Shaun White Snowboarding, a new franchise that was created with the help of the world-famous, red-headed U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist. Developed in Montreal, there are actually two unique games. One aimed at next gen consoles, which will feature photorealistic mountain scapes in Japan, Alaska, Utah and Europe, and a separate Wii game that can be played with the new Nintendo Balance Board. Both games were playable in Paris and the Wii game showed why making that $80 Wii Fit investment will be worthwhile for a long time to come. While both games will feature Shaun White, the Wii game has a more mainstream focus as players partake in the ultimate snowboarding road trip around the globe to places like Chile, Canada and Japan. The next gen version offers a robust trick-based system (not unlike Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise) and gives the player huge areas to play in both on half-pipes and in the wilderness. A mountain will take 10 minutes to ride from top to bottom, so these are expansive playgrounds for pulling off tricks.

It wouldn't be a Ubisoft event without a Rayman game. Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party for Wii was billed during the presentation as the first Wii game you can play with your butt. There's a Beestie Boarding level that requires you to sit on the aforementioned Wii Balance Board and guide your Rabbid, who's on top of a wildebeast, through snow and ice. Other mini-games, like the four-player Dancing with Dweebs, require players to use the Remotes and Nunchucks to dance to licensed tracks like "Jungle Boogie." This sequel to last year's hit party game takes plenty of swipes at TV and provides a lot of laughs along the way.

Although there was only a short trailer shown, Ubisoft did talk about the new Prince of Persia game. The Sands of Time game franchise has been left behind-although Jerry Bruckheimer and Walt Disney Pictures are working on a new trilogy of films starring Jake Gyllenhaal to debut in summer 2009. Ubisoft will introduce a brand new prince-who actually doesn't start off the game as royalty-and the ability to travel through time has been replaced by a new interactive companion, Elika, who will work with the player to enhance all aspects of gameplay, including tag-teaming with combat. The new prince will still have his acrobatic maneuvers, but Elika will add a new dimension to the game, according to the game's producer, Ben Mattes. In development in Montreal, the game ships this fall.