Prince of Persia ‘Forgotten Sands’ Uncovered

…but should they have stayed hidden?

Resurrecting the Sands of Time series that inspired the upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer film, Ubisoft announced today that their next installment will not be a follow-up to the “new” Prince of Persia series. This change-up shouldn’t be much of a surprise, since it was reported almost two months ago that the name had been reserved for “game-related use”.

While a tie-in makes sense fiscally, will gamers (literally) buy it?

Read the press release, and reactions, after the jump:

LONDON, UK– November 30, 2009– Today Ubisoft announced that Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ video game is in development and is scheduled to be released May 2010 for consoles and handhelds. This new instalment in the critically-acclaimed franchise marks the return to the Prince of Persia® Sands of Time storyline. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ will feature many of the fan-favorite elements from the original series as well as new gameplay innovations that gamers have come to expect from the Prince of Persia brand.

If not for this movie, Ubisoft would probably have let the Sands of Time series have its much-deserved rest. The title alone for this new installment screams “cash grab”. It’s not that it can’t be a good game, it’s just that past experience has shown that such an outcome it not very likely; Warrior Within, politely speaking, was a travesty, and Two Thrones became much more interesting once they started calling it “Assassin’s Creed”.

Does this mean a sequel to the new “Prince” is just on hold, or delayed indefinitely? According to some gamers (and bloggers), that might be for the better. This blogger thinks it would be a shame not to follow up on the promise that the new series shows, even if response to its first installment was potentially less ecstatic than was hoped for.

Or, if nothing else, give us Beyond Good and Evil 2? Pretty please?