Prepare yourself for 2009 as Ubisoft promises something big to come your way, particularly in the online department. Yves Guillemot shares their company's outlook to the new year, and yeah, it's gonna involve MMOs.

Ubisoft struck gold with their acquisition of the Tom Clancy name for life. How much did it cost them, and how big a gold mine will it bring them? Talks are also in the air about their venture into the world of MMOs with the said name. To find out more, read up over at the full article.

GamesIndustry.biz reports that Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot will be keynoting this year's Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival (EIEF) to be held in August. Guillemot will be delivering one of the event's two keynote addresses. The BBC's Simon Nelson will be delivering the other.

Fred Hasson, the CEO of festival organiser TIGA, said that this year's event will look at how video games interface with other media. This will most likely be the focus of Guillemot and Nelson's keynote addresses. Also taking to the stage will be Jim Purbrick from Second Life creator Linden Lab and a spokesperson from EVE Online publisher CCP.

The EIEF is the longest running event of its kind in the UK. This year's event will be the fifth time that the videogame conference will take place. Exact dates for the conference have yet to be announced.

Now, videogames may not be the first thing that comes into people's heads when they hear "France," but the fact of the matter is that three of the world's biggest videogame manufacturers - Ubisoft, Infogrames Entertainment and World of Warcraft publisher Vivendi Games - call the country home.

According to Culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, local production of videogames is as important to France's national identity as the Louvre, and he is now calling for laws that would prevent the country's videogame companies from outsourcing their production to low cost countries.

One of the things he is suggesting is to give France's game producers the same tax breaks that are given to cultural institutions.

"Call me the minister of video games if you want; I am proud of this," said Donnedieu de Vabres, in a recent interview with the International Herald Tribune. "Video games are not a mere commercial product," he continued. "They are a form of artistic expression."

Of course, the heads of France's videogame industry are all going for the idea. They've even pledged not to even think about outsourcing if the French government agrees to the deal. Says Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, in an interview with the Herald Tribune, "Without production in France, we lose the creativity and diversity that this country offers."