Prince Of Persia movie and new games in the works?

What we heard: As last week's premature outing of the Bungie-Microsoft separation painfully proved, major game-industry leaks can come from just about anywhere. Little wonder, then, this week that many game journalists set aside their cold crow leftovers and took notice of a rumor coming from an almost entirely unknown blog bearing the title "Surfer Girl Reviews Star Wars."

The blog claims to have landed a juicy "exclusive"--the first details and screens (pictured) of the next Prince of Persia game. "Surfer Girl" claims the title is being prepped to ship in the second half of 2008 for the 360, Wii, PC, and PlayStation 3, and will be subtitled "Ghosts of the Past." It will apparently be the first in a trilogy set before Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and will forgo "the dark edginess of the last two titles in favor a fantastical cross between The Sands of Time, Ico, and Zelda," according to the blog.

Though unsubstantiated by developer/publisher Ubisoft (see below), the alleged return of the series to its fantastical roots is not without logic. The blog reports the sequel to Ghosts of the Past is being readied for release alongside the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, Michael Bay-directed Prince of Persia movie in summer 2009. Since many Hollywood trades have already anointed that game-to-film adaptation as the spiritual successor to the multibillion-dollar-grossing Pirates of the Caribbean movies, making the games more family-friendly would be synergistic indeed.

The official story: "Ubisoft does not comment on rumors."--Ubisoft rep.

Bogus or not bogus?: With nothing to go on but a few blurry screenshots, there's not enough information to go either way. However, the rumor makes perfect sense from a business perspective, meaning its more likely than not.