It was Jerry Rubin, the 1960s counterculturalist, who observed that “the power to define the situation is the ultimate power.” Certainly that’s true in our government, in mass media, and in most arguments about the practicality of your kid’s latest tattoo or body piercing.

It is also true in the labor dialogue between the posturing, blustering NBA owners and the players who suddenly seem mute and powerless.

If you’ve been paying attention to lockout follies the past few weeks, the owners have walked out of talks, filed two legal actions, and essentially depicted the union reps as amateurs who cannot grasp the complexities of collective bargaining or the urgency of crafting a new agreement.

In turn, the union, after a series of strategic shudders, has essentially kept silent and allowed the league to completely ignore the predominant business issue of the last half-decade: the gigantic revenue disparity between big-market teams and their small-market punching bags.

But ask yourself how many times you heard commissioner David Stern utter the term “revenue sharing” over the last six weeks. If we’re not mistaken, it came up exactly one time during the NBA Finals and not since. Which raises three important questions:

• How is it that the owners’ plan to redistribute revenues — which would essentially keep Sacramento solvent while the Lakers remain flush — hasn’t been made public, or become part of the conversation?

• How can the union make reasonable concessions without knowing the owners’ new business model?

• And why does players association head Billy Hunter continue to allow the owners to get away with this, and not demand that their revenue-sharing mechanism be put on the table before they sit down again?

We’ve made three failed attempts to speak with the executive director, and settled for speaking with three people who work with him, and they all say the revenue-sharing issue hasn’t really come up at all.

“They talked about having a ‘robust’ system, but we haven’t seen a shred of detail — either verbally or in writing,” union spokesman Dan Wasserman said. “They have given us only a couple of crumbs, nothing substantive.”

And Hunter has allowed Stern — whose disciplined avoidance of the issue is very telling — to keep it entirely separate from the negotiation.

That’s because the owners claim it has nothing to do with the new collective bargaining agreement, and that is specious: The revenue imbalance is the reason they need a new agreement in the first place. Only after the players see the plan can they know what split to offer, what exceptions to demand, even how hard to fight for the existing soft cap.

How can the players legitimately go forward without it?

“That is a concern,” Wasserman replied.

A concern?

It’s the drumbeat issue, if the players have any sense. And the next time Hunter dials Olympic Tower, the first thing out of his mouth should be this: “If we’re going to be partners in the growth of this league, we’ll be willing to pay our fair share after we see what share your richest owners are willing to pay with each other.”

It should be a precondition to any further discussion, because that’s the largest pebble rolling around the owners’ collective shoe.

Instead, the only thing we’ve heard from the players lately is who’s jumping to Europe (and it’s so thrilling to hear Kobe Bryant talk about risking the $83 million left on his contract just so he can win a Turkish League championship), and whether the rank and file can remain unified through a contentious, protracted negotiation (iffy).

You can’t get anyone at the union to touch the “D” word, either: Decertification is a dirty term, even though labor experts we’ve consulted say that it may be Hunter’s only viable option in the face of management inflexibility — put it in the hands of a judge, and his first instinct is to use the last agreement as a benchmark.

But that’s a discussion for another time.

Again, this generation of owners is not exactly the passel of lovable old coots you remember from ’98-’99 — just think of the viperlike Dan Gilbert, after 40 percent of his Cleveland franchise value took off for South Beach. Twenty-two of them lost money during the ’10-’11 season, despite record revenues and TV ratings. This is their lockout. It belongs to Gilbert and Michael Heisley (Memphis) and Robert Sarver (Phoenix). They saw Stern shove franchise values so high and far that his old buddies — Gordon Gund, Jerry Colangelo, et al. — had no choice but to sell out to an embarrassment of riches.

And these new guys all came in somewhere north of $250 million and aren’t seeing a return of any kind on their investment.

They are ticked.

They are out to bust the union, period.

They can wait an entire year in order to do it.

And they are very likely to succeed if Hunter doesn’t take appropriate measures — and it starts with framing the dialogue. Through the first month, he’s failing.

Dave D’Alessandro: ddalessandro@starledger.com

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Detroit Pistons are giving former Nets coach Lawrence Frank another chance to lead an NBA team.

A person with knowledge of the situation said today that the Pistons have agreed to a three-year deal with Frank, a Teaneck native, to be their new head coach. The agreement includes a team option for a fourth year, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t announced the move.

Frank, an assistant coach with Boston last season, will be Detroit’s sixth coach in 11 seasons when the NBA lockout ends. The Pistons fired John Kuester in June after they missed the playoffs in both of his two seasons.

A deliberate coaching search, which also included Mike Woodson, Kelvin Sampson, Bill Laimbeer and Patrick Ewing, ended with the franchise choosing to give Frank another shot at a head coaching job. Frank was 225-241 as coach of the Nets, who advanced to the conference semifinals three times with him at the helm.

Frank replaced Byron Scott as New Jersey’s coach in January 2004 and began his career with a 13-game winning streak. He ended his stint with the Nets with a losing streak that was even longer. He was fired in November 2009 after the team started that season 0-16.

The 40-year-old Frank spent four seasons as a student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana. He was an assistant at Marquette and Tennessee before becoming an NBA assistant in Vancouver and New Jersey.

Frank will have a lot of work to do in the Motor City under new Pistons owner Tom Gores. Detroit is coming off three straight losing seasons after advancing to six consecutive Eastern Conference finals and winning the 2004 NBA title.

Kuester was 57-107 over two seasons as coach. This past season was a dreary one, with the proud franchise making more news for internal squabbling than any on-court accomplishments.

Empty seats were common at home games as Detroit won just 30 games last season with a dysfunctional roster on the court and one that was problematic off it for Kuester. The embattled coach benched point guard Rodney Stuckey barely a week into last season and benched him again with just over a week to go when there was friction between the two.

Veteran Richard Hamilton also fell out of favor and was benched.

The low point was probably Feb. 25 in Philadelphia. Seven players missed at least part of a team shootaround, and Kuester played only the remaining six that night in a blowout loss to the 76ers.

For much of the season, the team seemed in limbo because of a drawn-out sale by owner Karen Davidson. The Pistons finally announced in April that Gores was going to take over, and the deal became final after the season.

When the league resumes play, free agent Tayshaun Prince may part ways with the only NBA team he’s played for, and Ben Wallace might not be back.

Detroit drafted Kentucky guard Brandon Knight at No. 8 overall, adding to its perimeter logjam with Stuckey, Hamilton and Ben Gordon. Center Greg Monroe showed promising signs last season as a rookie and power forward Jonas Jerebko, who didn’t play last season after tearing his right Achilles’ tendon, will get an opportunity to bolster a thin frontcourt.

He admitted this while perched on his pedestal in 2009, presumably with a haughty visage and stiff upper lip:

“One of my biggest regrets,” David Stern said then, “is the fact that we suffered a lockout in the ’98-99 season. I don’t know exactly what I would have done differently, but I just feel as though I didn’t get my message through to the players. There has to be a better way than shutting down a sport to do that. That was terrible.”

So terrible that everybody was game for a sequel, apparently.

But he was right then, and he’s right now: The players don’t get the message — amazing how he sounds patronizing even when he’s being sincere — because the owners treat the money game like it’s a three-card monte street hustle.

The latest example came this past week, right in step with the announcement of the NBA lockout, when various media outlets released private financial statements from the league-owned Hornets and the ’05-06 Nets, and for some of us, it was an ah-ha moment. See, the chorus cried, these teams aren’t losing money at all: The owners use fundamental accounting maneuvers (amortization, roster depreciation allowance, etc.) to create the false sense of corporate privation. The truth is, owners have always been allowed to deduct losses — that’s your tax system at work, one which provides incentives for business owners to invest, create jobs, and grow businesses. Like, duh.

Yet that’s where we never understood Stern. The players aren’t stupid. The commissioner could pull out charts and graphs and teach them all that in 10 minutes. He can explain franchise value/debt ratio. He can show them how the math works — revenues and expenditures, costs of operations per team per season ($45 mil, on average), and the ways owners cover their debts.

To his discredit, he’s never done that — and we’re fairly sure it isn’t because he believes the average player has the attention span of a flea. He probably wants to do it, but is held back by … what? Owners? Principle? Ambition? A combination?

Once he wielded the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. Listen to him nowadays, and the glove doesn’t stay on anymore. This season, he blasted away at everyone. Some sensed the league was getting away from him. Billy Hunter, the union boss, even taunted him a few months back: “I don’t think he has the sway that he once did,” he said of Stern on Yahoo.com. “I don’t know that he has the unfettered, undying (owner) support that he had before. There’s maybe a little crack in the dike.”

All good knockabout stuff, but it requires context. Stern had actually been the moderate voice on the Board of Governors in the past, but now he’s surrounded by a wild pack of high-value buyers who want the NBA to be a better annual cash business. And these hawks have seen their once-astonishing franchise appreciation slow to a crawl.

Once his prime directive was simple — to protect the owners’ interest and protect capital appreciation. He did it in a style that the public didn’t know about: When you’re in his good graces, he can be the avuncular Easy Dave. When you’re not, he is nasty. Lately, he’s been the latter — because guys like Dan Gilbert, Michael Heisley, and Ted Leonsis set the stage for a collective bargaining negotiation that has all the potential for toxic theater.

The players? Keep in mind that $1.7 billion was spent on free agents last summer alone, which is more than the GDP of 28 countries in 2010. So when union president Derek Fisher complains about how “mismanaged spending” and “overpaid staff” are “things that we’re now being asked to take the hit for,” we offer this reminder: Those stupid decisions of the past benefitted the players.

It wasn’t the owners who benefitted from geniuses giving Eddy Curry $60 million and Gilbert Arenas $111 mil — the players did, because one stupid deal often drives the market.

It wasn’t the owners who benefitted from Erick Dampier getting $73M or Baron Davis $65M — the players did, and sometimes karma is a bummer.

This will go on for a while. Our guess they’ll settle it in January again; presently, the owners are flush with cash because they just finished their season-ticket renewals, they’re laying people off, and they have no motivation to move off their initial proposals. They’re going to squeeze until the players get desperate, and missing five or six checks tends to make people desperate.

You say it’s not hard to divide $4.3 billion so that everyone is happy? True. Both sides know where the closing number is, but that doesn’t mean either wants to admit to it, lest it tip off the other side. So, the gloomy predictions will come fast and furious as we get into August and September.

As Stern put it, “There will be collateral damage as we go through the summer.”

And more in the fall, and more in the winter.

Either way, thanks for the warning there, General.

Since you’ve abandoned honest diplomacy, permission granted to get back to your war.

Deron Williams has agreed to a deal to play in Turkey during the NBA lockout, multiple reports said today, making the Nets’ point guard the first big-name NBA star to jump overseas during the NBA’s work stoppage.

A Turkish television station, NTV Spor, was first to report Williams had struck a deal with Besiktas, the Istanbul-based club that last year signed Allen Iverson. Williams’ deal reportedly is worth $200,000 per month, plus perks, and has an out clause that would allow Williams to return to the NBA immediately if the lockout ends.

Williams, 27, is under contract to the Nets for two more seasons, though he has the right to opt out of the final year and become a free agent in July 2012. However, with the lockout in effect, NBA players are free to seek employment elsewhere if they wish. In an interview with ESPN’s Bill Simmons back in February, NBA commissioner David Stern said, “If, in fact, there’s a lockout, then the player is free during the course of the lockout to do what he wants to do. … Last time around (in the lockout of 1998-99), players were free to do what they’re going to do, because they’ve been locked out.”

A phone message left by The Star-Ledger with Williams’ agent, Jeff Schwartz, was not returned. And because NBA teams are not allowed to talk about the lockout, the Nets are forbidden to comment on the news. However, owner Mikhail Prokhorov and general manager Billy King can’t be happy that the face of the team, and the man they hope will re-sign with them and lead the franchise into its new home in Brooklyn next summer, is planning to play overseas, because there is a risk of injury.

The Nets are trying their best to convince Williams they can upgrade the talent level on the roster enough so he will have a chance to win an NBA title if he stays with the team. But if the lockout costs the NBA the entire 2011-12 season, then Williams — who was acquired in February in a trade with Utah that cost the Nets Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, their first-round pick and $3 million cash — could opt out and leave as a free agent without ever playing another game for the club.

With Williams going overseas, it could open the door for other NBA players to follow suit. Yahoo Sports reported that the Besiktas coach Ergin Ataman is hoping that having Williams may attract another top NBA star to come and play for his team. Ataman told Yahoo Sports he hopes to meet with Lakers star Kobe Bryant and try and talk him into playing with Williams this season.

NBA agent Keith Glass was skeptical that many other players would follow Williams to Europe, and even skeptical that going to Europe is a good move for Williams, who underwent surgery on his right wrist after the Nets’ season ended in April. Even at $200,000 a month, Williams would earn less than $2 million if he ended up staying the whole season in Turkey. With the Nets, he is scheduled to earn $16.36 million this season and $17.8 million for 2012-13 if he doesn’t opt out.

Of course, Williams earns nothing as long as the NBA is locked out. But, if he plays for Besiktas and is injured there, the Nets would not be obligated to pay the rest of his contract after the lockout is settled. Presumably, Williams and/or Besiktas will arrange for insurance to cover that possibility, but Glass still has doubts.

“The risk-reward here is really slanted — in the wrong direction,” Glass said.

For more Nets coverage, follow Colin Stephenson on Twitter at twitter.com/ledger_nets

1. Cleveland
Kyrie Irving, PG, Duke
The St. Patrick of Elizabeth product will now carry the burden of becoming the first franchise player in Cleveland since LeBron James left.

2. Minnesota
Derrick Williams, PF, Arizona
Don’t be surprised if Minnesota deals this pick, but Williams is the player that other teams will covet in this spot.

3. Utah
Enes Kanter, C, Kentucky
Would the Nets have been better with Kanter or Brandon Knight and Derrick Favors than with Deron Williams? The Jazz can go either way with this selection.

4. Cleveland
Jonas Valanciunas, C, Lithuania
The Cavs might need to wait a season for Valanciunas, but they’ve already seen a Lithuanian import become an all-star.

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5. Toronto
Brandon Knight, PG, Kentucky
This would be a dream scenario for Toronto, who would draft their point guard of the future if Knight does not go No. 3 to the Jazz.

6. Washington
Jan Vesely, PF, Czech Republic
Wizards fans will like the looks of Vesely in transition with John Wall, together wearing the throwback red,white and blue uniforms for years to come.

7. Sacramento
Jimmer Fredette, PG, BYU
Fredette will excite fans beleaguered by a potential move — if he can get the ball from Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins.

8. Detroit
Kawhi Leonard, SF, San Diego State
The Pistons are preaching toughness, which Leonard can supply. He’s not a big man like they need, but he’s good value for a franchise without direction.

9. Charlotte
Chris Singleton, SF, Florida State
The Bobcats go with the draft’s top defender in a smart, safe pick that they’ve lacked in recent seasons.

10. Milwaukee
Alec Burks, SG, Colorado
This could easily be Klay Thompson, but Burks is the better athlete who supplies the Bucks with attributes they’re lacking on the wing.

11. Golden State
Klay Thompson, SG, Washington State
Thompson gives Golden State a shooter who, along with current point guard Stephan Curry, offers an NBA pedigree.

12. Utah
Kemba Walker, PG, UConn
If the Jazz do not go with Knight, Walker or Fredette would be sensible — and popular — consolation prizes.

Mark D Smith/US PresswireTexas’ Tristan Thompson slams during the Big 12 tournament this year.

13. Phoenix
Tristan Thompson, PF, Texas
Once a burgeoning prospect at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, the Canadian native could add size and rebounding to countryman Steve Nash’s last attempts at winning with the Suns.

14. Houston
Bismack Biyombo, PF/C, Congo
The Rockets witnessed the development of Serge Ibaka in Oklahoma City. They’ll be smitten if this Congolese prospect is similar.

15. Indiana
Marcus Morris, PF, Kansas
The Pacers should be happy to come away with one of the Morris twins, both of whom can help in different ways.

16. Philadelphia
Nikola Vucevic, C, USC
The Sixers need size and Vucevic is a legitimate 7-footer who averaged a double-double in the Pac-10.

17. Knicks
Marshon Brooks, SG, Providence
Brooks can develop into a potent scorer at shooting guard, a spot in which the Knicks can use some firepower.

18. Washington
Jordan Hamilton, SF, Texas
If the Wizards go size with their first selection, Hamilton can provide a scoring wing to add to a promising young nucleus.

19. Charlotte
Kenneth Faried, PF, Morehead State
The Newark native will find a home in Charlotte, where his rebounding and toughness will be welcome additions to a team that lacks both.

20. Minnesota
Donatas Motiejunas, PF, Lithuania
Much depends on what the Timberwolves do with No. 2, but the team has looked abroad in the past and this is a good spot to do so again.

21. Portland
Markieff Morris, PF, Kansas
He’s different from his twin brother, although he’s exactly what the Blazers need to complement star LaMarcus Aldridge.

22. Denver
Tyler Honeycutt, G/F, UCLA
The Nuggets continue the post-’Melo era with another versatile player who can fill multiple positions.

23. Houston
Iman Shumpert, PG, Georgia Tech
Shumpert’s size (6-5) makes him a good fit with starter Kyle Lowry, who is coming off a strong season but barely cracks 6 feet.

24. Oklahoma City
Tobias Harris, F, Tennessee
The Thunder could go with an international prospect to stash overseas, but Harris would make sense for a team knocking on the door of the championship.

25. Boston
JaJuan Johnson, PF/C, Purdue
After four productive college seasons, Johnson can at least give the Celtics a component presence in the paint.

26. Dallas
Jeremy Tyler, C, Tokyo (via the United States)
Once a cautionary tale for immaturity in a young player, Tyler’s stock is rising and he will be a developmental prospect for the defending champs.

27. Nets
Reggie Jackson, G, Boston College
Jackson could thrive as a combo guard off the bench for the Nets to play with — and for — Deron Williams.

28. Chicago
Justin Harper, PF, Richmond
Harper will fit into the Bulls offense as a big man who can shoot, thus opening the floor for Derrick Rose.

29. San Antonio
Nikola Mirotic, SF, Serbia
The Spurs have benefited from drafting international players who develop overseas. Mirotic can become the latest example.

30. Chicago
Charles Jenkins, G, Hofstra
Best-case scenario is Jenkins’ scoring translates from college to the NBA, where the Bulls desperately need someone else who can create a shot.

Deron Williams admitted he doesn’t know yet what he’s going to do when the Nets present him with an offer for a contract extension.

The team will be able to do that this summer — as soon as the NBA and its players union negotiates a new collective bargaining agreement — but the point guard said Thursday he can envision staying with the Nets long term.

“I like this organization a lot,” Williams said at the Nets’ breakup day at the practice facility in East Rutherford. “I like the direction they’re going. They made me and my family feel real comfortable since I’ve gotten here.

“I like Coach (Avery) Johnson — the way he coaches and the way he carries himself. I definitely can see myself staying here.”

Those comments had to make the organization feel good about the chances of keeping Williams, who can opt to become a free agent after next season. But Johnson has been confident all along that the Nets will keep their star point guard, and continued to sound optimistic Thursday.

“We have a lot of confidence about his situation,” Johnson said. “I feel Deron has totally bought in to what we’re doing. We have great communication with him; with his family. I really believe he is a sincere guy. And he’s a man of his word. And I can’t divulge any of our private conversations, but I really feel good about Deron next season in a Nets uniform, and on into the future.”

Williams, who played 12 games for the Nets after coming over from Utah Feb. 23 in a trade for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, two first-round picks and $3 million, underwent surgery Monday to remove bone fragments and scar tissue from his injured right wrist, which caused him to miss the final five games of the season.

Williams was initially “pretty angry” when the doctor told him last week he needed surgery, as he had been told rest was all he would need to heal the wrist.

However, the Nets said when they did a “fine-cut” MRI exam on Williams last week, loose particles and scar tissue were discovered that impeded his ability to fully flex the wrist.

Doctors told Williams if he didn’t have surgery the wrist would continue to be prone to injury and continue to bother him, as it had the last three months of the season.

Williams, who finished the season with averages of 20.1 points and 10.3 assists per game (15.0 points and 12.8 assists with the Nets), said he got over his initial anger at the diagnosis and now looks forward to getting the splint off in about two weeks and getting back on the golf course.

The Nets had said it would be six to eight weeks before Williams would be able to resume basketball activities, but Williams said he is confident it won’t take that long.

As for what he liked so much about the Nets that would make him consider staying, Williams said he has developed a good relationship with Johnson and GM Billy King, with whom he talks often about the direction of the franchise.

“We’ve had a lot of open communication in a short period of time that I really like,” Williams said. “And just the organization in general, how they handle themselves from top to bottom. I think everybody has just been great here and I like how things are run.”

For more Nets coverage, follow Colin Stephenson on Twitter at twitter.com/ledger_nets

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — All around him, his teammates are dropping like flies, unable to play because of this injury or that. But Brook Lopez remains standing for the Nets.

With Deron Williams, Kris Humphries, Anthony Morrow and Damion James all out of the lineup against the Detroit Pistons tonight, at least Nets coach Avery Johnson could count on Lopez being in uniform and in the starting lineup for the 78th consecutive game this season.

Surrounded in the starting lineup tonight by the likes of Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Dan Gadzuric and 10-day contract guy Mario West, Lopez exploded for a career-high 39 points. Unfortunately for him and his teammates, it wasn’t enough to save the Nets from a 116-109 loss to the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Lopez hit 14-of-20 shots from the field, and his last basket, with 9:50 remaining, gave the Nets a 97-95 lead. But the Pistons double-teamed him and forced him away from the basket after that, and he took only one shot the rest of the way, as Detroit outscored the Nets 19-11 down the stretch.

“There was a lot of times where he just wasn’t open,’’ Farmar said of Lopez. ”They had a guy in front and in back of him, and other guys have to make plays in that situation, whether it’s flash a high-low, or play on the weakside, we have to be able to just do it without thinking.”

Farmar had a double-double for the Nets (18 points, 11 assists), but Richard Hamilton had 25 points, Greg Monroe had 20 and 10 rebounds, and Rodney Stuckey came off the bench to score 22, with 10 assists for the Pistons (27-51).

Afterward, Lopez departed the locker room before reporters were allowed in, apparently upset with the way the game ended. Johnson blamed the loss on the Nets’ inability to get Lopez the ball for those final nine minutes-plus.

“We kind of lost the game by not getting the ball inside,’’ Johnson said. “Brook had an outstanding offensive game — career high in points. Normally in the second half he’ll tend to not have the same type of energy. So we challenged him at halftime to not finish the game with 22 points (after getting 20 in the first half). He was trying to make a statement there and that’s what we’ve been looking for all year.”

Lopez has never missed a game in his three-year career. Tonight’s was the 242nd consecutive game the 7-foot, 265-pound center has played for the Nets, putting him third on the franchise’s list of consecutive games played. Darwin Cook holds the record, at 319, from 1980-85. Buck Williams is No. 2, with 292, from 1983-88.

Lopez entered last night’s game with season averages of 19.8 points and 6.0 rebounds, and he was coming off a 30-point, 12-rebound effort Tuesday against Minnesota. He carried that over against the Pistons, scoring 20 points in the first half, on 7-of-9 shooting, as the Nets took a 59-54 lead into halftime.

Lopez has never played a playoff game in his career, and the Nets’ record in his three seasons is 70-172. But he remains optimistic about the Nets’ future.

“I think in the three years I’ve been here, we’re in the best (position) right now, going forward to next year,” he said. “I think we’ve built a pretty decent foundation. I’m looking forward to being back here next year.”

For more Nets coverage, follow Colin Stephenson on Twitter at twitter.com/ledger_nets

Rovio announced its 2011 financial results. The company’s popular Angry Birds franchise brought in over $100 million for Rovio in 2011. Rovio says the total number of game downloads reached 648 million by the end of year 2011 and the total number of active monthly users, across all platforms, reached 200 million. The company now employs 224 people, up from 28 at the start of the year.

Rovio recently announced its “Share & Play” feature for Angry Birds that lets you embed a playable level of Angry Birds on a blog, web page or Facebook Timeline. Take a look:

Photo: Rovio

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Halo 4 topped the Xbox 360 list, followed by Assassin’s Creeed III, Max Payne 3, Madden NFL 13 and Resident Evil 6.

Assassin’s Creeed III topped the PS3 want list, followed by Max Payne 3, Madden NFL 13, Resident Evil 6 and Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

For the Wii, gamers most want Madden NFL 13, followed by Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Battleship, Lego Batman 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man.

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Ice Age Village, an Ice Age themed mobile game, has been downloaded over 5 million times since it launched on April 5th. The game recently took the #1 ranking in the App Store’s Top Free Games category in over 50 countries (iPhone) and over 90 countries (iPad). The app is also one of the App Stores’ Top 5 grossing games in over 50 countries.

The popular of the app could be a good sign for the fourth film in the franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift, which arrives July, 2012.

Here is a teaser for the Android version. Take a look:

Photo: Fox Digital Entertainment (FDE)

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Bigpoint and 20th Century Fox have announced plans to launch, Ice Age Online, a game based on the Ice Age franchise. The game will be a free-to-play browser game. The fourth film in the series, Ice Age: Continental Drift, arrives in theaters on July 13, 2012.

In Ice Age Online, players assume the role of a sloth that recently discovered the perfect place for animals from the herd to live. Along the way, the herd gets separated and lost. Players must rescue the lost animals and build up a camp for them to live. Players also collect precious acorns and construction materials – such as wood, flowers, coconuts, and mud – from locations based on the film franchise. The acorns and materials are used to build camps for the rescued animals to live.

Players can also socialize their characters with options including gender selection, multiple color and fur combinations, special haircuts and headdresses, and a number of wardrobe choices. Player unlock bonus levels as they progress through the game.

Photo: Bigpoint/20th Century Fox

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Ubisoft says Assassin’s III will enables gamers to experience the American Revolutionary War that was not written about in the history books. It introduces a new hero, Ratohnhake:ton, of Native American and English heritage, who uses the name Connor. Connor becomes the new voice for justice in the ancient war between the Assassins and Templars.

Players become an Assassin in the war for liberty against ruthless tyranny in the most stylized and fluid combat experiences in the franchise to date. Assassin’s Creed III spans the Revolutionary War, taking gamers from the vibrant, untamed frontier to bustling colonial towns and the intense, chaotic battlefields where George Washington’s Continental Army clashed with the imposing British Army.

The large number of views on YouTube’s Ubisoft’s announcement trailer (over 1 million already) is a sign of great interest in the third entry in the series.

Ubisoft says the game has a new game engine called powered by Ubisoft-AnvilNext, which promises breakthroughs in visual quality, character models and artificial intelligence. Take a look:

Photo: Ubisoft

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