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Splinter Cell Trilogy infiltrates shelves and PSN on Sept. 27
Following several delays and a European release, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Trilogy is finally set to launch in North America this week on Tuesday, September 27. The high-definition espionage saga should be slipping onto shelves in Blu-ray guise, and in a downloadable bundle on the PlayStation Store. There's no fiscal benefit to the digital version, as Ubisoft says they both cost $39.99. All three games in Splinter Cell Trilogy support stereoscopic 3D and improved identification with series protagonist Sam Fisher, who must also wear uncomfortable visual gadgetry on his head. The original game, its sequel, Pandora Tomorrow, and Chaos Theory all support native 1080p rendering (though 720p output must be disabled in the XMB for Chaos Theory). According to the tech-savvy scrutinizers at Digital Foundry, the level of care shown in Splinter Cell's HD update is about on par with the economical work in the Prince of Persia HD trilogy. Its relative condemnation identifies the trio as "very basic conversions" of the PC games with rudimentary interface adjustments. The first two games reportedly perform in "an average manner," multiplayer has been cut, and textures are "disappointing." The standout title, DF concludes, is Chaos Theory, which "manages to acquit itself fairly well six years after its initial release."
Splinter Cell HD Trilogy hits Euro PSN tomorrow [update]
The PS3 Splinter Cell Trilogy release has been, perhaps, too stealthy for its own good, placing decoy release dates and then slipping by them unnoticed. The European PSN may have finally caught Sam Fisher -- the PlayStation Blog announced that the collection (which bundles HD versions of Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, and Chaos Theory) will be released tomorrow for €29.99/£23.99 with single games for €9.99/£7.99. European PSN releases frequently occur the same week as North American PSN releases, so it's entirely possible the Trilogy will be out today in America on PSN. We're checking with Ubisoft. As for the retail version, the latest we've seen is September in America. The European PS Blog says the Blu-Ray release will happen "at a later date." Update: An Ubisoft rep tells us we won't see Splinter Cell on PSN in the US today.
Splinter Cell HD now listed for September by retailers
The launch date for PS3's Splinter Cell Trilogy appears to have shifted once again, this time to September. Ubisoft told us in May that it didn't have a ship date for the title, but several major retailers listed an August launch at the time. The bundle had previously missed its appointed March and June launch dates. The latest release date of September 27 is now listed by the retail trinity of Amazon, GameStop and GameFly (which conveys only publisher-provided intel). We've contacted Ubisoft for an official sitrep on the Sam Fisher HD bundle. [Thanks, Josh]
PS3 Splinter Cell Trilogy based on PC ports
The remastered Splinter Cell Trilogy, in development for PS3, is based on the PC versions of the original games, confirms Ubisoft's Alex Monney. "When we started this project, one of our main goals was to provide the players with the best possible content," he writes in a post on PlayStation Blog. "Hence we decided to port the game from the PC version which had more content and detail compared to the PS2 version." It's not well documented in any one place (come on Wikipedia!), but there are actually a lot of subtle and blatant differences between the various platform releases of the games; most notably in the first Splinter Cell, according to MobyGames, where level design and bonus content differ between versions. While it would have been neat to have been able to toggle between these versions in Splinter Cell Trilogy, the PC ports are probably closer to the original Xbox sources than any other versions, and feature the highest-resolution assets (which are going to be bumped up to full HD in the Trilogy release). Additionally, Monney notes in a response to a comment that "the online part of the original games won't be included" in Splinter Cell Trilogy -- just the single-player campaigns. While part of the post URL suggests that the collection will be "coming-to-ps3-in-june" (confirming an earlier report), Monney's officially sticking with, "No firm release date yet, but we'll update you guys once we know!" [Thanks, Merrick]
Splinter Cell Trilogy sneaking onto PS3, in HD (of course)
PS3 owners may not have had a chance to play Splinter Cell Conviction, but in 2011, they'll have too much Sam Fisher to deal with. Ubisoft has confirmed the Splinter Cell Trilogy to IGN and, as previously rumored, it will include HD updates of the original Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Although additional details weren't offered, it's likely the Splinter Cell Trilogy will be very similar to Ubisoft's other HD compilation: the Prince of Persia Trilogy. But we wonder, will it have 3D support? Will it be released on Blu-ray or a la carte via the PlayStation Network like PoP HD? We'll let you know if can pry anything else out of Ubisoft.
