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Wii releases for the week of November 27th
This week only brings us a handful of new releases but, arguably most important, is the fact that Wii owners will now finally be able to play the latest Sam Fisher adventure which, according to critics, is pretty darn good. Anyone looking to pick this up this week? Splinter Cell: Double Agent - Ubisoft Barnyard - THQ Open Season - Ubisoft As always, availability is subject to manufacturer delivery.
Wii gets the comic treatment
Oh snap! A Wii-centric comic? And apparently all about the, ah, immersive aspects of the console. Raise your hand if you think this may be you in a few weeks?As a side note, in no way do we encourage anyone to actually stab, choke, prod or cut family members or friends with any portion of the Nintendo Wii. Dude, you might get blood on it. Not at all cool. It stains.[Thanks, Nikolai!]
Splinter Cell: Dynamic Advertising Agent
Concerned reader and avid Splinter Cell fan, Carlos Birdsong, shares some interesting info about Double Agent."I was playing SCDA with some friends as a Merc and I saw a spy run under a truck that had a Comcast ad on it. I was out of grenades and told one of my teammates to toss a grenade under the comcast truck, only he didn't see it. Why? He saw what was by default a Hong Kong truck instead of the Comcast truck.While I think in game ads are cool when in context, I saw some Comcast signage as well, but this dynamic ad rendering can affect gameplay--subtle but interesting side effect."Dynamic ad placement in games is starting to become commonplace, and situations like this could be an unfortunate byproduct. Have any of you experienced similar problems? Do you think dynamic ads should be removed from multiplayer games where positioning is important, or at least made so every player sees the same thing?[Image via Mega64]
How to get Double Agent for $48
After doing the post about the Assassin's Creed collector's edition, we couldn't help but notice this little tidbit. It looks like Play-Asia is offering the region free version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent for a measly $44.90. Add $3.10 shipping and you've got your own copy for $48. That's $12 dollars of the retail price. Not bad at all. We've done a story or two on region free Xbox 360 games in the past. For the uninitiated, 360 games released in Asia are often region free. Not only that, but they are usually completely identical to their English counterparts, right down to the manual. We haven't confirmed whether or not this is the case with Splinter Cell, but it's a fairly safe bet. Did anybody here get their copy from Play-Asia? For future reference, Play-Asia maintains a list of its region free 360 games. You might want to bookmark it if you enjoy saving money.
What are you playing: sneaky edition
It's time once again for that all important question, what are you playing? This week marks the release of Splinter Cell: Double Agent so, we imagine quite a few of you will be spending your weekend snapping necks and being all sneaky-like. Me, I've still got to wrap up Dead Rising, Lego Star Wars II is staring me in the face, and I have yet to crack into Enchanted Arms. And let's not forget that the Phantasy Star beta is still running. Oh, and that the Project 8 demo should hit today -- still not out as of this posting. On the Live Arcade front, there's Lumines and 3 more episodes of DOOM to clear up (on Ultra Violent difficulty, of course).Put simply, there's just too damned much to play. How 'bout you? What will you be playing this weekend?
Nivea and Sam Fisher want you to shave that beard!
Nivea has snuck its way into Sam Fisher's heart. The two have teamed up to bring you in-game advertisements! What better way to escape your everyday dreary and tedious world than to get pelted with ads for real companies while breaking someone's neck in a bathroom? Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Double Agent will offer a fine array of Nivea and Philips Norelco products set along bathroom sinks in hotel rooms. There are also billboards specifically designed to talk to you, the gamer, not you, the Sam Fisher, saying such game-related teasings as "The 'Good Guy' almost never has a beard," and "There are many faces of evil. Don't let yours be one of them."If you want your ads to be subtle, use real ads. Ads in the real world. Don't make ads that are trying to talk about the game that's being played. That's like a movie stopping suddenly and listening for the audience to laugh, or if something unrealistic happens in a movie, a character cleverly snaps out the one-liner "Only in the movies!" Please. Game advertisements may be lucrative, but they're still lame. As much as the phrase itself irks us, we're tempted to say "sell-out", but it's becoming all too common in the "Realistic Gaming" world. Sam Fisher... you can be pretty stealthy, but you're not too good at dodging corporate advertisement offers. Hmm... it sounded a tad bit better in my mind.
Splinter Cell: To 1080p or not to p
Has the 1080p console era arrived sooner than expected, courtesy of Ubisoft? The above pic is screen cap from a debug copy of Splinter Cell: Double Agent for the Xbox 360 showing support for "true HD" (to use Sony's patronizing marketing terminology). GamePro says they received confirmation from Ubisoft that the retail version will indeed support 1080p. Elsewhere, 1up says their contact told them "No, it's 1080i" but admits things are pretty hectic at Ubi right now, so who knows? All acknowledge that 1080p support is useless without the necessary update Microsoft, expected some time in the near future (although GamePro theorizes that it could be included on the Double Agent disc). Even then, without an HDMI solution from MS, the much-hyped resolution would be possible only via the rare 1080p HDTV (Sharp?) that supports 1920x1080 via VGA input. Meanwhile, back in standard-def-trying-in-vain-to-read-that -Dead-Rising-text land, the po' folk are snickering because their snooty 720p neighbors now have to go out and buy a new TV if they want to remain on the bleeding edge of the 360 community.How many lucky bastards already have a 1080p HDTV and are just dying to put it to use? How many don't think they'll get a 1080p set for years?Correction: As several readers have pointed out, only 1080p movies using the HD-DVD drive require HDMI. Games will work over both HDMI or VGA.[Thanks Luke]
Be Called to Duty on Nov. 10th
Call of Duty fans mark your calendars, Call of Duty 3 has been dated. CVG lists the 360 version for November 10th, well before any other version (the PS3 version is set for March 07). Curiously absent from Activision's announcement is the date for the Xbox version. CVG speculates that this could mean the Xbox version has been canceled. It seems doubtful, but COD2 is the 360's first million seller. Maybe Activision and Mircrosoft are hoping COD3 will drive sales of the 360. Regardless, 360 owners will be the first to play. We can't help but note that it's going to be impossible to sample all the 360 goodness this holiday. Gears of War, Phantasy Star, Splinter Cell, Viva Piñata, R6 Vegas, the list just keeps going. Who's planning on squeezing Call of Duty 3 in there?[Via Evil Avatar]
Michael Ironside talks Sam Fisher
Michael Ironside, perennial badass, talks about his work as the voice of Sam Fisher in these two short videos. He also chimes in on his opinion of gamers in general. His impression: some of the most informed people around. Aw, shucks Michael, you're making us blush. Double Agent is getting closer every day. Anybody excited yet? Check out both videos after the break.
Ubisoft takes a leak, reveals new titles
The NeoGAF forums exploded when an archive of assets from Ubisoft was stolen and leaked. The game of most significance for PSP owners has to be FarCry, a first person shooter that's been seen on the PC, Xbox and Xbox 360 (with a Wii version coming).Other games featured in the leak included a new Splinter Cell (before Double Agent even makes it into stores!) and Ubisoft's upcoming Naruto game.[Thanks, steve!]
Splinter Cell coming to the Wii
As if Ubisoft hadn't done enough already, they've added yet another game to the "launch window" release. Splinter Cell: Double Agent is currently being developed by Ubisoft's Montreal studios for a quick release on the Wii. Let's use our psychic powers to predict the future, shall we? There will be no online component for the Wii version. The programmers have utilized the Wiimote to create a special, unique control scheme. Some missions will remain exclusive to the Xbox 360 version of the game. Sam Fisher will star in some government-oriented espionage action. (goes to look) Oh my stars, look at that, we're precognizant. On the less skeptical side of things, this looks to be one of the better-looking Wii titles, and Splinter Cell doesn't often disappoint, so chalk this up as another minor victory for the fledgling console.[via Joystiq]
Who's afraid of the Darkness?
Xboxic goes hands-on with The Darkness and seem impressed. They also got their mitts on Splinter Cell: Double Agent, I although I found their take on the latter game a little dismissive. Sure, it's "just another Splinter Cell game," (with plenty of next-gen polish) but since when is that a bad thing?
Splinter Cell: Double Agent delayed until October
Need some extra time to glue mag-lites on your Sam Fisher Halloween costume? Ubisoft has pushed back Splinter Cell: Double Agent until October 20. Delays always suck, but in this case we'll assume it's for the best. Presumably, the extra spit and polish is going towards the the game's multiplayer, which is already looking pretty tight according to this hands-on.
Double Agent website alive and sneaky
The official site for Splinter Cell: Double Agent is open for business (age validation required). The site is loaded with Splintery goodness like character bios, story info, features, multiplayer info, icons, wallpapers, screens, videos, and lots of flashy, um, Flash. I think you could safely call it a plethora of goodies. The game already impressed us at E3, and I'm sure Ken and I -- like wolves -- will scrabble at every bit until it's released. Like wolves, I say. By the way, is it just me, or is Lambert starting to look a lot like Morgan Freeman? [Via Xboxic]
First impressions: Splinter Cell: Double Agent
The Splinter Cell series always set a graphics and gameplay standard on the original Xbox and the franchise's first attempt on the 360 continues to impress. This is one intense demo. It's starts with a literally mind-blowing execution sequence followed by the most harrowing parachute jump I've ever seen in a game. Ubisoft has gone for shocking violence with this entry. You can tell the guy in the pic above won't be dancing a jig any time soon, and his death convulsions before he finished the job with a grenade are a pleasantly disturbing touch. The initial gameplay will be familiar to Sam Fisher vets, although the controls probably need to be tweaked a bit. The level I played seemed to lean a bit more towards blowing people away than stealth, but I may have just been trigger happy. I appreciated how Ubisoft squeezed something to do into sequences that formerly would have been straight CGI. Overall, Double Agent oozes next-gen production values and looks to offer a gritty tale to frame the well-rendered blood and guts. It may be my favorite demo so far.
