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RECENT SPLINTER CELL NEWS

0  RAGE Release Date Announcement Signals Shift In Game Production Fri, Aug 20th, 2010, 6:11 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS id Software, the iconic team behind the Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake franchises, is currently working on their first new IP in over a decade, RAGE. The upcoming cross-genre title, largely considered a first-person shooter with driving and open world elements, was recently given a firm release date of September 13th, 2011 in North America. The announcement comes over a year prior to the planned launch, a rarity in an industry that tends to reveal launch details at the last possible second in production. id's release announcement shows a degree of consideration and planning that the larger gaming industry should work to adopt. Being able to set a firm release date well in advance indicates that id is confident in their ability to reach that target, likely meaning RAGE's development is somewhat near completion or at least far enough along to see the end in sight. It's also safe to assume that some time has been allocated for unexpected hurdles, creating a buffer zone after production is complete to avoid delays. This approach affords publishers and developers much greater stability when creating costly triple A titles, avoiding damaging delays. More »

0  Microsoft Readies Huge Xbox Live Push on WP7 Tue, Aug 17th, 2010, 1:18 pm (EST) BY SHAWN While we already knew Microsoft would be bringing the Xbox Live experience to Windows Phone 7, we didn't know much about what the service would entail, or how close it would be to the experience gamers are accustomed to on the Xbox 360. Microsoft has unveiled the official lineup for the device's Fall debut at GamesCom, and there's some pretty heavy-hitters included. More »

	0  Ubisoft Toronto Has Big Ambitions Mon, Aug 9th, 2010, 10:20 pm (EST) BY COLIN Ubisoft Toronto's managing editor Jade Raymond has told Develop that the up-and-coming studio branch is aiming big. In fact, she hopes to build up the team and develop five triple-A titles under the Ubisoft Toronto brand. More »

	0  Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Has Strongest Ever Preorders Mon, Jul 12th, 2010, 3:43 pm (EST) BY COLIN Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot has claimed that they've had the "strongest ever" preorder sales for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the next iteration in the Assassin's Creed franchise that will feature a core multiplayer experience and is due for release this November. More »

0  Splinter Cell Conviction Nears 2 Million Sales Mon, Jul 12th, 2010, 3:00 pm (EST) BY DARRYL Despite only being launched in April 2010, Splinter Cell: Conviction has managed to sell 1.9 million copies, according to Ubisoft's first-quarter report. Despite this, Ubisoft have been quite reserved on their opinion about the sales. They simply stated that they were "solid", which means they're probably hoping it will go on from here to sell more. More »

0  Ubisoft's Driver Delayed To 2011 Mon, Jul 12th, 2010, 2:51 pm (EST) BY COLIN Ubisoft released their first quarter financial figures and while Splinter Cell: Conviction has been confirmed to have sold 1.9 million since its launch, Ubisoft also confirmed that Driver: San Francisco will be pushed back to the fourth quarter of their fiscal year, aka January to March 2011. More »

	1  E3 2010: Assassin's Creed in Development for Nintendo 3DS Tue, Jun 15th, 2010, 2:19 pm (EST) BY SHAWN Ubisoft has just announced six titles that the company currently has in development for the Nintendo 3DS, including Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed. More »

0  E3 2010 Preview: Ubisoft Fri, Jun 11th, 2010, 1:32 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS While Ubisoft haven't been most popular publisher in the PC gaming arena recently, they have had a much better reception on consoles. Recent releases such as Assassin's Creed II, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands have given Ubisoft momentum heading into E3 next week. What can we expect from the French publisher? Well, we know Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, R.U.S.E., Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and HAWX 2 will all be at the show, but there is still a great deal of mystery surrounding Ubisoft's lineup, including a heavily rumored new Driver title. Several of Ubisoft's staple franchises are set to have big showing at E3. Assassin's Creed has risen from obscurity to become one of the biggest series in gaming in a few short years. The latest iteration in the series, Brotherhood, was announced earlier this year. New Additions include a continuation of Ezio's journey from Assassain's Creed II and online multiplayer. Expect a big presence from Brotherhood next week as Ubisoft unveils the major details about this hotly anticipated title. Ghost Recon will also likely make waves with Future Soldier on the horizon. Little is known about this title except that it will have a futuristic setting (shocking, I know), is slated for 2011, and will have a beta Splinter Cell: Conviction owners will get access to. Will there be a playable demo? It's possible, but considering the game was just delayed, I'd guess it's still got a long way to go. More »

0  Draconian DRM Will Only Hurt Publishers Fri, Jun 11th, 2010, 1:05 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS Digital Rights Management (DRM) has been getting a lot of attention in the PC gaming community as of late. Efforts from certain publishers to crack down on game piracy through increasingly invasive DRM measures have started to create a backlash. In particular, Ubisoft has been vilified for its “always online” requirement for many single player games. While publishers have every right to protect their property, hurting legitimate consumers in the process is unacceptable - a more reasonable approach is required. Many of these problems arise due to console ports that fail to recognize the PC as a distinct platform. Games built from the ground up on PC are far better equipped to reasonably safeguard against piracy without taxing legitimate buyers. As mentioned above, Ubisoft has become the antagonistic face of DRM in the eyes of many gamers. However, this wasn’t always the case - the company tested the waters of PC piracy when it released Prince of Persia without any DRM requirements in 2008. While Ubisoft has never made the results of that experiment public, it’s now safe to assume it didn’t go well. Since that time the company has begun to implement especially harsh DRM measures - namely, the “Uplay” banner they describe as “an innovative solution for reducing PC game piracy.” Games such as Silent Hunter 5, Assassin’s Creed II and Splinter Cell: Conviction have all been saddled with online server authentication measures which require users to constantly maintain an internet connection to play any portion of the game. More »

0  Splinter Cell Conviction Insurgency Pack Now Available Thu, May 27th, 2010, 3:59 pm (EST) BY JAMIE COURTS Today is the big day for fans of the Splinter Cell: Conviction cooperative modes since the new Deniable Ops Insurgency DLC pack is now available on the Xbox 360 Marketplace. This new pack allows for players to work cooperatively through four new levels that take place across America. More »

0  Next Splinter Cell Being Developed By Ubisoft Toronto Tue, May 25th, 2010, 10:50 am (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS Ubisoft has announced that the next game in the Splinter Cell franchise will be developed in the newly formed Ubisoft Toronto studio. The studio, lead by former Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond and partially funded by the government of Ontario, is an ambitious undertaking announced by Ubisoft last year - the new Splinter Cell will be its first game. Conviction's producer Alex Parizeau will continue his role on the next installment. More »

2  Ghost Recon Future Soldier Pushed Back To First Quarter 2011 Wed, May 19th, 2010, 11:15 am (EST) BY JAMIE COURTS According to Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, Ghost Recon: Future soldier will be pushed from its release window of late 2010, to a march 2011 release date. According to Guillemot, this is due to a "very competitive environment". More »

0  Splinter Cell: Conviction Downloadable Content Announced Mon, May 17th, 2010, 3:31 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS Ubisoft have announced that the first downloadable content for Splinter Cell: Conivction will be available for Xbox 360 and PC on May 27th. According to the company's statement, the "Insurgency Pack" will include new achievements, and maps for the game's Deniable Ops mode for the price of $10. More »

0  April NPDs: Sam Fisher Walks Into The Top Spot Fri, May 14th, 2010, 10:44 am (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS The NPD Group have released the overall sales numbers for the month of April 2010, and the results don't inspire much confidence, unless you happen to be Sam Fisher. The industry experienced a 26 percent decline in revenue compared with this time last year. One exception is PlayStation 3, Sony is quick to point out their platform is only one with "growth both year over year (42.6 percent) and year to date (37.2 percent)." The full figures are shown below. More »

1  Front Mission: Evolved Continues Worrying Industry Trend Thu, May 6th, 2010, 3:24 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS The biggest blockbuster games in the West for a long time now have been shooters and action games.  Franchises such as Call of Duty, Halo, and God of War, with their multimillion sales figures and mass market appeal, have made other game makers eager to get a piece of this lucrative pie.  As such, in recent years the gaming industry has seen a wave of franchises traditionally associated with more obscure genres, such as strategy RPGs or stealth games, alter their designs to a more action oriented play style.  This trend is worrying because it reduces the diverse offering of games available, and thereby constrains developer creativity.  The latest installment in the long running Front Mission series, Evolved, is a perfect example. More »

0  2010 FIFA World Cup Scores Joy For EA In UK Sales Charts Tue, May 4th, 2010, 6:02 pm (EST) BY DARRYL This week's UK video game sales charts have been released, albeit a day late due to the bank holiday weekend, and it's smiles all round for EA as the 2010 FIFA World Cup game has rocketed straight to the top - maybe loads of football fans have rushed out to buy it in the hopes that England can actually win the World Cup under their guidance. More »

	0  Splinter Cell: Conviction's UPlay Awards Explained Wed, Apr 21st, 2010, 11:49 am (EST) BY DARRYL Splinter Cell: Conviction came out last week, and it's been reviewing really well so far. However, gamers may have noticed that not only are they unlocking Xbox Live achievements, but there are also some UPlay achievements in there too. More »

0  Splinter Cell: Conviction Creates One-Two For Ubisoft In UK Charts Mon, Apr 19th, 2010, 5:22 pm (EST) BY DARRYL Something new in this week's UK charts, as Ubisoft managed to make it a one-two at the top thanks to the recently released Splinter Cell: Conviction. The other title aiding in the double act is of course, Just Dance. More »

0  Reviews Round-Up (Splinter Cell: Conviction, Samurai Shodown And More) Sun, Apr 18th, 2010, 11:51am (EST) BY COLIN It's Sunday people! Which means it's time for Gaming Union's weekly Reviews Round-up! Last week saw some interesting titles like Cho Aniki Zero for the PSP, Relativity for Xbox Live Indie and the DLC pack for Mass Effect 2, Kasumi: Stolen Memory. More »

2  Splinter Cell: Conviction Review Sat, Apr 17th, 2010, 4:06 pm (EST) BY DARRYL Imagine being a former black-ops member who's had his world turned upside down. He doesn't know what to believe or who to trust, and to top it all off, he's had his daughter murdered. Well, that's the life that Splinter Cell protagonist Sam Fisher now leads and it's a slippery slope, but it's a slope that players must navigate as they embark on Sam's latest stealth-action adventure, Spliter Cell: Conviction. More »