Splinter Cell Conviction Delayed on PC

Ubisoft’s most recent release schedule has revealed a two week delay for the PC version of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction.

It was supposed to be released on April 16th, the same day as the 360 version, but PC gamers will now have to wait until the 30th to get their hands on the game which 360 users have already had a demo of for a few days now.

Ubisoft really haven’t been doing their PC market any favours recently…

New Lord of the Rings Game Announced

Developers Snowblind Studios, along with Warner Bros. today announced the latest addition to the growing list of Lord of the Rings games.

The new game, titled “War in the North” is being developed by the same folk as Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and will be an action-RPG featuring co-op support. It will feature locations and narratives familiar to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels and their big screen-counterparts, as well as original storylines.

Martin Tremblay, president of Warner Bros. Interactive had this to say:

“With The Lord of the Rings: War in the North we are taking a mature approach to the widely celebrated property with authentic portrayals of battles and all new storylines.

Utilising the award-winning and passionate development team at Snowblind Studios, we are looking to evolve the RPG experience and deliver The Lord of the Rings game fans have been waiting for.”

The game is slated for a release in 2011 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Check the official website for more information.

Earthworm Jim Remake Coming to DSiWare

Gameloft announced today that the iPhone remake of Earthworm Jim (there’s an iPhone remake? Damn, I’m going to have to check that out) will be released on DSiWare.

The remake includes updated graphics and audio; with redrawn sprites, brighter colours, improved audio and remixed tunes. There’s also an easy mode with hints and tips, plus a bonus mode where you repeat Jim’s various expressions into the DSi camera.

Gameloft hopes to stay as true to the original as possible whilst also making it easy enough for anyone to finish.

Pricing details are yet to be announced, so stay tuned for those in the near future.

(Via Nintendo Life)

Perfect Dark Remake Hits Xbox-Live Arcade

The remake of Rare’s classic first-person shooter – Perfect Dark is now available to download from Xbox-Live Arcade for 800 points.

The game features all of the original single-player and multiplayer modes with updated visuals, as well as 8-player online versus modes. Fans of Goldeneye also get a little treat as there are various maps and weapons from the N64 classic included in Perfect Dark XBLA.

Download the trial and give it a go!

Splinter Cell Conviction Demo Coming This Week

It was announced on Xbox Live’s Inside Xbox service that a playable demo of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction will be available this week.

360 players will be able to download the demo on March 18th (this Thursday) and get a taste of Sam Fisher’s latest, and possibly greatest game.

The demo features a ‘brutal’ interrogation scene, as well as a level from later in the game in order to give the player a good idea of the gameplay and story of the game without giving away any big plot points.

Judging by some of the previews that have been out and some of the announced features in Conviction, I would definitely suggest downloading this demo and giving it a try.

GAME Coming to Playstation Home On, Erm, The Moon

If you’re into retailers creating their own ‘virtual spaces’ then you may be interested to know that GAME, the British retailer, is coming to Playstation Home. I know that might not be many of you, and I also know that many of you will probably have only touched Home for five minutes, but let’s talk about it anyway.

The new space, launching on 18th March, is apparently a way of finding out about upcoming releases and activities across the Playstation brand. Of course, there’s always been GAME’s website and, erm, the rest of the Internet but you don’t get to visit a TOTALLY AWESOME Moonbase if you do that, do you? No, I didn’t think so!

So, there you are on a virtual recreation of Earth’s Moon walking around in a branded Moonbase, what the hell is there to do? There’s poster sites, video screens, a dance floor, billboards, meeting places and four internet browser terminals. Did I mention this is also on the MOON? THE FREAKING MOON! Screw Obama cancelling plans to go back to the Moon, GAME has got us covered!

In case that’s not enough (you want more? We can’t please you people can we?) there’s also a ‘Lunar Leap’ game where players boost themselves in zero gravity across a giant crater. If you successfully land your avatar on a designated pad you can win an exclusive GAME astronaut outfit (see above). Isn’t this just the best thing EVER?

(this post may not entirely be devoid of sarcasm)

Crackdown 2 Release Date Announced

Ruffian Games – the developers of Crackdown 2 – today announced the release date for their upcoming sandbox game via their Twitter feed.

After a couple of little teases, they announced a 9th July 2010 release date (6th July in America).

The game will take place in Pacific City, the setting established in the first game, and will feature 4-player co-operative play as well as all-new 16 player online multiplayer modes.

The original was a brilliant game – one of my personal favourites on the Xbox 360 – and so I am very much looking forward to the sequel. I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on this one…

Crunch culture killed Ensemble Studios

Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires PC strategy games and Halo Wars on the Xbox 360, was closed due to problems with the corporate culture. Speaking at GDC, Paul Bettner, a 12-year veteran at Ensemble, refused to blame Microsoft for the closure of the developer.

“Microsoft is a public company, they answer to their shareholders, and we were simply too expensive.”

In his impassioned talk during the “rants” session, Bettner, now working at iPhone developer NewToy, blamed himself for the cost, inefficiency and poor quality of life caused by Ensemble’s dependence on long, “crunch” working hours.

Ensemble had a company culture where “everyone was a workaholic”, developers worked late and slept at the office, and were addicted to the rush of success of the Age of Empires series.

“I watched this happen and I did almost nothing to stop it. As an employee, and later as a manager, I didn’t take a stand. I just kept hoping for that next high,” Bettner said.

Bioware ‘Reveals’ Dragonage Sequel Release Date?

There’s a nice little surprise watching in the package for the retail version of upcoming Dragonage: Origins expansion, Awakening. It contains a leaflet with a date of 02.01.2011 printed on it, which seems to hint at the release date for Dragonage 2. Well when we say ’seems’ we really mean ‘what the hell else can it be?’.

EA has already announced that they’re going to be releasing a new Dragonage next year, so when you put the two things together it’s pretty obvious. Given the early next year release date it’s also looking likely that we’ll find out more about the sequel at E3.

Awakening is available as a download and retail release for PC and 360. The PS3 release is download only, so no little leaflet for owners of that version. You can get it from March 16.

(picture from 1UP)

Mass Effect 2 Gets Free Arc Projector DLC

Bioware released some more free DLC for Mass Effect 2 today, this time in the form of a new weapon for the game.

The Arc Projector ionizes targets with a non-visible laser to ready them for a high-voltage electrical attack. As the lightning-like bolt hits its first target, a sophisticated auto-targeting system paints succeeding targets with the ionization laser, allowing the electricity to take the path of least resistance and arc between them. An entire enemy strike team can be shocked to death with a few pulls of the trigger. Careful aiming will also allow the user to arc shots to nearby explosives as well.

You can get the new DLC through the Cerberus Network, which is located on the games main menu.

If one weapon isn’t enough for you then you’ll be able to download the ‘Firewalker Pack’ later this month, which includes five new missions and a tank.

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