Conviction was originally set for a simultaneous release on Xbox 360 and 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…

Splinter Cell Conviction is the latest installment in the hit Tom Clancy series from Ubisoft

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.

Ubisoft have finally confirmed the rumour that’s been doing the rounds for a few weeks: their new PC DRM will require an always-on Internet connection in order to play their games. And if the connection drops in the middle of a game, you’ll lose your progress. And if the servers go down, you won’t be able to play your game.

The new DRM will be in all announced Ubisoft PC games , including Assassin’s Creed II, Settlers VII, Splinter Cell Conviction, Silent Hunter 5, Prince of Persia and Ghost Recon. Ubisoft have confirmed that they “plan” to keep the servers up for all games in the future, but would not say they were “committed” to it.

Maybe the best way to defeat pirates is to ensure that no-one plays the PC version of your games?

To get in on the beta for Halo Reach you will need a copy of Halo 3: ODST

Fresh from the X10 event in San Francisco, Bungie and Microsoft have unveiled the date for the much anticipated Halo Reach Beta.

Owners of Halo 3: ODST will be able to get their hands on the Reach Beta starting May 3rd 2010, providing that they still have the disc. Players will be able to access the beta through the ODST menu. Bungie have also released the cover art as well as minor details on the first map: “Powerhouse”. Expect more details to surface in the next few days. In the mean time, here’s a post on Bungie.net with more details: Bungie.

Also from the X10 event, Microsoft has announced release dates for Alan Wake (finally), Splinter Cell Conviction (again, finally), Lost Planet 2 and Dead Rising 2. The first 3 will all be out by May, with Dead Rising set for an August release. They also announced some Xbox Live Arcade releases including Perfect Dark, and confirmed that Fable III will be out this holiday season.

I’m sure you’ll hear more from us if any more big news comes out of there (Natal anyone?).

I think it’s honestly fair to say, we can all breath a sigh of relief as our Agent, no not 007, but Sam Fisher will return with his famous night vision goggles.

So not only do we actually get to hurt people, we get to look cool doing it.. in the dark, seeing them through walls, stalking them like the professionals we are.

“To prove it, he showed a very brief video clip (which we were not allowed to film) of Fisher in action, green-tinted goggles firmly affixed to his head. The clip showed Fisher creeping toward a building across an outdoor area and taking cover behind a crate. Then, the familiar high-pitched whine of the night-vision goggles snapped on, and the scene turned to a washed-out semi-wireframe view. And with that, the clip was over. Just enough for Ubisoft to prove that Fisher still has access to the gadget that helped define the series.”

And to whet your appetite to this game a little bit more.

“Another classic Splinter Cell gadget, the sticky camera, is also back in Conviction, and Ubisoft showed a clip of that as well.”

Head over to IGN and check out the full article.