Source -CVG

Sam Fisher's been gone for a while, and there's still months to wait before he re-emerges on consoles in Double Agent. Luckily we have this bite-sized PSP adventure to tide us over until its bigger brother arrives, and it's looking rather swish.
As you can see from our amazing video technology in the top right corner - on which expense is spared - Splinter Cell Essentials is looking like an um, essential purchase for owners of Sony's sleek handheld.

The game will reveal the origin of everyone's favourite tri-goggled super-spy, from his military beginnings as a US Navy Seal to the Third Echelon stealth-dynamo we know today.

Splinter Cell Essentials sneaks into the shops on April 7th.

Check out the Trailer Here --> http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=135999 ...

Everyone's got a soft spot for WWII-themed shooters, but there's undeniably only one shooter ruling the Xbox 360 roost, and it's Infinity Ward's stellar Call of Duty 2.
So news of a new Xbox 360 patch release will have Nazi-shooter fans spinning in their office chairs (or whatever you're sitting on when you read this) in excitement. Log onto Xbox Live this very moment and latest Call of Duty patch will be lovingly deployed onto your Xbox 360, via the magic of the internet.

The patch offers more in the way of enhancements than major additions, but avid players will be pleased to hear that multiplayer performance has been improved by the update, hopefully curing those lag problems. Apart from that, there's a number of not-very-exciting changes like new multiplayer hosting options and the addition of post-game lobbies.

Meanwhile on the PC front, players are again promised the long awaited PunkBuster anti-cheat support is on the horizon. The next PC patch will apparently add two new multiplayer maps for mouse and keyboard enthusiasts; Rhine and the classic fan-favourite Harbor, from the original Call of Duty.
No target has been set for the PC patch, but Xbox 360 owners can get their patch on right now. Are you still here? ...

In an interview with IGN, Microsoft's Vice President of Interactive Entertainment Peter Moore, in typically canny fashion, took the opportunity to have a subtle dig at Sony regarding the PlayStation 3 - while pointedly refusing to shed light on rumours that Microsoft is about to enter the handheld gaming market.
Moore launched a sly attempt to demoralise Sony by pointing out the problems it faces with the PlayStation 3, and contrasting them with the problems faced by the Xbox 360 (which, in a classic example of spin-doctoring, turn out not to be problems after all) : "We've got some challenges: meeting demand for a product that's already in market that millions of people are already enjoying.... So by the end of next week we're up and running in 30 countries with millions of units flowing in, and our primary and only focus will be to fulfill demand.

"Sony, on the other hand, has got huge problems as you always do in bringing a product to market - launching it, getting it delivered around the world, getting your yields up, delivering against a format in Blu-Ray that's not yet mass market, delivering against unknown silicon issues, the list goes on. They're a very talented company with a huge check list of things they need to do. I sleep easy knowing that my only problem is fulfilling demand."
Nice to know that insomnia isn't a problem, but sadly, IGN missed a trick when asking Moore about the Microsoft gaming handheld rumours. Moore was allowed to refer only to the Origami, which we now know is a red herring: "We've made no announcements at all. Don't be confused. Origami is a portable device that's more about portable computing that had entertainment layered in. It's not being done by our division."

Moore also gave a hint of what Microsoft can be expected to do at E3: "E3 is all about the holidays. We will have as strong a lineup as I've ever gone into E3 with. This year will be a very interesting E3. It almost gets to be a put-up or shut-up situation for some people. Our primary focus is on showing you great games. We'll be unveiling new games for the holiday as well as giving you a better perspective on Gears of War.

"For Sony, E3 a year ago was all about high-powered video, CG, and my suspicion would be that they feel the pressure to have hands-on playables."

He's right in that respect, although since Sony is adamant that the PlayStation 3 will launch in November, it is obvious that the company will have to showcase a decent portfolio of playable PS3 games if it wants to be taken seriously once more. And he's right that it's going to be quite an E3. As ever, we'll be there, sending dispatches from the gaming front line. ...

Eidos has revealed that its forthcoming game of undercover CIA operations, Just Cause, is creeping up on Xbox 360.
In the game, players slip into the shoes of Rico Rodriguez, a CIA agent specialising in regime change who is attempting to overthrow the corrupt government of San Esperito. The South American island is suspected of stockpiling WMDs and ultimately Rodriguez is trying to eliminate a threat to world peace. So just another standard day at the office then.

Speaking about the Just Cause next-gen operation, Christofer Sundberg, founder and creative director of the game's developer, Avalanche Studios said, "We are proud that Just Cause will be available on Xbox 360 as well as current generation platforms. Our aim has always been to deliver a next-gen experience and with the power of Xbox 360 you are going to see something really special."

With Just Cause, we're promised freeform-style play in a vast, detailed environment littered with missions. As Rodriguez, one of the key weapons in your regime-overthrowing arsenal is the ability to influence various San Esperito power groups, Eidos saying that the game's hero can play the island's factions off against one another, incite a rebellion among the masses or build alliances with rebel forces and drug cartels.
Just Cause is due on Xbox 360 - and Xbox, PS2 and PC - around autumn 2006. ...

Microsoft has broken its silence on the recent allegations that the Xbox 360's DVD firmware has been hacked, apparently suggesting that it could provide a software update that will disable the hack. Meanwhile, the group that effected the hack continues to maintain that it will not release it to the public and that, since it is a software hack incompatible with modchips, anyone who tries to sell you an Xbox 360 modchip is a scammer.
Xboxic managed to interview a member of the hacking team, identified only as Robinsod, who explained that it is more of an intellectual exercise than a practical hack: "The hack is a modification to the DVD drive's firmware, which is stored in a flash memory chip inside the drive. If I was to release this hack, which I am most certainly not going to, I would release it as a Windows drive programming package, exactly the same as used to upgrade a PC's DVD drive. Anyone who tries to sell you a chip is a scammer and is trying to cheat you. This hack is useless to the public in its current form -- it has not been 'weaponised' and currently requires that the flash chip is removed from the drive circuit board and inserted into a special flash programming device. And I want to stress that if you don't know what you're doing you can easily destroy your 360 - don't do it."

In a brief statement, Microsoft responded to the hack: "The core security system has not been broken. However, it is reported that the authentication protocol between the optical disc drive and the console may be attacked, which if accurate could allow people to play illegally copied games. Our security team is aware of this and we are investigating potential solutions to this issue. The Xbox 360 platform was designed to be updated, and we are prepared to respond appropriately should any unauthorized activity be identified." In other words, it's a problem that could potentially be got around using a firmware update.
That very subject is discussed at length in the Robinsod interview, in language so techy that we wouldn't want to fry your brain with it. And while it sounds like a pretty clunky and impractical hack as yet, it does show the hacker community is very much on the Xbox 360's case. Although we can guarantee that anything currently being touted as an Xbox 360 modchip won't work - so avoid such objects like the plague. ...

Shawn Milne, analyst for Friedman Billings Ramsey, has been gazing into his videogame industry crystal ball and is predicting that Microsoft's Xbox 360 will be leading the next-gen console pack in the near future - in the US, anyway.
According to a report on GameSpot, Milne has projected console sales through 2010 for the States and reckons that, by the end of that year, Xbox 360 unit sales will have hit 24.6 million compared to 23.3 million units for PS3.

Milne expects that, each year subsequent to 2006 in the run up to 2010 and through that year, PS3 will actually outsell Xbox 360, but attributes the latter console's eventual overall lead to Microsoft's lengthy headstart in the next-gen console battle.

Nintendo's Revolution, Milne predicts, will have shifted 12.5 million units at the close of 2010.
Milne's predictions on the big-boy console world may well bring a smile to Microsoft's face, but he's also given Sony reason to cheer. In the same period - through 2010 - he reckons that PSP will beat everything, with the number of units in US citizens' possession hitting 26.1 million.

He also expects PSP to begin outselling DS in 2006, and to maintain that lead in the marketplace. ...

As of today, Nintendo has started to implement the 600 Wi-Fi hot-spots in retail outlets which it promised to bring to the UK and Ireland. Working with its partner BT Openzone, it is WiFi-ing the country's GAME, Gamestation, HMV, Toys R US and Smyths Toys shops, as well as a number of independent retailers. And it has started the process of installing Nintendo DS Download Stations in over 500 of those stores, too.
What does it all mean? Well, first it will give DS owners who enter those stores free access to the Wi-Fi Connection service. And second, DS devotees will be able to download all manner of goodies from the Download Stations, which they will be able to play until the next time they switch their DSes off.

According to Nintendo, the list of downloads will initially consist of one-level demos of Meteos and Polarium, plus the chance to meet Shigeru Miyamoto's own Nintendog, Pic. In April and May, playable demos of Trauma Centre and Brain Training will go on-stream, along with "special items" for Animal Crossing: Wild World and a Metroid Prime: Hunters movie.
Thoughtfully, Nintendo has described exactly what you must do if you want to take advantage of DS Download Stations, and we're only too happy to pass that info onto you lovely people. So: all you need do is walk into a store, turn on your DS and tap the "DS Download Play" button on the system screen. To take advantage of that juicy free Wi-Fi access, just stick the game you want to play online into the DS, and select the "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection" option from that game's main menu. Happy Wi-Fiing! ...

As of today, Nintendo has started to implement the 600 Wi-Fi hot-spots in retail outlets which it promised to bring to the UK and Ireland. Working with its partner BT Openzone, it is WiFi-ing the country's GAME, Gamestation, HMV, Toys R US and Smyths Toys shops, as well as a number of independent retailers. And it has started the process of installing Nintendo DS Download Stations in over 500 of those stores, too.
What does it all mean? Well, first it will give DS owners who enter those stores free access to the Wi-Fi Connection service. And second, DS devotees will be able to download all manner of goodies from the Download Stations, which they will be able to play until the next time they switch their DSes off.

According to Nintendo, the list of downloads will initially consist of one-level demos of Meteos and Polarium, plus the chance to meet Shigeru Miyamoto's own Nintendog, Pic. In April and May, playable demos of Trauma Centre and Brain Training will go on-stream, along with "special items" for Animal Crossing: Wild World and a Metroid Prime: Hunters movie.
Thoughtfully, Nintendo has described exactly what you must do if you want to take advantage of DS Download Stations, and we're only too happy to pass that info onto you lovely people. So: all you need do is walk into a store, turn on your DS and tap the "DS Download Play" button on the system screen. To take advantage of that juicy free Wi-Fi access, just stick the game you want to play online into the DS, and select the "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection" option from that game's main menu. Happy Wi-Fiing! ...

Microsoft's Peter Moore, who now labours (we're sure manfully) under the title of Vice President of Interactive Entertainment, has been holding forth on the future of the Halo franchise in a pre-GDC briefing with IGN.
Of course, despite a number of other high profile titles appearing this year on Xbox 360, Halo 3 is the game every 360 fan craves. And, it's one vital to the success and momentum of the platform, as MS tries to build up a huge installed base before Sony's PS3 arrives in November.

Moore begins with the standard MS Line of, "We haven't made any announcements regarding the Halo franchise. So Bungie is busy, they're an industrious bunch." But then more excitingly adds: "I think certainly this year, 2006, we might give you a peek at what Bungie is working on. I'm not going to give you any specific days, times or events."

We know Bungie is working on an unannounced title as well as the Windows Vista-bound Halo 2, but really, Moore can't be talking about anything other than Halo 3, can he?
Moore goes on to admit that "Halo is one of those games that will drive sales", so surely for the success of Xbox 360, we'd have to expect at least a first look at what Bungie has in store at this year's E3? Which must be good news for both gamers and MS. We'd further suggest that it will be Halo 3 which will be unveiled at E3, and hopefully the sequel will launch before the end of this year.

Okay, perhaps we've moved into the realms of speculation there, but maybe Bill Gates wasn't kidding after all when he famously opined Halo 3 would hit just in the middle of Sony's big PS3 launch.

Moving back into the realms of the factual, Moore had good news for Epic fans, confirming again that Gears of War would get playable E3 love and that it would definitely be out this year, concluding: "CliffyB will be there at E3 to show off Gears of War and you'll be able to get your hands on a controller and play Gears of War. Gears of War is coming out sometime this year." ...