For his latest adventure in Splinter Cell: Conviction (which appears to have dropped the capital "V"), Sam Fisher has gone positively emo. His face is capable of a wider range of emotions, he's kicking it in the Mediterranean and he's even ... grown his hair out. Mary De Marle, "narrative designer" for the game, told IGN that Sam has always been this way; he's just been waiting for the chance to let his softie flag fly. "Somehow, we are presenting the 'original' Sam, as we have been thinking him since the first days of the first Splinter Cell," De Marle said.

To help compliment this new "make love, not war" ethos, Sam has forsaken the tech supplied to him by Third Echelon in favor of the hottest new SC gadget: The hoodie. No, seriously. Sam will be able to pull it up in crowds to make himself less noticeable or to hide the single tear he's crying for his lost innocence. But mainly just the first one. When you combine some of the latest revelations with what we learned earlier this month, the new Splinter Cell sounds like a major departure from the norm -- and that sounds just fine to us.

Don't fret PlayStation 3 faithful, Ubisoft has not forgotten you. After releasing versions for GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Wii, the Splinter Cell developer has turned its attention to the PS3 release of Double Agent, due ... sometime in March.

The delay is not without consolation, as Ubisoft will tack in some Sixaxis wiggle n' shake action. New maps and skins will also be added to multiplayer.

Not content with preparing seven titles for the Wii's upcoming and still nebulously dated launch, Le Ubisoft has announced that Splinter Cell: Double Agent will also join the arm flailing fray. IGN reports that the Wii version is based on the PS2 and Gamecube builds and that it will fully utilize the system's unique control capabilities. The exact control specifics have yet to be divulged. One of the examples cited is using the Wiimote to pick locks, though there's arguably more appeal to be found in the the thought of slashing a hapless guard's throat with one swift and decisive motion.

Curiously, the game will be missing "some" of the missions present in the Xbox 360 version (and less curiously, an online component). The Wii launch will likely fall after Double Agent's October debut, so the cause doesn't appear to be an unreasonable restriction in development time. A few missions for a different control scheme -- is that a fair trade? While it's certainly possible that Ubisoft will include extra missions more closely designed with the Wii controller in mind, that seems unlikely given the platform differences in past Splinter Cell titles. After all, there are seven other motion-sensitive games that need to be bitten off and chewed before the Wii's launch later this year.

[Thanks AssemblyLineHuman and Jeremy.]

It's only one month on top of the original September release date, but the news of Sam Fisher's latest adventure in dark duplicity being delayed until the spookiest month of the year is not entirely welcome. Splinter Cell: Double Agent promises to take the series into new territory, allowing players to infiltrate the ranks of the enemy and experience the other side of global terror and insidious espionage. This dramatic addition to gameplay is characterized by the following exciting features (taken from the fake press release):

• Intricate pendulum level design: As a guard, you'll be expected to patrol a set area, walking back and forth between point A and point B (at higher difficulty levels, a more challenging point C may be added). This path will be made very clear to the player, with potential exits blocked off by debris, locked doors, raging fires or piles of dead guards.
  
• Dynamic AI conversations: In an effort to create the illusion of intelligence in your fellow evil minions, non-player characters have been designed to frequently respond to your actions and engage in banter entirely unrelated to work. An extensive dialogue tree enables you to choose a response for any situation, be it relaxed ("Good morning."), congratulatory ("Good work.") or alarming ("Good lord, someone's shooting at us.")
• Positional sound muffling: In order to be truly successful as a guard, distractions cannot be tolerated. Thanks to an advanced positional audio algorithm, the game aids the player in correctly categorizing the sounds of gunfire, explosions, bloodcurdling screams, shattering windows and crashing helicopters as the unremarkable, nocturnal machinations of rats.
• Oblivious (TM) lighting engine: The next generation of HDR lighting better simulates the vision of an actual guard. All fluorescent lights appear to be flickering, darkness is entirely impenetrable and brightly lit christmas trees that strangle you from behind are entirely invisible. Note: This feature is only available in the Xbox 360, PC, PS2, Gamecube, PS3 and Xbox versions of Double Agent.

[Thanks Stephen!]