Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360), the fourth installment in Ubisoft's Splinter Cell series, has been out for almost a year now. That hasn't stopped Ubisoft from releasing downloadable content for the game's Xbox 360 version though.

Two new Splinter Cell: Double Agent multiplayer maps - Kinshasa and Secret base - are now available for download over Xbox Live. These maps also bring with them four new challenges. There's also a brand new character, the Spy Girl, who comes with three different outfits.

It might be late, but the best thing about this downloadable pack is that it's completely free. The pack is available for all regions with Xbox Live support, so download away.

Sorry to stir things up a bit, but everyone and their pink prancing hippo probably already know that PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 side-by-side comparisons are a fact of life these days. Previously, we've had graphical comparisons of Armored Core, Elder Scrolls, and Virtua Tennis, and some time before that, comparisons of Tiger Woods and Tony Hawk.

Today, Sam Fisher's getting the same treatment, but this time around, as seen in pictures (instead of vids). From The Back Buffer (Blogspot), we got comparison shots of the PS3- and 360-versions of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Quite aptly so, we just might finally see the true meaning of his being a "double agent."

Now, now. Before you guys go at each other's throats, here's a very intelligent comment by Anonymous we found on the Blogspot post, saying that he/she won't decide on either an Xbox 360 or PS3 purchase based on these screenshots because of the following:

1. are those screenshots captured directly from the system or from physical digital camera?
2. are those screenshots from the same display output?
3. I may question the game developer's capabilities of getting the most from both systems.
4. I will decide my purchase based on screenshots from Gran Turismo for Xbox360 and PS3.

Opinions are opinions; everyone's entitled with their own. And as always, the main difference between both consoles is the lighting. Now, to make things fun, we'll make you guess which side of these shots are running on which platform. If you want to cheat just highlight the following censor bars: Xbox 360, right-hand side; PS3, left-hand side.

 

Check out more double agent Sam Fisher versus Sam Fisher action behind the "Full Article" link!

If Toys "R" Us has their own bit of Ubisoft promotional discounts, then what's to say EBGames/Gamestop can't either? While we've reported yesterday of Red Steel getting some price shavings, it turns out that yet another game got the similar "super (down)size me" treatment. As things stand now, both Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Red Steel are available (for this week, at least) for US$ 29.99.

As Siliconera reports, the promo runs from March 2 - 8, so if you haven't gone spying with Sam Fisher, then now's your chance. If, all this time since the game was released, you've been thinking that it wasn't worth getting, then maybe with this offer, you might change your mind. On top of that, the 360-version of this game is getting a price cut too. However, instead of a 20-bucks cut, you'll only be able to save 10 from its original price, thus bringing the 360-version down to US$ 39.99. Hey, anything for a discount, ya?

Despite claims of some sites that the PS3 version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent will be the only version to come with the intriguing package of female espionage, Rhoulette, a Ubisoft community manager, pointed out that it was confirmed that the Xbox 360 would be getting its share of the female touch. The little rumors about the PS3-exclusivity put off most fans of the game on the 360 console, since they were pretty anxious to get a new variety to multiplayer fun.

It hasn't been confirmed, however, how many men have secretly desired to play as the female spy (*grins*). But for Xbox 360 fans, they can only avail of the additional female skins through Xbox Live, because it is said to be offered as downloadable content. But just what the downloadable content will include or when it will be available has not been revealed yet.

We'll keep you posted!

MCV came up with some breaking news which UK gamers will definitely find interesting. Game retailers in the UK are slashing prices, which means it's a great time to hunt for those games you wanted to buy but were too broke to get when they first came out.

Some retailers are selling Xbox 360 games for a lot less, with games like Dead Rising and Splinter Cell: Double Agent costing around £25 (US$ 49). Expect some really good games to cost less than £30 for the next few weeks

They've also priced DS and PSP games a lot lower. Some DS games are going for under £10 (US$ 19), while GTA: Vice City Stories  for the PSP is selling for £19.99 (US$ 40).

The sourced page has a short list of some favorites and their prices per store, including a bunch of PS2 hits. All in all, now's a good time to make a sweep of your favorite game stores to rack up some great games for the summer months. Enjoy!

In Ubisoft terminology, "soon" means "wait 20 days." Not that we mind though, because the long-awaited update to Splinter Cell: Double Agent is finally here.

Unlike the list we posted on November 30, the list of changes in this Splinter Cell auto-update is different from the one mentioned earlier. We'll leave it up to you guys to see just how good this update is, but hopefully, it resolves those gameplay problems we've been having to contend with.

Here are the fixes:

1. Connection Issues:
• Some instances of "the host has ended the session."
• Disconnections in the lobby.
• Once the lobby reaches 5 or 6 people, random players drop.
• After kicking the 6th player from a team, the leader couldn't invite another player
• Group leader hangs in the "joining session" screen if the host quits while he is joining.
• Improvement of the server selection so that the server is more reactive.
• If a player leaves a session immediately when he arrives and they have some packet loss (he is in a resolving state), the resolving time out is not reset and in the next session he will kick all the players as soon as he arrives.
  
• Only 1 disconnect function to each peer when resolving is timed out.
2. Lag-related issues:
• In-game freezing: treats a limited number of Unreal packets per frame to avoid freezes in some specific conditions.
• Increased network thread priority over Sound thread that can reduce lag issues.
• Fixed the case when a player got flashbanged while lagging as a mercenary; the player can remain permanently flashbanged until the player reboots the game.
• Fixed FPS loss due to a sound problem.
  
3. Other issues:
• A new Game Version to avoid LAN matches between master and update versions.
• The loading video was always the same; now it's changed at random.
• Fixed a bug on the score calculation of the Max Percent challenge.
• Challenge Best score is wrong if the player has just beaten it.
• Improved checks to avoid accessing an invalid leaderboard.
• Allows players to write leaderboards of live challenges.
  

Douglas Perry over at IGN made a list of the games released since September for the Xbox 360. There were six exclusives (three of them were Burger King games). Here's his list:

• 6 exclusives: Gears of War, Viva Pinata, Dead or Alive Extreme 2, three Burger King games (Sneak King, Big Bumpin', Pocketbike Racer)
• 2 games on Xbox 360 but not PS3: Splinter Cell Double Agent, WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007
• 6 games on Xbox 360 before PS3: F.E.A.R., Rainbow Six: Vegas, Need For Speed Carbon, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Call of Duty 3

The big title there is Gears of War. Microsoft's other big fall title is Viva Pinata - you knew that, Microsoft said this title would, along with Gears of War, capture the end-of-year shopping season. And what did IGN have to say about the rest of the games - well, the following don't sound too good:

• Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 won't sell half million copies in the next six months, said Perry, because it's just a "girlfriend simulator" and "soft core niche material."
• Splinter Cell is an "exclusive by default" that was cancelled for PS3 because it couldn't be done on time.
• Tony Hawk, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Call of Duty 3, are all sequels ("as dull as you can get," said Perry, "predictable, unoriginal, and franchise material"). It's the third Call of Duty, and the Tony Hawk title is Tony Hawk Project 8 - and it's eight years running - it's got its fans, but that's it. Ultimate Alliance is "the same old Diablo-style button-mashing action-RPG."
  

As we were reading Perry's article, we kept thinking, "It's no big deal, Halo 3 and Lost Planet are coming out next year" - Perry did eventually mention these games at the end of his article - and we also kept thinking "Microsoft knows what it's doing" - Perry did eventually come to that. In other words, these are common thoughts and doubts for any Xbox gamer.

But what's the big problem? Perry is concerned that Microsoft will not win the console war if it continues to have such thin line-ups. While we agree with him that this second-year line-up is a bit thin, who's to say that every year's line-up will be like this fall? Surely Microsoft will continue to try to get exclusives. Surely they'll try to get more successful titles like Gears of War.

In the end, we're not too concerned. Not after reading Robbie Bach's interview where he showed that Microsoft really does have a plan. Yes, Dead or Alive isn't as, um, "big" as Gears of War. And Marvel plays like an RPG. But they each have an audience. And they're still fun and worth playing - it's not like they're hurting the console; they're still helping it along.

Also, the second-year games line-up of a console is not all there is to determining the fate of the Xbox 360. Because it's not all there is. The future has more games. The present has Xbox Live, good gaming (not a lot of titles, but enough), excellent value for your money... And we're still here, the Xbox 360 community: still going strong.

Ubisoft has just announced today that there will be a second Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Wii, PC, Xbox360) auto-update to hit the Xbox Live soon. According to the Ubi staff, they've been planning to release this update for quite some time now but due to technical reasons, it has been facing unanticipated delays.

So anyway, Ubisoft says that the patch will be available "soon." Why the quotation marks? Because there's no exact release date yet. So whether you interpret "soon" as next week, next month, or next year, is totally up to you. TeamXbox also reports that in order to receive this update, all you have to do is start the game with your XBL account signed in. That said, here's the list of improvements included in the upcoming patch:

• Fix connection issues when the host ends the session
• Fix the disconnections in the lobby
• Fixed an issue where random players drop once the lobby reaches 5 or 6 people
• Fixed an issue where, after kicking the 6th player from a team, the leader couldn't invite another player
• Fixed a case where the group leader hangs in the "joining session" screen if the host quits while he is joining
• Improvement of server selection so that the server is more reactive
• Fixed an issue where a player leaves a session immediately after arriving causing some packet loss.
• Only 1 disconnect function is now sent to each peer when resolving times out
• In-game freezing : treat a limited number of Unreal packets per frame to avoid freezes in some specific conditions
• Increased network thread priority over sound thread to reduce lag issues
• Fix the case where a player gets flashbanged while lagging as a mercenary; leaving the player permanently flashbanged until they reboot the game
• Fix FPS loss due to a sound problem
• A new GameVersion to avoid LAN matchs between master and update versions
• Randomise loading video
• Fixed a bug on the score calculation of the Maxpercent challenge
• Fixed an issue with "Challenge Best" score
• Improved checks to avoid accessing an invalid leaderboard

For those not in the know, Playboy has been running a yearly nude (or sometimes semi-nude) portfolio of hot video game characters for three years now. According to Scott Alexander, Playboy's Senior Editor, this is their way of injecting the video game culture into the magazine (read: getting the geeky hardcore gamers into buying Playboys).

Now, this year's Playboy Women of Gaming photo spread features nude female characters from different games gracing the front of the Playboy Mansion. Included in the list of virtual hotness are the following characters:

• Sarah Morrison from Tabula Rasa
• Jessica McRae from Scarface: The World Is Yours
• Lida and Persephone from God of War II
  
• Alica Claus from Bullet Witch
  
• Dr. Jasmine Lin from TimeShift
  
• Enrica Villablanca from Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Wii, PC, Xbox360)
  

Sorry to disappoint you guys, but we don't have pictures of this year's photo spread. And the one pic we got (see image above) was cut out from the neck up, which, I really don't think we even have to explain to you why it was cut that way. Alexander explains further that good old Hef (Hugh Hefner, THE Playboy guru himself, for those who don't speak Playboy lingo) has always been a hardcore gamer. Hmmm...interesting. We've always known the man as a player, but as a gamer?

Apparently, Hefner even has a high-profile, real techy game room in the mansion which has everything from pinball machines down to the latest gaming whatnots (we wonder if he already has a PS3 and Wii in there?). Alexander says that combining video games and Playboy is the perfect move for the magazine because "the demographics for video games are a good match with the average Playboy reader..." and that "...tech is a huge part of men’s lives. The constituency of gaming and Playboy are almost exact."

So if you've got the hots for sizzling virtual babes (and you are of mature age, and it's not illegal in your state, and yada yada), you can check out Playboy's Women of Gaming photo spread and satiate those voyeuristic cravings of yours. A shame though, Samus didn't make it to this year's spread. Maybe next year?

Why is Splinter Cell so fun to play? Because it's got Sam Fisher and he's a bad mo-fo with skills, and a kid to boot! Can you imagine your dad going deep undercover to infiltrate a terrorist organization, killing people with his bare hands, and saving the world before you finished brushing your teeth?

We didn't think so.

The folks at Microsoft acknowledge this, so why not idolize him some more by making him a permanent part of your 360? They've got some picture packs and a theme up for grabs on the Xbox Live Marketplace, so we'll dispense with the rest of the formalities and give you the info on these purchaseable packs:

Splinter Cell Double Agent Theme (150 Points)
Not Available in: Mexico or Asia

Picture Packs (60 Points)
Not Available in: Mexico and Asia

• Sam Fisher Picture Pack 1
• This first picture pack contains 5 gamer icons of Sam Fisher as a Double Agent.
  

• Sam Fisher Picture Pack 2
• The second picture pack containing five gamer icons of Sam Fisher as a Double Agent
  

• Enrica Picture Pack
• Contains five gamer icons of Splinter Cell's main female character, Enrica.
  

• Multiplayer Picture Pack
• Picture Pack of Splinter Cell's all new Multiplayer