The first Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter game is now available everywhere but Australia, New Zeeland, and Korea for the low price of $29.99, which is only $22 more than a used copy at GameStop. Slightly less available is Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

Availability: Not available in Australia, Germany, Japan, Korea, New Zealand or North America

As the commentors at Major Nelson's blog are pointing out, there's a time when you really should just tell the nice people where the game will be available, to save everyone a little time and trouble. Congratulations, most of Europe and the United Kingdom!

Xbox 360 Games on Demand: GRAW and Splinter Cell Double Agent [Major Nelson]

Details are pretty hazy, but it would appear that Ubisoft is planning on adding something to the Ghost Recon series. Where that will be Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 3 or something else, we don't yet know.

It may be related to the Tom Clancy "air combat" brand that Ubisoft announced last September. Ubisoft has recently trademarked a series of titles, including Strike Hawk, H.A.W.X. and R.U.S.E., but no word yet if any of these are related.

We'll continue to look around and see what we can learn. We'd hope you do the same and direct your internet sleuth findings to our tips line. Thanks for the heads up, Max!

MACSAT7 Recovery Forum and Official Ghost Recon Site [Ubisoft]

Next-gen? Not quite yet. PlayStation 2 title God of War II pwned March by shifting 833,000 units — That's more than double the number two title, Ubisoft's G.R.A.W. for the Xbox 360. Following that were Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360, Wii Play for the Nintendo Wii and Motorstorm for the PLAYSTATION 3. Glad to see the focus back on actual games and not on pieces of hardware. Brian Ashcraft

GoW II Winner [Reuters]

A new Ubisoft site popped up today that seems to be for some yet to be named title. Mousing through the site you come across a number of audio files that seem to indicate that the game is set sometime in the future. There are also biblical references, including to Revelations 6:4 which reads: "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat theron to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword."

The hidden forums on the site are already buzzing that this could be some sort of post-apocalyptic or just pre-apocalyptic game. The fact that the site references Ghosts, Splinter Cells and other special ops groups has the posters there hoping that this is some sort of mega-game that ties all of the Tom Clancy's franchises together into one final title. Sounds like a really cool idea.

Could this be Firehawk?

Oh and the tags for the site are: "jsf28555833-80604722, rev 64, rev64, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, GRAW, Clancy".

We know most of these already and Rev64 is obviously a tag for the revelations citation. My guess is that the JSF in the tag, and also mentioned in the sound files, refers to the Joint Strike Fighter program, a real-world program that develops advanced war aircraft. Hmm, sounds more and more like Firehawk.

Go on over dig around and then report back here, lets get to the bottom of this. Brian Crecente

JSF28555833-80604722

On Thursday, the Mayor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas, ordered his government to seize and confiscate every copy of the game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, stating that the game was 'unnecessarily rude' against the city and the people of Cd. Ju rez, Chihuahua. The Mexican Government has yet to make an official statement. Explains reader Jose:

Now, when the sequel came out last month, the government of Chihuahua and the mayor of Cd. Ju rez, where the game takes place, were deeply offended after finding out that the game placed American soldiers shooting Mexican rebels in their territory, making an incredible media show that was showed on TV and some local newspapers. Although the main attention of this movement was to force the Mexican government to issue a diplomatic query with the American government about it... The local gamer community was actually excited to have their city featured on a video game...

Voice of reason: GRAW is published by Ubisoft, a Canadian company. So Mexican politician man, don't blame America, blame Canada! Somebody please tell them, because there's still time!! Brian Ashcraft

Eds Note: Apologies. Ubisoft is a French company, and GRAW2 was made in Montpellier in France. So please Mexican politician dude, please, blame the French and leave North America the frick alone.

GRAW 2 Pisses Off People In Mexico [Dario]

As promised the Whorecraft piece ran this morning and seemed to attract quite a bit of attention. For the record, I am neither into elf sex nor bdsm. I just found the collision of two niche cultures (WoW and porn) fascinating. I am sure that for some of our readers out there, it was like waking up to discover we had mixed an entire jar of peanut butter into a vat of milky chocolate.

Beside the porn story and the NSFW pictures, here's what else was happening today.
McWhertor's Dice Plans, if he survives the Nevada desert
Get your voice in Halo 3
This is a cool idea for reviewing games
France sucks

Last night, for the first time in a long while, I sat down and watched some television. I ended up gorging on DVRed episodes of The Unit, which is like GRAW on TV.

This morning my wife asked who I was talking to all night.
"Myself?" I asked.
"What were you watching because you were laughing a lot?"
"The... Unit..."
Very long, uncomfortable silence.
Hey, I can't help it, I laugh at everything just look at my IMs.

EXPLORER (Multiplayer) Win 5 Team or Solo matches on each original MP map with at least 5 different gamer-tags in the room

VICTOR (Multiplayer)
Win a public player match in all original game types with at least 5 different gamer-tags in the room

TEAM PLAYER (Multiplayer)
Win 30 co-op matches with at least 6 gamer-tags in the room

ASSASSIN (Multiplayer)
Find and kill an opponent who has the Assassin Achievement

CRACK SHOT (Multiplayer)
Kill 10 players with gunshots and at least 5 gamer-tags in the room without reloading or dying

The Assassin achievement sounds interesting: sort of like a game of tag. Since it's multiplayer only, I wonder who the first Assassin will be? My guess would be a member of the Ubisoft team. Florian Eckhardt

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Achievements [Achieve360Points.com]

A Gizmodo reader tipped us off to more bundles coming to the Great White North due to hit the great state of Canada this November. According to our retail insider, these bundles are:

• Core Package bundled with Project Gotham Racing 3 and Kameo: Elements of Power
• Premium Package bundled with Amped 3 and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

No prices were given, nor were any solid release dates, but our tipster did let us know that we should expect more black Xbox 360 info very soon. Our northern neighbors may want to hold off on any rash Xbox 360 purchasing for a couple weeks until Microsoft or your local retailer provides more information.

Those of you in the continental United States? Ask grandma to snag you one when she crosses the border for her cheap prescription medication. Michael McWhertor

Well, the Wii is now breaking a long-standing tradition against game pack-ins for console sales. Unfortunately, their pack-in sucks (trust me on this). Luckily, Microsoft is one-upping them.

Starting September 30th, a new 360 Premium bundle will arrive, featuring Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and the XBLA arcade pack, featuring Geometry Wars Evoloved, Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, Wik: Fable of Souls, Hardwood Backgammon, Outpost Kaloki X and Texas Hold'Em.

You do need to take this with a grain of salt: this isn't Microsoft confirmed yet. It's only according to Clubskill.com... dead certain as they sound, better off keeping yourself zipped until Microsoft says something. But if this is true, this is just a great deal. Florian Eckhardt

GRAW Xbox 360 bundle arriving this September [Club Skill]

If you just can't get enough G.R.A.W. — and let's face it, who doesn't enjoy putting down another Mexican taco insurgency? — Ubisoft has word that a second map pack is coming to the PC. Quoth Ubi:

Today we're releasing more information about the GRAW PC Map Pack #2. See below for 2 screenshots, each detailing a new game mode that will be added with the map pack. Additionally, this map pack will implement the death cam, a feature showing you how you died and who shot you. This pack is still in development, aiming for a release at the end of July or beginning of August.

Which is all well and good if you've got the PC version, but those of you on XBox Live are G.R.A.W. S.O.L. Florian Eckhardt

Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter [Official Site]

Four Zero Two, community relations manager for Infinity Ward, drops the details on the upcoming Call of Duty 2 Invasion Map Pack set to hit Xbox Live Marketplace this Thursday.

The pack will include five new maps:
Antoville, France (Crossroads);
St. Louet, France (Newvillers);
Amaye sur Seulles, France (Normandy);
Alam Halfa, Egypt (Decoytown);
Rostov, Russia (Harbor)

The pack, which was initially rumored to be price-tagged at 900 points, will go for a mere 800 MS points, or about $10. That's a little better than the $15 charge for the GRAW pack, but I'm still feeling grumbly about it. Brian Crecente

Call of Duty 2 Invasion Map Pack [402]

Well, the GRAW 'Chapter 2' content pack is now available on XBox Live Marketplace. Goodie — more GRAW is good. But is paying $15 for it?

Our old buddy Luke over at 1UP has dared to be as cynical of the Content Pack as 1UP's stated policy of relative objectivity allow, swallowing his indignation only with huge inhalations between gulps:

But [the GRAW content pack is] $15, is that content worth it to you? Bear in mind, Xbox Live is a business model, but is this enough content to justify some of the most expensive downloadable content we've seen? Keep in mind the Halo 2 model and compare it with the microtransactions model that Oblivion has used — not to mention yesterday's report on the potential price model for Lumines Live, is this how you want microtransactions to function?

You mean, more like macrotransactions? Totally not. This seems less like microcontent than a small expansion pack, though (admittedly, a nebulously defined distinction). Is $15 too much for four new maps and some new weapons?My answer would be 'hell no' if we weren't talking about co-op maps. But I'm a co-op sucker.
GRAW Downloadable Content Comes With A Price [1UP]

Ghost Recon: Advance War Fighter (PC)
The Tom Clancy branded tactical shooter gets the PC port treatment this week. Buy buy buy!!!

Gallop Racer 2006 (PS2)
There's only one thing you need to know about the Tecmo horse racing/raising sim: you can "feel the blory of winning the Dream Cup!" according to the official site. And get a free riding whip for pre-ordering! Blorious!

Dr. Sudoku (GBA)
It's sudoku. On the Game Boy Advance. Did I mention it's sudoku?

Top Gun (Nintendo DS)
The 1986 Tom Cruise movie gets the DS treatment in this follow up to the NES game I probably would hate if I had to play again.

Paradise (PC)
Hot point and click African adventure action from the creators of Syberia. The game features pointing AND clicking.

Well, I'll be picking up about 15 copies of Gallop Racer 2006, but that's it. Are you ladies and gentlemen picking up anything this week? Hello? Anyone?

Over in the U.K., ads that use pre-renders CGI footage are coming under fire. Earlier this year, Call of Duty 2 was yanked from British television after consumers complained that the in-game visuals did not match the commercial's. The country's Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre was unaware of this practice.

"If this has happened in the past, it's happened without our knowledge. We ask all companies whether any imagery used is from the gameplay or is CGI footage from the game before we pass an ad for broadcast. The system is based on trust," said BACC's Matthew Baily.

Advertisers, BACC continues, are not being entirely honest with the use of CG, which is often generated just for the advert. Currently, spots for G.R.A.W. and Commandos Strike Force carry disclaimers that the images are "not in-game footage." Folks in the smoke and mirrors advertising world are surprised. "People have always used CGI sequences to advertise games, and I've never seen it as a massive problem," stated Uber Agency director Richard Benjamin.

Let's hear from y'all out there. Tell us whatcha think.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

More Here [MCV UK] viaGuardian Gamesblog

If you own a 360 but it was either buy GRAW or pay off the loansharks to prevent them from cramming your precious 360 into your colon horizontally with a single deft, unlubed thrusting motion, we have good news. The Live demo of GRAW is up on Marketplace. It weighs in at 747 megs. Better yet, it's free! Unfortunately, though, it's single-player only... as if our lives weren't solipsistic enough.

It took me a long time to wrap my head around the fact that GRAW isn't the name of a kick-ass mid 80's heavy metal band, but the excellent 360 shooter Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. End introductory non-sequitur.

In other exciting GRAW related news, however, the PC port is now gold and will be in stores on May 3rd. As someone who has drooled at all of the console screenshots and movies but can't justify a 360 to myself for one game, this is going to be my first opportunity to see if it lives up to the hype. Unless you count the PS2 version, as I was one of the few idiots who actually bought that. On the IGN game review scale, it's probably worth a 10, but on my review scale, it was two sharp halves of a snapped-in-half DVD plunged three inches into my blood-spurting thighs.

May 3rd can't get here soon enough!

Think you pwn newbz at Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter? Now's your chance to prove it.

This Friday from 10 p.m. through to midnight EST the Ubi guys who made the game will be on hand to fill your skull with plenty o bullet holes.

If you're not quite up to dev team standards you can take on the marketing team on Sunday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST. DrSwedeLove, I'm coming for ya. ;)

If you beat them you can send Msoft an email and Ubi will hook you up with some swag. I'm def going to try to make one or both of these for a bit. If you're on try pining me at Gamertag crecente.

Challenge Graw Team on Xbox Live [Gaming Bits]

In the first week of its release Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter sold more than 240,000 copies in North America and 120,000 copies in Europe.

Ubisoft says the game set a new record in launch sales for the company. News of the game s success bumped Ubi s stock up four percent.
Now that s a game.

GRAW Sells 240 in first week [Next-Gen]

Stephen Totilo of MTV looks at the parts of the Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter UI and wonders if this is the future of HD gaming. He cites the anxious hopes that gamers hold before each new console cycle - no, PS2 doesn't look like Toy Story - and wonders where, if at all, GRAW will fall at the end of this cycle. The picture-in-picture interface in GRAW is the "big leap" in the UI - the game's very polished graphics speak for themselves. Like our own home computers, our GRAW interface becomes flooded with information regarding the missions, updates from allies and talking heads. Are user interfaces and their new tricks going to be the face of the next-generation of gaming? Or is GRAW going to be an anomaly, albeit a darn good one?

New 'Ghost Recon' Title Gives Xbox Users A True 360 View [MTV]

Official Response on GRAW's Lack of Southpaw Options [TeamXbox]
Southpaw - Official Response [UbiSoft]