So, you know that Square Enix RPG that's coming to the Xbox 360? No, not that one. Infinite Undiscovery, which is actually being developed by Star Ocean developers Tri-Ace and published by Squeenix, looks rather like a Final Fantasy at first blush, which makes one wonder if it wasn't the backup plan in the event that Microsoft's much-prized (and Sony-disappointing) multiplatform deal with Square Enix for FFXIII didn't work out.

Nonetheless, in all of the FFXIII hysteria and hullabaloo, don't forget that Xbox 360 owners actually have more than one large-scale Square Enix RPG to look forward to.

The chill wind of neglect was blowing over the Infinite Undiscovery booth on the show floor last week, so I decided to stop in and give it a whirl.

You may recall that the original announcement of Infinite Undiscovery contained the promise that "every decision you make leads to a myriad of discoveries and affects every encounter." Lots of discoveries, huh? Possibly even infinite ones? Oh, wait, those are un-discoveries? Okay, okay, the title is somewhat confusing, but, moving on.

As I said, at first glance the game looks a little like FFXII — the bit I played featured a three-person party jogging across an expansive rolling meadow under a bright blue sky, with ruins dotted here and there, while creatures on casual strolls across the landscape could be attacked (or would attack) if the party got too close.

Unlike FFXII, though, the other two party members are largely AI-controlled, though there are specific buttons that can be used to instruct them to use specific techniques. Combat is entirely real-time, and you determine the lead player character's weapon combos through simple button combinations, rather than by choosing from a menu. At any time, you can tell your healer to heal simply by pressing Y.

My character was a handsome, sword-toting lad named Capell in the company of two beautiful brunettes — one seemed a range fighter, as I could instruct her to use an archery weapon, and the other seemed to use primarily magic-based skills. Needless to say, all of them had fabulous, gleaming hair.

It's a very appealing battle system, user-friendly, intuitive and fuss-free. It seems to follow a trend in JRPGs lately that seems to minimize menu-based combat in favor of optional AI with some control options — in other words, you can command the rest of your party if you like, but they can handle themselves well without your interference.

In fact, I enjoyed the real-time, action-style battles so much that I wish I encountered more enemies to fight. A good portion of my time with Infinite Undiscovery was spent jogging across the plain, watching my dot blip gently and slowly across the map in the upper right hand corner as I jogged, and jogged, and jogged. This gave the world a real sense of scale, but it also meant I spent a lot of time discovering nothing — undiscovering, if you will.

There were items in my environment occasionally, like a treasure chest that required I take a long detour through a largely featureless area just to descend a tall hill (my character couldn't hop down a small ledge and instead had to find a way around it). There are also occasionally herbs and plants around, that you can pick. You have to sheath your weapon using the right trigger, though, before you can pick something up.

My character had a cool ability — by holding the left trigger, he played a flute, which caused a white aura to spread about him in a narrow-radius ring. That ring, the booth staff told me, represented the range in which my character could search for special items concealed nearby him. I used the ability often as I jogged along, but I never did find anything.

I was slightly annoyed when my pretty archer couldn't shoot a nearby enemy when it seemed like he should be within range. He was in a bit of a depression in the ground, and it seemed to me they were not allowing me to engage with him because, with a ledge between him and me, he couldn't immediately fight back. Okay, fair enough, but what's the good of range fighting if you can't be at range? Archery switches to nearly a first-person view and lets the player aim the bow, which is very cool, but the aim didn't seem too precise at this stage.

Largely, though, there was a lot of jogging between fights, as I searched to try and discover more. At last I reached what looked like a castle wall with a heavy wood door in it — at which point the booth staff helpfully pointed out I'd gone all the way back to the entrance to the previous area, and couldn't re-enter.

Running and running endless miles across an expansive world has been a staple of this particular genre since the dawn of time, and perhaps I'm just terribly impatient in wishing there had been more to do in that great, big infinite area. The never-ending jog through huge environments was, in my opinion, one of the shortcomings in Twilight Princess.

Nonetheless, the quest to perfect the RPG's battle system without turning it into an action title has been a long evolution fraught at times with missteps, and it seems really worth something that Infinite Undiscovery has hit on a methodology that I found engaging, even addictive. I'm looking forward to seeing more than just a single segment of the game for a wider-lens view, especially as concerns the player-impacted environment promoted with the game.

It's not a sheep-herding sim, but there is sheep herding. There is herding of adorable cotton ball sheep who live in a fluffy, stuffed-toy looking world, grazing peacefully in a patchwork meadow. The stitch-edged, pastoral aesthetic is sweet, gentle, and just a little offbeat, in the context of the quirky and sometimes hilariously grim gameplay.

The player controls an orange UFO with a tractor beam, and an individual level's objective generally revolves around getting a certain number of sheep to the mother ship. The tractor beam must nudge the sheep carefully around pitfalls and use strategy to navigate obstacles — for example, when confronted with a fence, lead the cotton wool sheep to a water fountain and they'll shrink enough to pass under the fence.

Sometimes, sheep can die, leaving the player with fewer than is needed to complete the level. What happens in nature when populations get thin? Well, many levels have pink lady sheep standing plaintively alone — lead her and a male sheep together to a heart-shaped patch on the meadow. Hearts surround them to give them privacy, and then voila! Baby sheep!

The male sheep get attached to the ladies, though. Should she be led astray and allowed to accidentally tumble into a pit, the entire flock bursts into lovelorn tears.

My favorite aspect of Flock was the playland aesthetic — something almost warm-milk adorable about the fluffy stuffed toy world, and I thought it was quite a creative move on the developers' part, not only to imagine the meadow levels in such an unexpected way, but to have it stand in contrast to gameplay where sheep mate on heart-shaped patches and tumble easily to their death while being chased by aliens.

Nathan Hale doesn't feature in Retribution at all — instead, we've got a new character named James Grayson, a Private in the British forces.

Backstory on the game is that Grayson's brother, an RAF pilot, gets shot down, and Grayson goes in to look for him — and finds him on a table, the Chimera's newest conversion project. This means, of course, that Grayson's got to kill his own bro, and this makes him into a vengeful Chimera-slaughtering machine. He goes AWOL on a rampage, gets bagged for treason, and that's where the game starts.

Raine Bouchard of the Maquis helps Grayson get out of prison, and he joins the Maquis in a time when the Chimera are running low on bodies and are experimenting with new conversion methods. According to assistant producer Roberts, "inner strife and turmoil" drives the story.

Developer Bend Studio has built it on its third-gen PSP engine — by the way, these are the guys responsible for the Syphon Filter titles Dark Mirror and Logan's Shadow. Roberts admitted, though, that the Syphon Filter difficulty ramp wasn't suitable for everyone, and that Resistance: Retribution is being designed to be more accessible.

Roberts said the "aim assist" feature is not an auto-aim — there's no way to permanently lock on and stay that way, but the target window will find enemies in view and target them generally, with the player free to switch between enemies. In other words, you only have to aim a little bit Cover is automatic when approached, and tapping the trigger button will make the player pop out and fire automatically. Whereas Hale regenerated, Grayson is a normal man who needs health packs to recover. They've made them red to match the health packs so that they stand out.

It does seem like the control design is easier to deal with, probably an item of value when dealing with a shooter on the PSP. One standout item about this title? The graphics are incredible, vivid and alive with specular light. Seriously, stunning.

The recent launch of iPhone games has demonstrated that the phone has the potential to be a great-looking game platform graphically, and Spore is no exception. In fact, it looks fantastic — it's color-rich, featuring numerous mesmerizing layers of parallax that give glimpses of the next layer's challenges slipping by in the distance on your way up through the ooze.

I got to give it a whirl — a tilt?

Yes, a tilt, because iPhone Spore is played pretty much entirely through the accelerometer, which means you direct your swimmy blob by tilting the phone gently in various directions. It strikingly resembles playing flOw on the PS3 using the Sixaxis, as you navigate a vague creature through shifting layers trying to snap up other organisms.

You shape and color your creature using the touch screen. I'm a little concerned that for truly customizing and shaping your blob to work and work well, they'll have to get the touch controls really spot-on, and that's been a bit of an issue for me at times with some iPhone games. The build I saw for Spore on the iPhone was very early, and the producer told me that they'll be focusing intently on toning that up.

You can add one new body part to your blob at each stage of the soup, starting with one and then tacking on one more each time you evolve. I was told there would be bosses every so often, too, so the player will have to make the call as to whether to add eyes to increase the range at which you can eat amoebas, or, say, a big horn on your face to ward off aggressors.

The tilt controls take a lot of getting used to, for me — I'm not so wizard at Super Monkey Ball, either. But they seem to work very well for iPhone Spore, which seems to capture the Spore aesthetic in a simpler, portable and not-too-intense way for a mobile game.

In the latest Splinter Cell, Ubisoft is giving stealth action genre an interesting twist, forcing you to try and hide in public using something they call active stealth.

Essentially this means that instead of hiding behind walls or inside crates, you have to try to blend in with the civilians walking around you. The game, which takes place in North America, will allow you to use force, but the more force you use the greater the risk that you will be caught.

From what I saw of the 360 and PC game, it looks like a pretty neat system. I watched as a developer took Sam through his paces in Washington D.C., taking out a police officer by acting a little suspicious and then drawing the man behind a monument and stunning him.

The key to this new form of gameplay is improvisation, having to think on your feet rather than methodically plan out your approach and retreat.

It was different enough to capture my interest, but not so different that I think it will put off fans of the franchise. Hit the jump to read the official Q&A and see the trailer. Brian Crecente

TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL CONVICTION™

Could you introduce yourself and explain your role in the project?
MF- Mathieu Ferland, I'm senior producer on Conviction. My role is to support the producer and development teams with all high level issues they may encounter. I also closely monitor the Splinter Cell brand evolution, especially since Conviction is based on new core game play innovations and new setup.

On which platforms will Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction be available? MF- Conviction is Xbox 360 console exclusive and will also be available on PC.

When will the game be released?
MF- The game will be available for Christmas 2007.

Who is in charge of the development?
MF- The game is created and developed by previous SC's team in Ubisoft Montreal's studio. Once SCCT was completed, the team started the conception and R&D for Conviction. The benefits of working with a team having such a strong experience in regard to Splinter Cell's philosophy is high. For the first time, all multiplayer and online features are being completely developed in Montreal. Also, this experience is precious as we are changing some core game play mechanics but wanted to keep the true spirit of the franchise.

How is it linked with previous Splinter Cell? Is having played to Splinter Cell Double Agent mandatory to fully understand the storyline?
MF- This is a stand alone game and the surprising storyline is clear and consistent even if you haven't played previous games. However, Splinter Cell fans will recognize some interesting subtleties.

Could you introduce us with the main character?
Sam Fisher has evolved a lot through the first four games of the series. He used to be a soldier, then became a double agent where he had to make choices between opposing orders. Now, facing a new situation where he's a fugitive, he no longer acts upon order but has to trust and follow his own convictions.
In fact Sam is like us, as he got older, his beliefs and questioning are becoming more central. We are somehow in a similar situation, we grew up along Sam and our perception of the medium has changed: We want to mix our game play ambitions with a stronger narrative. Also, we wanted to share the vision we always had for Sam but that we couldn't fully explore while he was in "soldier obey order" setting.

How is the game structured?
MF- Because of the intense pacing of the game, we've changed the classic structure. It used to be based on a "per mission" walkthrough experience, which made sense with the situation of Sam Fisher. With Conviction, because there are many "turn around" and surprising situations, we've decided to develop "episodes." Episodes are shorter but you'll find much more of them in the game campaign. The major benefit to this new structure is to get through game play loop more often, get more feedback and reward from the game, and have more fun. You can play 15 minutes through en episode and get a complete experience, which was not possible in a mission based structure. Since the game is built over systems that change the experience each time you play, this provides a cool opportunity to replay an episode multiple times in different ways.

What are the weapons available? Will there still be very hi-tech weaponry?
MF- Once you've run away from Third Echelon, you need to find new resources on your own. Old friends and new contacts will be the key to get what you want on the black market. This lost of gadgets force Sam to rely more on his instinct, on his ability to detect important things and to focus on them based on his skills and vast experience as an agent. Game play mechanics have changed a lot in Conviction; weapons and gadgets needed to evolve as well and Sam's instinct remains an important influence.

As Sam seems to have dramatically changed, I suppose game play should have evolved the same... Could you tell us more? How this settlement will be different from previous episodes?
MF- Splinter Cell core mechanics used to rely on lights and shadows. This was the major innovation of the original Splinter Cell, supported by a new technology, a techno that was not possibly imaginable on previous consoles. One of the ambitions of SC team for Conviction, was to take the same opportunity of next gen consoles to provide game play that was not possible before. We wanted to keep the particular relationship the player was developing with his environment through his experience. Only, as a fugitive, the relation needed to be faster and player also needs to think faster. We call this new game play: "improvisation". This stealth relation with the environment remains an important factor; but tools and mechanics for the gamer are completely supporting this new fugitive context: you'll need more than just shadows to stay alive!

What are your ambitions behind such a drastic change of one the biggest franchise in the video-game industry?
MF- Our ambition is to propose a never seen before game play experience, supported by new technologies and new game philosophies. While we are very cautious about Splinter Cell universe and continuity in the brand, we wanted to change the core game play and be proactive to new opportunities in the industry. We also wanted to propose more fun, more quickly, and enlarge our fan-base by proposing an experience that is more accessible but not less exciting!

You are changing some core elements, how do you maintain the Splinter Cell Spirit.
MF: The first thing we did when we thought about rejuvenating the game play was making sure the core team would be made of long time veterans of Splinter Cell. We knew the strengths of our game play, as well as things we have always wanted to address. Basically, Splinter Cell has always been strong as it was very environment centric. When we developed the light and shadow game play, we offered the gamers a new approach, a new way to "read" and interact with their environment. I remember playing some FPS after long sessions of SCCT, and becoming really ineffective as my first reflex was to look for shadow in the game not to be seen... not a very efficient tactic when the system was not supporting this feature. ConViction will bring the same benefit, but this time through the dynamic environment. Just like when we were playing SC and looking for shadows in other games, we have realized that now, we are looking to interact and make some of our strategies in other games involving all the elements in the environment. Again, not the best strategy when the environment is not designed this way.
Splinter Cell has also always been on the "smart" side of the action adventure gaming. While we offer a more accessible experience with ConViction, playing with a strategic mind will always bring a richer experience to the gamers, be it through stealth techniques, or more action driven techniques. The player's ability to read effectively his environment in some tense situations will be key, just like it was in previous SC titles. You could have been going through SC pretty straight forward but SC fans experienced something different, trying to find hotspots for reverse break necks or alternate route to increase their experience. We will provide a very similar experience with ConViction, you can play the game in a very compelling way pretty straight forward, however if you want to invest more in the game, the bounty will be even higher.
Basically the main element that we changed is usage of "patience." We really wanted to push the player and provide another sense of Tension. While previous SCs were creating tension in the action (moving for a stealth kill) it was still based on patience and release of tension. We wanted to put pressure on the gamer and provide a more dynamic pace while preserving the strategic and environment driven approach. The fugitive concept, and the way we modified the tempo of the game are strongly and intrinsically tied.

Have you developed a special engine for this version?
MF- Yes and no. Many modules of the engine needed to be redesigned in order to support this new core game play. Since the Engine developed for SCCT was already proposing many next gen features, and because Splinter Cell engine evolved so much through years of experience, we wanted to maintain these knowledge and be more productive.

What are the specific technologies you developed for this episode? Are there any particular achievements you're proud of? On which basis do you consider that this Splinter Cell episode will be truly next-gen?
MF- Since lights and shadows are not the core game play for navigation; we needed to think of how a fugitive behaves. Basically, we've concluded that he needs anything he can use in the environment to survive, so we've developed a full dynamic environment. Being able to pick any object in the environment to use it as a weapon or as a defense tool is not an easy task when comes the time to deal with physics, animation, AI behavior and consistent lighting. Innovation needed to be part of these technical challenges and we made it happen. Changing an environment is a complex topic technically... but making this progression believable through AI and other component is a great achievement we're very proud of (more info about dynamic environment below).

Can you tell us more about the dynamic environment within the game? Are you using a specific engine, such as Ageia or Euphoria?
MF- In terms of middleware.
Havok - work closely for physics, but we developed our own animation & interaction system with physical objects.
We needed a very strong dynamic environment to sustain the fugitive experience we wanted to create. The fugitive's art is improvisation, and using his environment as an inventory is key to translate this art. We decided to create our own system to have maximum flexibility with our game intention, also as we are in a systemic environment (simulation), we needed to be able to have every component closely linked to the environment.

Did this technology bring specific challenges to the team? Which ones?
MF- To develop a dynamic environment that results in a new innovative game play, we needed to develop and merge many concepts.
Physic : the majority of objects are interactive and are part of the physic simulation. It's a huge challenge in term of processing power using one of three core of the Xbox 360 processor only for these computations.

For AI, we had to create a real dynamic navigation mesh for NPCs, so they can react to changes in the environment - triggered by the player or by other NPCs. For example, if you're moving an object, AI needs to detect the size of it and behave appropriately, either to avoid it or to walk over it.

As in previous SC games, all the lighting is dynamic. This time around however, we needed to develop a real time ambient occlusion module in order to maintain a high level of consistency and realism considering unpredictable changes in the dynamic environment.

As previously mentioned, a new animation module needed to be developed in order to appropriately attach our character movements to any moving object in the dynamic environment. In other words, we needed to develop a system to link IK technology and the information about every "picky up" point on objects to make the animations believable in such environment. We call this module the Handle System.

How far do you think you're going to take advantage of the Xbox 360 hardware?
MF- Being the second game of the franchise operating on the Xbox 360, our technical experience and knowledge improves everyday and this makes a difference in the results. Also, since Conviction is exclusive to X360, there is no need to think about specifications of other consoles and to develop common solutions. This freedom allows more flexibility and it surely shows more of what the Xbox 360 can really perform.

Do you have first information about the PC version?
MF- No, except there is a PC version. J

What about the multiplayer? Did you keep the spy VS merc game play?
MF- All Multiplayer concepts and functionalities will be revealed later, with detailed information on game modes.