computer-savvy, technologically able, quick thinking...We find increasingly we have to use less conventional means of attracting people . . . to go beyond glossy brochures and milk-round stalls.

Why video gamers make the best spies [timesonline] Thanks Ad!

So what separates the PS3 version from the already-released Xbox 360 and PC releases? Multiplayer boobs mostly. And two new maps. Plus, the Ubisoft Annecy Studio team put a little bit more "polish" on this one and added SIXAXIS support, making it the "ultimate version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent."

Sorry, even I tuned myself out around "two new maps." Let's see more boob shots, please. (Polygonal fun bags after the jump.)

As expected, the female agent is equipped with deadly D-cups and a Kevlar thong. Nice fan service, gentlemen. Michael McWhertor

GameLife's Chris Kohler recently got a chance to play some Splinter Cell: Double Agent on the Wii, or as he put it: Through sheer coincidence, I managed to somehow be the first journalist to get hands-on with Ubisoft's Wii version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

First PLAY! comments aside, Kohler says the game looks a tad better than the Playstation 2 version... which I think means worse or the same as the GameCube, I'm not 100 percent up on my graphics conversions.

Unfortunately, the gameplay seems not to make up for the graphics.

The rest of Fisher's many, many commands are mapped to buttons all over the Wii remote — the two trigger buttons on top of the left-hand nunchuk, the four different directions of the D-pad on top of the remote. I found myself totally confused as to what did what — it's obvious that Sam's moves were designed with a PS2 controller in mind, then mapped after the fact to the totally different Wii setup.

Kohler says it took him 30 minutes to get through the introductory level of the game on the Wii, but when he went home and played the same level on the PS2, he managed it in minutes.

This is the bad side of Wii development, company's just trying to port a game and then frankenstein in some motion controls. Let's hope it doesn't happen again. Brian Crecente

Splinter Cell: Double Agent First Ever Hands On [GameLife]

He said, she said.

The she, in this case, is 1UP's hirsute Luke Smith, who took time out of poking around the hairy nest of his mustache for a stray piece of week old scrambled egg to au contraire an initial Gamepro report that Splinter Cell: Double Agent supported 1080p.

When we asked Ubisoft for clarification, company reps told us: "It's 1080i." Even if Double Agent supported 1080p right now — and it doesn't — there aren't any retail Xbox 360s that would support the feature. That update hasn't been released, yet.

Oh, but allow Gamepro to retort:

No word yet on whether it's an update on the game disc or a forthcoming Xbox Live download, but Ubisoft has confirmed 1080p support to us.

So who's got their head up their ass here? Probably the same guy with his head up Sam Kennedy's. Florian Eckhardt

A copy of Splinter Cell Double Agent for the Xbox 360 landed at my house the day before we left on our roadtrip. Unfortunately, with all of the packing and preparing I only had about an hour to spend with the game.

I won't spoil any of the plot, but what I saw of it, it looks much more involved and captivating than past iterations of the game. Graphics were a bit better, though I thought the look of the night vision was a little sub-par with a 2D feel to it and heavy lines around object, which sort of killed the effect.

The bit of gamplay I got to was very promising. It seemed like the missions are much more open-ended and require more thought to get through them. The single-player mode of the game is no run-and-gun shooter.

Ironically, despite the fact that everyone's getting a taste of multiplayer with the demo, I didn't have time to mess with that. So you're going to have to tell me what you think of it. Brian Crecente

What you see before you is a sketch Playboy put together for November's issue (on stands next week) which features the annual Playboy's Women of Videogames 2006 spread. The magazine will also feature a look at the state of the video game industry. The six-pages of gaming content include a 2-page foldout, final version of what you see above.

This particular sketch, given to us by Pboy editor Scott Alexander, was used to block the shot before the final renders were done. The image shows eight women from seven games. The cool thing is that all of the art you are looking out, be it pencil or final 3D render, was done by the various game studios. Playboy then melded all of the art into one two-page shot.

This image, showing the different stages of the creative process, is exclusive to Kotaku. No one else has it and no one else is getting it.

And now the run down. From left to right: Sarah Morrison of Tabula Rasa, two of the Femmes Fatale from Scarface (the third from left didn't make the final cut, her name is Jessica McRae), two women from God of War 2, a very preliminary version of Alicia Claus from Bulletwitch, Dr. Jasmine Lin from Timeshift, and Enrica from Splinter Cell Double Agent.

As a special treat, I got Fleshbot to agree to post the unedited version of the photo on their site a little later on tonight. I'll update once it's up. Brian Crecente

Sneak Peek Playboy's Women of Video Games [NSFW, Fleshbot]

Over at Xbox360Achievements.org, an almost complete list of Splinter Cell: Double Agent achievements has been posted up., along with descriptions and enumerations. There's 38 achievements in total, equalling (as usual) 1,000 points.

But something appears to have gone a bit screwy when they decided to dole out the points. For example, completing the first two training missions will give you 40 points, which is worth exactly the same amount as beating the game on Hard. The training missions better involve me running through nuclear land mine field if it's comparable to beating the game on hard. Florian Eckhardt

Splinter Cell Double Agent Achievements [Xbox360achievements.com]

Anything that features exploding bunnies is A-OK in my book. a cool little viral site for Splinter Cell: Double Agent just popped up. The Fifth Freedom looks like an infomercial for a spy start kit, complete with weapons, disguises and Bleed Out, a blood stain remover. Toupee-wearing John Badsky talks to callers and pitches the Girls of the NSA calendar with equal alacrity. And then there's the Morality Test with the cutest big-eyed bunnies you've ever seen. Man they make a mess when they explode. Brian Crecente

My Fifth Freedom

Ubisoft has confirmed that Splinter Cell Double Agent will be a launch title for the Wii. Though at the end of the IGN article announcing that, it does say "launch window."

"We are very excited to bring Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent to the Wii this holiday season," said Tony Key, vice president of marketing at Ubisoft. "The Splinter Cell franchise has always translated very well across multiple platforms and we are confident that the Wii version will continue the tradition of maximizing the capabilities of each respective video game console platform."

The Wii version of the game will be based on both the PS2 and GameCube versions, with enhancements made to both gameplay and graphics, according to IGN. While the game won't have all of the levels that are going to be in the Xbox 360 version, it will make use of Wii's controls. The game also won't support online play.

Man, I hope that isn't the way Wii games are headed, comparatively janky graphics and gimped online for sweet hand-thrusting controls. I want it all, not just innovation.

More screens after the jump. Brian Crecente

Splinter Cell Launching With Wii [IGN]

As requested here are two more short videos showing one of the Frag Dolls playing some Splinter Cell Double Agent. This was right before they presented the game at a panel. Brian Crecente

And a little video showing off Splinter Cell Double Agent. Let me know if you'd like to see some more of this and I can upload a couple more videos.

The first half of the Ubisoft talk was about Spinter Cell: Double Agent.

The Frag Dolls showed off the multiplayer mode for the new Splinter Cell game. Each team consisted of one Frag Doll and two audience members.

The point of the game is for teams to extract files. First, they explained, you have to download a file and get it to an extraction point. You have to do that twice to win a round.

The game has been reimagined by the developers. It's much more cat-and-mouse now.

On the screen are concentric circles; it's called a proximity sensor. If it is blinking it means that someone is within 10 meters of you.

Mercs have guns, grenades, flashlights, and electromagnetic vision. You can hook over a rail and repel or zip line down.

There is a persistent motion detection system. If they are close to you and running the spies will be automatically outlined in white.

Merc have three lives, spies have four.

Spies can run around downloading a bit at a time for the different files, you don't have to finish one to move the next.

The spy HUD shows how much of each file you have downloaded in the top right corner. The closer a spy is the faster they can hack a file.

Spies can also hack a merc's vision. You can mess with their flashlights, play with their detection devices.

Spies can break just about any light in the game and hack doors.

The spies can only carry one gadget at a time, when you start you choose. If you want to change gadgets you just need to go back to your starting point.

The four the Frag Dolls knew of wer a jammer, that fakes mercs out into thinking your somewhere you are not; smoke grenades; health needles and flashbangs.

The game has a cool kill cam to show you exactly where the person was when they killed you. It's like a frozen 3D shot of your last moment that you can move around in. Very cool.

The three versus three, obviously, is a new thing, but you can also turn on mercenary bots. The AI in the current build are incredibly hard, apparently.

The game is coming to the Xbox 360 and PC. They couldn't say how maps the game has, but the Frag Dolls have played on at least five of them so far.

They couldn't say a lot about the single player mode. They did say Sam Fisher goes into deep cover to infiltrate John Brown's Army.

A lot of the missions are much more outdoors. One of the levels is in Africa during the civil war and there are a lot of people running around, but they are mostly fighting each other.

Brian Crecente

Exactly when will Sam Fisher stealthily sneak up behind you and garrote you with his latyest adventure, Splinter Cell: Double Agent? According to jiggly pin-up girl turned Fragdoll Rhoulette over at the official Ubisoft Forums, October 19th.

Not only that, but demos ahoy. PC gamers will get both single-player and multiplayer demos. 360 single-player enthusiasts? You're boned: you'll only get multiplayer.

Of course, when are these demos coming? The way it should be done — before the game's release, so you can inform a first-day purchasing decision accordingly? Of course not: they won't be released any sooner than a month before release, to help keep disinformation about quality (or lack thereof) high. Marketing, don't you know. Florian Eckhardt

New Splinter Cell Gets Official Release Date, Demos [1UP]

We hope you're curious about multiplayer in Splinter Cell: Double Agent and want to see some videos, because we've got two of the blasted things to insert into this one throwaway post. The first details the 'Spies' multiplayer mode; the second, 'Mercenaries', after the jump. I'm not quite sure I'm any more in the clear on how 'Spies' is played after watching it, though. But 'Mercenaries' sure looks cool. Florian Eckhardt

Gamers' Report has eight new screens for Splinter Cell: Double Agent up. Is it me or do they look like concept art? They say they are actual still from gameplay, which is amazing. Apparently even the cut scenes will be player controlled. Wow.

Splinter Cell: Double Agent [Gamers Report]

It's not coming out soon enough.

Ubisoft Entertainment reports third quarter revenue and updates 2005-2006 fiscal year outlook [Ubisoftgroup]

It's starting to look like it's going to be an all-leak weekend. First we had the oodles of images from what purports to be a Nintendo Revolution game and now we have these lovely shots from the upcoming Splinter Cell Double Agent for the Xbox 360. Two more on the jump.

[Thanks Me]