Splinter Cell: Conviction Message Board older than one year ago

"We had to find a martial art that fits the characters and the situations he would find himself in," animation director Gilles Monteil tells us in this new dev diary for Splinter Cell Conviction. "We needed something very quick, efficient and brutal -- something without any rules. That's why we chose Krav Maga.""Krav Maga is not a big flashy martial art," game designer Steve Masters adds, which may explain its relative obscurity. Turning to Wikipedia, we discover it has its origins in street fighting and literally means "close combat" in Hebrew, and that the Israeli Defense Force and Special Forces use the martial art to this day. Apparently, stabbing someone in the hand is kosher in a form that has "no rules."

click to revenge-size In Splinter Cell: Conviction, superspy Sam Fisher is seeking revenge for his daughter's murder. In the Splinter Cell: Conviction collector's edition, you'll find a varying degree of bonus items -- some cool, some silly -- that Ubisoft is seeking $79.99 for.Due to arrive on the same day as the standard edition (February 23, 2010) the set will include a comic book prequel to the events in the game; an art book with illustrations from all the previous Splinter Cell titles; a DLC weapon and player skin; a credit-card-sized USB drive filled with art and a making-of featurette; and two stickers: one of the Third Echelon logo and another that looks like those fake bullet holes people slap on their cars to make it appear that they live in a warzone.Ubisoft's sell-sheet for the CE thankfully displays the game disc and manual, lest you worry they're not included. They go inside the DVD steelcase, which we'd say might be good for deflecting bullets, but appears to already have been used for just that purpose.

Extra footage means more time for Sam Fisher to get you in a stranglehold.

This four-and-a-half-minute walkthrough preview of Badass: The Game (a.k.a. Splinter Cell Conviction) is not for the faint of heart. "We really wanted to bring out Sam's brutality," observes an unseen narrator, as the rogue agent stabs a terrorist in the hand in a torture scene that would make Jack Bauer feel at home. Certainly, Amnesty International wouldn't approve of these tactics -- but we're a rather depraved bunch here at Joystiq HQ. It's pretty clear Splinter Cell Conviction is one of our most anticipated games targeted for the crowded Q1 season next year.

Australians with a burnin' love for Sam Fisher will be glad to hear that Splinter Cell Conviction has a Collector's Edition with bonus content coming next February when the game ships in their country,. According to the product's listing on JB HiFi, $119 AUD ($104.42 USD) nets you a "Sam Fisher figurine" and "other exclusive content." Though GameStop Australia doesn't have the listing and picture you see above, it does share the same pre-order bonus detailed in JB HiFi. For plunking down your dollars early, you'll receive extras ranging from a "scratch card to unlock unique in-game content" to a download code for Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. Both Australian listings also say the Chaos Theory download will come from "Xbox Live Arcade," though that could simply be poor phrasing for the "Games on Demand" offering. We contacted Ubisoft Montreal who told us the company has "no official announcement" for North America at this time (our question about Chaos Theory was unanswered as of publishing). We'll assuredly find out more soon, as the game's February 2010 release date isn't so far away. [Via Destructoid]

Sam Fischer must perfect his tactics this time around.

Let's make one thing clear: Splinter Cell: Conviction is more difficult than you think. When the game's "mark and execute" feature was revealed -- a feature that allows players to target and automatically take enemies out -- some players assumed the game would be a cakewalk. Beyond being one of the more difficult titles I personally had hands-on time with, Splinter Cell: Conviction leads the pack as one of the most impressive titles at TGS 2009. Our meeting with Ubisoft began with producer Alexandre Parizeau walking us through a never-before-seen section of the game before handing us the controller. Taking place "about three-quarters of the way" through the final product, this is the first piece of the real game Ubisoft has ever shown. The E3 2009 demo was developed specifically to showcase Sam's new abilities, but doesn't appear as it did in the final game. This mission's setting: Washington, DC. After living a life on the run, Sam is captured by Third Echelon and brought home. But now, it appears Sam is back on board with his former employers. Whether his return was made voluntarily, forcefully or due to a patriotic sense of duty is unclear. Parizeau and Co. want to keep a few things hidden in the shadows.

Splinter Cell turns into a numbers game at TGS 2009.

As Tokyo Game Show 2009 gets underway, Ubisoft has announced that it has settled on February 23, 2010 as the release date for Splinter Cell Conviction. The game was most recently rumored to be hitting that month after being delayed into the "March quarter" of next year.Ubisoft followed up the news with a new trailer for the game, which you can watch in all its sneaky, violent and vengeful glory above.

Sam Fisher represents at PAX with new moves, gadgets and more!

Because taking your revenge on people is so much easier when they don't know where you are.