Following rumors that Splinter Cell: Conviction had been pushed back for a major redesign, Ubisoft has commented on the matter, dismissing said rumor with two words - “pure speculation”.

The rumor originates from a report in Xbox World 360 magazine that claimed the game wasn’t groundbreaking enough and was already outdated by Assassin’s Creed, hence the redesign.

Conviction has Sam Fisher stripped of his gadgets, instead relying on old-school techniques such as crowd blending and the like. More information is expected from the upcoming Ubidays event.

Sony Computer Entertainment is furious about the Uncharted-branded air guns being sold on the Internet, and plans to do something about it. The gun is being offered on KingofSwords.com for $170, with real wood grips and whatnot.

In fact, the gun may seem endorsed by Sony itself as it is being advertised using artwork from the game. “The Drake’s gun is not licensed or in any way sanctioned by SCE, and one we certainly do not condone,” said a Sony spokesperson to Gamesindustry.biz. “We are investigating the source of this product and will proceed with the most appropriate action.”

If you’re interested in purchasing that thing, do so before the company gets taken down by Sony’s elite team of lawyers.

This article suggests why Windows Solitaire just might be the most-often played computer game. It, however, is not an article about the game per se, but rather about Windows and human nature and socialization. An interesting read nonetheless.

While Hideo Kojima went on record to say that Metal Gear Solid 4 would be the last game in the series, MGS4 producer Ryan Peyton believes it to be contrary to what they are cooking up for the series.

Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, Peyton confirmed that the series would live on after the fourth game, but that future games may not include Solid Snake at all, saying that all loose ends would be tied up in the coming game.

“I think there’s been some misconceptions that this is the last ‘Metal Gear,’” said Payton. “This is really just the last chapter of the saga of the Solid Snake story.”

He also talks about the Assassin’s Creed costume in the recently released joke video. It was the result of a collaboration between Jade Raymond and Hideo Kojima, he says, as well as Ubisoft. “It was kind of a last minute thing [and] we were really lucky enough to have Ubisoft be so enthusiastic about this kind of cooperation,” he said. “They worked overtime to get that costume into the game.”

This year’s exhibitor list for E3 has been revealed by the Electronic Software Association. The list includes all the big names like Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, THQ and others, but notable absences include Activision, Vivendi and id Software. The former two left the ESA altogether and id will not be present at the show.

Additionally, the ESA announced that Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, will give a keynote address at the event.

“The Governor’s keynote address is especially timely given the high concentration of entertainment software developers and publishers in Texas as well as the state’s long-standing support of our industry,” noted ESA CEO Michael D. Gallagher. “The Governor’s forward-thinking leadership in encouraging the growth and development of our USD 18 billion industry is a road map for other state executives who want to transform their state economies for the 21st century.”

Hit the jump for the full list of exhibitors.
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In patch related news, a new Depths of Peril patch has been issued, updating the action-RPG to v1.010. It can be downloaded from the game’s website, FileFront and Gamer’s Hell. This page has patch notes.

Those looking to update their politics can do so by applying this v1.17 patch for Democracy 2. Grab it from the game’s website, FileFront and Gamer’s Hell.

Meanwhile, this page on the Command & Conquer 3 website offers a set of draft patch notes for the coming Kane’s Wrath patch, offering users the chance to read up on some of the balance changes planned for the expansion.

Three new screenshots from Mad World, the upcoming black-and-white ultra violent game for the Wii.

From Gamespot comes word that the fourth installment in the Gothic series has received a new name - it will be known as Arcania: A Gothic Tale in North America. The reason for the name change comes from the series’ unpopularity in the region compared to other territories.

The game is being handled by Spellbound Entertainment this time around instead of being at the hands of series creator Piranha Bytes. Additionally, they revealed that the North American and European versions of the game will feature different color palettes featuring bright and colorful graphics and gritty muted colors, respectively. Apparently, months of research have shown the gaming preferences of either territory, showing that American gamers are more attracted to brightly colored games than their European counterparts.

Long in development title Castle Crashers has finally gone gold according to this post on the company’s blog. The game has completed production and is currently awaiting certification at Microsoft.

In development since 2006, the hack-and-slash title for the Xbox Live Arcade still does not have a release date seeing how unpredictably time consuming the certification process is at Microsoft. However, with core development completed, the game will surely come out this Summer.

Noting how successful the game is, Funcom sent out word that the Collector’s Edition of Age of Conan is now completely sold out throughout the world. In fact, in some regions the edition has been sold out for weeks. Additional boxes were made to meet demands, but they were sold out as well.

In addition, Funcom mentions that sales of the standard edition are also impressive, stating that they have shipped around 700,000 copies of the game on day one. As a result of massive interest in the game, the company has ordered additional servers to accommodate the extra players.

“Everyone in Funcom is delighted and humbled with the historical pre-order numbers for Age of Conan. If the information we have is correct, they represent the highest pre-order number for any global launch of an original PC game, ever, including the original World of Warcraft launch,” said Morten Larssen, Funcom’s VP of Sales & Marketing.

However, on the development side there’s a small hitch. The company was forced to ship only the DirectX 9 version of the game, noting that the DirectX 10 version will be released later this year. They believe that the DX10 client wasn’t up to snuff and is taking extra time with it. This is good news for gamers as Funcom has mentioned that it will include even more features in the DX10 version than originally planned.

The DX10 version will premiere at the Leipzig Games Convention this August; it will also be shown off at the NVISION event in California in the same month.

The very first gameplay footage from Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 has been released today. In development at EA Los Angeles, the studio behind Tiberium Wars, RA3 will add co-op campaign play, new units and a new Japanese faction.

The game is slated for release this October; a beta test is scheduled ahead of its release.

Hoping to simplify computer purchases for mainstream consumers, AMD has unveiled its AMD Game program that hopes to ease the process of determining PC gaming system requirements for the aforementioned market.

The program will allow gamers to purchase hardware which meets a certain set of minimum requirements. New systems and parts will be labeled with “AMD Game” or “AMD Game Ultra” badges informing customers how potent these machines are for gaming.

“We’re trying to help people identify PCs that are really ready to play the latest games,” said AMD desktop gaming strategist Brent Barry. “Basically, to bring a little bit of that console-like simplicity to the mainstream gamers.”

The specifications will be changed every six months to keep in line with the release of more powerful hardware. Other companies such as Microsoft, Alienware and Acer have signed up for the initiative. In fact, several retailers have already started selling such computers in North America.

Hit the jump for the system requirements for the badges.
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A new ‘bloody’ trailer from Project Origin, the upcoming sequel to F.E.A.R. It is in development at Monolith and is set for release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year.

It seems monolithic publisher Electronic Arts just won’t leave Take-Two Interactive alone, as the company has once again extended the deadline for its takeover bid of its rival. The extension moves the final date to June 16, leaving T2’s board of directors to consider EA’s $25.74 per share offer.

Take-Two has already responded, and while it doesn’t directly say anything, their response easily implies that they want more money, saying that the current deal isn’t “good” for their shareholders.

“Extending our offer will allow the FTC review process to continue,” said EA Corporate Development senior VP Owen Mahoney. “Our offer is still subject to conditions that include regulatory approval. As stated earlier, we retain the right to terminate the offer if the conditions are not satisfied.”

Not much is known about Guitar Hero 4, which is slated for release sometime later this year. But some new information has popped up, courtesy of none other than legendary guitarist Ted Nugent. In an interview on the Detroit Radio Station WRIF he mentioned that he is involved in the production of the fourth game in the series, using colorful language to express the motion capture work he did.

While he did not mention his level of participation in the game, he did mention one song specifically - “Strangle Hold”, though the game might feature more songs, or maybe even another different song. You can hear the whole interview here; just jump to the 12:30 mark if you want to skip the rest of the stuff.