In this third installment of Ubisoft’s “Splinter Cell” spy-thriller franchise, you use unique gadgets and stealth to foil yet another terrorist plot as the series’ grizzled protagonist Sam Fisher. The graphics have leapt miles over Pandora tomorrow, making this one of the best looking games for current generation systems. Environments are more open, and there is less of a penalty for alarms. Environments include Asia, a lighthouse in South America, and a bank in Portugal. The multiplayer has recieved a facelift as well, offering a cool alternative to the Halos and Perfect Darks of online gaming. The co-op mode can almost stand on its own as a seperate game. Since the Splinter Cell series first arrived in 2003, many games have tried to copy its blend of political intrigue and stealth action, but none have come close. The only games that compare to Splinter Cell are Metal Gear and Thief, and those games are different enough as it is. If you don’t have Chaos Theory, grab it now while it’s cheap (The Xbox version is only $13 used at Gamestop), because Splinter Cell: Double Agent will be out very soon.

Cars.com has an nice interview with NPR’s famous Car Talk hosts Click & Clack on their roles in ‘Cars’ from Disney/Pixar.
Cars opens wide June 9, 2006.
Official site

Major Nelson has announced the Xbox 360 Dashboard release schedule. This comes right on the heels of his fright filled podcast, dreading not having any news for listeners.
Major Nelson is Xbox Live’s Larry Hryb, who frequently speaks of internal workings at Microsoft and about gaming in general. If you don’t listen to the podcasts already, its worth catching up on some of them. Tales of wandering into Sony’s VIP Booth at E3, interviews with Microsoft staffers, and playing Mario Kart against Tycho from Penny-Arcade in an airplane are common topics.

Peter Moore hit the nail on the head. Over 30 Thousand Joystiq readers voted on what consoles they’ll likley end up buying and the vast majority plan on getting a Wii and 360. Wii on its own scored very strongly as well.
This is hardly a scientific poll, but I’d say the PS3 has a real upward battle against the competition.
Link: Poll results: (Reevaluated) next-gen combo platters

Lost in the E3 shuffle since most people were actually playing the game was the 1 minute montage of in-game footage showcasing new aspects of Metroid Prime 3.
Game Informer was patient enough to record this footage and bring it to us now.
Included in the video are lots of new characters (some looking like rival hunters), the gunship air strike, and a new zip-line Samus (pictured).
Theres also 3 other gameplay movies if you missed the demo the first time around.
via 4CR

Action-Figure.com is reporting that the Onslaught Series of Marvel Legends figures (Wave 13) has hit store shelves and sightings have been reported. One of their readers has also submitted the case breakdown for the figures.

• Abomination x3
• Loki x3
• Deathstrike x3
• Blackheart x2
• Green Goblin x2
• Pyro x1

It appears as though Pyro will be foolishly shortpacked, while Abomination, Loki, and Deathstrike will become shelf-warmers.

On a side note, I noticed that Onslaught is only about 8 inches tall. So don’t be shocked when you put him together and he is half the size of the Sentinel. On the bright side, with this wave we return to the 6 piece build a figure, instead of the 10 piece that is nigh impossible to find a single piece of.

Good Hunting, Collectors!

HobbyLink Japan has posted a very clear picture of MP03 Starscream. It shows Starscream from the usual angles, a few new ones, and a picture of Starscream in robot using the base/stand from vehicle mode to look as though he is hovering in the air. Starscrean impresses with every new photo.

I got a little goofy on this one. Back to normal next week, promise.