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Well sure, the baddies from Red Steel 2's "Enemies" trailer aren't quite dancing, per se, but there is quite a bit of fancy footwork going on -- not to mention tons of other stuff getting cut, as you might imagine. From the adorably named "Katakara" to the not so subtly named "Ninja," it seems that Red Steel 2 is full of flamboyantly exaggerated personalities, all of which are ready to put a sword or bullet through you at a moment's notice. Oh, and if you were wondering how your foes will stop your combination of bullets and sword charging full speed at them, you'll want to pay extra close attention at the end there (spoilers: they handle it like jedi).

The thing about Wii MotionPlus is that there haven't been a whole lot of games supporting it. Outside of last summer's Wii Sports Resort (and upcoming Red Steel 2 and Flingsmash) there's really only some sports games utilizing the tech. According to a recent interview with Reggie over at MTV Multiplayer, it's because Nintendo isn't really pushing for any kind of control scheme from third parties.

"What's unique with Nintendo is we don't force our developers to stick to a particular type of control scheme, and you've seen that -- everything from the new Metroid title to be single remote driven to FlingSmash utilizing the Wii MotionPlus," he said. "So it's all about what's right for the game." While we're inclined to agree with the latter part, we still wonder why nothing is using MotionPlus -- especially since it's something that greatly improves the core functionality of the Wiimote. And considering almost everyone has MotionPlus by now (or soon will, if they're Walmart shoppers looking for a great bundle), why not develop with MotionPlus in mind?

As for more MotionPlus games from Nintendo, Reggie teases "more titles that are coming" and that it "continues to be a core part of what we do." So, the take away is this: even though Nintendo just released a new piece of hardware, it's not too worried about supporting it with content -- kinda like every other peripheral the company has ever released. Yeah, we're talking about you, Wii Speak!

Splinter Cell: Conviction is having a little premiere on April 1 at ten GameStops across the US -- no, this is not an April Fool's joke; we made sure. Before the game hits stores (and the head ... and heads) on April 13, a premiere event will take place in Los Angeles on the high holy joking day. GameStop will concurrently host "first-to-play co-op demo events" at select stores.

The LA event will take place at the Les Deux Nightclub in Hollywood. First-to-play sessions will occur between 2-6PM, prior to the "celebrity red carpet premiere" at 8PM. The event will feature the "Search for Sam Fisher" live interactive game, in which 15 attendees (21+) who attend the co-op event earlier in the day will be invited to participate. Grand prize is an "Xbox 360 Splinter Cell Conviction Special Edition Bundle and a library of Ubisoft Xbox 360 games."

The non-LA co-op demo events will be held from 9PM until midnight in Boston, Orlando, New York City (two locations), Denver, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, Dallas and New Jersey. Specific locations will be listed on GameStop's website or at SplinterCell.com. The first 100 attendees at each location receive a "free Splinter Cell Conviction beanie." Honestly, we have no idea what to say to that.

You're a good, conscientious (yes, we spelled that right on the first try) person, so we're going to just assume that you've already downloaded the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo that appeared on Xbox Live today. If not, well, we can just turn our backs and whistle the complete works of Ke$ha while you go get it.

...Back? Great! Now let us never speak of this again. What we would like all of you to speak of is the demo itself. You and Sam have been apart a long time, is the magic still there?

Though Uncharted 2 may have snatched away most of the Game of the Year trophies, Assassin's Creed 2 stands out as another of 2009's most acclaimed and successful titles. Lead game designer Patrick Plourde candidly discussed Ubisoft Montreal's development process at one of the final panels during this year's Game Developers Conference and gave some surprising insight into what happens when a project's scope is altered in the midst of development.

From the outset, Assassin's Creed 2 took aim at the commercial success of the first game, as well as its vocal group of detractors. "I'm not gonna lie about it," Plourde said, "some people liked it, some people despised it. That's the way it is."

The way things would be took a surprise turn in the middle of 2008, months after the game had begun development in earnest. As Plourde puts it, a "curveball from upper management" requested a change in the game's scope. Ordinarily, ambitious plans may get trimmed down as a launch date draws near, but Ubisoft had decided to increase the number of features dramatically.

Metal Gear Solid's Hideo Kojima was the weirdest gaming-related Twitter account we'd seen -- until we saw Sam Fisher's account. Yes, the green-eyed spy guy is now on Twitter, which we know thanks to a picture we were sent from a Ubisoft email address that implored us to "Don't Believe What You Hear; My Mission Is One of Justice," combined with the plug above.

So far, he's only been whining about using "rogue resources" and posting 140 characters at a time of mysterious nonsense like "when you believe, it's easy to sacrifice." Because of course when you're a rogue operative and you need to get secret messages out into the world, a fully public Twitter account is the best way to do so. To be honest, we're a little disappointed -- Sam Fisher's got an interesting life, and we'd like to follow him and get a look at the man behind the Cell. What's he doing with his time off? What bars is he checking in from? And what does Sam Fisher eat for lunch every day? You know, important Twitter stuff.

Last week, we brought you the incredibly exciting news that a Splinter Cell: Conviction demo was confirmed for release on Xbox Live. That thrilling news just got too awesome to bear: the demo will be out this week. March 18, in fact, according to a new Inside Xbox video.

If you're not worried about spoiling the demo for yourself (which, we suppose, would lead to spoiling a very tiny portion of the game by extension), you can see some of the gameplay the demo covers in the video. Or you can wait until you get to put yourself into Sam's goggles for yourself. Oh, did we say Sam's in it? And that there would be goggles? Whoops, spoilers!

[Thanks, Daniel!]

In a video answering fan questions, Splinter Cell Conviction Creative Director Maxime Béland revealed the existence of a demo for the highly anticipated sneaking-guy game. "Yes, there will be one. I can't tell you what map or when it's going to be released yet. My lips are sealed." Warning us in advance of the demo's release date would run counter to the whole 'stealth' theme, we suppose.

We first heard of a demo for Conviction from an Ubi employee known only as "Adam," and before that had only a guess that there would be one based on the common-sense fact that it's a really popular game. Splinter Cell: Conviction is currently due for release April 13.

Ubisoft has issued a recall for Collectors Edition copies of the submarine sim Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic, According to a report from the German site ComputerBase. Apparently, some offending World War II-related symbols (we're guessing swastikas) were left in some of the bonus content, which violates German law. This only affects the Collectors Edition.

The ComputerBase post briefly mentions the Ubisoft DRM that has been so problematic for players of Assassin's Creed 2 and this game, confirming that the same scheme is in use there. It must not be as bad in Germany, because someone was able to play long enough to see a swastika.

[Via Blue's News, Edge]

Following up yesterday's announcement that Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is getting an HD facelift and coming to Xbox Live and PSN, Ubisoft has revealed the first teaser trailer for the game. Amidst all of the quoted accolades and plumes of smoke are some actual tidbits of gameplay.

In short: this looks purty.

Forced to surrender, Sam's put on a plane and "brought home" for questioning about a plot to bring down Washington, DC with an EMP attack. Handling the transport is Black Arrow, a private military contractor, and it's this outfit's private airbase that serves as the setting for the game's second level. It presented me with new challenges, specifically staying out of site in some really wide-open spaces. I was reminded of Metal Gear Solid more than once, what with patrolling guards, stacked crates and roaming flood lights to negotiate.

At Sony's special GDC event, Activision, Capcom, WB Games, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Ubisoft, EA, Disney, Konami, Sega, Crave and Tecmo Koei all confirmed that they'll be supporting the Move in future versions of their games. Although that confirmation came in the form of a slide full of company logos and word from Sony vice-president of marketing and PSN that, "Virtually every third-party publisher" will support the new motion-control device.

Sony's Jack Tretton went on to say that 36 publishers and third-party developers will support it, and according to a press release, "In fiscal year 2010, SCE Worldwide Studios will also release more than 20 games that are either dedicated to or supported with the PlayStation Move platform. While this same group of publishers will probably support Microsoft's Project Natal as well, it's good to know that everyone is onboard. But onboard how? Are they developing Move departments that will get every possible ounce of gameplay out of these things? Or do they mean support like backrubs and cookies?

We aren't sure what titles will be supported just yet, but our team of Joystiqers are waving the Move about as you read this, and we'll have more news very soon.

R.U.S.E. is quite a crafty game. It turns out that the recently revealed June 3 release date was nothing but a smoke screen for the real date. The fully legitimate, actual release date is June 8. The game's PC beta began today and, according to Big Download, Ubisoft also announced the change in launch schedule. Normally, this kind of thing would be upsetting but, given the title, it just seems appropriate.

The beta, incidentally, is available now to all Steam users. It allows both single-player and multiplayer action with six different factions on seven multiplayer maps.

Phew, we can all relax now. According to this first gameplay footage from Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, all concerns that the new game would forgo elements of exploration and environmental puzzle-solving -- and just go all-out "Bruckheimer" -- should be allayed. Plus, The Prince totally has some Andy Gibb hair going on. That's awesome, right?

The Forgotten Sands puts our Prince in his brother's neighboring kingdom during a great conflict. As a last-ditch effort to ensure the survival of the kingdom, the two release the Sands of Time, which saves everyone ... but also unleashes dark horrors. Uh-oh.

In PoP news, Eurogamer reports the PC version will release in June, a month after the console installments (due May 18). This is nothing new for Ubisoft, as the publisher followed the same protocol with staggered releases of both Assassin's Creed games. And if waiting an extra month hasn't deterred your goal to play The Forgotten Sands on the PC, know that it will also include Ubisoft's internet-based DRM solution -- something to keep in mind.