During Microsoft's E3 briefing in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago, Splinter Cell: Conviction was revealed as an (and PC...) exclusive. Since then, it has been speculated that the game might make it to other platforms eventually - but disagree.

"Splinter Cell Conviction is a true exclusive title and there are no plans to have Conviction on other platforms," offered a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"There are several reasons behind this choice. First of all, Splinter Cell games are historically linked with Microsoft platforms. The first Splinter Cell on the original was one of the first games to fully exploit the console's technical possibilities. At that time, Microsoft really believed in the game potential and provided strong support to promote it. So, there is a 'link of heart' between the franchise and the platform. Some games are like this (think of for instance).

"The second reason behind this choice is purely linked to production. Having a single target platform means that we can optimize the game even further, because we only have one type of - console - to support."

Conviction will be with us before 2009 is through. It sounds as if users could be out of luck, too.

By Luke Guttridge