New "Rainbow Six" game refines formula

LOS ANGELES, March 20 (Reuters) - Fans of anti-terrorism tactics can lock and load this week with the return of the popular "Rainbow Six" franchise, which returns to Las Vegas promising fine-tuning of its realistic, fast-paced formula.

Released for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 consoles, "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2" follow the success of "Rainbow Six Vegas", which sold more than 1.6 million units in the United States alone after its 2006 release.

"People really love military games, and Ubisoft really knows what it's doing with these games," said IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon. "They've refined team-based combat to the point that they've set the bar."

Tom Clancy-branded games -- "Rainbow Six", "Ghost Recon" and "Splinter Cell" -- have accounted for about a third of annual revenue at Ubisoft Entertainment, Europe's largest video game publisher.

Since 2000, when UbiSoft acquired the North Carolina studio that had been making the games for computers for two years, it has published 18 Clancy-themed titles that have sold a combined 50 million copies.

"Rainbow Six Vegas 2" is the seventh installment of the series since 2000, an extremely prolific pace for a "triple-A" franchise and one that rivals annual updates of sports titles such as "Madden" football from Electronic Arts.

Too frequent sequels can take the shine off of many popular game franchises as quality slips in the rush to meet deadlines, but Rainbow's developers don't see a cause for concern.

"No brand will stay fresh forever unless real innovation occurs as it moves along its life cycle," said Tony Key, Ubisoft's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "It's a testament to us not treating (the brand) as a cash cow, but as the family jewels."

Ubisoft's strategy is to introduce simple, yet compelling, features in each new installment.

"Rainbow Six Vegas" added a useful cover mechanic that allowed players to fire their weapons from behind walls. "Vegas 2" grants the ability to sprint for short distances to avoid grenades or enemy fire.

"We chose not to reinvent the wheel," said Jean Pascal Cambiotti, a game designer for Ubisoft's Montreal studio, which developed "Vegas 2".

"First and foremost, we're gamers," he added.

But the multiplayer component has always been the defining characteristic of "Rainbow Six."

Earlier games buoyed Microsoft's fledgling Xbox Live online service. Key boasted that a Clancy game has been among the top five most-played games on Xbox Live since the service started in 2002.

"Vegas 2" adds more features to the multiplayer experience, including several new game modes as well as the ability for players to highly customize in-game characters.

Tom Clancy, the best-selling author of military novels such as "The Hunt for Red October", remains heavily involved in all the games and personally approves all the stories and weapons, according to Key.

"He's all about near-term plausibility," Key said of Clancy. "He asks, is this something that could really happen?"

Pidgeon believes that gameplay and storyline consistency has combined to contribute to the series' continued success, and he expects "Vegas 2" to be another huge hit for Ubisoft, though no longer necessarily because of Clancy's influence.

"I think now the games are doing more for Tom Clancy than he is doing for the games," Pidgeon said.