According to the information forwarded to GameSpot by game publisher Ubisoft, a $10 reduction is being brought about in the original $80 price-tag of `Splinter Cell: Conviction Collectors Edition' in the US, chiefly because of defective USB drives.

With Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction scheduled for an April 13 release in the US - the game will be released in Europe on April 16 -, Ubisoft specified that "random sampling" has revealed a defect in some USB drives included with the Collectors Edition (CE) package.

Other than the Splinter-brand USB drives, the CE package includes - an art book titled Fifth Freedom: The Art of Splinter Cell; a pair of decals; a prequel comic book; and specifically designed boxing.

Noting that "random sampling" does not give any clue about the exact percentage of USB drives that are faulty, Ubisoft spokesperson has merely emphasized that `not all' the USB drives included in the CE are defective.

As per Ubisoft, the bonus content - like game development videos, wallpaper, concept art and storyboards - that the USB drive features, will be made available on the faulty devices on the game's official Website on April 15.

Meanwhile, even though there is no such fault in the UK Collectors Edition content package - it does not have a USB drive -, the price of that package too has been slashed by £10 so as to encourage more pre-orders.