Some of those that recently bought GSC Game World's S.TA.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and Egosoft's X3: Terran Conflict were temporarily unable to activate and play those games, due to reportedly resolved problems with the TAGES-run authentication servers.

Both games utilize TAGES DRM to enforce a 5-machine activation limit, and received a resurgence of attention as they were featured in the Steam Holiday Sale. The promotion saw 10-75% discounts on games sold via the PC digital distribution service.

Upon attempting to run either game, first-time players were told that they needed to activate their copy with a serial number. Some attempts were met with a network timeout error, while others, such as Shacker Stucky_101, report they that had no problems.

The issues began cropping up en masse between December 26 and 31... Read more

Controversy regarding a recent television ad for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 has reportedly led publisher EA to claim that visuals produced by the Wii aren't suitable for broadcast, according to the UK Advertising Standards Authority and Eurogamer.

The ASA stepped in after it found the advertisement "misleading." The spot in question showed Tiger Woods using a Wii Remote to play Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, though game footage was pulled from the more graphically advanced Xbox 360 version.

The end of the ad stated that the game was "available on all formats." While EA has yet to issue a public response, the ad authority offered a second-hand explanation.

"[EA] explained that Wii footage would not be of broadcast quality, and the originating agency had thought it preferable to use the Xbox footage, which was closer to broadcast definition, than to 'up the resolution' of Wii footage to broadcast quality," the ASA claimed.

The board added that "because viewers would not be able to achieve the graphical quality shown in the ad on a Wii console, we concluded that the ad was misleading."

The Chicago Transit Authority will reinstate the Grand Theft Auto 4 ads that it pulled from Chicago buses back in the spring, but after a short run the CTA will no longer accept ads for M-rated games.

A settlement was reached only recently after publisher Take-Two sued the CTA for breach of contract over the incident before the game was released in April, reports Chicago Breaking News as noticed by GamePolitics.

Under the settlement, Grand Theft Auto 4 ads will appear on Chicago buses for the next six weeks. Other terms of the settlement remain confidential.

After that, the CTA will no longer run ads for M-rated games under a new ordinance passed by the CTA board last week. According to Chicago Breaking News, the ordinance "cites a 'demonstrable correlation' between intensely violent video games and violent or aggressive behavior.

The Grand Theft Auto ads, both then and now, include no overtly violent, sexual or otherwise graphic materials that would normally prohibit ... Read more

As Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider Underworld heads out to store shelves this week, publisher Eidos has tasked UK PR firm Barrington Harvey with managing the review scores, resulting in journalists being asked to hold off on negative reviews.

The story emerged after games journalist Guy Cocker reported, via Twitter, that Eidos informed him "if you're planning on reviewing Tomb Raider Underworld at less than an 8.0, we need you to hold your review till Monday."

Barrington Harvey confirmed the policy with videogaming247, explaining:

We're trying to manage the review scores at the request of Eidos.

We're trying to get the Metacritic rating to be high, and the brand manager in the US that's handling all of Tomb Raider has asked that we just manage the scores before the game is out, really, just to ensure that we don't put people off buying the game, basically.

It's the second review-related controversy for Eidos in the past year, following rumors that it pressured GameSpot into firing journalist Jeff Gerstmann for a negative review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, which was edited following his departure.

At the time, Eidos was heavily advertising on GameSpot. The site later claimed Gerstmann was let go "purely for internal reasons" that were "unrelated to any publisher or advertiser," though it noted Eidos' displeasure with the original review.

In a formal statement, Barrington Harvey director Simon Byron admitted the firm has "been working hard to ensure the launch scores of Tomb Raider Underworld are in line with our internal review predictions over the launch weekend - but... Read more

Update: Netflix has confirmed the loss of Xbox 360 owners' ability to stream movies from Columbia Pictures, a Sony subsidiary. Columbia's movies are not licensed to be streamed to 360 consoles.

"In the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console," wrote Netflix VP Steve Swasey to MTV Multiplayer. "We hope they'll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly," he added.

Original Story: Those anxious to try out Netflix movie streaming in the New Xbox Experience have just hit a stumbling block: a preview user has reported that streaming movies from Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures are not playable on the Xbox 360.

A Joystiq reader noticed that their Instant Queue--the web-based list required to watch Netflix movies on the 360--suddenly included a slew of titles... Read more

Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet (PS3) is no stranger to moderation, censorship and outraged users, and now that user-created levels are starting to be removed by game moderators, the users are angry once again.

"So many cases have no questionable content in sight, even ones with humorous light hearted violence have been taken down, like the popular [God of War-referencing] Demon Skull level," wrote a player named Robbie to Kotaku.

Said another user: "Some levels I've seen now unplayable due to moderation: Pacman, Batman, and Scrubs related level [sic]." Users are reporting that levels are being permanently deleted upon moderation, sparking forum members to advise one another to save copies of their work before submitting them to the online world.

The pattern among deleted levels appears to be references to various intellectual properties despite earlier reports of multitudes of levels with Sackboy-populated homages to games like Super Mario Bros. and Mirror's Edge. However, the deletion of levels based on the PlayStation 3 itself and one entitled "Failure to Launch"--which shares a name with a 2006 romantic comedy film--has raised eyebrows about the moderation system in place.

Media Molecule community manager Sam_Protagonist wrote on the PlayStation forums that the team is at work on a new moderation system... Read more

Update: EA community manager eaapoc, the bloke who started this whole affair, has acknowledged that his initial threat was "inaccurate and a mistake on my part."

"If we suspend or ban you from the forums, that does not affect your in-game account and certainly it does not impact your in-game account for other games," reads a new post. "I had a misunderstanding with regards to our new upcoming forums and website and never meant to infer that if we ban or suspend you on the forums, you would be banned in-game as well. This is not correct, my mistake, my bad."

Original Story: A forum moderator's threat that gamers could be banned from playing all of their EA-published games, such as Spore and C&C: Red Alert 3, for improper forum behavior was the result of a "misunderstanding," Electronic Arts tells Shacknews.

Explained Electronic Arts:

Posting in EA Forums is enabled by an EA Nucleus account -- but access to the forums and access to the games are separate. Players who have been banned from EA Forums are not automatically banned from online access to their other EA games. Players can be banned if they breach the Terms of Service or Code of Conduct in a forum, game or service. Each forum, game and service is managed independently by customer support representatives responsible for that specific forum, game or service.

A similar threat emerged earlier this year, after a Spore moderator threatened to ban users from the game if they discussed the title's controversial DRM on its official forums. EA quickly responded, explaining that post was made by an "over-zealous community volunteer" and was "absolutely not true or in-line with EA's moderation policy."

Update: Electronic Arts has clarified to Shacknews that the situation stemmed from a "misunderstanding," explaining that "access to the forums and access to the games are separate" and that "each forum, game and service is managed independently by customer support representatives."

Original Story: Owners of Electronic Arts published titles such as Spore and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 may end up banned from playing their games if they get banned from any EA-moderated forum, according to this post from moderator eaapoc:

Your forum account will be directly tied to your Master EA Account, so if we ban you on the forums, you would be banned from the game as well since the login process is the same. And you'd actually be banned from your other EA games as well since its all tied to your account. So if you have SPORE and Red Alert 3 and you get yourself banned on our forums or in-game, well, your SPORE account would be banned to. It's all one in the same, so I strongly reccommend people play nice and act mature.

Similar threats emerged earlier this year, when Spore forumites were threatened with bans for discussing the title's controversial DRM, though EA later stepped in to clarify that the threat stemmed from an "over-zealous community volunteer" and was "absolutely not true or in-line with EA's moderation policy."

"What if some moderator goes off on a power trip?" asked Shacker Pugnate, who tipped us off to the news. "Does he seriously have the right to block access to software you legally purchased?"

Faylor's Take: To reiterate my previous stance, I certainly sympathize with the plight of those that have been tasked with watching over a game's official forums. But I really can't believe that EA has allowed this to pop up once again.

Apart from scaring posters into submission and causing even more controversy, I can't think of one reason to even bring up the idea of removing a... Read more

Ads for Bethesda's Fallout 3 (PC, 360, PS3) appearing in the DC Metro definitely hit close to home with images of post-apocalyptic versions of the Washington Monument and the Capitol Dome--too close, for one reader of the Washington Post who took issue with the ads.

"The people of our city do not need a daily reminder that Washington is a prime target for an attack," wrote Joseph Anzalone in a letter to the editor of the Post which was noticed by GamePolitics.

"We do not need a daily reminder of what our worst fears look like," added Anzalone. "Since any First Amendment objection would be irrelevant (the ads do not present a true viewpoint or political message and would therefore not be protected), there is no reason for these ads to be part of our daily panorama," he continued.

"The ads should be removed, and the appropriate office at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority should be directed to exercise better judgment regarding what can be displayed in our transportation system," concluded the concerned citizen.

Although Anzalone's interpretation of the United States Constitution is a little inaccurate--the ads fall under free speech, protected by the First Amendment--it's clear that the ads are having the intended effect, even if that effect leaves a bad taste in the mouths of some.

This Wednesday, California lawmakers will attempt to resurrect the violent video game legislation that cost the state $282,000 after it was ruled unconstitutional in 2007.

Senator Leland Yee penned the law, which mandates that retailers restrict sales of violent video games to only those over the age of 18, with games that fall under the definition of "violent" forced to sport an prominent "18" sticker on their packaging.

According to the law, any game that contains "serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" would fall under its jurisdiction.

"This is the same technology the armed forces use to help soldiers kill the enemy," Yee explained to the San Jose Mercury News. "All we're saying is, 'Don't sell it to kids.'"

In his 2007 ruling, Judge Ronald Whyte declared that the law's definition of violence was too broad, noting that it could apply to some classic literature, and questioned the tenuous link between violent video games and violent behavior. Following Whyte's decision, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed... Read more

Toumani Diabate, the Malian songwriter whose Qur'an-referencing song sparked a worldwide recall of Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet (PS3), has spoken in humble defense of his song.

Diabate, himself a devout Muslim, explained simply that the song his "way to attract and inspire people toward Islam" according to MTV Multiplayer. "It is quite normal to play music and be inspired by the words of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace on his Soul) in my country in Mali," he explained. "You can see this on television all the time," he added.

Unlike the Mohammed cartoon controversy of 2005, when images of the prophet were drawn against the explicit rules of the religion, music borrowing lines from the Qur'an does not break a rule but could be construed as offensive by certain interpretations.

"The idea of a prohibition that there shouldn't be verses of the Koran, in music... that's an implied or interpreted rule," said Dilshad Ali, a Muslim editor for religion site BeliefNet. Ali added that the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" included a word from the Qur'an and didn't cause any backlash.

A statement from Diabate's record label explains the meaning of the song along with the context for the two lines from the Qur'an. Reproduced from Multiplayer is the statement in full... Read more

With Volition's Saints Row 2 (PC, 360, PS3) hitting shelves today for console editions, it took virtually no time for the game to get condemned by the boys in blue--in particular, the police unions of New York City.

"New York's powerful police unions say that a violent new video game called 'Saints Row 2 is an abomination," reports WPEC in New York, which was spotted by Kotaku. "In the game, the player controls a gang member who can steal, do drugs and kill as many characters as possible, including police officers."

Union representatives were standing behind Manhattan District Attorney candidate Leslie Crocker-Snyder as she spoke in condemnation of the game yesterday, the game's official release date.

While marking the game's first post-release controversy, it's hardly the first for the open-world mayhem sim. Just a week ago, the game raised eyebrows for including a streaking feature.

A trailer has appeared on the internet sporting a naked woman--blurred in sensitive areas--running around the world of Volition's Saints Row 2 (PC, 360, PS3) and generally causing mayhem.

The trailer isn't a modification or a hack. It's a streaking feature.

"In terms of backlash from the game's content, we are not too concerned," said Craig Mitchell of publisher THQ to Edge. "THQ and Volition have worked within the guidelines of the ESRB and the international ratings boards and the game has been rated appropriately," he added. Saints Row 2 received an "M for Mature" rating from the ESRB.

Edge describes the streaking feature as follows:

Streaking is activated by pressing down twice on the controller's d-pad, at which point players are told to "Streak closely to as many people as possible!" A good streak will earn "Respect" stats.... Read more

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has once again come out swinging in his public shouting match with record labels including Warner Music, suggesting that maybe the publisher behind the Guitar Hero series deserves compensation for including songs from labels in the hit rhythm-music series.

"When you look at the impact [Guitar Hero] can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it's really significant," Kotick told the Wall Street Journal as relayed by Edge. "So much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse."

Guitar Hero: World Tour, bane of existence for record labels everywhere

Kotick also echoed a point recently made by games industry analyst... Read more

Addressing complaints that former Mythic employees were not credited for their work in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the studio has instituted a new policy that will see it maintaining an online database of everyone who contributed to a project.

According to the latest International Game Developers Association newsletter:

The Mythic team is also taking the following steps to address credit policies:

• In-game and manual credits will be reserved for the launch team.
• Mythic will create an online database listing the name and title of everyone who contributed to a project, regardless of current employment status. Additionally, the studio will make best efforts to provide this information for its previous online games

"I applaud Mythic for taking steps to address this issue," stated IGDA chairperson Jen MacLean. "Fair and accurate credits and transparent standards for crediting remain a pervasive problem in the industry."

In addition, Mythic will work alongside the IGDA to "promote fair and... Read more

Following up on the "mis-communication" that threatened to ban Spore users from their game if they discussed the title's controversial DRM on the official forum, publisher EA has explained that the fiasco stemmed from an "over-zealous community volunteer."

"These comments are absolutely not true or in-line with EA's moderation policy," Electronic Arts informed Kotaku. The post in question claimed that DRM discussion would put users "at risk of banning which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore."

The game's official message board ties posting privileges to the Spore account one creates upon installation and uses to access the actual game, with EA stressing that the volunteer is not considered an employee.

EA's official word corroborates earlier information from another forum moderator.

"You are not going to lose your game for posting a comment," moderator sporemasterladym wrote in response to the initial outcry. "It is okay to discuss issues on this forum as long as it's done in a respectful manner and there are no personal attacks. This includes the DRM and other controversial issues. Just keep it civil."

With 15 years in the field and numerous franchises under his belt, including Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, Insomniac founder and CEO Ted Price does not appreciate the US government's repeated attempts to involve itself in the video game industry.

"I think video game legislation has no place in America," Price told Shacknews in an exclusive interview. "It saddens me to see legislators stomping all over our First Amendment rights for their own specific interests."

Most game-related legislation has focused on keeping violent games out of underage hands, but is traditionally ruled unconstitutional due to vague language. Opponents, such as acclaimed author Stephen King, often question why video games are singled out for perpetuating America's "culture of violence."

"We're going through what every other entertainment industry has gone through, and that's being the temporary scapegoat for society's ills," Price reasoned... Read more

The controversy surrounding EA Maxis' PC evolution simulator Spore and its DRM continues to escalate, with studio owner and publisher Electronic Arts now facing a class action lawsuit due to the title's use of SecuROM copy protection software.

Whereas most of the controversy thus far has stemmed from the limited number of installs available to legitimate owners, the claims of plaintiff Melissa Thomas lay with the undisclosed installation of the SecuROM software that enables the above practice.

Filed on September 22, the suit argues that Thomas and "all others similarly situated" would not have bought the game had EA disclosed the title's installation of SecuROM. It claims that SecuROM prevents unspecified user actions and programs from operating, with the software only removable if "the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."

The "aggregate claims of plaintiff and the proposed class members" are said to exceed the sum of $5 million, according to legal documents obtained by Courthouse News Service, with the suit specifically seeking "actual damages, individual restitution, equitable relief, civil penalties, cost and expenses of litigation, including attorneys' fees, and all further relief available" from Electronic Arts.

Relevant quotes from the document follow... Read more

An apparent case of "mis-communication" led to moderators on the official Spore message board threatening to ban posters from playing EA Maxis' PC evolution simulator if they discussed the title's controversial DRM.

After inquiring about the DRM situation on the official Spore board, jpfrostfox's thread was locked, with the following added by a forum moderator:

SecuROM as been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads. If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum. If there is any change you will be able to read it on the official Spore site.

Please do not continue to post theses thread or you account may be at risk of banning which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore.

In order to post on the forum, posters must sign in with the Spore account tied to their game, with players only allowed one account for each copy of the game they purchase.

Following the initial posting, moderator sporemasterladym stepped in, claiming that the above was representative of "a mis-communication issue somewhere."

"You are not going to lose your game for posting a comment," the moderator wrote in a separate thread found by Kotaku. "It is okay to discuss issues on this forum as long as it's done in a respectful manner and there are no personal attacks. This includes the DRM and other controversial issues. Just keep it civil."

Faylor's Take: As a former forum moderator, I certainly sympathize with the plight of those that have been tasked with watching over the official Spore forums.

I'm also familiar with the practice of empty threats, such as this... Read more

EA Games president Frank Gibeau promised to revamp and further loosen the controversial DRM requirements in recent releases Spore (PC) and Crysis Warhead (PC). His statement was not without a few backhanded comments in the direction of the very vocal anti-DRM community.

"We're extremely pleased with the reception Spore has received from critics and consumers but we're disappointed by the misunderstanding surrounding the use of DRM software," Gibeau wrote in the statement on MTV Multiplayer. He also announced that Spore would soon gain the ability to be authorized on five computers instead of three.

Gibeau reminded Multiplayer that the coming deactivation capability is still in the works. It was separately announced today that Crytek's EA-published Crysis Warhead would get the same deactivation program.

"We assumed that consumers understand piracy is a huge problem... Read more