EA banning trolls from games, interesting news on the DSi and the first evidence of a PS3 motion controller in the Trick-or-Treat edition.
Is EA Banning People from Games?The Internet is a harsh place, and if you aren’t careful you may just get your feelings hurt by one of the many cyber-bullies out there. Of course, you aren’t totally defenseless, as tattling on the meanies can sometimes force them to feel the wrath of the mighty ban hammer, and if EA has their way, it may cause those same folks to lose some time with their favorite games as well.
There is a seemingly innocuous little post on the EA C&C forum that basically tells users what to expect as the new site goes live. Tucked in the body of the message is this little nugget though, which has turned out to be kind of a big deal:
"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 recommend people play nice and act mature."
Wow, that’s pretty severe right there, but is it credible? After all, couldn’t anyone make such a statement in a forum like this, how do we know it’s really a developer? Well Kotaku did a little digging and it seems as though the "eeapoc" who posted the statement is acutally C&C community manager Aaron Kaufman.
So the source seems legit and the consequences of being a jerk are all spelled out for you right there in the post so there’s little reason to believe this isn’t true. Still, the whole thing seems a little extreme, even for EA, so we’re reluctant to call this one. If it does turn out to be the real deal though, be prepared for a fresh wave of hatred to come washing over all things EA.
TGR Verdict: Rumor Very Likely
Is Nintendo Hiding Issues About the DSi?Nintendo already faces an uphill slope with the DSi, and the main reason for it is that the company is primed to be a victim of its own success. Word is already coming that only 3.6 percent of Japanese gamers are planning to buy the device "soon," and now we’re getting word that the handheld may be riddled with bugs and gimped from its earlier version as well.
The first major issue to crop up is compatibility, with an unnamed developer saying that not all DS games will work on the DSi after all. According to this poor soul, his company is working on a DS game which works fine when put in Nintendo’s older handheld, but as soon as it slips into the DSi, the title freezes and refuses to load. Due to this fact, his game can’t receive certification and the future of the project is in jeopardy. Now if this is the case with a game currently in development, what happens to all those DS games already out on store shelves? Will some of them not work either? Nintendo is sticking to their guns, flatly stating that "All DS titles are compatible with DSi, with the exception of those that require use of the GBA slot."
Making this compatibility rumor all the more juicy is the breaking news that the DSi was was originally meant to have a GBA slotbut it was cut because Nintendo wanted the device to be slimmer. Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata himself was pained over the decision to cut the slot, because the DSi was done and ready for production before the plug was pulled. Somewhere along the line somebody decided small and light was more important than adding another feature, and the system was stripped of one of hardcore crowd pleasers.
But what of the DS/DSi compatibility issue? It’s a pretty bold statement for Nintendo to make to say that every DS game will work on the DSi, but they seem adamant. In this case, we believe it may be a problem on the developer’s end rather than that of Nintendo, but we’ll continue to keep an eye on the situation. For now though, we err on the side of caution.
TGR Verdict: Rumor Unlikely
Is Sony at Work on a Break Apart Motion Controller?
Given the Wii’s oustanding success, which is based largely on its ability to implement motion controls into gaming, we are constantly barraged by speculation as to when the other two console manufacturers are going to get with the times and make their own waggle wands. Well in the case of Sony at least the answer may be any day now.
According to a patent filed by Sony earlier this year, the company is planning on creating their own break apart motion controller for the PS3. From the sounds of things, the device will work using motion sensing, as well as light and sound readings coming from both the controller itself and the PlayStation Eye camera. When put all together, the whole thing is meant to be the most immersive game experience ever created.
The device was originally discovered by a NeoGaf user, who also posted a number of diagrams of what the new device may look like. Judging by the pictures, the controller will have a number of different configurations, making it fairly customizable and very diverse. The only potential downside is that some of the configurations look horribly dumb, and may get you laughed at by your less considerate friends.
Sony hasn’t yet commented on the issue so we can’t call this confirmed, but it seems highly likely. While patent filings like these sometimes die without any action, it’s easy to believe that this is a legitimate creation, and the fact that the paperwork was filed fairly recently says that this is something Sony definitely has on the table right now. Now we just sit and wait for the official confirmation, hopefully it won’t take long.
TGR Verdict: Rumor Very Likely
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