Bowing to public pressure, internet provider Time Warner has canceled its plans to expand trials of metered internet usage, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The program, which establishes a hard limit for bandwidth usage and charges users if they go over that limit, was set to hit Rochester, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C. in August, and will expand to San Antonio and Austin, TX in October.

Many were concerned about impact this could have with the growing popularity of digital distribution and internet streaming technology in games and game-related services.

However, a trial in Beaumont, TX, underway since last year, will continue, with the company claiming that only 16% of users in Beaumont were affected by the caps.

Furthermore, the company will still pursue the concept, which it argues is vital because "Internet demand is rising at a rate that could outpace capacity within a few years."

"While we continue to believe that consumption-based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views," said Time Warner executive Glenn Britt.

As it continues to field test metered bandwidth usage in the U.S., internet provider Time Warner has revised, detailed and defended its current and upcoming trials.

The revisions include a lower-priced entry plan and higher data caps. The company argues that tiered plans--in which customers have a set bandwidth limit and are charged if they go over--are necessary because "Internet demand is rising at a rate that could outpace capacity within a few years" and "could result in Internet brownouts."

Overage charges will be limited to $75 per month. "That means that for $150 per month customers could have virtually unlimited usage at Turbo speeds," said the company.

Time Warner is not alone in its hopes to bring the model, which is already used overseas, to the United States. Many worry about the impact this could have on gaming, especially as digital downloads and streaming services like OnLive gain popularity.

The company stressed that these are trials, adding "our plans will evolve as well and aren't set in stone" and that it looks "forward to more dialogue as we... Read more

Following the unpopular news yesterday that Braid PC would cost $5 more than the Xbox 360 version of the game, the creator of the title has now reduced the price to the original $15 figure.

"Yesterday, Stardock announced that they would be selling Braid at the end of March for $19.95," wrote Braid developer Jonathan Blow on his blog. "This price has proven to be unpopular in certain areas of the Internets, so I've reduced it to $14.95."

"Some people have asked why I picked the $20 price point," he continued. "The answer is, I just looked at some comparable games on the PC and saw how much they were charging."

Blow cited Crayon Physics Deluxe, World of Goo and Aquaria as examples of PC indie titles priced at $20.

"Ultimately, I would rather have people talking about the game itself, what they like and dislike about it, than about how many American Fiat Currency Dollars it costs," concluded Blow, who noted that two additional distribution platforms for Braid PC will be announced shortly.

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

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

Update: Valve let us know that Steam now takes care of this issue: "Owners of the retail version of NBA 2K9 for the PC may now install their games without the CD key, provided the disc is in the drive. And those considering a purchase of NBA 2K9 may do so without concern of installation issues related to the lack of a CD key."

Original Story: According to a seven page thread on the 2K Sports forums, the company forgot something important when it shipped the PC version of NBA 2K9 (also, PS3, X360) to stores: there is no CD key to be found anywhere in the box. "I just located 2k9 for the PC and when i got it, it does not include a cd key but says it needs one to install...what do i do?" asks the starter of the thread, with other posters confirming a similiar situation no matter what store the game was obtained from.

2K Sports has acknowledged the issue, noting that the company is "working hard on a solution." That solution should be posted on this page later today.

Thanks to Tom Tran for the tip.

Update 2: Sony has announced that LittleBigPlanet will now ship the week of October 27 in North America, with more details having surfaced on the song in question.

Update: LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule has revealed via its official site that a day-one patch was just completed and would have removed the offensive material.

However, publisher Sony decided that the "right thing to do for quality and support of people with no on-line was to replace existing disks." The company has yet to issue a new release date for the anticipated PlayStation 3 platforming game.

Original Story: Media Molecule's highly anticipated LittleBigPlanet (PS3) is facing a delay and recall from retailers--just a few days shy of release--after being finished nearly a month ago. CVG obtained this statement from Sony's European branch:

During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur'an. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused.

Eurogamer has confirmed that the delay is worldwide. Further... 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."

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

Responding to fan outcry that legitimate owners of Spore (PC) could only create one online account for the evolution simulator, developer Maxis has announced plans to implement a new system that will allow multiple screen names per account.

In essence, the move allows each account to have up to five sub-accounts, dubbed screen names. Each screen name has almost all the perks of an individual account, including proper accreditation for created creatures in the Sporepedia.

The one flaw in the system lies with achievements. Until an update for the game is released, achievements may be improperly awarded to the wrong screen name.

"If I'm logged and play for 99 hours, and then I log off and my sister logs in and plays for 1 hour, she'll get the honor of the 100 hours achievement, and I won't... Read more

EA Maxis' PC everything-sim Spore will soon get an update loosening one of its copy protection limits and allowing customers to de-activate existing installations of the game.

The game's three-installation limit has sparked full-blown Internet Rage for users' inability to de-activate installations in a method like Apple's iTunes. "Right now, with our solution, you can't. But there is a patch coming for that," EA representative Mariam Sughayer told MTV Multiplayer. No timeframe other than "near future" was given for the update.

EA also provided some numbers which it claims are a sample--not actual sales figures--backing up earlier claims that the three-install limit affected less than one percent of users. Sure enough, by EA's numbers, 0.9% of Mass Effect PC owners had tried to exceed the limit, while only 0.4% have managed to hit the same barrier with Spore. 83% of Spore owners had installed the game just once.

Spore's other DRM limitations, like restricting online accounts to one per copy, will stay in place.

Diablo III lead designer Jay Wilson has predicted that some fans will inevitably take exception to the next class his team will announce, while adding that the swapping of classes is necessary to establish the game's "identity."

"All the Barbarian players are delighted and all the Necromancers hate us. I understand, I don't begrudge them that," said Wilson to VideoGamer.com. "I would hate me too! But what I would say is that when we announce the next class, which is quite similar to a previous class, then all those players will hate us too."

Blizzard has already confirmed that the Barbarian will be the only class to return from Diablo or Diablo II. The announced Witch Doctor class is largely seen as a replacement of Diablo II's Necromancer.

"You can't make everybody happy," continued Wilson, "but I think when the game finally come out players will find there's a good class for them, one they will love as much as the ones that came before. And if they don't, I absolutely promise that in the expansions we'll consider bringing back old classes. We just don't want to do it with the first release. We want to establish our identity."

Consumers upset over the anti-piracy measures imposed on Maxis' Spore by publisher Electronic Arts are now fighting back using the game's creature creator.

Several DRM-themed, anti-EA creatures were found in the Sporepedia by GameCulture. Many make reference to Spore's use of SecuROM technology, which limits users from installing the game more than three times before having to contact Electronic Arts for further installs.

Last week, the Spore product page on Amazon.com was flooded with hundreds of negative reviews of the game, nearly all citing the title's install-limiting DRM.

In response, Electronic Arts downplayed the controversy by stating that fewer than 25 percent of users will ever install the game on more than one machine, with less than 1 percent installing on more than three computers.

Spore publisher Electronic Arts has confirmed that legitimate buyers of Maxis' celebrated PC evolution game can only create one online account per copy, sparking outrage in households with more than one player.

Though the game's manual clearly states that "you may have multiple Spore accounts for each installation of the game," EA representative Violet confirmed "that section in the manual was a misprint" on the title's official forum.

One of the game's major selling points, a Spore account allows players to access the game's online functionality and Sporepedia, allowing them to share creations online and automatically populate the in-game universe with new lifeforms.

"There is one Spore registration/account per game/serial code so you... Read more

Reigniting the "Diablo III is too colorful" controversy, DIII.Net and fan Sozou bring us a Diablo III gameplay trailer meant to show what Blizzard's anticipated PC RPG would look like, in motion, under a desaturated art style.

In Blizzard's previous judgments of darker fan renderings, Diablo III designer Jay Wilson stressed that desaturated color made it more difficult to identify on-screen objects and therefore reduced the ease of play. The author of the video below feels that he addresses these concerns while still giving the game a "darker" ambiance.

Wilson also noted that some other fan renderings sported effects that certainly looked pretty, but aren't possible in the current engine.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Steve's Take: At this point it is really just getting painful, but for all the nerds in a huff over this stuff, finally seeing the game in motion with these alleged color "improvements" was worth a look.

Diablo 2, which came out about a decade ago, actually has gamma and brightness controls within the video menus. So you can tell even back then Blizzard was dealing with color issues with the franchise. Probably more due to inconsistency in color reproduction of CRTs back then, but they were aware of it and addressed it. It really wouldn't be terribly surprising to see one or two other video options in Diablo 3.

Yesterday, we covered an interview with GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo in which he predicted continued shortages for the Nintendo Wii this holiday season. In the same interview, DeMatteo had a few things to say about digital distribution, many of which could be expected of the leader of the gaming world's biggest brick-and-mortar retailer.

"The first digital distribution was Napster and it was illegal. Let's just start there," he commented, starting a lengthy diatribe in which he credited GameStop's famed used game trade for making "the average value of a current generation game ... about $20" after accounting for GameStop's buy and sell prices for used games.

David Perry, the founder of now-defunct Shiny Entertainment and CCO of Acclaim Games, felt the need to publicly respond to DeMatteo's treatment of the digital distribution industry, and in so doing wrote an even more lengthy letter to GameDaily. "I'm a major fan of GameStop," he began, "[but] I hate to think someone this powerful can put out this kind of nonsense in an interview and confuse professional investors."

The entire text of Perry's letter follows:... Read more

Internet provider Comcast has announced that it will limit residential cable internet bandwidth to 250GB per month starting October 1st.

The plan, according to The Channel Wire and SFGate, does not specify a charge for going over that 250GB cap, but will have Comcast notifing customers of overages and terminating the accounts of repeat offenders.

Comcast claims that median high-speed internet use in the United States is 2 to 3GB per month, making the 250GB limit generous in most cases, but the cap looms over gamers who consume increasing amounts of bandwidth to use digital distribution services ranging from Valve's Steam, to iTunes, Netflix, Xbox Live, and the PlayStation Network.

For example, a single high-definition movie download from the Xbox Live Marketplace ... Read more