BioWare producer Derek French recently caused an uproar after announcing that copy protection on the PC editions of Mass Effect and Spore would require online validation every 10 days in order for the games to continue functioning.

In the face of increasing pressure, BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts today relented, updating the official Mass Effect PC FAQ to note that validation will now only be required when the player downloads new game content.

Q: If the game isn't going to require an authentication every 10 days, will it ever require re-authentication?

A: Only if the player chooses to download new game content.

Electronic Arts also released a statement mentioning that Spore's copy protection will be similarly changed to allow for offline play, only requiring validation on a patch or game content update.

The publisher further noted that the protection will still only allow users to authenticate each game on up to three computers. Approval of further authorizations... Read more

North American internet provider Comcast is evaluating a monthly bandwidth cap and charging users that exceed the limit, according to dslreports.com.

At present, the company is considering an download cap of 250GB a month, with a $15 charge for every 10GB that exceed the limit. The plan is similar to that of several international internet providers, which set a bandwidth cap and slow a user's connection once that limit is reached.

While Comcast claims the 250GB limit is said to only affect 0.1% of users, it would set a precedent that could allow internet providers to begin to establish lower bandwidth caps and restrict uploads as well. That might have an effect on gamers, especially as the industry shifts further towards digital distribution.

Valve's Steam service allows users to download full games measuring several gigabytes in size. An HD movie downloaded from Microsoft's... Read more

Update: Electronic Arts has relented to the pressure.

Original story: BioWare technical producer Derek French has said that the PC versions of both Mass Effect and Spore will make use of copy protection that will require online validation every ten days in order for the games to continue working.

"After the first activation, SecuROM requires that [Mass Effect PC] re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez'd and gets banned)," said French in a post on the BioWare forums.

If customers do not come online after ten days, the game will cease to function.

"After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run," added French. "..An internet connection is not required to install, just to activate the first time, and every 10 days after."

The check is run when users activate the game's executable file, with the first re-check coming within "5 days remaining in the 10 day window."

According to French, Maxis' Spore will also make use of the same scheme: "[Electronic Arts] is ready for us and getting ready for Spore, which will use the same system."

French also noted that the online requirement will be clearly labeled on the games' packaging.

Following yesterday's launch of Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360), the Shacknews staff and many are finding it difficult to play the online multiplayer of the PlayStation 3 version.

Following reports from many readers that PS3 multiplayer access was sporadic, Shacknews attempted to play online and was presented with an error message that read "Cannot connect to game provider."

Shacknews can confirm that the PS3 edition was playable online in the hours following the game's midnight launch. It is believed that the servers are struggling due to high demand, similar to the problems that afflicted Xbox Live this past winter.

In Shacknews' experience, the connectivity difficulties do not affect the Xbox 360 iteration, which continues to have a functioning multiplayer component. As with the freezing issues that surfaced yesterday, developer and publisher Rockstar has yet to make any official comment.

Update: The Shacknews staff can now assert that it has experienced several lockups on multiple Xbox 360 consoles while trying to exit the game's multiplayer component.

Original Story: As is the case with many anticipated launches, reports are spreading across the internet that Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) players are experiencing system freezes across both editions, with its introductory sequence said to be especially prone to lockups.

Judging from the reports, it seems that the 60GB model of the PlayStation 3 is most affected by the issue, with NeoGAF poster Marty Chin offering his observation that "trying the same disc on another model often results in it working."

While developer Rockstar has yet to make any official statement regarding the issue, a support representative told Kotaku that the company is well aware of the complaints and working on a fix, though it is not yet sure what is causing the problems.

Though the Shacknews staff and our readers have put multiple hours into both versions, we have yet to experience any system freezes or notice any claims of such problems in our dedicated chat thread, though complaints are beginning to surface in this article's comments.

A patch meant to address freezing glitches and other technical issues in the Xbox 360 version of Rockstar's Bully: Scholarship Edition is now available for download via Xbox Live.

Players will be prompted to download the update when they boot the game while connected to Xbox Live. The patch brings the game to version 1.03, as displayed in the lower-right corner of the title screen.

The delayed release of the patch, which was initially slated to arrive last week, was attributed to longer-than-expected certification times.

The dual-layer DVD used in the production of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) may cause the game to be unreadable in "a very small percentage of Wii consoles," Nintendo has revealed.

Released yesterday in North America, the highly-anticipated mascot brawler has a roster filled with characters from the company's past efforts, along with Metal Gear protagonist Solid Snake and iconic blue speedster Sonic the Hedgehog.

According to Nintendo, some Wii consoles may have difficulty reading the game disc due to "contamination on the lens of the disc drive," the remedy of which mandates a visit to the nearest repair center.

To resolve any potential problems, the company has created a dedicated support page for those afflicted in North America. There will be no charge for the repair or shipping of the console itself, and the company notes that it is upgrading its inbound and outbound shipping "to expedite the total repair process."

A downloadable fix for the problems that many are experiencing with the Xbox 360 edition of Bully: Scholarship Edition is due within the next week, developer Rockstar has announced.

"We will be releasing a title update through Xbox Live within the next week that we are confident will rectify the problem," noted PR spokesperson Darlan Monterisi.

Reports began to surface earlier this week that the enhanced Xbox 360 edition of the original PlayStation 2 title suffered from numerous issues, including system-stopping freezups, audio sync problems, and achievement glitches. The Wii version, which was also released this week, is not said to be affected.

Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser soon spoke out, claiming the company had encountered no such issues during internal testing and was working around the clock to resolve the problems.

"We apologize wholeheartedly for the inconvenience that this matter has caused some owners of the game," Monterisi continued. "We are very aware of the problems some people have been experiencing with the Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition and have been doing everything within our powers to resolve these issues as quickly as possible."

Update 2: An official statement from Rockstar on the Bully: Scholarship Edition issues is forthcoming, a Rockstar representative has told Shacknews.

Update 1: Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser has responded, claiming that the company never encountered any problems while testing Bully: Scholarship Edition on the Xbox 360 and is working to solve the issues as soon as possible.

"It appears that some older 360s are experiencing framerate issues, freezes and other problems," he told Kotaku. "I am horrified, and we are now working around the clock to rectify this situation."

"We apologise to everyone affected for the inconvenience," Houser continued. "We would never shove anything out the door--we never have and never will."

Original Story: Reports are surfacing across the internet of freezing glitches and other technical issues in the just-released Xbox 360 edition of Rockstar ... Read more

The Halloween release of Flagship Studio's RPG Hellgate: London isn't going as smoothly as it could be, with news coming that the optional subscription service remains offline as the game is being put up on store shelves.

"Subscriptions are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues," reads a post to the official Hellgate website. "You are still able to create accounts and all players will be able to subscribe as soon as this is resolved. For users who have had difficulties subscribing, we are investigating these issues and will attempt to resolve them as soon as possible."

Most subscription bonuses are long-term perks, but the game's "Hardcore" mode, "elite" items, guild-creation ability, and extra character slots will be unavailable for would-be subscribers in the meantime.

As with any high-profile game release these days, a few scandals have cropped up in the wake of Halo 3's launch last Tuesday. Apart from some quickly resolved Xbox Live issues, two other subjects keep coming up: whether or not Halo 3 actually runs in high definition and Halo developer Bungie's future with Microsoft.

640p vs. HD
The high definition argument initially came about as a result of some dedicated "jaggie counters" who claimed that Halo 3 rendered vertically at 640 pixels instead of 720. Since the game doesn't actually run in 720p--technically the picture is scaled from 640p to the user-configured preferred resolution--these folks and countless others claimed that Bungie had deceived the gaming populace into buying a game that wasn't really HD. Therefore, they wanted Bungie to, among other things, remove any mentions of HD, 720p and higher resolutions from the game and other relevant materials.

The Explanation
Bungie later confirmed the brewing scandal in its latest weekly update. "The reason we chose this slightly unorthodox resolution and this very... Read more

In a story that has truly swept the nation, 2K Boston and Australia's BioShock release woes continue. The newest complaint stems from the PC version of BioShock, which uses SecuROM copyright protection, preventing users from installing the game more than two consecutive times.

Responding to the concerns, steadfast 2K Games community manager and soon-to-be mental patient Elizabeth Tobey explained the issue in a thread on the 2K Games forum.

"You can uninstall and reinstall this game, and if, by chance, you have 2 computers you want to simultaneously play this game on, you... Read more

In the continuation of a shockingly divisive story of many aspects and epic proportions, 2K Games has responded to allegations that BioShock's widescreen view is flawed, asserting that the various display modes are showing nothing but what was intended by the developers.

"We went through dozens of iterations and finally settled upon a widescreen aspect ratio that best suited the gameplay experience," said 2K community manager Elizabeth Tobey in response to the scandal. "Once this FOV was established, we chose to keep exactly the same horizontal FOV for standard def displays, so as not to in any way alter the gameplay experience.

"Instead of cropping the FOV for 4:3 displays and making all 4:3 owners mad in doing so," she continued, "we slightly extended the vertical FOV... Read more