Chalk this one up to Over-Enthusiastic date entry clerks. Adding fuel to the fire known as the Possibility of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360 was a UK online retailer known as HMV whom had a pre-order listing for the title on their website for the Xbox 360. The listing caused fanboys everywhere to come out with fingers blazing assuming it as evidence that the highly anticipated PlayStation 3 title was no longer going to be exclusive.
“In his enthusiasm, one of our online games team indicated that hmv.co.uk would start taking pre-orders for MGS4 on Xbox 360, when, in fact, he simply meant to ask customers if they wished to receive an alert in the event of this title one day coming out on this platform. We’re sorry to have caused such a stir - the oversight has now been corrected.”
Strangely, the site still bears a listing for an Xbox 360 Version with a 5 month later release date, however, it lacks a concept cover unlike its later added PlayStation 3 counter-part.
Although Konami and Sony both continue to maintain that Metal Gear Solid 4 is a PlayStation 3 exclusive, numerous reports and rumours continue to add sustenance to the fire known as the rumor of MGS4 on the Xbox 360
GameSpot probably gives the best advice in this situation:
Please note, while retailer listings frequently jump the gun on publishers’ product announcements, they should not be taken as final confirmation of a game’s existence; nor should the absence of a listing be considered as proof that a game isn’t coming to a given platform.
According to SCEA’s Dave Karraker, a new Playstation 3 SIXAXIS controller prototype has been sent out to the development community.
According to Karraker, the new version of the SIXAXIS is more of a tweak rather than a full on revision. It has slightly enhanced sensitivity for the analog sticks and motion sensing. He also made sure to point out that rumble has not been added to the PS3 and they do not have any “announcements regarding this feature”.
As reported by GamePolitics, Ryan Brant, former CEO of Take Two copped a plea deal and cooperated with prosecutors. He agreed to pay $7.3 Million in to federal and state agencies. He will also serve a sentence of five years probation.
Two other Take Two employee’s, Former General Counsel Kenneth Selterman and Ex-Chief Accounting Officer Patti Tay also plead guilty.
“I’m deeply sorry for my role as an executive in the company and my role in the options dating process”, Brant said to the judge.
As reported by GamePolitics, the lengthy rant by twistedsymphony seems to have brought up a very interesting observation. ICE, a government agency whose purpose is to police Intellectual Property violations is in itself violating intellectual property (IP) by using photos of mod chips and related items taken dirctly from websites and/or advertisements.
If twistedsymphony is right in his statements, the IP enforcement agency is bragging about its operation with IP:
There is some cruel irony that none of the [photos] provided are actually owned by ICE or the DHS but are rather copyrighted images created and owned by the modchip manufacturers and stripped straight off of their websites.
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At the Xbox Scene forums, a modder who goes by twistedsymphony writes what is possibly the most lucid, detailed, clear, concise, and emphatic criticism of the actions undertaken by ICE last week in the raid against chippers. The following is his commetary in its entirety, unabridged and uncut. We mind you this is a lengthy read, but it is well worth it.
As many of you have probably heard, and perhaps most people probably have not, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in conjunction with “representatives” from the electronics industry recently raided 32 different modchip installers and distributors in the US. The largest strike against the modding community of it’s kind. I know many of the people who were effected by this, not personally, but I know enough that I could probably name all 32 installers who were hit with a little work. I don’t believe I’ve ever purchased anything from any of these businesses, nor have I ever owned or operated an installer business (if I mod something I mod it for my own personal use).
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In our previous article, we covered the basic nit-and-grit of last weeks raid on mod-chippers across 16 states as a total 32 search warrants were carried out. We also made no effort to hide our displeasure with the circumstances. Other bloggers, chippers, and media outlets have also sounded off on the topic.
From the right comes Consertive Gamer whom offers their own bit of harsh criticism of the actions, while also comparing it to the current immigration debate:
While the United States currently plays host to anywhere from 12-20 million illegal aliens, and states and cities are being forced to handle the problem themselves, it seems that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is playing games instead of focusing on more pressing matters…
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We’re a bit late catching on to this story, however, due to its level of importance, we cannot avoid publishing it. As most are already aware, Federal Agents working with the ESA recently raided mod-chip outlets across 16 states in the U.S.A. this past week. The problem is, was it worth it?
As is the general sentiment, we’re not too thrilled that our tax dollars are being wasted on busting guys who chip an Xbox so they can use XBMC (Xbox Media Center). While ICE and the ESA seem to be pretty proud of themselves, respectively touting comments such as:
The search warrants were executed at businesses, storefronts, and residences located in California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin at locations associated with subjects who are allegedly involved in the direct importation, installation, sale, and distribution of the devices that are of foreign manufacture and smuggled into the United States.The modification chips and circumvention devices allow users to play illegally obtained, pirated and/or counterfeit software on video game consoles including Sony’s Playstation 2, Microsoft’s XBOX and XBOX 360, and Nintendo’s Wii. Modification chips and swap discs for gaming consoles violate laws under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA). According to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the makers of the gaming consoles, game developers, and others in the industry have incurred billions of dollars in losses worldwide due to sales lost to those selling counterfeit and pirated video games.
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