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

Though Valve has hoped to release Team Fortress 2 add-on content as a free download for console users, company co-founder Gabe Newell now says that the console business model is getting in the way.

"The big concern I have right now is our ability to provide updates," said Newell to videogaming247. "On the PC side, we've done as many as four updates in a day, and that's great: we can respond very quickly."

Newell continued:

If Nvidia puts out a new graphics driver and it changes some way about how texture management works, then before our customers know there's any issue then the problem has gone away. Or we can do the Pyro updates, and the Medic updates [and so on].

On the consoles, they want us to charge money for them... Read more

Spore lead designer Will Wright revealed that the religious elements in EA Maxis' upcoming life-sim Spore (PC, Mac) has unexpectedly earned more criticism from athiests than religious groups.

The game sports a focus on the evolution of creatures from the cellular level all the way to the point of interstellar travel. The game's civilization stage, in which players control groups of creatures in an RTS-like fashion, allows players to select from a militaristic, economic, or spiritual society.

"I didn't expect to hit hot buttons on the atheist side as much; I expected it on the religious side," Wright told Eurogamer. "But so far I've had no critical feedback at all from anybody who is religious feeling that we were misrepresenting... Read more

Regulators at the Federal Communications Commission will rule that communications giant Comcast violated U.S. federal policy by throttling network performance of the BitTorrent file sharing protocol, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Comcast claimed it throttled traffic to prevent its network from being bogged down by heavy users of the file-sharing protocol. While BitTorrent is regularly used for legitimate purposes—Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Online (PS3) employs the service to distribute patch updates—it is often utilized to share movies, music, and other copyrighted data.

Comcast is expected to challenge the decision, which also requires the company to make its practices explicit to its customers. If successfully upheld, the ruling would set a precedent restricting communications companies such as Comcast from selectively limiting data speeds for particular services.

No fine was given as part of the ruling, which requires Comcast to stop blocking or slowing internet traffic and make its practices clearer to its customers... Read more

Responding to criticism that the Nintendo's E3 showings lacked a major first-party Wii title aimed at the hardcore gamer, president Satoru Iwata has apologized to those who felt betrayed.

"We are sorry about [the E3] media briefings, specifically for those who were expecting to see Nintendo show something about Super Mario or Legend of Zelda," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Forbes.

During Nintendo's recent E3 press conference, the company appeared to focus on casual-oriented titles, such as Animal Crossing: City Folk and Wii Sports Resort, and quickly glossed over major hardcore announcements, such as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on DS and word that the teams for Mario and Zelda were working on new, unspecified titles.

"If there is any perception that Nintendo is ignoring the core gamers, it's a misunderstanding and we really want to get rid of that misunderstanding by any means," he continued. "The so-called big titles need a long, long development period...we really didn't think this year's E3 media briefing was the time to... Read more

Despite assurances from developer Namco that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Soul Calibur would feature "no major additions or subtractions" over the beloved Dreamcast edition, the recent port lacks the original's substantial Mission Mode.

Essentially the game's single-player campaign, Mission Mode provided players with hours of additional gameplay through various objective-based fights, and also served as a means to unlock new content. All of the unlockable items, such as characters and concept art, are now immediately available at the game's outset.

Mission Mode's absence eliminates the bulk of the single-player gameplay from the fighter, which was released yesterday as a $10 download on the Xbox 360.

All of the title's other modes--Arcade, Time Attack, Team Battle, Practice, Survival, Extra Survival, Museum and the offline-only Vs Battle--remain intact.

Namco has yet to comment on the reason behind the exclusion. It is likely that the 188 MB title entered development while the previous 150 MB XBLA file size limit was in effect, though prioritizing bonus artwork over an entire gameplay mode seems curious.

In a preemptive strike against community outrage, Diablo III (PC) lead producer Keith Lee explained the merits and practicality behind the game's new art direction at last weekend's Blizzard Worldwide Invitational.

"One of the things that we considered when we were working on the visuals for Diablo III is the fact that color is your friend," Lee told MTV Multiplayer. "We feel that color actually helps to create a lot of highlights in the game so that there is contrast. A great analogy is like in Lord of the Rings—not everything is dark."

Following the debut of the game at the Worldwide Invitational, fans displeased by the game's vibrant new color palette issued a petition declaring that they "seriously want some changes in the artistic direction of the game so it could be more ... Read more

Publisher Yuke's Company of America has released a new trailer for its downloadable title Double D Dodgeball, in development for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade platform.

Double D Dodgeball brings a new futuristic presentation to the classic playground sport, and features both Eastern and Western dodgeball rules in matches for up to eight players online.

The game will be priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10) when it debuts on July 30. Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Several gamers have complained that the digital rights management software built into the PC version of BioWare's Mass Effect (PC, 360) only allows three lifetime installations, regardless of whether the user uninstalls the game.

According to consumer advocacy website The Consumerist, a tech support representative at publisher Electronic Arts confirmed to a user on the official Mass Effect forums that no additional activations are earned by uninstalling the game.

Those gamers who have reached their three install limit must contact EA technical support to request additional activations. Though the protocol is meant to guard against piracy, many affected users claim that hardware issues, operating system ... Read more

Following Time Warner's announcement that it plans to meter internet usage in North America, telecom corporation AT&T revealed that it is considering a similar plan to charge consumers extra for exceeding internet usage caps.

Company spokesman Michael Coe explained to the Associated Press that the top 5 percent of AT&T's DSL customers consume 46% of its total bandwidth, and overall usage is doubling every year and a half.

"A form of usage-based pricing for those customers who have abnormally high usage patterns is inevitable," Coe said, adding that AT&T has not yet decided on any specific plans or fees for its subscription packages.

While relatively common overseas, capped internet subscription programs have been rather scarce in the United States, and are likely to concern some gamers.

An HD movie downloaded from Microsoft's online Xbox Live Marketplace typically weighs in at 4.5GB, and demos of upcoming games can be in excess of a full... Read more

Time Warner Cable, the second largest cable internet provider in the US, has announced that it will begin field testing a new plan to meter internet usage.

The plans will introduce various choices of bandwidth caps and per-gigabyte overage charges to its customers in Beaumont, Texas. Time Warner executive Kevin Leddy told the AP that the metering will be rolled out in Beaumont starting this Thursday:

Tiers will range from $29.95 a month for relatively slow service at 768 kilobits per second and a 5-gigabyte monthly cap, to $54.90 per month for fast downloads at 15 megabits per second and a 40-gigabyte cap. Those prices cover the Internet portion of subscription bundles that include video or phone services. Both downloads and uploads will count toward the monthly cap.

"We think it's the fairest way to finance the needed investment in the infrastructure," said Leddy, who noted that 5 percent of Time Warner subscribers use up 50 percent of the company's available bandwidth. The company will charge customers $1 per every gigabyte used over their cap.

Bandwidth caps are a concern for gamers using services such as Microsoft's Xbox Live, where demos of titles can run in the multiple-gigabyte range. Valve's Steam service allows gamers to purchase and download PC games that can... Read more

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