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FCC to Rule Against Comcast in Torrent Scandal

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. ...

Red Steel 2 to Utilize Wii MotionPlus

A sequel to Ubisoft's first-person sword and gunplay title Red Steel will make use of Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus peripheral, a device which drastically increases the motion sensitivity of the Wii Remote.

The peripheral was first demonstrated at Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference along with Wii Sports Resort, the only announced title to make use of the device at that time. The game and Wii MotionPlus will be sold together as a bundle in the spring of 2009.

"Red Steel [is] the typical product that will appreciate the new device," Ubisoft executive director Alain Corre told GamesIndustry.biz. "Red Steel 2 has been in development for many months now, and this new device will help us be even more precise in what we do with the product."...

QuakeCon 2008 Coverage Kicks Off This Week, Shacknews Joins Sponsors, Spots Still Open

QuakeCon 2008 officially ramps up this Thursday in Dallas, Texas. Shacknews will be representin' at the big show, with Nick and Steve checking out such titles as id Software's Rage, the browser-based shooter Quake Live, Raven Software's Wolfenstein and others.

In addition to the usual round-up of playable games, the exhibition will also host tournaments for Quake Live and both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Among the prizes are entries into a drawing for a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe, valued at approximately $55,000.

Attendees should also check out the Shacknews-sponsored IDGA Quakecon charity poker tournament, benefiting Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity. Buy in is $30, and prizes include a choice between a Dell laptop and a Texas I...

EA: PS3 Red Alert 3 Cancellation Due to 'Exotic and Tough' Development Environment

Following the indefinite hold of the PlayStation 3 version of EALA's Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC, 360), publisher Electronic Arts has revealed that the title was shelved due to development issues on the platform.

"We actually announced a PS3 version early on but that was when we were still doing a lot of technical exploration of the architecture," EALA producer Amer Ajami told Videogamer. "PS3 is a very powerful system but as you guys know it's very exotic and tough to develop for and our engine really at the time wasn't designed for PS3."...

Afro Samurai Delayed to January 27

Namco Bandai's samurai anime adaptation Afro Samurai (PS3, 360) will hit retailer shelves on January 27 of next year, the developer announced today.

Namco Bandai had previously slated the title for a vague fall 2008 release date, marking a slight delay for the hack-and-slash title.

Based on the anime of same name, Afro Samurai features action gameplay with a pronounced emphasis on strategic swordplay and dodging. As with the North American adaptation of the animated series, the protagonist will be voiced by veteran actor Samuel L. Jackson.