Disciples of Gaming

Software pirates may want to reconsider downloading that leaked copy of Halo Reach in advance of the game's September 14 release date. Microsoft is issuing permanent Xbox Live bans for anyone it catches playing unauthorized versions of Reach.

Xbox Live's director of policy and enforcement Stephen Toulouse commented on his Twitter, "As with all unauthorized play on Xbox LIVE, anyone playing any unauthorized title runs the risk of account permaban and console," adding, "Legit store bought copy runs no risk of ban. Key word: UNAUTHORIZED. We have ways of knowing."

Don't want your console permanently exiled from Xbox Live? Then don't pirate games, dummy. And have a little patience; September ain't that far away.

Source: 1Up.com

As good as a Call of Duty campaign is, the multiplayer is easily where the lasting power of the franchise lies -- it's the reason why people like Tina Sanchez and Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono keep on playing Modern Warfare 2. And while Treyarch has shown some nifty stuff for single-player, the studio has only released a teaser trailer for multiplayer and has remained silent since then.

Until next week, where Activision is hosting a Call of Duty: Black Ops Multiplayer Premiere event. Both Tina and Thierry Nguyen will be in attendance to see first-hand what's it like to double-stab dudes in multiplayer. We'll start with the Live Blog (embedded below) of the multiplayer presentation, then we'll also be posting impressions, footage, and maybe even a video interview. We're assuming the venue has a decent Wi-Fi signal, but in case it doesn't, you can also follow the 1UP Live Blog Twitter account

According to Activision, the presentation should begin around 6:00pm Pacific on September 1. Stay tuned to this story.

Source: 1Up.com

We already heard tell of Rockstar's plans to release a slew of downloadable content for Red Dead Redemption, but now the company has released more details on its "Liars and Cheats" pack. As previously reported, it will cost $9.99, or 800 Microsoft Points. If you're looking for a deadline to gather up that money, the DLC is now set to release on September 21.

The Liars and Cheats pack will include multiplayer poker, liar's dice, and horse races, along with a new explosive rifle, seven gang hideouts, four hunting grounds, an attack/defend multiplayer mode, posse leaderboards, and 15 new multiplayer characters.

Rockstar has also announced that the "Free Roam Pack," which was previously announced as its own piece of DLC, is now being included as part of the Liars and Cheats pack. The company claims this is due to platform restrictions on how many pieces of content can be released for free. The pack will include more free roam challenges, action areas, and anti-griefing measures. Rockstar is also planning to update the game so the have-nots can still play with the haves.

Source: 1Up.com

While Microsoft has only really shown two people at most enjoying a Kinect game together in all their promotional material, that doesn't mean the technology isn't able to follow more players at once. Speaking to Videogamer, Xbox general manager Kudo Tsunoda said the limitation is really up to what developers think would work best for their games, but Kinect could recognize additional players if they wanted it to.

"I think that it all depends on the kind of experience that you want to build," Tsunoda said during GamesCom last week. "Certainly if you look at a game, go down on the floor, Dance Central is already incorporating a lot more than two players. So you know it's not necessarily any kind of limitation as much as it is developers just trying to customize the experiences around what they think is the best way to play."

We're not quite sure what Tsunoda means when he refers to Dance Central, as the game's multiplayer actually has two players taking turns and not dancing in front of Kinect simultaneously. But Tsunoda assures that Kinect could follow multiple people if developers wanted it to -- it's just up to whether developers would want it to. "You can see like sometimes in a split-screen game it's hard to add more and more players because it's hard to see what's going on -- and that's true of any game," he said.

Especially, we imagine, if that means three or more people flailing their arms and legs together in a small living room.