So, did you hear about the guy who was banned for visiting a planet he shouldn’t have been visiting yet in the latest Star Wars MMO? There’s some truth to it and it didn’t just happen to that one guy. See, Star Wars: The Old Republic is still bright, shiny and new, which means sometimes more »

Some retailers such as Kmart sold early copies of Modern Warfare 3 to customers. Some customers tried to sell copies on eBay (one sold for $1,725), and others were just stoked they got early access to one of the most anticipated games of the year. Even though these games were obtained legally, playing them on Xbox Live could result in dire consequences. In other words, you could get banned. I think this is the most ridiculous situation I’ve read about all week.

Vietnam recently put restrictions in place for online gaming. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Information forced internet service providers to block access to online gaming between the hours of 10pm and 8am. The government hopes that by doing this, the amount of violence that is attributed to videogame playing will be reduced. Online gaming in Vietnam is seen as troublesome to officials there. They believe it can lead to deviant behavior, low grades and even death. It has been almost a week since the curfew was put in place, and Vietnam is dealing with the results.

We didn’t think it would happen, but it did. The Guardian reports that PS3 shipments coming into Europe have been snatched up by customs. A court order states that every PS3 coming into the country will be withheld for ten days at the least. This is the result of an ongoing legal dispute between Sony and LG.

Online cheaters, will you never change your evil ways?

Blizzard announced deploying the BanHammer (or BanLaser, as Blizzard calls it) on an undisclosed amount of Battle.net users for StarCraft II infractions. Blizzard’s announcement reminds those who cheat and hack that it’s not only dishonest but can cause stability problems for the entire network. The StarCraft end user license agreement allows Blizzard to permanently ban anyone caught cheating.

Gamers in Vietnam are going to find their evenings to be lacking by the beginning of March. At the request of the Ministry of Information and Communication, internet service providers in the country are asked to prohibit online gaming between the hours of 10pm to 8am.

The battle between Sony and hackers rages on. There’s no easy solution for Sony to fix the PS3 hacks that have been occurring recently. One of the only things Sony can do is issue warnings to those who are running unauthorized software. Sony also has the ability to permanently ban a console from accessing the PlayStation Network. Beyond that, developers have to implement additional security measures into their games instead of completely relying on the PS3′s security. The newest chapter in Sony’s piracy war is in favor of hackers. Apparently, they have found a way to ban PS3s, or unban PS3s at will.

Sony released PS3 firmware version 3.56 a couple days ago. This update added a security patch that was impressively hacked within hours of release. While Sony works to sort that out, it can at least be proud of one victory. The update also stealthily attacked gamers who were hacking Call of Duty: Black Ops. Many guilty parties have found their consoles to be banned from accessing the Black Ops servers.

Call of Duty: Black Ops allows you to customize certain features of your multiplayer avatar. You can create your own logo that can be placed next to your gamertag or on your weapon. Several layers of animation can be combined to make a unique emblem that can stand out from anyone else playing Black Ops. Some individuals have taken this liberty a bit too far and have recreated swastikas as their emblem. Microsoft is not tolerating that symbol and will ban anyone who uses it from Xbox Live.

Valve’s Steam service is the subject of scrutiny in some retail circles. Apparently Steam is way too successful for comfort. MCV reports at least two unnamed retailers (most likely UK based) are threatening to remove games from its stores if Steam integration is built into them. It wants publishers to remove Steam from physical copies of games from now on.