Battle.net users were reminded by the invisible hand earlier this week that any form of cheating would be taken seriously and result in an account ban. In order for users to remain in the green, they must be using an unmodified game client.

The statement that was release can be found below:

Blizzard Entertainment has always taken cheating in any form in Blizzard games very seriously, and that’s no different for StarCraft II. If a StarCraft II player is found to be cheating or using hacks or modifications in any form, then as outlined in our end user license agreement, that player can be permanently banned from the game. This means that the player will be permanently unable to log in to Battle.net to play StarCraft II with his or her account.

Playing StarCraft II legitimately means playing with an unaltered game client. Doing otherwise violates our policies for Battle.net, and it goes against the spirit of fair play that all of our games are based on. We strongly recommend that you avoid using any hacks, cheats, or exploits. Suspensions and bans of players that have used or start using cheats and hacks will begin in the near future.

More information about the statement can be found here.

Stores across the world opened at midnight for the launch of the latest instalment of the blockbuster Halo video game series. Hundreds and thousands waited in lines to get their hands on the first person shooter. In the US, more than 500 stores opened their doors at midnight, while glitzy events were held in New York’s Times Square, Stockholm, Seattle, Sydney, London and Oslo.

The title is the fourth in the series and the last from US developer Bungie. The previous edition, Halo 3, was at one time the biggest-selling game of all time. That record is now held by Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare. The first edition of Halo was released as a launch title for Microsoft’s XBox game console and became an immensely popular title, spawning a slew of sequels. The game sees players engaged in a futuristic war between humanity and a race of aliens hell-bent on mankind’s destruction.

This latest version sees the same game principles, but puts you in the role of a super-soldier called Noble 6 as he battles the alien collective. Guy Cocker, editor of gaming website GameSpot, said the title was “quite a big deal” and had generated a lot of excitement on the web.

We’re able to track activity and Halo Reach is the most popular game on the site right now. In comparison to Halo 3 though, I’m not sure how well it will go down. It’s had a good critical reception, but Microsoft are certainly spending a lot of money promoting the game.

The franchise has been a very successful venture for Microsoft. The game has sold more than 34 million copies in the nine years of its life and helped boost the popularity of the Xbox 360. In May, an invitation for users to help play test the game before its final release attracted more than 2.7 million players. Microsoft’s entertainment director, Stephen McGill, told the games industry newspaper MCV that it was the firms “biggest Halo release ever”.

Master Chief, the main character in earlier installments, does not feature in Halo Reach. Halo Reach is the last title to be developed by Bungie Studios, a former subsidiary of Microsoft. Bungie split from its parent company in 2007, less than a week after the release of Halo 3. Microsoft, which retain the rights to the Halo series, has handed it over to an in-house development studio, 343 Industries.

More information about the Halo series and Halo: Reach can be found by clicking here.

It was on this day, 25 years ago that Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan. Mario has proven to be the biggest gaming series of all time, spanning over 200 instances of the Mario character, either appearing in his own game, or as a cameo in others. The game, for decades, as been a must-play that makes memories for all that do.

Mario was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and appeared in the game designer’s first ever title, the 1981 arcade platformer, Donkey Kong. Miyamoto was hired as a graphic artist by Nintendo in 1977, and was given the task of designing a game after several of the company’s early coin-ops had failed to make an impression on the lucrative arcade market. Donkey Kong was created using the hardware behind an older arcade title named Radar Scope, which sunk without a trace in the US. Miyamoto ditched the shooting theme and added an ape and rolling barrels.

Mario was originally known as Jumpman. However, when Nintendo’s US office were trying to think of a better name in time for the American release of the game, they were interrupted by their landlord Mario Segale, after whom they christened the character.

To celebrate this occassion, Nintendo has developed a 25th Anniversary site. The site is in full Japanese but navigation is relatively easy. Check out the site by clicking here.

Alex “JaX” Conroy sat down with WCG Ultimate Gamer star and former CGS competitor Yaz “ClowN” Ammari for an interview. Yaz talks about the WCG Ultimate Gamer experience as well his plans for his gaming future.

Day 1 at WCG USA has come to and end and WinOut has topped Group A. POV was able to beat WinOut 24-6, but then they tied both Turmoil and sUrKaDuRk. The two ties gave them each one point and helped them advance to Day 2.

WinOut and POV will await the top two from Group B, which is set to get underway tomorrow.

Group A	W	L	T	P
WinOut	2	1	0	6
POV	1	0	2	5
Turmoil	1	1	1	4
sUrKaDuRk	0	2	1	1