Rumor Control: The Metal Gear Solid 3 demo and Chapelle's no-show

RUMOR #1: GameStop will hand out a Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater demo to anyone who preorders the game.

Source: The Gaming Age forums.

The official story: "We will not be releasing any MGS3 demos at any GameStops."--Konami spokesperson.

What we heard: Early this week, several people claiming to be employees of GameStop posted messages saying there was a listing in the retailer's database for a "Metal Gear Solid 3 Konami demo 8/26/04." This set off a wave of speculation that a demo of Snake Eater could be in gamers' hands as early as tomorrow. But Hideo Kojima fans will be crestfallen to hear it just simply isn't true. "We're planning a demo disc with multiple Konami games--but no Snake Eater," a company rep told GameSpot. Also, the disc will likely be handed out along with preorders of any M-rated Konami game, not just MGS3. Furthermore, the rumor's timing is also apparently off. "It won't be out this month," said the rep.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus.

RUMOR #2: Dave Chappelle will voice a character in Metal Gear Solid 3.

Source: The usually useful Internet Movie Database.

The official story: "Dave Chappelle will not be in MGS3."--Konami spokesperson.

What we heard: One of the most persistent rumors on the Web is that comedian Dave Chappelle will be part of the voice cast for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. So it was with some surprise, then, that we noticed this week that Chappelle's filmography on the Internet Movie Database listed him as part of another high-profile PlayStation 2 game--Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. According to IMDB, Chappelle will play a supporting character named Mr. Sigint in MGS3. The site offered no other information on the role--most probably because Chappelle will not actually appear in Snake Eater. "The information they have on the site is false," a Konami rep bluntly said. Good luck silencing those San Andreas murmurs, though.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus.

RUMOR #3: Over 44,000 Star Wars: Galaxies subscribers' accounts have been canceled for dealing in illegally duplicated in-game credits.

Source: A post on the Shacknews forums.

The official story: "That account is wildly exaggerated…what kind of business would ban that number of paying subscribers?"--LucasArts spokesman.

What we heard: Early in the week, forums began to erupt with accounts of a purge that made the slaughter of the Jedi look like a tickling contest. Most reports went like this: A small group of Galaxies players began using bogus accounts to launder duplicate credits, which they then gave to other players via the game's tipping system. Those people further passed the currency along, until duped credits were in the accounts of a large group of innocent players--whose accounts were all suspended by Sony Online Entertainment. Unsurprisingly, it seems the scale of the suspensions was far overblown. According to SOE's official summary of the incident, only about 200 players were permanently banned, and anyone still temporarily suspended is welcome to appeal his or her case by e-mailing swgsupport@soe.sony.com. If anything, though, the scale of the duping was underreported, as SOE claims to have seized "approximately 550,000,000,000 credits."

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus.

RUMOR #4a & 4b: The GoldenEye DS game will either be a portable GoldenEye: Rogue Agent or a revamped version of the N64 GoldenEye.

Source: James Bond fan site mi6.co.uk and GCadvanced.com.

The official story: " We have not made any announcements about any of our DS games, including GoldenEye."--Electronic Arts spokesperson.

What we heard: While the MI6.co.uk angle is more plausible, the resurrection of the N64 classic--which is still considered one of the top-10 first-person shooters of all time--got far more buzz. So much buzz, in fact, that GCadvanced.com not only pulled the original story, but also published a lengthy mea culpa for sparking the rumor in the first place. "We apologize for the prodigious excitement this may have spurred," said the site. As for EA, they're muter than Oddjob when it comes to the subject of GoldenEye for the DS. "What you have been reading online is straight rumor," a rep told GameSpot.

Bogus or not bogus?: Too early to tell. But either way, the game sounds interesting.

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