In the age of online gaming, it's important to make rules and stick to them. We've seen players banned from Call of Duty games and DOTA 2 in recent history, and MMO players should be intimately familiar with the much needed ban hammer that game mods wield to keep spammers and troublemakers from ruining the fun for everyone else. Rules for online conduct are particularly important for games that draw in a younger audience, like many of Nintendo's flagship titles. That said, the 136 year ban that some Super Smash Bros. players have been (accidentally) smacked with seems just a tad excessive...
A glitch in the 3DS version of Nintendo's biggest release this fall, Super Smash Bros., is banning players for more than a life sentence. The 136 year 'temporary' ban was pointed out by a Japan-based gamer, Zenaorz1, on Twitter. His screenshot reveals a temporary ban lasting 71,582,719 minutes.
Zen's complaints were retweeted more than 1,000 times and within hours other victims of the ban began to speak up on Reddit and Twitter. The single screen message doesn't offer any information about the ban, aside from its time limit. Nintendo has yet to release an official statement about the issue, but the Super Smash Bros. community on Reddit is already coming up with a list of precautions to help avoid the ban until Nintendo releases a patch.
If you're interested in the programming side of things, you can read this helpful explanation theorizing how and why the glitch is handing out such lengthy bans. If you're not as interested in the logic and just want to know how to avoid the ban, then follow these steps:
A. Don't target a single player in four-player multiplayer.
B. Until this is fixed, only use one-on-one versus.
C. Don't use online. Heh.
D. Don't quit during a match.
Considering that competitive online matches are a major part of Smash Bros.' main attraction, it is definitely an unfortunate glitch. Hopefully, Nintendo will get a fix in place soon to un-ban the current victims and save everyone else from the glitch. Check back for updates on the fix.
In less upsetting Smash Bros. news, Club Nintendo has just announced an awesome three-poster set for members with 700 coins burning a hole in their digital pockets. The 22-by-28 inch posters feature a few of the game's fighters including; Animal Crossing characters hanging with Mario and Kirby, Super Mario Galaxy's stars alongside the Wii Fit trainer, and Link ready to brawl with Palutena from Kid Icarus.
If you don't already have a surplus of Club Nintendo coins, you can earn the currency a number of ways. Usually, the coins are earned by completing surveys about Nintendo hardware or software. The rewards program offers fans occasional freebies and the opportunity to pick up limited tie-in items like the above posters.
Have you experienced the Super Smash Bros. ban glitch? Do you plan to cash in some Club Nintendo coins for the poster set? Let us know in the comments.
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Follow Denny on Twitter @The_DFC.
Source: Reddit