Round-Up: Halo 2 Players Kickbanned, Casual Games SIGged, PoP Carded

Today's round-up includes news of Xbox Live-related bannings for players attempting to hack Bungie's Halo 2, a debut for the IGDA's 2005 Casual Games White Paper, and information on a new Ubisoft DS title which takes the Prince of Persia universe in a distinctly card-based direction, as well as a listing of the latest Gamasutra jobs. - The latest Halo 2 update from Bungie, automatically downloaded and installed when a player accesses Xbox Live from within the game, contains tools to automatically detect and ban players who use hacked or modified content. AutoUpdate 4 has already banned 2,550 players within 24 hours, as well as removing their scores and ranking from the online leaderboards. The autoupdate will be required to participate in further Halo 2 Live play, despite the complaints from those whose modified games have ironically prevented them from downloading the update. - The International Game Developers Association's Casual Games SIG has released the 2005 Casual Games White Paper, a document which serves as a resource to those wanting an overview of the casual games industry as it currently stands. Over 30 editors from popular casual games firms such as AOL, Pogo.com, and Shockwave contributed to the paper, which is intended for smaller game developers wanting data on the industry. The paper is free to download in PDF form from the IGDA Casual Games SIG's website. - Following in the footsteps of other card-based variations of popular series such as Card Fighters Clash, Phantasy Star Online Episode III: Compressed Alternate Reality Data Revolution, and most recently Metal Gear Ac!d, Ubisoft has announced a card-based Prince of Persia game for the Nintendo DS, Battles of Prince of Persia. Players can play as either the Prince or one of nine Persian and Indian generals battling for control of the land as the monstrous Dahaka rampages across the battlefield. The game supports both single-player and multiplayer, and users can trade collected cards. Battles of Prince of Persia is scheduled to be released in North America this holiday season. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings from companies including Activision, Harmonix Music Systems, Radical Entertainment, and Sucker Punch Productions.