Tribes 2 Victim of Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Tribes 2, just released to production this week, is the latest victim of the international hysteria surrounding outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain, France, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia. Gaming fanatics, who have waited impatiently for the release of Tribes 2 since last summer, are anxiously attempting to cope with this latest setback.

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials confirmed that members of the Bioderm Hordes, a new "tribe" added to the highly-anticipated game, have tested positive for the contagious disease. Foot-and-mouth is not a threat to humans but causes blisters in the mouth and on the hooves of cloven-footed animals such as the genetically-bred Bioderms. It can spread like wildfire by movements of vehicles and people.

Apparently, the disease was introduced to Bioderms by an unnamed meta tester living in the British quarantine area. Through Internet play, the pathogen spread rapidly among Bioderm players, eventually infecting the central source code that comprises the computer game. Programmers working on the game expressed their shock. "Wow, we run virus checks all the time," said Mark Frohnmayer, lead developer. "I'm surprised it slipped through."

Dynamix, attempting to prevent import/export bans, downplayed the situation. Said Dave Georgeson, producer of the game, "Now that we know about the problem, we're disinfecting all CDs before they're shipped from the production facility. Players must be assured that this is no longer a threat."

But the incident is causing a predictable backlash. "I used to think the Bioderms were cool," said gamer Sn1p1ngH@mst3r, "but now I wouldn't play those filthy, diseased animals if they paid me."