Several sites have reported an intriguing story about Modern Warfare 2 – specifically, that multiplayer elements on the 360 won’t support party chat.  While those intending to play on the Playstation Network will be wondering what all the fuss is about (there is no cross-game chat function on the PS3), some 360 owners have been in uproar.  The debate started with this screen grab:

Infinity Ward/Activision have been given the green light by Microsoft to disable party chat for team playlists.  At this juncture, there are conflicting reports on what is and isn’t excluded from party chat.  Ostensibly, the decision has been made to remove party chat to prevent cheating.  But, since cheaters are notoriously inventive and often ferociously determined, something as simple as a phone will surely serve just as well.  Which really leaves the question: why?

Presumably, this will save on bandwidth, setting an alarming precedent for other developers to follow.  But is this really that big a deal?  Or should we be annoyed that Microsoft seem to be happy for developers to rewind 360 functionality several years?  Is this a bridge too far (ahem) after the dedicated server furore that so angered prospective PC players recently?