Features of Wipeout HD's pilot assist are revealed in eLhabib's most excellent interview with Tony Buckley (http://elhabib.at/2008/09/08/elhabib...re-wipeout-hd/)

Sounds like:

1. Auto-assist will automatically be turned on for players that say they are new to Wipeout.

2. Auto-assist "kicks in" only when you are about to hit a wall.

3. When auto-assist kicks in, your speed is diminished by ~5%.

Personally, I think this is a good feature to make the game accessible to newcomers. I highly doubt that newcomers are going to be beating experienced pilots either with or without the pilot assist. I guess my remaining concern is that, somehow, the pilot assist will facilitate some sort of exploit that can be used by skilled pilots-- I hope this possibility was thoroughly evaluated by game testers. I also hope that pilot assist can be disabled for online matches, if so desired by the host.

What do you guys think?