Last week’s podcast couldn’t be uploaded thanks to some good old-fashioned California power outages. This week’s episode is full of snark — enjoy.
The news items include:
Let us know what you think.
It’s now the US government’s turn to question Sony about its online security, which follows the UK government’s scrutiny into the company’s affairs.
In a letter addressed to PlayStation executive deputy Kaz Hirai, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade has prepared a list of questions related to the intrusion; the list can be downloaded from the New York Times here. The letter asks several questions that Sony has not disclosed to the public, such as:
The Subcommittee’s press release states:
“Given the amount and nature of personal information known to have been taken, the potential harm that could be caused if credit card information was also taken would be quite significant. The Subcommittee on Manufacturing, and Trade has a longstanding interest in consumer privacy, identity theft, and industry efforts to address threats posed by unauthorized access to consumers’ personal information resulting from a data breach.”
The Subcommittee is requiring a reply by no later than May 6, as part of a privacy driven effort “to protect consumer information.”
Meanwhile, Kaz Hirai will be holding a press conference tomorrow from Sony Japan, to address the PlayStation Network hacking crisis.
Ubisoft is coming back with the Assassin’s Creed games, but the guys also discuss the sheer Scottishness of Still Wakes the Deep, Farming Simulator 25 announced, 20 TB NVMe drives for under $300, Final Fantasy 14 producer Yoshi-P apologizing, Space Marine 2 public beta test canceled, and Forza Horizon 4 to be delisted.
The news also includes:
Let us know what you think.
Some folks over at Kotaku ran into problems at the Penny Arcade Expo, it was packed with people and complications. Apparently the rooms are cramped with humans and bad acoustics, leaving some wondering what was going on at the Harmonix demonstration. Others sat in long lines, way ahead of time, to see games like Fallout but were turned away after a long wait.
It seems the lack of fans at E3 has caused people to go elsewhere, PAX for instance, to get their demo gaming fix. There is obviously a demand for this type of expo, if people could figure out how to balance the costs associated with holding such an event. Despite cramped space, long lands and epic disappointments being turned away, will people refuse to go next year?
Probably not. Perhaps they’ll expand to a bigger venue, eventually to be the new “E3” expo?
