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Australian PSN Restoration DelayedAustralian PSN Restoration Delayed

May 17, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 8:55 am

The Japanese government has not allowed PlayStation Network to be activated for Japanese gamers yet due to security concerns, and now an expert is advising Australia to follow suit.

Professor Bill Caelli told newspaper The Australian, “Why is it that in the IT industry enterprises certify themselves?” said Caelli, noting that PSN didn’t have the same restrictions, and added that the public has “no way of assessing the assurances given by the owners of the (PSN) system themselves”.

Reportedly, Australian privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has been in contact with Sony, and has not judged yet whether Sony has given them enough information to restore PSN. His investigation will be an ongoing one as well, even after PSN is restored.

When it was discovered user information had been stolen during the PSN breach, the Australian federal government announced plans for a law forcing companies to disclose privacy breaches, although it was unclear when it might come into effect. Privacy minister Brendan O’Connor had stated:

“Sony isn’t alone. We’ve seen serious privacy-related incidents in recent months involving other large companies. All companies that collect customers’ personal information must ensure that the information is safe and secure from misuse.”

We’ll stay on this story as it develops.

PSN Service Restored (Partially)PSN Service Restored (Partially)

May 14, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 11:09 pm

CNet is reporting that partial service PlayStation Network has been restored, allowing gamers to play online and shop in the PSN Store. Nearly its entire portfolio of online games, game forums and Web sites will go back online but the company will also require players to reset their passwords.

Sony states:

As the result of a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s network, SOE shut down its game services in order for the company to undertake an investigation and incorporate rigorous enhancements to the overall security of the network infrastructure. SOE worked with several outside respected security firms during the course of implementing significant security measures that strengthen safeguards against unauthorized activity and provide customers with greater protection of their personal information.
SOE made enhancements to overall data security as well, including updating and adding advanced security technologies, additional software monitoring, performing new penetration and vulnerability testing, and increased levels of encryption.

“Our main priority is the safety and security of our customers’ personal information,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “We are making consumer data protection a full-time, company-wide commitment, and have applied enhanced security technologies so that our customers can feel protected and confident about playing our games.”

Hirai added, “We are committed to delivering secure and entertaining games for players of all ages and thank each of our players for their patience and support during this difficult time.”

SOE will also be offering its customers a “Welcome Back” program that includes special game content and services to all registered Station Account holders. As part of this program, players will receive 30 days of additional game time plus one day for each day SOE’s services were down.

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PSN Outage Causes 200% Rise in PS3 Trade-InsPSN Outage Causes 200% Rise in PS3 Trade-Ins

May 13, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 12:57 am

The patience of PlayStation 3 owners is wearing thin as retailers are reporting a 200% increase in PlayStation 3 trade-ins, usually for Xbox 360 consoles, as well as sales slumps for PSN points cards and fewer multiplatform game sales for PS3.

“In the first week of downtime we did not really see any major change in sales or trades,” says one source, a store manager at a major UK retailer speaking on condition of anonymity. “However from the second week onwards we have seen an increase of over 200 per cent on PS3 consoles being traded in, split almost 50/50 between those trading for cash and those taking a 360 instead.”

Another UK source has reported that the independent retailer had seen a “massive increase” in the volume of PS3s traded in in recent weeks, and has pegged the biggest trade-in demographic as “the hardcore online shooter crowd”, who are logically the group most likely to defect when their online gaming is wiped.

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Sony: PSN Matchmaking “In a Few Days”Sony: PSN Matchmaking “In a Few Days”

May 11, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 9:58 am

While full PlayStation Network service is expected to return by May 31, Eurogamer is reporting that an internal Sony source is promising that online matchmaking will be up “in a few days”.

SCE corporate communications director Patrick Seybold would not confirm this, only stating:

“We’re working to get the network back on as soon as we can.”

An unnamed PlayStation Europe community manager has confirmed that Sony is prioritizing online play, and getting online matchmaking up as soon as possible.

According to a tweet from Musterbuster:

“Once again, 31st May is the date for FULL restoration of PSN services. Restoration is phased. Online gaming will return BEFORE May 31st.”

We’ll keep following the story as it happens. Soon, PS3 gamers will finally be able to hack enemies to pieces with Kratos online in Mortal Kombat.

The PSN FiascoThe PSN Fiasco

April 30, 2011| Jonah Falcon| 0 Comment| 7:57 pm

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:

How many PSN users had a credit card on file
Why Sony cannot determine if credit card was stolen.
What are Sony’s plans towards increasing its security in the future.

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.

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Gaming Podcast 172: Heaps of MatesGaming Podcast 172: Heaps of Mates

May 11, 2010| schommer| 0 Comment| 8:32 pm

We’re bringing a new gaming podcast to our heaps of mates, the listeners. We’re discussing some good community feedback while hitting a few key news article for this week. This weeks industry gaming news includes:

Codemasters and Playground battling it out
GamesWorkshop Sues WarhammerAliance.com
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Hits retail shelves July 27
Nintendo to crack down on piracy with the Nintendo 3DS
Sony confirms Little Big Planet 2

This weeks question, can a user-generated content create a game that extends far behind its own life cycle? Or, do we really rely on the developers to extend it?

Gaming Podcast 163: Arcade, Beer and RibsGaming Podcast 163: Arcade, Beer and Ribs

March 2, 2010| schommer| 0 Comment| 6:52 pm

This weeks gaming podcast is epic, as per the usual, we had some really thought out community comments about DRM, game history on Krull and a bit of history on D. Gottleib & Co. This weeks news includes:

First Generation PS3s are failing
The Nintendo Wii being picked on again
Warcraft Authenticator Hacked
StarCraft II will be released the first half of this year
D&D online passes the 1 million user mark

And, our question of the week, would you give up your job to be a video game tester?

Gaming Podcast 143: Short and SweetGaming Podcast 143: Short and Sweet

October 14, 2009| schommer| 0 Comment| 1:40 am

This week is a hybrid of a “greatest hits” episode and a short news brief, we’ve got a couple stories, community comments and Don added a blooper “greatest hits” reel to the end of the episode, so enjoy! The news includes:

Sony adding two new Spaces to Home
Unreal engine the “unofficial engine” of Natal

This week, we’re still busting a question of the week as well and it’s a thinker… if you had one novel to implement into a game (which has never been done), what novel would it be?

Gaming Podcast 139: Pirate or Privateer?Gaming Podcast 139: Pirate or Privateer?

September 14, 2009| schommer| 0 Comment| 3:09 pm

Welcome to the early edition of the gaming podcast, because I’m going to be in Germany this week we had to record a bit early and post the podcast for listening. Hopefully this won’t screw up too many people’s schedules with a day-early release! This week we’re flashing back to Sid Meier’s Pirates and learning about women’s rights (or lack of) in the life of a privateer. We’ll talk a bit about the history of the Amstrad CPC 464 and cover some news:

Nintendo Wii Rumor: Price Rollback
Wii Sales Down 50 Percent
Bethesda Sues Interplay Over Fallout License
Bungie Says Natal Won’t Be Implemented To Be Gimmicky

The community questions were great, gave us lots of nice ideas for a future gaming cave! This week we’re riding on the community listener, Onyersix who wrote a good question of the week: “What was the scariest moment you ever experienced playing video games? We’re talking the type of shock that makes you need to go and put on a new pair of pants!”

Hey, did you notice our new microphone quality, Jennifer and I have upgraded our studio setup (by about $1,000!), hopefully you’ll notice the more dynamic vocal qualities.

Eidos and Square Enix Birth Great ThingsEidos and Square Enix Birth Great Things

April 27, 2009| schommer| 0 Comment| 12:36 pm

tombraider Eidos was founded in 1990 and has been the king of its own destiny since its inception. As part of Square-Enix, Eidos and its destiny were called into question, would they continue to run the show or would they become one with Square-Enix. Square-Enix has come out to say they’ll be leaving Eidos to themselves and allow creativity to flow between the companies.

“This is an exciting beginning to what I believe will be an incredible journey. I am very happy that Phil Rogers has agreed to lead Eidos in what I see as an international marriage between our two companies, a marriage that will give birth to great things. Eidos is a content rich company and a culturally significant business to the Square Enix group.” (kotaku)

Square-Enix is playing it safe with this acquisition because this isn’t a great enviroment for shaking things up internally within a development studio. Eidos is well known for Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Thief and many other great projects and have built a solid foundation for the future.

A mind-share between these two groups is a powerful enemy to the competitors if they’re able to open a good dialog between the two companies and share resources, tools and engines. In a world of cost savings and salary cuts, leaning on each others resources to build a better product is a win.

At least we won’t have to call them Square-Enix-Edios because that’s just a mouthful!