PSN still down after security breach.

(Reuters) – Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer apologised to users of its PlayStation Network and other online services, breaking his silence on the biggest Internet security break-in ever.

Stringer’s comments, which did not specify when services would resume, come after criticism of his leadership since Sony revealed hackers had compromised the data of more than 100 million accounts used for accessing games and music over the Internet.

“As a company we, and I, apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack,” Stringer said on Sony’s U.S. PlayStation blog late on Thursday.

The incident may prove to be a significant setback for a company looking to recover after being outmanoeuvred by Apple in portable music and Samsung Electronics in flat-screen TVs and which faces a tough fight in video games with Nintendo and Microsoft.

One analyst said security concerns could weigh on sales of Sony’s gadgets and hurt growth prospects for its network services.

“There is a real concern that trust in Sony’s business will decline,” Kota Ezawa, analyst at Citigroup Global Markets Japan, wrote in a note ahead of the comments from Stringer.

“The network business itself still only makes a small direct contribution to earnings, but we see a potential drop in hardware sales as a concern.”

[Full article at Reuters.com]

(Gamespot) – Sony Online Entertainment’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game DC Universe Online is proving to be a massive success for its maker. According to the publisher, the title has used its superhuman strength to become SOE’s fastest-selling game ever.

The news comes via the Twitter post of SOE president John Smedley, who said the game is evaporating from store shelves.

“Working on out-of-stock problems for DCUO,” he said. “It’s out [sic] fastest selling game ever. Should have more inventory in Monday.”

Smedley also used the social networking space to tout Steam sales figures. Smedley said DC Universe Online was #1 in sales on Steam last week. He did not offer further specifics as to how well the PS3 iteration is selling.

Set within the DC Comics world, DC Universe Online lets players create a superhero or villain and fight alongside or against iconic comic book characters, such as the Joker, Batman, Superman, and others. It was developed under the creative direction of famed comic book artist Jim Lee.

Pre Slim Line PS3's were Linux friendly

(Gamespot) – When the PlayStation 3 debuted in 2006, Sony played up the fact that alternate operating systems could be installed on the console. However, when the PS3 Slim was released last year, it lacked the “Other OS” feature, causing some grumbling from the Linux community. That grumbling turned to outrage today, when Sony Computer Entertainment announced the April 1 v3.21 PS3 firmware update will disable the Other OS option altogether.

On the PlayStation Blog, SCEA director of corporate communications and social media Patrick Seybold said the move was due to “security concerns.” Though no specific concerns were named, the move comes almost exactly two months after American hacker George Hotz, who famously unlocked the iPhone, announced he had hacked the PS3′s operating system. In a BBC Interview, the software wunderkind said the effort took five weeks, and would allow hacked systems to play pirated games. Sony’s PSP has suffered from similar exploits, leading to widespread piracy on the portable.

Seybold emphasized that the v3.21 firmware update is optional for current PS3 owners with Linux on their systems. However, consoles which do not have the update will no longer be able to log onto the PlayStation Network, play games online, use online features of games, play newer Blu-ray discs, or play copyright-protected videos from media servers.

The “Other OS” feature allowed technically savvy gamers to legitimately install the open-source Linux OS on the device, turning it into an alternate home computer. The US government also took advantage of the feature, with the Air Force ordering 2,200 of the powerful consoles to use as a linked supercomputer. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crimes Center is using a similar system to to crack encrypted child pornography.

Our first real obsession with a Football game.

Publishers announced yesterday that we will be seeing a “Tecmo Bowl Throwback” for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network arriving sometime in spring.

Tecmo Bowl: Throwback will include options aimed at purists, as well as those desiring a modern update. The game will let players switch from classic-style 2D graphics to new 3D visuals, customize their teams and rosters, and hit the global gridiron with an online multiplayer mode.

Throwback is currently in development at Sweden-based Southend Interactive. The developer is no stranger to retro remakes, having created the Xbox Live Arcade versions of Lode Runner and R-Type Dimensions. In the previous generation of consoles, it also worked on retail titles like the original Xbox editions of Ubisoft’s cel-shaded first-person shooter XIII and the futuristic sports title Deathrow.

An 8-bit and 16-bit staple for sports gamers, Tecmo Bowl’s original run ended with a single appearance on the PlayStation in 1996. Tecmo returned to the brand in 2008 with Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff for the DS, which managed a lukewarm critical reception. Tecmo Bowl: Throwback will be the company’s first downloadable sports title since last year’s NBA Unrivaled, which fouled out with critics.

[Full article at Gamespot.com]

WTF

It would appear the Playstation Network is experiencing a “minor” hiccup at the moment of which symptoms seem to include data loss on the older PS3′s. Some users of the PS3 began reporting yesterday that their units were seeing the dates on the systems being set to January 1, 2000 (Y2K flashbacks anyone?) and this issue was confirmed by a Sony blog post that reported the issue with data loss appears to be a bug in the clock functionality.

Sony is urging customers of the older systems (the problem does not seem to be present on the new slim models) to refrain from using the systems until the problem is resolved and have warned that using the systems at this time can result in errors that would prevent the systems from recording gaming achievements and could potentially lead to data that could not be restored.

While Sony is not the first company to have issues with electronic devices and bugs in their internal clocks, this may very well be the most widespread. This comes at an unfortunate time for Sony as sales of the PS3 had recently began to show an upswing.

Sony has not reported the number of users affected by the current problem but is saying that the situation should be resolved within the next 24 hours.

[Source]

Gritskrieg – End of Line

Over at the official Borderlands forums this weekend, Gearbox dropped some news on us indicating that there would be a new DLC on it’s way to the Xbox 360 marketplace and Playstation Network.

Gearbox says that the new DLC for Borderlands will be the “biggest we have made”, and the team is working on a new update for the game as well. Neither the update nor the DLC have a release date at this point, but are saying more info will be coming shortly.

The last two DLC’s for Borderlands, ‘Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot’ and ‘The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned’ have proven to be smash hits for rpg shooter fans, adding a whopping 15 hrs of game time to the already very lengthy game (for the BusyGamer that is). And Moxxi’s Underdome still challenges us over at BG every time we fire it up, it being one of our top mulitplayer titles to date.

[Official Borderlands Site]

Rosalina is quite the character, definite happiness!

(Gamespot) – In September, a federal judge dismissed a First Amendment lawsuit brought against Sony by a disgruntled gamer who had been banned from the PlayStation Network. Undeterred, that gamer appealed the decision last month, and this week filed a new suit against Microsoft and Nintendo; this one bypassing the Bill of Rights and instead citing the Declaration of Independence.

In the suit, the San Jose, California, gamer takes exception to a recent Nintendo Wii system update that disables access to unauthorized third-party programs like the Homebrew Channel. Specifically, the plaintiff is upset about losing the ability to use a program that would unlock the character Rosalina in Mario Kart Wii. Ordinarily, a player would need to have a Super Mario Galaxy save file on the system in order to unlock that character.

“In federal terms, the plaintiff who relies heavily on video games for happiness, would like the federal court to decide if Nintendo is interfering with certain player’s pursuit of happiness, which is stated in the United States Declaration of Independence,” the suit states, “where Benjamin Franklin was in agreement with Thomas Jefferson in downplaying the protection of ‘property’ as a goal of government, replacing the idea with ‘happiness.’”

The suit then states the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, and quotes the portion dealing with the unalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

As for the Microsoft portion of the suit, the gamer had an Xbox 360 system suffer the “red ring of death” failure, and he claims he can’t afford the $100 fee Microsoft would charge him to fix it. The suit claims the plaintiff’s 360 is “only one of two ways in which he relies on to socialize,” as he suffers from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and Crohn’s disease.

The gamer is asking for $75,000 from Microsoft due to “the stress put on the plaintiff having to find a way to acquire a new Xbox 360 system and the sadness he will have in the meantime of finding one he can afford.” As for Nintendo, the plaintiff wants $5,000 for interfering with his pursuit of happiness and an injunction preventing Nintendo from blocking access to the Homebrew Channel or the program he used to unlock Mario Kart Wii characters.

[Original Article Here]