Sony Hacks Keep Coming

I'm not going to post much today, just want to entertain you with this pic *ROFL*

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Pre-owned is Good For The Game Industry

One of leading video games retailer, GAME has provided arguments for the hated pre-owned buyers by game developers.

GAME CEO Ian Shepherd said, "I think, through conversations with developers and platform owners, that there is a growing realization that a healthy pre-owned marketplace is good for the whole industry".

"It has made the mint marketplace more affordable and has kept people in that marketplace", he said. "There has been endless debate over pre-owned versus mint, but my view is that a healthy pre-owned and trade-in marketplace - which we are largely the people who are involved in driving - is good for the whole industry."

Unfortunately there are still many developers who are not happy with the pre-owned market, such as THQ and EA, which requires players online to use an online pass.

One thing that is interesting, retail store GAME is trying a new feature in their store, which is pre-order pre-owned games.

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Angry Birds passed 200 million download hits

Rovio announced that the game Angry Birds had passed 200 million downloads. It makes it as one of the best-selling and most popular mobile games today.

In addition, Cnet also reported that the web version of Angry Birds has already been downloaded 6 million times. Currently there are three versions of Angry Birds, namely Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds.

According to Social Barrel, the latest version of Angry Birds Rio itself has got 35 million downloads. The game is available free for some platforms and also for Android and iOS (pay).

Microsoft also plans to launch Angry Bird for Windows Phone 7 in June.

The fans are now waiting for Angry Birds Nintendo Wii version, also Angry Birds 3D version for smart phones will be launched later this year.

Angry Birds was originally only available to iOS platform, but now the game is on almost all platforms. Since it is very popular, even this game become a movie.

Now, have you already played "Angry Birds" today?

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Buy PC, get free Xbox 360

Microsoft offers the Xbox 360 bonus for American students when making a purchase of a PC. The promotion will be effective starting May 22, 2011. Microsoft announced this at the Windows Team Blog site. Of course, there will be separate terms and conditions that apply to it.

Promotion is limited to the purchase of a PC powered by Windows 7 operating system with a minimum price of $ 699. If you make a purchase online through Microsoft, Dell, or HP's site, you must use e-mail addresses ending in ".edu" to be able to meet the purchase transaction arranged by the promotion. Another alternative is to include student ID number when making a purchase directly into the retail store.By following the terms and conditions, then Microsoft will give away an Xbox 360 with 4GB hard drive to the buyer. This promotion will last until 3 September 2011, and is limited to U.S. Microsoft plans to expand this promotion to France and Canada.

A 4GB Xbox 360 is currently worth $199.99, so this is a pretty good chance to pick up a new PC.

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Special iPad Game For Cats

Manufacturers of special food for cats, Friskies issued a special game for cats to iPad platform. There are three games that are provided, Cat Fishing, Tasty Treasures Hunt and Party Mix-Up. All games are available in GamesForCats.com and can be downloaded for free. In addition to iPad, these games can also be played with Android tablets.

Watch the video below and see the funny reactions from these cats 'gamers'!

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Fight pirates, the U.S. Navy Recruit Gamer

WASHINGTON - In order to anticipate incidents of hijacking ships as Somali pirates who carried out some time ago, the United States Navy plans to invite gamers to participate in an online game that simulates the incident.

Office of Naval Research (ONR) hope this step can filter the thousands of ideas of society in the fight against the pirates, instead of just relying on the traditional way with a discussing military strategy in the office of the Pentagon.

"This approach is made ​​to come up with ideas and potential solutions to the problem and our biggest challenge," said Lawrence Schuette as Director of Innovation ONR, told AFP.

"Pirates in the African region is an old problem that must be faced. We chose this topic for the beginning of the game scenario," he added.

The plan, 1000 ONR will only recruit players to participate in this project. However, unexpectedly, approximately 9,000 people enrolled in the project, so that ONR should postpone the implementation date to a month.

The Navy hopes this project can bring in the experts not only from the military field, but also include academics, politicians to technology specialists.

"The hope is, through the collective intelligence and knowledge of many people we can hold a conversation about the problems of geopolitical weight and get a solution that it never occurred to us,"said Schuette.

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Sony Hacked, AGAIN!!!

Sony had disabled the site intended to help users after a hacker attack in April, after finding more vulnerabilities. Undisclosed site is designed to help 77 million PlayStation Network users to reset their passwords. This issue represents a setback again for Sony, after a fierce attack of hackers who get into their network.

Dan Race, a spokesman for Sony, said that their companies find security holes on those sites that allow hackers to break through the user's personal data which they had previously stolen. "If I have your email and your birth date, then I can go into your account," said Race, giving the parable.

As a result of these findings, Sony on Wednesday had to temporarily turn off the password reset page PlayStation Network, as well Qriocity music service.

"Once repaired, we will immediately turn back the page," added Race.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government is still blocking PSN service in Japan to be restored, calling their explanations about their security measures “lacking” – a measure which angered many PSN users, but now looks increasingly justified.

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PSN is BACK

PlayStation Network is back. Nearly four weeks after a hacker attack forced Sony to turn off the PSN, Sony has announced that a phase of restoration per region for the PSN and Qriocity services, has begun.

This restoration phase will be carried out gradually between countries. Starting in America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. But Sony did not announce the exact date of the return of the PSN service in total.

A firmware update for the PS3 are also available. Despite looking like an update that is not useful, but Firmware 3.61 will force the owners PSN account to replace their passwords so they are back online for the first time.

"We strongly recommend to all PS3 owners to update their systems to prepare for the return of the PSN," said Eric Lempel, Sony's vice president of Network Entertainment. "The release of this update is necessary in our efforts to make PSN more secure."

Password player can only be replaced on his PS3 or the PS3 in which he activate his PSN account. If he uses another PS3, an email will be sent to their email address.

"The email will provide a link that allows players to change their password," said Lempel. "At the email, the player can just click the link and follow all the prompts to change the password. After the password change, he will be able to sign in using the new password."

In addition to news about the return of the PSN, Sony Online Entertainment has also revived their servers. Sony stated that they have increased their security systems.

"Sony has made various improvements in data security, including the addition of advanced security technology, additional monitoring software and test the vulnerability, and increasing the level encripsi and additional firewalls,"said a Sony representative. "Sony also has added a variety of things on the network infrastructure including an early warning system to track suspicious activity that could damage the tissue."

Sony hopes the PSN service can operate in total at the end of May 2011.

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Linux (Unofficially) Returns to the PlayStation 3

In many ways, it was Sony's 2010 decision to remove Linux compatibility from the PlayStation 3 that sowed the seeds for the current PSN downtime and data attacks. So there's poignancy to the news that this week Linux has returned to the system.

A team of homebrew developers have released a custom piece of firmware called "OtherOS++", which not only brings Linux compatibility back to the PS3, but improves on Sony's original offering by giving users access to "the system's innards".

The catch is you've got to be running old firmware prior to the installation of OtherOS++, otherwise it won't work.

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Sony : Now PSN is on the Final Stage Testing

As would be expected, Sony's PlayStation Network is still offline. But a spokesman for the PlayStation maker says the team responsible for reviving online play and other network services to the PlayStation 3 and PSP has reached "an important step towards restoring" online functionality.

"Today our global network and security teams at Sony Network Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment began the final stages of internal testing of the new system". Sony Computer Entertainment America's Patrick Seybold calls it " an important step towards restoring PlayStation Network and Qriocity services."

"As previously mentioned, we've been working around the clock to rebuild the network and enhance protections of your personal data," Seybold writes. "It's our top priority to ensure your data is safe when you begin using the services again."

Sony also specified its plans to offer complimentary identity theft protection services to PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders. In the United States, Sony plans to offer identity protection firm Debix, Inc.'s "AllClear ID Plus" free to PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders for 12 months from the time an account holder registers for the program.

Debix has launched a preliminary landing page for Sony customers, which also lays out AllClear ID Plus services.

Sony says it will begin sending activation e-mails to its customers in the coming days. Similar plans for other territories will be announced soon, the company says. More details on Sony's identity theft protection plans right here.

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SOE : About More Than 12,700 Credit Cards Stolen

Following the previous incident, Sony Online Entertainment reveals that the personal information of 24.6 million SOE accounts and more than 12,700 credit card numbers may have been compromised in the massive attack that brought down the PlayStation Network late last month.

According to a Sony Online Entertainment statement, the company believes the data theft took place between April 16 and 17, which is around the same time as the cyber attacks that compromised the PlayStation Network.

The credit card data stolen, however, comes from an outdated database from 2007. That database contained 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates, along with the direct debit information for 10,700 customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.

An as a compensation, SOE will be offering subscribers to its massivelyday subscription, as well as compensation for each additional day the services are down. It's also working on a "make good" for players of its PlayStation 3 MMOs Free Realms and DC Universe Online.

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Sony : PSN Will Up On The Fifth May

Perhaps maybe yes, maybe no?

After experiencing PSN outage for over 1 week Sony finally gave a good news for PSN customers. They say they have moved the server to data center that has been newly equipped with firewalls and security systems are more sophisticated.

As compensation for this incident Sony gives 30 days free subscription to PSN customers, and an additional 30 days for Qriocity acces.

Sony promised the PSN service will live again on May 5. Of course, besides this is good news also is something that still doubt the PSN users. Because remember the first time when PSN is down Sony said that the problem will be settled within 1-2 days, but in fact, more than 1 week.

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One in Five PSN User Has Considering Xbox Live

According to CouponCodes4U poll, about 21% or one in five PSN user which are hardcore gamer has considering to sell their PS3, abandoning PSN and fleeing to Xbox live. This is the result of pissed off player who is disappointed with Sony as a big company to solve PSN outage.

Of course, this will harms Sony's name as a giant corporation.

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