PSN users have suffered quite a bit during the past 2 weeks, whether it be not being able to play your favorite game online or maybe even having your personal information stolen, but Sony wants to make it up to you. Within the next week various parts of PSN will be back in service, with the network being returned to full capacity by the end of May. They are also offering free downloads of selected content and a month of free Playstation Plus for both new and existing members. I guess that is better than nothing, but it is going to take a lot more than that to please those involved in the class action lawsuit that is brewing.
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PSN gamer's worst fears have come to fruition, their personal information may be in the hands of unscrupulous hackers. The suit accuses Sony of "failure to maintain adequate computer data security of consumer personal data and financial data," as well as failing to take "reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users."
The most damaging thing of all could be the fact that they waited too long to inform PSN users of the breach, preventing them from taking action. Had users known about this nearly a week ago they may have made "an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions." The Federal class action lawsuit has been drawn up and submitted to the Northern District Court of California by Rothken Law Firm, representing every one affected by the PSN security breach. Source: Court Document Sony finally officially announced the S1 tablet we have known about for months. Most of the details, including its interesting shape, were true. It supports Android OS and features Playstation Suite, meaning you are going to see a lot of PS1 classics on the device. Unfortunately you are going to have to play them without buttons, but what can you do. Sony also announced S2, a tablet that features a clamshell design and sports two 5.5" screens. I kind of like the idea of the clamshell, that will be sure to keep those big beautiful screens safe. But that is getting dangerously close to laptop territory and we wouldn't want that!
PSN has been down for 6 days. The reason behind this is now known to be Rebug, a custom firmware that allows hackers to spoof their consoles as devkits. This enables them to add money from fake credit card accounts in order to steal games and DLC off of PSN. Luckily it seems like everyone's credit card information is safe for now. Sony will likely keep PSN down until this fiasco gets sorted out, so it could be a while. There are also rumors that Sony is considering a new, even slimmer PS3 intended to combat pirates. This is a bit disheartening for me as a gamer. I don't spend a lot of time on PSN, but it still pains me to see a small few ruining the experience for everyone else. Source: Reddit Though the internet group collectively known as Anonymous has expressed their intent to attack Sony's networks before, they are now claiming they are not behind the infiltration that caused Sony to take down PSN for the past few days. I was under the impression that it was no coincidence that PSN's networks were down, considering Anonymous' recent threats and the whole George Hotz situation. Since Anonymous is seemingly more of a collective hive mind than any true organized effort it is still possible that someoneinvolved with Anonymous on 4chan took it upon themselves to attack the network. Sony is currently investigating the situation. SCEA has announced that they are still producing the PSP Go in the United States, unlike the European and Japanese branches of the company. That means the price will probably stay the same until they halt production, at which point they will crash for a short period of time before becoming ridiculously expensive. Those in need of a PSP Go for their collection should keep a very close eye on the situation.
Sony has reached an out court settlement with infamous PS3 hacker George Hotz. Hotz has agreed to a permanent injuction, in which he swears to never hack Sony products again. As for Sony's part of the agreement, Hotz was also absolved of any involvement in the latest round of Playstation Network hackings. Instead of being thankful for the mercy that Sony is showing him, "Geohotz" made a post to his blog claiming that he is now part of the Sony boycott and encouraged others to do the same. Cool story bro.
Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed the closings of its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios as well as the elimination of over 200 jobs. SOE is now shifting development resources towards two new MMOs based on its PlanetSide and EverQuest properties. Seattle's long delayed project, The Agency, has been cancelled and the other studios projects will be shifted over to the San Diego headquarters. I hope that everyone affected by these closures lands on their feet.
Software: 1.) Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC) 2.) Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (360, PS3) 3.) Just Dance 2 (Wii) 4.) NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC) 5.) Dead Space 2 (360, PS3, PC) 6.) Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, 360, PS3) 7.) Bulletstorm (360, PS3, PC) 8.) Killzone 3 (PS3) 9.) Michael Jackson The Experience (Wii, DS, PSP) 10.) Mario Sports Mix (Wii) Hardware: Xbox 360: 535,000 Wii: 454,000 PS3: 403,000 Things to note: Call of Duty: Black Ops is now the best selling game of all time in the United States, edging out Wii Play which had previously held the record. Microsoft did really well this month, recording the highest non-holiday month sales in the Xbox 360's lifespan. LG has successfully blocked all European imports of Sony's PS3 in a move that is sure to hit them where it hurts. LG has made patent-infringement claims targeting the PS3's blu-ray technology, regarding how the console's media format works with multiple data streams and data reproduction. This legal action is in response to Sony filing a complaint with international courts over seven supposed patent infringements by LG that focused on a number of LG's mobile phones and blu-ray players. Don't expect the PS3 to disappear off of shelves immediately, most retailers currently have enough stock to last them a few weeks.The ban currently lasts for ten days, unless the injunction is extended by the courts. Sony reportedly ships 100,000 consoles to Europe a week, meaning this development will certainly hurt their sales for the couple weeks.
Source: guardian.co.uk |