PSN Outage FAQs [Updated: 04/29/2011]

It's been a week! Here are some questions that have been answered by Sony regarding this "criminal intrusion".

UPDATE: 04/28

Q: Are you working with law enforcement on this matter? A: Yes, we are currently working with law enforcement on this matter as well as a recognized technology security firm to conduct a complete investigation. This malicious attack against our system and against our customers is a criminal act and we are proceeding aggressively to find those responsible.

Q: Was my personal data encrypted? A: All of the data was protected, and access was restricted both physically and through the perimeter and security of the network. The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken. The personal data table, which is a separate data set, was not encrypted, but was, of course, behind a very sophisticated security system that was breached in a malicious attack.

Q: Was my credit card data taken? A: While all credit card information stored in our systems is encrypted and there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained. Keep in mind, however that your credit card security code (sometimes called a CVC or CSC number) has not been obtained because we never requested it from anyone who has joined the PlayStation Network or Qriocity, and is therefore not stored anywhere in our system.

Q: What steps should I take at this point to help protect my personal data? A: For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well. To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports.

Q: What if I don’t know which credit card I’ve got attached to my PlayStation Network account? A: If you’ve added funds to your PlayStation Network wallet in the past, you should have received a confirmation email from “DoNotReply@ac.playstation.net” at the email address associated with your account. This email would have been sent to you immediately after you added the funds, and will contain the first 4 digits and last 4 digits of your credit card number. You can also check your previous credit card statements to determine which card was attached to your PlayStation Network or Qriocity accounts.

Q: When or how can I change my PlayStation Network password? A: We are working on a new system software update that will require all users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored. We will provide more details about the new update shortly.

Q: Have all PlayStation Network and Qriocity users been notified of the situation? A: In addition to alerting the media and posting information about it on this blog, we have also been sending emails directly to all 77 million registered accounts. It takes a bit of time to send that many emails, and recognize that not every email will still be active, but this process has been underway since yesterday. At this time, the majority of emails have been sent and we anticipate that all registered accounts will have received notifications by April 28th. Consumers may also visit www.us.playstation.com/support and www.qriocity.com for notices regarding this issue. In addition, we have taken steps to disseminate information regarding this issue to media outlets so that consumers are informed.

Q: What steps is Sony taking to protect my personal data in the future? A: We’ve taken several immediate steps to add protections for your personal data. First, we temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and, second, we are enhancing security and strengthening our network infrastructure. Moving forward, we are initiating several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security and your personal data, including moving our network infrastructure and data center to a new, more secure location, which is already underway. We will provide additional information on these measures shortly.

Q: Has Sony identified the party or parties responsible for the PlayStation Network hack and subsequent theft of personal information? A: We are currently conducting a thorough investigation of the situation and are working closely with a recognized technology security firm and law enforcement in order to find those responsible for this criminal act no matter where in the world they might be located.

Q: When will the PlayStation Network and Qriocity be back online? A: Our employees have been working day and night to restore operations as quickly as possible, and we expect to have some services up and running within a week from yesterday. However, we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we are confident that the network is secure.

UPDATE: 04/29

Q: Will our download history/friends list/settings be affected by the PSN downtime? A: No, they will not.

Q: Will trophies that were earned in single-player offline games during the outage be intact when the service resumes? A: These trophies are intact and will be re-synched when the network is once again operational.

Q: Will my PS+ cloud saves be retrievable? A: Yes, once PSN is restored.

Q: What if we have a subscription to PS3 MMOs DC Universe Online or Free Realms? Will we get compensation for that? A: From Sony Online Entertainment: “We apologize for any inconvenience players may have experienced as a result of the recent service interruption. As a global leader in online gaming, SOE is committed to delivering stable and entertaining games for players of all ages. To thank players for their patience, we will be hosting special events across our game portfolio. We are also working on a “make good” plan for players of the PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms. Details will be available soon on the individual game websites and forums.”

Q: Will there be a goodwill gesture for the time we haven’t been able to utilize PSN/Qriocity? A: We are currently evaluating ways to show appreciation for your extraordinary patience as we work to get these services back online.

Source [Playstation.Blog]

Impressions - WWE All-Stars (PSP)

WWE All-Stars, the latest wrestling game by THQ. The difference between All-Stars when compared to the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw series is that All-Stars takes a more arcade style approach with its exagerrated character models and over the top finishing moves.

Now in hindsight it may look all fancy and flashy but from what I've played on the PSP version this game is horrible. The graphics are not as horrible as I initially thought from seeing screenshots and videos of it so I have no issue with that. What I do have issues with is everything else.

The controls feel horrible, not to the point of being unplayable but are still very stiff and unresponsive. I can see the point of having some moves such as strong strike attacks take a while to wind up but trying to run in this game or even moving around is very unresponsive. Walking is very slow and you run by holding down the R button but it takes a second before the move and when they do move, its like watching a drunk hamster trying to escape your hand by running around in his cage hitting everything else in the process.

Combat isn't good either, the feed back when you hit your opponent doesn't feel like its even there. The Smackdown vs. Raw series may still have a lot of clipping issues but when you punch someone in the face, you know you punched him, It may not be the most solid feed back in terms of video game violence but at the very least the soundeffect nails it. The grappling isn't so bad cause when they slam an opponent in the ground its fast and hard though trying to pull off a grapple move is a different story.

The flashy high air finishing moves aren't as impressive as they wanted it to be. Sure the colored motion trails are there and it does go into slow motion but it gets really old reall fast. One really annoying thing that bothers me in the game, aside from fighting the controls and the opponent at the same time, is the soundeffect of the canvas matt. It sounds like something off a PSX game or even a SNES game. They could've cheaped out and used the Smackdown vs. Raw matt soundeffects but no, they had to go with an old school artificial canvas soundeffect that rattles with ever damn step you take.

The PSP version does come with a create-a-wrestler mode which is decent but doesn't have nearly enough customization options as Smackdown vs. Raw. Aside from making a wrestler that look like who ever you what him to be, half of the fun was giving him a unique moveset. In All-Stars, you just pick who his base character will be and then select a finisher. Not fun at all.

I don't know if the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions suffer from the same problems as the PSP one but I think that the PSP version is a port of the PS2 and Wii version. Imagine playing this bad game... with bad motion controls! O_O

Bottom line is, stay away from this game. If you really want to try it, maybe theres a demo out there that you can play or maybe a friend of yours already has the game. Last option would be getting a 2nd hand copy but do not buy this game brand new.

Screenshots from http://www.ztgd.com

Weekend, what are you playing

The weekend is here again. What are you playing?

Migoy: Beat the original Dissidia 013 story and did the reports that I've unlocked. Gotta grind before I can face 000. Just unlocked Prishe and Gilgamesh and they are fun to use. Also booted up Muramasa The Demon Blade on the Wii. I beat Kisuke's story last year but stopped at half of Momohime's story. Dammit, I want the Momohime figure again.

Arlie: I just finished Portal 2 yesterday. The whole game was really fun. For those who haven't played it yet, you have to at least give it a try! From GLaDOS' sarcastic lines and fat jokes to Wheatley's British humor who is actually voiced by Stephen Merchant (Hot Fuzz, The Ricky Gervais Show). Having a NPC companion who blabs too much really adds to the experience. I also liked the ending song. Watch out for those hidden easter eggs.

Portal: "The cake is a lie."

Portal 2: "The deer is a lie."

I don't want to spoil any more shit to you guys, but all I can say is "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, holy fuck you're in space!"

You can watch parts of my playthrough here. (4 hours total including long pauses for pee breaks)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVVZaZ8yO6o]

Quash: Did a full Mortal Kombat marathon! We started off by watching the first Mortal Kombat movie(hilarious) then we popped in the new Mortal Kombat and did an all day 4 player tag versus matches. We were set to watch the second movie but couldn't stop playing. It was technically 2 versus 2 and the tagging system seemed similar to Tekken Tag's tagging system, pressing one button swaps in your teammate.

It was a lot of fun and we were constantly shouting at each other because there's no coordination with the tagging at all. Some people just tag themselves out without telling their teammate catching them off-guard or them eating a X-Ray. When i got back home i continued to play some more Mortal Kombat. Did a few challenges in the Challenge Tower(up to 45 now) and practiced with Nightwolf. He might actually be my main character for Mortal Kombat.

Great game and i'll have a full review on it soon.

Earth Defense Force 2 Portable

Earth Defense Force 2017 may not be the best looking Xbox 360 game but its sheer insanity and over the top action makes lovable and hard to hate. Giant insects and aliens going about terrorizing a city while you gun them down, destroying any sign post, foot bridge, or building that gets in your way.

With its sequel, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year. I was surprised to see Earth Defense FOrce 2 Portable, a port of its original PS2 form, out on the PSP in Japan earlier this month. I couldn't picture the intensity of the game being fit into a small package but after playing a few missions, I can say that a lot of "WTF OMG HOLY $#!7!" moments are present in its portable version.

Obviously the amount of monsters present at one time has been reduced but the number of giant ants on screen can still be overwhemlming. You do not have any CPU allies though and are forced to face the invasion alone. The game offers ad hoc support and I've tried it with a friend, its hilariously fun.

D3 has released the game as a two-pack in Japan costing only ¥6,279 ($76). Alone the game costs¥5,040 ($61) Definitely better than buying two copies of the same game separately and with the popularity of Monster Hunter over there, I'm sure anybody who's anybody has a PSP.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trkKer8JvDU&w=640&h=390]

PSPgo officially dead

Sony Computer Entertainment has confirmed that they are closing production of the PSPgo. With the NGP coming this year i'm not surprised. The PSPgo didn't fly as high as the PSP 3000 so Sony has finally decided to focus more on the  3000 and prepare for the coming of NGP. 

The PSPgo was released back in 2009 and only lived for about 3 years. Such a short lifespan.

When NGP gets released, don't think the PSP is done for. It has a huge library of games and Sony plans to support it even when NGP ships. It's just like when the PS3 came out, to this day they still support the PS2.

Sony told japan website AV Watch about this news and When asked about the PSP-3000, Sony told AV Watch, "It will continue to be sold, and we will keep focusing our attention on it from here on out." No doubt with a big library of games in Japan, the PSP will continue to be a popular portable even after Sony's upcoming portable, the NGP, goes on sale later this year.

[Source: Kotaku]