RAGEFACE: PSN outage - day 7 - What you need to know

So, now that we can expect some level of service on PSN "within a week", here are the key bulklet points you NEED to be aware of:

- First off, if you've happened to use the same email/password combo for ANY other website, service, etc - Change that password ASAP.

- Second, When PSN does come back online - Change that password ASAP

- Third, Keep a close eye on your statements from which ever bank or credit card you've had on file with Sony. This part kind of sucks because it's not really a quick and easy fix, and I know I'll be on edge for months...

All I know is I am *very* hesitant to keep my CC info with Sony right now. Hopefully now that this has caught the attention of Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and by extension the US Federal Government, maybe Sony will be more keen on keeping us end users in the loop as this goes on.

RAGEFACE: PSN Outage - Day 6.9 - Uh oh.

From Kotaku:

While Sony discovered that hackers had broken into their Playstation Network on April 19, it wasn't until nearly a week later that the company understood the full scope of the breach, a Sony official tells Kotaku.

The company learned that customer data was stolen on Monday, only after an outside security firm conducted days of forensic analysis, Sony said.

WTF.

Speaking to Kotaku tonight, SCEA spokesman Patrick Seybold explained the apparent delay in notifying customers.

"There's a difference in timing between when we identified there was an intrusion and when we learned of consumers' data being compromised," Seybold said. "We learned there was an intrusion April 19th and subsequently shut the services down.

"We then brought in outside experts to help us learn how the intrusion occurred and to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It was necessary to conduct several days of forensic analysis, and it took our experts until yesterday to understand the scope of the breach. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly this afternoon."

Two words: Epic. Fail.

Sony clearly needs to take a step back and reassess if it really wants to be in the modern video game console business. I am really shocked with how long Sony is claiming it's taken their mercenary security experts to discover the leak of customer data. I do not think i will be renewing my PSN+ subscription and will certainly ensure there are no credit card details entrusted to Sony going forward.

Sigh.

RAGEFACE: PSN outage - day 6.5 - SCEA SPEAKS!

You know what? I'm bored with this story already.

Sony - get your ass in gear, please? This is getting ridiculous. Get PSN back online, push out a new firmware update - whatever it takes.

Anyway, here's the latest from SCEA:

Valued PlayStation Network/Qriocity Customer:
We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have:

Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;
Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and
Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by re-building our system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.

We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.

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.

(So, in short - once PSN is back online, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD.)

Sony goes on to direct you to some information regarding how to check your credit report... yikes.

At this point I have to wonder what Sony's plan is to gain back gamer's trust. No matter which theory you believe (ReBug, or the official story), this looks really ugly for Sony.

VIDEO: Call of the Dead

I don't even know where to begin with this.... there is too much awesome contained in this video clip for the upcoming Call of the Dead level for COD:Black Ops Zombies (it's part of the upcoming Escalation map pack).



I am on geek overload right now. They even got to work with George Romero on this! Danny Trejo! Robert Englund! Suddenly $15 doesn't seem so bad for the map pack, eh?!

Free Excitebike 3D with Nintendo eShop launch!

Next month will bring the anticipated update for the 3DS, giving us both the eShop and the web browser... But Nintendo has announced that 3DS owners will also be entitled to a free copy of Excitebike 3D!

Nintendo has announced that 3DS owners will be able to download a free copy of Excitebike in 3D when the eShop launches later next month.

Revealed during Nintendo Japan's investor's meeting today, Nintendo hopes the offer with provide consumers with an incentive to download the upcoming firmware update that will add an internet browser and eShop.

Too cool! I do love this trend where Nintendo gives the early adopters a little something extra (Opera with the Wii, and that free app when DSiWare launched).

This update can't come fast enough!

Duke Nuke'em Forever - "Come Get Some" trailer

Here's the latest NSFW trailer for Duke Nuke'em Forever!



2 words... HOLY CRAP! Here is to hoping this kicks as much ass as the trailers lead on...

RAGEFACE: PSN outage - day 6

Well, PSN is still down.

I'm guessing there will be no PS Store update or new content for PSN+ members this week. But hey - Sony announced two PlayStation tablets!

Following hot on the heels of the first PlayStation Phone, Sony has today unveiled its first tablet devices that will be capable of (officially) playing PlayStation games.

The S1 tablet, which is a Tegra-powered device and is tapered on one end "like holding a magazine", will be the first Sony tablet device to carry the "PlayStation Certified" label, meaning it can play both PS1 games and other Sony-approved titles specifically for mobile platforms. It has a 9-inch screen.

In addition to the first PlayStation tablet device, the S1, Sony has today also unveiled a second, the S2, a tablet that can fold into a DS-like clamshell.

Meh. I've still yet to be enticed by this whole tablet computing thing - so let's just move on to something else...

This was posted over at Reddit by an admin from psx-scene regarding the PSN downtime:

Ok, I've seen a bunch of speculation of why people think PSN is down, and I thought I should just post what the community knows in comparison to what Sony is telling everyone. The truth is, there was a new CFW (custom firmware) released known as Rebug (http://rebug.me). It essentially turns a retail console into a dev console (not fully, but gives you a lot of the same options that usually dev's only have access to). Anyway, this new CFW was quickly figured out by 3rd parties (not Rebug) to give CFW users access to the PSN network again via the dev networks. With a little manipulation of the URL's through a proxy server you could get your hacked console back online. Not that big of a deal, right? Well, it also turns out that some people over at NGU found out that you could provide fake CC# info and the authenticity of the information was never checked as you were on Sony's private developer PSN network (essentially a network that Sony trusted). What happened next was extreme piracy of PSN content. Sony realizing the issue here shut down the network. Now, before you go freaking out about the latest information posted about Kotaku, no ones personal information was accessible via this hack. Not to say they couldn't get it, but no one is admitting to it being available. Anyway, that's the real reason for the PSN downtime. Sony is now rebuilding all of it's PSN servers to be more secure and (hopefully) make sure the CFW users cannot get online anymore.

Well this certainly adds some color to this story... And it really makes me wonder how this will ultimately affect PS3 users as a whole. Sony will obviously fight back, but I feel the average end user will end up having to jump through some hoops to get back onto PSN once this clears up.