PSN freebies live

 Console Gaming  No Responses »
Jun 032011
 

Finally you can redeem your consolation prizes for being a victim of Sony’s security gaffes.  You get 2 games out of a list of 5, our details on that are still here.  Also, you get 30 days of Playstation Plus.  What does that do for you?  It allows you to enable automatic downloads of patches to games and firmware, gets you discounts on certain titles on the PS Store, access to some demos and trials not available to regular users, and even entitles you to some free games that you only keep as long as you’re a Plus member.  The free 30 days has no strings attached, doesn’t auto-renew and won’t automagically bill you next month.  Current Playstation Plus benefits are here.

Lastly, this weekend, PSN has some complimentary movie titles available for rent.  They don’t list out what movies are available, but it is safe to expect stuff from Sony pictures.  All they tell us is “A selection of “On Us” movie rentals are currently available to PlayStation Network customers this weekend only, where Video Service is available.”  So if you’re in the mood for a movie this weekend, log in and see what’s on the house.

PlayStation Store online

 Console Gaming  No Responses »
Jun 022011
 

The PlayStation Store finally came back online late last night / early this morning.  Predictably, the service is getting hammered right now, so expect it to be slow and/or get random timeouts and obscure error messages as everyone scrambles to download stuff.  If you’re looking for the free stuff, it’s not up there quite yet, although they expect to post it up real “soon.”  For a reminder of the free games available to North American customers, check out our recap here with links to reviews and more info about each.

So now that the store is back up, what’s new to download?  Basically a ton of stuff, as Sony tries to catch up on the backlog of items publishers haven’t been able to sell for the past month and a half.  The list is way too long to detail here, so check out the full post on the PS blog.

A few suggestions would be:

  • Back to the Future episode 3 (now almost 2 episodes behind the PC/Mac version).
  • Redeem your L.A. Noire PS3 exclusive case and check out the Rockstar Pass for future DLC.
  • I will be definitely downloading the inFamous 2 demo, since I was a fan of the first one.
  • Any other code pack-ins from games you recently bought but haven’t been able to redeem.

I’d say skip the Red Faction Armageddon demo if you were a fan of Guerrilla.  After trying the demo on the 360,  it seems they took out everything that was fun about the last game and left us with a linear corridor shooter for Armageddon. Boo!

Expect a couple of store updates a week until Sony completely catches up on their backlog.  While quick updates are necessary to get everything back on track, it has to hurt the developers who now have their new releases buried in a pile of other content coming out at the same time.  Hopefully Sony will have appropriate compensation for those who make a living on the PS Store.

Sony starts sign ups for identity protection

 Console Gaming  No Responses »
May 262011
 

Sony took a break from being hacked on various fronts to announce that you can start to sign up for your year free identity protection/credit monitoring service.  I can’t think of any reason why you wouldn’t do this, so you might as well head over to this page here, and put in your PSN email address.  After doing so, they claim you’ll receive an activation code and instructions within 72 hours.    Do it.  It’s a great opportunity to check out your credit even if you’re not worried about Sony’s lack of security.  You’ll need to take action before the end of June, so don’t put it off.

PSN partially down for maintenance, no PlayStation Store (Update2: yet more hacks)

 Console Gaming  No Responses »
May 242011
 

Sony alerted users on their blog that PSN will be partially down for maintenance for the bulk of the day.  They claim the impact will be minimal and chances are you won’t notice it.  They also took the time to mention that the PS Store won’t be coming back online today, but reiterate they are still on target for “the end of this month.”  While I’m sure there are a lot of people who will boycott the store in light of Sony’s lack of focus on security, the store also is the gatekeeper for code pack-ins in new games and also for downloading content users have already bought.

Of course, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing since PSN was partially restored.   A loophole was found (and subsequently fixed) that allowed unauthorized password resetting, a Thai Sony site was infected and taken over by a phishing scam, a SQL injection attack compromised a Greek Sony music site, exposing more customer data all while the CEO called the whole thing a “hiccup in the road to a network future.”  We’re still trying to figure out what that means, but do appreciate his dismissive attitude towards his company’s continued failures which have left their customers exposed.

UPDATE:  Another Sony music site, this one in Japan has fell victim to yet another SQL injection attack.  Yes, Sony is on quite the roll these days.  Also, I was remiss not to mention that PSN is still down in Japan, as they need to answer more questions and meet more guidelines before the Japanese government will allow them to go back online in their home country.  Is it clear that Sony simply can’t be trusted with your data or do they just have a huge target on them right now?  While it’s obvious they’re a popular target as of late, that doesn’t excuse them from constantly failing.  SQL injection attacks aren’t anything new.

UPDATE #2: Yes, this keeps getting more ridiculous.  Another site, this time the Sony Ericsson Canadian site has been compromised, just like the others, with more customer data stolen.    You just can’t make this stuff up.  Should Sony just uninstall the internet?

PlayStation Store next week

 Console Gaming  No Responses »
May 192011
 

GiantBomb and other outlets are reporting that the PlayStation Store will be up next week. This comes from a memo sent to PSN devs letting them know when they can start to sell their products again. Expect two store updates a week for the next two weeks so that Sony can catch up on all the releases that were missed due to the outage. Of course, this is also great news for those trying to redeem codes for extra content packed in to recently released games like L.A. Noire and gamers who have been waiting to catch up on Telltale’s Back to the Future adventure game episodes.

Hopefully this will mark the end of the Sony / PSN drama and things can go back to working normally.

L.A. Noire first impressions

 Console Gaming  No Responses »
May 182011
 
If you have been following any of the big gaming sites or even mainstream media, you probably already know that L.A. Noire is receiving glowing reviews and universal praise.  I decided to give it a shot and after just a couple hours with the game, I can see what all the excitement is about.

I hadn’t paid much attention to the game during its development cycle, and not a whole lot of news had come out about it to know exactly what to expect.  Of course, you see the name “Rockstar” on the box art, so immediately you think of GTA and Red Dead Redemption, just in a 1940’s setting.  You would be wrong.  True, there are a few small elements that may loosely compare to those games, but only in the most general sense.   As a quick disclaimer, I wasn’t much of a fan of any of the recent GTAs or RDR, but I am definitely a fan of L.A. Noire.

L.A. Noire is a crime solving game that is broken up into cases.  The cases are nice sized chunks of game play that have a beginning and end to them, and depending on how well you do on each case determines your character’s overall progression through the ranks.  As you level up, you can unlock more intuition points to help you find more clues and help you out when you get stumped.

The general case layout, at least in the first part of the game, is that you start out by investigating a crime scene, looking for clues and evidence.  A big part of the game is interviewing witnesses and potential suspects, and while you are doing that, you have to try and read their facial expressions and mannerisms, then compare it to any evidence you’ve gathered to decide if they are lying or telling the truth, which drives how to proceed.  The amazing part is that it actually works really, really well.  L.A. Noire has some of the best “face tech” we’ve seen in games, so you really have to pay attention to interviewees.

The few items that may only slightly resemble a GTA or RDR game is the driving and combat.  The combat is not a large part of the game, and your character cannot pull out a weapon at any time.  There are only specific instances that fit the context where you can draw your gun, and even then, you probably don’t want to shoot if you don’t have to.  The controls for that could be a bit tighter, but it’s forgivable given the fact that this game isn’t really about shooting and plays a small roll.  Most of the game is looking for and examining evidence along with engaging in dialog with your partner, witnesses, suspects and other persons of interest.

The driving in the game is probably the only part I find a bit unpleasant.  The amount of the city that you can travel in L.A. Noire is impressive, but I found the driving controls to be a bit too floaty.  Of course, being a cop, you actually don’t want to crash into other cars or objects, and if you do it enough, it can really hurt your case “score.”  Thankfully, they accounted for this, and in most cases, you can let your partner do the driving which results in what basically is “fast travel” to the destination of your choosing.  I expect to let my partner do the bulk of the driving for the remainder of the game.  There are some small side missions that you can take on while driving, which are radio calls requesting officers to respond to different events that you can accept or ignore, which could involve chasing down a suspect or diffusing a hostage situation.

The game’s presentation is some of the best I’ve seen.  They nailed the 1940’s setting completely (or at least my perceived image of it) with sharp visuals, period specific music, top notch voice acting and great dialog.  The game looks phenomenal and from what I’ve read, the PS3 version edges out the 360 version in graphical quality.  Also, the PS3 version has the advantage of being contained on just one blu-ray versus three DVDs on the 360.

So if you were on the fence about L.A. Noire and are looking for a great story-driven crime game, definitely check it out.  The game unfolds like a good crime drama and could definitely make for a good game to play with a significant other or friends.  Working together to analyze the evidence and talk about possible motives or suspicions of lying make it an interactive game for non-players too.  I’m definitely excited to dive back into the world of L.A. Noire and take on some new cases.

Looking to pick up L.A. Noire?  Check it out at [amazon_link id=”B002I0J5UQ” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Amazon and get a $20 credit[/amazon_link] for a limited time.

PSN Welcome Back Program

 Console Gaming  3 Responses »
May 172011
 

More details keep trickling out about Sony’s compensation plans for the PSN outage. While the store is not up yet, when it does come back up, they have some free games waiting for you. The plan is that each user will get to choose two PS3 games from a list of five and you can also choose two PSP games from a list of four. The game titles are, of course, Sony published games, and if you had expectations of free third party games you would have been completely mistaken. Here’s your options in North America:

PS3 Games:

PSP Games:

A fairly decent list, although one could argue that most of those games are older and there are no AAA recent titles on that list.  I’ve only played inFAMOUS on the PS3 list and felt it was a very enjoyable open-world game, so if you’ve held out for that one, it’s easy to recommend for the low price of free.  Also coming is some free rental movies over a one weekend and some PlayStation Home free virtual items.

To recap, Sony will be offering one year of credit monitoring, two free PS3 games (and two PSP games if you actually have a PSP), some free movie rentals for one weekend (too bad if you’re out of town), 30 days of PlayStation Plus, and the promise of better security.  Of course, we have no well of telling how much more secure PSN is, although it’s been noted that Japan is not allowing PSN to go back online there because “Sony was incomplete in exercising measures that they said they will do on the May 1 press conference.”    You can read more into how the Japanese government is treating the situation with Sony, here.  That definitely makes me take pause a bit.

Has Sony done enough to win your confidence back?  There is no doubt their brand has taken a beating, and it will take time to win back customer trust.  The biggest issue is what recourse does the average gamer have against Sony if you didn’t feel you were compensated enough?  Not much, aside from not purchasing any new Sony products going forward.  Only time will tell on how badly the Sony/PS3 brand has been tarnished.

PSN comes back online, sort of

 Console Gaming  2 Responses »
May 162011
 

Starting late Saturday / early Sunday, as you probably already know, Sony starting bringing PSN back online, region by region.  This calculated restoration wasn’t completely smooth, as there was some added downtime due to their system being flooded by change password requests.  Things seem to be back on track now, although the PlayStation Store is still not available.  No exact timeline has been posted for the return of the store, although they seem to indicate before the end of the month.  Of course, without the store, planned PSN game releases are still being delayed and extra content and demos cannot be downloaded. Right now, friend lists, online play and video services like Netflix, MLB, Hulu are all functional again, so at least online dependent games like Brink are actually playable on PS3.

In the latest update from Sony, things that we’re still waiting for details on are what freebies (games or videos) will be offered to users in the “Welcome Back” package and when/how you can sign up for your 1 year of credit monitoring.

If you don’t feel warm and fuzzy enough about Sony and PSN, you can watch this heart-felt message from Sony’s Kazuo Hirai:

The common feeling that many people have now is that PSN has to be the most secure online entertainment network now.  Taking almost one month to rebuild and fortify their security has to mean something, doesn’t it?

Sony is really, really sorry

 Console Gaming  No Responses »
May 062011
 

In a trifecta of updates on the PlayStation Blog, Sony gives us new information on where they are at and what they are doing for their customers.  The first update, Patrick Seybold tells us they have been working around the clock to restore service and the new and improved PSN is in the final stages, being internally tested.  Still, no time line is given, so it’s anyone’s guess at this point.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see it back up until next week.

In the second update, Seybold describes the free year of credit monitoring Sony will offer to their US customers.  They claim to be working out the details for customers in other regions.  Basically, in the near future all PSN users will receive an email giving them details on how to sign up for their complimentary credit monitoring, which includes $1 million insurance policy for identity theft.  This was one of the important things I felt Sony should have offered, and they’ve followed that through, so I’m starting to warm back up to them ever-so-slightly.

In the third and last update from last night, we hear from Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony.  He tries to answer the main question everyone is asking which is why it took so long to let their customers know:

As soon as we discovered the potential scope of the intrusion, we shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and hired some of the best technical experts in the field to determine what happened. I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had — or had not — been taken.

Fair enough, although it would have been nice to see them be proactive, like LastPass has done.  He does not acknowledge the information that indicates Sony was an easy target due to unpatched software and poorly designed network security.  I would have liked a little mea culpa there and less of playing an innocent victim, but maybe I’m just bitter.

Still unknown is what free content Sony will make available when everything is back up and running.  Also, still no mention of being able to erase your personal data from Sony’s databases if you so choose.  Right now, I feel that Sony is about halfway there in doing everything they should do to start to win back customer confidence.  Since everything is still a work in progress, I will reserve final judgement until then.

Sony wants to get back together with you

 Console Gaming, Gaming  7 Responses »
May 012011
 

A quick follow-up on Funkmaster’s post from Thursday: On 4/30, Sony released more details about restoring PSN and attempting to woo back customers.

Not everything is set in stone, but it’s worth looking at the press release/blog post. Sony is promising a “Welcome Back” program that includes the following features:

  • Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon.
  • All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service.
  • Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service.

The company also promises “additional “Welcome Back” entertainment and service offerings” to be rolled out in the coming weeks.

Is that enough for you – a free month of PlayStation Plus and a free PSN game? It’s hard to get excited about the free content that’s promised, because Microsoft set a precedent of mediocrity in this regard several years ago; I’m not holding my breath about the quality of this newest round of freebies. I’m also pretty uninterested in a free month of PlayStation Plus, since Sony never sold me (or many people) on the value of this service in the first place. I appreciate the general direction implied by the name “Welcome Back”, and these moves are nice gestures, but they don’t feel that relevant to me personally.

On the other hand, I’m paying attention to Sony’s actions related to long-term change within the organization. The company is revamping PSN’s security architecture (duh), and they’re creating a new senior-level position dedicated to data security and customer privacy. Sony also continues to engage outside security consultants – which I think is essential, given the apparently massive blind spot within the company that allowed this situation to unfold as it did. And when PSN services begin to be restored this week, Sony will force all users to reset their password via basic two-factor authentication: not just logging into their old account, but also performing the password change operation either on their original PS3 hardware (where the PSN account was first created) or via the personal email address associated with the PSN account. These actions fall short of the forward-looking changes that Funkmaster advocated last week…but they might be a decent start.

Has Sony learned its lesson – or have you?

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