Handling the Playstation Network Attack

So yes, the Playstation Network (PSN) has been hacked, so what? This sort of stuff happens all the time. No really it does, remember that Epsilon fiasco that happened three weeks ago? Whether the bad guys are getting smarter or the good guys are getting lazier, you as a consumer must always be prepared to handle the unfortunate possibility of having your personal information stolen. Especially if you’re putting your information out on the inter-webz. So is Sony at fault? Absolutely, but I can’t just put all the blame on them. As far as I can tell Sony made two glaring mistakes.

1. Sony is in the middle of a law suit with an organization named Anonymous. Anonymous basically didn't like Sony's handling of the PSN or the lawsuit against one of their own, George Hotz. To make a point, Anonymous found some wholes in the PSN's security protocols and decided to exploite them. Now I’m not claiming that Anonymous is responsible for the recent hacking, I’m just saying Anonymous pointed out some huge problems with the network and Sony didn’t act with immediate urgency.
2. The fact that it took Sony 6 days to say there has been, “a compromise of personal information ” is a little ridiculous. Sony, did you know it only takes an hour or so to ruin someone’s credit? What took you so long to tell us that we needed to change our passwords and throw our credit cards into a shredder?

Like I said, this stuff happens so lets stop pointing fingers and do something a little more productive. Now that we know the PSN has been hacked, what can we do to protect ourselves? Thanks to Joystiq’s article on the situation, I feel we have some options. First off lets determine what was taken.

Stolen Information

Name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PSN/Qriocity password and login, and PSN online ID 

Outcome: Nothing too bad, worst case scenario, be prepared to get your email and regular mail spammed.

Information That May Have Been Stolen

Purchase history, billing address (city, state, zip), your PSN/Qriocity password security answers, and of course your credit cards numbers

Outcome: This is a lot more serious mainly because a credit card number has been stolen. Worst case scenario: You have just furnished someone with multiple new cars, a trip around the world, and a state-of-the-art robot butler.

Solution

Change your passwords and cancel those credit cards immediately. While I believe 90% of PSN users probably won't run into any troubles, I always find it better to err on the side of caution when it comes to hackers who can financially ruin you. Don’t let the PSN hackers bum you out, PSN will be back and better than ever and we will all go back to playing MvC3 and Call of Duty in no time. 

Teach Me: How Video Games Can Teach a Generation

I'm a strong believer that games can be a force for good rather than the mindless entertainment some games come off as e.g. Grand Theft Auto or Super Mario Bros. Yes, I will agree there is a degree of strategy to these games and you can definitely learn something. Like, a hooker will fly very far when you hit them at full speed when you're being chased by cops. While I don't ever see myself applying this information, at least I can say I learned something. But video games have the potential for so much more. In this Extra Credits video, they show how tangental learning (the process by which people learn if the topic is exposed to them in a context that they already enjoy) can be applied to video games. After watching the video do you think games can be a good way to teach or are they strictly for entertainment purposes?

Street Fighter x Tekken...Yes Please!

This is me phoning it in super late. Oooooo, look at the pretty trailer for Street Fighter x Tekken. Word on the street says Street Fighter x Tekken will feature 2-on-2 battles between four players and Tekken's bound system (aka ground bounces). There's actual game play footage, but it was boring in comparison to this rocking trailer with cinematics. 

My Thoughts on the Green Lantern Movie Trailer

This looks awful! The end.

What? I need to write more? Fine, it looks really awful, is that better?

No?

Alright, well this youtube video is from 2011’s Wondercon and it shows off some of the more flasher aspects of the Green Lantern movie. I‘m a huge fan of Green Lantern, because who wouldn’t like to see the bad guys get stopped by a giant green pair of floating scissors? While I think the rapper Common would make a better John Stewart than Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, I really have no room to complain about which Green Lantern is in the 1st movie because Hal Jordan is obviously Earth’s first Green Lantern. What I can complain about is the over use of CGI. The alien worlds do not look appealing and I fear that the movie might fall into the same trap G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra fell into with its big crazy effects, but little to no plot. Will I go see the movie? Of course, but I have no expectations that this will be a good movie. Have a look for yourself and decided if I’m right or wrong.

SSF4 Gen's Laugh out Loud Infinate

I am not a fan of infinite combos in any fighting game. Props to anyone who takes the time to learn and execute infinites flawlessly, but to the average player, like myself, they are just freaking frustrating. When I get stuck in a long combo, all I can do is watch my character slowly die and there is nothing I can do about it. So when I heard that Gen had an infinite combo in SSF4, I had to know what this new devastating combo looked like just in case I started running into a lot of Gen players in the online arena. I was expecting a basic tutorial on how to pull off the combo, but instead, I got this rather hilarious video. Technically it’s not an infinite, but as you will see it can be very annoying.

C2E2 2011: After Thoughts

Oh yeah, C2E2 is back...well it has passed, but I’ve got to write about it anyways so here we go. C2E2 returned to Chicago’s McCormick Place back in March (Yes, I’m late with this review, but I had a good reason...My dog ate it. What! You don’t believe me? Well, I don’t have time to explain the digestive nature of a dog that may or may not be real). C2E2 was even better the second time around and that’s saying a lot considering how great it was last year. This being the second year of the cons existence, it obvious that the people in charge were taking notes from last year. So what made C2E2 even better? I’ll sum it up in one word...variety. Yes, there was a little something for everyone, from the hardcore comic book nerd to the casual bystander who might say, “comic what?” anyone who walked through C2E2's doors would have been pleasantly surprised.