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New theory sheds light on PSN outage

Justin Mienkiewicz
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4

A moderator over at PSX-Scene seems to have a much better explanation than Sony as to why the PSN has been down these past 6 days.  The long and short of it is that a new CFW (custom firmware, aka hack) called Rebug allowed users to turn their PS3 into the PS3 dev console, more or less.  This basically gave them many of the privileges that developers have access to, along with access to the dev PSN network.  Users discovered that while within this network they could use fake credit card info to access PSN (the fake info works because they are in the dev network, sony trusts people on the dev network to not input fake information) and basically steal vast quantities of PSN content.  Sony’s reaction was to simply shut down the network and rebuild it with stronger security.

Much like other explanations, none of this is actually confirmed (since only a confirmation can come from Sony, which will never happen) so take this as you will.  Check out the Reddit post where the moderator divulges all of this information for some more details and how they justify this as correct.  It seems pretty accurate and logical.  This explanation also fits in with Sony’s bare bones excuse of being attacked by an outside party as well as having nothing to do with Anonymous which was previously stated here.

What this doesn’t confirm, however, is any sort of ETA on when the network will be back up.  : /  While it’s great to keep getting bits and pieces of information that are slowly starting to piece together what is really going on here, it would be nice to get some hard info on when all of this will be over and done with for a change.  Some reports have claimed that the network will be back up today for Japan and back up in EU and NA tomorrow.  Here’s to hoping those are accurate claims.

ESRB rates Death Smiles 2X; published by Cave itself

Travis Bruno
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2

Now last year a title was released in the U.S. called Death Smiles. It was a classic Japanese bullet hell styled game that was brought over with the help of Aksys Games and developed by Cave. Now this year it seems that Cave will be handling everything themselves because in the ESRB rating for the game they are listed as the publisher for the title as Cave Co. Ltd.

Whether this is because they thought Aksys handled the game poorly or if they made enough money from the first title that they could handle the second title completely on their own has yet to be seen. But either way we have ESRB’s rating to see what the game will contain (as well as a video from the Japanese version of the game). The rating itself places the game at a T rating and goes into full detail about a number of the things that a parent might have to worry about. Catch the full description below.

This is a side-scrolling shooter in which players control small characters that fly through the air and destroy fantastical creatures. Players shoot various projectiles (bombs, bullets, lasers, arrows, etc.) at elephants, pigs, goblins, bats, and monsters in constant air battle. Enemies and objects explode in fiery bursts and bright particles. In one still-frame cutscene, an unconscious man is depicted on the ground with small bloodstains next to his mouth. Some cutscenes depict female characters in suggestive poses or revealing outfits (e.g., a character whose top falls off, a woman covering her chest). A few static images depict women with partially exposed breasts (e.g., a character lying face-down on a massage table; a goddess whose breasts are obscured by thin strands of hair)

PSN still down says Sony in latest update; nothing new revealed

Travis Bruno
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9

Well, being a PlayStation 3 owner hasn’t been the best thing lately especially if you have been wanting to play online with any of the new releases that have been released in the past week. This is due to the fact that the PlayStation Network has been down for quite some time now. Despite all of the finger pointing and groups around the internet either saying that they did do it or didn’t do it, it doesn’t change the fact that millions of people are without access to the PSN.

In an effort to really not make much progress, Sony’s Patrick Seybold has released a statement on the PlayStation Blog of little actual consequence or information. You can read the full statement below but all it does is reveal that there is actually no progress at the moment, or no progress that they wish to reveal at this time.

I know you are waiting for additional information on when PlayStation Network and Qriocity services will be online. Unfortunately, I don’t have an update or timeframe to share at this point in time.

As we previously noted, this is a time intensive process and we’re working to get them back online quickly. We’ll keep you updated with information as it becomes available. We once again thank you for your patience.

Nintendo 3DS sales reach 3.61 million worldwide

Travis Bruno
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2

It looks like Nintendo has fallen a tad short of their mark for 3DS sales by the end of their fiscal year. Nintendo originally had expectations that the 3DS would sell 4 million units worldwide but unfortunately that number has only reached 3.61 million as of March 31st 2011 which is when their fiscal year ended. These sales included the launch days for both the European release and the North American release.

On the other hand sales for the different 3DS games has reached 9.43 million units but exactly what titles have sold the most was not released by the company although they did state that two games had managed to break the million mark on their own which would make them platinum titles. You can take a guess below as to which two these titles were.

The exact sales for Japan, the US and others can be seen below; or you can read the entire fiscal year report here with the sales figures on the last page.

  • Japan: 1,060,000
  • The Americas: 1,320,000
  • Other: 1,230,000

Portal 2 could have had wall walking gel says Erik Wolpaw

Travis Bruno
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5

One of the more interesting additions to Portal 2’s already impressive puzzle variety is the inclusion of the different gel that has been placed in the game. These gels, depending on which one you use, can help make the area it is sitting on either super slippery, super bouncy or even allow you to place a portal on a surface you otherwise couldn’t before. However there could have been more gel in the game, but Valve thought it may have caused some problems.

EA themselves has interviewed Valve’s lead writer Erik Wolpaw and in this interview he revealed that a fourth gel was going to be placed in the game that would have allowed players to walk up and down the side of walls. Now the reason that this wasn’t put in Wolfpaw says was because during the playtesting the testers found that the gel caused some problems. “While this added a new twist to the game, the effect was so disorientating that it made people nauseas.” was what caused the gel to be cut from the game.

Also done in an effort to help players with motion sickness the team “made changes to frame rate and movement that will help anyone play Portal 2 even if they do experience a feeling of nauseas while playing other first-person games.” Playing through Portal 2 can sometimes be a stomach churning experience but at least it isn’t quite as bad thanks to these changes they made.

Ocarina of Time 3D intro movie brings back fond memories

Travis Bruno
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1

Ready for a trip down memory lane? Then you can catch the video below which shows the opening movie that plays when you turn on your Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D cartridge. With the same opening movie and the same music that any fan of the Zelda games should remember it truly is a nostalgia trip.

Beyond that however it appears that the video itself hasn’t seen much if any change from the original N64 video we were treated to all those years ago. The video itself will be in 3D when you play it on your 3DS but obviously you will not be able to see how it will look exactly on the video we have here today. Also updated today was the game’s official Japanese website where you can catch a handful of gameplay videos as well as your very own Navi following your cursor around.

Gears of War 3 Beta available now to pre-orderers!

Travis Bruno
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3

That sound of chainsaws clashing together can only mean one thing. The Gears of War 3 Beta has expanded. While anyone who picked up Bulletstorm for the Xbox 360 has been playing the Gears of War 3 beta for over a week now, the rest of the world has had to sit and wait until today where they could access the beta themselves. Of course this is only with a code you received if you happened to pre-order the game from GameStop or any retailer outside of the US who is also giving out beta codes.

If you have pre-ordered the game then your code is good for the beta that has started today for pre-orderers. The beta will run until May 15th so despite the later start fans of the game will have roughly three weeks to get their chainsaw on. Also if you happen to play enough matches you can unlock the Thrashball Cole character and the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer for the full game when it releases later this year. We’ll be seeing you on the battlefield.

Google Steals Donations from Project Zomboid

Chris Cerami
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11

Project Zomboid, the zombie survival RPG by indie devs The Indie Stone, is looking to be a pretty exciting title for fans of the living dead. It’s logical to assume that some of these same fans would want to support its development through pre-orders and donations then. This is exactly what had been happening over at the Project Zomboid site for a while now. Due to cautionary tales from other indie developers, the guys at Indie Stone decided to set up both a PayPal and a Google Checkouts account for people to send monetary donations along with their pre-orders. The donations weren’t mandatory but if a fan decided he or she wanted to support the development they were free to do so. Pretty standard stuff in the indie scene.

That is until Indie Stone realized that Google hadn’t given them any of their cash yet after about a month of donations. This was followed by a notice from Google informing the team that they would need to remove the Google Checkouts tool from their site and stop taking donations through Google’s service. This was the only information provided to the team. This left quite a few questions in the air, as the devs put it, “Does it get refunded? Do Google hoard it indefinitely? Do we get it some day? We find zero information on this no matter how deep we look, and no way to contact them”.

After a bit of hunting, Google Checkouts was finally able to be contacted and a long, explanatory email was written detailing the situation. Unfortunately, Google responded simply with a stock response that didn’t correct or explain anything, leaving the team still without its money or any answers. At this point, Google still holds all of the donation funds and it is unclear whether or not they will be forwarded to Indie Stone, returned to customers, or just held in a state of limbo for the rest of time. While one would hope that Google would clear up such a situation quickly, it appears that the community needs to get the word out there in order to initiate action on the corporation’s part. For now, fans interested in Project Zomboid should head over to the site and pre-order it…just make sure to use PayPal.

The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past; as told by theamazingbrand0

Benjamin Webb
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2

The Amazing Brand0, of The Adventures of Duane and Brand0 fame, has recently released a couple of music tracks set to ‘The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past’.

The songs are a rock/rap parody of the game; while also telling the story of ALTTP. Watch as Link slays countless foes through Hyrule Castle as he attempts to rescue the Princess Zelda from her prison accompanied by a rocking redux of the Hyrule Castle theme. The vocals start out a bit weak, but that’s part of the songs charm, as it continues to build up to awesome lyrical hilarity. This becomes especially apparent when Link *SPOILERS* rescues the Princess from the dungeon and attempts to escape.

The song features memorable lyrics, such as:

Zelda? (Link?)

Will you give me a kiss?

No…

and

Hey I got a question –

– Is this the right direction?

And if course the unforgettable –

Well Excuuuuuse me, Princess!

Man, I loved the Zelda cartoon so much when it was on Captain N.

Take a look at the Videos below.

WARNING MAY CONTAIN ADULT THEMES/LANGUAGE. CAPSULE COMPUTERS WILL TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR NEGLIGENT PARENTING.

Episode 1

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxI7vHn_rmg&feature=watch_response_rev[/pro-player]

Episode 2

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlYjb25do2Q&feature=feedf[/pro-player]

Be sure to check out Brand0’s Youtube Channel and Website.

Also check out The Adventures Of for their previous work.

Max Payne 3: some more teaser pics

Darren Resnekov
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3

You may have seen the teaser pics previously on Capsule computers, and to keep all you salivating Max Payne fans from choking on your own spit, Rockstar games have released a few more screenshots showing some amazing environmental detail and a new look Max. In what somes to be a marketing build up to a much anticipated and awaited title, fans were greeted with a simple tweet of “Hes coming”, an ominous entrance to a dark and much missed character. Rockstar games who took over ownership of the franchise from Remedy are releasing exclusive information to Edge magazinevia an interview with their Art Director Rob Nelson who says players should expect a more linear gaming style rather than a free open world, more true to the games comic book feel and roots. He says to expect the same advances in realism and NaturalMotion that gave RDR the advantage over GTA controls as well as an advancement in the games AI, bullet control and character realism thanks to developers having much more control and ability and adapt the system to different situations.

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