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Hatsune Miku to perform at 2011 Anime Expo

Travis Bruno
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While E3 can be seen as one of the biggest gaming conventions in the United States, the Anime Expo can be seen as the largest convention for Anime in the U.S. Now there hasn’t been a whole lot revealed for the Anime Expo so far this year but it seems that it will have a brand new attraction that has yet to be seen in the U.S. outside of a very recent Toyota Corolla commercial.

Hatsune Miku will be performing with a concert at the Anime Expo. Alongside Hatsune Miku those in attendance will also be treated to performances by Megurine Luka and Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len which will be the first major showing of these vocaloids in the United States. Crypton Future Media, the original company behind the Vocaloid project has begun organizing the event and has established a website for further information on each of the “performers.” This is a huge event and for those who are interested in how exactly it will work, there are videos below from each performer at a similar concert in Japan.

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

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

Sony sent letter to publishers about PSN outage

Travis Bruno
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Consumers have rightfully been very upset with the PSN outage, with some trading in their consoles completely for the Xbox 360. But what about video game companies themselves? Publishers and developers have lost plenty of money due to this outage, with Capcom claiming to have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars already with the downtime and companies such as Aksys who released Arcana Heart 3 which is only available digitally in the US the same time the PSN went down, effectively cutting any sales immediately to nothing.

Now Sony has talked to its user base and apologized, but apparently developers and publishers haven’t been given the same liberty. A letter was sent out yesterday to Sony’s various publishing partners and was leaked to Industry Gamers. The letter addresses some of the actions that Sony has been making to bring the PSN back up and restore services but is all a bunch of pretty words when it comes down to it. Many companies have developed games for the PlayStation Network only, and not all of these publishers or developers are rich.

Dear Partner:

As you know, certain PlayStation Network, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment service user account information was compromised in criminal attacks against our networks. I want to assure you, as a PlayStation partner, that it is Sony’s top priority to restore our network operations and see that business is returned to usual as soon as possible. We are working around the clock to restore service, but will do so only when we can ensure that the network can operate safely and securely. In the meantime, we greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill.

What Happened?

• On Tuesday, April 19, 2011, Sony discovered that several PlayStation Network servers unexpectedly rebooted themselves and that unplanned and unusual activity was taking place on the network. This activity triggered an immediate response.
• Sony mobilized a larger internal team to assist the investigation of the four suspect servers. That team discovered the first credible indications that an intruder had been in the PlayStation Network system, and six more servers were identified as possibly being compromised. Sony immediately decided to shut down all of the PlayStation Network services in order to prevent any additional damage.
• The scope and complexity of the investigation grew substantially as additional evidence about the attack developed.
• The forensic teams were able to confirm that intruders had used very sophisticated and aggressive techniques to obtain unauthorized access, hide their presence from system administrators and escalate privileges inside the servers. Among other things, the intruders deleted log files in order to hide the extent of their work and activity within the network.
• On Sunday May 1, using information uncovered by the forensic teams, engineers at Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) discovered that data had also been taken from their servers. They, too, shut down operations and on Monday, May 2, announced the discovery.

What Data Are Affected?

As you may know, personal data was stolen from approximately 77 million PlayStation network and Qriocity service accounts.

As of this writing, there remains no evidence that the credit card information was stolen and the major credit card companies are still reporting that they have not seen an increase in fraudulent transactions due to this event.

What Steps Are Being Taken?

We have taken aggressive action to give consumers peace of mind, protect them against the abuse of their data, and enhance our security systems moving forward.

We have already advised our consumers in the U.S. that we will offer complimentary identity theft protection services through a leading provider, including an insurance program of up to $1 million. Similar programs are being developed in other markets around the world.

In addition, Sony is taking a series of steps to enhance security of our network infrastructure. They include but are not limited to:

• adding additional automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks;
• enhanced levels of data protection and encryption, as well as additional penetration and vulnerability testing;
• enhanced capabilities to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns;
• implementation of additional firewalls;
• expediting a planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location with enhanced security; and
• appointment of a new Chief Information Security Officer.

Finally, to thank our customers for their patience and loyalty, we are offering them “welcome back” packages as soon as the networks are restored, including free downloads of selected PlayStation entertainment, 30 days of free service as well as service extensions for the number of days PSN and Qriocity services were unavailable, with similar benefits for Music Unlimited subscribers.

Looking Ahead

We of course deeply regret that this incident has occurred. We are working closely with the FBI to identify and apprehend the culprits who committed this crime against our consumers, our partners and our company. I know you can appreciate how widespread the problem of cybercrime is in society today. Although no company is immune, we are confident our consumer data will be protected by some of the best security measures available today.

As a valued partner we aim to keep the lines of communication open so that you are aware of our progress. Our focus has been to confirm the security of the networks, protect customer data and get the services back on line as quickly as possible. We will do our best to respond to all of your inquiries and we will do everything we possibly can to support you.

We are doing everything we can to bring these services back online as soon as possible. We will update you with more information as soon as we can, but please call your account executive if you have further questions. We thank you for your patience and look forward to moving ahead together in the months and years to come.

Very truly yours,

Rob Dyer

SVP, Publisher Relations

PSN may be online for developers

Travis Bruno
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It seems that Sony’s PlayStation Network may just be showing some signs of life, as some word has been given out that developers have been able to test their games online. The status of the online is still sporadic for these companies but the baseline is that the PSN is indeed working at the moment for these developers.

This news comes from a NeoGAF user who has been able to get some confirmation from a number of unnamed developers who have been able to test the network through his contacts. Sony has not let out any word about the status of the system since denying that they had a planned return time of May 31st, and missing the deadline they themselves set nearly two weeks ago. Of course this can be taken as a rumor at the moment but perhaps it is a sign of life that things will return to normal soon.

Namco Releases First Actual Gameplay Trailer for Ridge Racer: Unbounded

Dustin Spencer
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In the past few months we have seen several clips teasing Ridge Racer: Unbounded with CG footage, but today Namco have officially released a new trailer which shows the new racer in action. This new clip gives players a first look at the destruction Unbounded has promised in previous trailers with car smashing, high octane racing as a narrator sets the scene for what is looking to be an explosive experience.

The trailer still doesn’t give out an official date yet, but I have a feeling Namco will be giving us that bit of info when E3 takes place next month (hopefully, anyway). Check out the trailer below and we will keep you updated once more is released for Ridge Racer: Unbounded.

Ms. Splosion Man’s 2 Girls 1 Controller mode unveiled

Travis Bruno
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Twisted Pixel has been throwing around the term 2G1C recently, much to the dismay of those who understand what that little phrase means. If you don’t then you really shouldn’t look it up and I refuse to say what it is on here. But Ms. Splosion Man will apparently have the feature called 2 Girls 1 Controller which is much more sanitary than the alternative.

This feature will allow one player to control two Ms. Splosion Mans around the world or even allow two people to play on one controller as each character is moved with one analog stick and then uses the bumper to jump/’splode. They have released a video showing the gameplay mechanic in use and now we can all go back to not being concerned about that whole 2G1C thing.

Deathsmiles 2X releasing directly to Games on Demand

Travis Bruno
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A few weeks ago we reported that Cave would be handling Deathsmiles 2X’s publishing on their own according to an ESRB rating. This would be the first time that Cave had published a title in the United States to retail release. But that apparently is no longer the case because Cave will be skipping a retail release entirely and going straight to Games on Demand for North America.

Cave is also going to be using the original Japanese for the game entirely which means that you will not be able to understand anything that the game contains unless you are able to read and understand Japanese. The game will cost $30 on May 17th which is next Tuesday. This story comes from Cave’s Facebook as they say that they “will be giving this format a try for getting some of our Japan-only shooters released overseas.”

This is certainly an odd way to bring your title to more fans, but it also is a money saving one at that. No longer do they have to worry about shelling out publication fees or worrying about partnering with a localization company and having to worry about the distribution of the title. Also it is a good way to see that many of the titles that would never see the light of day in the U.S. may actually get released. So if you have been waiting to play the second game of the Deathsmiles’ series then you can pick it up next Tuesday on Games on Demand for $30 or the equivalent in Microsoft Points if you choose to go that way instead.

Terrible Voice Acting Made Better

Dylan Radcliffe
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Terrible Voice Acting Made Better

Occasionally throughout gaming history, a terrible line or simply a terrible voice actor will go down in history for being simply terrible… TERRIBLE!! However, be not ashamed voice actors for getting such terrible lines! Youtube user “” has decided to make a video where he is using his face to make the lines much better.

Check out the video below to let the laughs begin. After you watch the video for the first time; I suggest to watch it again but this time with a dirty mind; quite a few of those are even better when perverted.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_bx_9QYt7k[/pro-player]

F.E.A.R 3 – F**king Run! Game Mode Video

Dylan Radcliffe
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F.E.A.R 3 – F**king Run! Game Mode Video

I could go into all the cool potential that FEAR 3 has. I could go into the back story of the game. I could actually go into a lot of detail about any number of details located in this game; however, I am going to cut it short and just say this:

Best Game mode name ever!

Check out the video below to see the “F**king Run!” Game mode in action, and get ready to run your butt off when FEAR 3 Releases June 21st in the US and June 24th in the UK. I don’t know about you, but the game mode name alone has convinced me to buy this game. Luckily the actual mode looks like a lot of fun as well; what could be better than a giant Wall of Death?!

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy8qeNsdNzI[/pro-player]

Crysis 2 Soundtrack featuring Hanz Zimmer

Benjamin Webb
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Available now comes the soundtrack to the highly regarded video game Crysis 2. Crysis is a well known IP from the developer Crytek and is a science-fiction shooter set on earth. The Soundtrack has been released in collaboration with Hans Zimmer of The Dark Knight and Inception fame (which he was Oscar nominated for), but he has also collaborated on other games, such as Modern Warfare 2.

In regards to the soundtrack, Zimmer had this to say –

“I had an idea for title music. It started off with me doing a main title theme, and then Lorne got involved. I spent far too long doing this opening title theme, but it was just so much fun. It was a typical Zimmer process where I was going to do one theme, and then while I was doing that I had an idea for another one, and then it became another one – it became a whole string of ideas. I think you still feel that there are four distinct musical styles going on. It’s very much Zimmer, there’s very much Lorne Balfe, and there’s very much Slavov and Sillescu.”

PURCHASE THE SOUNDTRACK HERE!

The Soundtrack features two discs, with each featuring the following musical pieces –

CRYSIS® 2
1.      Crysis 2 – Intro (3:09)
Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe
2.      Insertion (3:38)
Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe
3.      Battery Park (3:23)
Borislav Slavov
4.      New York – Aftermath (2:44)
Borislav Slavov
5.      No Escape (2:30)
Tilman Sillescu
6.      Close Encounter (2:00)
Tilman Sillescu
7.      SOS New York (2:05)
Borislav Slavov
8.      Chase (2:26)
Borislav Slavov
9.      Under Assault (2:00)
Tilman Sillescu
10.  Crynet – Shoot Him Down! (2:07)
Borislav Slavov
11.  Sneak And Shoot (3:34)
Borislav Slavov
12.  Gate Keepers (2:19)
Borislav Slavov
13.  Rampage (1:54)
Tilman Sillescu
14.  Nanosuit 2 – Crynet Systems (1:17)
Borislav Slavov
15.  Rising Spear (1:12)
Borislav Slavov
16.  Dead Man Walking (2:05)
Tilman Sillescu
17.  Contamination (2:24)
Borislav Slavov
18.  Sinister Breed (2:02)
Tilman Sillescu
19.  Dystopian Nightmares (2:06)
Tilman Sillescu
20.  Catastrophic Beauty (2:02)
Tilman Sillescu
21.  Semper Fi (1:58)
Tilman Sillescu
CD2
1.      Flooded Streets – Aquarium (1:25)
Borislav Slavov
2.      In Obsurum (2:19)
Tilman Sillescu
3.      Devastation (1:39)
Tilman Sillescu
4.      Shadowzone (2:27)
Tilman Sillescu
5.      Alien Suite (2:06)
Borislav Slavov
6.      Unsafe Haven (1:56)
Tilman Sillescu
7.      Terminal Escape (0:59)
Borislav Slavov
8.      Under The Clock (1:51)
Tilman Sillescu
9.      Morituri (2:19)
Tilman Sillescu
10.  Intersection (1:33)
Tilman Sillescu
11.  Times Square – Evacuation (1:59)
Borislav Slavov
12.  Burning Night (1:32)
Borislav Slavov
13.  Resolution (Reprise) (2:06)
Borislav Slavov
14.  Eye Of The Storm (2:27)
Borislav Slavov
15.  New York (2:37)
Borislav Slavov
16.  Our Only Hope (4:35)
Borislav Slavov
17.  Out Of The Ashes (1:59)
Tilman Sillescu
18.  Alien Logo (0:44)
Tilman Sillescu
19.  The End Of The Beginning (2:01)
Borislav Slavov
20.  Walk In The Park (2:01)
Tilman Sillescu
21.  Epilogue (3:18)
Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe
22.  One Way In (1:21)
Borislav Slavov
23.  Nano-Catalyst (0:49)
Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe
24.  Invaders (1:27)
Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe
25.  Under Siege (0:50)

Order the CD from the official site of the soundtrack here.

Pucca Power Up out now on Nintendo DS

Jack Joly
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Pucca Power Up hits shops and is available to buy for the Nintendo DS as of today, Friday the 13th May.

However, its release date doesn’t reflect its content – despite being released on Friday 13th, of all days, it looks like a cutesy platformer aimed at younger players.

The game features six unique episodes following central characters Pucca and Garu through their adventurous love story. This quirky mismatch between the daughter of a noodle seller and a ninja challenges players to help Pucca and Garu on their quest for true love. An assortment of mini-games complement the adventure.

Pucca began life as an online Flash Mini-series, but has since grown into a popular children’s brand with television shows and various  merchandise like clothes and toy lines.

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