he man in charge of Sony’s network entertainment division has outlined the lessons learned from PSN’s hack attack.

Speaking at the Gamesbeat 2011 conference in San Francisco, Tim Schaaff told VentureBeat recovering from a major hack is about more than just improving security.

Sony switched off its online gaming PlayStation Network service for almost one month in April following a hack that obtained the personal details of around 77m users.

“It's dramatic but that the lesson we learned from this process is that there are some crazy things going on in the world right now, and in the beginning we were very concerned that we were the focal point for this attack, and it was all about Sony, and what was Sony doing," he said.

“But over time, the company learned that a wide variety of sites had been hit, including government institutions and other companies.

“I think for people running network businesses, it's not just about improving your security, because I've never talked to a security expert who said, 'As long you do the following three things you'll be fine, because hackers won't get you.’ The question is how do you build your life so you're able to cope with those things.”

“It’s been a great experience,” he added.

When asked to elaborate on this, Schaaff replied: “A great experience. I would not like to do it again. One time was enough. Great learning experience.”

PSN went back online in May in the UK, while the PlayStation Store has only just gone live again in Japan. Sony says network performance and sales are better than ever.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sony-...erience/082283 ...

Apple has upped the cost of games and other downloads on the App Store platform.

Prices for apps increased in several countries – including the UK – and dropped in others. Games like Angry Birds which were previously 59p now cost 69p, while £1.19 apps have become £1.49.

Apple said the price hike is to help balance pricing models correctly outside of the US. For example, in Australia consumers previously had to pay up to one third more than other countries for the same iPhone or iPad content.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/app-s...es-rise/082285 ...

Online retailer Gameseek has warned other boxed game retailers that it’s too late to join the digital download market.

The website – which has been online since 2000 – scrapped its download service earlier this year due to low demand.

MD Stephen Staley told MCV that the success of established services such as Steam and Xbox Live means the digital window of opportunity has closed for physical retailers hoping to crack into that space.

“It’s too late for traditionally boxed game retailers to start thinking about a download service, as known services such as Steam and Xbox Live are way ahead,” he said. “The downloads only accounted to about 0.1 per cent of our business so it was not a big loss. However, we expected it to do better.”

Gameseek went live with game downloads in January 2008 in parnership with specialist online service Metaboli, before scrapping the offering this year.

“We tried to push the service but there just was not enough demand for downloading games. We receive a lot of traffic to our site so we thought it would have been more successful than it was, but the service never really took off.”

The news comes after a host of independent retailers – including ShopTo and Barkman Computers – told MCV they wanted to add downloadable games to their product range.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/its-t...wnloads/082272 ...

Sony questioning continues says Information Commissioner's Office
The Information Commissioner's Office has confirmed to Develop that it is still pursuing its questioning of Sony over the massive PSN data breach.
ICO original announced its investigation into the matter late in April, and promised to look into the potential theft of millions of PSN users' accounts, but since has remained quiet on the matter.
Contacted by Develop, an ICO spokesperson said the organisation “will pursue” PSN hack investigation. ICO could offer no timeline as to when publication of its findings would occur, but offered assurances it will make public data on the matter.
The organisation declined to comment further.
Back in April ICO told Eurogamer: "Any business or organisation that is processing personal information in the UK must ensure they comply with the law, including the need to keep data secure.
"We have recently been informed of an incident which appears to involve Sony. We are contacting Sony and will be making further enquiries to establish the precise nature of the incident before deciding what action, if any, needs to be taken by this office."
The ICO is not the only Government body to look at Sony in the wake of the hack. In May Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said Sony must make online security a new priority.
“Clearly, as more and more companies move their products online – with more and more customers handing over their details – data protection is going to have to be a number one priority,” Vaizey said.
He also stated the Government would not interfere with the Information Commissioner’s Office on whether to fine Sony.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...ifbh+(Develop) ...

Netflix streaming has made its way to the Nintendo 3DS.
Owners of the portable game player can now head over to the Nintendo eShop and download the streaming application for free. According to Nintendo, Netflix content can be viewed only on the 3DS' upper screen.
Netflix's launch on the 3DS comes at a difficult time for Nintendo's portable. The device, which allows users to play 3D games without the need for special glasses, hasn't been selling as well as Nintendo had hoped. During a financial results briefing in April, Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata acknowledged his company's troubles, saying that the 3DS sales pitch is difficult for consumers to understand.
"The value of 3D images without the need for special glasses is hard to be understood through the existing media," Iwata said. "However, we have found that people cannot feel it just by trying out a device, rather, some might even misestimate it when experiencing the images in an improper fashion. This makes it more important to give people more opportunities for appropriate experiences of glassless 3D images."
The addition of Netflix to the 3DS seems to be part of Iwata's strategy to bring more players into the mix. During the briefing, he said that his company would be doubling down on digital media to help attract "nonactive" users to the platform.
Even so, the real draw of the 3DS is 3D content. And so far, the content available in the Netflix app on the 3DS is only in 2D. Nintendo said today that "an additional library of select movies that can be viewed in 3D without the need for special glasses" is launching "soon."
In order to stream Netflix content to the 3DS, users will need to connect to the Web via Wi-Fi from the device. They must also have a Netflix streaming plan, starting at $7.99 per month.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20...#ixzz1S73ke0sb ...

LulzSec gained instant notoriety by targeting the CIA, multi-nationals and government websites. Then, at the height of its popularity, it disbanded. One of its founders tells why

Its audacity was brazen and apparently fearless. Among its high-profile victims were Sony, the CIA, the FBI, the US Senate and even the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency. Exposing frailties in government and corporate networks, the group leaked hundreds of thousands of hacked passwords, and in the process garnered more than a quarter of a million followers on Twitter. But after just 50 days, on 25 June, LulzSec suddenly said it was disbanding.

Just hours before this announcement, the Guardian had published leaked internet chat logs revealing the inner workings of the group, which appeared to consist of six to eight members. The logs showed that authorities were often hot on their heels, and that after an attack on an FBI-affiliated website two hackers had quit LulzSec as they were "not up for the heat". As media attention mounted, Ryan Cleary, an Essex-based 19-year-old suspected of affiliation to LulzSec, was arrested in a joint UK-US "e-crime" investigation. Had the pressure simply got too much to handle?


'High-quality entertainment at your expense' . . . the LulzSec logo
To find out, the Guardian tracked down one of LulzSec's founding members, "Topiary". A key figure in the tight-knit group, he was revealed in the logs to have managed LulzSec's Twitter account and to have written their press releases. After verifying his identity by asking him to send a direct message from the account – "This is the captain of the Lulz Boat," he confirmed – we began a long conversation by Skype.

"I know people won't believe this, but we genuinely ended it [LulzSec] because it was classy," he says. "The leaks we promised happened . . . 50 days were reached, we just about hit 275,000 Twitter followers, things were on a high, so we redirected our fans to [hacker collective] Anonymous and [hacking movement] AntiSec and wrapped it up neatly . . . A high note, a classy ending, a big bang, then a sail into the distance."

LulzSec's jovial public image undoubtedly helped it achieve unusual popularity within a short time. Its stated aim was to provide "high-quality entertainment at your expense," and the word "Lulz" is itself internet slang for laughs. The group's popularity spiked after it planted a fake story on US news outlet PBS.com in protest over what it claimed was a misrepresentative WikiLeaks documentary made by the broadcaster. The story falsely reported that rapper Tupac Shakur, who was killed in a shooting 15 years ago, had been found alive and well in New Zealand.

"What we did was different from other hacking groups," says Topiary. "We had an active Twitter (controlled by me), cute cats in deface messages, and a generally playful, cartoon-like aura to our operations. We knew when to start, we knew when to stop, and most of all we knew how to have fun."

But the group's mission, Topiary explains, was not calculated. Almost everything LulzSec did – from choosing its name to its next target – happened spontaneously. "We made it up as we went along. We were originally @LulzLeaks on twitter, but I forgot the password so we became @LulzSec. My first name was The Lulz Train, then The Lulz Cannon, then The Lulz Boat. I had no idea what The Love Boat was, it was a complete accident . . . I wrote every press release in Notepad without planning. That's what made us unique, we just came out and made stuff up out of nowhere . . . We released when it felt right, we tweeted what felt right, we wrote what we felt needed to be wrote. We weren't burdened by plans or board meetings, we just did it."

The leaked chat logs also revealed the hackers appeared to revel in the international attention they received. However, Topiary says it wasn't that LulzSec was media-hungry, but that the media was LulzSec-hungry.

"We didn't contact a single media outlet for at least the first 40 days, they just kept reporting on our humble tweets," he says, though he admits the attention "gave us more reasons to leak more. It was a thrill, sure, and it did play a role. We enjoyed occasionally confusing and pranking media with weird tweets, or giving exclusives to certain journalists to piss off other certain journalists. It was another aspect of the situation that helped us leverage the entertainment."

Yet although many of LulzSec's attacks were perpetrated "for the lulz", the group was accused of attempted extortion by one US security company, Unveillance – a charge Topiary staunchly denies. It was also criticised after it hacked and dumped thousands of Sony Pictures Europe customers' usernames and passwords online, some of which were reportedly later used in scams by fraudsters. But Topiary is unapologetic.

"It's Sony's fault for not defending – and encrypting – its customers' data," he says. "Similarly, in a perfect world, we'd have dumped said data and nothing would have happened. These scams simply prove that other people (our fans/spectators) are more evil ...

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mincemeatteam offers version 1.0 of " Enigma NDS 'adaptation of the encryption machine electromechanical cylinders " Enigma "for the Nintendo DS.

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Martap offers version 1.0.4 of " Kolmen "puzzle game / puzzle game for the Nintendo DS in which two players compete on a plate-shaped hive where a specific strategy is in place.

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Update for July 2011 WinDS PRO , PC application including 3 multi-emulators for the Nintendo DS (No $ gba / DeSmuME / ideas) and one for the Game Boy Advance (VBA-M) and tools (customizable emulator / zoom / cheat / etc ...). Remember, completely uninstall the old version before installing the new.

WinDS PRO 2011.7 Changelog:
- Added DeSmuME svn 4058 (32 y 64 bits)
- Added in R4 Cheats DeSmuME
- Updated DeSmuME R4 Cheats & NO $ Zoomer
- Updated VBA-M svn 1016
- Simplified setup program ...