A few days ago I posted a news story about how Sony royally screwed up and allowed a bunch of hackers access to PSN users’ personal information. Today, Sony finally made some announcements regarding how they plan on making this up to their customers.

First things first, sometime this week Sony plans on restarting some on its online services. Gamers will so be able to log onto their PSN accounts allowing them to changed their passwords, chat with friends, play games online and even use PlayStation Home. Sony has also stated that they have added several layers of data protection and encryption including more firewalls and software monitoring which detects intrusions. Read more… »

Yesterday Sony came clean and admitted that an “external intrusion” (aka hackers) have infeltrated Sony’s servers granting them access to every PSN users’ personal information. So far Sony has admitted that hackers have had access to your name, your address (city, state, and zip), country, E-mail address, birthday, as well as your PSN password and login name. Sony is still trying to determine whether your credit card information is safe.

Obviously this is a very serious issue, and as such I will post Sony’s full statement after the jump. If you’re a PS3 owner, please read through this statement very carefully as it provides some steps you can take to prevent your identity from being stolen. Read more… »

Today it was discovered that the ESRB has rated the classic SNES JRPG Chrono Trigger for both the PlayStation 3 and the PSP.

Original released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo, Chrono Trigger is widely considered to be one of the best videogames, let alone RPGs, ever made. Telling the story of the young boy Chrono and his band of buddies who travel through time trying to save the world from the evil monster Lavos, Chrono Trigger features an amazing story line combined with the classic Square Enix combat system seen in game like Final Fantasy VII. Read more… »

IT’S MAHVEL BABY! Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is on sale via the PlayStation Store for a tempting $7. Or perhaps you’re more interested in fatalities than pulling off quarter circles? Online Passes for Moral Kombat, which was released today by the way, are also on sale. I’ve been on a bit of a fighting game kick lately – could you tell?

Interested to see what else Sony has in store for us this week? The full update awaits after the break.

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This week’s  PlayStation Network update brings a host of new games and features. PlayStation Plus members can dig into a downloadable version of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, new Killzone 3 maps, and a bunch of other “free” stuff. Other than that, notable releases include Patapon 3, Bulletstorm DLC, and a new  PSP mini – 3D Twist & Match.

The full update awaits you after the break.

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The Parasite Eve games, developed by Squaresoft, blend elements of survival horror with those of traditional RPGs. After an eleven year hiatus following the release of Parasite Eve II Aya Brea is back in this “cinematic action RPG” for the PlayStation Portable.

Not fitting squarely into any particular genre, The 3^rd Birthday is an incredibly difficult game to describe. It throws elements from third-person games, tactical-shooters, survival horror, and RPGs into a blender. The combination is about as pretty as you might expect.

Story is something crucial to any RPG. The 3^rd Birthday’s narrative is poorly delivered, largely incomprehensible and makes less sense as the game wears on. It is December 24, 2012 and everyone in Manhattan is having a grand old time. Suddenly, giant tentacles and monsters appear and begin destroying the city and slaughtering its residents. Yes, tentacles. Pardon me while I facepalm for a moment.

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Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton sat down for a discussion on the console wars with CNN where he took potshots at his company’s competitors, Microsoft and Nintendo.  Tretton noted that he does not necessarily view Nintendo’s DS as competition.

“Our view of the ‘Game Boy experience’ is that it’s a great babysitting tool,” Tretton said during the interview, ‘Gameboy experience’ referencing the Nintendo DS, “something young kids do on airplanes, but no self-respecting 20-something is going to be sitting on an airplane with one of those. He’s too old for that.”

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Despite launching only a month ago, the Nintendo 3DS slipped into second place in the Japanese weekly Media Create rankings. The PSP beat the 3DS by a margin of about 15,000 units. While the PSP has a very strong following in Japan, it’s a little surprising to see Nintendo’s new flagship handheld get beaten. According to Japanese news site Inside Games, the 3DS has only sold around 836,000 units so far.

A lack of strong launch titles could be what’s holding the 3DS back. I can’t speak for the Japanese, but personally there’s nothing in the 3DS’ current list of titles that grabs my eye. If there was new Mario or Zelda game, then things might be different. Also the recent disaster in Japan could also be a factor. I doubt you’d be rushing out to buy a new gaming device if your home just got destroyed by an earthquake/tsunami. What’s telling is that only one 3DS title, Pro Baseball Famista 2011, made it into the top 10 for the week of March 28.

[via Joystiq]

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The third installment in Square Enix’s beloved survival horror series, Parasite Eve, is landing on the PlayStation Portable today. Players will return to Manhattan, once again taking control of series protagonist Aya Brea in her mission to dispatch the hideous creatures descending upon the city.

For Square fans out there, the packaged release comes with a bonus code which unlocks Lightning’s Aya Brea costume in Dissidia duodecim. The 3rd Birthday is available in both UMD format and via the PlayStation Network for a cool $29.99. If you’re unsure, the full Gamer Limit Review is forthcoming.

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I like to go off the beaten path when reviewing games. I’m the sort who actively combs the new release calendar curious about the releases that never had the marketing muscle of the Call of Duty: Black Ops’s and the Bulletstorms of gaming.  When you turn over rocks sometimes you stumble across hitherto unnoticed gems like Ninjatown or de Blob. Other times you simply come across dead spiders and quickly put the rocks back down, which brings us to Lord of Arcana. I certainly hope Lord of Arcana enjoys its brief time in the spotlight because this mercilessly dull and tiresome game will be long forgotten when it fades from the recent release listings.

Lord of Arcana starts off with a traditional if forgettable character creation system: name, gender, hair style, voice, and so forth. Your mighty hero is then thrust into a series of climactic battles. Your finely honed swordplay, immense magical prowess and unmatched valor allow you to destroy opponent after opponent before you culminate in a titanic final battle where finally…you immediately get teleported to a new area with all of your powers taken away. Apparently you have just sacrificed your past life including weapons and skills to prove yourself as a successor to an ancient king.

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God. That name is surely the spawn of some foul nether creature. Anyway Square Enix just announced that Dissidia duodecim prologus Final Fantasy will be will be available for download exclusively on the PlayStation Network beginning March 15, 2011.

Of course the question remains: What the hell is a Dissidia duodecim prologus Final Fantasy? Hit the jump for more details. Read more… »

It’s the announcement you’ve all been anticipating in another of Sony’s now infamous worst kept secrets: the belated unveiling of  the PSP’s proper successor.

Announced during Sony’s top secret “PlayStation Meeting 2011″ in Japan this morning, Sony’s next endeavour into the portable platform has been codenamed NGP (Next Generation Portable), implying that they could be ditching the faltering PSP brand altogether.

Hit the jump for the all important features list!

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