Sound Byte: Meet the Composer Behind BioShock - Garry Schyman

Yes, I know, I took this from Gamespot, but the reason why is because I love all that is Bioshock.  They have an awesome article written up.  Enjoy the article about an awesome game and how they created the sounds.

Like many other composers in the video game industry, Garry Schyman has an impressive background in television and film, but he had been working in the video game industry long before projects like BioShock and Dante's Inferno came along. Find out more in the interview below, and sample some of the tracks from the BioShock soundtrack for yourself! If you're in the Los Angeles area next Monday, May 9, there will be a concert performed at California State University Northridge that will feature Garry's works from BioShock, BioShock 2, and Dante's Inferno. Tickets are free, but they will run out quickly! For one lucky Sound Byte reader, we are reserving a couple of tickets for you, so follow gs_soundbyte for the full details.

SOE accounts, credit card info compromised

Sounds like there might be a lot of class action suits coming to Sony real soon.

Here's some more information plucked from Gamespot.

Sony Online Entertainment confirms info on 10,700 European bank records may be stolen along with credit card details of nearly 13,000 and personal info for 24.6 million customers after games, websites taken down.

Trouble seemed to be afoot at Sony Online Entertainment this morning, when the publisher brought game servers and websites related to its portfolio of massively multiplayer online games offline. As suspected, SOE has now confirmed that it, too, has suffered a security breach similar to the one plaguing the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services.

24.6 million SOE accounts have been compromised.

In a statement issued to GameSpot, SOE has now confirmed that approximately 24.6 million accounts as well as 12,700 non-US credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates may have been stolen. The information may have been obtained by hackers between April 16 and 17, and SOE believes that it was part of the initial attack that compromised the PSN and Qriocity service.

"This information, which was discovered by engineers and security consultants reviewing SOE systems, showed that personal information from approximately 24.6 million SOE accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007," the statement reads. "The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes), and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain."

Of the 24.6 million compromised accounts, SOE said that hackers may have obtained names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birth dates, genders, phone numbers, login names, and passwords. SOE noted that the password data is stored in a hashed form and not plain text.

The foreign direct debit record information includes bank account numbers, customer names, account names, and customer addresses. The breach was discovered as Sony's engineers and outside consultants reviewed SOE's system in the wake of the attack on the PSN and Qriocity services.

According to SOE, the 24.6 million accounts were not game-specific. Games that fall under the publishing label include EverQuest, EverQuest 2, DC Universe Online, Free Realms, Star Wars Galaxies, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and PlanetSide.

SOE said that it would add 30 days of free game time to current customers' subscriptions to make up for the service interruption. The publisher also promised that it would be offering a one-for-one match of free game time for each day that servers are offline.

Welcome Back Playstation!

During a press conference tonight in Tokyo, Sony detailed what it will reward PlayStation Network users when the service is turned back on next week after being shut down due to an illegal intrusion.

The company announced its "Welcome Back" program worldwide, giving all existing PlayStation Network users 30 days of PlayStation Plus for free. Current PlayStation Plus members will receive 30 days of additional service at no cost. Sony will also provide "selected PlayStation entertainment content" for free to download. Details for each region will be announced at a later date. Additionally, Music Unlimited subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service.

"This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry," said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. "These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers' information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks.

- Associated Press

Sony's Kaz Hirai addresses the media in Tokyo.

"Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services." 

Sony also said it is working with the FBI criminal investigation to track down who hacked PlayStation Network. The company reaffirmed it does not believe credit card information was taken, but says customers should keep an eye on their bank statements as a precaution. Of the 77 million registered PSN accounts, roughly 10 million have active credit cards tied to them. 

When PlayStation Network goes live next week, users must download a new system firmware update and will force users to create a new login password. Sony will also do a phased rollout by region for PSN services. Next week's initial rollout includes:


- Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation 3 and PSP systems. This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games
- Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers. Sony will have a phased rollout by region for PlayStation Network next week. The services that will be available include:


- Access to account management and password reset


- Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo


- PlayStation Home


- Friends List


- Chat Functionality



One of the major services that won't be available initially is the PlayStation Store. Sony did not give a timeframe for when it wil be back up, but the company stated that all PlayStation Network services will operational by the end of May. 

Like renting movies from Redbox?

Redbox to launch game rentals nationwide June 17


Movie rental service to offer "top video games" for $2 a day at more than 21,000 locations beginning in June; Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii games included.

Currently, Blockbuster and GameFly are the leading game rental services, but a challenger is stepping into the ring.

Redbox is expanding its game rental service this June.

Redbox has announced that on June 17 it will offer "top video games" at more than 21,000 nationwide kiosks. The titles will be available to rent at a rate of $2 a day and include Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 titles. Unfortunately, the announcement only noted that kiosks will include games ranging from "top releases to popular family and kids' titles" and did not mention specific games.

When Redbox launches its game rental service it will come after nearly two years of testing. The rental service has been testing game rentals in select markets since August 2009, with the test market growing to 5,000 units in its lifetime.

Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead

Here's something that I thought I would post.  Bin Laden is dead.  The US President just came on the confirmed it.  They said we have the body, no American soliders were hurt and everything went perfect.  There are 100's of people outside the White House cheering "USA".

Today we are experiencing history.  Down with Bin Laden!

SOURCE

WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States, President Barack Obama said Sunday

A small team of Americans carried out the attack and took custody of bin Laden's remains, the president said in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House.

A jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden's death after a global manhunt that lasted nearly a decade.

"Justice has been done," the president said.

The development comes just months before the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.

The attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.

Al-Qaida organization was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.

Brink Get SMART Series: General Gameplay

Check out this wicked video.  It talks about the three different weight classes and shows how each one runs, and how it will utilize the "SMART" (parkour) system.  It also talks about health, how the system works and how the medics work as well.  Also it talks about general combat.

Each class can have two weapons, grenades.  And it talks about deployables and buffs.

Enjoy

Hulu Plus for XBOX 360

For one week, you can stream as much television as your heart desires.  So if you have an XBOX and you're connected, just shoot on over to the Hulu site, sign up and you'll have a week's worth of television (steams in SD and HD format)

Welcome back Playstation gamers!

PlayStation Network users to get 30 free days PlayStation Plus, free "entertainment content" for download following outage; some services going back online this week, PlayStation Store coming back later this month.

On Tuesday, Sony said that some services of the PlayStation Network would come back online within a week. Today, the company gave a comprehensive response to the ongoing PSN outage in which it identified exactly which aspects of the network would be coming back online.

Basic PlayStation Network service will be restored next week.

According to senior director of corporate communications and social media Patrick Seybold, online gameplay for both the PlayStation 3 and PSP will be restored later this week. PlayStation Home will also be back, as will friends lists, and chat functionality.

Account management will also be back online in the coming week, but all PS3s will have a mandatory system update that will require users to change their PSN passwords. The update will also require that players either change the password on the PS3 on which their account was activated or change it through a validated e-mail confirmation.

At a press conference in Tokyo, Sony Corporation executive deputy president Kaz Hirai offered his apologies for the outage. He also said that the PlayStation Store would not be back in the next week, and would instead return later in the month.

Sony also laid out the specifics of the attack and what it is doing to prevent further such intrusions. The company said the attack happened at the company's data-center located in San Diego, California, where Sony reportedly enlisted the local branch of the FBI's cybercrimes division. Today, Hirai confirmed the FBI was on the case.

Hirai said that some 10 million credit card numbers may have been exposed as a result of the breach. He told a reporter that it was unclear what the motive behind the attack was. Last month, the PSN was attacked by the hacker collective known as Anonymous in retaliation for Sony suing PS3 hacker George "GeoHot" Hotz. Anonymous has denied being part of the PSN outage and data breach, but the decentralized nature of the collective means rogue elements could have been involved.

Sony reps said that in response to the breach, the company has implemented additional firewalls, added "enhanced levels of data protection and encryption," and implemented extra measures to detect software attacks on the network. Sony is also creating an all-new position of chief information security officer, directly reporting to Sony Corp. chief information officer Shinji Hasejima.

As a make-good to the now-78 million PSN users across the globe, Sony will be initiating a "welcome back" program as a token of appreciation for its customers' patience. This program will offer every PSN user a free month of PlayStation Plus, with current PlayStation Plus members getting a complementary month of the service. Each territory will also be getting free "entertainment content" downloads as part of the program, although details on exactly what the content will be is currently not available.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations teased, will be Altair spin-off?

Given that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood shipped 6.5 million copies, it should come as little surprise that Ubisoft has already confirmed it is cooking up another installment in the series. The question is, why is the company being so cagey about promoting it?

Will Ubisoft soon be offering some revelations about the next Assassin's Creed title?

That issue arose this afternoon, when theAssassin's Creed Facebook page began teasing a new entry in the series. Earlier in the day, the page urged gamers to "spread the word to reveal the next Assassin's Creed game" with a Flash application that allows for e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook reposting. The application then went down, then went back up again, and was then pulled--although it is still running solo.

The site also featured a teaser video that eager fans quickly uploaded to YouTube. It shows nothing in the way of gameplay, merely depicting some murky visuals with what appears to be some text in Arabic. Commenters translated the text as saying "Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad," or "Altair, son of no one"--indicating the game could feature the original Assassin's Creed hero as its protagonist.

Additionally, an eagle-eyed NeoGAF poster did some digging and found a logo for "Assassin's Creed: Revelations." When asked about the validity of the title, Ubisoft declined comment.

Brink Dedicated Server FAQ

Taken from the official Brink blog.

We’ve always been dedicated to our PC fanbase, and with Brink hitting shelves in less than two weeks, we’re here today to clarify just what we have in store for PC players regarding dedicated server support.

One additional note before we get down to business — we’re currently shooting to have Brink available to pre-load on Steam prior to the game’s release. We’ll have more specific info on that in the days to come.

Now, let’s get this FAQing underway:

What is the Brink Standalone Dedicated Server?
The Brink Standalone Dedicated Server allows anyone to run multiplayer servers for the PC version of Brink. As the server is standalone, it does not require a full version of Brink to be installed and is completely free.

Where will I be able to get the Brink Standalone Dedicated Server?
The Brink Standalone Dedicated Server will be available for download via Steam prior to release. Once the server is available, you can simply browse to the Tools tab in your Steam client and grab it from there.

Will I be able to run several instances of the Brink Standalone Dedicated Server on a single machine?
Yes. The Brink Standalone Dedicated Server comes with several pre-made bat files that automatically define different ports for each instance. It’s also possible for you to set your own, custom ports.

In terms of available game options, how customizable will the Brink Standalone Dedicated Server be?
The Brink Standalone Dedicated Server includes several different game configuration files covering all of the regular game modes, including campaign, stopwatch, objective, and co-op challenges. In addition, there are a variety of server-side commands available that allow you to further customize your server, including team sizes, time limits and overtime, warm-up rules, friendly fire, voice chat, availability of Command Post buffs, rank restrictions, number of bots, and password.

I represent a Game Server Provider. How can my company offer servers for Brink?
Easy! Once the Standalone Dedicated Server is available on Steam, you’ll be able to start getting Brink game servers up for your customers. We’re currently aiming to have the server files available before release so you’ll be all set when the game comes out.