Wednesday, May 18, 2011

PSN Password Reset Exploited. . .

Well... Sony's latest security measure may have been circumvented. Early reports suggest that Sony's request for PlayStation Network users to reset their passwords could have inadvertently exposed the network to a new set of attacks.

The exploit allows hackers to change user passwords via the PSN password reset page, using just two pieces of information – a PSN account email address and a date of birth – both of which could have been obtained in the original breach.

The exploit was initially reported by Nyleveia, but the story has since been confirmed by Eurogamer, who claim to have seen video evidence corroborating Nyleveia's claims.

As a consequence, the PSN sign-in is currently down on a number of Sony's sites.

Well, this is just wonderful. We finally get the network back up and running, and then another thing has to go wrong. I would recommend that if you have any passwords that are the same as your PSN account, change them. You don't want to risk the possibility of them getting into more then one of your things. That would be bad news. I just don't understand why people would want to keep trying to screw Sony over, and every gamer that plays on the PSN. Just stop! All we want to do is play games online with your friends. So take your hacking to somewhere else!

Anyways, I'll keep you posted on whats going on. Check back later for more.

-j-

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

PSN Customer Appreciation Program Details.

As you all know, with the PSN coming back online, we will be receiving gifts for our patience, support, and continued loyalty during the outage that we had to endure. The package will be made available to ALL existing registered PSN and Qriocity users, and will be made available shortly after we have fully restored the service. More specific details about these offers and eligibility requirements will be posted as the services go live. So my guess is within a week after the Store comes back online. Which is around the end of the month. Now here is the good part.

All PlayStation Network customers can select two PS3 games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.
  • Dead Nation
  • inFAMOUS
  • LittleBigPlanet
  • Super Stardust HD
  • Wipeout HD + Fury
For PSP owners, you will be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.
  • LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
  • ModNation Racers
  • Pursuit Force
  • Killzone Liberation 
  • A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.
  • 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.
  • Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.
  • Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.
  • Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.
  • To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.
Now here are a few things that I would like to touch on. And in previous blogs I think I have mentioned this a couple of times. With the free games that we are receiving, we will not be needing to subscribe continuously in order to play those games. At least not to my knowledge so far. It says that they can be kept forever. So I'm guessing we can play them whenever. Now when you get the free 30 days of Plus, and you download a free game, that's when you will be in trouble when you run outta those 30 days. Because you then will no longer be able to play that specific game that you got, unless you subscribe to PlayStation Plus. Nice marketing decision for Sony. Could bag them quite a bit of new PS Plus users. Because with this trial, if you couldn't decide whether to buy it or not, this could be the stepping stone that you needed. That last little push.

A big bonus I see for those of you who already have PS Plus, is the 60 days of free subscription. 60 days. That's two months. The network was out for not even half that. You guys got the best deal yet. And if you own a PSP, you get double the games. 4 games total. Sony has done a great job giving back to it's customers. And we should all appreciate it. This is a great deal. If you have all the games in the above list already, well, I apologize. Would be nice if they could give you guys some in store credit, but looking into everyone's PS3 to see who has what would be very time consuming. Still, a great deal for everyone non-the-less.

Now one thing that I wish we could get back is that weekend of double XP we lost due to the network being down. I remember that whole weekend I was wishing that the network would be up in time for some gaming, but it never was. Sad yes, but I wish they would "reimburse" us one of them bad boys. Or maybe when we get the new pack packs, they can give us a x3 XP to make up for things. Now that, would be awesome. I know a lot of my friends would enjoy that.

We'll be having details on the new maps and such here in the next couple of days. Mr. Panisko should be writing one here soon. And when the map packs do come out for the PS3, I will be adding more to that. So far, I've heard good things about the maps. But a lot of them can be pretty camp heavy. And some are sniper friendly as well. Which is a good thing. It's about time they have more maps that you can snipe on.

Well, that's all I really have for today guys. Enjoy the network being back up and running, and have a little more patience for the store to be back up. Those rewards are right around the corner!


Contact:
PSN: Deadsider07
Diablo II: Xellioth

-j-

Monday, May 16, 2011

PSN Is Back Up And Running

Yes indeed, you heard me. The PSN is back up and running.. Which means I won't get any more crap from Panisko! Which has lasted.. Well.. Nearly 4 weeks.

According to a press release, the first services users can expect to return are:

  • Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords
  • Restoration of online game-play across PS3 and PSP
  • Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
  • Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC
  • Access to 3rd party services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.tv
  • 'Friends' category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc
    PlayStation Home
Now as soon as you sign in, you will automatically be prompted to change your password. And please, make sure to change it to something else. And not the same password that you had before. Don't take that chance. For extra security, your password can only be changed on your PS3 or PS3 your account was activated on. If you try to use a system where your account isn't activated, an email will be sent to your registered email account. So hopefully you know which email your account is tied to. And not one you used to use years ago.

Even though the network is back up and running, the store isn't. So if you have add ons that you would like to get, or the latest Rockband DLC, you're just going to have to wait.. About another 2-3 weeks. Sorry guys. I know that's a bummer, but at least multiplayer is up and running. That's what I've been waiting for. Just remember we do get some bonuses here soon now that the network is up and running. I'm assuming once the store kicks on, we will be able to receive our "payments" that we get for the network being down. Now PlayStation Plus will be nice to have, but when you download those free games that you get from it, the ability to play those will be gone once the 1 month trial ends. Might just be enough to get you to subscribe, who knows. I'm pretty sure that I won't be subscribing to it. It has many benefits, yes, but I wouldn't use them to their full potential. But many of you out there could. I would definitely purchase it if I bought several games from the PSN, but I don't.

I was able to play Black Ops for a bit last night. Played for about 1.5 hours, and there was something I noticed..  The people I played with were either very good at the game, or they were just horrible. There really wasn't an in-between kinda guy. It was fun though. While the network was down, I played a couple rounds of bots not too long ago. Just have to make sure I stay fresh. Honestly though, when I started playing, it felt weird. It's been too long since I've really REALLY played the game. The controls just feel weird, and the sticks on the controller, to me, felt really loose. I wasn't used to it. I play on a high sensitivity (9) so, I had to kinda readjust. I didn't change it, but it took a bit for me to get the hang of it. 

Now with the network being back up and running, what is the first game that you are going to play online? And what are you looking forward to? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

And with that token, let's take a look at something else again really quickly. Modern Warfare 3. Yes, we did talk about. And it's almost certain the game is coming out November 8th. There is a poster now with the dates confirming it. w00t! Which means you better get to 15th prestige quickly on Black Ops before it's too late. Now there are also a couple little trailers out on IGN. They aren't much though, which is disappointing. I thought maybe there would be a little bit of game play. Another thing I am kinda bummed about in MW3 is that they are keeping the same engine. I'm hoping for the NEXT CoD, after MW3, they make a new engine to run the game. I guess we'll have to wait and find out about that one.

One more thing before I take a break, with the network being down.. I've been going back and playing old games that I thought I wouldn't really play again. And one of those would be Diablo II. I remember first playing this game back in the day when I was in 6th-7th grade. That's like 9-10 years ago or so. And it was a BLAST back then, and right now I'm having a lot of fun playing too. And to make things a challenge this time around, I'm playing Hardcore. And if you've played Diablo II, you know what I'm talking about. Hardcore means that if your character dies at all in game, then that char is dead. You are unable to play him ever again. Which means.. DONT DIE! It's tough, yes, but a lot of fun as well. Just make sure that you are careful. I'll teach you a little trick. If you are on the verge of dying.. Save and Exit. As quickly as you can. That has saved me many times, and it will save you as well. Stuck in a corner or anything? Just save and exit. And be quick about it.

Don't forget you are always welcome to send me a message and game it up.Don't be shy, my friends and I always have a blast when playing. And if you are new, we'll help ya out, not a problem. And if you are a seasoned veteran, well, lets kick some butt!

PSN: Deadsider07
Diablo II: Xellioth

That's all for today folks, leave a comment below and tell me what you think about everything. Til next time.

-j-