So is Xbox LIVE safe from Hackers?

Yesterday, a collective online computer activist group calling themselves ‘Anonymous’ posted a video on YouTube aimed at the legal department at Sony currently pursuing hackers Geohot and Graf_Chokolo for making and supplying the PS3 Jailbreak software that essentially opens the PlayStation to the possibility of homebrew.

In the video ‘they’ state:
‘You have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal action against our follow hackers, Geohot and Graf_Chokolo, has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable.’

I have to agree the legal action taken by PlayStation has been heavy handed to say the least but I don’t believe they will back down from the case because to do so would be a huge embarrassment for the electronics giant and it would damage the name they have made for themselves.

This is something we should all keep an eye on to see what kind of beef ‘Anonymous’ bring to Sony’s door.

So with this in mind is Microsoft’s Xbox Live safe from Hacker’s well the short answer would be no.

Recently a hacker named “Predator” attacked the accounts of Xbox executive Stephen Toulouse, after Toulouse banning him some thirty five times from the service. The result was an attack against Toulouse’s Xbox Live account, along with control over his personal blog.

Toulouse himself complained about the matter on Twitter saying “Sigh. please be warned. Network solutions has apparently transferred control of Stepto.com to an attacker and will not let me recover it.”, but he didn’t really seem that worried up about it with the job title of Director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox LIVE must certainly have some perks.

Needless to say, his account was recovered soon after the problem was highlighted, but not before the Predator managed to get up a video on Youtube (which has now been removed), by its safe to say that it showed the world just how excited he was to be in the executive’s account.

Toulouse went on to explain that the hacker claiming to “help” Microsoft really wasn’t being all that beneficial with his constant harassment through phone calls and emails. Lesson to all, hackers going to hack. However, make sure you regularly changing passwords, checking your account for malicious activity and avoiding the being burnt.

Major Nelson AKA Larry Hyrb the Director of Programming for Xbox LIVE’s online gaming network, also recently had his account profile hacked. A not-so-mysterious hacker changed the bio information as well as the chat bubble. Kotaku has confirmed with Hyrb that this was an actual hacking and that he has regained full control of his account.

Lightzz.com has claimed responsibility for the hacking and has even posted a youtube video of the hacker actually doing it. How dumb can you get? He also posted his Skype name and is further promoting his skills by selling his skills to hack other players for $100. Comments on the Kotaku article further out the offender as a guy named Yasiel from Miami. This stuff is just comical.

Well this all leads to the question, how vulnerable are we actually? If our accounts are only worth $100 to hackers like this idiot, what does that say of the state of Xbox Live security? I can only hope further actions are taken by Xbox LIVE to secure our accounts further.

Think! When was the last time you changed the passwords to your most important online accounts? Well after saying that I am now off to change some passwords…….

Where have all the games gone?

I don't know if its just me, but i'm struggling to see what 2011 is going to do for gaming when with nearly 3 months in to 2011, its hasn't done much for us Xbox 360 fans.

Its actually quite daunting that when you look back at the last 3 months gone, of the notable game releases, Xbox 360 has yet to have a single major exclusive release.

The PS3 has enjoyed 5 major releases in:
Little Big Planet 2
Mass Effect 2
DC Universe Online (jointly with PCs)
Killzone 3
Yakuza 4

The first 3 months of the year have seen the likes of Dead Space 2, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Bulletstorm, Fight Night Champion, Dragon Age 2 and Homefront.

But lets be frank, none of these titles are anywhere near clinching any sort of 2011 game of the year award.

This coming Friday however would appear to see a turnaround with the crytically acclaimed Crysis 2 making its console debut. So far the reviews have been nothing short of amazing.

The end of March is rounded off with the releases of LEGO Star Wars III, Shift 2 Unleashed, Tiger Woods PGA 12 and WWE All Stars.

The only game amongst those I can definitely say I will be picking up is LEGO Star Wars III. Its gaming formula continues to be intuitive and classic whilst giving the nostalgia of what it was like to enjoy LEGO for the first time. Check out the demo now available on XBL.

But, what more can we expect. The second quarter of the year (April - June) sees titles such as Jurrasic Park: The Game (XBLA), Michael Jackson Experience, Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, Duke Nukem Forever, Brink, LA Noire, Dirt 3, F.E.A.R 3, Dungeon Siege 3, Red Faction Armageddon, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Alice: Madness Returns and Shadows of the Damned.

Whats shocking is that of the 14 listed games, 6 are First Person Shooters. As fond as both myself and Geoneo are with the FPS genre, its disappointing to say the least.

There are certainly some titles worth adding to the gaming collection and its great to see some new IPs in Brink and LA Noire.

But its still sad to say that April through June still doesn't bring the Xbox 360 its first notable exclusive. The PS3 sees the release of Infamous 2 and SOCOM 4 in that time...

It would appear that we will have to wait as long as September to get our first notable exclusive in Gears of War 3. Lets hope the wait is worthwhile.

With the release of the Nintendo 3DS (that's two DS's for the price of 1, btw i'm kidding) closing in, it would seem a lot of the major developers have thrown all their efforts into ensuring they have some sort of title ready for launch day, or at least within close proximity to its launch. Lets hope that the latter half of 2011 brings an improvement in its game line up.

Game plan UK gaming event this year!

We have just leant that high Street retailer GAME is planning to hold a games show similar to Eurogamer. If this turns out to be true both event will take place this year. The Game “show” will be held at the NEC in Birmingham with Eurogamer returning to Earl’s Court for its second year at the venue.

The event was announced last night at the video game BAFTAs, and set to take place September 16-18 which is a week before the well-established Eurogamer event.

According to CVG, managing director Martyn Gibbs said that the show "is not a money-spinning venture" and is designed to bring new games to consumers before release.

In the past a number of other retailers have tried to put on a consumer event in the UK. Play.com hosted an event in 2008 which I our eyes was a complete failure.

The Eurogamer Expo, a consumer focused show for more than 30,000 people and set for September 22-25 this year at Earls Court which we will be attending.

I guess the great thing about the news is that not all people can make it to London for Eurogamer so it might be easier to fellow gamers up north to head to Birmingham.

Eurogamer Expo 11 - We're going again

Today we have both received our tickets for this year’s Eurogamer Expo.

Tickets have been selling like hot cakes since they were released on the site show website a few weeks back. Early bird tickets have already sold out for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If you want to go you better act fast to avoid disappointment.

Last year they put on a great show and its bound too only get better.

Gear of War 3 Beta release date + exclusive unlocks details

The dates in which we will be able to download the up and coming beta for Gears of War 3 has been announced. Gamers who have in their possession an Epic edition of Bulletstorm will gain access to the beta on the 18th of April. You can also get a beta codes if you place a pre-orders of Gears of War 3 with game. This code will grant you access to the beta on the 25th of April.

But that’s not all the news announced, details on the exclusive unlocks you can receive for actually playing the beta have been revealed.

The items player can unlock are the following a Beta Tester Medal, Thrasball Cole playable character and the good old Gold-Plated Retro Lancer.

So here is the method to unlock the lovely bunch of goodies and it’s not as simple as just playing the beta after a few bad games on Call of Duty. You will have to put some effort in.

Here is the table of the exclusive content and the conditions to meet in both the Beta and the retail game

Beta Tester Medal - Play 1 match - None
Thrasball Cole playable character - Play 50 matches - Play 10 matches
Gold-Plated Retro Lancer - Play 90 matches - Earn 100 Kills

To be honest it’s not a bad incentive for playing the beta and even if these unlocks weren’t offered I would say most people I know would play double the amount required, well depending on the conditions i.e. lag, matchmaking etc.

We will keep an eye out for more news over the next few weeks.