Well, there was a handful of Asian MMOs on display at E3 2011, but most of them are already translated into English versions. In this post, we take a look at 2 of the untranslated MMOs (other than XAOC) which are apparently trying to attract the attention of English publishers and one which is undergoing the translation phase.
Let us talk about the one due to hit the English market soon. Welcome to Duke of Mount Deer Online, China developer ChangYou's heavyweight title with millions poured into development and the first title to be mostly made in the company's new Korea studio. The game is based on famous Chinese wuxia novelist Louis Cha's work, so be prepared for some epic storyline. However, ChangYou did a twist to the game as well, adding some new elements in order to expand the limited world. The English teaser website can be found here, while you can read about the game in my previous posts.
Next will be Taiwanese developer Wayi Entertainment's MMORPG, Lord of Keys. The game is apparently an upgraded version of 81 Keys from the same company, but as a standalone game itself. The game's design is strangely close to Holic Online's. It is the game's second appearance at E3, having been showcased last year as well. I will most probably give the game a try and post some footage soon.
Last but not least, China publisher COG showcased its latest MMO, War of Glory. The company touted the game as a "2.8D MMO", which puzzled me to no ends. As stated in the press release, there are 4 realms, 2 races and 8 classes for users to experience and enjoy.There are two modes for realm war, one is Attack-Deffense Realm War, The war is initiated by the kings of two realms, and held on the filed of the defending realm. Personally, I will have to slaughter whichever English publisher which is going to pay and bring this game in.
Wow, what a week it has been! This year's E3 had more online gaming videos than I could ever imagine! From Free to Play to Pay to Play and even the hybrid Freemiums are all being showcased at E3 2011. This will definitely be the final part of the videos roundup, so please do visit my E3 2011 YouTube playlist for all the videos seen on the internet. Without further a due, let's take a look at some of the selected trailers and footage.
Karok is coming to Vindictus! I am sure most players of the game already knew that, but have you played the character yet? Those lucky journalists who went to E3 did! While the footage is not as flashy as the ones churned out previously, players can still get a better look at how the character functions. The game website is @ http://vindictus.nexon.net/.
TERA will be one to play for me. Yes, there were negative news from the game's origin of Korea regarding the server merges, but that doesn't really stop TERA from being the first true open world action MMORPG. Old folks like me who have been playing online games for the past 12 years are just happy to see the game coming to English shores. The North American server can be found here while the European server here.
Blacklight Retribution could very well turn out to be Perfect World Entertainment's Joker card in their upcoming lineup. First online shooter for the company, check. Sci-fi theme with mecha, check. Customizable guns, check. Unreal Engine, check. Free to Play, check. Experienced developer in Zombie Studios, check. The last MMOFPS which got me interested was Genesis AD, will Blacklight Retribution top it? The game website is @ http://www.playblacklight.com/.
Star Wars: The Old Republic's genre doesn't make it the greatest game to be demoing at an event like E3. It usually takes hours upon hours before one can even start to get a feeling for what an MMORPG can offer. Well, it was here at E3 and I played as a level 26 Imperial Agent for the short 20 minute hands-on demo. Here are a few thoughts from my brief time from the game:
The demo takes place on Tatooine in the Judland Wastes and my character has the capability to ride a speeder across the desert, giving me a very brief tour of how large this planet will be for the game. It seems like a single planet is roughly three times larger than some of the basic zones in World of Warcraft.
Even at level 26 there is still some rudimentary quest design in place. For this demo our group had to kill 20 Tuskan Raiders to fulfill one of the quests that was assigned to us before the demo began. Keep in mind, the demo was designed to give players a very brief and quick taste of the game so the next round of people could be shuffled in for their turn. I was never able to play the main quest due to my time limit with the game; I just kept killing Raiders instead.
Having killed so many Raiders it gave me a chance to play around the with Sniper's abilities, such as deployable cover. This is an ability that the Sniper has by default, allowing them to deploy a small shield and instantly be able to take cover behind it and dish out damage from relative safety -- until an enemy gets a little too close.
The Sniper class itself works best at range and relies on their companion to deal with enemies that may get too close. If that doesn't work, a simple grenade with some AOE damage will take care of any nearby foes.
Picking up a quest related item does not appear in your basic inventory. Instead you could find this item in the "quest tab." It's an idea that's good in theory but many of the other players (including me) couldn't find where the quest releated item went to -- it had to be activated in order to continue the quest. Having this tab flash when a quest related item is picked up can easily remedy this minor interface gripe.
I still don't want to play as a Jedi. Even though my time with the Sniper class was incredibly brief, I know I will enjoy playing as one of these agent classes instead of a Jedi or Sith. I feel more attached to characters that are not bound by a code or by ethics, but are designed to use tech and other weapons to gain an edge in a fight.
Other than the planet and the class there wasn't anything new here that we haven't explored in previous demos of the game. Hopefully we'll have a more in-depth hands-on session later in the year to give us a proper updated impression on the game's development in a galaxy far, far away.
We were treated to a brief demo of Mass Effect 3 at E3 this week that showed off many of the elements EA displayed during their conference presentation. Mechanics such as moving from cover to cover, melee attacks, vertical level design, and a range of new movements for Shepard like leaping across gaps and traversing ledges were all on display. In addition to that we were treated to something that wasn't revealed until now: The beginning of the game.
Before the demo starts it's explained to us that Shepard is back on Earth trying to warn the world about the impending Reaper threat. Of course that means the Reapers decide to attack and Shepard is forced to spring into action. Throughout this segment we see Shepard paired with Captain Anderson as the two characters move through the erupting battlefield around them.
Every year, the gaming press stuffs into auditoriums and demo rooms at E3 to see what fancy new things developers are cooking. And amongst all of the hype and fascination, we managed to pick out the best for our E3 awards below.
Epic seems to be pulling out all of the stops this time around. The campaign mode looks to be a kitchen-sink affair, with multiple playable characters and set-pieces galore, and Hoard 2.0 just might be the biggest time-suck of 2011. The list of reasons to love this game is vast, but honestly, we just couldn't find it in our hearts to disappoint Ice-T.
In 2009, Uncharted 2 delivered one of the most seamlessly cinematic gaming experiences ever. Two years later, Uncharted 3 is looking to top its predecessor in every way imaginable -- some of the sequences we saw, such as Drake making his way onto a cargo plane, look absolutely epic. In short, Uncharted 3 is the reason to own a PS3 in 2011.
Tina: As an avid, Modern Warfare gamer, I took a great liking to Spec Ops mode in Modern Warfare 2. And I'm glad to see it's returning in Modern Warfare 3. Activision showcased Survival mode, a brand new addition to the Modern Warfare series. Mike Nelson and I had the pleasure of witnessing, nay, engrossing ourselves in an experience that kept us asking, "wait, did that dog have C4 strapped to its back?"
Mike: I know right? It was this kind of absurd component but at the same time I get it. Since you kept surviving waves and waves in this mode, the enemy has to start trying just about everything it can to take you down. If it means strapping C4 on the back of a dog, well, I guess that's how it's going to go down. Perhaps if you kept surviving C4 would start dropping from the sky because there are an infinite number of rounds in this mode. So beyond the C4 being strapped on the back of dogs, what else stood out to you?
You might think Respawn Entertainment would be working on a game to directly compete with Call of Duty. After all, it was founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella, the two former heads of CoD developer Infinity Ward who were fired by Activision. They're accused of conspiring with a rival publisher to form a new studio, with litigation ongoing between the two sides.
Whether or not the two (and the many other former Infinity Ward staffers who left to join Respawn) want to create something that will directly compete with and best Call of Duty, with Electronic Arts serving as the publisher for Respawn's first game, there's not as much of a need for a military shooter -- EA has both Medal of Honor and Battlefield in the company's stable of franchises. EA Games president Frank Gibeau has indicated that Respawn's title will in reality be "more sci-fi oriented," meaning it will compete against the likes of Halo and Gears of War, not Call of Duty.
"In general we're going to continue to follow our rotation strategy of giving studios a full two-year cycle to get a game built and polished to maximum quality, but we're going to do it in a way that allows us to maximize technology investments like Frostbite 2, the online service models that we're doing... we're going to be able to trade team knowledge and increase the quality of the products year in, year out," he told CVG.
Following the announcement of the Wii U at E3 earlier this week, confusion began to spread among some. Was this a new console? Was it a new controller for Wii? Was it a standalone tablet device? This largely stemmed from the fact that Nintendo never showed the console itself (pictured above) during its media briefing, only releasing pictures of it on the Internet afterwards. While Nintendo doesn't consider it a "blunder," president Satoru Iwata does realize it would have been wise to show a picture of the system prior to demonstrating the controller.
"Because we put so much emphasis on the controller, there appeared to be some misunderstandings," he told the London Evening Standard. "We should have made more effort to explain how it works."
"We haven't made any kind of blunder, but I should have shown a single picture of the new console, then started talking about the controller," he said. "The console is not drastically different, and Wii U is about the controller. The console itself will be almost invisible."
The Spanish police announced in a press release today that three Anonymous members in Spain have been arrested who are suspected of being involved with the April attack on the PlayStation Network. The breach resulted in the service going down for nearly a month and millions of users' personal data being compromised. Sony has said the attack could cost it in the neighborhood of $171 million.
One of the three had a server in his apartment believed to be involved with not only the PSN attack, but other attacks on banks, various countries' government websites, and more. Exact dates for when the arrests took place were not specified, only that they had taken place sometime after May 18. All three -- who resided in Barcelona, Alicante, and Almeria -- have been released without bail, according to the New York Times. Charges have yet to be filed, although the Times says they "were expected to be charged with forming an illegal association to attack public and corporate Web sites." A conviction could see each of them spend up to three years in jail.
It might seem like a sign of progress, though one expert believes this won't make any sort of impact on Anonymous. Bloomberg spoke with John D'Arcy from the University of Notre Dame who says the three "weren't anybody major" and that the seized server is "not a server anyone is going to miss." The Spanish police's Engish Twitter account claimed what it had done was "dismantle the #Anonymous hacker group in Spain." It referred to the three as "Anonymous leaders" in a subsequent tweet.
It's no secret that Star Trek video games have a very checkered past. There have been a few gems like Judgement Rites or Bridge Commander but these are diamonds in the rough. This new game -- known simply as Star Trek -- intends to bring a lot more of an action-focused approached, a genre that Trek hasn't been involved in since Elite Force II. At E3 this week we had a chance to see this proof of concept in action.
Seeing the game in action will no doubt conjure up memories of Mass Effect's shooting mechanics. The difference for Star Trek will be its ability to make a consistent co-op experience, one that allows you to play as either Kirk or Spock with the characters having their own unique approach to the battlefield. Kirk is designed as a very brash and bold character, designed to charge into action and appears to have the most firepower. Spock on the other hand will have more tech and stealth-related abilities like being able to put enemies in stasis.
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In another in a continuing series of hacker exploits, Codemasters has sent word that its servers have been breached. In "one of those emails you hate to receive", Codemasters acknowledged that its website, eStore and CodeM database have all been accessed.
During E3 this past week, the EA booth was one of the most popular destination on the convention floor due to the presence of Star Wars: The Old Republic and its demo. MMORPG.com Industry Relations Manager Garrett Fuller had the opportunity to check out the demo so keep reading! Leave your thoughts in the comments.
In this week's Player Perspectives column, Isabelle Parsley compares developing MMOs to making Thanksgiving dinner: A lot of work; folks wolfing it down in five minutes flat; dozing in the living room; and poor Mom left to clean up alone. Find out why Isabelle makes that comparison and then lend us your thoughts when finished.
For anyone that wants to feel like an AoE god, keep reading for a bit. First, I'm level 44 and have been here since beta. I play slowly due to time constraints but I know my class very well. I have all capped role slots so I test and play with just about every mage spec you can do. I have perfected the ultimate AoE mage now.
TERA, one of the most anticipated online games in South Korea in the first half of 2011, is now trapped in a worsening situation. From the perspective of the current situation, the game has lost about 40% players, and is going to lose 1/3 earnings or so.
Kingdom Under Fire II, the first Korean tactical action-packed MMORPG developed by Blueside, is scheduled to launch its first CBT in summer and enter OBT in winter. During an interview, the product director of Kingdom Under Fire II revealed some valuable info and made public the game's system requirements.
I am so sad..... I am a slave from mmos Machine, for second time... i help in CBT.... and when start OBT... IP BLOCK... What the helll..... Internet is free.... we need do something about this...
As we know, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), a big yearly game feast in Los Angeles, USA. With no doubt, numerous striking games show up at this year's E3. Now, let's have a look at this year's Girls for E3 2011. Enjoy!
Today Bioware released a developer video of one of the quests on the planet Tatooine. Bioware's Director of Production, Austin Dickinson, walks you through the quest and gives some insight to what players can expect in SWTOR.
Hellgate has been resurrected from the gates of hell to rejoin us once again, this time as a free to play game. The dissolved company Flagship Studios has now seen both of their games resurrected, by the same company no less. The first being Mythos, and now Hellgate, both of these games have been revived by t3fun, Redbana, and Hanbitsoft. But how does a game whose graphics felt dated back in 2007, hold up to other mmos now that we are in 2011? I never actually played this when it was first released, so this is a new experience for me as well.
The amazing Maximum PC-commissioned Star Trek-themed build from mnpctech.com proceeds apace. Every worklog entry Bill posts has us drooling a little bit more.
Not to be outdone, ASPHIAX has joined the forum to show off *his* Star Trek-themed mod in progress. This one's modeled after an Intrepid Mk II starship.
It's Friday, the madness that is E3 is finally winding down and we find oursevles in a fine and generous mood. So, we were thinking we'd like to give some stuff away, something useful, something software-y... perhaps these three copies of PowerDVD 11 we have laying around?
Sound good?
Those of you who watched Gordon's video on getting your tablet/smartphone to work with your PC may have noticed that he was using Cyberlink's PowerDVD11 to make his smartphone act as a remote. I myself often use PowerDVD 11 when testing monitors and displays. If you want your own copy, here's the deal: all you have to do is let us know which of our E3 2011 stories was your favorite by posting the word "Favorite" in the comments - like this one. Or this one. Or, this. Easy.
You can also post "Favorite" underneath any of our E3 related coverage on our Facebook site, if that's more your thing. We'll select the three winners on Monday, June 13th, and copies of PowerDVD 11 may be in the form of downloadable software/keys or physical media. Contest rules and regulations below (While we would love to extend the contest outside of the U.S., legal rules and regulations currently prohibit us from doing so; at this time the contest is only open to U.S. residents).
Rules
MaximumPC contest rules: Anyone who posts a comment with the word "Favorite" on any E3 2011 story on either MaximumPC.com or the MaximumPC Facebook page will be entered to win one of the 3 copies of PowerDVD 11 described in this article--one entry per accepted comment. Prizes will be awarded by random drawing. Submissions will be accepted on our Facebook.com fanpage. Submissions will be accepted until Monday the 13th of June at 06:00 PM PST. By entering this contest, you agree that Future US, Inc. may use your name, likeness, website, and submission for promotional purposes without further payment. Employees of Sponsor, its respective parent, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and agents, and foregoing employees¹ household or immediate family members (defined as parent, spouse, child, sibling, or grandparent) are NOT eligible to enter Contest. All prizes will be awarded, and no minimum number of entries is required. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians. Future US, Inc. is not responsible for damages or expenses the winners might incur as a result of this contest or the receipt of a prize, and winners are responsible for income taxes based on the value of the prize received. A list of winners may also be obtained by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope toFuture US, Inc. c/o MaximumPC Contest, 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080. This contest is limited to residents of the United States. No purchase necessary; void in Arizona, Maryland, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law.
Researchers at IBM have announced that they recently managed to create the first high-speed computer circuits out of a material called graphene. This process has possible applications in displays, processors, and high-speed communication. While this advancement is interesting, we're not quite ready to ditch traditional transistors quite yet.
Graphene is composed of a single layer of Carbon atoms in a lattice structure. Researchers have created single grapheme transistors in the past, but only now has an entire circuit been produced. At present, graphene does not behave like CMOS transistors in current CPUs. It does not have the same voltage conduction properties, meaning it cannot switch on and off like today's logic transistors do.
That hasn't stopped industry from investing heavily in the technology. Applications in communication and OLED displays are much closer to reality. DARPA has funded most of IBM's research on the substance. IBM, in addition to working on integrated circuits with grapheme, is improving the production of the material. If graphene is as useful as many think, they're going to need a lot of it.
Microsoft's failure to fly the PC flag at E3 left a lot of computer-loving gamers disappointed. Don't worry! When the Seattle Times interviewed Mike Delman, the vice president of global marketing at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business group, Delman tossed PC gamers a treat; Microsoft's designing extensive gaming support into the upcoming Windows 8 operating system. Unfortunately, it's the kind of treat that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. The catering to the console crowd continues as Xbox Live is being integrated into the Windows 8 experience.
"Live has been successful on the Windows Phone. Live will be built into the PC," Delman told the Times. Microsoft has big plans for Live, Delman explained. In the future, Microsoft wants users to be able to buy content on one of their devices, but be able to use it on all of the others – and Xbox Live is the key.
"Xbox Live will (be) the pervasive media service across devices," Delman said when asked if Live would act as a cloud-type service that enabled sharing between phones, computers and Xboxes. When did Xbox Live become less about gaming and more about becoming an iTunes clone? We've already seen a massive shift towards simplifying PC games as their console cousins make money hand over fist; hopefully, this news doesn't signal the end-times for those of us who like turn-based RPGs and strategy games with complex waypoints and grouping support.
For the few that need a computer that can survive a 10 foot fall or keep ticking in a sandstorm, Panasonic has refreshed their line of Toughbook convertible tablet laptops with the Toughbook 19. Not much has changed on the outside of this version, but the internals got a big bump up.
The CPU has been upgraded to a Sandy Bridge Core i5-2520M (2.5GHz). That's not the ULV edition, either, but rather the full voltage part. The laptop also comes standard with 4GB of RAM and SSD drives are an option for increased shock resistance. The screen has also been improved. Panasonic has added a Transflective Plus screen for outdoor readability.
The Toughbook 19 has the usual array of wireless options like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but buyers can add some extras as well. Panasonic will happily add GPS, 3G (Sprint, AT&T or Verizon), or 4G LTE later this year. This tank-like, sealed, fanless device doesn't come cheap. You can buy one this September starting at $3,349.
E3's finally over, and we're still digesting all that we've seen. The number one thing we've learned: even though there were some pretty big announcements this year, E3's all about the spectacle. We've got a batch of 20 more photos of the most over-the-top booths and displays—read on for more!
As Robert DeNiro said in The Untouchables, a man should have enthusiasms. Where many of opt to fill our spare time by spending it with friends, playing music or traveling, others find their thrills collecting toys, comic books and other much-loved geek paraphernalia. If you belong to this latter group, you're going to want to know about Crave, our Cool Site of the Week.
If you're of a certain age and played with it as a kid, chances are, that you'll be able to find it again on Crave. Unlike other portals like eBay where individuals are invited to buy and sell just about anything, Crave is a web destinations designed by collectors for collectors. While the site is still relatively new, Crave already offers over 10,000 Star Wars and Transformer products in varying condition. Need a first edition Storm Trooper action figure from Return of the Jedi that's still in its original packaging? Crave's got it. How about a well-loved Optimus Prime, complete with it's original weapons and other accessories? Crave's got you covered there too. Additionally, the site is getting ready to expand, and will soon offer collectors from around the world a forum to discuss, buy and sell comic books, trading cards, Barbie dolls--even LEGO.
Best of all, Crave also doubles up as a make shift social network, providing collectors a forum to discuss their stuff-based passion with other like minded individuals. We're certain that in the years to come, frequent visits to Crave will become a no-brainer for anyone that collects anything.
Be sure to check back every Friday for another instalment of Maximum PC's Cool Site of the Week.
"Do not make the mistake of challenging Anonymous," the hacker collective declared in a stark message on its website yesterday. The message was a direct response to a NATO report that said Anonymous should be infiltrated and its members jailed. Spain responded to the verbal backhand by delivering Anonymous a not-so-subtle slap in return; today, Spanish police announced that they've arrested three "senior" members of the legion and seized a server that played a crucial in many recent Anonymous attacks, including the PlayStation Network take-down.
Spanish police began their investigation late last year after Anonymous targeted the Spanish Culture Ministry's websites in October. After Spain's Central Election Board was targeted by hackers in May, police dropped the hammer on the first subject, who was arrested in his home in the city of Almeria, the Wall Street Journal reports. Spanish police found a server in the home that helped to launch many of Anonymous' attacks in the past, including the Sony Playstation Store, the Spanish banks BBVA and Bankia, the Italian energy company ENEL and the governments of Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chile, Colombia and New Zealand. Subsequent attacks resulted in the arrest of two other individuals and the confiscation of a computer that contained software "designed specifically to infect other people's computers."
Anonymous denied being behind the PSN attack, so it's interesting to hear the Spanish police say they've found evidence to the contrary. How do you think Anonymous will respond to the arrests? Trading blows with global governments is bound to end poorly for the group. "If you cut down one Anon, ten more will join us purely out of anger at your trampling of dissent," Anonymous' message warned; we'll see if crowds rush in to take the place of the arrested individuals.
Beautiful 3D laptop with mediocre graphics performance
What you do alone in your man cave is your business. If you want to put on a pair of 3D glasses and practice the Na'vi language, more power to you. Sony's F Series Vaio 3D can make that dream a reality in style, but it lacks the graphics power to deliver first-class stereoscopic 3D gaming.
If you're not piloting the Mars Rover or doing endoscopic telesurgery, you probably want stereoscopic 3D technology for two main purposes: watching movies and playing games. Now that 3D TVs are becoming widespread, there are lots of 3D Blu-ray discs available, and the Vaio 3D delivers an excellent 3D movie experience. The 16-inch, 1920x1080 display supports full HD resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. The included active shutter 3D glasses give a ghost- and flicker-free 3D viewing experience that's probably better than you'll find at the local cinema. The speakers are also fine-tuned to turn this laptop into a mini home-theater.
If you're willing to wear the glasses, this notebook plays high-quality 3D movies but lacks the power for serious stereo 3D gaming.
We cannot recommend this system, however, for playing stereoscopic 3D games. The visual quality is excellent, but the performance just isn't there to deliver a smooth gaming experience. Playing games in 3D is easy enough; a little button above the keyboard lets you turn on and off stereo 3D, and many games are compatible out of the box. The problem is that to display a game in stereo 3D, the graphics card has to render each frame twice, cutting the frame rate in half. Nvidia's midrange GeForce 540M with 1GB of dedicated memory produced choppy results, except at the lowest resolutions. For instance, running our Far Cry 2 benchmark without stereo 3D at 1680x1050, the system delivered 24.7fps; in stereo 3D mode, it only managed 11fps. Dropping down to 1280x720 helped a little, resulting in 17fps, but that's still not playable.
The system performed much better in our other benchmarks, blowing through the CPU-intensive tasks thanks to the 2GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM CPU (with Turbo Boost), 6GB of DDR3/1333MHz memory, and a 640GB, 7,200rpm hard drive. Battery life was also good for a machine in this class, lasting 123 minutes on full-screen DVD playback.
This big, shiny, black Vaio includes a backlit keyboard with a separate numeric keypad. The touchpad is textured, which we like, and looks slick integrated into the palm rest. There are two USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, HDMI 1.4, and VGA-out. The HDMI port can be connected to a 3D-capable TV, letting you play games or display 3D movies on the big screen.
Overall, we're not convinced the stereo 3D on this system goes much beyond novelty. We doubt any serious gamer is going to take the performance hit to play games while wearing 3D glasses. The multimedia features work well, but it's probably not worth the extra expense.
One surefire way to thwart hackers is to turn out the lights and take your website completely offline. That was Codemaster's strategy, which was hit by hackers and promtply pulled the plug on its website "as soon as the intrusion was detected." Unfortunately for Codemasters and its customers, by the time the site and associated web services were taken down, hackers had already made off with the personal information of potentially thousands of customers.
"We believe the following have been compromised: Customer names and addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, encrypted passwords, and order history," Codemasters stated in an apologetic email. "Please note that no personal payment information was stored with Codemasters as we use external payment providers, meaning your payment details were not at risk from this intrusion.
"Members' names, usernames, screen names, email addresses, date of birth, encrypted passwords, newsletter preferences, any biographies entered by users, details of last site activity, IP addresses, and Xbox Live Gamertags are all believed to have been compromised."
While it's comforting that payment details remained safe, personal data is a hot commodity on the black market where unscrupulous miscreants shop for information that can be used in targeted phishing attacks.
Codemasters is opting to play it safe by keeping its website "offline for the foreseeable future with all Codemasters.com traffic re-directed to the Codemasters Facebook page instead." The British game developer plans to launch a new site later this year.
Researchers at IBM have announced that they recently managed to create the first high-speed computer circuits out of a material called 
Microsoft's failure to fly the PC flag at E3 left a lot of computer-loving gamers disappointed. Don't worry! When the Seattle Times interviewed Mike Delman, the vice president of global marketing at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business group, Delman tossed PC gamers a treat; Microsoft's designing extensive gaming support into the upcoming Windows 8 operating system. Unfortunately, it's the kind of treat that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. The catering to the console crowd continues as Xbox Live is being integrated into the Windows 8 experience.
For the few that need a computer that can survive a 10 foot fall or keep ticking in a sandstorm, Panasonic has refreshed their line of Toughbook convertible tablet laptops with the 
As Robert DeNiro said in The Untouchables, a man should have enthusiasms. Where many of opt to fill our spare time by spending it with friends, playing music or traveling, others find their thrills collecting toys, comic books and other much-loved geek paraphernalia. If you belong to this latter group, you're going to want to know about 
"Do not make the mistake of challenging Anonymous," the hacker collective declared in a stark message on its website yesterday. The message was a direct response to a NATO report that said Anonymous should be infiltrated and its members jailed. Spain responded to the verbal backhand by delivering Anonymous a not-so-subtle slap in return; today, Spanish police announced that they've arrested three "senior" members of the legion and seized a server that played a crucial in many recent Anonymous attacks, including the PlayStation Network take-down.
One surefire way to thwart hackers is to turn out the lights and take your website completely offline. That was Codemaster's strategy, which was hit by hackers and promtply pulled the plug on its website "as soon as the intrusion was detected." Unfortunately for Codemasters and its customers, by the time the site and associated web services were taken down, hackers had already made off with the personal information of potentially thousands of customers.
