The game Street Fighter X Tekken is already highly anticipated by fans from both sides (I as a big fan of both series can’t wait!). And as it’s getting closer to its March release it’s looking more and more like the ps3 and Vita versions are the ones to have. Sony had already announced that their versions would have three exclusive characters Cole McGrath (inFAMOUS), and Kuro, and Toro (stange Sony cat things). Now they have announced two more iconic characters that we will see exclusive on the PS3/Vita.

1. Mega Man

Yes the picture is right. This out of shape goofy looking version from the Mega Man 1 box art is what us ps3 owners will be getting. This is a risky move by Capcom and has caused a huge uproar from fans of the series. I have to say though the combat video of him looks like he’ll be a good enough character to play as but I (and most people) would prefer the classic 8-bit version we’ve all come to know and love.

2. Pac-Man

My first thoughts when I heard this were: Pac-Man in a fighting game? How is that…I mean, how does he…?  Now after watching the trailer I know that our little pill munching friend will be in a big fighting robot. I don’t know what genious thought that up or how that will work but from what I saw in the video it looks pretty natural.

In case you haven’t seen their trailer yet here it is

Not too long ago there were rumors floating around the internet that the next generation of consoles would be announced and or released in 2012 (usually concerning the Xbox 720). These were quickly shot down by almost every level headed person with a keyboard but let’s sit and think for a second. What if these rumors had been true? I can tell you I would not have been a happy consumer. I am completely happy with the way console gaming is now!

You can say all you want that developers have “pushed each console to its limit” but this statement is almost completely graphics based. Do you think that in 2009 when Naughty Dog’s masterpiece “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” was released that they for a minute thought “we have done all we can for this system, now we need a new one?”  No they didn’t! They continued to see what they could do better and I honestly didn’t think the snow in Uncharted 2 could be topped but when I saw the massive desert in this year’s sequel “Uncharted3: Drake’s Deception” they once again blew my mind. So I don’t think any developer thinks that they can’t continue to improve their games on the current generation of consoles.

Now let’s move to a financial standpoint. Microsoft is still selling a ton of 360’s and to release a new console now would do nothing but hurt them financially. Sure I cannot I am eagerly anticipating Microsoft to move to blu ray and to wow me with what their new console can do but for now I am content. I also heard rumors of a ps4 release (which are even more ridiculous than the 720 predictions) so let’s bring Sony into account. They have already promised that the playstation 3 will ave a 10 year life cycle of which we are only 5 years into. They also have had a major financial hit this year (an estimated 1.97 billion) from many things such as the network crashing and very poor 3D display and initial Vita sales (with the Vita already expected to have a price drop) a ps4 launch would no doubt put them in a worse financial state than they are right now. Also now away from the company’s I as a consumer would not buy one. I being a high school freshman do not have a great income and with me getting a vita, and the games that will be releasing next year I wouldn’t be able to drop $600 on a shiny new console. Plus launch titles of consoles are typically not very good so most likely I’d just be using the initial backwards compatability feature.

It is known that both developers are already working on their new consoles. They have been since the current ones launched. Though they will not be released this year I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a tech demo or some sort of blueprints this year. I think a release date will be announced in 2013 and the first of them will be released in 2014. Hey as long as I get to keep my trophies and gamerscore I’m fine. This gives developers plenty of time to continue to wow us on the consoles we’ve come to love these past few years and I hope 2012 is as great a year for gaming as 2011 was.

Back in September, we previewed StarHawk for the first time on UFreqTV in PlayStation Home for our fans. Even before this, right away Jack (UFreqTV’s Host) pointed out at E3 that we need to keep an eye on this game. He talked about how the “Build & Battle” would bring a whole new element to our tournaments when the time comes.

Then came the Private Beta in November, and boy Jack was not kidding. Right out of the gate we were ecstatic when we saw that a user could create a Sever/Lobby with a custom title. We had not seen this in a game since Socom: Confrontation. Though many will say, so what, that is not any thing new or special.

Well they are correct  it isn’t anything new, the ability to create a custom lobby was all but a tail from the past until now. Clans putting up Recruiting Rooms, Practice Rooms and Tournament Communities having the Room labeled “UF Blue RVN vs 101″ showing the world the clans were battling in a tournament.

And though the Private Beta is a very slim view of what is yet to come, it already has all that is needed for Urgent Fury to launch a full Tournament Offering. The tactical requirements that a team will have to use in this game will make for some nail-biting matches. Throw in the Urgent Fury TacMap element where clans are competing over territories for 13 to 24 weeks to become the champion and you have a recipe for “EPIC”!

We are pleased to present the 2012 Tournament Title of the Year to StarHawk, exclusively on PlayStation 3. Be sure to stay tuned as we begin to announce tournament details and how to sign up.

On top of all the great tactical play LightBox Interactive and SCEA Santa Monica Studios are actually involved with the community responding to bugs, suggestions, gripes and praises. Not only that as one fan pointed out, there were more updates in the Private Beta than in the entire Call of Duty Series. Now we cannot confirm if that is correct, but I will say we saw updates daily and even multiple updates in a day when there was an issue.

The public beta will being on January 17th, 2012 and you can find all the details on the PlayStation Blog. And rest assured you will see at least one UrgentFury.com server up and running almost daily.

Also keep your eye out for Episode 93 of Urgent Frequency as Commander Fury is joined by Sr. Producer Harvard Bonin as they sit down via SatCom and discuss StarHawk and what Harvard’s job really is in the grand scheme of things. This episode is due to release on January 15th.

A major outcry by PS3 Modern Warfare 3 players as Activision announced that the first maps for Call of Duty Elite members would launch on January 24th to XBox 360. They did not mention any release information for PlayStation 3 as of this post.

Nine months and 20 ELITE content drops in the Call of Duty: MW3 Content Season. Check out this behind-the-scenes video of two new multiplayer maps coming January 24 to Xbox LIVE. Become an ELITE Premium member to get first access: http://bit.ly/xUZy48

The common outcry is why did we pay full price for Elite but we are not getting the map paks at the same time as XBox…

This may be a rude awakening for Activision… We will update this as we hear more.

Update

Robert Bowling just confirmed that XBox is first: https://twitter.com/#!/fourzerotwo/status/156822320734932992

Yes. The content comes out first for @Xbox Elite Premium members, then shortly after for subscribers on other platforms.

Recently Santa Monica Studios and LightBox Interactive launched the StarHawk Private Beta and after getting a code from GameSpot, I decided to try it out.

My initial reaction can be summed up in one word, AMAZING. Over the last couple of weeks we have put up an UrgentFury.com Server/Lobby, yes I said lobby, in which some epic battles have been witnessed on several occasions. I have no clue how many hours I have logged so far, but three to four hours at a time, you will find me in an endless battle on StarHawk.

In the beginning I was a total noob trying out the different buildings, driving the Razorback like a beast and flying the hawk like a two year old crashing dad’s car. Little by little I got the feel for the rifle that requires you to shoot in bursts if you want accuracy. Who would have ever thought that Spray and Pray would not work in a shooter, hehe.

Next up, I mastered the sniper rifle with a laser from Weird Science. That thing is true to any laser, no matter how far away, you are going to get that red dot and “Boom HeadShot!” Now once you put a supply bunker down, you are now truly prepared to battle with a Rocket Launcher and a Shotty. These are essential if you want to make it more than a couple of minutes against the Hawk attacks and Razorback assaults. Get a couple of rockets into the Razorback and boom. And if the driver is crazy enough to jump ship then bust a few buckshots in them and down they will go.

So let’s talk about the modes, Team Death Match and Capture the Flag… Initially the beta only launched with CTF which forced players to traverse the maps to capture the flag to win. In Acid Sea the flags are located on top of a structure and this became a wall building extravaganza. It did not take long to learn if placed correctly you only had to build three walls on each side encasing the ladders. But even that is not full proof, all you have to do is wisely park a Razorback next to a corner and jump over.

The true trick to CTF is to do a quick grab as soon as the match launches, unless the team is well prepared you can run in and snag a flag with the Razorback within thirty seconds gaining the lead.

Now in Space, the flag is sitting on the deck and if you build three or four walls you can trap the flag, just make sure you build the walls with the ladders facing out. If you do it this way, once the play gets the flag they are stuck unless they are in a hawk. The hawk is able to jump over the wall. Of course it does not take much to blow up a hawk when it is on the ground, so you better have a backup plan ready.

Team Death Match is a well-known mode to all gamers alike and StarHawk is no different until you factor in that you have Hawks rivaled by Beam Turrets, Snipers in Towers behind a Force Field and players owning their area from a Supply Bunker.

TDM can become chaotic very quickly with a little team work. I have seen a team immediately take hold of the center of both maps with a Spawn Beacon, Supply Bunker and Force Field. And unless you are downright crazy, you are lucky to ever recapture the center. But the true key is to take the left or right areas on both maps. This gives you access to rift barrels for easy fortification.

Adding the Build and Battle element makes StarHawk an ever evolving game. You never know what you may be up against when you get to the enemy base.

We can only commend the community support we are seeing from the gang over at Santa Monica Studios and LightBox Interactive. They are truely responsive to bugs, suggestions and complaints. Updates roll out quickly, even within hours as was the case just this week. Keep up the Great work fellas!!!

Overall we give StarHawk’s private beta 5 Fists of Fury out of 5!!! The private beta has been extended through January 3^rd so forget the family. Lock your doors and man up. Get that rift and build your foothold. StarHawk is going to be an Epic win for PlayStation in 2012, and you can bet that a Tournament or two will be announced by Urgent Fury.

Watch for the UrgentFury.com server and jump in, we always set it to All Mic and Randomized Teams making for some great times, see you on the battle field.

Over the last year we have seen several titles release with a multiplayer inclusion and have been excited about the different tournaments that can be created to extend the playability of the game and continue fostering the team building and communities built around it. But then we get the game and start testing to only find that sure the “Multiplayer” label is affixed to the game but no true means of really fostering a team or community for that matter.

So let’s go back a few years so I can help you understand where I am going with this. And keep in mind PC Gaming had already started this trend with games like CounterStrike, but that was not my introduction to multiplayer. On PlayStation 2, a game called Socom was launched with this new feature called Multiplayer. Online gaming was a new concept for consoles and this seemed pretty cool. You could play with different players and the experience would be absolutely different every time since you were playing with humans instead of programmed characters.

The next thing you know it, someone asked if I would join their clan or team for those not familiar with the term. Of course I have played with these guys a few times and enjoyed playing with them so I of course said sure. Next thing I know I have registered on the clan’s website and have instantly become a member of this highly focused community built around playing a game.

At the time I did not see how much of a big deal this would be, but later in life it would prove to be the friendships and team building aspect of this was unsurpassed by any other experience in gaming. Some of these clans have run strong for many years and like any team, many have had conflict and caused the creation of new clans.

So with that in mind you can look at the playability of a game and how this team building would foster a completely new breed of gaming now known as competitive multiplayer. Tournament communities started to spring up everywhere giving games a whole new life with teams competing for prizes, bragging rights and more. Suddenly your clan had a new purpose, not only are you playing with a group so you kind of knew who would do what, but now you could take your clans skills and pit them against other clans with a structured environment behind the scenes.

Fast forward about ten years to today and many of these tournament communities have come and gone and some have thrived. MLG is probably the best example of a thriving business built around competitive multiplayer. The business brings in several millions of dollars with their tournaments through sponsorship and attendance. Even Richard Branson jumped on the competitive gaming train with the launch of Virgin Gaming in 2010.

The big winner out of this business segment really has been the games themselves, as this creates a long lasting playability to a game. If done right a multiplayer portion of a game can be stretched out to years versus a few months. There is no beating the game, no trading in of the game, just endless play with your clan mates.

Now let’s look at the games of the last year or so. Multiplayer seems to have become more of an afterthought then a true focus. In the original Socom for example, you could create a room with a custom title like “My Clan Tryouts” and it made expanding your team very efficiently, this was what we call the lobby system.

In today’s games there are no lobbies, and even more so less means of even creating a private match. Socom 4 did have a clan match making system but it did not let you create any custom parameters to a match. Battlefield 3 launched with no private match making at all and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s private matchmaking is plagued with issues on PS3 causing communities such as ours to postpone or even cancel tournaments.

What do we have to do to get the game developers to take a step back and realize that with the right design, multiplayer can make their game more profitable? Let me explain how…

So let’s pretend a multiplayer game came out with the prized features like these:

• Private Custom Match Making
• Lobbies or User Created Rooms
•  A Clan Management System

With the ability to customize a private match, a tournament community can offer unique game play by changing the parameters of a game, giving players a completely different experience with the title. This can also keep the competitive play fresh with different setups, weapon restrictions, etc. While a good clan management system give members of the team the ability to manage their rosters, group up for game play and provide structure. And finally with a lobby system, the clans are able to promote recruitment, host events and even show off what tournament they are playing in.

This breeds for longevity gameplay, giving the developer the right formula to sale additional content. If you have strong tournament communities developing long term events, many will incorporate the new content to freshen up the tournaments. The PlayStation 2 Socom’s are a perfect example for our community… we were able to run a tournament from the day it launched until the day the next title released. Even with Confrontation we ran a tournament up to the Friday before Socom 4 released. That is just shy of three years of game play on a single title. Yet when the DLC was released, we quickly adapted a tournament specifically for it.

Now with today’s games, the community building portion of the game has gone. There is no way to foster the building or reinforcement of the clans and there are no stable private match making options in the game.

Is this the end of clans as we know it today? I still play with clan members from almost 10 years ago, but now it is almost impossible to get together and play. We invite all developers to contact tournament communities such as ours and even Gamebattles. The ability to include these three simple features can give a game the means to generate additional revenue, keep a strong fan base and breed a whole new generation of competitive gamers.

It’s been a long road in the development of Urgent Frequency Television, but the hard work has paid off…

In Episode 9, Jack “UK” Dellhouse gives you the fist look at LightBox Interactive’s StarHawk, Tim Cox comes back with part two of his Infamous 2 Trophy hunt in NewbTube and then we shed some light on Twisted Metal. We also have a special Bullet Points you don’t want to miss.

Remember once you log in to PlayStation Home, all you have to do is scroll down on the featured spaces and the Community Theater is at the bottom. And this week while you are there, you can pick up a gift from PlayStation Home in honor of the millions of Zombies killed in the Dead Island promotion over the past few weeks.

You can catch past episodes by visiting www.blip.tv/ufreqtv or just watch below:




Once again, BradyGames has hit the market with a Map App for the avid gamers out there.

The only officially licensed app for the year’s most anticipated release:
** Zoom and scroll through detailed maps of the entire game
** Locate all in-game collectibles: ID Cards, Banoi Herald editions and Investigation Tapes
** Track which collectibles have been found and which await discovery
** Official music from the game

Customer Reviews

What it says. 4 Stars
by Beau Donnell

Isn’t super amazing, and probably not worth the money, but it is exactly what is says it is. I just wish it was a full guide with tips and all, then I would pay over $5. But it is exactly what it says it is, no problems, and looks great.

We are only 2-Weeks into the first Urgent Fury Socom 4 tournament and we are already halfway complete with the first campaign. With 36 wars played, the standings are as follows: TNU leads with 10 points followed closely by 101, ReD, $K$, cKs, and 26* with 8. In the middle of the pack we have LPK with 6. Rounding out the field we have RVN, <N>, and WDA each with 2 points and IX still looking to pick up their first W. This tough field of competitors proved to be too steep as R2H never made it in by failing to submit their roster.

Going into week 3 of the first campaign, TNU looks to continue its winning ways after a rough start due to typos on their roster which cost them their only loss. Being the highest ranked clan in the tournament on the Socom in-game ladder, TNU has proven that they know how to win by leading the field with the most points.

A match between the current #2 and #3 seeds, 101 and ReD, resulted in a tie during the second night of wars when there was an glitch in the ladder system. Each team took a match in the first two but for some reason the game sent both teams back to their lobbies instead of sending them to the third match to determine the overall winner of the war.

$K$, cKs and 26* all locked up with 8 points each will be working to catch the current leader in hopes of capturing the top seed and a bid to the playoffs later this fall. After a close match against TNU and ReD, LPK looks to bounce back after a bumpy start. With only 6 wars remaining RVN, <N>, WDA, and IX hope to make up some ground after a very tough 2 weeks.

The Endurance format is much different than what most UF clans are used to. Previously each night would feature one war on a predetermined map and mode. Due to the lack of a party system, UF was forced to use the in-game ladder system to conduct the wars. When asked about the best-of-3 format for wars a few of the clan reps had this to say. darth_cedaus from Canadian Killing Squad said, “Love the best of 3 format. Much better than the 1-map wars back in the day.” ShadowOfaSolja from Threat Neutralizing Unit said, “Best of 3 is the only way to go ”

With a party system just around the corner, we will found out whether or not traditional 1-map per war formats will ever be possible again.

None of the clan reps had too much other to say about the tournament other than they really appreciate the great sportsmanship shown by UF clans. Respecting all of the rules set forth by tournament staff, participating clan are able to play Socom 4 without having to worry about exploits, cheating, Grenade Launchers, or Double Rounding in Bomb Squad.

Time will tell as we see how the wars play out to determine the winner of the first Socom Endurance Campaign.

SEATTLE – June 28, 2011 – David Jaffe, of Twisted Metal and God of War fame, will kick off three days of demos, speakers, competitions and concerts by some of the biggest names in gaming.

The panel discussions at the festival will take attendees through an exploration of the good, the bad and the quirky aspects of gamer culture guided by some of the biggest names in gaming.

Fans will also see some of the hottest new games from more than a hundred exhibitors including video game companies like 2K Games, Activision, Bioware, Capcom, NCsoft and Turbine as well as table top/CCG power houses such as Wizards of the Coast and Privateer Press.  Microsoft is hosting Halo Fest – the largest and most expansive live Halo experience anyone has ever seen – at the third floor annex of the Washington State Conference Center.

PAX Prime is also bringing back the ever popular nightly concerts.  The full list of acts this year includes some of the hottest acts in the geek culture music scene including:

• Jonathan Coulton
• MC Frontalot
• Metroid Metal
• Minibosses
• Paul and Storm
• Supercommuter (first PAX Prime appearance)
• The Video Game Orchestra (first PAX Prime appearance)

PAX Prime is scheduled at the Seattle Convention Center on August 26 – 28.  Passes are completely sold out.

As Urgent Fury has grown in the last couple of years, so has our access to the Gaming news media.

Nemesis has done a great job of finding great articles out there to share to the community, but we are ready to move to the next level.

We are looking for a few good men or women that have the ability to write compelling content for the Urgent Fury Media Team. This can range from Blog posts to UFreqTV segments. This is a great way to get started in the gaming media industry. You can Use this for any college course required writing, etc. For those that show us you have what it Takes, we will be more than happy to help you move up to the next level.

This is a volunteer position that does not provide any compensation. All content written will become the property of Urgent Fury Holdings, but credit will be given to the author of the content.

Responsibilities:

• Create unique original content
• Investigate Gaming News
• Attend local Gaming events
• Submit Articles for editorial team review

Benefits

• Become a Published Writer
• Access to UF’s Media resources
• Great opportunity for an individual that wants to become a press writer
• Media Access to Events in your area (Boston, Seattle, etc)
• Future Opportunities with Urgent Fury as our Media Division
  expands

Areas of Interest

• Urgent Fury Blog
• Urgent Frequency Television
• Urgent Frequency Podcast

Individuals that are interested should send the following to media @ urgentfury.com

• A resume about your writing background (if you have one)
• A sample article written about Gaming or Urgent Fury
• If you are new to news reporting, tell us why you would be a good member of
  the team
• Include the City and State your are in

New York, NY May 17, 2011 – Web series network blip.tv today announced the relaunch of its website, marking a new era for the company. The site has been recast as a consumer-facing destination where viewers can discover, watch and share the best in original web series. Blip.tv also announced today that it has reached more than three billion views to date, making it one of the Internet’s largest independently owned and operated video properties. Blip.tv is now on pace to reach one billion views per quarter.

Recently Urgent Frequency Television made the move to blip.tv/ufreqtv. “The platform is easy to use and the distribution options are perfect for us to promote our new show. On top of that it is affordable!” explains Shane Bell, CIO for Urgent Fury Holdings. He went on further to say “Though our show airs on Playstation Home every other week, we have been looking for the right platform to distribute the episodes after they are released from Home. We started with YouTube but the system is nothing like what Blip.tv has to offer.”

Since 2005, blip.tv has worked closely with the world’s top web series producers, advertisers and distribution platforms with the mission of making original series scalable and profitable. With the introduction of blip.tv’s new site, the company continues to enhance its offerings to producers and talent and is now enabling viewers to easily discover the most entertaining series on the Web.

“Until now there hasn’t been a single website dedicated to showcasing the most entertaining series on the web. Today we are launching that site,” said Mike Hudack, CEO and co-founder of blip.tv. “We’re focused on helping people discover the best original series and allowing producers to build sustainable series for the long-term. The launch of this site helps us achieve both of these goals and marks a turning point for blip.tv and the emerging industry of original web series.”

Episodes and shows featured on the new site are hand-picked by blip.tv’s dedicated team of editors and organized into sixteen categories, including comedy, drama, sports, fashion and videogames. Viewers can also choose to watch shows that are popular, trending or new to the network. The new site also includes an enhanced video-friendly search experience that easily guides viewers to exactly what they’re looking for.

Producers of hit series including Day[9]TV, Red vs. Blue, Smosh, Nostalgia Critic and Old Jews Telling Jokes, who are already part of the blip.tv network, will benefit from the redesign as it will provide a key platform for expanding their audiences and interacting with advertisers in new and exciting ways.

The new site enables producers to build and broadcast their social media profiles, organize their content libraries and engage with fans in a clear, bright and well-organized environment. Producers now have the ability to drive traffic to other shows by recommending ones they believe their fans will also enjoy. Producers can also, for the first time, customize their graphics on blip.tv to create film quality Show Posters that develop series’ own brand stories and provide arresting visuals that viewers will love.

In addition to new opportunities for producers and fans, the new blip.tv site offers advertisers new ways to engage with web series fans. Opportunities include home page takeovers, channel sponsorships and standard IAB display advertising units. T-Mobile USA is the official sponsor of the blip.tv site launch. Happy with what T-mobile has done to help Blip.tv? You should check out T-Mobile phones and what they can do for you!

“This new site is all about bringing professionalism, organization and curation to a currently chaotic medium,” said Damian Bruno, the new website’s General Manager. “We focused first and foremost on helping fans find the most entertaining series to enjoy, and we made sure to do it in an orderly way that supports the needs of audiences, producers and advertisers. Today’s launch represents the starting point for blip.tv to build a site that’s immersive and that houses the best in original Web series.”

Over the next six months, blip.tv will roll out additional features and new products. For more information please visit http://blip.tv.

About blip.tv

Blip.tv is the place to discover the best in original Web series from both professional and up-and-coming producers. It gives viewers free access to a wide variety of dramas and comedies, series about sports, videogames, food, fashion and more, and makes it easy to find what you want when you want it. The company currently distributes series to iTunes, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, roku, Verizon FiOS, TiVo, Sony TVs and elsewhere. Blip.tv hosts more than 300 million video views per month and shares all advertising revenue with producers on a 50/50 basis. Please visit http://blip.tv for more information.

About UFreqTV

Urgent Fury has just announced its expansion into PlayStation Home only on the PlayStation3 computer entertainment system. Urgent Frequency TV, or UFreqTV, airs in PlayStation Home’s Community Theater every 2 weeks. Each episode will focus on a variety of topics, such as game reviews, PlayStation news, as well as exclusive interviews with individuals and companies in the gaming industry, community gamers, and teams competing in Urgent Fury’s different tournaments.

MARCH 2010:

SONY REMOVES THE ABILITY TO INSTALL THIRD PARTY OPERATING SYSTEMS (SUCH AS LINUX) ON THE PS3.
WHILE MOST PLAYERS DON’T CARE (OR EVEN NOTICE). ANOTHER SEGMENT BECOMES EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED.

JANUARY 2ND 2011:

HACKER GEORGE HOTZ, A.K.A. GEOHOT, SUCCESSFULLY JAILBREAKS THE PS3….SO THAT IT COULD DO A NUMBER OF THINGS IT SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO.

HOTZ THEN PUBLISHED THE PROCESS ON HIS WEBSITE, AND HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

JANUARY 11TH 2011:

SONY SUES HOTZ FOR DISTRIBUTING JAILBREAK SOFTWARE TO THE PUBLIC.
CLAIMING THAT HOTZ IS HELPING PROMOTE PIRACY…BY ALLOWING ILLEGAL COPIES OF PS3 GAMES TO BE PLAYED ON JAILBROKEN SYSTEMS.

APRIL 2ND 2011:

A GROUP OF HACKERS KNOWN AS “ANONYMOUS“, BEGINS “OPERATION:SONY“….AN ATTEMPT TO DISRUPT SONY WEBSITES.
THE DEMAND IS…LEAVE HOTZ ALONE.

APRIL 11TH 2011:

SONY SETTLES WITH HOTZ.
DETAILS ARE SCARCE, BUT HOTZ AGREES TO TAKE DOWN HIS WEBSITE, AND INFO ON HOW TO JAILBREAK THE PS3.

APRIL 13TH 2011:

IN A CREEPY VIDEO MESSAGE, “ANONYMOUS” CALLS FOR A DAY OF SONY PROTEST…AND WARNS OF AN INCOMING ATTACK.

APRIL 16TH & 17TH 2011:

HACKERS DIGITALLY BREAK INTO THE PLAYSTATION NETWORK & SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT.

THEY STEAL PERSONAL PSN & SOE USER INFORMATION.
ALONG WITH EUROPEAN SOE CREDIT & DEBIT CARD NUMBERS.

APRIL 19TH 2011:

SONY DETECTS A PSN BREACH.
AN INVESTIGATION STARTS, BUT THE PUBLIC ISN’T TOLD.

APRIL 20TH 2011:

SONY SHUTS DOWN THE PSN, CITING TECHNICAL ISSUES.

APRIL 22ND 2011:

AS PUBLIC UNREST BEGINS TO MOUNT ABOUT THE PSN BEING DOWN…”ANONYMOUS” RELEASES A STATEMENT DENYING ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PSN OUTAGE.

APRIL 26TH 2011:

SONY ADMITS THAT THE PSN HAS BEEN HACKED, AND CALLS FOR FBI ASSISTANCE.

MAY 1ST 2011:

SONY EXECUTIVES APOLOGIZE FOR THE PSN DATA BREACH AND OUTAGE.
IN THE MEANTIME, SONY & INVESTIGATORS DISCOVER A SOE DATA BREACH, AND SHUT DOWN THE SOE SERVERS AS WELL.

MAY 2ND, 2011:

SONY REVEALS DETAILS ABOUT THE SOE DATA BREACH TO THE PUBLIC.

MAY 4TH, 2011:

SONY CHAIRMAN KAZ HIRAI TELLS CONGRESS INVESTIGATORS FOUND A FILE WITHIN THE PSN THAT WAS NAMED ‘ANONYMOUS‘, WHICH HAD THE GROUP’S MOTTO…”WE ARE LEGION”, ATTACHED.

ALTHOUGH SONY DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY ACCUSE ‘ANONYMOUS‘ OF THE INTRUSION…THE COMPANY CLAIMS THE PSN WAS MADE MORE VULNERABLE BY THE GROUP’S EARLIER ATTACK, POSSIBLY KEEPING SONY’S I.T. SECURITY BUSY…WHILE OTHER HACKERS SNUCK IN, AND STOLE DATA.

MAY 5TH, 2011:

‘ANONYMOUS‘ DENIES THAT IT HAD ANY PART IN THE CREDIT CARD THEFT.
THE GROUP SAYS THAT IT IS ONLY AFTER LARGE & CORRUPT CORPORATIONS & GOVERNMENTS.

ON THE SAME DAY…

SONY RELEASES A STATEMENT SAYING
IT IS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF TESTING IT’S NEW NETWORK,
AND THAT THE PSN WILL BE RETURNING IN THE COMING DAYS.

MAY 10TH 2011:

THE PLAYSTATION NETWORK & SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT ARE STILL DOWN AS OF 2 AM, EASTERN STANDARD TIME.

Sony declines to testify before Congress as $1 billion lawsuit filed. (from MSNBC.com)

Sony Online Entertainment

Like a character from their currently shut-down game “DC Universe Online,” Sony is under attack from all sides.

A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee is demanding answers from Sony after private information from some 102 million personal accounts was taken by hackers.

In a letter written by the Congressional Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade and addressed to Sony chairman Kazuo Hirai, representatives asked the company to answer a list of 13 questions related to the hacking of Sony’s PlayStation Network.

The questions come as lawyers in Canada have announced they’re seeking a $1 billion class action lawsuit against the company which has recently revealed not one, but two massive hacking breaches that left personal information from 102 million gaming accounts available to hackers.

On Monday, Sony revealed that its Sony Online Entertainment PC gaming service had been hacked … this after revealing last week that the PlayStation Network service had been breached.

The SOE breach exposed the information from 24.6 million personal accounts as well as some credit card information from gamers who play the service’s online PC games such as “EverQuest,” “DC Universe Online” and “Free Realms.” The PlayStation Network, on the other hand, allows PlayStation 3 owners to game online and that breach exposed personal information from 77 million private accounts.

The Congressional committee has demanded answers about the PlayStation Network breach only perhaps because news of the Sony Online Entertainment breach wasn’t released until Monday afternoon. Among the questions they asked:

• “Why did you wait to notify your customers of the breach?
• “Have you identified how the breach occurred?”
• Have you identified the individual(s) responsible for the breach?
• “How many PlayStation Network account holders provided credit card information to Sony Computer Entertainment?”

(To read their entire letter, see the New York Times post here.)

The Committee’s letter demanded a reply from Sony by Friday, May 6, and explained that it had scheduled a hearing this Wednesday “regarding the threat of data theft to American consumers.” It invited Sony to attend and testify.

Too busy to appear
Sony, however, will not be attending tomorrow’s hearing.

Sony Online Entertainment

Congress wants to know who breached Sony’s security. Certainly the mayhem these hacking attacks have caused is so extensive the Joker would be proud to take responsibility.

“Sony declined to testify because their internal investigation is still ongoing,” an official working for Representative Mary Bono Mack (R-California), told game blog Kotaku Tuesday morning.

But Sony has insisted it is cooperating with Congress. Sony of America spokesman Patrick Seybold sent a statement to Kotaku explaining:

“Sony is cooperating with the request for answers to the Committee’s questions, and in fact will be providing our responses in advance of the deadline. We informed the committee that we could not appear as early as this Wednesday because of our ongoing intensive investigation and management of this criminal cyberattack.”

In response to Sony’s decision not to attend the hearing, the committee has now moved the deadline for Sony to respond to questions to today, May 3, the New York Times reports.

Congress joins the attorney generals from more than 20 states who have already demanded answers from Sony. And the FBI’s cybecrimes unit has confirmed they are looking into the breach as well.

Meanwhile, as we reported this morning, Sony CEO Howard Stringer is under fire for his company’s handling of customers’ personal information and the hacking breaches, with some investors suggesting that he should step down.

Anger and lawsuits
But no doubt, the most heat is coming from gamers themselves.

The Toronto law firm McPhadden Samac Tuovi says it has filed a proposed class action against Sony “for the breach of privacy.” The lawsuit claims damages in excess of $1 billion, which includes having Sony pay the costs of credit monitoring services and fraud insurance coverage for two years.

The plaintiff in the action is 21-year-old avid PlayStation user Natasha Maksimovic.

“If you can’t trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,” Maksimovic said in a press release. “It appears to me that Sony focuses more on protecting its games than its PlayStation users.”

This lawsuit follows a lawsuit that’s already been filed in U.S. District Court accusing Sony of “negligence in data security.”

Meanwhile, as news of the second breach spread on Tuesday, many gamers responded with anger if not legal action.

“Frankly, during most of the time I’ve been a SOE customer, I’ve tried hard to ignore the feeling of constantly being treated like dirt…” wrote one gamer going by the name Faelan at online gaming site MMORPG.com. “I think I’ve given them more chances than they deserve and each time I’ve ended up feeling like the fool. No more I say. Goodbye SOE.”

“Sony is just another company that doesn’t care about its customers or its employees … and I think that’s why they were a target of the hackers,” wrote a gamer going by the name TheWillows on an “EverQuest” fan site.

But some Sony fans have responded with understanding and have said they will return to the company’s online gaming services when the servers finally go back online.

Whether it be a console system being hacked or a large business, no one wants their private information taken. Cloud computing security has risen in the aspect of online data security within the cloud. It is a good idea to talk to online security professionals and see what you can do to protect your self or business.

Wrote one “EverQuest” fan going by the name Kaifin, “I for one hope they recover because I have been happy with their products in the past. They were one of the big companies and got arrogant thinking it couldn’t happen to them and because of it they got screwed. Now they will be more careful in the future provided they survive this ordeal.”

For more on this topic, please see:

• Sony Online Entertainment hacked, some credit card info taken
• Sony sued, could bleed billions following PlayStation Network hack
• Games to play while PlayStation’s network is down
• How will Sony make amends to gamers?
• Former PlayStation hacker blames Sony arrogance for breach

Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com.

Suprised to see an update come across today, but Travis Steiner, Lead Designer at Zipper Interactive for Socom 4 changed his Facebook Status today. He is now with a startup. We can only assume that it is with a gaming community, Travis is sure to bring some great experience to the table. His work history also includes Sierra Entertainment working on one of my favorite PC games growing up, Police Quest: SWAT. Good luck Travis.

I emailed Travis and received this auto reply:

Hi there,

I have decided to leave Zipper to pursue a new opportunity. If you need to contact me, you can find me on Facebook.

 http://www.facebook.com/

Thanks!

 -Travis

This comes as bit of a shock less than a week after the release of Socom 4 though. There have been mixed feelings amoungs Socom veterans about the game. Many are just not liking it, while many say if a few things are fixed it will be great and then there are the many that are very happy with Socom 4.

We do agree there are a few things to tweak, but overall, the Urgent Fury community is once again addicted to another Socom release.

Now if we can only get PSN up and running, we can get back to playing the Shooter that started it all on consoles.

Urgent Fury CIO Shane Bell stops by for a very “loosey goosey” episode of Urgent Frequency.

An episode that features the usual Urgent Fury SITREP, a complete PAX East 2011 Preview, a surprise guest, and Charlie Sheen. WINNING! Duh!

Thanks to the continued support of Jeremy Dunham, Community Manager for Zipper Interactive, we had the pleasure of going to the Socom 4 media Day at Zipper headquarters in Redmond, WA. So part 1 is my take on our preview of multiplayer. Part 2 will come after our visit to PAX East where we will be preparing a future episode of UFreqTV for Playstation Home and visiting some more of the shooters out there that make Urgent Fury what it is today.

Now let me set the bar here, the game was not in anyway a finished product and even in the time that I have taken to publish this, many changes have been made. In addition our video that we compiled has not been approved by Sony PR, so I am going to release the written version. I do apoligize as we had some great gameplay footage as well as some great Q & A with one of the Dev team members.

So with that being said, here is Part 1…

Socom 4: The renewal of Tactical Gaming

Socom in my opinion was the beginning of tactical multiplayer gaming for consoles. Originally launched on PS2, Socom set the stage for one of the greatest phenomenon’s in console gaming. You and fifteen of your friends could group together online and with team work conquer another gaming team. You did this from your gaming lair. Friendships have been forged, and in many cases members of your team known as clans would put their gaming clan ahead of their wife and family. Many players such as I have been playing with our clan mates for many years.

The community of Socom fans is by far one of the most critical in the business. You can visit the Socom forums at Socom.com and read thousands of posts asking for different functions and game options in Socom 4. Community managers Jeremy Dunham and Chris Roper have spent the last several months answering questions and gathering intel for the dev team at Zipper interactive Studios.

Recently I had the privilege to visit Zipper Interactive to preview Socom 4 as the release date of April 19th approaches. As hoped we were treated to a first look at Socom 4 Multiplayer and a new Single player level. Our visit started with the true experience of the security required at a development studio. It was nothing less than expected.

So we started with a presentation by Travis Steiner along with a demo of both a single player level and some multiplayer game play, but I have to be honest, I kept eagerly awaiting our turn to get our hands on it. I played Socom 4 at E3, but it was a very short demo. I was excited to play multiplayer as that is the staple for Urgent Fury, so I was like a starving boy in front of the desert buffet. You can find more about the presentation from Commander Fury on Urgent Frequency www.urgentfury.com/podcast.

So we take position at our Playstation setup, no sharing, no taking turns, just one on one with a Playstation 3, Socom 4 and me. First let’s talk about what multiplayer has to offer in this version of Socom. I will admit this is truly a new version of Socom. Zipper has been taking notes on how the giant shooters out there are attracting hundreds of thousands of gamers to play. Unlike the latest release by Slant Six had horrific load times, to the point I spent many a night grilling dinner between rounds, but Socom 4 is a true improvement. If you want to jump on and get your game on, you will only have to wait a few minutes max. You choose a game from the list and you get to work.

Now I won’t lie, there are grumblings by the Socom faithful saying this type of setup is not true to the series, and I will say you are right it isn’t, this is called innovation.
 
The team has taken the time to research what gamers abroad want and incorporate some of those that work. One that really surprised me was open mics in the multiplayer. Push to talk (PTT) is one of the most vital features to Socom; no other shooter has ever adopted this and is a failure by all other games in my opinion. But rest assured by the team, PTT is used in the Classic settings.

What are Classic settings you ask? Well here is the best way I can describe it. Socom 4 is actually two multiplayer games in one. Standard multiplayer is truly the new Socom, it includes everything that seems to be popular among young gamers today:

• Health Regeneration
• Respawn Matches
• The new Cover system
• Quick Matchmaking

While the Classic Mode disables all of these new features and returns the game to the Socom we all know. There is no need to cover Quick Matchmaking, Health Regeneration and Respawn, we all know how that works, but I will give my assessment of the Cover system. I am extremely pleased with it, I used it every chance I could to test for strength and weaknesses. The Cover System can be a little clumsy, but that is probably due to the fact that it was my first time at some uninterrupted play. But other than that it works quite well, I was able to get to cover by hitting O, popping in and out to shoot was somewhat easy and throwing a grenade was easy. Now aiming the grenade without the arc was a little tough, but with a little practice anyone will be killer with them. I will say that I would like to see the Cover System as an option in Classic mode, it really replaces the D-Pad Lean in my opinion. In real life I see the movements of the Cover system looking around corners and over cover really is much more realistic that the leaning out around a corner.

I did ask about the arc, and they said it was a tough decision on whether the time it took a person to place the arc or to take the time to learn to aim. I agree that learning to aim is much more realistic. And yes for those that know me on Socom, I had no problem killing myself with a nade or two.

We played a couple of the game types including Last Defense and Classic Suppression. The maps I must say were amazing, and we had the pleasure of even getting our hands on the Socom classic “Abandoned” which I must say was beyond beautiful. So last defense definitely had a MAG flavor to it, as the attacker, you are looking for three Satellites and once you have control the defender’s base is located and you have two minutes to get there and plant an Airstrike beacon.

As the defenders you can recapture the Satellite dishes to stop the attack. By doing this you are on an ever evolving clock to hold down your headquarters. Expect to see this mode in an upcoming Urgent Fury TacMap. Of course we are all familiar with Suppression, and to say that it had the Socom flavor we love is an understatement.

We experienced Abandoned in Classic mode, basically removing all of the advancements to Socom that have been made, and several times I was the last guy trying to get the “W”. If it were not for the catering company bringing me food and beverages, I would have been in the dire straits of old trying to find a way to run to the kitchen and grab something quick and a drink. Do you remember those days when you did not have a fifteen minute break between rounds? Looks like I am going to have to create an express route to the can for this Socom, because there is no time for the luxuries of a bathroom or a snack break.

As much as I wanted to play the single player mode, they had to cut us out of the multiplayer to get us out of there. So other than watching the demo, I did not even get to touch the Single player mission in 2D or 3D. That is right I said 3D. And I am extremely impressed that the 3D is not only at full spec with 2D, meaning they did not cut anything to make it 3D, they have added the ability to adjust the 3D settings to maximize your TV’s output. What a concept, who thought that TV’s might not have the exact same specs throughout the different manufacturers.

So overall, coming from not only a Socom Veteran and longtime fan of the franchise, but a gaming professional, I rate Socom 4 Multiplayer a 9.9 out of 10. The only negative really is the lack of Demo. This is a staple in Urgent Fury, but we will adjust to the new game modes and still make the most intense Tournament with Socom 4. As for the positive, I am extremely pleased with the innovations of Socom 4 has shown with adapting to today’s gamers, while still leaving classic setups for the veterans out there.

Since this is a family podcast…we can’t show you what really happened in Los Angeles during E3. But, PSNation.org’s Glenn Percival tells everything!

FEATURING Linkin Park’s “The Catalyst”. Available on iTunes.

As many know this is the first time that Urgent Fury has atteneded the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). This is a major step for Urgent Fury. In attendance were William Murray (FW’s Wolf Dog), Patrick Gross (Commander Claymore Fury) and myself, Shane Bell, CIO Urgent Fury. As you can imagine this was a major step for Urgent Fury. We spent time meeting with the major players in the industry with full acceptance as well as being snuffed by a major player as well.

Of course one of the most anticipated games for Urgent Fury is Socom 4 and yes we spent quite a bit of time with Zipper discussing this… we cannot reveal most of our discussions, but needless to say “WOW”. You will hear more in the podcasts coming up. I will say from my perspective (playing since S1) Socom is back with a Vengeance.

We also spent some much needed time with EA and DICE as they presented Medal of Honor’s Multiplayer to us. I will have to say that this is a great looking FPS for UF to add to our line up for 2010 – 2011.

Also in the mix we took a look at Brink from Bethesda which includes an intense Multiplayer as well. Though it is delayed for release in 2011 we will keep this in our scopes for some tournament play.

So of the biggest things, I will say that the debut of 3D gaming by PS3 and the 3DS are the leaders. Though many say it is a trend, I tend to disagree. Microsoft is still lagging behind in my opinion. They finally have added the built in wireless (about time) but still no Blu-Ray support, so you got to get that separate. And well no 3D either…

Patrick, WIll and Shane with Travis Steiner, Socom 4 Lead Designer Zipper Interactive

Everyone will be happy to know that you do not have to purchase a new PS3 to get 3D, it will come in the firmware updates. Also the addition of Playstation Plus for only $49.99 a year made its appearance at the Playstation Press Conference. Great price for lots of goodies, I recommend everyone gets it.

So this is a very short wrap up to the many things that came out of E3, be sure to listen to the upcoming Podcasts as we go into detail about all that was E3 and UF.

A classic Gamer reasoning behind being Single.

In this edition of Talkabout, G4 editor-in-chief Adam Sessler and news editor Patrick Klepek discuss the ongoing situation with Infinity Ward and Activision and the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Check out the video, and express your own opinions in our comment section below.

Just a caveat: This was shot a few hours ago, and more information has been made public since then.

The video is below…

Read more: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/702933/TheFeed.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=twitterblog&utm_campaign=so-0907-twitterthefeed-702933&cmpid=so-0907-twitterthefeed-702933#ixzz0h48fXwQb

So I rented Rogue Warrior today. Popped it in and received an AIM from someone so I started chatting and they said “I hear it’s stupid” I said “I didn’t know yet because I was talking to them.” So we ended the chat and I started playing. After the first two minutes I AIM’d him back and said “hey this game is stupid.”

The stupid part are the endless utterances of your character while you are playing.  Talks up after almost every kill. Stuff like “Smells like dogs*** and gun powder in here” and “Take that you f***ing suck ass” Quality stuff.

Anyway, the game play is similar to Rainbow six, you can use cover and blind fire ability. But pretty routine, go here, kill these guys to get there, blow that up, get out. Visuals are ok, nothing outstanding about them but not horrible.

I’ll check online sometime this weekend. Look for that report.

From 101st’ xRedOctobeRx…

I have personally played here since Road To Exile. I had heard of UF before that but my clan didn’t hav enough guys that were active to play. So I joined 101 to be apart of it and damn am I glad I did.

But my most memorable moment was play APC on Liberation Control Points:

It was me and my War commander that was all that was left against 6 guys. I had delta held down and we were down by 2 control points in the very LAST round. I killed one guy(things were going well) I moved slowly toward teh middle, catch one guy looking the other way..killed em. I move up some stairs another barreling down toward me, HEADSHOT. I move toward their spawn and see a guy running away toward the middle I shoot him then his partner comes out of the shadows I turn and shoot another headshot.

One guy left a guy that I have seen across the UF forums and a player that I was actually intimidated by. He went by the name of SmokeOsama. I knew he was covering the last point above the Seal spawn, but I didn’t know where. I move slowly toward the point up the stairs coming from the middle. I was certain he would be in one of the doorways waiting…

THEN all the sudden I see someone running toward the opposite side stairs, he pokes his head up again not knowing the train that is about to hit him.

I look at my loadout and see ONE lone grenade. I pull it out and etch his name in the side. Kissed is gently right before I pull the pin, I lobbed it gently into the air toward where I saw him last praying it would meet its target.

There was a LONG pause…life stood still at that point, suddenly BANG. SmokeOsama Fragged by Red0ctober with M67

I stood up YELLING, the wife comes in and says SHUT UP. I say sorry. But that was by far my most shining moment. LOL I couldn’t sleep all night my adrenaline was pumping so much. I was truly inspired that night.