Due to the onslaught of phishing and other identity theft-related cases in the Xbox Live Network, Major Nelson of Microsoft reiterates the importance of guarding your account information when logging on to XBL.
Using an example of how some Halo 3 player would ask for your XBL ID and password to rank you up or find you all the skulls in the game, the Major reminds everyone not to give out their info, tempting as the supposed benefits might be. His stern reminder reads:
If that “friend” of yours decides not return your account and buys a bunch of Arcade titles and movies on your account, there is nothing we can do except cancel the account since you willingly shared your information.
Cancelled.
As in you can never get it back.
Which means… yep, you guessed it. Goodbye Gamerscore, goodbye game saves, goodbye Gamertag, goodbye Hayabusa Armor. Ouchie.
On a related note, Major Nelson also discussed the consequences of tampering your game saves. Any and all users caught messing with their Achievements and Gamerscore can have their numbers totally wiped out. All of it. And if push comes to shove, Microsoft might even ban those accounts and/or console from XBL.
What’s the lesson here? Play with the rules, bub. Earn whatever you can using legit ways. No tampering, no cheating.
With programmers finding it difficult to take full advantage of PS3, tools company Codeplay hopes its new parallelism system will ease the pain.
In many respects, PlayStation 3 is an anachronism. The pinnacle of Sony Computer Entertainment’s decade-old philosophy that focuses on proprietary chip design to gain performance and long-term production efficiencies, it’s been outflanked by Microsoft’s off-the-shelf approach and Nintendo’s control-is-everything attitude. And with its main architect, one-time CEO and the father of the PlayStation Ken Kutaragi, no longer in charge, it’s likely that PlayStation 4 will be a very different beast.
Of course, in terms of the current console war, it’s still early days. PlayStation 3 remains the most powerful gaming device, as well as providing the best future-proofed option in terms of consumer electronics, although cynics might say that at its original launch price it should’ve made the tea, too.
slash-sa writes “Video games have become problem-solving exercises wrapped in the veneer of an exotic adventure. In today’s fast and rapidly-changing business environment, the strategic skills they teach are more important than ever. From realistic battlefield simulations to the building of great nations, from fantastic voyages through worlds of mythology to conquering space, "Generation G" could well offer the answer to unlocking great 21st century strategists and leaders.” [+] games, cheetos, wishfulthinking, ender, dreaming (tagging beta)
Firehose:Tomorrow’s finest leaders may well be today’s game by slash-sa (1121355)
It’s a good day for Halo fans, folks. Not only did Bungie reveal our Halo 3 Halloween surprise, but the latest novel in the franchise was released today. Titled Contact Harvest, the novel chronicles the life of Avery Johnson, better known as the invincible Sergeant Johnson in the Halo games. In honor of the release, the novel’s author (and Grunt voice actor extraordinaire) Joseph Staten has placed the prologue on Bungie.net. Yes, the entire prologue. Head on over to Bungie.net to give it a read. Once you’ve done that, do your civic duty and buy the full novel at your local bookseller. It’s the right thing to do.
Nintendo’s making a final push to indoctrinate the rest of the world’s pet-deprived tweens and twenty-something geeks, according to a new Sears ad. Come “Black Friday,” two more DS Lite models will hit retail ($150 ea.), each branded and bundled with a corresponding game.
There’s the metallic pink Pound PuppiesNintendogs case, complete with (bloody?) paw print and game — which reminds us, our lil’ pixelated Shih Tzu hasn’t been fed in about two years … Anyways, moving on: there’s also the gold-sprayed Zelda unit, (spotted a few weeks ago and) bundled with Phantom Hourglass, featuring the Triforce logo for those of us not quite ready for the more-permanent expression of our faith.
We have beef with the aliens of Blacksite: Area 51. In their latest television commercial we see one of them picking on an innocent little girl who’s minding her business, singing “Ring Around the Rosy” by here lonesome. Her school bus is broken down, her house is on fire and her yellow dress is a filthy mess. And these insidious Area 51 aliens have nothing better to do then scare the poor girl and get all up in her face, seriously … what do they want with her? Don’t they know messing with a child is universally unacceptable? And to you Midway, do you expect us to reward such blatant commercial wrong doing with a Blacksite pre-order? Well, okay … maybe this once.
With the dust only just now beginning to settle from Mass Effect developer BioWare’s acquisition by industry powerhouse Electronic Arts, many of us believed that it would be some time before we got wind of the company’s next project. It would seem, however, that we were wrong, as both BioWare and LucasArts issued a joint statement today announcing that the studios are working together on “an interactive entertainment product,” stopping just shy of cluing us in on just what it is exactly that they are building behind the curtain.
The two bedfellows, which have previously worked together on KOTOR, revealed next to nothing about the new project, stating only that it will “deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment.” So, is this project the oft-rumored Knights of the Old Republic MMO, or something else entirely? The wheels of speculation are turning.
There’s been plenty of talk coming from the movers and shakers of the gaming business about a possible “One Console Future” where one universal platform would apply, and all developers would be placed on the same playing field as far as gaming consoles are concerned.
Electronic Arts executive Gerhard Florin and Silicon Knights President Dennis Dyack were both quoted expressing their favor for the idea, with Dyack implying that the One Console Future is imminent and “everyone would win” in such a scenario. Not everyone, however, was convinced.
Ben Hoyt, a producer at game tools company Emergent, had a particularly different take on the subject. He says that both Florin and Dyack failed to consider some basic realities of the industry.
Hoyt argues that “Florin’s vision of a ‘box…made in China with a hard drive, a wi-fi connection, and a games engine inside,’ conjures eerie images of the aptly-named Phantom Game Console” and “fails to address fundamental technical realities relating to local versus server-based games. Nor does he address the exciting diversification of gameplay experiences enabled by today’s variety of gaming hardware options.”
Moving on to Dyack’s case, there are two points that Hoyt strongly disagrees with. First is Dyack’s belief that the competition of today’s gaming platforms create an “unhealthy” industry; second is his assertion where he described a one-console industry as a place where “everyone would win.”
“I’m afraid that I fail to see how, in a world where our industry is dominated by a single, monopolistic, console manufacturer, ‘everyone would win,’” says Hoyt. He went on to raise some points:
What incentive would this console manufacturer have to fund AAA exclusive titles when all titles would be exclusives? Why would they launch new hardware at a loss when anyone who wanted to play console video games would be forced to purchase one of their systems? How much would they charge independent publishers and developers for the right to release games on their platform?
He continues “perhaps most importantly, what incentive would this monolithic industry entity have to absorb the cost of releasing exciting new hardware configurations every five years? Why not 10? Or never?”
“Finally, I ask him to explain how his vision for a ‘unified platform’ game industry would avoid the classic, Econ 101, pitfalls of a monopoly, in which the only ‘winner’ is the monopolist,” concludes Hoyt.
GamesIndustry.biz says they’re waiting for a Dyack response to Hoyt’s rebuttals. If he does answer, we’ll update you in a hurry. For now, let’s hear what you think about a “one console future.”
Mass Effect fever is taking over, spreading like an African jungle virus hell bent on using your body as a host to spread itself in an ultimate effort to secure its longevity as an inter-species virus. Uhh, … maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but Mass Effect fever is real and the Sci Fi Channel has caught it.
Airing on November 20th and re-airing numerous times thereafter is a special Mass Effect: Sci vs. Fiction episode where they’ll probably talk about the game’s science and fiction themes … or something (work with us here). Also, Sci Fi is running a giveaway that’ll open up soon’ish where you’ll have a chance to win a Limited Edition copy of Mass Effect. Keep your eyes glued to this page and enter when the giveaway goes live. Anyway, consider yourself warned. Because if the Mass Effect fever is anything like the Halo 3 fever then we advise hiding your newborns, plastic wrapping your house and eating only frozen peas.
[Via Game Stooge]
Read - Mass Effect: Sci vs. Fiction air times Read - Mass Effect Sci Fi Channel giveaway
Capcom and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan today announced a collaboration that will see popular zombie extermination sim Resident Evil adapted into a full-length CG animation feature. The project, dubbed “Biohazard: Degeneration” in Japan (and presumably “Resident Evil: Finding Necro” in the West) promises “groundbreaking visual effects and a brand-new story line.” Unfortunately, the rest of the press release simply yammers on about the (un)live-action dreck starring Milla what’s her face.
Given the reassuring lack of certain German “directors” and the decision to embrace polygons over the pasty complexions of Hollywood C-listers, you may feel inclined to allot this game-to-film adaptation some anticipation. A similar approach yielded last year’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which, fan service fluff aside, at least managed to be entertaining and resistant to our recently invented word, “acraptation.”
Biohazard: Degeneration is currently aiming for a “terrifying release in 2008.”
Due to the onslaught of phishing and other identity theft-related cases in the Xbox Live Network, Major Nelson of Microsoft reiterates the importance of guarding your account information when logging on to XBL.
With the dust only just now beginning to settle from Mass Effect developer BioWare’s acquisition by industry powerhouse Electronic Arts, many of us believed that it would be some time before we got wind of the company’s next project. It would seem, however, that we were wrong, as both BioWare and LucasArts issued a joint statement today announcing that the studios are working together on “an interactive entertainment product,” stopping just shy of cluing us in on just what it is exactly that they are building behind the curtain.
There’s been plenty of talk coming from the movers and shakers of the gaming business about a possible “One Console Future” where one universal platform would apply, and all developers would be placed on the same playing field as far as gaming consoles are concerned.
Mass Effect fever is taking over, spreading like an African jungle virus hell bent on using your body as a host to spread itself in an ultimate effort to secure its longevity as an inter-species virus. Uhh, … maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but Mass Effect fever is real and the Sci Fi Channel has caught it.