Life After Hacking With Sony And Hackers Who Do It For The "Lulz"

So I'm sure we've all enjoyed the lovely fiasco that was the extreme attack by hackers on Sony's PSN network back in April. I know that my husband Ron and I thoroughly enjoyed all that worrying about whether or not personal information had been stolen. Note the sarcasm. It is quite troubling when you hear about things like this and considering the severity of the security breaches with things like up to 70 million people with their personal data stolen, then it's downright mind boggling. So for the rest of us the hackers pretty much screwed over with their "sticking it to the man" antics, we had to worry about whether or not our credit card information was stolen, if there would be phishing scams in our email, or if someone with a chainsaw and a hockey mask would show up at our house in the middle of the night. That's always a good time for anyone. 

Factor in that Sony was hacked again and again and they have a business nightmare on their hands. Once they were back up and running, there were some nice perks for the inconvenience, such as two free downloadable games and 30 days of Playstation Plus Premium for free, and 100 virtual items from a Playstation Home shop. A couple of the games they offered for download were a nice gesture, Infamous and Little Big Planet 2. So it seems they were trying to make amends for the month long wait for their customers as they tried to put out the fires. 

 Of course Sony had to face the music at E3 this week, and they apologized for the PSN hackings and then they moved on to announce new PS3 titles and show off their next generation handheld, the Playstation Vita. My take on it, was we'll see if they can keep up because the other day, I read of another hacking on the PSN network, but this one was Sony Europe. According to an article I read on the Sophos website, this made the THIRTEENTH attack on Sony. Thirteen attacks is not only ridiculous, that's just sad. It also makes me personally wonder if Sony can keep up and fix the problem, because it is a problem, a BIG one. 

 Bear in mind, this is just my opinion as a gamer after all, but I have lost a lot of faith with Sony because it's been one misstep after another with them. They're not the giants they once were. It's as if they've gotten too big for their britches as it were and instead of making money, they seem to be losing so much money.  At this rate, they need a damn lifeboat. 

The embarrassment only gets worse as LulzSecurity has been bragging and claiming the hackings of Sony. Yes, it's the same guys that hacked PBS, the National Health Service, an FBI affiliate in Atlanta, and Nintendo. The FBI one, I can understand a bit because of the Orwellian type laws the government is trying to put forth about internet freedom. What is strange  to me is, they claimed they like Nintendo and they told the National Health Service they meant them no harm, just that they wanted to help them fix their tech issues. 

 Please pardon me as I say, WHAT THE FUCK?! Truly, WHAT THE FUCK?! If someone you didn't know  came up to you and punched you square in the face, but then said, "Oh, I don't mean you any harm, I actually like you. I just wanted to help you with your self defense." would you believe them or would you be incredibly angry that this person you don't even know hit you? Remember, be honest. I thought so. 

 Considering that up to 70 million people had to go through basically what is an incredible amount of stress worrying about identity theft because of these hackers "doing it for the lulz" (Yes, you read that right, they did in fact say that....) how can anyone believe they didn't mean any harm? The fact of the matter is, plain and simple they broke the law when they stole personal information that DID NOT belong to them. It doesn't matter that they did it for fun, because they hate Sony, because they're "trying to help", or because they're trying to prove to themselves that they can. Plain and simple for me, it really pisses me off when someone thinks they are entitled to steal my personal information just to prove they can. It doesn't just make me mad at the corporation, it also makes me quite angry at the lowlife that seems to have nothing better to do other than live in their parents basement with forty-seven cats and steal from innocent people. 

 Yes, it's cruel of me to say it, but until you've sat there watching your husband check and check and check again to make sure no fraudulent charges have been made because of cyber attacks on a network, then I don't even want to hear about the poor hackers are trying to prove a point. The poor hackers were criminals the very second they not only stole personal information, but then published it not only on their website, but in several emails to the very companies they hacked. It makes them no better than the mighty corporations and government they claim to be fighting. Personally, I think all the 70 million plus people who had to deal with this nonsense should be allowed to punch every single one of them in the face and get to publish their personal information everywhere. It's only fair. 

 That being said, of course it's up to us to be vigilant, to be responsible for changing our passwords often, and for making sure our personal information is secure, because although hackers like LulzSecurity are claimed to be a grey hat organization, they're not. There is no grey area when innocent people get hurt for the sake of their version of "fun". They are in fact, extremely arrogant and ignorant in thinking that their actions do not have consequences and incredibly foolish if they think that the rest of us are going to consider them heroes. I know I don't. I find them to be quite childish. There are more important things in this world and this life than doing something like this to others just because you can. 

 As for Sony, I truly hope they can step up and come back from all of this. They need to remember that without their customers, there is no Sony and they could treat them a lot better, especially in the customer service department.  They also need to fix the problems with their security breaches and fix them well so this doesn't keep happening or even better, never happens again. I don't know if they'll be able to carry the weight, but I hope they at least try. 

A Lord Of Time And A Game Of Thrones

 Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big Doctor Who fan. I grew up watching the old BBC episodes on PBS with my grandmother and loved every minute of it. Of course I had a couple of favorite Doctors. I really liked John Pertwee and adored Tom Baker. With the new Doctor Who episodes I love the writing and the actors they chose to play The Doctor are great. I was hesitant at first about Matt Smith because he was so young, but I gave him a shot. He did not disappoint me. I found myself liking him a great deal and he clearly loves his role. The new season of Doctor Who has started with a bang (no pun intended) with scary monsters known as The Silence. You forget about them as soon as you're not looking at them, which brings up the question how do you fight a big scary monster that you can't even see? The Doctor and his gang figure it out eventually, and it's a hell of a ride to get there. Of course there are even more questions that are pertinent to the main story of this season, but the writers aren't going to tell us just yet. We have to keep watching to find out. Personally, I would really like to know who River Song actually is to the Doctor and I'm hoping they'll give us that this season rather than all the teasing hints from the previous seasons. I'm definitely enjoying trying to find out.
 Then there's Game Of Thrones. I love the books and it's been insanely frustrating to wait for the next book A Dance With Dragons, but apparently it's being released (FINALLY!!) in July. So while I wait for July to get here, HBO has created the show to tide all of us Game Of Thrones fans over. My initial reaction was I loved it. It seems that everything has been done to keep the show as true as possible to the books, right down to the sly intrigue and carefully picking the cast to portray the various characters. For me, this is especially true with Sean Bean as Eddard (Ned) Stark and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark. Those characters are brought to life vividly by their fantastic acting. This is true of the rest of the cast as well and it's quite clear that they were well chosen. It's amazing seeing the various places in the Seven Kingdoms Of Westeros spring from the books onto television. The writing and the acting are brilliant. I found myself remembering why favorite characters were my favorites.  I'm genuinely enjoying it immensely.
 So my weekends are filled with Doctor Who and Game Of Thrones, which I enjoy watching. If you love great story, adventure, and great acting, you'll enjoy them too. 

Portal 2 Worth All The Hype

 Is Portal 2 worth all the hype? The answer is a resounding yes! Valve really did their homework on making the sequel to Portal fun and interesting. Portal was one of the first person games that I could play because the camera didn't bob around and make me feel nauseous. I was pleased to see that the camera angles are excellent in first person once again and don't have that wobbly bobbing effect that always makes me ill.
 There are new items in the game like hard light bridges, aerial faith plates, and propulsion gel. Each item is introduced carefully, allowing the player to become familiar with the items and how to use them. The puzzle rooms are amazingly designed, and while one puzzle may seem obvious to one person, it may not to another. There's no hard and fast learning curve with the difficulty levels of the puzzles and with the voice of GlaDos pouring often hilarious insults at you in a sing song computer voice make it entertaining.
 The humor in Portal 2 is perfectly dark with great comedic timing and terrific voice acting especially from Stephen Merchant as Wheatley. You will often find yourself chuckling, but also find yourself having that unsettling feeling throughout the story as it progresses. The main story for Portal 2 is longer than the first one, and perhaps even better which is a great thing for a sequel game.
 After you are done with the main story, you can play a co-op multiplayer stand alone story play through of the game featuring two droids Atlas and Peabody who are sent testing for GlaDos and the puzzles rely on them working well together as a team. This mode is a lot of fun with well balanced and greatly constructed puzzles.
 Valve has outdone themselves with Portal 2, with great puzzles, game play, and story. If you haven't picked up Portal 2 yet, you definitely should. It promises a great gaming experience for old and new Portal fans alike. This is definitely a game that any gamer worth his or her salt should have in their collection. 

An Open Letter To Parents Over Bulletstorm And Multimedia In General

 Apparently, there are a lot of you parents out there who are up in arms over the video game Bulletstorm because of the violence in it. It's all over the news and there are so many complaints about the dangers to your children. Being a parent myself, I can understand the concerns, but this video game is clearly not for children. Yes, children will try to be sneaky and try every trick in the book, but a good parent knows that and will handle any situation like that if it comes up with their kids. As for the rest of you parents who are so quick to blame everyone else but yourselves, pay attention.
 Parents, it's time to take back the reigns and BE A PARENT. Stop blaming everything on the various forms of media, especially video games. If you're not comfortable with the themes in a video game, film, or book and you're of the opinion it's not alright for children, then discuss that issue with your kids. I talk with my daughters all the time about what they read, see, or watch. Know why? Because as a parent that's MY JOB. It's no one else's.
 Yes, Bulletstorm is violent, but it's not meant for kids and frankly if you're a parent allowing a small child to play this video game or even considering it, then the fault is your own, not the video game industry. In general, stores and the video game industry themselves are fairly good about making sure that minors are not able to purchase the games with an adult rating, but the bottom line is that you as the parents are ultimately responsible for what your children do.
 And before any of you try to tell me oh you can't watch your kids every minute and know what they do, let me just tell you that's a load of crap meant to try and shift blame rather than take full responsibility for your inactions as a parent. While you can not watch your kids every minute of the day, you CAN talk to them about their day, have open discussions with them about the decisions they make and that you make for them as a parent, and you can be an active parent.
 It is not fair to constantly blame multimedia for being inappropriate for children and then punishing them for it. Your job as the parents is to deem what is appropriate or inappropriate for your children and censor accordingly. Stop expecting everyone else to do that for you and stop taking a back seat to parenting. THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS and the only one who can really protect your children is YOU. It's time to stop playing the blame game and actively and consistently do your job as parents. 

Dragon Age 2 Impressions

 I finished Dragon Age 2 and let's just say I am feeling conflicted. I absolutely loved Origins and Awakening. The story was well thought out and throw in the factor of every choice you made had a consequence of being good, evil, or in a gray area, it really made you pay attention and think about what you wanted to do throughout the story line. There was also more to explore on the map, and there was some depth to the design, such as the forests of Ferelden, the Dalish elves camp, and Orzammar.
 I was extremely excited about Dragon Age 2 and even got the signature edition. You get a lot of great items and cool downloadable content like The Black Emporium shop and The Exiled Prince quest. However, playing Dragon Age 2 I couldn't help but notice a lot of glaring flaws throughout it with the battle system and with some of the map designs. There are also for me, some issues with parts of the story and this does include some of Hawke's story.
 First, let me start with why I had a problem with Hawke's story. There are parts of it that seem rather pointless, as if Hawke is going through the motions and not really driven the way the hero was in Origins and Awakening. There's a lack of intensity.  There is also a glaring lack of tough choices. I love a great story and with Origins and Awakening, there were choices that could be made that would affect the story, take it down a different path, and everything you decided had consequences. With Dragon Age 2, it seems the story was only written one way and no matter what the player does or decides, they become the Champion the same way and go through the same events. It falls flat when you think about the intricacies and plot twists of the previous two games.
 I did like the interactions with the members of your party and there were even characters I genuinely liked. I found that my top three were Varric, Fenris, and Isabela. Hawke has a voice, so some of these interactions had a little more emotion to them, but frankly it seemed like the companions were far more interesting and witty. Even their quests and stories were more interesting to me. There was one part of Hawke's story that really had me going and to the person who wrote that, I say great job. As for the rest, it just felt dull. Sure, the ending has a fantastic pivotal point to the story line, but it felt like a chore to get to it at certain points in the game.
 Overall, I had no problem with the battle system. It was much easier to navigate, the action is fast and fluid, and the AI is pretty spot on when it comes to the other party members, making for a pretty exciting furious battle. Yet, there was a problem. Let me be clear with all my friends who told me I could change the difficulty setting to casual if a battle was too hard, I DID. I then tried various tactics and party set ups and got annihilated eight times or more. I'll give everyone a moment to let that sink in. Now, maybe it's a crazy concept, but the casual setting on a video game means you don't have lots of dead party members and game over screens. Yes, it's still a battle, but not quite so difficult. When a battle is hard on the EASY setting, that's a huge problem for me. Factor in the 30 second cool down timer for healing potions, and healing spells, it borders on ridiculous.
 While I understand that the gist of this idea was it makes you plan out and think carefully about strategies for quests, boss battles, and random fights a 30 second heal timer does not work. I could understand having a timer, but 30 seconds can make or break a quest or story oriented battle in Dragon Age 2. I played as a rogue for the first play through, and I found myself kiting things a hell of a lot waiting for the timer to be up and hoping I wouldn't die before I could heal. Needless to say, it got incredibly frustrating quite a few times!
 Finally, we have the sheer laziness of the map and dungeon designs. It was as if there was just one prototype for everything when it came to the buildings in Kirkwall. The "poor house" design, and the "rich mansion" design came across as bland and was a telling sign of how rushed this game was. There's also one map for the sewers, the Deep Roads, one mine, one mountain, and one cave. You basically go back and forth with five different locations on the world map.  Compared to the other maps in the Dragon Age games, this is shameful. The map is ridiculously tiny, but it's as if they were lazy and couldn't be bothered with making the locations stand out and be unique from each other.
 I liked Dragon Age 2, but I didn't love it the way I did Origins and Awakening. I can honestly say, it's a good game, but not a great one. There's too many predictable points in some of the story telling and it's quite obvious to see where certain things were rushed especially with certain cut scenes where the characters were blinking in and out of frame. I can not in good conscience give Dragon Age 2 a stellar review as an amazing game, because it isn't. Believe me, that kills me because I absolutely love the Dragon Age series, but with that many flaws, it's not worth full price.

Little Big Planet 2 Bigger, Better, More Fun

 I love Little Big Planet, so of course I was extremely excited about Little Big Planet 2. It definitely delivered on its promise of being bigger, better, and more fun than the first. You can add your first save data to the sequel, so you have all your previous costumes and stickers. There's even more costumes to find in the sequel that are cute and fun. One of my favorites was the disco costume that changed colors as your sack person moved.
 The game play is great, and the controls are definitely easy to handle. There are even new inventions to use like the Robobun, a giant rabbit you can ride that can do an attack called Slam Attack that will smash your enemies to bits. This is especially fun in a stage called Full Metal Rabbit, (Yes I laughed when I saw that title) where you wreak havoc on the baddies with Robobun.
 The creativity of the various stages in story mode is amazing. I was delighted to see an homage to old school video games in one, then pleasantly surprised to see a tribute to old school pin ball machine games in another. The story is simple like the first, but it's fun and it had the added appeal of having an entire Sackbot army (my love of robots continues!) at my beck and call. There are some stages towards the end that are a tad tricky and I admit, I did become a little frustrated at how often my little Sack Person met a nasty demise. The worst ones seemed to be the deaths by fire or bombing. However, I did get the hang of it and managed to finish the stage and finish story mode with my Sack Person relatively undamaged.
  There's even more to do, after story mode. There are various versus levels with games like Space Pool, Races, and puzzle games  that you can play with others online or you can play your own. You can also explore the different stages that other players have created, try them out, review them, and rate them. There was one that I really liked that was an animal safari, and another that I loved that was a water park theme. My favorite was the Tron themed one with light cycles that you could race. It was a great stage to play and I was impressed that someone created that. There's so much to explore there, you will never run out of things to do on Little Big Planet 2.
 If you're feeling creative, you can even make your own stages to share with others. There's lots to choose from, and you can decide the difficulty level of your creations, and name your planet. You can offer up prizes for people who try out your stages like stickers or costumes. The possibilities are endless and more importantly, FUN.
 This game has all the bells and whistles, and I'm having such a great time playing it. Give it a try if you haven't already. It's definitely a game that should be in any game lover's collection. 

Ubisoft and Nintendo Wii Teamed Up For This?!

 Note: It seems Ubisoft is unhappy with all the attention the game We Dare is getting, but wasn't that the whole point of this game? They wanted to get everyone's attention and they got it. Now they have blocked all the Youtube ads here and have restricted it regionally to Europe. You can see the full ad here on this IGN article here: http://wii.ign.com/articles/115/1152147p1.html
So apparently in order to appear more "Grown Up" and "Adult Friendly" Ubisoft and Nintendo have come up with this new and improved way to completely traumatize and embarrass your children. Well let's face it, it's a new way to embarrass yourselves and other adults too.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having a good time with your friends, but did you see where the Wii controller goes during this little video? I don't see how shoving a controller down near your backside is a good idea considering the whole concept of germs and fellas, would you really want your Wii controller back after one of your buddies has shoved it down his pants? Or would you be totally happy with them putting the controller in their mouth which is also filled with lots of nasty germs?  Yeah, I didn't think so.
 Look Nintendo, I get it. You want to branch out, be an adult, and run with the big dogs, but there is so much wrong with the concept of this game. You can have an adult game that is fun and casual without resorting to sexual innuendo and open invitation to lines like, "Hey, we should play with my Wii! Literally." Never mind that the people in this video don't seem all that comfortable with this idea and the laughter sounds forced and awkward, and just think for one minute how many couples there are out there with a Nintendo Wii and then think about how many of them are married with children. Now think about the female significant others and really think about how many of them are going to go for this game. There it is, the realization that there are probably many women who would clock the crap out of their boyfriend/husband for even suggesting getting together for a healthy round of We Dare so you can shove a Wii controller down your pants and spank each other's bottoms. Hey in some circles, that's how people roll, but in others not so much.
 Ubisoft, there isn't even a need to help you. You should hang your head in shame, you know better. It's just one disappointment after another with you and whichever one of your brilliant guys thought this up, you really need to have a long talk with them. Granted the game is a measly twenty bucks, but come on for twenty bucks most people could go see a movie, something that doesn't require supremely bad hygiene habits with a video game controller and without all that awkward tension.
 Now after all that is said and done, I'm sure there are people who will buy this game. For those with children who do buy it, just make sure your kids aren't in the house and I mean the gone for the weekend to visit Grandma kind of not in the house. It's for the best, because as we all know there are just some things you can't unsee.