• PlayStation Network PSN Is Back Again, Firmware 3.61 Released

    // Gradly // blog, Consoles, Games, News, PS3, Rants & Raves, Scandal, Software, Sony 1 Response

    Sony just announced that over the next several hours it will be flipping the lights back on in its Playstation Network that has been since hackers attacked it nearly a month ago.

    The company announced a phased restart to its network starting with the Americas followed by Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. the company has also pushed out a software update 3.61 that will prompt users to change their password as part of the new security procedures put in place.

    Hirai announced advanced security technology, encryption and additional firewalls:

    We have greatly updated our data security systems. These changes were the result of an intensive investigation aided by some of the most respected forensic and security experts in the computer industry.

    Here is the statement released from Sony today:

    Thank you for your patience and encouragement over the last few weeks. As covered in the post from earlier today, you can now update the firmware on your PS3 and change your password. Kazuo Hirai just announced that we have begun the phased restoration by region of some of the services, starting with online multiplayer functionality.

    Please note that these services will take a bit of time to be turned on and rolled out to the whole country. The process has begun and some states are being turned on now, so please be patient as we reach your city and state. We’ll be updating the map below as service comes online in individual states. It will take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country, so please keep checking back for the latest updates. In the meantime, now’s a great time to get your PS3’s firmware updated, which is required to get online.

  • Apple iPhone 4, App Store, iOS Games Awarded Guinness World Records

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Games, iPhone, News 2 Responses

    Guinness World Records’ gaming editor, Gaz Deaves has released a list of newly awarded records. As the LA Times reports:

    The iPhone 4 was named the fastest-selling portable gaming system by Guinness after selling an estimated 1.5 million handsets on the first day it was released on June 24, 2010.

    Guinness also said Apple’s App Store is the most popular application marketplace:

    “With over 6.5 billion downloads since its launch in July 2008, the Apple App Store is the most popular downloadable app service in the world,” the world-record-tracking organization said.

    About 259,470 apps were available for purchase or free download as of September 2010, while about 50,000 other apps that were once available in the App Store have been discontinued, Guinness said.

    The App Store is also the largest downloadable video game store, with about 37,362 games available for download as of last September, Guinness said.

    The App Store was also given a world record for the largest launch lineup of any gaming system with more than 145 games available on July 10, 2008.

    Angry birds and other games have their own shares too:

    Angry Birds was recognized at the top paid-for App Store game in most countries, having sold more than 6.5 million downloads of the iOS version of the game since it was first released in December 2009.

    The Tap Tap Revenge game series, from game developer Tapulous, was cited as the most popular game series in App Store history, “having been downloaded more than 15 million times since the first game in the series was released in July 2008,” Guinness said. “Market research firm ComScore reports that the games have been installed by 32% of all iPhone/iPad users.”

  • Bungie: The Makers of Halo are Working on iOS MMO Called Crimson?

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Games, News, Patents, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    Bungie, the previously Mac-exclusive game developer who defected to the arms of Microsoft to release the best-selling Halo series, is making a new game… and it’s probably coming to iOS.

    First, some background. Around a year ago, Bungie was tipped to have started a new project, called Bungie Aerospace. Not much was known about it at the time, but it now appears to be a spin-off label of Bungie Studios proper, as the Halo-maker has just incorporated Bungie Aerospace in both Delaware and Washington.

    Even more interesting? Bungie Aerospace has just filed to secure a trademark for mobile devices, filing an application to own “Crimson” as a title of “computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones.”

    What Crimson actually is anyone’s guess, but rumor has it that it’s a shooter MMO. Whether it’ll take place in the Halo-verse or not is anyone’s guess, but it would seem absolutely nuts for Bungie to make a mobile game and not release it on the most lucrative mobile platform out there.

    My gut says Bungie Aerospace and “Crimson” are connected to the studio’s next project, an original IP set to be published by Activision. Word on the street is that this game is a shooter MMO — an MMO that might just offer increased connectivity via mobile apps.

    In short, here’s what we know. Bungie Aerospace is likely Bungie Studios’ mobile studio. They’re working on a game called Crimson. And it’ll probably be available on the App Store. Let’s just hope this is the triumphant return — if not to Mac, then to Apple — that gamers have been waiting almost a decade for.

    [via cultofmac]

  • Hitman: Absolution New Details Revealed

    // Gradly // blog, Featured, Games, News, Trailer No Responses

    Following the release of the first teaser trailer, Square Enix has officially announced Hitman Absolution, which is currently in development at Square-Enix owned IO Interactive Studio.

    The fifth game in the series once again stars Agent 47 who’s this time taking on his “most dangerous contract to date”, it will also have a cinematic new story that will take Agent 47 to new parts of “the Hitman fantasy”.

    Hitman Absolution’s being built using Glacier 2, proprietary technology developed by IO and built from the ground up especially for the new game to boast brand new features to complement the series’ much-loved gameplay. Square’s official blurb says:

    Betrayed by those he trusted and hunted by the police, Agent 47 finds himself at the center of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world, in his search for the truth.

    IO game director Tore Blystad adds: “For the first time we are taking Agent 47 on a personal journey which allows us to explore other parts of the Hitman fantasy and he went on to say:

    This is both a familiar and yet significantly different experience to any of the other Hitman games, something our silent assassins will relish as well as those who are new to the Hitman world.

    Hitman: Absolution has been confirmed to appear at E3 2011, and is scheduled for release in 2012.