Star Wars: The Old Republic Dev Interview

Sony's Epic PSN Security Fail

So it turns out the reason the PSN has been down for a week is it is being rebuilt from the ground up as the result of a hacker attack which compromised the account details of some 77 million PSN users. Apparently, the intrusion revealed fundamental flaws in the infrastructure of Sony's network, such that it had to be completely brought offline and redesigned. Its an epic failure which caps a seemingly endless series of blunders for Sony's troubled console, which has finally been generating some profits after years of lagging far behind Microsoft and Nintendo's offerings.

This is all right on the heels of Nintendo announcing that their successor to the Wii was in the works and will be playable at E3 this year, and that it would boast significantly more power than any current offering. If Sony wants to take the lead back in the next generation of consoles, they need to start repairing their brand and their image immediately. To compete with Nintendo and Microsoft, Sony's next console needs to be smaller, cheaper, faster, better, and then even if the developers work miracles with it, Sony might find it hard to sell units after so many debacles this generation. PSN and the whole online experience for the Playstation has so much potential because of its open nature - unlike Microsoft's closed off Xbox Live (let alone Nintendo's half assed efforts) - but the speed, quality, and security of Sony's online service needs a major overhaul if it wants to compete over the next 5-10 years.

Poker's Black Friday

So while I was offline I didnt have a chance to talk about poker's Black Friday, April 15th 2011, when the Dept of Justice effectively shut down the 3 biggest online poker operators in the US. All there is to say really is that it sucks. Even though I never had any huge scores online I was in the black on both sites, and it paid some bills here and there. But learning to play online was absolutely instrumental in my education as a poker player, because you get to see so quickly how certain adjustments you make to your game improve it, and your leaks become readily apparent as thousands of hand histories build up in your database in a matter of hours.

Ive been trying to improve at Pot Limit Omaha and mixed games playing online, and now that opportunity for rapid improvement is gone. Mixed games in casinos are rarely spread at stakes low enough to make learning the games affordable, and the speed of live play makes the learning process much slower. Im fairly weak at stud games like Razz and 7 Card Stud Eight or Better, and pretty much clueless about games like Badugi and 5 Card draw which arent even spread live, and given the evaporation of online poker for US players, its highly unlikely Im going to improve at them anytime soon. Thats really unfortunate as I feel like my growth as a player is being halted artificially.

So Im going to do what most American poker players are doing - just get back to old fashioned "sit at a table and stare the man across from you in the eye and guess whether he has it" poker. The NYC poker scene is pretty good and hopefully I will start motivating for more trips to Atlantic City. If any of you are looking for a game, shoot me a line :-)

Shine On You Crazy Blade Runner

Early 1980s synthesizer nirvana. Headphones people. HEADPHONES.

Happy 4/20!

Outland

Finally, the Ikaruga of platformers is coming out on 4/26 for PSN and 4/27 for XBLA. My god this looks incredible.

Street Fighter X Tekken

Capcom has officially announced that Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition will be the end of the Street Fighter IV Series. So what are they working on? Besides being hard at work to bring us a revamped Street Fighter 3 Online Edition, their main project has been Street Fighter X(Cross) Tekken:



They are advertising "dozens of playable characters" including Ryu, Ken, Guile, Abel, and Chun-Li from Street Fighter as well as Kazuya, Nina, King, Marduk, and Bob from Tekken.

Similar to Marvel vs Capcom, you fight as a team of two and switch between characters at will. The controls will be a standard SF, 6-button layout, but they're saying that Tekken fighters can be used just as they were in the Tekken series, using its 4-button layout.

In addition to the online features from SSFIV, SFxT features "totally upgraded online functionality and some new surprises." Whatever the hell that means. It's estimated to be released May-ish 2012.

I have to say, I'm pretty excited that SFIV has been given it's last iteration. I am somewhat of a Capcom fanboy (although I didn't get into MVC3), but that doesn't mean I love their franchise-milking strategies. It'll be nice to see some new fighters in the SF universe, especially if their inclusion will be changing up the fighting mechanics.

I'll Be Back...

- Chronic

SSFIV Arcade Edition

Chronic has stepped out for an uncertain number of days and asked me to keep the blog alive in the interim. I'll try not to sway too far from Chronic-related info, but sometimes I won't be able to help myself. Luckily, he likes Street Fighter almost as much as I do...

As many had guessed, the countless changes and additions that made it into the Japanese arcade release of Super Street Fighter IV are coming home to 360, PS3, and PC. Along with the addition of 4 characters and added features come an insane number of balancing tweaks, evening out the roster as a whole. AE is rumored to be released on June 7th for $15 on XBL and PSN. Also coming later in June is a complete disc version for those you don't yet have Street Fighter (or have a PC), but the price has not been announced.

Points from the trailer:

• Yang, Yun, Evil Ryu and Oni added to the roster
• This will be a DLC (Downloadable Content) release
• The console version will receive a "Supercharged online upgrade"
• Replay Channel has been enhanced, allowing you to send favorite replays to others
• The Elite Channel will let people view plays of players with a PP total of 3,000+
• A Replay Follower will be available, allowing you to track well known players
• Support for additional alternative costumes
• Character balancing tweaks from the Arcade Edition release
• Your chosen title is now shown in game, along with Battle and Player Points
• Versus Battles against regular SSFIV players will also be supported

Tutorial: How to make Hip Hop Hits

Takes the concept of a production "tutorial" to an entirely new level.

New Burnout Game in Development

"The Australian Classification Board has rated a new Burnout title from
Electronic Arts.

First reported by Gamerbytes, the title is called Burnout Crash, and a search on social network website LinkedIn reveals it will be for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Gamerbytes notes that typically only unannounced, downloadable titles are leaked early by ratings boards, not retail games. They also suggest Burnout Crash could be centered around Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge's Crash Mode, which was missing from Burnout Paradise.

We've reached out to Electronic Arts for comment." -IGN.com

Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury - Weapons Trailer

I have absolutely no idea what is happening on the screen, but it looks amazing.