I guess i don't understand this Smartglass thing completely, I thought it was just some garbage extraneous thing to watch media with, like "second screen" technology on some blu rays. You can actually control games with your tablet tho?
What's stopping MS from making some Smartglass controller and taking all the wind out of this WiiU things sails?
The fact that they're betting the farm on Kinect, apparently.
Heh. I just realized Wii U's big advantage over Smartglass -- more buttons. Gotta love this wacky changing industry.
Custom firmware puts compromised consoles on PSN, leak of LV0 decryption keys to thwart future security measures
Sony is facing new PlayStation 3 security headaches today, as Eurogamer reports that hackers have released custom firmware that allows for compromised consoles to go on the PlayStation Network, and LV0 decryption keys that will facilitate circumvention of future security updates.
PlayStation 3 security was largely undermined in early 2011 after hacking team Fail0verflow detailed a technique to get unauthorized code running on Sony's console. At the time, the group said they attacked the console's security as a response to Sony removing the OtherOS feature that allowed installation of the Linux operating system on the PS3. Eurogamer notes that Sony's 3.60 firmware actually managed to plug many of the security holes from that event, but piracy has persisted for those willing to run older firmware and not take their systems onto PSN.
However, the newly released custom firmware contains the current PSN passphrase security protocol. And even if Sony changes that with new firmware, the release of the LV0 decryption keys means that hackers should be able to easily lay bare future security measures in system updates.
According to Eurogamer, Chinese hacking group BlueDiskCFW had planned to sell the custom firmware circumventions, which prompted another group called The Three Tuskateers to release the LV0 keys. They also released a statement claiming to have discovered the keys some time ago, adding, "only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
Online gaming company Bigpoint has cut 120 jobs, and has announced the departure of Heiko Hubertz from the CEO role.
The company told GamesIndustry International that 80 employees in the Hamburg office and more than 40 in the San Francisco office are affected by the decision.
The company will no longer develop games in the US.
It seems the prospect of a readily available, mainstream middleware engine outweighed the pros their internal Luminous Engine may have had. Now, let's just see what they're gonna do with it.
Mobile and social games 8-)
This is interesting because judging by The Last Remnant they found working with UE3 pretty difficult. Still, I guess anything's better than whatever inhouse muppetry they've got going that means they take 6+ years putting out games they've announced.
Rumors say Zynga Chicago might also be closing down, and that nothing has happened at Austin.
So were probably going to have to wait a few hours for a press statement or something more concrete.
But with all the troubles Zynga is in recently, It wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of downsizing. They grew themselves to insane sizes on the promises of an ever growing user base, and that just wasn't reality.
Well, even though we don't know what Zynga Boston has done, we do know that Zynga Austin was the studio that released The Ville. There's probably a skeleton crew left to maintain it, though, I think Zynga Austin was a pretty big studio.
Custom firmware puts compromised consoles on PSN, leak of LV0 decryption keys to thwart future security measures
Sony is facing new PlayStation 3 security headaches today, as Eurogamer reports that hackers have released custom firmware that allows for compromised consoles to go on the PlayStation Network, and LV0 decryption keys that will facilitate circumvention of future security updates.
PlayStation 3 security was largely undermined in early 2011 after hacking team Fail0verflow detailed a technique to get unauthorized code running on Sony's console. At the time, the group said they attacked the console's security as a response to Sony removing the OtherOS feature that allowed installation of the Linux operating system on the PS3. Eurogamer notes that Sony's 3.60 firmware actually managed to plug many of the security holes from that event, but piracy has persisted for those willing to run older firmware and not take their systems onto PSN.
However, the newly released custom firmware contains the current PSN passphrase security protocol. And even if Sony changes that with new firmware, the release of the LV0 decryption keys means that hackers should be able to easily lay bare future security measures in system updates.
According to Eurogamer, Chinese hacking group BlueDiskCFW had planned to sell the custom firmware circumventions, which prompted another group called The Three Tuskateers to release the LV0 keys. They also released a statement claiming to have discovered the keys some time ago, adding, "only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
Why is it that when it comes to video games the people of China have *zero* issue with plagiarism and copyright infringement and all that shit? I mean, I'm not sure if I should say I'm glad people released the thing China was intending to sell for free, to circumvent that. Everything here is wrong and fucked up.
I would like to know why Sony gets so much of this attention from hackers though.
Rumors say Zynga Chicago might also be closing down, and that nothing has happened at Austin.
So were probably going to have to wait a few hours for a press statement or something more concrete.
But with all the troubles Zynga is in recently, It wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of downsizing. They grew themselves to insane sizes on the promises of an ever growing user base, and that just wasn't reality.
I'm not surprised by the downsizing, but I am surprised with the abrupt nature of it all. It's a little hot on the heels of NCSoft closing Paragon Studios in the same manner (one hour notice) so right now I'm just seeing Zynga's business management in a more extreme version of the light they've been under.
Custom firmware puts compromised consoles on PSN, leak of LV0 decryption keys to thwart future security measures
Sony is facing new PlayStation 3 security headaches today, as Eurogamer reports that hackers have released custom firmware that allows for compromised consoles to go on the PlayStation Network, and LV0 decryption keys that will facilitate circumvention of future security updates.
PlayStation 3 security was largely undermined in early 2011 after hacking team Fail0verflow detailed a technique to get unauthorized code running on Sony's console. At the time, the group said they attacked the console's security as a response to Sony removing the OtherOS feature that allowed installation of the Linux operating system on the PS3. Eurogamer notes that Sony's 3.60 firmware actually managed to plug many of the security holes from that event, but piracy has persisted for those willing to run older firmware and not take their systems onto PSN.
However, the newly released custom firmware contains the current PSN passphrase security protocol. And even if Sony changes that with new firmware, the release of the LV0 decryption keys means that hackers should be able to easily lay bare future security measures in system updates.
According to Eurogamer, Chinese hacking group BlueDiskCFW had planned to sell the custom firmware circumventions, which prompted another group called The Three Tuskateers to release the LV0 keys. They also released a statement claiming to have discovered the keys some time ago, adding, "only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
Why is it that when it comes to video games the people of China have *zero* issue with plagiarism and copyright infringement and all that shit? I mean, I'm not sure if I should say I'm glad people released the thing China was intending to sell for free, to circumvent that. Everything here is wrong and fucked up.
I would like to know why Sony gets so much of this attention from hackers though.
Because Sony makes good hardware. Same reason the PSP got so much attention while the DS pretty much got flashcards and moonshell and thats about it.
Smartglass is here! ...for all nine of you who own Windows phones.
Microsoft confirmed today SmartGlass will launch alongside Windows 8 tablets on October 26, with Dance Central 3 and Forza Horizon among the first games to support it. The Xbox 360 app, which turns devices into secondary screens for the console, will be available for Windows 8 phones at launch on October 29. SmartGlass is expected to arrive on iOS and Android in 2013.
SmartGlass is implemented in the latest Xbox dashboard update, which Microsoft tells us it's rolled out to 3 million users so far. Another wave will receive the dashboard update today, so more users should have access to SmartGlass when the companion app becomes available for Windows 8 tablets on Friday.
Microsoft already detailed how SmartGlass will work with Dance Central 3, and the company elaborated today on what integration we can expect from other games. Forza Horizon's second screen, for example, will offer GPS navigation in a complete map of the game. Using SmartGlass with Halo 4 will, as previously hypothesized, give you access to Waypoint stats.
As the above video shows, SmartGlass functionality also supports the newly launched Xbox Music, watching TV, film, and live sports, and Internet Explorer 9. Microsoft gave us a live demonstration of SmartGlass' functionality with music and movies, switching play between a Windows 8 tablet and Xbox 360. The switch wasn't quite as swift as in the above video, but it was smooth and looked simple enough.
Returning to games, earlier this year Microsoft said we can expect SmartGlass functionality in every Microsoft Studios game going forward, so expect to hear a lot more about Xbox's new toy in the coming months.
Best part of this, WP7 may not be supported. Everything in the media says WP8. So all 9 of us who bought WP7? May be completely out of luck and still stuck in 6mo+ contracts.
Good news for ex-Zynga Boston employees: looks like Harmonix is hiring. Don't even have to move out of Cambridge.
Combat Designer?
Harmonix presents Brian May's Modern Combat.
Dance Central 3 is all about dance warfare, actually. "We're the first and last line of defense against dance crimes," is an actual line of dialog that exists in that game's batshit insane story mode.
But yeah, they seem to be working on something that's pretty significantly different from their prior works.
Dehumanized on
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Good news for ex-Zynga Boston employees: looks like Harmonix is hiring. Don't even have to move out of Cambridge.
Combat Designer?
Harmonix presents Brian May's Modern Combat.
Combatville.
I mean, really, what skills have Zynga employees truly learned or tuned up when working at Zynga? They're doubly fucked here; they were working in a creatively devoid workshop, and have to abruptly seek a job.
Then again, I guess rebuilding an existing game from the ground up at least teaches some basics.
It looks like the Chicago closure may be true too, by the way.
Given that the team expanded from 10 to 45 there's probably not much talent carried over, but before they were Zynga Boston, Conduit Labs seems to have done some flash-based rhythm games with social aspects, which Zynga promptly threw away. I imagine those folks would be able to fit Harmonix pretty well.
Truly, though, we are admidst the Zyngageddon. It was surely coming given how shaky the company's business model and earnings have been. I hope a lot of their employees saw it too and have been working on backup plans.
Custom firmware puts compromised consoles on PSN, leak of LV0 decryption keys to thwart future security measures
Sony is facing new PlayStation 3 security headaches today, as Eurogamer reports that hackers have released custom firmware that allows for compromised consoles to go on the PlayStation Network, and LV0 decryption keys that will facilitate circumvention of future security updates.
PlayStation 3 security was largely undermined in early 2011 after hacking team Fail0verflow detailed a technique to get unauthorized code running on Sony's console. At the time, the group said they attacked the console's security as a response to Sony removing the OtherOS feature that allowed installation of the Linux operating system on the PS3. Eurogamer notes that Sony's 3.60 firmware actually managed to plug many of the security holes from that event, but piracy has persisted for those willing to run older firmware and not take their systems onto PSN.
However, the newly released custom firmware contains the current PSN passphrase security protocol. And even if Sony changes that with new firmware, the release of the LV0 decryption keys means that hackers should be able to easily lay bare future security measures in system updates.
According to Eurogamer, Chinese hacking group BlueDiskCFW had planned to sell the custom firmware circumventions, which prompted another group called The Three Tuskateers to release the LV0 keys. They also released a statement claiming to have discovered the keys some time ago, adding, "only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
All things remaining the same (assuming this doesn't escalate), this sounds like a pretty typical Sony security breech (the kind that happened, sure enough, to the Xbox 360 months ago, and freaked plenty of people out but in actuality didn't mean a whole lot).
It's certainly not a "Oh, holy shit what have we done" type situation like the big PSN blackout. Maybe a bit of an embarrassment, sadly common place as it stands. At least as far as I can tell.
Kinda interesting that it's a breach that's been known for a while, and only got released because someone else was going to try to monetize it. Though, my understanding is that this sort of thing is rather common among the hacking community.
I feel really bad for the employees. Making a game is not easy - and it's hard to make assumptions on "how little they might've learned" when you're on the outside, looking in. I know they had talented folks there, and I'd hope that people on the outside will understand that.
The amount of time they were given as warning though is ridiculous - unfortunately however, I've heard it's not uncommon practice in the game industry to give little to no warning before kicking the employees out in a layoff/studio closure situation. It absolutely should not be standard or expected behavior, but I think there are a handful of things that seem "standard" in this industry that really shouldn't be, from a moral/ethical standpoint.
Custom firmware puts compromised consoles on PSN, leak of LV0 decryption keys to thwart future security measures
Sony is facing new PlayStation 3 security headaches today, as Eurogamer reports that hackers have released custom firmware that allows for compromised consoles to go on the PlayStation Network, and LV0 decryption keys that will facilitate circumvention of future security updates.
PlayStation 3 security was largely undermined in early 2011 after hacking team Fail0verflow detailed a technique to get unauthorized code running on Sony's console. At the time, the group said they attacked the console's security as a response to Sony removing the OtherOS feature that allowed installation of the Linux operating system on the PS3. Eurogamer notes that Sony's 3.60 firmware actually managed to plug many of the security holes from that event, but piracy has persisted for those willing to run older firmware and not take their systems onto PSN.
However, the newly released custom firmware contains the current PSN passphrase security protocol. And even if Sony changes that with new firmware, the release of the LV0 decryption keys means that hackers should be able to easily lay bare future security measures in system updates.
According to Eurogamer, Chinese hacking group BlueDiskCFW had planned to sell the custom firmware circumventions, which prompted another group called The Three Tuskateers to release the LV0 keys. They also released a statement claiming to have discovered the keys some time ago, adding, "only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
Why is it that when it comes to video games the people of China have *zero* issue with plagiarism and copyright infringement and all that shit? I mean, I'm not sure if I should say I'm glad people released the thing China was intending to sell for free, to circumvent that. Everything here is wrong and fucked up.
I would like to know why Sony gets so much of this attention from hackers though.
Because Sony makes good hardware. Same reason the PSP got so much attention while the DS pretty much got flashcards and moonshell and thats about it.
Also because PSN is a reliable, less difficult target apparently.
I mean, really, what skills have Zynga employees truly learned or tuned up when working at Zynga? They're doubly fucked here; they were working in a creatively devoid workshop, and have to abruptly seek a job.
Unless it's an indie game made by a tiny team, you can't really base someone's skills on the quality of a game they've worked on. There are so many circumstances outside of a programmer or artist's control that could contribute to a game being horrible even if some of the individuals working on it are very talented.
I mean, really, what skills have Zynga employees truly learned or tuned up when working at Zynga? They're doubly fucked here; they were working in a creatively devoid workshop, and have to abruptly seek a job.
Unless it's an indie game made by a tiny team, you can't really base someone's skills on the quality of a game they've worked on. There are so many circumstances outside of a programmer or artist's controls that could contribute to a game being horrible even if some of the individuals working on it are very talented.
Oh, of course not. But I've heard tales about job applicants being judged negatively because they worked on a turkey.
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I mean, really, what skills have Zynga employees truly learned or tuned up when working at Zynga? They're doubly fucked here; they were working in a creatively devoid workshop, and have to abruptly seek a job.
Unless it's an indie game made by a tiny team, you can't really base someone's skills on the quality of a game they've worked on. There are so many circumstances outside of a programmer or artist's control that could contribute to a game being horrible even if some of the individuals working on it are very talented.
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The fact that they're betting the farm on Kinect, apparently.
Heh. I just realized Wii U's big advantage over Smartglass -- more buttons. Gotta love this wacky changing industry.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Well shit, do we know what those guys had worked on and how many people they employ?
I got a little excited when I saw your ship.
No worries, it's social gaming.
It has no where to go but up unlike those crazy old fashion console developers.....
They were originally Conduit Labs before being acquired in 2010 -- not sure how many people they employed or what current projects they've done.
edit: This article from February says that Zynga Boston employed 45. So, somewhere around there.
I can only imagine the former will be more reliable.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-10-23-bigpoint-axes-120-jobs
This is interesting because judging by The Last Remnant they found working with UE3 pretty difficult. Still, I guess anything's better than whatever inhouse muppetry they've got going that means they take 6+ years putting out games they've announced.
Wait, so that's 100 employees plus the previous 40 employees?
And we don't even know if they're the only two Zynga studios affected.
Anyway, best of luck to those involved.
Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you.
So were probably going to have to wait a few hours for a press statement or something more concrete.
But with all the troubles Zynga is in recently, It wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of downsizing. They grew themselves to insane sizes on the promises of an ever growing user base, and that just wasn't reality.
That's what I mean, like a 360 controller stretched out with a touchscreen in between, like the Wii U one looks.
I guess the using-the-Internet thing holds it back a little but Smartglass is the same concept as a wiiU pad is I guess what I'm wondering.
Why is it that when it comes to video games the people of China have *zero* issue with plagiarism and copyright infringement and all that shit? I mean, I'm not sure if I should say I'm glad people released the thing China was intending to sell for free, to circumvent that. Everything here is wrong and fucked up.
I would like to know why Sony gets so much of this attention from hackers though.
The same reason motion plus was still limited, it required purchasing another peripheral
I'm not surprised by the downsizing, but I am surprised with the abrupt nature of it all. It's a little hot on the heels of NCSoft closing Paragon Studios in the same manner (one hour notice) so right now I'm just seeing Zynga's business management in a more extreme version of the light they've been under.
Because Sony makes good hardware. Same reason the PSP got so much attention while the DS pretty much got flashcards and moonshell and thats about it.
Combat Designer?
Harmonix presents Brian May's Modern Combat.
Best part of this, WP7 may not be supported. Everything in the media says WP8. So all 9 of us who bought WP7? May be completely out of luck and still stuck in 6mo+ contracts.
Dance Central 3 is all about dance warfare, actually. "We're the first and last line of defense against dance crimes," is an actual line of dialog that exists in that game's batshit insane story mode.
But yeah, they seem to be working on something that's pretty significantly different from their prior works.
Combatville.
I mean, really, what skills have Zynga employees truly learned or tuned up when working at Zynga? They're doubly fucked here; they were working in a creatively devoid workshop, and have to abruptly seek a job.
Then again, I guess rebuilding an existing game from the ground up at least teaches some basics.
It looks like the Chicago closure may be true too, by the way.
Truly, though, we are admidst the Zyngageddon. It was surely coming given how shaky the company's business model and earnings have been. I hope a lot of their employees saw it too and have been working on backup plans.
All things remaining the same (assuming this doesn't escalate), this sounds like a pretty typical Sony security breech (the kind that happened, sure enough, to the Xbox 360 months ago, and freaked plenty of people out but in actuality didn't mean a whole lot).
It's certainly not a "Oh, holy shit what have we done" type situation like the big PSN blackout. Maybe a bit of an embarrassment, sadly common place as it stands. At least as far as I can tell.
The amount of time they were given as warning though is ridiculous - unfortunately however, I've heard it's not uncommon practice in the game industry to give little to no warning before kicking the employees out in a layoff/studio closure situation. It absolutely should not be standard or expected behavior, but I think there are a handful of things that seem "standard" in this industry that really shouldn't be, from a moral/ethical standpoint.
Also because PSN is a reliable, less difficult target apparently.
Unless it's an indie game made by a tiny team, you can't really base someone's skills on the quality of a game they've worked on. There are so many circumstances outside of a programmer or artist's control that could contribute to a game being horrible even if some of the individuals working on it are very talented.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
Oh, of course not. But I've heard tales about job applicants being judged negatively because they worked on a turkey.
You're right, I'm being a little harsh.
Fucking bought.