ELFSAR BLOG

Check out this Watchmen trailer by dracudelishio made with Little Big Planet 2.

There are a lot of walkthroughs and vids out there for the new game Skyrim.  But none are as entertaining as the one from Spill.com  These guys don’t waste time searching every room and follow the story. Instead, they run out it to the world and just try to fuck things up. But what makes this so great is the snappy patter banter.

Take a listen:

Well done!

Watch over 12 minutes of gameplay, from Batman: Arkham City. Listen up developers. I want more Superhero games like this!

Check out this amazing Street Fighter documentary on the infamous boxer Balrog. From his rise to fame in the ring, to his disgraceful fall into organized crime, all is exposed.

Credit to Chubby Boy Films for the awesome movie. Want more Street Fighter character films? Support Chubby Boy Productions by checking out their channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ChubbyBoyFilms

This is insane! Want to walk through Middle Earth? Well now you can via Mindcraft! For those willing to watch the 45 minute walkthrough that is. Things do get impressive around the 27 minute mark.
From http://facebook.com/omfgaming:
“This week Jesse joins http://www.minecraftmiddleearth.com and together with his fellowship, ventures from the Shire to Moria, in part one of what is sure to be a 3 part masterpiece of minecrafting ability. Made almost entirely by hand, build to a 1:3 and 1:4 scale ratio – the first world TO DATE to reach the terrain boarders of what the minecraft software is able to render – this is just about THE MOST amazing thing ever created. … dare I say… it’s my preeeeccccciioooooous?”

What do you get when you cross the Legend of Zelda with Back to the Future? Something that true Zelda fans will be able to follow without problem.

Credits:

Writer/Editor/Director – Grant Duffrin
Producer/Director of Photography – Sean Keller
Producer/Assistant Director – Matt Gunther
Link played by Grant Duffrin
Doc Brown played by Nick Tierce
Zelda played by Edyta Jaworek
Ganondorf played by Mark Soussou

That is, if you have a Playstation Network Account.  But let’s face it, if you own a PS3, then you have a PSN account.

Sony has just revealed that an abundance of user information may have been exposed due to an illegal intrusion into their systems between April 17 and April 19th.

In other words, Sony’s security has failed in a spectacular fashion, and we’re just now finding out about it.  (only took them a week to let us know) In both practical and PR terms, this is a worst-case scenario.  I am sure that under advisement by their attorneys they reluctantly had no choice but to come clean to their customers by retracting their first statement promising that their customers data was safe.   It seems Sony’s first response to any problem is to lie.  Sony lied about the PS2′s capabilities when the Dreamcast came out before it, and did exactly the same thing with the PS3 when the 360 hit the market first.

What information did they get?

Here is the data that Sony is sure has been compromised if you have a PlayStation Network Account:

• Your name
• Your address (city, state, and zip)
• Country
• E-mail address
• Birthday
• PSN password and login name

“It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained,” Sony announced. While the company claims that there is “no evidence” that credit card information has been compromised, it won’t rule out the possibility.

Their advice is to be safe, rather than sorry. “If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.”

What should you do?

You are warned to keep watch over your accounts, and to be aware of your heightened risk of fraud due to the security breach. “For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of e-mail, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information,” the company said. “Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information.”

To be fair, Sony does apologize for the inconvenience.  There is still no update on when service will be restored, but that is the least of your concerns if you have a PlayStation Network account.  It’s time to change your passwords, at the very least, and if you’re like to be completely safe it’s not a bad idea to cancel your credit or debit cards and request replacements.

Check the template of the email that millions of you may be receiving really soon.

Valued PlayStation Network/Qriocity Customer:

We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have:

1. Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;

2. Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and

3. Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by re-building our system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.

We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.

For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.

To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it:

U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.

We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus place a “fraud alert” on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below.

Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

You may wish to visit the web site of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.

We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment

Woo Hoo!  Uncharted 3 news!