PSN Hack Could Cost Sony $24 Billion

Analysts across the industry have started estimating the potential cost of the recent PSN security breach. Micheal Pachter told Shacknews that in the week that PSN has been down, Sony has lost at least $10 million in revenue and $3 million in profits.
Those direct losses are likely the least of Sony's woes though. Indirect losses from the lack of consumer trust and confidence in the system will likely cost much more. Legal compensation is another potential cost. The Ponemon Institute speaking to Forbes placed the average cost of a criminal data breach at $318 for each record lost. At 77 million registered users, that makes for a hefty sum of just under $24.5 billion, and that doesn't take into account any costs associated with regaining consumer trust.
Hulu has already offered a free week of service in response to the downtime to subscribers, and Kotaku says that Sony has a range of special events and compensations planned this weekend for DC Universe Online and Free Realms. Who knows what Sony will need to do for compensation to gain consumer trust in the coming months.
And of course there's the expense of making sure that this doesn't happen again such as security investigation costs as well as rebuilding the network. Sony has asked developers to install a new SDK with advanced security features during the downtime to keep history from repeating itself.
This is a seriously expensive mistake for Sony, as is seen by the 5.2% drop in Sony's stock price since the breach.

L.A Noire Sucks

L.A Noire is Rockstar's latest game coming in just a few more weeks on Xbox 360 and PS3 much to the delight of gamers the world over. But there's something strangely odd and compelling about Team Bondi's efforts which we're going to look at in a bit of detail here. We're going to categorically state that L.A. Noire truly sucks... but perhaps not in the way you're thinking.

We got some hands on time with the game this week for the first time, in the comfort of Rockstar's London Studios and although we had a number of preconceived ideas already rolling about our minds, the session provided us some interesting feelings that we've not really encountered before in a video game. Sure, games like Heavy Rain have pushed the levels of interaction in new and fresh directions , and the point and click CSI games have really tested the grey matter, but L.A. Noire does something entirely different and really, it does suck.

Before the knives are embedded into our backs, and our own murders become the scenes of gruesome investigations, let's explain shall we.

L.A. Noire sucks, it's like a 1940s hoover without the noise and the perpetual back ache from rocking back and forward on dusty carpets and mite ridden cloths. Just a mere few minutes of playing the demo level we started to like Cole Phelps (the game's lead character), his animations, the no nonsense talking and the interactions with those around him. He's likeable because of what he stands for, and although we cared not of his war veteran past, we were very much interested in how he was going to tackle the next hour of gameplay.

The scene of the crime in the demo was horrific, although perhaps not as visually over the top as you might have seen in other games which offer a more comical slant on death and destruction. The sombre music, the background sounds of the city, the frowning faces of your colleagues, the sighs of disgust reaching out around the closed building walls, who had witnessed what had happened, and if only could speak. It's interesting that a simple scene, a dead body, cut up, discarded like it was nothing, a life of an innocent wasted could facilitate such emotion so soon. Why would anyone do this, surely murder is murder - you kill and be done with it - but what sick bastard plays with the carcass once life has departed from it? Who carves writing into the flesh, leaves messages for the investigators, toys with the emotions, and says, "come on then, catch me if you can".

Instantly L.A. Noire sucks you in to this underlying mindset that you're very much the investigator, you're there not to tear around the 40s streets in authentic looking vehicles, hanging out the window shooting up gangsters. No. You've got a job to do and with that in mind, you become the detective. It's not a first person game, and so you're very much looking at another individual, but as the game sucks you in further, you're left begging to see how events unfold, and the beauty is, it's in your hands, under your control.

There's a real slow pace to the game which goes against what you might be expecting, but in the most suitable way is the embodiment of what investigations are all about, especially as the killer isn't caught red handed and you're left looking at the pieces to try and make sense of it. What really adds to the tension and the robust nature of the game's mechanics is the fact that there are no fancy tools at your disposal, no CCTV footage to ponder, no UV lights to spot blood, no computer databases to search through; and it's this visceral level of crime fighting that ultimately is the game's biggest asset. It's because of this raw nature that L.A Noire sucks you in. You're looking at stuff with the eyes of a detective, more so than any other game, you start evaluating the evidence, thinking more about what you've seen, making sense of what it means, what clues it gives.

L.A. Noire sucks in the gamer, in a way that is refreshing, to the extent where the mystery of the blanks become a distinct requirement destined to be filled in. It's a game which sucks to the point where, you won't be content taking a break and waiting, you'll want to see it through, you'll stop at nothing until there's some resolution. The game builds up the drama, the tension, the hatred for the criminal, sucks you in, then eschews time itself and leaves you at the precipice of finality. There's a number of games that offer a "one last go" factor, but L.A. Noire provides similar motives, but in a unique way that can only be described as a gripping hand pulling you into its world, placing you into a chair, tightening the knots around bounding ropes, and clasping both hands around your neck for a murderous kill, yet at the same time keeping you well alive to fathom and escape the clever puzzles it presents to you. L.A Noire truly does suck, but for all the right reasons. Perhaps take some time off work come May 20th, because that chair is not going to be easy to escape from.

PlayStation Users Sticking With Sony Despite PSN Crisis

PlayStation Network will probably be down for several more days as Sony works to rebuild the network and make it much more secure. Despite this major breach and the fact that users' information was stolen, many PS3 owners appear to be surprisingly supportive and loyal. IndustryGamers polled its readers over the last 24 hours (see below), and as of this writing, out of 1,700+ votes, a third of you said you won't be changing your habits while nearly 30% said that you'd simply be sure to use PSN cards instead of credit on Sony's network from now on.
A fairly small number of you (13%) said you were permanently soured on Sony and the PSN experience and would be switching to other gaming platforms, while over 18% of you appeared willing to give Sony another chance if the company makes the effort to offer some free games or other make-goods.
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told us yesterday that he doesn't see PS3 sales being impacted at all by the PSN breach.

Sony Sued for Data Breach

Like clockwork, the first lawsuit resulting from the security breach of the personal data of more than 75 million Sony PlayStation Network customers has been filed.
The suit was filed today on behalf of Kristopher Johns, 36, of Birmingham, Ala., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Johns accuses Sony of not taking "reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users."
He also believes Sony took too long to notify him and other customers that their personal information had been exposed. Because of that, the complaint alleges, Sony did not allow its customers "to make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions."
The lawsuit is asking for monetary compensation and free credit card monitoring, and is seeking class action status.
Yesterday, Sony warned customers of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity service that their personal information--including customer names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birthdays, PlayStation Network and Qriocity passwords, and user names, as well as online user handles--was obtained illegally by an "unauthorized person" between April 17 and 19. The company says there is "no evidence" that credit card information was compromised, but it can't be sure yet.
In the aftermath of the breach Sony has temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity, contracted with an outside security firm to investigate the intrusion on its network, and started to rebuild its system and security.
Johns' complaint echoes the concerns of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. Blumenthal yesterday wrote a letter to Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, saying he was troubled that the company had not notified customers sooner about the breach. He also called for Sony to provide affected customers with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services for two years to protect against identity theft.G