Now that the PlayStation Network is 
back online after a three-and-a-half week outage, Sony is extending an olive branch to gamers to apologize for the inconvenience.
The company has detailed exactly what North American players will receive in their “Welcome Back” package – and it’s a pretty well stocked goodie bag. That’s not stopping some people from grumbling, though.
Weather skills might seem self-evident to 
some parents, but for toddlers, they’re an introduction to the world of science. i Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! HD gently eases kids into the differences between seasons and how to dress for each one — and even manages to sneak in some calendar education. The app is split into three levels for different age groups (though most young kids are likely to hop between them), giving it a wider range of appeal. It’s an app that requires no reading skills, letting users learn at their own pace, regardless of age. Ultimately, that means most kids will have fun with it, prompting them to play longer (and, ideally, learn more).
After being down for some 24 days, the 
PlayStation Network began welcoming players back to the game over the weekend.
Sony released a mandatory system software update Saturday night, adding new layers of security and forcing users to change their passwords after suffering one of the largest security breaches on record. Users are once again able to play multiplayer games, access their friends lists and use third-party services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus.
With the PlayStation Network up and running 
once again, gamers jonesing for some “Call of Duty: Black Ops” multiplayer action or the chance to truly break in their copy of “Socom 4” are finally able to scratch that itch.
But the relaunch of the system is only a partial one – and there are still plenty of questions floating around about what’s next. Here’s where things stand:
Most pirate-themed video games encourage 
players to strap a parrot to their shoulder and hoist the skull and crossbones. Now the Navy — yes, the U.S. Navy — is asking gamers to walk the other side of the plank.
Starting Monday, the naval branch of the military will launch an experimental online game that hopes to tap the collective intelligence of gamers to help combat real-world pirates terrorizing the waters off the Horn of Africa.
As Sony continues to struggle with its recent 
cyberattack, another video game publisher has had its database hacked.
Square Enix has confirmed hackers gained access to a database on Wednesday, taking 25,000 email addresses along with 350 employee resumes.
[Gamasutra’s Chris Morris looks at how Microsoft’s 
Kinect has found success despite some shortcomings, and how a well-executed plan for the device is needed, as “the novelty will only take it so far.”]
You’d have to be a fool to argue that Microsoft’s launch of Kinect was anything but a success. With sales of the peripheral already topping 10 million (setting a Guinness record for the “fastest selling consumer device” in the process), it’s one of those rare items that have actually surpassed people’s expectations.
But the more time I spend with Kinect, the more it occurs to me how Microsoft inadvertently followed in Apple’s footsteps with the device – finding tremendous success in a new gaming area despite not knowing exactly what it was doing.
The Easter Bunny apparently stuffed a 
few baskets with video games this year. The late holiday and a strong slate of titles overcame gloomy headlines of data theft to boost April video game sales by 26 percent, according to the NPD Group.
Hardware sales were also impressive, climbing 12 percent overall, though Microsoft and Sony had a lot more to celebrate than Nintendo did.
Sony’s network woes may have dominated 
headlines in April, but they didn’t do much to hurt overall sales in the video game industry.
Software sales, the most closely tracked data, climbed 26 percent to $503 million, according to The NPD Group, which tracks video game sales. (Analysts had expected a 15 percent increase.) This is the first month software sales have posted a year-over-year increase since November and only the third time they have done so in the past year.
For only the third time in the past year, retail 
game sales saw a year-over-year increase in April. And what a rise it was.
The NPD Group reports that software sales were up 26 percent last month to $503 million. Overall (including hardware and peripheral totals), the industry had brick and mortar sales of $930.7 million – a 20 percent increase.
Chris Morris: Journalist 