Hounded by critics for remaining silent despite the 
theft of personal information from 100 million accounts, Sony’s CEO is finally speaking out.
Sir Howard Stringer, in an open letter to customers, addressed the data breach yesterday for the first time since the crisis began on April 20.
As EA promises a more aggressive stance on talent
acquisition, owned IP and digital models, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris analyzes where the company could succeed, and where it might fail.
Electronic Arts investors had a lot to cheer about Wednesday afternoon in the company’s earnings call. Not only were revenues and earnings per share higher than expected, but CEO John Riccitiello also declared a shift to a more aggressive stance on several fronts.
Shareholders, who have stuck with the company through its long rebuilding process, may have sighed with relief, but it’s still a little early to declare ‘all is well’ at EA. The coming fiscal year could be critical in determining the future course of the publisher.
New accusations about Sony’s security 
procedures are being levied as the company braces for a third possible hack in the coming days.
Eugene Spafford, an information security professor at Purdue, accused Sony of being completely unprepared for the first two attacks during testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade earlier this week. The company, he said, was using outdated software on its servers, which allowed hackers to gain access.
Washington D.C. is about to be invaded 
by a who’s who of video game icons.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum has unveiled the 80 fan-selected titles that will be on display at an upcoming exhibition on the art of video games — and a lot of familiar names appear on the list.
Electronic Arts’ is betting big on Star 
Wars – to the tune of nearly $100 million.
“Star Wars: The Old Republic” is one of the video game publisher’s biggest titles of the year – arguably of the last 5 years. While the game’s not scheduled to come out until this holiday season (and could potentially slip to 2012), this seems like a good time to run down the latest on one of the few titles that could give “World of Warcraft” a run for its money.
Pinball machines are not always easy to find in the 
real world these days, but War Pinball HD does a good job of recreating the experience. Playing this app is like a return to a 1980s arcade, with cheese-tastic war films like the Chuck Norris-starring Missing in Action and Charlie Sheen vehicle Navy Seals. Also included is the Academy Award winning Platoon. The movies are just background art for the pinball tables, though. The heart of the app is hitting the flippers (by touching the screen) and trying to get a high score. Fans looking for an authentic experience will also be happy to hear the app supports tilt — and will even warn you if you try to use it too much. The war theme might make this iffy for some families and very young kids, but at it’s heart, this is classic harmless pinball.
Even the unfortunate people whose personal 
information was stolen in the great PlayStation data heist of 2011 have to feel a little bad for Sony these days – or maybe some Schadenfreude.
Between the initial hack — in which 77 million accounts were compromised — the continued disruption of the PlayStation Network and the subsequent discovery that another 25 million accounts had been hacked, the once proud tech giant has been brought to its knees. Can it rise again?
With a new console set to be released
next year, Nintendo has cut the price of the Wii.
Beginning May 15, the system will drop from $200 to $150 and will come bundled with hit title Mario Kart along with the Wii racing wheel peripheral. At the same time, the company plans to launch a ‘greatest hits’ line of games — called Nintendo Selects — that will cost $20 instead of the usual $50.
As Sony continues to determine the severity and scope of a recent cyberattack that saw personal information for over 100 million customer accounts stolen, Congress is demanding answers.
After declining a request by the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade to attend a hearing today on online data theft (including how Sony handled the security breach), the company has released a letter from Kazuo Hirai, chairman of the board of Sony Computer Entertainment America, to the committee.
Sony is stopping short of making direct 
accusations, but pointed an accusatory finger at the collective group of hackers who go by ‘Anonymous’.
The company, in a letter written to the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, said it does not yet know who was behind the attack, but it had found a file planted on the server of Sony Online Entertainment named “Anonymous”. (SOE just yesterday announced it had discovered hackers had accessed and stolen information from 25 million accounts.)
Chris Morris: Journalist 