Category Archives: Variety (Print)

Showbiz sweats hacker attacks

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No one in the entertainment world wants to be Sony these days.

After a security breach resulted in the theft of personal information in more than 100 million user accounts, it didn’t seem things could get much worse. But a series of rapid-fire smaller hacks to sites in Canada, Thailand and Indonesia — along with an exploit on Sony’s PlayStation site that temporarily put accounts at risk again — continued to endanger the company’s reputation with consumers.

Instead of the muffled competitive snickering that usually occurs when a rival stumbles, other entertainment companies have watched in fear as the drama has played out, knowing that their own online operations were spared only by the whim of the hacking community.

Read more at Daily Variety

Wii to Wii U, Nintendo’s next system

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Nintendo raised the curtain on its latest videogame console, the Wii U, on Tuesday, but there was one key piece of hardware missing at its presentation — the console itself.

Instead, Nintendo used the Nokia Theater to turn the spotlight on the controller that consumers will use in a variety of ways to play games.

Read more at Daily Variety

Xbox factor

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Microsoft is closer to turning Xbox into the everything box.

Sticking with a strategy to promote the Xbox 360 console as more than just a videogame player, Microsoft used its pre-E3 presser on Monday to reveal that the device will start offering live TV in the U.S. and integrate YouTube and search engine Bing as part of a relaunch this fall.

(Co-written with Marc Graser)

Read more at Daily Variety

 

Sony announces PlayStation Vita

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The NGP has a real name at last.

Sony, at its pre-E3 press conference Monday, announced that the next generation handheld system, which was previously codenamed NGP, would be called PlayStation Vita – and would carry a price of just $249 for the Wifi version and $299 for the 3G-enabled version. The system will hit store shelves this holiday season.

Read more at Daily Variety

EA looks to pre-empt ‘Modern Warfare’

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Electronic Arts is hoping for first blood in the slugfest of realistic military action games this fall.

The publisher announced at its pre-E3 press conference that “Battlefield 3” would hit shelves Oct. 25, two weeks before Activision releases its much-anticipated “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.” Both titles are expected to be massive hits this holiday.

Read more at Daily Variety

E3 confab hits next level

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The videogame industry is at a crossroads of whether to reinvent itself or continue hyping what’s working.

While Nintendo and Sony are expected to unveil new hardware at this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, the videogame biz’s biggest tradeshow, which kicks off Monday from various venues around downtown Los Angeles, Microsoft is putting more promotional muscle behind its Xbox 360 console.

Read more at Daily Variety

Sony confirms recent hack, calls F.B.I.

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Sony Pictures has confirmed that it was the victim of a large scale hacking operation this week and says it has called in law enforcement officials to help find the people responsible.

“The cybercrime wave that has affected Sony companies and a number of government agencies, businesses and individuals in recent months has hit Sony Pictures as well,” said Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and co-chairman Amy Pascal in a joint statement. “[Thursday] afternoon a group of criminal hackers known as ‘LulzSec’ claimed to have breached some of our websites. We have confirmed that a breach has occurred and have taken action to protect against further intrusion. We also retained a respected team of experts to conduct the forensic analysis of the attack, which is ongoing.”

Read more at Daily Variety

Hackers claim to hit Sony again

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Hackers say they have once again penetrated Sony’s Website , and this time they’re releasing the information they found.

The hacker group LulzSec, which claimed responsibility for the takeover of PBS’s servers over Memorial Day, released a file Tuesday afternoon online that it says contains personal information for over 1 million users of SonyPictures.com.

Read more at Daily Variety

Rovio has expansion plans

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The Angry Birds are getting ready to fling themselves at Hollywood in an even more aggressive fashion.

Rovio Mobile has acquired Finish animation studio Kombo and plans to use the group to expand its push into new areas of the entertainment biz far beyond the company’s gaming roots.

Read more at Daily Variety