[OPINION] The ongoing PSN saga

No doubt by now you've heard all about the Playstation Network, and how it was attacked by hackers almost a month ago. Xbox users have been gloating, PS3 users have been distraught, scare stories have been circulated in the news about how people's credit cards have been compromised. Who would do such a thing, one wonders? Unfortunately, the days of hackers hackin' for shits and giggles seem to be over, and it seems increasingly likely that criminal gangs, after your vital information to sell on to scammers, may be to blame.

It is a terrible shame that something so dramatic might happen to such a large and high profile organisation as Sony, but we have to look at the facts. This kind of thing is happening all the time to all kinds of different companies. At the start of the year, Lush Cosmetics found their database to be compromised [source] and was forced to suspend all online sales while the security was ramped up. Having bought products from them, I did the only sensible thing, and kept an eye on my bank account for any irregularities. Luckily, there were none. The moral of the story is "be vigilant", I suppose.

PSN is not the only games network to suffer from the fraudsters, however. I have heard a few vague stories about Xbox Live accounts being hacked, and cards being cloned. Whilst all this evidence is purely anecdotal, it raises the same points. Keep an eye on your finances and be smart with your passwords. One poor lady recently told me a story about how unexplained charges had been made to her credit card. After consulting her son, who "knew nothing about it" and Microsoft, who were dismissive and unhelpful, she got in touch with her bank, who in the end looked into the matter and refunded all the charges made by the fraudster. This lady was lucky, but from this I can only make one cynical assumption. Kids lie.

Have you been affected by credit card fraud? Has your Live account been hacked? Are you just miffed about PSN? I'd love to hear from you!

REVIEW: Little Big Planet 2 (PS3)

Little Big Planet 2 was one of my most anticipated games of 2010 despite the fact that I never really played the previous incarnation. It was on my "To Do" list along with other such explosions of cute as Viva Pinata. Vaguely aware of the premise behind the game, a platformer with elements of collecting stuff and customising oneself, I gave up on trying to get around to the first game, and instead put my energy into waiting for the second.

I was not disappointed. The game begins with a short introduction by a certain Mr Stephen Fry, which sets the tone for the rest of the game. This game is Made In Britain, by British People, for British People and Those Who Love Them. Forget your Lara Crofts, your Professor Laytons (and that little gobshite Luke), the characters in LBP2 could beat them all hands down in a tea-sipping contest. The whole tone of the game is incredibly quaint and quirky, without being overly twee or irritating. Expect lots of cakes, steam trains, castles, pigeons and other such icons of Britishness.

Our hero, throughout all this is the wonderful Sack Boy - or as when the player is referred to in the game, Sack Thing. That's the wonderful thing about Sack Boy, he is a blank genderless canvas, and can be dressed up however you like. Costumes and component parts of costumes are collected as you progress through the story mode, and mixing it up a bit is actively encouraged by a prominent "randomise" button. If you want to wear the bellydancer dress with your big clompy boots, a full moustache and a combover, then that is your business. There are a number of preset costumes as well, naturally, although so far I've found them mostly useful for just throwing on when I can't find anything else to wear.

Gameplay-wise, I have to admit I find most platform games infuriating. This is no exception. At times the controls can be a little fiddly - partly down to my own ineptitude and partly to do with the controls being a touch sensitive - the grappling hook is a fine example of where is all goes wrong. Up and down control the length of the grapple, and left and right control the swing, but because it's all controlled with the analog stick, things can get a bit hairy, particularly if you're swinging over electrified doom or lava death. Other than that, there have only been a few honest-to-god screaming fits, both at points in the game which are relatively easy, I have been assured by my colleagues, which kind of implies that it was my own fault.

Speaking of my colleagues, besides the story, the other main focus of this game is the online multiplayer. LBP2 includes some fairly powerful-looking level design tools, including a sequencer to create your own music. While I've not had the time to have a go at designing myself yet, I've had a brief look at a few other peoples, and seen a massive variety - from Fallout 3 inspired levels to crazy science adventures to a game where the aim is to see how long you can run away from a shark across bits of wood floating in the water before he eats you. There is an excellent Daft Punk/Tron level (one of many, I suspect) that shows off the full potential of the sequencer by recreating one of the scores from the Tron Legacy movie almost perfectly. And then there's the Lady Gaga level.

Despite its flaws in the control of your Sack Thing, I could ramble for hours about  how much I adore this game. Instead, I shall just leave you with a mental image of my Sack Thing. Currently in game I am wearing red boxer shorts, a birthday cake for a top, blue eyeshadow and a long black wig. Oh, and I have flippers on my feet.

Is it wrong that I hope to unlock a Predator costume later in the game?

Scoring: 5/5 - a gorgeous game. So gorgeous I'll even forgive it for the shoddy controls sending me to my firey death on a regular basis.

REVIEW: Blood Drive (PS3)

Blood Drive (PS3)

The box reads: "Welcome to the most ruthless modern-day gladiator arena this world has ever known. This is the entertainment sport for a new age, and you are the franchise player."

In fact, the world's known a few similar entertainment sports in this vein, the most notable being Carmageddon, Twisted Metal and Destruction Derby. Therefore this game looks pretty promising. For those not familiar with the genre, the idea is to compete in a series of events amongst which are Squish Zombie Things, Race To Checkpoints and Smash Shit Up. By being the best at these events, points are earned and trophies won. There are even Bonus Zombies to squish, a variety of weapons with which to cause havoc and a whole host of fun and exciting characters to play as, all with cars/buses/tanks with different attributes to try.

So far, so good, you say, until the countdown to the first stage begins. Around three seconds after this, you will discover that the vehicles handle like a hovercraft on crack. This may be interpreted either way - that the hovercraft itself has been smoking crack, or that you're trying desperately to steer one after sucking down a lungful. (Disclaimer: I have never driven a hovercraft or smoked crack, but it's not hard to imagine how either one of those might go for me) The controls make this game pretty much unplayable, which is such a shame when you see how much hilarity there is to be potentially had.

Fortunately one of the perks of my job means that I'm allowed to borrow games to increase and improve my product knowledge. I must say, I'm really glad I didn't pay for this game!

2/5