Headline RePLAY – 6.11.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: The producer of Street Fighter IV is back in action, Diablo III prepares for the Real-Money Auction House and League of Legends EU is the latest to be hit with a security breach.

Yoshinori Ono’s dedication to Capcom’s Street Fighter series is so legendary that it was instrumental in revving the franchise in 2008 with the release of Street Fighter IV—but was it the same devotion that arguably lead to his sudden illness and collapse in April?

In an interview with Eurogamer’s Simon Parkin, Ono recounts his journey from composer to producer, and his dogged persistence in proposing the fourth entry to Street Fighter to a reluctant company since the release of Street Fighter 3: Third Strike in 1999.  

“I was working on Onimusha 4 and during that time I repeatedly submitted my proposal for a new Street Fighter,” Ono recalled. “The company kept telling me: ‘It’s a dead franchise. It doesn’t make any money. We have series that make money like Resident Evil and Onimusha. Why bother with a dead franchise?”

Ultimately, Ono’s persistence paid off and he was given a small budget to create a prototype. Ono’s strategy was simple: “I had been asking all of the journalists to make noise about the series when out and about. I would always tell them that it was their responsibility to tell Capcom, not me as I don’t have the power. Journalists and fans have the power to move Capcom—not producers. With so many voices crying out for a Street Fighter game Capcom could no longer ignore it any more and so they gave the green light for a prototype and they asked me to create it.

“It’s a miracle that happened after a decade…”

Capcom was still not sold on the project, however. Fan demands may have forced the company’s hand, but Ono was constantly asked, “Ono-san, seriously why are you persisting with this? You are using so much money, budget and resources. Why don’t we use it on something else, something that will make money?”

“No one had the intention of selling it,” Ono concluded, “so I had virtually no help from other departments—they were reluctant, right up to the day of release.”

Ono’s dedication and his faith in the fans paid off in spades: Street Fighter IV was a huge success, single-handedly resurrecting the franchise.

And it probably overworked him into a hospital bed, but the producer vows that’s not enough to stop him.

“There have been rumors saying Ono is dead or retiring. None of that’s true. I want to support the next generation of fighting games. It’s my job. It’s my calling.”

|Source: Eurogamer

Diablo III’s long-disputed Real-Money Auction House is launching tomorrow, and in the wake of hacking reports that plagued the game’s release, Blizzard is requiring that players have an authenticator attached to their account in order to access the feature.

More specifically, players must have a physical or mobile Battle.net authenticator attached to their Battle.net accounts in order to use the RMAH. Players who already attached their account to Battle.net Balance, a feature that provides the option to buy and sell items on the RMAH, without an authenticator will continue to be able to do so—on the caveat that it is required to add to the balance in the future.

|Source: Blizzard

League of Legends EU is the latest to be hit by hackers, Riot Games reports that only personal player data in EU West and EU Nordic and East databases were accessed and “absolutely” no payment or billing information was compromised.

According to Riot, any personal data that was breached included e-mail addresses, encrypted account passwords, summoner [game ID] name and date of birth. The studio does note that for a “small number of players” first and last name might’ve been compromised along with encrypted security question and answer.

Riot does assure players that the security issue that hackers exploited was resolved, all EU West, EU Nordic and East players were notified via e-mail and that the investigation is still ongoing. Additionally, Riot has redirected teams to “quickly implement new security measures” to improve the safety of player data and will continue to “invest in security measures” like password hashing, data encryption, state of the art firewalls, SSL and security ninjas.

And lastly the company asks users to change their account passwords and offers steps on how to do so.

|Source: League of Legends

Headline RePLAY – 5.24.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Only a minority of players were affected by the Diablo III hacks, details on Castlevania’s rumored reveal at E3 and GameStop’s annual Expo conference opens up to the public.

In an update to the Diablo III community, Blizzard assured fans today that Battle.net and Diablo III servers have not been compromised by hackers and only an “extremely small” number of players have been affected.

“First and foremost, we want to make it clear that the Battle.net and Diablo III servers have not been compromised,” wrote Blizzard Community Manager Danielle “Nethaera” Vanderlip. “In addition, the number of Diablo III players who’ve contacted customer service to report a potential compromise of their personal account has been extremely small.

“In all of the individual Diablo III-related compromise cases we’ve investigated, none have occurred after a physical Battle.net Authenticator or Battle.net Mobile Authenticator app was attached to the player’s account,” she continued, “and we have yet to find any situation where a Diablo III player’s account was accessed outside of “traditional” compromise methods (i.e. someone logging using an account’s login email and password).”

Nethaera rejects speculation that “session spoofing” was used as a method to hijack a player’s identity after he or she joins a public game, but assures fans that despite the “technical impossibility” of it occurring Blizzard will continue to investigate reports of such incidences.

"To that end, we’ve also seen discussions regarding the possibility of account compromises occurring in ways that didn’t involve these “traditional” methods—for example, by “session spoofing” a player’s identity after he or she joins a public game," she continued. "Regarding this specific example, we’ve looked into the issue and found no evidence to indicate compromises are occurring in this fashion, and we’ve determined the methods being suggested to do so are technically impossible. However, you have our assurance that we’ll continue to investigate reports such as these and keep you informed of important updates.”

|Source: Blizzard

Details on Castlevania’s return are materializing from the mists of rumor prior to its E3 2012 debut much like Dracula’s Castle does every century.

Castlevania: Mirror of Fate, the 3DS title, is reportedly a 2D adventure that stars two different playable characters and co-op play much like Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the DS. Unlike its DS cousin, Mirror of Fate allegedly utilizes the 3DS’ cameras as some sort of mirror or as a new puzzle-solving mechanic.

On the official front, Konami has released a teaser site at thedragonreturns.com. Not only does the site contain Castlevania-esque artwork the web address refers to the name of Vlad Dracul, or Vlad the “Dragon” in Romanian, the basis of the Dracula legend.

|Source: IGN

GameStop is opening its annual Expo conference to consumers—an event that was previously exclusive to the retail chain’s managers and members of the game industry.

The Expo conference serves to introduce GameStop managers to upcoming game titles and a preview of products that will be sold during the holiday season. And now in what is likely a public relations move, consumers will get an inside look into what games will be released, meet video game publishers and see special guests.

Price for admission is $35, or $100 for VIP admission. VIP passes will be able to attend presentations by major game companies. Tickets are only sold to members of GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards loyalty program.

The conference will be held at San Antonio, Texas on August 29th, two days before PAX 2012 in Seattle.

|Source: Gamasutra

Headline RePLAY – 5.22.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: The Nintendo 3D hits another sales milestone, the Star Wars: The Old Republic team experience layoffs and Blizzard responds to Diablo III hacking claims.

As PlayStation Vita sales continue to drop in Japan, Nintendo 3DS sales continue to rise as it crossed the six million mark this week in domestic sales, according to retail tracker Enterbrain, Famitsu’s publisher.

From its debut on February 26, 2011 to May 20, 2012, the handheld sold a grand total of 6,017,206 units in Japan alone.

According to Andriasang and Media Create data, the Nintendo 3DS was also the fastest handheld ever to reach 5 million in sales.  

|Source: Famitsu via Andriasang

BioWare doctors Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka have confirmed layoffs with the Star Wars: The Old Republic’s development team today in a statement on the MMO’s official forums.

“Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality,” said the BioWare doctors. “Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect.”

Despite the layoffs, Dr. Zeschuk and Muzyka wanted to reassure fans that business will continue as usual with SWTOR. “We still have a very substantial development team working on supporting and growing the game, and we feel we are in a strong position, with your continued involvement and feedback, to continue to build Star Wars: The Old Republic as one of the most compelling and successful online experiences in the world today.”

|Source: SWTOR

In a coordinated effort to tackle the Diablo III hacking crisis, Blizzard has rejected allegations that hackers are bypassing authenticators and have devoted forum threads to aid players in buffing their Battle.net account security.

“We’ve been taking the situation extremely seriously from the start, and have done everything possible to verify how and in what circumstances these compromises are occurring,” said Blizzard Community Manager Micah “Bashiok” Whipple.

“Despite the claims and theories being made, we have yet to find any situations in which a person’s account was not compromised through traditional means of someone else logging into their account through the use of their password. While the authenticator isn’t a 100% guarantee of account security, we have yet to investigate a compromise report in which an authenticator was attached beforehand.”

In a separate thread dedicated to Battle.net account security, Community Manager Stephanie “Lylirra” Johnson explains that the rise of compromised accounts amidst the release of a new game is nothing new.

“Historically, the release of a new game—such as a World of Warcraft expansion—will result in an increase in reports of individual account compromises, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing now with Diablo III,” said Lylirra.  

“We know how frustrating it can be to become the victim of account theft, and as always, we’re dedicated to doing everything we can to help our players keep their Battle.net accounts safe—and we appreciate everyone who’s doing their part to help protect their accounts as well.”

|Source: Blizzard

Headline RePLAY – 5.21.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Guild Wars 2 aims to set a new MMO-genre standard, Diablo III problems persist and a new Castlevania game.

Is the MMO-genre formula for success set by Blizzard’s World of Warcraft changing? ArenaNet’s global brand director thinks so, and believes that the company’s upcoming Guild Wars 2 will set a new standard in the genre.

   

“We’re finally seeing a point where companies realize that they’re not going to create the next great MMO by just copying what’s come before [World of Warcraft],” said ArenaNet’s Christopher Lye. “Honestly, I think the problem is that there’s been a lack of change in MMO design and that Guild Wars 2 is a reaction to that.”  

Guild Wars 2 deviates from the World of Warcraft blueprint with the “Dynamic Events” system to replace traditional questing, which allows the development team to “easily modify and add new content.” ArenaNet’s upcoming MMO also revamps the action-bar combat system to be more like Bluehole’s TERA MMO with action-based combat that employs active dodging.  

“People will call this risky, but we think it’s riskier just to churn out the same MMO that everyone played before,” said Lye. “People can read the words, but it’s not until someone actually plays the game that they really understand some of the fundamental changes that we’ve made to the genre.”

|Source: Gamasutra

The problems with Diablo III continues to mount up like a pile of trash loot that nobody wants, except it now comes in the form of enterprising hackers rather than server gremlins.  

Reportedly hackers have compromised many Diablo III players’ accounts and stolen in-game gold, items or even the accounts they have hijacked. It appears that the Blizzard Authenticator is ineffective at preventing these attacks, as there has been speculation that hackers are simply able to ‘jump into’ accounts—completely bypassing the Blizzard authentication process.

Blizzard has yet to comment on the issue, but has been ‘rolling back’ victimized accounts to a point prior to when the hacking took place. Any items lost to the hacking, however, will not be returned.

|Source: GamesIndustryInternational

Castlevania is making a return to handhelds via the 3DS, according to rumors by Dutch Nintendo site N1ntendo.

The new game will be called Castlevania: Mirror of Fate and it is to be revealed by Konami at this year’s E3. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer David Cox and writer/director Enric Alvarez are rumored to be part of the development team.   

Is this the reason why Cox Tweeted from the “land of Dracul” last month and teased his reason for being there?  

|Source: NeoGAF via Kotaku

Headline RePLAY – 3.30.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: BioWare receives and re-donates 400 cupcakes, Microsoft responds to a study that claims credit card information can be retrieved from pre-owned Xbox 360s and analysts believe that neither Sony nor Microsoft will block pre-owned titles on their next-gen hardware.

Yesterday, 400 cupcakes donated by Mass Effect 3 fans as a form of friendly protest to the game’s controversial endings arrived on BioWare’s doorstep at Edmonton, Canada. BioWare went to the forums to thank fans for their “creative” and “thoughtful” attempts but ultimately donated them to a local youth shelter.

“The gesture certainly gained our attention both with its creativity and deliciousness,” said BioWare’s Chris Priestly. “However, while we do appreciate that fans were creative in how they expressed their views, after a lot of discussion, we decided ultimately the reason that they were sent was not done in the context of celebrating the work or accomplishment of the Mass Effect 3 team. This is a subtle, but important aspect in determining how to pass the feedback to the team.”

In that context, rather than handing out the cupcakes to staff or “wasting good food,” BioWare instead donated them on behalf of the fans to a local Edmonton youth shelter.

“We know that for the kids that have to use this facility, something as simple as a cupcake is a rare treat and would definitely brighten up their day,” said Priestly. “Thank you for the fine folks at the local youth shelter for accepting the donation and to the fans who donated the cupcakes.”

*Source: BioWare Forums

After it was reported that hackers can obtain credit card information from pre-owned and refurbished Xbox 360s, Microsoft responded swiftly to assure owners that the company is investigating Drexel University’s research.

“We are conducting a thorough investigation into the researchers’ claims,” said Jim Alkove, Microsoft’s General Manager of Security of Interactive Entertainment Business, in a statement to Kotaku. “We have requested information that will allow us to investigate the console in question and have still not received the information needed to replicate the researchers’ claims.

“Xbox is not designed to store credit card data locally on the console,” Alkove explained, “and as such seems unlikely credit card data was recovered by the method described. Additionally, when Microsoft refurbishes used consoles we have processes in place to wipe the local hard drives of any other user data. We can assure Xbox owners we take privacy and security of their personal data very seriously.”

*Source: Kotaku

While it’s no secret that many in the videogame industry would love to see the pre-owned market disappear, analysts all agree that it would be suicidal for Sony or Microsoft to implement such technology on next-gen consoles despite rumors suggesting the contrary.

“It isn’t really in Sony’s or Microsoft’s best interests to blocked used games,” said Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst. “It would benefit Activision and EA slightly, and would hurt GameStop a great deal. If Sony unilaterally did this, I could see GameStop refusing to carry their console, and sales of the PS4 would therefore suffer.”

Pachter is confident none of the big three console manufacturers (i.e. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony) “are stupid enough to do this unilaterally” nor “evil enough to do it together.” The analyst argues “if one does it and the others don’t, the one who does it will see a loss of market share.”

DFC Intelligence’s David Cole concurs, and adds that a console with anti-used technology would deter hardcore gamers. “A system that tried to stop used game sales would probably turn off the core consumers that rush to trade in their old product to buy a new product. In other words, I don’t think it would do so well in the core market.”  

“Customers would rebel,” agreed Lewis Ward, IDC’s research manager. “Until there’s the equivalent of a great ‘used’ digital console game trade-in program up and running, gamers will continue to like the ability to trade in discs and basically get discounts on other games.”

*Source: GamesIndustry International