Hackers have broken into two websites belonging to Japanese video games maker Square Enix.

The company confirmed that the e-mail addresses of up to 25,000 customers who had registered for product updates may have been stolen as a result.

Resumes of 350 people applying for jobs in its Canadian office could also have been copied from the web servers.

Square Enix, which makes the popular Final Fantasy, Deus Ex and Tomb Raider games, apologised for the breach.

In a statement, it said: “Square Enix can confirm a group of hackers gained access to parts of our Eidosmontreal.com website as well as two of our product sites.

“We immediately took the sites offline to assess how this had happened and what had been accessed, then took further measures to increase the security of these and all of our websites, before allowing the sites to go live again.”

It is understood that the websites affected were Eidosmontreal.com, run by Square Enix’s subsidiary Eidos, and Deusex.com, a promotional site for the forthcoming game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Scammer’s dream

Graham Cluley, a consultant at security firm Sophos, warned that both leaks could cause problems for the individuals concerned.

“With the e-mail there is a danger that gamers could be e-mailed by someone pretending to be from the company who gets them to click on a link or run some malicious software,” he told BBC News.

“The resumes are a blueprint for identity theft. They have everything that scammers want. The only thing missing is credit card information.”

Mr Cluley pointed out that there was also the potential for huge embarrassment as it was unlikely those who had applied for jobs would want their current employers to know.

Square Enix said there was no evidence that the information had been distributed.

It also emphasised that the company does not hold customers’ credit card data on its web servers.

Mr Chippy

Shortly after the attack, both websites displayed the message “Owned by Chippy1337″, as well as several other known hacker names, including Xero, XiX and Venuism.

However, it appears that some or all of those names may have been misappropriated by the real attackers.

Logs of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) conversations have appeared on the online, which appear to show the perpetrators discussing the hack as they carried it out.

In one section, the individuals taking part wrote: “We put it in the name of chippy1337 and write the names ryan, dfs, xero, nikon, xix, venuism and evilhom3r.

The same person then added the comment, “lol [laugh out loud]“.

Security in the video games industry has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after the hacking attacks on Sony’s PlayStation Network and SOE online multiplayer system.

The personal details of around 100 million users were stolen from the company’s servers.

Investigations into the source of the data breach are continuing, with specialist computer forensic teams and the FBI getting involved.

Credits to BBC Technology.
Posted and edited by Stephen Joell-Ireland

VAT pumped up a massive 2.5% today. It’s now officially became more expensive to wipe you arse with toilet paper. Price of items in the shops have risen in line with these measures and that means more than just food and fuel. Videogame prices are rising also with the subsequent increase, but what about our friends in Ireland? Their barmy government has accepted the bailout of the banks and will proceed to pay for their actions for at least the next decade. So with the impending realisation that unless you are extremely wealthy, everyone is going to be bitten hard by the bankers greed, will you still be buying as many videogames as you usually do? We’d love to hear from you, please contribute to our poll and we’ll post the results next week.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Personally, I’ve had to bite buying games at all. But on the flipside I do have a cruise to pay for and anticipate to move out of where I live in November and debts to consolidate so it’s not necessary the cost of living that changes the spending habits on games, more that it’s all hit a loggerhead this year for me. I now have enough video games to last me a lifetime let alone a year so there is no excuse for me to purchase more, I can only hope our relationship with various videogame publishers and PR’s remain fruitful so that we can still provide you with all the latest games coverage, as a backup we have rental accounts set up though. 2011 will be a rocky year for many, hopefully you’ll still be able to enjoy gaming and that especially my friends in Ireland their lives are not too affected by the irresponsible buffonary of Irish banks and politicians who prefer the free market to sort out it’s problems.

10. Speedlink Competition Pro Joystick with 99 C64 Games

The chances are, your old man is down with the retro goodness. For many of you, your father can only handle 2 buttons at most. So what better than a throwback with one of the best Joysticks of all time, the Competition Pro and to throw more value at you it comes bundled with a CD-ROM full of 99 C64 games! The joystick is a ‘joy’ to use as we have one here at the office. It brings back the memories tenfold.

9. Conrad Retro Ping Pong Game Kit

This is a fantastic ice breaker. The Conrad Retro Ping Pong Game Kit is a fantastic novelty piece that will bring back a flurry of memories. Not only can you play the original Pong game, you get to build the video game console from scratch with all the pieces and a handy instruction guide. Now that is cool! You can’t get much more retro than that!

8. Galaxy Cosmic Multi Arcade Machine

If you are lucky enough to be working in the city and have more money to piss up the wall than BP then we can offer you a choice that will eclipse every birthday or Christmas present even given to your father. The Galaxy Cosmic features a 28” screen, can be adapted for free or coin play and contains classic games such as Ms Pac Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong and Arkanoid. There is a massive list of games and the architecture can be updated to add more games if necessary. It does come in at over £1000 so it will price out allot of people.

7. Game Over Tea Mug

Rather than a worlds best Dad cup, why not give him something he is more likely to use. The Game Over mug is only £4.99 so is affordable for everyone and comes in a nicely presented cardboard box. There is no special heat image reveal though but it looks damn cool and something I’d happily parade around my PG tips.

6. Nintendo DSi XL

Don’t settle for the Nintendo DS Lite, buy your old man the XL. After all his eye sight is probably as good as George Osborne’s foresight at tackling the deficit. The XL comes with a larger screen and has all the functionality of the DSi, which means internal memory to download classic games off of the Nintendo Shop. You even get an added 3 hours battery life for this model, essential for when your Dad falls asleep with it left on!

5. Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection

Let’s assume that your Dad has managed to figure out how to use more than a few buttons and has purchased himself a PS3 or Xbox 360. Either that or you are the son/daughter who would allow him to play on your state of the art videogame console. I can think of no better deal than to pick up the Sega Megadrive Collection as a fathers day purchase. The game is sitting pretty at only £10.00 at the moment and that is a steal considering the amount of games you get for the price. It contains over 40 games, including all the Sonics and has the ability to output in 720p so the visuals even look more polished.

4. 42 All-Time Classics

This one comes from experience. I can think of no better game to recommend than 42 All-Time Classics. It’s a DS game which offers local and online play and is an absolute joy to play together. Bonus, only one cartridge needed. You can play Darts, Bowling, Poker, Canasta to name just a few of the 42 classic games that you unlock and play. There is also a scenario mode to give the single-player added life too.

3. Snakebyte Wireless Classic Controller

Old people hate wires. They are very pedantic about wires trawling throughout their house. So with this in mind I am suggesting the Snakebyte Classic Controller as a real viable option for those with a Nintendo Wii in their household. It has great signal, is very comfortable and best of all, you can now go back and buy those N64, SNES and NES games you loved playing as you were growing up and getting your first games consoles. It’s another chance to skool your Dad again!

2. FIFA World Cup 2010

Youlways come together when it comes to the football right? Well, why not take that further and start playing football games together again. EA have done a brilliant job with bringing in the 2-button system to get casual gamers back into playing football games, so it is only natural we suggest this one. This game will bridge the gap between the old and current generation of video gamers. Let the beautiful game commence!

1. Sony PS2 Slim

Did your Dad used to game? Has he been phased out of the arena with too many buttons to press? Or has he been scared by people taunting him because he sucks at Halo? The Sony PS2 Slim is the perfect accompaniment to getting your fathers back into gaming. It’s super cheap now, the games are in abundance and the wealth of choice is more than enough to provide at least 20-30 games that he’ll enjoy. What’s more, once he gets used to the PS2 he’ll be able to jump straight into Xbox 360 and PS3 games as the control set-up will be familiar to him. It’s an instant buy!

That rounds up our choices, we’d naturally like to hear your comments on what you thought, what suggestions you would come up with and indeed what did you get your Dad for fathers day this year? Let us know in the comments below or register to our forum and get involved in our community.

It’s rather appropriate that my first review for Wedotech be Soldier of Fortune which casts you as a mercenary because I myself have been drafted in mercenary style to contribute content to this site. The only difference between myself and a real life mercenary really is the fact that they kill people… and probably aren’t hunched over a keyboard with a nearby pouch of tobacco and a cold cup of coffee as their only sustenance right now.

I’d love to pretend that I chose to review this game just so I could write that opening but the truth is that Soldier of Fortune no longer works on my PC so the only way I’ll ever get to review it is through the written word. Before anyone starts throwing terms like “backdated drivers” and “compatability mode” at me please don’t. I’ve been gaming on the PC for nearly twenty years now and if there was a way to get the game working with my hardware, I’d have found it.

Now I must warn you that I’m about to review a manly game here which heavily features guns and explosions. If you’re a woman or gay then this review will probably be too hardcore for you to bear. You might not even be officially homosexual, maybe you just like playing The Sims. What I’m saying is that any degree of femininity will cause adverse effects when combined with a game as manly as Soldier of Fortune and indeed, a review as manly as this written by myself, the manliest of men. Oh what’s the matter? You’ve scrolled down the page and noticed there are no screenshots? Can’t read words without pretty pictures to accompany them? I spit on you fairy boy. What? The plastic chick hanging around my neck in my last video as I pranced around with my face half-shaved? My David Bowie, Queen and Elton John collection? Eh… can’t waste time chatting so onto the game.

Soldier of Fortune was released for the PC in the year 2000 and was developed by Raven Software who have built a reputation for generally delivering solid and enjoyable games. People will inevitably associate the game with the magazine of the same name and while the magazine itself is keen to emphasise there is no relationship between the two, it’s clear that both the game and publication are aiming for the same target market and by that I mean men who talk about guns in the same way the rest of us talk about members of the opposite (or same) sex. Frightening people who must be purged before they bring about the End Times.

Alright so I shouldn’t generalise. There are also the bullied school kids who fantasise about gunning down their tormentors, the morons who think that being good at first person shooters qualifies them as soldiers, the gore-fiends who come after every headshot and innocents like myself just looking to play a good game.

So which of those demographics does Soldier of Fortune satisfy? Well first and foremost it sates the bloodlust of the gore-fiends the primary selling point of the game being the ability to dismember enemies with all manner of guns. At the time this was very controversial and seen as “excessive violence” but the game isn’t actually that excessive. Shooting someone in the head with a 9mm pistol won’t result in bits of skull and brain flying everywhere. You need something with a little more firepower for that such as the “Silver Talon” or perhaps the shotgun.

Oh don’t get me wrong, Soldier of Fortune positively revels in its violence but this isn’t a FPS as envisaged by Quentin Tarantino. It’s bloody yes but only as bloody as you’d realistically expect when you use such lethal weapons against the human body. Let us not forget that the same people who wail about violence in videogames are often the same people who have no objection whatsoever to sending men and women overseas to incur horrific injuries for real. The terrible reality of war is kept out of their faces that way and they can continue to preach about how virtual slaughter is corrupting our youth.

It’s hard to tell what gun enthusiasts would make of Soldier of Fortune. There is certainly a good selection of weaponry such as the sniper rifle, the submachine gun, the heavy machine gun and others with depressing names like “M202A2 Flash Rocket Launcher” and “M343D Flamegun”. However I don’t know whether these are actually based on real weapons or behave like them and nor do I care and if you think I’m going to do the research for the kind of cretins who would care then you have misjudged me. There is a “Microwave Pulse Gun” which while certainly based on real weaponry (or at least a theoretical weapon) is not the kind of hardware you’re likely to see wielded on the streets anytime soon. There are also the obligatory items like body armour, grenades and health.

As someone who doesn’t spend his free time polishing guns and is no longer a virgin, I can say that the weapons are really fun to use and guns intended to be powerful certainly feel that way when fired. Soldier of Fortune delivers a satisfying arsenal even if the loser next door who refers to real guns as “toys” disagrees but frankly who gives a shit about him?

Soldier of Fortune is nothing if not cathartic so it should delay the quiet kid in the classroom from going on his inevitable shooting spree for at least a while. The real question is of course, is it a good game?

My liberal leanings tend to come across in most things I write mainly because I use every opportunity to get on the soapbox and the simple fact is I dislike guns. I dislike them because they are tools designed for the sole purpose of killing people and as such are abhorrent to me. It may come as a surprise for you to learn then that I absolutely love Soldier of Fortune. How can I loathe guns and love a game all about their use? Well the answer is in the question, it’s a game. More than that, it’s a game you’d have to be an absolute moron to take seriously.

Lets look at the facts, you play as John Mullins (a character based on real life mercenary John Mullins) who works for a fictional organisation “the Shop” which sends him all around the world on secret missions all of which boil down to “kill everyone” and you have a partner called “Hawk”. Hawk for fucksake. Your mission as the game opens in a New York subway is to kill a gang leader by the name of Sabre who towards the end of the level escapes on the roof of a train with his arms folded going “mwahahahahaha”. If there was ever a game that embraced all of the silliness we still love to watch old Arnie movies like Commando for it is Soldier of Fortune. This is not any kind of soldier simulation. This is a FPS in the traditional sense, run around, shoot the badguys and push a button now and then to activate something or other.

You’ll travel to Uganda, Kosovo, Siberia, Iraq, Sudan, Japan and Germany dispatching terrorists for Uncle Sam. When Soldier of Fortune was originally released there were some accusations of racism at the way certain countries were portrayed and at the fact you spend most of your time killing people with dark skin. While I have no doubt that certain people relished the undeniable jingoism of the game as they wanked themselves off with a miniature flag, I get the sense that Raven Software were subtly taking the piss out of such people. It’s like a joke you have to have a certain level of intelligence to understand. Because of this it’s a game that works for both crowds. If you really are an idiot who believes that the best foreign policies always involve bombs then you’ll happily wallow in Soldier of Fortune thinking it has been designed by people who think just like you while on the other side of the spectrum people with brains will be silently sniggering at the irony of it all and enjoying the obvious ludicrousness of the game.

Soldier of Fortune was made using a highly modified Quake 2 engine so the graphics are obviously considerably dated now but not to an extent that should prevent any real gamer from enjoying it. The music and sound effects are still great, hearing the screams of a man who just had his leg blown off never gets old for me.

If there’s one area where Soldier of Fortune still stands as an example to current developers it’s in the difficulty settings. As if five different difficulty levels wasn’t enough you can also customise your experience altering specifics like how aggressive the enemies are, how many guns you can carry and how many times you’re allowed to save the game during any given level.

Why the hell aren’t we seeing this option all the time in games? I’m so sick and tired of playing games that are pathetically easy even on their hardest settings. By offering the ability to not only choose from “Easiest” to “Hardest” but to also customise the difficulty in detail, developers can satisfy the hardcore gamers while not alienating their precious casual crowd so why don’t they do it? God damn it.

So that’s Soldier of Fortune for the PC summed up in one thousand five hundred and eighty-six words. It was also released for the Playstation 2 but I never played that version so I can’t comment on how much worse than the PC release it is although of the fact that it is worse we can be certain. At least with the Playstation 2 version you know the game will still work which is not a guarantee on the PC depending on your hardware unfortunately.

I enjoyed writing this first (and possibly last depending on how many people I managed to offend) review here on Wedotech. Of course the biggest problem with it is the fact that you don’t get to see my handsome face unlike here on my YouTube channel which you should definitely subscribe to if you haven’t already: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFinalHighlander

Until next time, take care… and be manly. Like me.

David

It’s finally December 1^st, and what a year it’s been, there’s been ups and downs all year round and a few things have come along that have changed things quite a bit for me, my birthday is coming up on the 15^th (Don’t hold back on presents people!) and then Christmas is only about a week later, the gaming industry this year has had more hits than Take That and Flops as bad as thinking about Maggie Thatcher on a cold winters day whilst having sex. So this is my top ten list of games and accessories I want for Christmas and my birthday, feel free to send any over if you have them (just kidding, but seriously, send em’)

10 – I-Ex Gaming Chair

Kicking off the list with an accessory is an odd start, but after seeing Sam’s review of this monster I instantly said ‘I WANT ONE OF THOSE!’ but only if it has built in Ok Go music… thing is, if I bought one of these beasts I would have to move my entire gaming setup downstairs and onto the old relatively small TV that my parents spend their time watching the One Show and I’m a Celebrity on, not perhaps the best gaming set up when everybody can hear you yelling at Americans down your brand new Turtle Beach headset you just unwrapped.

9 – Nintendo Wii Points Cards

Perhaps my most overlooked and underplayed console, unfortunately the Nintendo Wii never really hit me too hard to keep me coming back for more, I’ve had a few game I enjoyed here and there and I used to have my console homebrewed and with the dark wizardry that is emulation I could play most of my old NES games on there, unfortunately since having reinstalled the homebrew channel NES games run slow and the music is either incredibly fast or slow like oxford street queues on Christmas eve. Being able to buy some games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and the classic Megaman series would be a treat, but points cards are something I’ll see in a shop, but never pick them up.

8 – James Cameron’s Avatar – The Game

After having played this twice, once at MCM expo on a regular screen and another at eurogamer in the jaw droppingly good 3D, I can safely say this has sealed a purchase for me, as did Borderlands and Assassins Creed 2. Not only is this a first for next-gen 3D gaming, but it was also kept under wraps by a brilliant games company this year – Ubisoft, the movie trailer looks awesome, the game IS awesome, and I’m hoping that it will be wrapped up in solid gold foil.

7 – Haynes Videogame Manual

‘The perfect book to read on the toilet’ is something you would never see on the poster for something, but I think this will deserve it. The novelty of reading about general death, destruction, how Peter Andre is upset and staring blankly at page 3 is wearing off nowadays, so an interesting book that will get you in the know about your consoles is something to be marvelled at, so now I can sit on the toilet, reading about the death of consoles, destruction of businesses, how Jack Thompson is upset about GTA, and staring blankly at the PS3.

6 – Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

A relatively old game now considering how quickly things have moved along the last few months, but, still one looking good, I’ve been looking for a tactical shooter and am having massive withdrawal symptoms from anything that involves careful combat, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 was amazing with mates over, as long as they hadn’t been playing too much Call Of Duty beforehand…

5 – DJ Hero

Now, I’ve been DJ’ing for around a year now, bedroom mixes and scratching are some things I’ve picked up over time, and I must say, It’s a damn lot of fun, problem is, with real decks you can’t play two player, sure you can have a few mates over and let them play about a bit, but with me it tends to be ‘DON’T SCRATCH IT LIKE THAT! YOU’LL BREAK THE NEEDLE’ so usually, we don’t do that. The hundred quid price tag does seem rather steep, and it’s probably something I would pick up in the new year during the January sales along with a shitload of Vinyls from HMV (Big ups to their HQ for expanding all vinyl floor space!)

4 – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

I honestly can’t believe I haven’t bought this game yet, at the time it was a choice of waiting for this or picking up Borderlands, and after having played it at MCM it was as I mentioned before, an instant purchase, in fact, I picked it up on my way home, in a busy rush hour London Game store. A friend of mine has been nagging me to pick this up since he bought it on launch, and I had played it at eurogamer, but again, as with the Wii points, something I never got around to buying.

3 – A Gaming PC

A lot of people will argue that PC gaming is the original and best system, for some things I agree, for others I don’t, modding games has always been an interest of mine, and the amount of fun I had with Garry’s mod for Half Life 2 a few years back is breathtaking, now I’m a bit more grown up, I think I’d be able to do much more than killing Kleiner in various ways (Dropping about 300 baths on him was definitely one of my favourites.) So being able to play around with massive games like Far  Cry 2 and Crysis would be amazing. Another plus with this would definitely be the ability to run FL Studio 9 through some massive speakers and an HD monitor, Tasty stuff.

2 – A whole bunch of OST’s

Video game music can be fantastic, from epic scores to music by unknown bands, soundtracks for games are something I listen to online, but would love to own hard copies of, some of my favourites being the Final Fantasy games, including the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII, the amazing Mirrors Edge (Words can’t describe it) and Assassins Creed 2’s blend of orchestra and trip hop. Guitar hero winning the best soundtrack this year is something that is unfortunate, a collection of songs that are already released doesn’t really count as an OST for me, unless the soundtrack is specifically by one band, for example, The Pillows doing the FLCL Soundtrack, that was an amazing album. Which brings us to our number one spot.

1 – Vouchers and Money

Perhaps a disappointing one for some of you, as it is incredibly unspecific, however, this year we have seen some truly amazing games and next year looks to be taking off with a kick start in January with the releases of MAG, Bayonetta and Dark Void leading us into February with Bioshock 2, Split Second and the brilliantly original Heavy Rain. MAG is an intense shooter that I had the pleasure of playing at Eurogamer, with absolutely no lag at all, and the online Beta still going on at the time. Bayonetta was a game I played at MCM Expo and its extreme difficulty was definitely something that kept me hooked and wanting to see the part where her skimpy top changes into a giant monster. 2k games are also looking to be heading things up this year with Bioshock 2, the long awaited sequel to an amazing game that kept me going for hours.

The big one for me within the first few months of next year however, is Final Fantasy XIII, it’s been a rough ride for Square on this one, losing lots of customers by selling out to Microsoft and even possibly damaging the Playstation 3’s sales, despite still optimizing and glamming up the game exclusively for the Playstation, the fan boys weren’t happy at all, but from what I’ve seen, this is looking to be immense, the soundtrack alone gives me enough incentive to buy the game. With a whole host of new games and promising things form companies coming next year, it doesn’t look like Modern Warfare 2 has had as big of an impact on the gaming market as I expected.

So that wraps everything up (excuse the pun) and I hope that you all have a proper crimbo, leave a comment below, I would love to hear what you guys want.

-Dean Case