Clearing the air: My true view on Microsoft.

I know I haven't made a blog post in several months, but felt it necessary at this crucial juncture to address an issue that has been kind of coming to light as of late. I've received some emails and other correspondences from some friends, as well as random people asking why I dislike Microsoft or why I rail against the X-Box so much. Well, I'm writing this to clear the air for any that may be curious. I have nothing against the X-Box 360 in general, and will attempt to write this as unbiased and straight down the middle as possible. Some of it may reflect opinion but I'll try my best to keep it objective and fair for both sides of the argument.

First and foremost, I do have an issue with the Microsoft company directly, but more due to their handling of the computer/PC side of the business more-so than the console-side. I'll get to the console-side momentarily, but thought it pertinent to point out my "history" of view on Microsoft to paint a clearer picture.

For the record, I'm no stranger to technology or video games; I originally started on a ColecoVision (then later a ColecoVision Adam) when I was 5 years old, as well as a PC-based 80286 using the original Dos when I was right around the same age, (I think it was even later after that getting Dos 2.1 which I needed to run certain PC games, some with the use of "SetVer"). Anyways, over the years, I was there to see the original release of such innovations as Monochrome going to CGA, to later go to EGA, then to VGA, and finally Super-VGA; I was there publicly to actually watch the unveiling of the first VGA hardware and saw it used without any pixelation on the screen. I was there to see the very first unveilings of the mouse interface for the personal computer (which I'll admit, took me some time to get used to... even today, if I can bring up a command-line interface and type the commands rather than point-and-click, I opt for that instead). I was also there to see the growth of several computer-based game and software companies, anywhere from the original Sierra On-Line to Origin Games (Ultima/Wing Commander/etc), Accolade, LucasFilm Games, ID Games, Apogee, Epic, etc... all the way to Corel, even Microsoft. I was one of the first users to test out the original DosShell, and later was one of the first to fire up and run the original Windows.

At first, I thought the graphical-user interface, at least starting with Windows was pretty neat (as DosShell left a bit to be desired). However, I noticed over the years, that as bugs would crop up, rather than fix the code, Microsoft would simply patch/pave over the fix piling more code on top of old code, which doesn't completely fix the problem, just makes a larger jumble to be processed and suck system-resources dry, and at times still leaves certain weaknesses (sort of like how they patch potholes in the street... they put a different coating of tar in the hole which eventually wears away). They continued to dump more and more money into the "next version", and would go on to pump out Windows 3.1, Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millenium, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and now Windows 7, and soon Windows 8. It was, in fact, the original Windows coding that brought around the birth of the original "winnuke" as it stemmed from an exploitation of the protocol port 139 being open by default. In their years of operating-system releases, more and more weaknesses would pile up, more error scenarios would get added to the pile, and more security issues would crop to the surface. Anybody whose ever dealt in TechNet CDs knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about!! Having worked in IT, in a computer-based market that's pretty much dominated by Microsoft, I've seen many; which makes it annoying for those of us "in the know", because you're able to fix everybody else's problems, and when a Windows error crops up on your own machine, typically, it's one you've either never dealt with before, or is outside your scope of experience and makes it that much more stressful to fix, or is worst-case scenario non-fixable.

Now, I have nothing against a company "dominating" the market, but when they pretty much run and control the market, that's where I have an issue. I'm not going to praise Apple up and down like some do; yes, I like the company, and I have nothing against them, but attempting to keep this as objective as possible. I believe Macintosh is a sturdy system, I believe that had Macintosh actually had the freedom to flourish and bloom at their own pace they could have been a big giant in the computer-industry; however, for any that know the history of the original Macintosh and the instrumental part that Bill Gates played in where Windows stemmed from, you know that Macintosh had been pretty much held under Bill Gates thumb since day one. Another major reason I don't have much respect for Bill Gates. Now, to go along with that, the over commercialism and massively increasing prices of Windows has forced certain distributions of Linux, over the years, to have to go commercial/retail in order to stay afloat; which is a bit of a culture-shock for those of us who are used to getting most Linux flavors as freeware/open-source; though, there are still some distros that are free, the "better" ones now have to make money in order to stay afloat and compete, which is understandable, they deserve their royalties for their invested time/resources.

I just have to wonder, rather than dumping millions into the "next version" of Windows all the time, why not dump just as much money, or even half of that, into actually fixing it truly and completely without all the bugs? In essence, Windows since its original inception, even up until now, has been pretty much running as a beta if compared to the standards of other software with ongoing fixes. Now, to take another look at the Macintosh; it's hard enough finding PC-based software in stores these days, or at least a decent selection... how often can you say you see true Macintosh-based versions of software? It's been many moons since I've seen any. This is the part where many would point out, "oh, but there's Parallels" or some other Windows emulator for Macintosh; but there's two problems with that. One, there's still royalties going to Microsoft, and two, which is a problem also seen emulating Windows in Linux, when you emulate Windows, you're also emulating all the bugs/weaknesses that come with it. Even with that aside, to use cars as a visual, that'd be like saying, you like to drive a Hyundai or Chevy, but hypothetically we'll say Toyota ends up dominating the market, you can have the shell of the car you want, maybe even the engine, but everything else will be Toyota, royalties going to Toyota, and any and all safety-issues, quirks, bugs, problems that anybody who has a full-fledged Toyota has to deal with, you'll have to deal with as well. Disclaimer, I don't have anything against Toyota, but they have had a really long history with safety-issues that can't be denied.

Perhaps I was wrong, maybe BSoDs aren't so bad! ;)

Okay, now, that was long-winded, and I apologize for that, moving right along to the console side of things. I won't lie, I'm a bigger fan of the Playstation, and will come right out with it, but I have played several games on an X-Box 360 as well. I believe the 360 is a good/decent system, but for my preferences and what I'm looking for, it just doesn't "fit me" as well as a Playstation does. One major factor is the exclusive games on the PS3 more fit my tastes than the 360-exclusive games. In fact, I can honestly say that to date, there's only 3 or 4 real 360 exclusive games that have ever really caught my eye that much, and that'd be Fable, the original Saints Row 1 (where you can get 2 & 3 on PS3), Mass Effect 1 (where you can get 2 & 3 on PS3), and some Ninja Blade game I played a demo of off the marketplace; other than that, can't think of too many others that really fit the type of games I'm looking for. But that's just preference on my part, that's nothing against the 360 itself. Also, as far as my preferences go, I feel the PS3 has some better options straight out of the box than 360; and again, this is preference, not saying it's solid fact, and I'm not saying, "360 sucks".

What I am saying, is if I cleared my head completely, stepped back out of the gaming industry, and approached it like somebody who has never touched a game controller before, and compared what I got from the 360 and PS3 side-by-side straight out of the box, I'd probably be more inclined to go with the PS3. Here's why, the PS3 straight out of the box plays Blu-Ray discs, has a built-in media-library, has free web access (*with your own ISP account), game demos you can download and play, the ability to message other users on the PlayStation Network, the ability to play against other players on the PlayStation Network free of charge when I get other games, has Playstation Home that has mini-games and which now has quests you can do, has a built-in browser so I can browse the web from my living-room, or if I happen to not have a computer, as well as a marketplace that allows me to purchase things for straight price without having to use points that never work out even. The 360 by itself straight out of the box, has a built-in media-library, has the ability to make a silver XBL account, a marketplace you can browse, demos you can download and play, and the ability to message other XBL users (I think, not sure if you can do that with a silver account, I never tried on mine). Now to expand from there, if you wanted to do more online with X-Box Live, you'd have to pay more money for a gold account, to be able to play with other players, play games multiplayer (which I usually tend to prefer single-player myself anyways), etc, but still have no way/browser to truly browse the interwebs. Also the XBL Marketplace "Points" get annoying when you can never get just the exact amount you need and are forced to pay more than what you should be for extra points that are useless unless you buy more points to use them up and then again have a points remainder, because you can only buy in "Points Packages". (Please note, I'm being as fair as I can be, if I forgot anything I sincerely apologize, I'm not out to make either look better, doing a true objective comparison).

Now, again, that's my personal preference... I'm not saying it's fact or how everybody should view it. I know there are some that could care less about messaging users, or care less about using PS Home, or give two turds less about free internet access (*with your own ISP account), or even playing Blu-Ray discs. That's another thing I should point out though; last I checked, a Blu-Ray disc can store something like 25gb, whereas a HD DVD (which is what 360 uses) can store something like 8-10gb I believe it is (may be more now??). There's also talks of a dual-layer Blu-Ray disc on the horizon (if it hasn't come to market already?) that will be able to store even more. What that says to me right away, is any game that spans multiple discs will need less discs for a PS3, and thus less disc-changing, which is kind of nice so your gaming isn't interrupted/paused as often. Which again, is a minor thing, if 360 fit my preferences, I'd have no issue with having an extra disc or two to swap out; the other bonus is, should a PS3 version of a game need as many discs as say a 360 version, with the extra space on the disc they usually tend to put in extra goodies. Like I think the PS3 version of Battlefield was supposed to be packed with one of the classic Battlefield games or something along those lines... don't follow shooters much, but there are other games that do the same, why waste the extra storage.

I'm not going to take the time to compare hardware to hardware; not because "I'm afraid the 360 will look better", because there are some specs of the 360 that are actually a bit better than the PS3, just as there's some PS3 specs that are better than the 360. The reason why is in the long-run I feel they're both about equivalent to each other, each has their pros and cons which somewhat equal out, and therefore I don't truly feel that either system is "truly superior", not to mention there's already been hundreds if not thousands of those comparisons done, which can readily be found by means of Google or YouTube.

As far as game-selection goes, again, most big-name games are available on both systems, and I'm not going to say, "PS3 graphics look better than 360", because I truly believe that depends more on the coding of the game itself, as I'll admit I've seen some games look better on PS3, but I've seen just as many look better on 360 as well. Just as some games run smoother/faster on PS3, and just as many run smoother/faster on 360; all depends how they're coded and what they're coded for. Now when it comes to console-exclusives, my preference will lean more towards PS3, simply because I'm more of an open-world, adventure, platforming, single-player, role-playing kind of person; as I stated, Fable on the 360 is fun, but on the PS3 there's Uncharted, Infamous, Little Big Planet, etc, etc. But again, that's my preference, that's not to say the selection is better, as it depends on what you're looking for.

Also, we have to look at motion-control; I know many could care less about it, but where the Nintendo Wii is another competing console that relies on motion-controls, it makes sense. Having used both the Kinect and the Move, from my own preferences, I have to give more props to the PS3 Move. Simply because with the Kinect, you can only flail your arms in so many ways and lean your body in so many ways; where with the Move, it not only reads body movements, but has small hand-held controls for toggles, control buttons, etc. I know the whole hype for Kinect is no controls, but one thing the game industry should have taught us, is depth requires some sort of interface, unless they can invent a device that actually reads your thoughts. Even PC games showed us that; for any old-school computer game player, compare the simplified text commands to the newer point-click interfacing, and how much more depth and options it brings. I mean, I'm not even the largest shooter fan, but I had a blast playing Socom 4 with the PS3 Move using the SharpShooter gun-device; again, not to knock the 360, but I truly feel the depth control can't be replicated by Kinect, and even if so, you'd have to either lean forward or march in place to be able to move forward I'd think.

Now, the big clincher. Before I get into the "networking", I'll go ahead and say for the record, yes, Sony got hacked, and yes as some have said, they took something like 7-10 days to come forward to the public about it, etc. I'm not here to make excuses, but what I can say from my own professional experience in the IT/network-security business, is when something happens of a large-scale, you isolate the issue, figure out what's going on and how to fix it, before you come running out and causing a panic. A fireman, when he shows up to a fire, doesn't start talking to the news reporter while it burns, he puts out the fire. When you're talking technology, it can tend to take a week or so to isolate the problems, secure everything, and take damage-control. Sony however, did come out with everything, even admitting they realized they had a weakened security that they had to fix and update, every detail (even though there were a couple details I'll honestly admit seemed to change as time went on, but they were still pretty close to the truth, may have been a perspective issue), they even pointed out that yes credit card numbers were stolen, but the security codes for those cards were on a separate secure server that wasn't breached, and yes they were down for over a month. I'm not going to fault Sony for that, because in hacking, you have the attacker and you have a victim; Sony was the victim, regardless of whether or not their security was completely up to snuff... (if a wreckless driver slams into my car that's really old and doesn't have all the modern air-bags etc, am I at fault because they slammed in to me?).

Now X-box Live on the other hand, I will admit hasn't had their servers hacked directly, but for almost a year now, several X-Box Live users have been falling victim to hackers. Which again, I won't fault Microsoft for the actions of the hackers, what I do fault is how they handle it. For *several* months, Microsoft first were trying to dodge the subject and brush it under the rug, then once it became big enough of an issue that they couldn't ignore it, they tried pointing the finger at the VICTIMS; the actual USERS and CUSTOMERS of the X-Box Live service. If you use XBL, if you've been hacked, Microsoft was trying to pretty much say it was "user stupidity", if you haven't been hacked yet, there's still a chance it might happen, at which time you become "user stupid" by Microsoft's terms, or at least would have. Finally after almost a year, Microsoft is finally owning up to the fact that yes, users are being hacked and NOT always phished (as I'll admit, there's always going to be a certain percentage of victims who are phished, it happens). Problem is, I've been following this for quite sometime, and even back then, there were obvious signs/proof that certain users weren't phished and still being disregarded as "sucker enough to be phished".

Which brings us to the next issue. I'll honestly admit, there are a decent number of users that had their accounts resolved and returned within the 21 day period, with refunds made for lost money. However, there's also been a decent amount of horror stories ranging anywhere from how the users were treated/handled, how much money they lost, etc. A fellow Raptr user and friend of mine lost several hundred dollars that they needed to care for their one year-old disabled son; problem is, Microsoft had informed them the account would be locked down during investigation, yet the hackers went on to use the attached PayPal to continue to spend money, while Microsoft never notified the user. The user actually had to call into Microsoft to find out that Microsoft was unable to lock their account; decent security would have been to notify the user right away. The user followed the trail of their account, and finally found out their account eventually got sold to somebody else by means of an online service similar to Ebay. There was another article about a gentleman that reported his XBL account hacked, who ended up getting banned because they tracked his account back to an OLD 360 he didn't even have anymore that was being used by a hacker to steal accounts; turns out his old system had a Red Ring of Death (RRoD), he sent it to Microsoft, they refurbished it, sent it or sold it or whatever out to somebody else, that somebody else was using it to attempt to hack people. The guy had been on his new 360 for how long and they still couldn't trace back to THAT system and NOT the old one? Wow. Then I read about another one today, where one gentleman waited 28 days (a whole week more than they said he'd have to wait), called up Microsoft, they told him his claim had been closed because they didn't have the info they needed, etc. He asked why they didn't contact him, they said they didn't have the information, which he said he specifically gave them a different email address to contact him with. He had to wait another 21 days, in which time his friends told him they saw his account online playing games, then finally gets his account back, to find out it'd been being used the whole time to buy games and other items; he calls for a refund, he gets a "manager" who treats him like a tool that pretty much says, "look, sorry for this that and the other thing, you can't escalate this any higher to my manager, there's not a whole lot we can do", etc, etc. Finally however, they agree to refund him credits, a couple months go by, nothing, so he calls them up, and again they say they're going to give him credits, and if I'm correct he's still holding his breath waiting to see anything. There's also been dozens of other horror stories of people having to wait 2 to 3 or more months while this is all dragged out and they're treated like morons by customer support, who don't even have the decency to contact them when there's an issue, like the Raptr user when they were "unable to lock her account". I've even talked to a gentleman that works for Microsoft support, whose own support co-worker at Microsoft got hacked as well!

Now, let's compare the Sony hack and the XBL hack side by side. Again, the hacking itself isn't to blame on either company as they can't control whether or not somebody decides to attack them. But overall view here, Sony was down for over a month fixing the problem, came out and explained it all out for everybody to see, etc. I won't say that none of the PSN users lost any money in the Sony hack, I can't say I've ever seen anybody say they have, but that's not to say nobody did, and for those that may have, that's horrible and it shouldn't happen. I have however seen numerous posts from users who use both XBL and PSN, who have said, and I quote, "during the whole Sony hack I never lost a dime, now my XBL account has been hacked, and I've lost hundreds". Microsoft has been very hush-hush with any information; even now that they're finally admitting to users being hacked, they're still trying to defend that there's no weaknesses at all in their network (from an IT perspective, there's ALWAYS a weakness in ANY system). I mean, it's taken them THIS long to admit that users are being hacked; how much longer is it going to be before they finally come out and say, "oh yeah, oops, it was a weakness in our system"??

Now let's look at the downtime; the whole of PSN was down for over a month, while yet, if you're hacked on XBL, you're off that account for 3 weeks at MINIMUM, many going much beyond a month, even beyond 2 months. On PSN, as long as you've never entered any credit-card info, you have nothing to fear (same as XBL to be honest with a silver account); but again, multiplayer, can play multiplayer free on PSN, want to do that on XBL, you HAVE to purchase gold and enter a credit-card or payment method, and if you get hacked, your info is up for grabs with shopping sprees on your credit-card/PayPal.

I also can't say I know for certain how users were treated when the Sony hack happened, but I still have never seen a horror story where they're given the run around, their account is left in the wind as free prey, or where the customer support treats them like garbage, and then smiles at them in the press conference and says, "you're our loyal customer, please keep giving us your money". Whereas with Sony, after the PlayStation Network was back online, as long as you were just a basic user, they were giving away TONS of free stuff to show how much they cared about you; from what I have read, the customer service during the hacking was actually really good too. I mean, for the record, I haven't dumped a dime into Sony for quite awhile; not because I don't like them, just happened I didn't really dive into many direct Sony items. Perhaps they got some royalties from a PS3 game, but I think the last I dumped money into Sony directly is either when I was paying to play EverQuest 2 many moons ago, or when I bought my PSP several moons ago as well. Even after not having invested much of a dime into Sony, they had 2 free PS3 games for me, 2 free PSP games, free premium services, one year of free account-security protection, etc.

Again, trying to be as objective as possible, looking at the customer service from Sony side-by-side with the horror stories and at times shabbiness of Xbox Live, I'd have to honestly and fairly give this one to Sony. Also for the record, Sony fixed their problem, and even though there was another attempted large-scale hack against them not too long ago, and yes a small number of accounts were compromised (which even one single one counts, not saying it doesn't), they still remain fairly rock-solid; whereas again, XBL for almost a year has been having accounts hacked, money stolen, with it either brushed under the rug, or MS beating around the bush trying to blame its customers/clients that pay their salaries, to finally admit hacking while still trying to say, "our systems are secure, YOU are hacked, not US, we're still PERFECT", but still not really diving in head-first to tackle whatever the hell is going on.

So there you have it, quite long-winded, but my take on why it seems as though I'm railing on Microsoft/X360. I'll honestly admit, if it wasn't for all this XBL nonsense, or how fellow gamers are being treated (victimized by MS Customer-Support after being victimized by the hackers), I'd probably still regard a 360 as just as decent a system as the other consoles on the market. It's not the console itself I have anything against, and I'm not attempting to fan-boy the PS3 (at least not completely... again, preference); it's the treating of the customers... which you can't honestly say isn't your driving reason at times for shopping at say Target or Old Navy instead of Walmart. Q;-)

Reference: http://smarthouse.com.au/Content_And_Downloads/Industry/T8C2V2S2

Reference: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/02/this-was-the-xbox-problem-here-is-the-solution/

Reference: http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/xbox-live-user-discovers-how-her-account-was-hacked-10367

Hilarious paradox realized in Zombie Lore!

Okay, for anybody that loves zombies, you may get a chuckle from this. I was reading my new book, "The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor" (which reads like an actual book and is NOT their typical graphic-novel/comic-book), which I might add is an excellent read, and I highly suggest picking it up for any would be zombie fanatics! Cause after all, EVERYTHING is better with ZOMBIES...

Anyways, as I was reading along, I was pondering the "newer changes" in the modern-day zombie. I've seen and heard many going on about, "what's with zombies running now!?"; because running would suggest some actual cognitive thought as well as a coordinate use of the nervous system, which zombies are supposed to be dead, and might be a mild paradox, I get that; though, I still think it at least makes a bit more realism when they run. Here's why. In the older zombie flicks, I never understood, how something moving so slow and so brain-dead always over-ran the powerful-esque hero types of the movie. I mean, as stated, anybody non-zombie has the ability to run, so why not just turn around and run the other direction and lose them in an instant. It was sort of like the old bogglement around the classic Friday the 13th movies where Jason Vorhees always walked after his victims, and yet was right behind them as they ran for what seemed like an eternity. Okay, so that's not the paradox I wanted to point out, just through this in to freshen you up for the actual paradox, and just to throw out both sides of that particular coin.

After reading this, it may become quite a bit more clear as to why the modern zombie snacks now on the whole body and not just the brain. So here's the paradox I stumbled upon. The traditional zombie in lore, way back in the early days, like seen in

in cult-classic films such as "Night of the Living Dead", as well as other underground comic book publications, zombies were often portrayed as brain-dead ghoulies that needed to feast upon brains to stay functional. Which, is where it dawned on me a paradox lays heavily. If this has already been pointed out before, please forgive me, as I must have been completely oblivious to it. So here's the paradox I came to realize; the classic zombie would feast on their living flesh of a person, eating their brains, which would logically

make them a brain-dead zombie. Figured out the paradox yet? No? Well, here's where it starts to become chuckle-some. In order to kill a zombie, you have to shoot it in the head and destroy its brain. See the paradox now? One would think that if a zombie already had its brains eaten, the brain should already be destroyed, yet you have to destroy and already destroyed brain in order to stop it!? LOL. Something tells me this was stumbled upon by creative writers along the way, who obviously decided to kind of sweep that tidbit of realization under the rug, which would explain why now zombie infection is much like a rabid rabies bite, just one bite and you're infected; which is probably also why now zombies feast upon the whole body and not just the brain.

So there you have it in a nutshell... why cult-classic zombie films could also qualify into the genre of... comedy!? ;)

GamersFirst = MoneyFirst!?

No, you didn't misread the title, it's exactly as it indicates. Let me point out first for the record, even though some have suggested since Fallen Earth has gone F2P, they believe the premiums make it a pay to win game. Which, we'll put that side for the time being, as this focus isn't so much on the game, but instead the recent contest they're running.

Some of you may be aware that Fallen Earth has recently gone free-to-play, and others may also be aware they're doing a contest giveaway, where the grand prize winner would receive something in the neighborhood of $2,000-$2,500 worth of prizes, with other prizes below it. However, the contest may as well be rigged, let me explain why. Before I do, I would like to point out, that at the start of the contest, I even asked in the help channel, "this contest is open to everybody right? I'm not going to find out at the end it was only for premium players?", to which a GM replied to me with, "everybody has an equal chance at winning, even freebie players". Which actually is proving to not be true.

Fallen Earth offers a few premium services you can pay for, which speeds up certain things such as AP gain, experience gain, unlimited money (freebie players are limited to 10 red chips unless they get premium or buy an item from cash shop), etc. Turns out they also have a harvesting speed bonus for when they scavenge nodes, etc. Well, after you register for this contest, the way it works, is there's several MainTech computer part nodes scattered randomly all throughout the gaming world of Fallen Earth. Figuring it out yet? Let me go deeper into detail here in saying, a top premium player harvests a node in 2.8 seconds (checked, confirmed, and verified), while a f2p player harvests a node in 5.9 seconds (verified on my character as a freebie player). Which if you look at one node to the next, doesn't seem like much. However, if you look at the entire contest, over it's longevity of 30 days, it snowballs quite a bit. Now, to add to that, which I'm willing to write off as an accidental oversight, it's been confirmed that individual premium players have been zooming around in interceptors (fastest vehicle in the game) around the clock to collect up as many nodes as they can. Now for the record, it is possible for a freebie player to make an interceptor, but it's pretty much impossible any would have one yet unless somebody gave it to them, and even then they probably wouldn't even be able to use it. Due to the crafting system that Fallen Earth has, along with level requirements to make an interceptor, in the short time Fallen Earth has been f2p, it's virtually impossible that any freebie player could have made an interceptor already. To add to that, a freebie player has a money limit of 10 red caps, which because of this, people purposely put interceptors on auction for more than 10 red caps for a reason.

Allow me to share the forum post I made about this on the Fallen Earth forums:

(Also to note, due to certain forum responses I received, as well as one guy in help channel trying to pretend he was Mr. Wizard, I'd like to point out, that this is just a hypothetical scenario... for those that want to argue "random chance" of finding nodes, since that "random chance" works equally against freebie players and premium players, we're going to look at that as a constant variable, which I know is a paradox, but still, is actually a non-factor in the overall outcome, as it applies equally to both kinds of players.)

To this post, FYI, one premium player actually responded with, and I quote: "If I'm paying for this game, I should have a better chance at winning this contest than you do. Holla!". Which

would confirm exactly what I've been saying!

Way to go MoneyFirst, you've successfully taken play to win to a whole other level. It's one thing for a GAME to be pay to win, it's a complete other to have contests that are supposed to "fair and square" become pay to win as well. For all froobs that registered for this contest, seems at the very least, it was all just a sham to get more email addresses on their mailing list, and perhaps even a way to rub freebie players noses in the fact they're not paying and in a round about reverse-psychology way, bend their arm into paying for a premium. As I said in the post, I *was* a huge fan of GamerFirst, but this just does it for me.

Oh, also, I should also point out, if you're a freebie player, they may as well not even care that you're there. Here's why. After having slept on this last night, today I decided to contact somebody at Fallen Earth and/or GamersFirst, figuring that GMs didn't really have much control over how the contest is run or operated, and that perhaps somebody higher up on the food chain wasn't aware of the shenanigans. However, upon going to the Fallen Earth support website, and clicking, "contact us", this is what I see, LOL:

Wow, really!? First of all, let this be a public announcement to any freebie players in a GamesFirst game; should you have an issue that goes beyond a GM, seems there's absolutely no open-door policy whatsoever, so for what it's worth, don't go pissing off those GMs. Secondly, how absurd is it, that after being "so sorry" that this service is restricted to paying players, they'd follow it up at the end by attempting to usher you to the MARKETPLACE. For anybody that read my F2P vs P2P article, this would probably constitute into the category of "mortgaging your gaming experience"!

I mean, just WOW. Instead of GamersFirst, perhaps they should name themselves "money talks and bull!@#! walks", really!? I must say, it's quite devastating to find out a gaming company I used to have worlds of respect for turned out to be a run of the mill slum-lord.

Top 5 Technology Innovations that never came to be...

Note: Apologies for taking so long to make another article. After the last one I was working on and may still get back to sometime being lost, (Google Chrome crashed, and for whatever reason, it was the only time Blogger ever decided to NOT auto-save), successfully losing six hours worth of work and six hours of my life I'll never get back, I was sort of doing a silent-protest against Blogger... even though it was a joint-effort between the browser and Blogger, but anywho. For those curious, the last article I was working on that lost six hours worth of work, was going to be a minimum of a four page spread, chronicling the biggest and most memorable gaming feats since I first got into gaming back in 1983. More or less my own personal compendium of anything noteworthy in gaming, even if it wasn't something that I myself personally followed. May still be coming, but for the time being, has been shelved... anyways, I digress...

With all the many and unending different lists (*waves hands* Umm, you do realize the emphasis in the above picture is supposed to be on the BEER HAT yes!? ;]) coming out of the greatest and most awesome innovations, titles, and creations that ever came to be, I figured I'd take an opposite approach and shed some light on some of the biggest controversies in technology that never came to be and/or got !@#!-canned before they ever had a chance to blossom. I may update this as time goes on if/when I can recall any other overly noteworthy innovations that never came to be (like perhaps *hint, hint* the hoverboard, hover car, the fully solar-powered car that should have released a decade ago, the light-bulb that never burns out... just to name a few).

#1. Star Trek Online using Perpetual Engine by Perpetual Entertainment

Many I've talked to have seemed puzzled when I mention the Perpetual Engine and don't realize that Star Trek Online wasn't ever originally Cryptic's baby IP. The truth of the matter is Star Trek Online originally went into early development in 2004 by Perpetual Entertainment. The 3

images above, as well as the one to the left, are actual screenshots from their working engine of the game and what the game would have actually looked like. The Perpetual Engine also promised to have planets randomly appear, with full random terrain, environment, weather, population, npcs, etc to truly add to a realistic sense of actual space exploration, which is what the original concept of Star Trek was, and still is. Don't get me wrong; I recently started giving Cryptic's Star Trek Online a chance, and even though it's great fun and really neat, I'm still left to wonder what could have been with the Perpetual Engine, as well as what new MMO standards it may have set for other games and designs with seamless and virtually unending exploration.

#2. Ultima Online 2 (Officially dubbed: Ultima Online Worlds: Origin)

Recognize the image above? Unless you're a true hardcore gamer, and were also a PC gamer back in 1999 as well as following the Ultima storyline, you probably don't. The image above is from Ultima IX: Ascension, which in my opinion was probably one of the best PC-based open-world RPGs of all time. But why does that matter to Ultima Online? Because what many don't know is, there was originally planned to be an Ultima Online 2, yes, that's right, a SEQUEL to the great Ultima Online that so many rave about actually USING the Ascension Engine!! But why didn't it ever come to be you might ask? That's because Richard Garriot and Origin had the game fully designed and ready to go,

(seen in the image to the right which is an actual screenshot taken from within the early-beta of the working game), up until Electronic Arts actually stated they were afraid they'd lose too many players from the original Ultima Online, thus the bottom line worry was a fear of losing money, and decided to scrap the whole idea. In turn, Richard Garriot walked out (not that I blame him and would have done the same exact thing), which ultimately buried any and all ongoing continuations to the Ultima storyline. It's worth noting the silliness of EA's worrying, as any users that would have left the original Ultima Online would more than likely have migrated to Ultima Online 2. Perhaps their worry more stemmed from a reason to keep the servers up, or perhaps more the reaction of fans that would start asking why they were spoon fed everything they were about Ultima Online and sinking their money continually into it, when something that could have been so much better was so readily available. Another thought to ponder, Ultima Online 2 was pretty much finishing up and almost ready for release by March of 2001. Now let's think about this. Even World of Warcraft wasn't announced until September of 2001, and finally released in November of 2004; and it's also worth pointing out they're going on 7 years of flushing it all out and improving it. Imagine if you will, a game that was that vividly rich, realistic, and entertaining as Ultima Online 2 using the Ascension engine released three years prior, with an equivalent 7 years to improve it and make it better. Would it be possible that had this came to be, World of Warcraft may not have been as successfully huge as it ended up being, thus the MMO genre may not have been overshadowed and sucked as dry as it has by WoW!? Imagine how much more level-field the MMO genre, especially when it comes to fantasy-based games, would be if there was an equal competitor back from the start. Perhaps there wouldn't have been nearly as many WoW clones and so much loathing now for anything fantasy, as I can safely speak for myself and many others that I know, that may go postal if we see anymore WoW clones or rehashes of what can be done with fantasy, dragons, sword/shield, and anything else medieval! Hey Electronic Arts... don't you just wish you had the millions and billions of dollars that Blizzard is now making with their product (World of Warcraft) that ultimately buried your baby Ultima Online!? LOL!

#3. Super Nintendo / Super Famicom CD-Rom Drive

What you see above is the Super Famicom (Super Nintendo in North America), but I wonder what that is under it!? This one is an innovation that I'm kind of glad it ended up the way it did. Why you ask? Well, that image above was to be the CD-Rom drive for the Super Nintendo. Even though back then I absolutely loved the Super Nintendo and was completely drooling at the idea of SNES games on CD and a dockable drive that sat under the main console, and was really sad back then to hear the idea was scrapped, it turned out for the best. You're still asking why? How ironic it'd be, let's take a really close and long hard look at that image again. Oh look, the Super Nintendo is giving birth to the Playstation. That's right, you got it! Nintendo originally looked to Sony to develop what would become the SNES CD-Rom drive, and even though Sony had a built prototype that they

unveiled for the world to see, ready for market, Nintendo at the last minute decided to back out and claim that they felt cartridges were the wave of the future and the CD media wouldn't keep the push that it had. Sony being the awesome marketing geniuses that they are, absolutely refused to lose the money already invested into development and manufacturing in such a disrespectful manner, and in result, turned around to patent it as the first PlayStation home gaming system. Whoops, don't get me wrong, I love Nintendo and all, but I love my Playstation even more; so for what it's worth Nintendo, thank you. However, let's imagine for a second, just how much huger and bigger of a gaming giant Nintendo *could have been* had they taken the opportunity to have the biggest jump-start ahead of the curve in the realm of CD-based console games. I guess Nintendo can toss this one in their loss column along with their Virtual Boy and Power Glove (which for the record, I still think the Power Glove was an awesome idea and innovation, just perhaps was ahead of its time and wasn't manufactured/designed as well as it could have been).

#4. Virtual Reality

For any of the teenie-boppers that may be reading this, yes, Virtual Reality actually did exist for a very short time, it wasn't just science fiction you read about in books or see in movies like Lawnmower Man, The Matrix, or Tron. However, due to many issues with some peoples equilibrium and some other issues, the entire concept ended up being for the most part scrapped from the public market. Leaving us hardcore VR enthusiasts to really dig through the scraps to continue our pursuits in more of a fanatical approach. For those who may not be aware of what

Virtual Reality is, it would allow for a person to use a video headset to actually put themselves into the game itself, as though the game were a true "virtual world" that was wrapped around them as the center focus. Now even I ask myself if this was a good thing or a bad thing; could Virtual Reality development have been ahead of its time? Could be possible. I am happy to see the newer innovations coming to market, such as the PlayStation Move, as well as using it with the SharpShooter peripheral. It allows for motion-reading, controller-based movement, and realistic aiming, with many more awesome prospects still yet waiting to be unlocked. Now just couple that with a video-headset and perhaps one of those old Interactor force-feedback vests (another technological invention that didn't last long), and maybe even a Nintendo Power Glove (yet another technological invention that didn't fare well), and you're all set!

#5. Apple Windows!? (WTF!?)

Disclaimer: This portion is NOT to help those zealots who want to believe Steve Jobs was (a) God who gets full credit for being the biggest innovator in the gaming industry. For the record Steve Jobs and Apple focused on hardware and OSes, such as cell phones, computers, laptops, tablets, music players, portable devices, etc... they NEVER made any huge break into the gaming industry. I have full respect for Steve Jobs, but the fanboys chanting his name are fabricating false truths, just as many fanboys do about anything else they want to be a delusional follower of (I actually read somebody saying the other day saying that "Steve Jobs is personally responsible for bringing us the personal computer"... mmm-KAY, right, love the guy Steve Jobs, but NOT TRUE! Maybe these chanting fanboys should realize they're going to ultimately get people to end up hating Steve Jobs or at least hearing about untruths claimed in his name!). Anyways, this IS meant to be a props to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, please don't use this to stretch it anymore than that, thank you. So if you are one that seems to believe that Steve Jobs created life... please, by all means, go get an iLife and let us know what it's all about, peace out homie!

Saving the best for last, probably the biggest controversy known by 99% of all geeks, (myself included), the ACTUAL origins of WINDOWS and how it came to be. *GASP* Yep, I'm letting the skeletons out of the closet Big Brother... go suck an egg, cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get the !@#! over it. Anyways, it's no huge secret that Microsoft hasn't had an original thought since coming up with the company title, especially seeings even DOS was bought by Bill Gates from a drugged out college student flunky and then delivered to IBM (which Bill Gates already sold them DOS before even having it) for mass-production. However, not everybody is privy to the how and why of how Windows came to be. Long story short, Bill Gates being the devil in sheep's clothing that he is, approached Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, claiming he wanted to *help them* make the

MacOS the best it could be, as he felt the idea was truly revolutionary. All the while, Bill Gates and crew worked to reverse engineer the code and use the new "format" for their own ends. Just before MacOS was to hit the public market, Bill Gates beat Steve Jobs to the punch and revealed Windows to the world; which ended up making the MacOS look more like a "wannabe copy-cat" sadly. How much different the realm of technology may have turned out had MacOS came before Windows; then perhaps Microsoft wouldn't be the cut-throat greedy bastards that monopolize technology and flash you the biggest price tags to keep it moving along. For what it's worth, before anybody claims I'm a hypocrite, I actually dual-boot my box/rig with RedHat Linux, and only really run Windows Vista for any games that either can't be ported to Linux, or don't want to without issues/bugs/glitches. However, let's ponder for a moment how much better the world could have been, both in technology and in just in general, had Steve Jobs been the one making millions or billions of dollars every day like Microsoft does. If Bill Gates could have been the one left in the dust and being forced to grovel at Steve Jobs feet instead. Yes, it's sad, that people like Bill Gates exist, that came into the life of Steve Jobs, to hold such genius minds like Steve Jobs under their thumb until they're in the ground. For what it's worth, Bill Gates, I really do pray that one day you burn in hell, but that might be best saved for another article, maybe? Q:)

So there you have it, the top 5 innovations that never came to be; maybe more being added later as I recall any others that are overly noteworthy. Until next time, I leave you with one final thought...

Reminiscing - a Flash TO the past!?

Okay, yeah, I know, it was only a matter of time before reflections of the past would be the topic for the article. Anybody who has followed me or chatted with me on gaming sites, or even just social sites should be perfectly aware that I often times refer to games of the past, and at times long for the same impressions of modern games as found in those old-school gaming memories of yesteryear. On a side note, modern day games understandably are going to have a much different mechanic than single-player games of the past, however, that's no reason they should lose the personal feeling; as an example, could you imagine being in an MMO and actually running into the pushy clerk from Space Quest III's Monolith Burger?? It's rare to see such personal feel in games, one recently I must give props to is Hellgate: Global... as some of the shop keepers catch you much off guard; there was one that I wasn't expecting what they said and nearly spit coffee all over my LCD monitor while laughing my behind off. But, I digress, gaming is starting to feel somewhat like an assembly line, recycle, polish, and pump it out for the next sales release.

Anywho, apologize for the sideline, now on to what you came to see; the games that I feel truly shaped the gaming industry over the years, whether I liked 'em or didn't, and props to their designers for raising the bar that much further. Since there will be many genres, systems, and generations covered, this will be a multi-page article, so if you get to the end of this, and wonder, "hey wait, where's this system?", be sure to check for more pages.

Alrighty, here we go... since I started on the stick and dot, doot and beep video games in 1983, that would seem the best place to start...

Atari, ColecoVision (Adam), Intellivision, and early PC/Apple/Amiga/C-64 Titles:

(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

[Due to a crash with Google Chrome the other day, and Blogger not auto-saving for some odd reason... (which it's always done in the past)... nearly and roughly 6 hours of work was lost which is 6 hours of my life I will never get back... just waiting until I have the gumption to give this another attempt...]

Security Alert: MS-XBL - More than meets the eye!?

Okay, I wasn't planning on this being the next entry, but like the Steve Jobs tribute, I feel this is more of a "priority posting". I've been hard at work, tailing leads, getting insider info, and sniffing out the facts, so that I can deliver to YOU the loyal readers, gamers, and users, the information that you really want to know!! For the record, let me first explain, I'm seriously not trying to hate on Microsoft. Admittedly, on the PC software side of things, I'll say straight out, I can't stand Windows whatsoever, nor how they've handled it since the very first Windows. I play on a 360, and I'll admit, it is an impressive system; I will say there are areas that are minor cons or some stuff that's lacking, but that's my own preference. I also play on a PS3 and Wii; I honestly like to have all consoles, so if any exclusive game comes out for any system, and it's one I think I'll like, I can just play it, thus I try not to fall into any fanboy narrow-vision. Yes, I do have my favorite preference for systems, but that doesn't mean I take anything away from the other two. Now with that aside, on to the security alert... I just wanted to clear the air to make it clear that this is not an attempt to hate on Microsoft or make them look bad... this is however what I feel is a needed posting to help protect the end-users/players of 360 and/or XBL (XBox Live) as well as ensure their safety.

From what I've been seeing, reading, and witnessing, there seems to be a really large number that's kind of spiraling out of control, in regards to the number of XBL users that are being hacked. I know, I know, many are going to say, "oh that's the LulSec list of leaked accounts thing", which at first I gave that a fair chance, but upon further investigating and digging, I'm finding that's actually NOT linked, or at least not to the recent account hacks. As you'll see in the posts I plan to link for you, people are being quoted as saying: "This has nothing to do with LulzSec hack of a bunch of random accounts, because I was not on that list, and got broken into anyways", another user says, "This account is only used for Microsoft accounts and services, nothing else, and it got hacked". So there's something definitely amiss on the Microsoft Network. I will say, read this all, let it all sink in, then give it a fair judgement, as you may read one link and think, "oh that's this or that, they're just jumping the gun", actually read thoroughly and actually see the large number of reports coming in, including LockerGnome saying he was told directly by an MS Rep that it'd be "3-6 weeks before his account could be fixed" and when he asked why, he was informed by the same MS Rep, "it's due to a high number of recently hacked XBL accounts".

First link up for grabs, the questioning doubt to the network security:

Has XBox Live Suffered a Data Breach?

This is just a report of somebody else that's been noticing the same thing I have, numerous reports coming in from all over the internet of complaints about hacked XBox Live accounts along with those accounts being used to purchase MS Point Cards which are then redeemed, etc. They also quote what Microsoft reps seems to be telling them about "safe security" as they've told some other people, yet other reps have been quoted in referencing high numbers of hacked accounts, hrmz!

Next article to ponder, these are posts made DIRECTLY on the actual forums of Xbox.com, where multiple users are not only saying they've been hacked, but also where the one person is quoted in saying: "This has nothing to do with LulzSec hack of a bunch of random accounts, because I was not on that list, and got broken into anyways"... Xbox Forums.

Now moving right along, let's take a look at an actual video recorded not so long ago by the infamous LockerGnome, who usually defends Microsoft, DRM, and actually typically only has praise for Microsoft, who was hacked, while pointing out his account is only used for Microsoft services and nothing else... LockerGnome speaks his mind about XBL/Microsoft hacking. Also don't forget to check out his follow-up article about this at: XBox Live Hacked reported by LockerGnome.com!

Another piece of the puzzle to ponder over coming in from "Quarter to Three" Forums, more posts of various people being hacked on XBL, again, pointing out that this may not be as related to the LulSec list leak as many had thought, where some are even linking to other posts of people being hacked!... Quarter to Three Forums.

Finally, I throw in this last article, because it actually kind of bothers me. Now, keep in mind, this is a news article from back in March of 2011, but oddly, the article points out hackers exploiting the XBL service to acquire over a million dollars worth of MS points (which oddly, many of the recent hackings seem to be hackers in search

of more free MS points, coincidence!?). The difference here is, the hackers in this article managed to figure out the algorithm used in generating the MS Point code given for redemption, and exploited the bajesus out of it by keygen'ing themselves a buttload of MS points obviously! Now, before I get to the link, the major reason I have a problem with this, is Microsoft has been swearing since back in April or May that they've NEVER been hacked, if that's the case, what the hell is this from March reading... Microsoft Xbox Live Marketplace Hacked for $1.2M!?

UPDATE: Found another one -

http://gotgame.com/2011/10/01/is-xbox-live-being-hacked/

UPDATE: Late entrance to the dance, but was doing some more searching, and decided to expand all the different linked threads found about "xbox live accounts being hacked" on Xbox official forums, here's the search results, brace yourself, there's LOTS:

XBox Forum hits on Google

UPDATE: From what I'm now findings, seems a lot (I won't say all, or even most) of the hacked accounts are being hacked in order to purchase items for Fifa Soccer on the Marketplace (UPDATE: Once the account has been hacked, they can purchase anything they wish, as reports have come in that the hackers have purchases XBL Arcade games, as well as Zune Points with the credit cards attached). Also to point out, as seen in some of the articles I've already posted, you don't have to play Fifa to become targeted; I think a couple of the articles the people said "I don't even play Fifa and my account bought stuff for it!". Microsoft is STILL staying tight-lipped and not saying anything, the only real peep that's been mentioned as far as I know, is as typical, Microsoft is trying to point the finger of blame at EA's servers, claiming they have an instability that allows for an exploit; though, that still leaves the remaining question, if the instability is with EA, why is it compromising the security of the accounts located on the XBL server!? There's more and more articles starting to turn up online about it, and Microsoft is still claiming, "we're just as secure as ever"... RIIIGHT; anywho, here's a listing of matching articles on Google related to hacked accounts used to purchase Fifa Marketplace items.

UPDATE: Here's a couple more articles that have recently poured in, be sure to check out the comments on the first one, and closely read the second one. More and more are coming to the forefront saying they're not happy and want answers... Microsoft can only deny it for so long. Anyways, here's the first article addressing the situation and here's the article pointing out that people want answers!

UPDATE: Another article with quoted blurbs about members posting how their accounts have been hacked on forums at SecurityNewsDaily. And here's another from NeoSeeker pointing out now it's XBox Live, as well as Games For Windows Live, and now even PayPal accounts aren't safe!!

UPDATE: This article from VideoGameWriters is a DEFINITE must read. It's shedding some light on the how and why XBox Live account are so easily being slaughtered by hackers. Seems there's an exploit supposedly within the FIFA coding that allows a person to recover another person's XBL account straight to their console for free access to their account, linked credit cards, and any linked services. Now, it's worth pointing out, the coding for "account recovery" is hard-coded into the console itself (as can be found in the console/account menus); so even though Microsoft is trying to shove the blame off on EA, the exploit actually takes advantage of the coding that MICROSOFT has in place to recover accounts. It would also indicate why Microsoft, as they say, "have no evidence that accounts are compromised"; where this is a standard function, it won't raise a security red flag. Though, one would wonder just how many ongoing recovered accounts they'd need to log before they stopped and thought, "this is unusual activity!".

UPDATE: Here's an article from Giant-Bomb, that focuses on both Microsoft and EA pointing out that FIFA itself is NOT directly responsible for the exploit, and that's it's no one particular game. The article eventually tries to curve to social networking, but at one point it brushes on the topic of "tricking services", which actually couples with some other evidence I had found on this issue recently. The evidence (although theoretical at best at this point) suggest embedding a certain javascript of sorts into an email and sending the email to the network server responsible for account recovery, which in turn the javascript with trigger authorization, tricking the server to believe the sender is the rightful owner of any given gamer-tag/account, thus restoring full authorization rights to said account as the [new] owner. Somewhat reminiscent of an old trick back in the day on some websites that weren't properly secured, where a person could insert the right values on the URL in the form of URL variables, which would in turn trick the server into giving one user access to another user's account/profile where they could fully view/edit any data in that account; even view data not typically seen by others.

UPDATE: Here's an article from Neowin focusing a bit more thoroughly on some hacks, as well as some screenshots of point balances and transactions. What's also interesting to note, is recently it seems many accounts are now also being transferred/migrated to Russian servers in the hack. Could it be the hackers are leaving a paper trail now? What's sad though, from what I've read on the Xbox forums, is there are many users whose accounts got migrated to Russia, that can't be transferred back, at least not yet, as the MS reps seem to inform them that the que for account transfers to the US are full, and there's no "open slots" as they put it.

UPDATE: Microsoft can't dodge much longer now... it seems now lists of XBL gamer tags, associated valid passwords, email addresses, and other account information are being leaked around the internet, it what's being dubbed a "test run" to show that it is possible to hack XBL... similarly to what happened not long before Sony got broken into. Microsoft is still attempting to call it a "phishing scheme", however, if it was "just phishing", they would have had no reason to come clean MONTHS ago informing people, "major phishing incidents are going on, beware of this and that"; but no, they keep brushing it under the rug... why? Check out this article on Gadgets + Gizmos that covers some of the details.

UPDATE: Check out this in-depth view of one of the many victims, and fellow friend of the Raptr community... on GameRevolution!

UPDATE: Microsoft is STILL trying to call this a phishing scam; big hole in that theory though, is a phishing scam usually has a detectable similarity between incidents. In all incidents so far, there's not really much of any link, not even the suspected link to an EA compromise, as many that have been hacked haven't had an EA account. I even heard from somebody that works at Microsoft support that one of their fellow co-workers was hacked. I'd really think that if it was a phishing scam that Microsoft Support is helping their users with, they wouldn't actually fall for the same "scam". I know when I worked as a network engineer and desktop support technician, typically when I knew what was hurting/effecting systems, I knew what to be careful of, how to avoid it, and not fall victim to the same issues. (Which on a side note, makes troubleshooting your own errors/issues that much harder, as most times when you can't figure it out, it's something not all that common nor easily fixable... which probably holds true for the MS employee that got hacked!)

UPDATE: Microsoft FINALLY starting to ACTUALLY admit there's a genuine HACKING issue, rather than continuing to deny it and blame it on "user stupidity"; check it out on cNet!

UPDATE: Further look at Microsoft ACTUALLY admitting to many of the XBL users being hacked, while still attempting to beat around the bush a bit, at least they're FINALLY owning up to it... after how long now, almost a year!? Check it out here on ITproPortal!

UPDATE: Turns out hackers are now also using XBox Live to prank the local authorities/police and SWAT teams to targeted homes. As seen here on ABC Action News. Wasn't long before this I recall seeing another article about a hacker that was losing on XBL sending a SWAT team to a gamer's house for "payback" under false pretenses. Seriously!? THAT is what hackers do now and days!? Things sure have changed since back in my day. In the above linked ABC Action News article, its pointed out the hackers are able to grab social security numbers, personal information such as addresses, and credit card numbers. Come on Microsoft... even IF the account gets hacked, the information should be ENCRYPTED... especially for a MINOR!

Another swatting: here in Florida.

And: here on Channel 6 News.

Also found: here on Macon News.

UPDATE: It seems Microsoft security is so weak that not even its own EXECUTIVES are safe, as the accounts of several MS execs are being hacked now too!!!  Source - "Microsoft execs' Xbox Live accounts hacked, investigation still underway".  (March 20, 2013)

UPDATE: Proof that the problem was never fixed as again accounts are being hacked, while hundreds of dollars are being charged on attached credit-cards for the sake of purchasing goods that are transferred off the account and later auctioned.  Source - "11-year-old boy among victims of hacking, mom on hook for game purchases".  (March 25, 2013)

OBSERVATION: I'm truly thinking that Microsoft is somehow trying to cover this up and sweep it under the rug. I can't prove it for certain, but I've noticed something quite oddly STRANGE. Most the stuff I've linked in here, I truly had to SCOUR for. I mean, I had to toss in numerous search strings into "news" on Google to find them; such as "xbl hack", "xbl exploit", "xbl security", "xbox hack", "xbl scam", "xbox breach", etc. Most times when I would, I'd be LUCKY to find a handful of any articles that matched and were actually pertinent to the subject. I used to notice that as I found new references and material, some of the old stuff didn't seem like it was there, or wasn't being found. Now, today on March 10, 2012 (yes over a year since all the XBL issues started), I'm again scouring, but what I find odd is if I type those same strings into Google, only SOME are lucky to get 3-4 matches TOPS, and typically one MIGHT be related. While on other search engines like Ask Jeeves, Dogpile, Altavista, etc, I go under "news" search, and I don't find jack. But oddly, type in any other subject matter, and you'll have matches show up from 3-5 years ago. I truly think that Microsoft or somebody affiliated is going out of their way to have criteria, or subject matter either blocked from being found, scrubbed of meta-link search tags, or something, so that it stays off the radar. Just seems so odd, that after the whole "Playstation Hack" in April or so of 2011, the news was EVERYWHERE. You only had to go to a news site and BOOM there it was, and EVERYBODY was aware of it. But while Xbox Live users have been being hacked for over a year, with an overall stolen money amount having to be in the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, you have to be a friggin' private-eye detective just to find a MODERATE lead on anything!? While still yet there's absolutely nothing at all from Microsoft relating to a plan of action, the cause of the issue, any form of found exploits, what their plan is to fix it... absolutely nothing. Something smells rotten and fishy here. I've said it before, the consoles themselves, the Xbox 360 and the PS3 are each equally good, each has their pros and cons... but for the love of God, please bare this in mind, Microsoft has been a shady company for ages. Even the original start of Microsoft, what they did to Steve Jobs, and anybody else they could step on while they climbed to the top was crooked. Just keep in mind, if you're not already an Xbox Live user or an owner of an Xbox 360, but are planning to invest in the near future, I can't point out strongly enough: BUYER BEWARE!!! If you are a current Xbox Live user, just to keep yourself safe, remove any and all credit-card information, debit-card information, paypal information, and ANYTHING that could link to anything you have money in. You may hate this article, you may hate me for saying it, you may be a Microsoft fanboy, but is it really worth chancing your bank account being drained dry over? Is that a gamble you're willing to take? At the very least, remove any and all payment and financial information until Microsoft can get their head out of their rear, actually address this issue, actually give some sort of plan of attack (as Sony did with taking down the whole of PSN and fixing it), and then afterwards can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt their network is as bulletproof as they've been preaching it *supposedly* is!!!

FYI: If your account has been hijacked, or if it gets hijacked in the future, from what I've read, the best course of action is to contact your credit card company ASAP, and have them reverse the charges, maybe even reissue you a new credit card with a different CC#. Still call Microsoft to have them investigate, but from what I've read, if you only go through Microsoft, it could take over a month to recover the money, and in some cases users have reported having to take a loss on the money and never getting it back, as some MS Reps inform them of something along the lines that they can't verify the authenticity of who made the actual transaction or how it was made. If you haven't been hijacked yet, it'd be best to remove any and all credit card information from your XBL Gold account and for the time being use prepaid point cards and try to use up all the point on stuff you want or might have fun with as there's nothing for the hijackers to take. If you do need to keep a card on your XBL Gold, try to make sure it's NOT a debit card, as I've been finding that it seems near impossible to recover lost money through a debit card. It's sad this is happening, in this current time-frame Christmas is right around the corner, and these funds could be better used to pay bills and/or get Christmas presents and decorations for friends and family, so please, by all means possible, keep yourself as safe as you possibly can!

Now, the follow-up. I've been hearing chatter from some "inside source" that shall remain un-named. But one is a former Microsoft employee who now works for another big-name gaming company, who has actually confirmed and verbally said "Microsoft has been hacked". Another "inside source" from the same company informed me that their friend attempted to call Microsoft to remove their credit card data to remain safe, the MS rep informed them that they couldn't until their subscription was over, so when that friend inquired about whether they'd been hacked or not, the rep actually told them, "our network is secure as ever". Secure as ever? Okay, how do you explain all the number of reported hacked accounts that I just shared with you, as well as what could be tons of others that I still haven't found scouring the interwebz yet!? (BTW, as I find new references I'll be sure to post them here and keep all the users updated!)

Overall, the biggest problem I have with all of this. It seems Microsoft has been being hacked for quite some time now, and at first it was them losing the money over MS Points; okay, that happens, they kind of covered it up and swept it under the rug. But guess what, in doing so, it now shafts the players and end-users, because now YOU the loyal subscribers of XBox Live are now the hackers targets. The hackers can no longer keygen their own MS Points, so now they

target YOU the players, in order to get the MS Points they so seek. Here's where the problem gets even bigger; as Microsoft continues to deny any security issues, it gives YOU the players a false sense of security, as well as leaves you prone to being blind-sided. The other major issue with this, as Microsoft sits back and denies any security issues, they're stocks continue to rise and boom, while other outfits such as Sony and Nintendo who are admitting to their services being hacked, are losing butt-loads of money; so let's re-evaluate this equation. What we primarily have, is Microsoft getting richer and making more money, at the expense of Nintendo, Sony, and YOU their loyal clientele! WTF!?

Honestly, with already accumulated shady incidents in the past with Microsoft, (one of which comes to mind was the infamous blue-screen that occurred on worldwide television while Bill Gates himself was firing up the initial launch of Windows 98), if they keep sweeping this under the rug and covering it up, they're only digging their own hole that much deeper. Can you imagine the fallout this is going to have if and when it every finally surfaces? "Oh yeah, Microsoft has been being hacked for almost a year now, but we just didn't want to tell the users, and felt we'd let them keep being the victims while we hushed it up and cover it over". As much as it pains me to say it, that could ultimately be the hair that breaks the camel's back for me; how many exploited clientele is it going to take, to pad their stocks and profits that much more, before they finally come clean?? A hundred XBL users? A thousand users? A million? Maybe I'm old school, but I believe that every single individual customer, client, guest, or whatever you want to call them is just as valuable as any other, thus every single one are just as important as a million. The other thing, if and when it ever surfaces, that's going to end up plummeting Microsoft's stock value far more than it's being increased now by letting their colleagues take the fall.

Anyways, in closing, it'll be interesting to see what unfolds in the coming days, weeks, even months; perhaps Microsoft will finally come clean with their security issues. Though, if Windows was any example, they kept paving over their numerous network security issues there and wanted to pretend like they were no big deal. So, I'll let you the loyal readers decide what you think, please be safe, and by all means, if you have ANY credit card information or traces of it on your XBox Live accounts, please, please, please remove any and all traces from your console, from your account, etc. If for whatever reason you really do have to get anything on the XBL Marketplace, do as Jeff Dunham has Walter say, "get yer' sh*t and get out!", lol. Until further notice, I know it's a pain in the ^_^ , but if you need MS points, please be safe and purchase them from retailers, don't take a chance of your credit card information tying into your account and then being stolen. w0rd 0ut mah h0m1ez... Peace!¡! \m/,