Square Enix Crafting Another MMO, Big Question, Why

Square Enix is undoubtedly one of the biggest publishers in the industry. When it comes to MMO's though they've never had the best track record. Final Fantasy XI was never a smash success (though it did gain a cult following), and Final Fantasy XIV... well we all know how that worked out. Still Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada still believes they can make money off the MMO realm.

A transcript posted yesterdays of Square's May 13 earning call -Translated by Andriasang- Wada stated that they do have a new MMO title in development and that they hope to release more info about it this fiscal year. No word on what this new title is, but it's something seperate from their current games. The belief is that having two-to-three subscription based games will help the company maintain a cash flow.

In all of this news, Final Fantasy XIV is still broken. Wada did bring up those problems and illude to the fixes taking longer than expected, but a "target" is in site.

[UPDATED] Sony Online Entertainment Service Temporarily Suspended Due to "Intrusion"

First it was the Playstation Network, now this. Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has gone down temporarily for the time being for maintenance, but why? Well, it's rather unfortunate for its users who play DC Universe Online and the on-going Everquest games because SOE has stated on their site, along with their online portal Station.com that there has been an intrusion, much like the Playstation Network. The current official statement on the site, besides the one pictured above a few hours ago, is as follows:

"We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday)."

Previously stated by them, SOE claimed that the PSN intrusion did not affect their MMO service at all and was seperate from it. It may have seemed the case, but it looks like these cyber attacks won't hold back from anything Sony related.

Let's hope that these users won't get their information stolen

[UPDATE] - So it all goes downhill even more from here, unfortunately. Earlier today, Sony has confirmed that this was not a seperate attack and happened at the same time as the one on PSN. Up to "24.6 million SOE accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007. The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates"

The following quote are from their official press release that was released a bit earlier today:

Tokyo, May 3, 2011 – Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that their ongoing investigation of illegal intrusions into Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE, the company) systems revealed yesterday morning (May 2, Tokyo time) that hackers may have stolen SOE customer information on April 16th and 17th, 2011 (PDT). SOE is based in San Diego, California, U.S.A.

This information, which was discovered by engineers and security consultants reviewing SOE systems, showed that personal information from approximately 24.6 million SOE accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007. The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes), and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.

As the on going investigation is still underway about the cyber attack against Sony, this will mark the 2nd week that the Playstation Network is down, and now with the addition of Sony Online Entertainment today, this leaves with many gamers unable to play online multiplayer games.

As Sony and major gaming websites have been doing, along with myself who just did it today, go to your bank and replace your card with a new one or cancel your account if you still feel uncomfortable with this whole situation, regarding your personal information.

Check back with us at Gamerzitch as more of this story unfolds!

Final Fantasy XIV Team Restructuring, PS3 Version Delayed Indefinitely

Final Fantasy, you love it or you hate it. I love the story driven iterations, some love the MMO's versions, I do not. Still those fans now have something to be upset about. The PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIV which was supposed to be released March of next year is now delayed indefinitely.

What has caused this delay, the answer is because the PC version is horrible. Yoichi Wada Square Enix CEO released a statement to the FFXIV community apologizing for the game not being very good. He went on to say that the team is restructuring, with some new leadership coming in. Producer Hiromichi Tanaka is out, with Naoki Yoshida taking over as lead producer/game director, other positions are also being restaffed with the team working on a new direction for the game. Until this happens FFXIV will continue its free trial period.

So rather than base the PS3 version on a horrible mess of a game Square Enix decided to hold off until something better was made. Thus sparing us from a terrible PS3 game.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Drops December 7 2010

Well people, clear your Dec 2010-Dec 2011 calendars because Blizzard just announced that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will arrive on December 7, 2010. This is a biggun, why not take the most popular game in the entire world and add more game changing stuff to it.

You'll be able to get the game for sale digitally or in stores for $40, but it wouldn't be a Blizzard game without an incredible special edition version of the game. So for $80 you will get a big art book, a commentary DVD, a soundtrack CD, a mouse pad, World of Warcraft trading cards and the "Lil' Deathwing" in-game pet. Quite a package.

Now WoW had me captive for a good two years there, I finally managed to escape earlier this year, that lasted long didn't it.