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Thank you

“On Tuesday May 21^st, we’ll mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. On that day, we’ll be holding a special press event on the Xbox campus and we invite you to join us via the live global stream that will be available on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE and broadcast on Spike TV if you are in the US or Canada.

“On that day, we’ll share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Then, 19-days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we’ll continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games.

“We are thrilled to pull back the curtain and reveal what we’ve been working on.”

The post is accompanied by a countdown clock to the reveal.

Movie Review

Marvel’s “Iron Man 3″ pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds.  When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible.  With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him.  As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him, does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Phase 2 of Marvel Studios set of movies begins with the awesome Iron Man 3 and instead of making it bigger and better than the Avengers, they went totally the other way and made it a personal story for Tony.  After the alien invasion in the last film, Tony is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and instead of talking about it, he does what he does best and makes more and more Iron Man suits and tech for them.

There is a new foe in the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and he strikes a near fatal blow right into the heart of Tony’s world.  This strips him of everything except his intellect which brings a new dimension to the story and his character.  Director Shane Black, making his first big budget film, takes the reigns of this franchise and injects new life into it with his own flair for sardonic wit alongside pulsing action which makes the flick breath-taking to behold.

The cast are superb with Downey Jr. on flying form as always, his quick wit and comic timing is of huge pulling power for the audience to like his character and sympathise with him.  There is a buddy cop element too with Stark teaming up with his buddy, James Rhodes/ War Machine (Don Cheadle), in some of the action scenes, these add much needed dimension to both roles.  Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) has an even bigger role than the last two films and even gets to don the suit.  Newcomers Guy Pierce and Rebecca Hall give good support while Ben Kingsley is utterly mesmerising as the Mandarin but to say any more about any of these new characters would ruin the movie.

There is so much to love in this movie with some genuinely attention-grabbing and original twists that you’ll never see coming, the action builds to a breathless peak that will see fans jumping in the seats with joy.  I did have one major issue with the film which took me out of the film for about 10/15 minutes but it regained its footing and blew the roof off the cinema with its geek pleasing eye candy, also don’t forget, like all Marvel movies, to stay till the end of the credits.

Kudos to Marvel for taking a different take on the character, for hiring a director with no proven track record in these types of movies but knew he’d pull it off and the fans would agree but overall thanks to Marvel for continuing to bring the comic book experience to the big screen, let’s just hope they can get Robert Downey Jr. back for more.

‘Iron Man 3′ is out in cinemas now.

“We just discovered that there is an issue which requires that we push back our Xbox Live arcade game release date a little.  We’ve already submitted an update to Microsoft to fix the problem, and as soon as we know that the issue is fixed we’ll have a new release date.  I know our fans have been waiting a long time for the game, and hopefully they’ll have the patience to wait just a little while longer.  What’s mine will be yours very, very soon!”

It doesn’t seem that the PC version of the game will be affected by the issue and will be released on Steam later today as expected.

Source: Official Facebook Page

James Stevenson, Insomniac’s Senior Community Manager wrote:

“One of the biggest questions we’ve gotten in the last few years is “When are you going to make a Ratchet & Clank movie?” The truth is, we’ve wanted to do a movie for a long time! Ratchet & Clank’s action, humor and galaxy-spanning adventures have really been the basis for a fantastic game series, and we think it’d translate perfectly to the big screen.”

The script will be penned by the same writer behind the videogames, T.J. Fixman, so you can expect the same high level of storytelling that the series is known for.

The announcement came with the following first-glimpse trailer:

Microsoft wants to reboot the franchise with new characters but are hoping to include cameo appearances from fan-favourite characters from the original series – such as Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg).

Microsoft recently set up its own television entertainment studio and the Xbox TV service is planned to run across a number of Microsoft’s platforms including consoles, phones and Windows OS.

SOURCE: TV Line

Movie Review

Four twenty-something’s try to get their friend off drugs by going cold turkey out in a remote cabin.  When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.

The horror remake bandwagon continues with this updating of the Sam Raimi classic from 1982.  Thankfully Raimi decided to oversee this effort and handed the reigns over to first time feature director Fede Alvarez, after he pitched a unique twist on the original.  That twist, for the most part, is that the person who is possessed is going through cold turkey and the others thing it’s just part of what happens.  It is a subtle change which brings added gravity to the situation and brings it up to date as well.

Once the book of the dead is opened and its passage read, the movie kicks into high gear, it ratchets up the tension and gore to new levels of gruesomeness.  Faces are cut, limbs are amputated and blood is everywhere, literally, which is what most people will be going to see this movie for anyway.

The cast are passable at best but the central character of Mia, played by Jane Levy, is absolutely superb as the addict who gets more than she bargained for when she tries to kick the habit.  She is relentless in the movie, bringing sweetness and malice to a solid role.  While first time director Fede Alvarez shows that he can play with the big boys and deliver a stunningly visual and genuinely gory flick.

Things that i disliked were the utter stupidity of some of the characters actions, one of them keeps coming back after a good few deathly encounters which is a little beyond belief, even for horror movies.  The sound mix and music are very muddled throughout, I’ve listen to the score on its own and it’s a chilling listen but it is practically inaudible in the movie.

This is probably the best horror remake so far but that isn’t saying much with what has come before, i think horror fans will love it and Evil Dead fans will, at least, tolerate it but it is a step in the right direction.  Also Evil Dead fans should stay till the end of the credits for a little surprise too.

‘Evil Dead’ is out in cinemas now.

Things aren’t looking great for the nameless sorcerer in the beginning of Soul Sacrifice. Imprisoned in a hellish cell, and having witnessed another man eviscerated at the hands of the sorcerer Magusar, it’s only a matter of time before the same fate befalls him. And yet there is a glimmer of hope. A book. A talking book at that, but one that may just provide the key to salvation if its secrets can be unlocked.

Soul Sacrifice is the brain child of Kenji Inafune, of Mega Man fame, but is as far from the iconic character as one could possibly be. The book in question resembles the Necronomicon from the Evil Dead movies, and the same aesthetic carries across the entire work. There’s a demonic look to Soul Sacrifice that I would liken to the Dark Souls series with monsters appearing suitably grotesque. Librom, as this incarnation of the book is known, acts as the central point of focus from my time with Soul Sacrifice. By reading its entries, the player is able to relive its tales as phantom quests and take on the beasts described. As well as that, the book provides access to character customisations, magic upgrades, as well as pages and pages of back story on the individual beasts and lore of the game world. There is a wealth of information to be devoured. Not all of the book is available from the off, and progressing through the quests reveals more and more pages.

Once a quest is chosen, combat switches to a third person perspective. It’s clear where the comparisons to the Monster Hunter franchise have come from. At a very basic level, each quest comes down to a team of players (in this case, sorcerers) taking on a giant beast. Yet that is where the similarities both begin and end. Each sorcerer has a palette of 6 abilities, referred to as offerings, available to him/her. These are mapped to the square, triangle and circle buttons in two banks of three (which can be switched between with a press of the right bumper). These abilities run the spectrum in regards to function, ranging from up close melee and elemental attacks, to long range projectile fire and healing spells. Each ability has only a certain number of uses before it ceases to function, meaning it’s not possible to spam a single attack, although there are ways to recharge your offerings. Your sorcerer also has “black rites” available to him. These attacks are extremely powerful, but require your sorcerer to give up a part of himself, an effect which carries over across quests. For instance, the “Infernus” rite engulfs the enemies in flames, but must be paid for with your own skin, reducing your damage resistance by half.

Once you have slain your enemies, you have the ability to either save them, or sacrifice them (giving the game its name). Save a foe, and you’ll receive upgrades to your life force and defensive capabilities. Sacrificing them, on the other hand, gives more power to your attacking abilities. It’s hard to tell if this mechanic will have more influence beyond the black or white effect evident currently, but it provides an interesting nuance in the heat of battle. This element of sacrifice also applies to your own comrades as well. If an ally, or indeed you yourself, fall in battle, you can choose to revive them at the cost of your own health, or use their essence to launch a devastating attack but making them unavailable for the rest or the quest.

Outside of combat, the absolute wealth of options is staggering. The abilities assigned to your sorcerer’s palette can be completely customised, enabling players to shape their avatar to their own playstyle. Each offering can similarly be boosted, providing the player has the necessary materials, allowing for increased damage output or increased number of casts before the offering stops. New offerings can also be fused by combining several existing offerings. There’s a whole meta game here that isn’t fully reveled in the build I played, but should become more clear in the full game.

From what I’ve gotten my hands on, I’m optimistic about Soul Sacrifice. What I’ve played wasn’t perfect – I had some camera issues that had me wrestling for control on occasion, however that was mostly mitigated by the lock on function. Also, if the preview did represent the beginning of the game as I suspect, it points to the need to grind for experience right from the get go. Yet, the gameplay on offer was satisfying and well developed, and the sheer depth of customisation on offer has me excited to get my hands on the full game in a month’s time.

Kratos returns with huge fanfare, after his illustrious trilogy of games, to his beginnings and what brought him to defy the gods in the first place.  The story this time isn’t the best of the series but does carry you along at a ripping pace of colossal set pieces and intimate fights.  It starts off huge and never really lets up with relentless bloodletting which will make even the most hardened gamer look away in disgust.

Ascension begins with just such a gruesome scene, protagonist Kratos, chained atop a stone column, is being tortured by one of the Furies, a repugnant netherworld goddess who slashes at our hero before seeping attack bugs from her pores.  Once you break free of her grip and it’s mythology as usual as you’re propelled through the world, dissolving grunts into a crimson mist with your Blades of Chaos.  Larger foes are dispatched with a series of divisive QTE finishing moves plus you can haul yourself through the scenery by latching onto the glinting hook points.

All of this seems like business as usual but Ascension refines the old dynamic with subtle refinements, the QTE events pop up not only the symbol you need to hit but also show them in the corner of the screening where the buttons appear on the controller, making it that little bit easier to see them and make your move.  This time you can counter enemies also and take their weapons to use against them which is a nice addition too.

This time Kratos only uses the Blades of Chaos rather than discovering new weapons along the way.  It’s no great loss though as  instead the variety comes as you absorb different powers into the Blades along the way, the Fire of Ares torches enemies alive; Ice of Poseidon freezes foes; Lightning of Zeus delivers a vicious electric attack and the Soul of Hades calls upon the undead for help.  This really elevates the battles as you can switch between them at will, utilising them differently throughout any skirmish.  Using the different blades of chaos abilities also gives the player varying rewards, if you use lightning you’re rewarded with magic-restoring blue orbs, do the same with the Soul of Hades and green health-giving orbs are yours for the taking.  All of this adds an increasing amount of depth to the game.

The magic system has changed slightly with the super-powerful magic attacks being locked away further down the weapon upgrade tree, meaning you cannot rely on them as heavily as you might’ve done in previous games.  It’s a positive step because it really encourages you to think wisely about where to allocate experience points from the beginning. It’s at these moments when Kratos is overwhelmed with enemies that magic provides his only lifeline.

Difficulty throughout is, for the most part, balanced and well-considered.  Although some difficultly spikes can be quite annoying, this is slightly waylaid with checkpoints being more commonplace this time around so it softens the burden a little.  But at times Ascension takes challenge to the next level by throwing so many bad guys on screen it’s hard to actually figure out what’s going on.  Dying in these situations feels cheap and frustrating.

New to the GOW world is the inclusion of multiplayer and it is here where Santa Monica Studio hopes to make up the thrill shortfall from the single player campaign.  Far from a half-hearted add-on, Ascension’s multiplayer component is weighty and distinguished, and the battle system’s range and flexibility shine in this competitive context.  You begin in the Rotunda of Olympus, where you must select an allegiance to one of the four gods, essentially choosing a character class: Warrior, Stealth, Mage or Support. Each class has its own intricacies and winning matches will earn experience points which can be used to acquire better equipment.

Favour of the Gods is the most enjoyable of the modes on offer, with two teams going toe-to-toe to catch the eye of Olympus’ elite.  It’s essentially a high-score race, with points awarded capturing bases, opening chests, collecting valuable items, and of course killing your opponents.  Then you’ve Match of Champions which is a free for all death match, Trial of the Gods has you fighting hordes of opponents and capture the flag does exactly what it says.

While multiplayer has its moments, the combat doesn’t really offer the depth to make it a truly engaging experience.  In fact, the only real way to prove your dominance in multiplayer is through the countless unlocks and weapon upgrades available but with XP being dished out so generously there’s no real reason to  play skilfully.  Because of this, multiplayer feels more like a curiosity which provides a few hours of enjoyment rather than being an essential addition.

So God of War: Ascension is an adequate game with some truly mesmerising visuals and heart racing action beats but lacks depth and the staying power of the series previous iterations, hopefully the inevitable next game will bring something different and innovative to this failing franchise or Kratos will have a new enemy to bring to his blades of chaos.

It notes that, according to the ESA, 47% of FIFA gamers are female and  that over 40% of soccer players in the US are female. It also says that it would benefit young girls by given them positive gender role models in the sport.

“By offering just men’s teams as playable options on FIFA we’re not only denying these girls a chance to relate to the characters they play on a videogame, but we’re also wasting a great opportunity to encourage those same girls to be who they are, develop their passion, motivation and promote a healthy image and relation between women and sports.”

As of writing, the petition is about halfway to reaching its goal of 12,489 signatures. You can read the petition on Change.org here.

Source: Gameranx

Eden Studios was founded in 1998, renamed as Eden Games in 2003. They were bought out by Infograme (now consolidated into Atari, SA) in 2002 for over $4.1 million.

The developer had been in trouble for almost two years and staff went on strike in 2011 after Atari let 80 employees go. Last year, Atari stated that they were looking to divest the studio.

Their most recent release was Test Drive Unlimited 2 in February 2011. It launched to a mixed reception and achieved a Metacritic average of 70/100. Technical issues were cited as the main cause of its poor performance.

RIP Eden Games. 1998-2013

Source: Eurogamer

The move comes after months of increased complaints from consumers about inflated bills from such purchases, which many claim are carried out unwittingly by their children.

In march, a five-year-old from Bristol managed to rack up nearly €2,000 with in-app purchases on his parents’ iPad. Although Apple refunded the money, the incident highlighted the issue.

The UK OFT says that it’s not looking at banning in-app purchases but rather looking at whether the practice is complying with existing fair trade regulations.

Source: BBC News

NeoGAF user Hobby found via the official Japanese Nintendo website.

Nintendo hope to end the services on June 28th.

• “Weather Channel”
• “Digicam Print Channel”
• “News Channel”
• Channel “vote with everyone”
• “Everyone’s Nintendo Channel”

• “Mii Contest Channel”
• Data exchange with Wii Friends in the “WiiConnect24″
  Can not be exchanged in the Mii channel “portrait”, Wii message exchange in the “Message Board Wii”, the exchange of messages and data in some game titles.

They don’t specify why they’re terminating these services but the release is filled with thank-yous and apologies about having to end the service.

Last week, we reported that Harmonix took down the Rock Band and Dance Central websites due to an attack on the developer’s servers. Today, Harmonix announced that the websites are back online.

As a precautionary measure, Harmonix disabled passwords for every account and states that it is safe to reset your passwords for the sites. There is still no word as to who commenced the attack, though Harmonix assures users that, as of now, there have not been any signs of user information being published or misused.

Movie Review

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.  Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage).  Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever, Gollum (Andy Serkis).  Here, alone with Gollum, he gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

This new trilogy of movies has had a treacherous time coming to the big screen, with legal wrangling, that went on for years, making original director Guillermo del Toro move on, it fell to Peter Jackson to jump back into the world of Middle-Earth and make these films a reality.  Then there was the backlash of shooting in 3D but not just any old 3D but a new technology which doubled the frame rate to 48, this was said to give a smoother image and to make the 3D not look as jarring.  Then there was the decision to split the book into two movies and then with only a few months before the first movies release it was decided that there’d be three films, making it a brand new trilogy.

So fans and moviegoers were excited but apprehensive to say the least, i seen the movie in both 48 and 24 frames per second 3D and both have their advantages and disadvantages but what it really comes down to is the movie any good.  The short answer is yes and no, it’s great to get back into middle-earth again but it stays too close to the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’s’ structure which makes the majority of the movie feel like a re-tread.  There also seems to be no definitive baddy or goal to attain, well there is one, but not on the scale of the previous trilogy.  This makes the movie feel trivial and not care about the characters as much.  Jackson seems to fall back into this world again quite easily but i think it suffers with its length, where some parts could have been trimmed and others feel rushed over.

All that being said there are some good aspects to the film, it looks stunning and the sound is breath-taking, Howard Shore returns to give another memorable score too.  The visual effects, as you would expect, are top notch and the production design is superb.  The cast, for the most part, are memorable with Martin Freeman being born to play this role, he brings new dimensions to an already well known character and it’s his journey that’ll bring me back for the next two movies.  Ian McKellen again is at home when playing Gandalf and it’s great that we get more of the playful wizard rather than the stoic Gandalf the White from the original trilogy.  The gang of dwarves are glossed over with only the leader, played by Richard Armitage, getting any kind of characterisation but he comes off as Aragon-lite, this band of grumpy fellows should come into their own though in the rest of the films.  Lastly, Andy Serkis is back as Gollum for an extended cameo and its in this scene, the best of the whole movie, where you see what’s great and terrible about it.  On one hand it’s a stunning scene but then it reminds you of what made the original trilogy so good, let’s hope the next two movies build upon this one and make it better.

Video Presentation

The ‘The Hobbit’ was shot at a high frame rate of 48fps, it was, and still is, quite the controversy.  Personally, i didn’t find it too irritating but had my concerns about how this new frame rate would translate to Blu-ray since it has to be converted to the traditional 24fps in order for home viewers to enjoy.  I’m happy to report though that I noticed little to no difference whatsoever than if it were shot at the standard frame rate, although I must say the video does seem slightly smoother.  In fact, the 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode looks utterly fantastic and rather remarkable in some areas.  Panning and action sequences are uniform and ultra-slick, not even the smallest hint of motion judder, which would be expected in such instances.  Filmed entirely on a Red Epic camera system, the 2.40:1 image also displays a dazzlingly bold and colorful palette, even if the cinematography seems to favor the teal & orange aesthetic.  Black levels are true and inky, penetrating deep into the screen with luxurious gradations, while shadow details remain plain and sharply delineated. It’s a splendid, demo-worthy high-def presentation fans will really enjoy.

Audio Presentation

The ‘Unexpected Journey’ also debuts with an explosive, reference-quality DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack that will give any system a healthy workout.  Starting in the front soundstage, the mid-range is amazingly extensive and broad, exhibiting the smallest detail with superb, crystal-clear clarity.  In action sequences, the upper ranges are precise and distinct, giving each roaring yell and clash of metal upon metal extraordinary intelligibility.  The design also comes with a powerful and robust low-end that extends far back into the room and rattles walls on several occasions.  Rear activity is also filled with more excitement, as subtle ambient effects play almost non-stop throughout the film’s runtime.  Howard Shore’s music bleeds into the back channels and envelops viewers with exhilaration, making this a marvelous and highly-satisfying lossless mix audiophiles will absolutely love.

Extras

The extras on this set are great but unfortunately they’ve been available for months on the internet so i’ve had to mark it down a bit.  They are extensive but if you’ve seen them already like i had then they’re redundant, hopefully the inevitable extended edition will boast a more extensive and exhaustive set of extras.

New Zealand: Home of Middle-Earth — Travel with Peter Jackson and his crew through the various shooting locations across the New Zealand landscape and hear how they were transformed to represent Middle-earth.

Video Blogs — A collection of ten production videos which were originally made available through the internet.  Mostly hosted by director Peter Jackson, each featurette covers various aspects of the production with tons of BTS footage and interviews with cast and crew.  One video touches on the decision to film in 3D, a few focuses on shooting locations, another provides a tour of the production stage, and it all finishes with a red-carpet premiers in Wellington.

Trailers — Along with six theatrical previews, fans can enjoy three more trailers for videogames based on the mythology and film series.

This film feels more like a part 1 rather than a stand alone movie, which is how the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ felt to me, so is harder to get into and see where it is going.  I’m still excited to see what the next two films bring as i hope they’ll give us a totally different story rather than a retread which is how this film felt.

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ is out on Blu-Ray 3D, Blu-Ray and DVD now.

The hack has forced Ubisoft to take the download option of Uplay offline for the time-being while the company works on fixing the exploit. The service carries games from other publishers, further complicating matters for Ubisoft.

Picture courtesy of Gameranx

One of the games hit hard by the exploit was Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which has yet to be released or even officially announced. However, Gameranx are reporting that the game has already been leaked, it’s over 3GB in size and is in a fully playable state.

Source: Gameranx

Tested

The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset that was crowd-funded via Kickstarter last August and made over $2.5 million through backers on the service. The technology received acclaim from big names such as Cliff Bleszinski and Gabe Newell and it recently began shipping to developers. A consumer version isn’t available yet but inventer Palmer Luckey hopes to see a version 2.0 reach consumers in 2014.

So, if the reports are accurate, we’ll have to wait about 6 weeks to find out the real information on the next Xbox and if rumours of an “always-online” connection are true.

In maybe-related news, Microsoft sold their Mediaroom IPTV business to Ericsson today and Microsoft Vice President Yusuf Mehdi wrote in a blog:

“With the sale of Mediaroom, Microsoft is dedicating all TV resources to Xbox in a continued mission to make it the premium entertainment service that delivers all the games and entertainment consumers want – whether on a console, phone, PC or tablet.”

This would leave us to believe that they’re hedging all bets on Xbox TV and we can expect even more multimedia features in the future on Microsoft’s consoles.

Source: The Verge

HP, the world’s largest technology company, today announced that it is to construct a new building on its site at Ballybrit in Galway, dedicated to software research and development, cloud technology and business services.  The announcement was formally made at an event today in Galway by John Hinshaw, Executive Vice President of Global Technology and Operations at HP attended by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD.

The new state of the art facility of 87,000 sq ft will have capacity for up to 700 staff to support software R&D, cloud innovation and business services for HP worldwide.  Construction at the site, which is in the final process of planning permission, will commence this year and will be one of the largest construction projects in the Galway region in recent times.  The new facility will be a modern office building, built with flexibility and environmental sustainability features and fitted out to support the needs of HP employees into the future.

An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD stated,<

i>“The construction of a new state of the art R&D building by HP is a testament to their Galway staff and operations in Ireland. The project will create 150 construction jobs during its development and will provide a much-needed boost for this sector. HP has been a valued business partner in Ireland throughout the years and this new investment will see HP and Ireland remain at the forefront of software research and cloud computing technology.”

Martin Murphy, Managing Director HP Ireland added

:“This is an exciting and very important development for HP in Ireland. This investment in Ballybrit is an endorsement of Galway as a strategic location of choice for HP and affirms the company’s ongoing commitment to its operations in this country.

The email reads:

We’re sending you this message because you have an account on RockBand.com, DanceCentral.com, and/or Creators.RockBand.com. We are investigating an apparent attack on our servers that we detected this week.

The security of your Harmonix user information is very important to us. We’ve taken the sites down while we investigate this incident and determine how our systems and the information we maintain may have been compromised. At this time, we have not found that any of our users’ information has been published or misused. None of our sites maintain any credit card information, social security numbers, or financial account numbers for any of our users.

As a precaution, we have disabled your Harmonix password. We’ll send you a notification when the sites are back up. When you log back in, we will require all users to reset their passwords. If you have been using your old Harmonix password on other sites, we recommend that you change those passwords too.

We’re sorry for this inconvenience. Stay tuned to Harmonix on Facebook and Twitter for further updates.