Playstation Network users continue their vigil as Sony has announced that the current outage of their free on-line service will be indefinite and that only some features of the service will be available in about a week’s time. The outage has been in effect since April 21st. Further, they also announced that the initial cause of the outage was due to a malicious intrusion by outside hackers and that there was a large security breach of personally identifiable information including name, address, email, birthdate, login name and password. They are not certain if credit card information was breached, but suggest that it should be accounted for by detailing numerous credit fraud protective actions.

Meanwhile, Sony will keep the service down while they make security enhancements and ‘rebuild [the] system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.’ As a member of the IT community, I am distressed that they will rebuild a system in a matter of weeks, that took them years to get up and running. Moreover, during this outage, anyone that uses a service that relies on the PSN user account will seemingly not work. This includes Netflix and any online multiplayer functionality. It seems that Sony is beginning to learn a lot about what is needed to be a services company and not just an electronics company.

I have included the full press release after the jump. Please read it carefully, change your passwords and protect your data. This is serious stuff.

Massachusetts residents should be aware that there are specific laws that deal with identity theft and that Sony has released a separate consumer alert specifically for those in the Bay State. That can be seen here.

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In this exclusive footage from the Gears Of War Beta Test currently underway on XBox Live, Powet.TV has learned of a popular returning feature from previous games in the series.

And because no sequel is complete without new unexpected features, we have a whole new target to run after on the Old Town map.

With furniture and wildlife destructible, will Delta Squad ever deafeat the Locusts? Pre-Order Gears of War 3 today!

Here it is. The news we’ve been waiting for. I guess. This press release confirmed Nintendo will show a new console at E3 in Los Angeles this year.

This is of course, all it confirms. No price. No controller. No specs. No colors. No games. Just that they are working on it and will show what they have been working on.

If you don’t believe me, here is that same news in English.

This Past week, Portal 2 hit stores everywhere. If you don’t have enough money for it, don’t worry, there is another first person shooter/puzzle hybrid you can check out in the meantime. The Ball, developed by Swedish developers Teotl Studios, was originally intended to be a mod to Unreal Tournament 3. Instead, the developers moved it over to the Unreal Development Kit in order to release the game as a standalone package. You play as an archeologist trapped in a cave. You encounter two artifacts: a large round ball and a strange gun which you use to control it. You use the ball to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and explore the secrets of the underground cavern. The game’s physics makes the puzzles unique, and the Unreal Engine 3-powered graphics make the game look gorgeous. It was entered into Epic’s �Make Something Unreal� annual contest, and was also included in Valve’s �Potato Sack Pack�, a Steam promotion featuring several independently developed games that were discounted and bundled in anticipation of Portal 2’s release. So if you’re done with Portal 2, or just don’t have the money for it yet, pick this up in the meantime.

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Tomorrow, Mortal Kombat makes its return to gaming consoles. So what better way to commemorate the series than to take a look at some of its missteps? Okay, there are plenty, but this is Maximum Letdown, so this is all you get for free.

We’ve got your first look at the next generation Nintendo system rumoured to be showed off at E3! All the ridiculous rumours you’ve heard are true! The motion controller will indeed feature an HD screen, despite the fact that the recently released 3DS had a totally shitty low rez screen.

In keeping with the tradition established with the 3DS Nintendo brings us a 3D solution without glasses once again! Because of the way the 3DS technology only worked on a very small screen Nintendo was required to use great innovation to create 3D on a normal TV without the need of glasses. The answer was simple! Coloured contacts! By using a red contact in the left eye and a blue contact in the right eye, the tint, combined with groundbreaking mid 19th century anaglyph technology, creates the illusion of 3D!

We can only assume that the Wii2 or 3Wii as it’s been called by some, will support all the greatest 3D Hollywood movies displayed in crystal clarity in the groundbreaking 400×240 WVGA resolution that this system is said to be able to produce with as of yet unannounced state of the art 1990s graphics card technology. Movies and games will be available on flash cartridges or downloaded to the Wii2’s on board 2 GB hard drive.

Disclaimer: If it wasn’t already obvious, this is 100% made up.

Mortal Kombat comes out next week, but there is still more to be seen. G4TV had a trailer up for Shang Tsung gameplay, which I believe we have not seen yet. Be sure to pre-order your copy here before it comes out on April 19th!