Sony locks 93,000 online accounts

Sony said it has detected a large number of unauthorized attempts to access user accounts on its PlayStation Network and other online entertainment services.

The Tokyo-based company temporarily locked about 93,000 accounts whose IDs and passwords were successfully verified by the intruders. Sony has sent email notifications and password reset procedures to affected customers on the PlayStation Network, Sony Entertainment Network and Sony Online Entertainment services.

Sony said credit card numbers linked to the compromised accounts are not at risk. It has "taken steps to mitigate the activity" and is investigating any wrongful use of the accounts themselves.

The announcement follows an embarrassing data breach in April, which compromised personal data from more than 100 million online gaming and entertainment accounts and forced PlayStation Network to be shut for a month.

Sony confirmed the latest incidents after its security systems detected an unusually high number of log-in attempts that failed, said Sony spokesman Sean Yoneda. The company suspects that those responsible obtained large data sets from other companies or sources, which were then used to try to access Sony accounts.

"What happened in April was a breach on our servers as we said in our announcements," Yoneda said. "But this time around, there was no intrusion on our servers. This was ... taking someone else's identity and trying to use that to access our services."

The access attempts occurred between October 7 and October 10 and targeted accounts globally.

Sony's customer service centers around the world have not seen a spike in user calls related to the incidents, Yoneda said.

a tour of Nintendo Wii U and its many, many features

Nintendo's Wii U stole the show at E3, but Nintendo downplayed its technical prowess, opting to place focus on the console's tablet-like controller instead. We know the Wii U can do HD graphics at 1080p resolution, but now we know it can support 3D games too.

 Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said, "If you are going to connect Wii U with a home TV capable of displaying 3D images, technologically, yes, it is going to be possible, but that's not the area we are focusing on."

Gamers lusting for 3D Mario, Zelda, Metroid and any other Nintendo franchise will have to stick to the 3DS. The Wii U's ability to support 3D is good news for developers and gamers who have already invested in expensive 3DTVs and 3D glasses. Even though Nintendo won't put any 3D games on its new game console, third-party publishers who want to, at least have the option to do so.

However, with the Wii U's controller taking center stage, who would want to fiddle with 3D games? Sony's pushing its PS3 3D gaming prowess mostly through its first-party games, Nintendo isn't. Microsoft isn't playing the 3D game either for its Xbox 360...yet.

In the months leading up to the Wii U unveil, Nintendo downplayed 3D for the home console based on three principles: 1) 3DTVs are expensive 2) 3DTV adoption hasn't reached mass access yet 3) wearing the glasses might look silly to others in the same room.

Nintendo's not throwing any punches with the Wii U. It's got the HD eye candy, the hardware power, and hopefully it'll have that robust Xbox Live and PlayStation Network online infrastructure come launch time next year.