PSN in total disaray as MW2 is left unplayable and hackers target BLOPS...

On MW2:

"It's in total shambles and unplayable." That's how one Joystiq reader describes Modern Warfare 2 on PSN. With PS3 system security in disarray, hackers and cheaters have run rampant on Infinity Ward's Call of Duty games. Players unwittingly placed into a hacked server can meet the unfortunate consequence of losing all their stats and, unfortunately, it doesn't appear a fix is in sight.


"Games rely on the security of the encryption on the platforms they're played on," Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling explained on the game's official forums. "Unless the security exploit itself is resolved on the platform ... updates to the game through patches will not resolve this problem," he admits, adding, "at this time, we do not have the ability to restore or adjust individual stats."


Although Bowling adds that "we are looking at every option available to us to help any user affected," it appears the situation is quite dire, especially when one considers the workarounds Bowling suggests. You can submit a PSN grief report, play exclusively with friends via private matches, or play Black Ops, which does "not rely solely on platform security" -- something Infinity Ward promises to learn from in future games.

On Black Ops:

In light of the recent news that the PS3's security has been blown wide open, allowing jailbreakers to install custom firmware onto their consoles, hackers the world over have been hard at work exploiting just about everything they can.


Activision and Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 appears to be one of the first games to be modded to oblivion with unscrupulous gamers managing to setup custom game lobbys allowing for all manner of online shenanigans including God mode, unlimited ammo, teleporting to anywhere in the game map, the ability to crash an AC-130 anywhere on the map and the instant unlocking of every single challenge in the game.
Of course Modern Warfare 2 was constantly in the news throughout 2010 as IW and hackers played a constant game of cat-and-mouse, but it's only now with the jailbreak hack so widely and easily available that the full effects of it are starting to rear their ugly heads. The video below being a prime example.


Meanwhile popular action-RPG Demon's Soul has also been hacked with jailbreakers able to play the game with infinite souls and all AI (except boss characters) disabled making for an easy passage through this otherwise bastard-hard game.
And perhaps most infamously, there are now hacks out there that can instantly unlock all PlayStation Trophys, including the usually ridiculously difficult to unlock platinum Trophys.


And so hackers have now turned their attentions to current online game-du-jour Call of Duty: Black Ops - the best selling game of all time and current number one most played online title - in the hope that it too can have its soul ripped out and all those hours you spent ranking up wasted as a 13 year old script-kiddie flicks a metaphorical switch and upgrades you to prestige level 15 with all weapons, perks and challenges unlocked.
The most depressing thing about all of this is that for all that Sony claims to be banning detected jailbreaks, a fact refuted by various sites, word on the street is that the PS3's security has been blown so wide open that no fixes can repair the fundamentally damaged flawed way in which Sony's security is implemented.

Oh dear, this could ruin the PS3 completely seeing as it is a fundamental hardware issue. Is it feasible Sony may have to offer a mass recall to update the console? They better get themselves a decent provision on their balance sheet just in case....

N1NJA FWG wrote:They better get themselves a decent provision on their balance sheet just in case....

Ah, the accountant in you is fighting to get out

FWG Unky Al wrote:

N1NJA FWG wrote:They better get themselves a decent provision on their balance sheet just in case....

Ah, the homosexual accountant in you is fighting to get out

Fixed

Hehe, knew you would pick up on it. I can't remember the figure but M$ put (I think) in excess of $1b to one side in light of the E74 issue - Sony are going to have to do something similar if they do choose to do a mass recall. Seeing as they don't charge for their live service, it would put a large dent in them....

FWG JEDI wrote:

FWG Unky Al wrote:

N1NJA FWG wrote:They better get themselves a decent provision on their balance sheet just in case....

Ah, the homosexual accountant in you is fighting to get out

Fixed

i have often considered this recal issue with regards to games. take farcry 2 for example, the game was broke for a good while (your game would become corrupt at 81%), and when this was not fixed after a few weeks i traded in my 30 odd quid game for a whole £7 (presumably gamestation were aware it was broken so were justified to screw folk over). i mused afterwards if i should have returned the game as being broken for a full refund. (there was a fix brought out months later). if you were not a live customer then you would never have got this fix and am sure the same goes for many games out there. at what point would a games recall happen?

This has happened to my mate recently on the xbox, while playing cod 4 ended up in a hacked lobby and his rank was reduced back down to level1 and his xp to negative 1 billion. When playing he has all the same guns etc he did at level39 but he will never rank up again. He managed to speak to an IW mod who said (after checking his stats etc) he had 2 choices t go right back to the beginning level 1 no xp or prestige 10 level 55.