Okay guys, come on now. People in both the Sony and anti-Sony camps are acting more than a little foolish here. It is newsworthy, because the article isn't just mindlessly harping about this debacle, it's identifying that there are potential, long-term effects with serious consequences, and a few free games don't really address the heart of the issue. In fairness, however, I think the issue is really, "Can any of us feel completely safe in an increasingly online world where our personal information is always potentially in danger?" What I resent about the article is not that it was written, but that it seems to ignore the bigger picture. Yes, this happened to Sony. Those of us with PS3s are painfully cognizant of that fact. Still, it could potentially happen to any company. As many posters have noted, if the FBI and CIA are not immune to attacks of this sort, who is? Really, how much can a company do to counter similarly-skilled people who use every moment of their free time to undo the security systems that were put in place? It reminds me of what my father told me as a child, "If someone really wants to steal your car, they're going to steal it."

My second point of contention is that Giancarlo seems to adopt the most negative possible scenario and makes that the basis for belittling all of Sony's efforts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not letting Sony off the hook, or calling them superheroes. Still, "Pffft, screw their free games! An individual may have to watch his back for the rest of his life, expecting fraud and ruin at every turn, watching every shadow, and these fools offer games! Fix your s#*%$, Sony!" doesn't really do anyone any good. In essence, he's right. Nobody knows when or how the information may be used. At the same time, nothing is 100% safe. Living is not 100% safe. At any moment, I might be hit by a meteorite, contract some BS subtropical avian disease, have one of those comical movie pianos (the ones that are always dangling precariously out of some apartment window on a too-thin rope) come crashing down on me to ruin my day, etc. That doesn't mean I'll huddle myself into a twitching, paranoid lump in my basement corner and don my tinfoil cap (of COURSE they stop alien mind-probes, you simpletons!). The same goes for this whole fiasco. I'm not pleased. I'm a bit worried. I will nevertheless continue to enjoy gaming and hope that their fiscal interests prompt online companies to promote the best possible safety, because at the end of the day, that's all you can do.

I don't understand the point of the ongoing comparisons between consoles and gaming PCs. Both the PS3 and X360 are several years old now. Only an idiot would attempt to argue that they can compete with the hardware in any up-to-date gaming rig (which I am too poor to afford, sadly). Consoles shine because they're affordable and you don't have to worry (much) about drivers, software compatability, etc. But let's be honest, unless a game developer simply doesn't bother to take advantage of PC performance, there's never going to be a game that looks better on the current gaming platforms than on a PC. Never. If it does, all it proves is that the dev didn't have the time, resources, or inclination to develop a proper PC version. *Edit: As for Portal 2, even though it doesn't look like they put a ton of effort into making the PC a standout, it still gets my vote for the best looking of the three. The textures and lighting are much smoother overall, with a few negligible shadows missing. Oh well.

Decent humor, but from a composition perspective, try proofreading a little more thoroughly. Some phrases really start to grate on the nerves after a while. "You and your honey" is one of them.

I agree that many games, like modern movies, have forgotten what makes for a compelling narrative. I cannot agree that the answer is always so simple as reverting to the once-classic formula of pitting ultimate good against evil, or a hero against his antithesis. This can become a pretty stale recipe. Yes, Vadar and Luke were great, and the dark versus the light side made for a fantastic space opera, but not every tale benefits from being so melodramatic. I would argue that one reason that Japanese games (or at least JRPGS) have seen something of a fall from grace in recent times is exactly because people got sick of the same old same. X prepubescent street urchin meets Y plucky sidekick and grows into the unlikely hero and leader of a merry band of misfits whose ultimate destiny is to lock swords with Z godlike, egomaniacal villain and battle for the fate of the world. Now don't get me wrong, I love those stories. With skillful direction, a classic can be reborn many times and still sparkle. Still, not EVERY story can or should attempt to follow this convention. All that being said, I'm a sucker for Sephiroth, I also adored GLADOS, and I'm not sure if Morrigan from Darkstalkers is considered a villain or not, but I don't particularly care, because she's hot and wears bat-printed stocking thingies.