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Square-Enix says no user info stolen during security breach
A week ago we reported that Square-Enix's Members site, a loyalty program for fans of the studio's games, suffered an unwarranted intrusion and was subsequently taken offline as the company conducted an investigation. It turns out that the best possible outcome of this investigation has occurred, as no personal information was stolen. Subsequently, the company plans to bring its Japanese and North American websites back online by the end of the month. Square-Enix posted the following notice as an update: As a result of our continuing investigation, we have now confirmed that the database in which we store personal information was NOT accessed during the recent server intrusion. Therefore, your personal information was NOT compromised by an unknown third party. Square-Enix is planning to restart the Square Enix Members service by the end of December. Details of the schedule will be announced at a later date. We deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused our customers and fans, and appreciate your patience.
Square Enix: No personal information accessed from SE Members server
Last week, Square Enix told us it had yet to find any evidence of personal information being compromised as a result of the intrusion into its Square Enix Members server. The company has since posted a most welcome update on the Members site. "As a result of our continuing investigation, we have now confirmed that the database in which we store personal information was NOT accessed during the recent server intrusion," Square Enix said, capitals and all. "Therefore, your personal information was NOT compromised by an unknown third party." The Members service will be reactivated, presumably with more security in place, "by the end of December."
Square Enix: 'no evidence' that personal info was lost in Members hack
A report went up on the NHK (via Andriasang) claiming that Square Enix suspected the scope of the intrusion into its Square Enix Members servers to be around 1.8 million people. And seemingly simultaneously, a press release came out of Square claiming that "we have not found evidence that the individual was able to access any personal information at all." We contacted Square to, well, square these seemingly contradictory stories. A representative told Joystiq that the 1.8 million number refers only to the total number of Square Enix Members users in the US and Japan -- the theoretical maximum number of people that could be affected by the hack. That's not the number of people who were affected; Square maintains that there's been no evidence of any data theft. And again, since no credit card information was stored on the server suspected of being hacked, that info is not in danger.
Square Enix Members server hacked, personal info possibly compromised
Square-Enix has sounded the klaxons and let out the guard dogs in response to an "unauthorized access" on one of its Square Enix Members servers. The web service was taken offline in North America and Japan while the company investigates the situation and determines how serious the problem is. Fortunately, it doesn't appear as if credit card information is at stake, although some users' personal information may be: We are assessing the full extent of this potential breach to determine what data, if any, was compromised and will provide more details as soon as possible. While some personal information may have been accessed, we can confirm that there is no possibility of any credit card information leak from this incident, since the server in question stores no credit card information. We estimate that the suspension will continue for a few days until we complete our investigation and counter-measures. We will update you as we learn more. Square Enix Members is a loyalty program that dishes out rewards in exchange for players who register Square-Enix games with the service. The website does store users' names, addresses, usernames, and passwords.
Square Enix Members site temporarily shut down following hack
You'll have to have to wait before registering this year's Square Enix games for prizes. Someone has apparently hacked a server used by Square Enix Members in the US and Japan, and as a result the publisher has temporarily shut down the service. "We are assessing the full extent of this potential breach to determine what data, if any, was compromised and will provide more details as soon as possible," Square Enix stated. "While some personal information may have been accessed, we can confirm that there is no possibility of any credit card information leak from this incident, since the server in question stores no credit card information." The company will investigate the breach over the next "few days." The good news is that your credit card info is safe. The bad news is that somebody out there may know that you bought Mindjack.
Square Enix offers chance to meet Nobuo Uematsu in London
Are you going to be around London on November 5? Would you like to meet longtime Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu at the sold-out "Distant Worlds" concert? Will you be able to show enough restraint to leave your Cait Sith costume at home?
Final Fantasy V on Japanese PSN this week, also coming to Europe
PSN will see a re-release of a re-release of Final Fantasy V in Japan this week. Square Enix's Shinji Hashimoto announced the PSOne Classics release -- compatible with PS3 and PSP -- of the PlayStation port of the Super Famicom RPG a couple of months ago, and revealed the April 6 release date today on Twitter. Square Enix Members then confirmed that the downloadable RPG will be released in Europe as well, though the release date for Europe's battle against Exdeath is much less definite. "We'll be announcing the release date closer to the time, but we thought you might like to know that the game is currently being arranged for a release."
Your voice could be in Gun Loco's music
If the "characters made from action figures" thing didn't sufficiently convince you of Gun Loco's locosity, Square Enix is soliciting vocal tracks for the music from ... you. The publisher has posted MP3 music and a lyric sheet for the game's title track, inviting fans to submit their own vocal interpretations. To download the track, you need to be registered for the Square Enix Members site, but why wouldn't you want to do that anyway? After downloading the file, just record your version as an MP3, AVI or MOV and send it in. The winner will be sent to LA to record their vocals in a studio session and will also receive an Xbox 360, a copy of the game and other prizes. You get 50 Square Enix Members points and special Avatar stuff just for entering, so there's really no downside, except that you have to say "I am not a lame katana aficionado" out loud.
Square Enix Members 2009 prizes unboxed
Have you been diligently buying and registering your games via Square Enix Members? The 2009 prizes finally shipped, and we snapped some pics of the Ultimate level gifts. Included in the box is a Square Enix branded iPod Touch, and a medal-enclosed box that includes a soundtrack CD, postcards and a desktop calendar. This is some of the highest-quality swag we've seen given to fans. It certainly makes Club Nintendo pale in comparison. Check it all out in our gallery below. The 2010 program is currently ongoing. To register, visit the official Members website.%Gallery-100027%
Square Enix members: claim your rewards now
Have you been registering your Square Enix games like a good, devoted fan? If so, you may have earned a reward, ranging from postcards to an iPod Touch. Depending on your rewards status, you'll be able to access a special survey that will give you access to your prizes. You should hurry if you want to receive your prize, though. The redemption period lasts for little over a week, ending on April 14th. The Square Enix Members site warns that "you will be ineligible to receive the reward" if you miss this deadline, so we'd advise you to check the site now before it's too late. But what if you didn't register your games yet? Unfortunately, while you've missed the window for 2009 prizes, you'll still be able to acquire points for the 2010 period. It took nearly a dozen registered games to reach Ultimate status this year, so there's still a long way to go before you can earn next year's primo prize.
Square Enix details upcoming membership rewards
If you're in North America and you've been dutifully collecting Square Enix games, you may have some free stuff headed your way. The end of the current reward period for the Square Enix Members club is coming up on March 31, at which point Square Enix will ship out rewards depending on your "tier" rank -- a status awarded based on the number of games you've registered through the program. For the mere seconds of work we just spent registering a single game, we hit "bronze" status and earned a postcard set featuring Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Star Ocean The Last Hope International artwork. Silver members will get a desktop calendar with artwork from Final Fantasy XIV, Front Mission Evolved and other games; Gold members get a music compilation on CD; and Ultimate members will get an 8GB iPod Touch and a free Square Enix game to play on it!
Final Fantasy XIII gets two launch events in San Fran and a mess of new screens
We might normally start a post on a regional game launch event (or events, in this case) by questioning if you live in or around the geographic location in question (San Francisco), but with a game like Final Fantasy XIII, we're not entirely sure if that kinda thing matters -- we hear that FF fans can be a bit ... dedicated. That said, Square Enix is holding two separate parties celebrating the March 9 release of its next in the Final Fantasy series. Both are limited to Square Enix Members, with the launch party on the evening of March 8 limited even further to just 50 Bronze (and up) Members while the day event is limited to "200 Members and their guests." In order to snag yourself an invite, you've gotta have one of those snazzy Square Enix Member IDs and enter the sweepstakes right here before February 23. After you hurriedly enter the contest, come right back here and check out the 20 new screenshots of FFXIII that we've dropped into a gallery below. We command you. %Gallery-85352%
Square Enix launches member rewards program
Club Nintendo, move on over. The house of Final Fantasy has launched its own tiered rewards program in the US. Square Enix Members can now create custom avatars, network with other fans, and collect points that can be redeemed for "swanky presents." How does one earn points? Simple -- buy Square Enix games.The more you buy, the higher your level will be. It's meant to be "a neat way to show off how big of a Square Enix fan you are." The program seems modeled after many frequent flier programs, with four tiers of membership fans can receive: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Ultimate. Tier levels reset at the end of March each year, so you'll have to spend, spend, spend on an annual basis to keep up your membership.Don't bother dusting off your anthology of Final Fantasy VII games, though. Product registrations will begin with "every new Square Enix game" starting with VALKYRIE PROFILE: Covenant of the Plume, available in stores today.
Dragon Quest V team wants your feedback
Are you thrilled that Square Enix finally got around to localizing Dragon Quest V? Or maybe you're disgusted that the remake didn't include more Dippity-Doo'd amnesiac protagonists or 30-minute-long cutscenes? Let the team know! The company has opened a comment form on the Dragon Quest V website, through which registrants in the Square Enix Members program can leave feedback about the RPG remake. The form promises that "each message will be read," though a response may not be forthcoming. While you're exploring the Dragon Quest V site, why not send out DQV e-cards to all your friends, and grab some wallpapers? %Gallery-12146%
Bother the Final Fantasy IV team
Square Enix Membership has its benefits. The company has made a web form available through which anyone with a Square Enix Members account (it's free) can submit questions to the Final Fantasy IV team. According to the site's blog, "All of the questions will be forwarded to the team, but only a few will be answered." If you're curious about changes made to the Final Fantasy IV story or gameplay for the remake, or about the development of a DS game in general, this is a good opportunity! Just try not to submit five thousand questions (or one, even) about a Final Fantasy VII remake. They know.%Gallery-3278%[Via Square Enix Members Blog]
Square Enix localizes four Chocobo games for immediate release
Surprise! Four brand new Chocobo games are available for your enjoyment right now -- exclusively to registrants at the Square Enix Members website. They are, of course, the four adorable web games released in May of last year to promote the Japanese release of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.Now you can read the instructions and understand the nuanced control schemes involved in keeping Jail Bird on top of a stick so he can catch apples in Chocobo's Balancing Act, deftly avoid ice in Chocobo's Snowboard Glide, fly on borrowed wings in Chocobo Flight, and goof off in class in Chocobo's Classmate. Not that you couldn't have figured out how to play those.
Square Enix Members can play exclusive Final Fantasy IV card games
Final Fantasy and card games go together like ... well, the other part of that simile depends on how much time you wasted trying to get rare items by playing Final Fantasy VIII's Triple Triad. In any case, card games and Final Fantasies go way back. The Japanese version of the Square Enix Members site now has two Final Fantasy IV-themed card games available for free play, requiring only that players sign up. Daifugo is a popular Japanese card game in which players put down sequentially stronger cards with the goal of emptying their hands. Pochika Sodatsusen is, according to Game|Life's Jean Snow, played "in a style similar to Old Maid, with a few new twists, like the ability to capture cards." It is associated with the new Whytkin character.%Gallery-3278%[Via Game|Life]
