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Air Force enlists hackers to hunt bugs in its site
Bug bounties have been a staple among startups and online businesses since the days of Netscape Navigator but the federal government has been slow to adopt the beneficial code hunts. However, a year after the DoD's first such program, Hack The Pentagon, the Air Force announced on Wednesday that it will be hosting one of its own next month.
Broadcast your Blizzard games right now via Facebook Live
As originally announced in June, game developer Blizzard Entertainment and social media powerhouse Facebook have agreed to a deal that enables FB users to stream their Blizzard gameplay over Facebook Live. And, starting Friday (hey, that's today!), users will actually be able to.
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords heading to Europe, Australasia this spring
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords will launch this spring on PSN, Namco Bandai (soon to be Bandai Namco) announced today. The launch window for the free-to-play fighting game is for Europe and Australasian regions; no word on a North American release date as of yet. It was originally expected in winter 2013. Meanwhile, Japanese players should be able to check out the game today. SoulCalibur: Lost Swords is exclusive to PS3, and features weapon forging and discovery as well as elemental combat. According to the trailer that accompanied the announcement, players will "gather allies from around the world" by using friends' characters for support in their battles. Other than that, it is entirely a single-player experience.
Pokemon Bank launches in Europe, Australia, New Zealand
The Pokemon Bank finally opened branches in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand today, but there's no word yet on when it'll deposit in North America. Nintendo delayed the X and Y Poke-storage add-on after the chaotic launch in Japan, when servers crumpled beneath unexpectedly high traffic back in December 2013. The service lets you store and carefully sort up 3,000 Poke-things in an online bank, ready to transfer to and from your X and Y collection. Meanwhile, a linked Poke Transporter app lets you move 'mon from Pokemon Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 into the Bank. The Pokemon Bank carries an annual fee of £4.49/5 euros in Europe, and $5 in North America. The EU version offers a 30-day free trial redeemable before March 14, and if you sign up before September 30 you get the adorable and adorably free Celebi as a bonus - Pocket Gamer has a handy guide on how to add the new critter to your roster. [Image: Nintendo]
Sony announces PS4 sales total 2.1 million, 700K in Europe, Australasia
Sony announced this morning that PlayStation 4 sales exceed 2.1 million as of December 1, with 700,000 consoles sold across Europe and Australasia across their launch weekends. The number is again stipulated as sell-through, meaning it represents units sold to customers rather than retailers, as estimated by Sony Computer Entertainment. According to Sony's numbers, PS4 sales have now doubled since its first day of availability in North America, boosted by launches across Europe, Australasia, and Latin America last week. The console looks on target to meet SCE America President and CEO Jack Tretton's prediction of 3 million sales by the end of the year. Sony is aiming for 5 million sales by the end of March 2014, boosted again by the console's launch in Japan on February 22.
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles orchestrates EU arrival in February
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, the PS3 HD bundle of Tales of Symphonia and Dawn of the New World, is coming to Europe and Australasia on February 28. The remastered RPG collection remains registered to arrive in North America sometime in "early 2014." Namco Bandai also announced today the bundle's collector's edition is headed for Europe and Australasia, limited to 10,000 copies across both regions. It includes five Chibi Kyun Chara figures, a paperback novel chronicling (ho ho hoooo) the events between Symphonia and sequel Dawn of the New World, a soundtrack, and "special collector's packaging." The same collector's edition was announced for North America earlier this month, limited to 15,000 copies across the region and priced $100.
Project X Zone crashes US, Europe, Australasia this summer
Project X Zone is slated to hit the 3DS in North America, Europe and Australasia this summer, Namco Bandai announced.Project X Zone launched in Japan in October with more than 50 playable characters of 29 franchises from Namco Bandai, Sega and Capcom. The game has more than 200 characters total, including protagonists, enemies and those in cutscenes only. In September, Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada tweeted that he would push Namco Bandai to localize Project X Zone, and it seems his confidence wasn't for naught.To supplement the good news, check out a gallery of fresh Project X Zone images right here.%Gallery-176869%
Boxed Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition heads to consoles October 26 in Europe, Australasia
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition will be released as a boxed product for consoles, Namco Bandai has announced. Launched (and modded!) this week on PC, the Prepare to Die Edition features all of the original Dark Souls content along with a new expansion called "Artorias of the Abyss" and brand new PVP matchmaking. This new console edition will launch in Europe and Australasia on October 26. For those who already own Dark Souls on console, the new content is slated for a downloadable release as well.We've contacted Namco Bandai to see if the retail edition is headed to North America as well.
Panasonic updates its commercial plasmas down under
Panasonic isn't exiting the plasma market (well, at least not yet) and if you've got a need for plasma image quality in your signage or you want input flexibility for your living room set, a Panny commercial plasma might be just the thing for you. The new TH-58PF11WK, TH-50PF11WK and TH-42PF11WK models for our friends in Australasia come with "Full HD" (FHD) 1920x1080 pixels and three user-configurable slots that can house modules for audio and/or video input; there's even a module for wireless connection. Yeah, wireless sounds nice, but we'll give the ability to tile up to 25 plasmas in a 5x5 array as the real feature you should try on for size.
Universal Pictures Australasia releasing 20 HD DVD titles in 2008
In a move not totally shocking considering Ken Graffeo's sentiments shared just days ago, Universal Pictures Australasia has come forward and announced that it will continue backing HD DVD by promising some 20 titles on the format in 2008. According to the release, consumers in Australia and New Zealand can look forward to picking up Atonement, The Kingdom, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, American Gangster and Charlie Wilson's War on HD DVD later this year. Unfortunately, none of the other flicks making up the previously mentioned "20" were detailed, so it looks as if we'll be waiting in tense anticipation for release dates and titles for the majority of the bunch.[Via iTWire, thanks Anthony B.]
