PS Vita Mortal Kombat Coming On May 1

Mortal Kombat fans, gear up as a portable version of the beloved fighting game is set to release in North America on May 1 as a European release is set for May 4 on the Sony PlayStation Vita. So now you can do fatalities on the toilet, in bed, and everywhere you can think of.

A lot of detail was put into this as the Mortal Kombat game was specially made for Vita, featuring a Challenge Tower mode that comes with 150 missions. With use of the touchscreen, the game lets players perform fatalities with a simple swipe of the finger across the screen to perform sick and deadly fatalities. You might be thinking that this might be another fruit ninja combined with a fighting game, but you should check out the trailer.

To me, it does look like fruit ninja in some of the scenes! Although, the fatalities in the trailer looked awesome and nasty at the same time. If you own a Vita and a Mortal Kombat fan or someone wanting to try the fighting genres, I would happily recommend the Mortal Kombat series.

It is developed by NetherRealm Studios and the publisher is Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

I also made a new banner for the blog!

[Gamespot]

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Credit Card Data In Xbox 360 Hard Drives

A group at Drexel University conducting a research says that the hard drives in the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game system retain credit card data even after they have been reformatted and sold again, so is your credit card at risk?

In a response, Microsoft said they will be conducting tests on how the researchers managed to get info out, but have not yet been able to replicate what the group did. In a statement by Jim Alkove, who is the general manager of Microsoft's security of interactive entertainment business, told Joystiq

"We are conducting a thorough investigation into the researchers' claims. We have requested information that will allow us to investigate the console in question and have still not received the information needed to replicate the researchers' claims.

Xbox is not designed to store credit card data locally on the console, and as such seems unlikely credit card data was recovered by the method described. Additionally, when Microsoft refurbishes used consoles we have processes in place to wipe the local hard drives of any other user data. We can assure Xbox owners we take the privacy and security of their personal data very seriously."

Although Microsoft claims that this doesn't seem possible at all that the systems could still retain the data after being reformatted. The researchers at Drexel said that modders can pull the numbers out by just using the common hacking tools found. 

This is quite scary for many, as similar mishaps also happened to other companies as their information of customers was taken without any permission. One thing that potential console sellers should do is to just keep their system for now, until Microsoft has found a fix to this mess.

[IGN]

[Kotaku]

[Joystiq]

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SimCity News

Since the first real news of SimCity came out not too long ago, more details have been released. As it seems like every game now requires a constant internet connection, SimCity will grow out of the good old days into the modern gaming era by requiring an internet connection. Other news confirmed from the publisher is that the game will also be available on Origin, apart from the physical copy. Leader designer Stone Librande states that players are required to be online using Origin to be able to play, even the games that were bought outside. To defend his words, Librande says that this requirement is necessary for SimCity's multiplayer features both regionally and globally.

Regarding mod support, there won't be support at the start of the game's launch. Librande says, "Right now we've got our work cut out for us to build the product up to the quality level it deserves as a SimCity." Don't be discouraged as he also says, "Then after we ship, we'll make decisions about how we can and when exactly we'll support mods."

Librande also adds, "But it's worth pointing out that the reason people are still playing SimCity 4 almost ten years later is because the modding community essentially re-created it and filled it with new content and fixed bugs and made it as much of a hobby as it is a game."

The final words of the lead designer were, "We're very cognizant of that -- we're not idiots."

I do agree with Librande, as the last SimCity game, SimCity 4, is still alive to this day with mods being churned out by many players everyday. For me, I would rather have mod support later so the developers can have more time concentrating on releasing a quality game. I'm glad that the developers recognized the communities that still support the series, as they'll make sure they treat their consumers greatly.

SimCity is set to release on PC in 2013

[GameInformer]

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Will The PS4 Lock Out Used Games?

Just in, reports that a tipster shared some wanted news to Kotaku that the next PlayStation 4 will feature a system that will lock out used games and have no backwards compatibility with the previous PS3 titles. The PlayStation 4 will be named "Orbis" and that it will ship during the 2013 holiday season. There still isn't any conformation that the next Sony system will be actually named "Orbis" or that it could be just a codename.

As these are just rumors, there have been multiple sources citing that "Orbis" will come equipped with an anti-used game system and the games will be on Blu-Ray discs or on downloads, eventually being locked to just one PSN account...

To make matters worse, the sources say that to be able to boot up games, users would have to be connected to PSN. Although, gamers can trade-in their games, but the next person who buys the traded-in game will be subjected to a "limited trial mode" or to some form of restriction on the content.

Other rumors suggest that the next Xbox will also have a system to block used games. It's just a matter of time before any of these rumors are fake or actually become real. Time will tell.

[GameSpot]

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