Technology Internet News Blog

By Barry Collins

Posted on 27 Apr 2010 at 10:49

The UK security industry is launching a series of online games in a bid to identify the next generation of security experts.

The scheme is being run by Cyber Security Challenge UK, a consortium of security organisations that include the Metropolitan Police and the Institute of Information Security Professionals. The scheme is supported by the Cabinet Office.

The challenge hopes to identify young people who have the necessary skills to forge a career in IT security.

Judy Baker, the director of the Cyber Security Challenge, told PC Pro that there’s a desperate shortage of IT security experts in the UK. “Companies can’t get the people they need, they’re just not good enough,” she said. “Raising awareness [of IT security] is part of our aspiration to draw in talented people.”

The Challenge will consist of two stages. The first round involves a series of online games designed to identify candidates with specific security skills. The games will concentrate on topics such as network defence, forensics and identifying website vulnerabilities.

The winners of the first round will progress to face-to-face challenges at a yet unnamed venue. Prizes for the eventual winners will include scholarships with security companies or IT training courses. “It has been suggested that we’re blind dating here!” said Baker, noting how the scheme matches up future security professionals with companies.

“We’re targeting people from age 16 upwards. Younger people often do better than experienced professionals [at solving security problems],” she added.

The challenge is expected to start in the autumn.

Sticklers for journalistic propriety have always frowned upon checkbook journalism, which is far more rampant now thanks to the internet. Thankfully for checkbook journalists though, their critics can do little more than protest. But buying a story is one thing, and flouting the law in doing so a totally different affair.

Last week, when Gizmodo proudly flaunted what it claimed to be a misplaced prototype of the next iPhone, it prompted many to question the legality of the way in which the phone was acquired – the blog’s editors avowedly paid $5000 for the misplaced phone. Under state law, a finder of goods who can determine the owner of lost property is under legal obligation to return it to its original owner, and the failure to do so makes him guilty of theft.

It has now emerged that cops investigating the matter raided Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s house on Friday and confiscated four computers and two servers. According to Jason Chen, cops bust into his house in his absence and were busy scouring the place for evidence when he and his wife arrived from dinner at around 9:45PM. The cops were carrying a search warrant issued by the Superior Court of the County of San Mateo, California.

Gawker Media COO Gaby Darbyshire believes that the search warrant against Gizmodo’s editor contravened section 1524(g) of the California Penal Code, which states that “a publisher, editor, reporter, or other person connected with or employed upon a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication” can not be forced to make any disclosures with regards to the source of any information obtained by them in their official capacity.

Darbyshire isn’t the only one raising a stink, though. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press told CNET that the search warrant was issued in violation of the federal Privacy Protection Act. “This is such an incredibly clear violation of state and federal law it takes my breath away. The only thing left for the authorities to do is return everything immediately and issue one of hell of an apology,” she said.

IDC will release figures later this week that indicate that the Netbook phenomenon may have peaked, and recent comments from Intel itself back this up.

HP Mini 210: Netbooks may have peaked last year.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

The figures from market researcher IDC show a decline in Atom processor shipments as a percentage of Intel mobile processors–a sharp reversal of previous trends that had the Atom chip, quarter by quarter, taking a larger percentage of mobile chip shipments.

Intel ships most of its Atom processors to makers of Netbooks–small, highly portable laptops that are typically priced around $350. Major Netbook brands include Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Asus, Acer, and Toshiba.

“Atom in Netbooks is plateauing,” Shane Rau, an analyst at IDC, said in a phone interview. “With the market recovery, I think end users are going to be looking for more value than just low-cost devices. This is an opportunity for higher-end mobile PCs, for example, that have better performance, bigger screens, bigger hard drives,” he said.

Competition from Netbooks that use processors from United Kingdom-based ARM–commonly referred to as “smartbooks”–and tablets, such as the iPad, will also be a factor in the Atom-based Netbook slowdown, Rau said.

In the first quarter of this year, Atom processors as a percentage of Intel mobile processors fell to 20.3 percent, compared with 24.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and 23.5 percent in the third quarter, according to Rau, citing figures to be published later this week. “Pretty much all of last year, it was in the 23, 24, 25 percent range. So, 20 percent coming into Q1–that’s a noticeable change,” he said.

And Intel doesn’t seem to disagree. In an Intel earnings conference call earlier this month, CEO Paul Otellini said this: “I think we suggested that Netbooks seem to be settling out at about 20 percent of the mobile form factors and on an annual basis that looks to be about right,” he said.

Other comments from Otellini support the IDC figures. “In Q1…Atom was down a bit more than what we would normally see as seasonal,” he said, adding that there is “no corporate Netbook market we have found.”

Sly Cooper was one of the three popular platforming franchises on the PS2, the other two being Ratchet and Clank, and Jak and Daxter.

The Developers, like the other two, have gone on to bigger and better things on the PS3, but can we expect anything for the future?

Sly Cooper came in a trilogy, as most good things do. Rendered in “Toon-shading”, the first game, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus followed the eponymous, anthropomorphic Sly and his two friends Murray, a pink Hippo and Bentley, a Turtle. Together, they sought to take down the Fiendish Five, a group who killed Sly’s father and stole his family’s book, the Thievius Raccoonus.

Using a cane as an all purpose weapon and swinging device, Sly battles his way through the each of the Five’s lairs, collecting and unlocking new powers along the way. He also uses ‘thief senses’ indicated by blue sparkles, which allow him to perform special moves, like walking on narrow objects (ropes, wires etc.), balancing on points and shimmying along ledges.

Stealth was also an important factor of gameplay, Sly could be defeated with one hit, so sneaking through levels was very important. The music was also used an intuitive system, becoming faster and louder when Sly was discovered and helping to indicate when things were quieter again.

“If you can’t see them, they’ll go away.”

Sly was also followed by interpol agent and love interest, Carmalita. Carmalita, who wants to be the agent to capture Sly, usually turns up at the wrong moment for Sly and his gang, but occasionally they use her to their gains, tempting her with other villains and distracting her.

The second game saw the return of Clockwerk, the main antagonist of the first game. A large cyborg owl, a malicious gang was collecting and assembling the parts and it was up to Sly and his gang, who knew the real threat Clockwerk posed, to stop them.

New features in this game included a health bar, instead of the one hit kill in the last game, pickpocketing, as well as hubs in each area which acted as safehouses providing missions and upgrades as well as a save point.

An interesting feature was the utilisation of the USB microphone, which registered sounds made and incorporated them into gameplay by attracting guards. This could be used as a distraction, but it also added another layer of immersion to gameplay as the player had to keep quiet when playing. This is something not yet seen on the PS3.

The third and final game, Sly 3, followed Sly as he attempted to defeat the evil Doctor M, who had taken over the Cooper Vault in an attempt to break in and steal the riches that lay within.

The gang practice their ‘action’ poses.

This game introduced 3D sections, playable with the glasses that came with the game. 3D was optional, but it was incorporated into the game in an interesting and innovative way, often using depth as an extra layer of gameplay rather than just showing it off.

Multiplayer was also included and featured playable characters from the games.

Sucker Punch, the developers of the Sly series, didn’t say or do much from that point, until they announced inFamous for the PS3.

This popular game allowed you to play as Cole, who gains electrical superpowers through what appears to be a freak accident.

Facets of gameplay present in inFamous were similar to those in Sly, like running on wires and balancing on points, which suggest that Sucker Punch could be planning to utilise this engine for a possible PS3 Sly game, which is also suggested with subtle hints. For example, on a cinema sign in the game, there is a listing for Sly Cooper 4.

Cole feels grounded.

It seems like Sucker Punch are planning for a Sly game, even though no announcement has yet been made. Where would it start off though?

A cliffhanger at the end of Sly 3 *spoiler alert* was that Sly was living with Carmalita, Sly’s love interest, feigning amnesia. Would the next story follow an new story arc, or be a “one last heist”?

Personally, I think the format would work well on the PS3. The part free-roaming, part mission-based action-stealth gameplay would be a welcome change to the sandbox games, not to mention the cartoonish, animated graphics would look absolutely stunning in HD.

If the first three games proved anything, its that Sucker Punch consistently delivered fun, diverse games with style and lasting appeal. If there’s one thing we need, its more anthropomorphic cartoon characters in this realism based world and after inFamous, Sucker Punch showed they could still produce fantastic and extremely playable games.

Personally, the idea of an anthropomorphic Raccoon that goes around stealing stuff with style is something that hasn’t been utilised to its maximum appeal, and still has a lot to give. Will Sucker Punch give it to us? Who knows. But I’ll bet Cole does. Git.

Fan of Furries? Or too old for cartoons? Post a comment below!

Back in the early 90’s Final Fight was the game to play at the arcades. This classic beat ‘em up allowed for you and a friend to pummel waves of thugs. What wasn’t there to like? The concept was simple and it was really fun.

Capcom is re-releasing the original Arcade version of Final Fight on April 15th for the PlayStation Network. Final Fight: Double Impact will also feature Magic Sword, another classic sidescrolling arcade game.

There’s a little over two weeks left until Double Impact hits the PSN and we were given the opportunity to get our hands on the game and provide some details and impressions.

If you have played Final Fight before, then this game needs no introduction. This is the same game that was originally released in 1989. If you’re new to the series, you can play as three different characters. Cody, Guy, and Haggar each have unique moves to perform. Despite there being three characters, there is only support for two players.

The controls are pretty basic. You can attack, jump, grab, and move around. By pressing the attack and jump buttons at the same time you can perform a character specific special move. Since this is an arcade game it seemed appropriate to use a Street Fighter IV Fight Stick. If we’re going to play an arcade re-release, we might as well try to replicate the experience as much as possible. It’s nowhere near necessary but playing with an arcade stick adds to the nostalgia.

Haggar is a Mayor that literally Piledrives thugs off the streets.

We don’t remember playing much of Magic Sword back in the day so it’s practically a new game. It’s faster than Final Fight and there are more levels, although they are pretty short. Instead of being able to walk in the background and foreground of a stage like in Final Fight, you can only move from left to right and jump onto platforms.

In Magic Sword you play as a barbarian equipped with a sword and shield. An interesting twist to the gameplay is the ability to rescue allies trapped in dungeons. These characters can then assist you in your quest, but you can only have one ally out at a time. The arcade version of the game supports up to two players and this gives you the benefit of having an additional ally. Like Final Fight, the game has aged pretty well.

It’s surprising how good both games look on an HDTV. By default there is an arcade cabinet border that surrounds both games. There’s also a unique visual setting that looks just like an actual arcade monitor. You would think that having scanlines and a phoshor glow would be bothersome, but it’s really not. It’s actually pretty neat.

If you’re not a fan of the borders you can actually change the screen size to your liking. You can also modify the upscaler to various settings such as Crisp, Classic, and Smooth. It’s pretty similar to the options found in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, so if you’re familiar with that then you have the right idea.

The cabinet display is pretty awesome

We didn’t get a chance to play online yet but Capcom promises that the experience will be worthwhile. Due to the fact that Double Impact uses the popular GGPO netcode, you most likely don’t have to worry about dealing with unplayable lag. Playing with a friend is an absolute must and the online component is the biggest feature the game has to offer. Thankfully, both games allow for drop in anytime online play and offline co-op support.

Capcom included tons of unlockables for both games. The bonus content mainly consists of art, but there are some extras that fans will definitely enjoy. The music has also been completely remastered and you can even switch back to the original soundtrack.

Final Fight: Double Impact will hit the PSN on April 15th for $9.99. Expect our full review to be released on the same day. Until then, check out the gallery below. These are promotional images so ignore the Xbox 360 buttons that are displayed in some of the screenshots.

In Yakuza 3 you play as Kazuma as he comes out of retirement and returns to Tokyo. As a former chief of the Yakuza Mafia family, he had been thoroughly enjoying life away from the criminal underworld, even finding time to set up an orphanage after growing up as an orphan himself – or so he thought.

But it isn’t long before his world turns upside down and he has to return to a world that he thought he had completely put behind him.

Yakuza 3 is a game that has taken over a year to spread its wings to the west after pressure from fans everywhere, and it isn’t a minute too soon.

It’s clear straight away that this title is one of the finest games of late to be developed from within the shores of Japan. It provides a pleasant blend of RPG, open world, and Beat ‘em up that you can sit and play for hours on end.

It’s all about bright lights!

Obviously many people will compare this game to Grand Theft Auto as many elements of it are very familiar. The title is set in a fictional district of Tokyo, allowing you to explore it at your own pace with many activities to do outside of missions such as a round of Karaoke, Bowling, or even filming for your blog. These mini-games may not be the most exciting, but it just proves how far SEGA have gone to offer new and different experiences to keep gamers interested.

Walking down the streets, gangs and thugs will regularly meet you and try to pick a fight, naive of what Kazuma is really capable of. Surprisingly despite his age, Kaz definitely still has what it takes to be a great fighter – he certainly is no granddad!

On first impressions the combat system has a simple arcade-style to it but in reality it is very intuitive as it provides a variety of attack combinations and counter moves. Plus you can also pick up objects or use the environment such as walls to assist in toppling your opponent. By successfully completing attacks your heat metre will fill up, making your moves even more deadly and adding another dimension to the conflict.

That should make a permanent impact on his face!

As you progress through the game, your character’s abilities will improve as Yakuza 3 features an RPG-like level system to reward you for successfully completing challenges. This will help you even further at defeating your enemies and makes this title very gratifying and of course wonderfully addictive.

As this game has been catapulted straight from Japan with only a few changes, there is no English voicing. Instead the game is full of subtitles which will naturally put people off, but if you’re used to watching a lot of foreign films we don’t see why the title shouldn’t earn your attention.

However it would have been nice to have English speaking voicing as an option, but then we would have to wait even longer for it to release over here, which is a prospect that fans couldn’t let happen.

One of the things we notice straight away is that the cut scenes in Yakuza 3 are quite long. Of course if you’re a fan of Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series you will be fully used to this notion, although we should point out that they don’t quite reach to the extent seen in those games – a good or bad thing we can’t decide. It’s a shame that there isn’t at least an option to pause the scenes in case of an urgent toilet calling though, as many keep on going just when you expect them to finish. Of course you can skip them once you switch on this option in the menu, but you’ll miss most of the story if you do and so it isn’t recommended.

You cannot be serious!

This title is much more story driven than most games that come out of western developers. A lot of the plot is about character development and as a gamer you feel a strong bond with many of the individuals you see on the screen. This makes Yakuza 3 more than just a game that has simply been jammed with a variety of gameplay options, and is why it isn’t an experience that you can simply drop in now and again.

If you’re looking for a visually stunning game then this is it, although that’s largely thanks to the bright colourful textures used rather than any outstanding graphics. After playing games like Uncharted 2 and God of War III, you can’t help but feel that Yakuza 3 looks a little outdated, and it makes you really appreciate just how talented Santa Monica and Naughty Dog really are!

One of the few problems we have with this game is the use of in-game sequences in addition to the regular cut scenes. These sequences involve repeatedly clicking and reading through lines of text at the bottom of the screen while the characters stand there motionless. This really does slow down the pace of the game and is the most frustrating aspect of it. A few years ago in the PS2 days it probably wouldn’t be so much of an issue, but for today’s market we find it inexcusable and it sadly dampens the quality of an otherwise unforgettable game.

All killer no filler

Now we have a feeling that many of you may have never played the previous two games. This isn’t a random inclination; we’re just basing it on the fact that unfortunately outside of Japan this franchise hasn’t had so much recognition. Therefore if after reading this review you’re interested in playing the game, but are worried you need knowledge of the previous two to make the most of it, we can put your mind to rest. Although it isn’t essential that you know about the previous titles, it does help and so that’s why the developers have included highlight footage of the first two games on the disc so you can catch right up to the series so far. However having said this, the game will still demand you to give it time so you can fully settle into the Yakuza universe.

It is fair to say that Yakuza 3 will not be to everyone’s liking. The lack of English voice acting and heavy use of text will disappoint many as it asks you to do a lot of reading, which may or may not be a problem. It’s also a game that may look daunting due to the rightful influence of Japanese culture, use of several different gameplay formats, and its deep storylines. But if none of those deter you then we think you are guaranteed to be playing it for a long time. The developers have succeeded at providing an experience that will last you many hours, providing great value for money. So if you get your hands on it, make sure your schedule is clear before sitting down in front of the TV and picking up the controller.