It appears that a German hacker community has discovered a leak in ShopTo's security certificate, and as a result several credit card numbers have been leaked online. Anyone who has used ShopTo in the past should take a look at their bank balance and take the appropriate action to minimise any loss.
ShopTo's official statement on their forums is that the issue is external, and that if you have only ever entered your information on ShopTo's website that you should be okay. We've contacted ShopTo for a statement.
UPDATE 5:29 PM
It appears that this leak may be related to an earlier incident from late March. Details are very sketchy at the moment but it seems that the ShopTo security certificate weakness may not be related to the leak of 19,000 credit card numbers. However, if you are in any way unsure about the security of your details, contact your bank or card issuer to take the appropriate action. ShopTo have updated their security certificate today to eliminate this weakness.
Source: Virenschutz via NeoGAF
ATTN ShopTo customers - possible credit card leak
Competitions at RPS
Rock Paper Shotgun have 2 competitions on today.
The first is to win a boxed copy of EVE Online.
The second is to win a copy of Zeno Clash.
Good Luck!
Cheap MS Points! Go go go!
HMV are selling MS Points for £9.99. I am 99% certain that these are 2,100 points cards, since apart from the special edition ones, like the Lost and Damned ones, that is the smallest size they come in. And they are reduced from £17.99, the rrp for 2,100 points.
MS Points - £9.99
They are in stock, and ready for shipping in 24 hours. Also, if you've been to McDonalds recently and got some of the HMV vouchers from there, they can also be used online for this purchase.
UPDATE 8:30PM: Looks like these were a misprice, as they are now adding to the cart at £17.99. Hope you got in there while you could if you wanted some, and here's hoping they'll honour it.
UPDATE 22:44PM:
HMV.co.uk:
Xbox 360 Accessory - Official Microsoft Points Card - Completely shipped. Shipped Date - 20/04/2009 £9.99x3. £29.97
Looks like they are honouring at least some of them. Let us know if you get them too.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Xbox 360 - £4.99
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Xbox 360 - £4.99 delivered
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, PS3 - £7.99
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, PS3 - £7.99 delivered
Dead Space, Xbox 360 - £9.99
Dead Space, Xbox 360 - £9.99 delivered
Excellent action-horror game. Pisses all over RE5.
Weekend Special Roundup 17/4
Steam:
Football Manager 2009 - £14.99
GamersGate:
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - £13.99
or get it for £6.42 from Amazon
Kudos 2 - £5.99
Good old Games:
Stronghold and Stronghold: Crusader - $11.98
Direct2Drive:
Zeno Clash - £6.95
When it releases next week, you will get a serial, which you put into Steam, and it will be added to your Steam account.
Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure, DS - £14.73
Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure, DS - £14.73 delivered
$5 off $50 at Play-Asia
$5 off $50 at Play-Asia
Just realised that I have had this voucher for a while, and it is about to expire. It's one use only, so first come, first served
"UK-NCI-JBP"
Skate 2, PS3 - £14.99
Skate 2, PS3 - £14.99 in store at Morrisons
Didn't have any of the 360 version on the shelves, but it might be the same price, let me know if any of you see it.
The Atari Collection, PC - £14.96
The Atari Collection, PC - £14.96 in store at PC World
Just saw this in my local PC World (Teeside Park), they had 3 in stock.
Contains:
Test Drive Unlimited
Dungeons and Dragons: Storm Reach
Act of War: Direct Action
Never Winter Nights 2
Baldurs Gate 1+2, and expansions
Wat front: Turning Point
GTR 2
The Path of Neo
Tycoon city: New York
Rollercoster Tycoon 3
Appears to be listed on their site as £24.96, but they were all stickered up as £14.96. Could be an error limited to my store, but worth a try.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Wii - £14.99
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Wii - £14.99 in store at Toys R Us
Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz + Buzzers, PS2 - £4.47
Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz + Buzzers, PS2 - £4.47
£5 in HMV, £9.97 in PC World, so £4.47 via PC World's pricematch.
House of the Dead: Overkill, Wii - £16.49
House of the Dead: Overkill, Wii - £16.49
£17.99 in Gamestation, £32.99 in PC World, so £14.49 via PC World's pricematch.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Xbox 360 - £14.49
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Xbox 360 - £14.49
£14.99 in Gamestation, £19.99 in PC World, so £14.49 via PC World's pricematch.
Burnout Paradise, Trivial Pursuit & Connect 4, Xbox 360 - £14.07
Burnout Paradise, Trivial Pursuit & Connect 4, Xbox 360 - £14.07 delivered
Apply code "COOL 12" for 12% off.
That's Burnout Paradise (I think it's The Ultimate Box too), Trivial Pursuit and the XBLA Connect 4 for £14.07. Hell of a bargain.
I ordered it. Willeth will be happy.
Update: I am like 99% sure it is The Ultimate Box version of Burnout Paradise, which includes all the free updates on the disc, and the Party pack DLC.
Update2: I am now 100% sure it is The Ultimate Box, since it just arrived at my door.
Immortal Defense, PC - £3.50
Immortal Defense, PC - £3.50 on direct2drive
Cheers to Kieron for the tip off.
Ahahaha! How much?!?!?
GamersGate have got Ubisoft's pretty terrible "Prince of Persia" on the PC for £44.96.
Just shy of £45 quid.
The same game is available for £11.99 (with an exclusive sleeve, no less) elsewhere.
H.A.W.X., EndWar and Far Cry 2 are all £44.96 too.
Or £17.99, £14.99 and £9.99 (with free DLC, which is an extra £4.49 on GamersGate).
Buying all four of these games from GamersGate would cost £179.84, buying retail versions of the same games would be £54.96, less than a third of the price.
Who do we blame? Ubisoft or GamersGate?
I'm not too sure, but I am sure of one thing. Do not buy these games from GamersGate.
GamersGate also have one of the worst deals I have ever seen available too. Legendary for £44.99.
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, DS - £17.81
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, DS - £17.81 delivered
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer, DS - £8.73
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer, DS - £8.73 delivered
Modern Warfare 2 Preorders post
A lot of people really liked Call of Duty 4. So much so that the price of it still hasn't dropped hugely since release.
Not as many people liked Cod·Wah, but even still it's price is pretty high.
Anyway, it's a fairly logical assumption that Modern Warfare 2 will follow a similar pricing trend to COD4.
I'll be using this post to keep track of the best preorder price for Modern Warfare 2 across all platforms, and will try to keep it up to date from now until it's release. Maybe keep this post bookmarked if you want the best deal.
Modern Warfare 2, PC - £29.99
Modern Warfare 2, Xbox 360 - £37.98
Modern Warfare 2, PS3 - £37.98
Braid, PC - £9.99
Braid, PC - £9.99 on Steam
An odd quirk of the international pricing policy of the various digital distribution platforms is that whilst USA gamers pay roughly $15 wherever they get the game from, UK gamers pay different prices depending on where they get it from.
According to GamersGate, $15 = £13.45.
Greenhouse charge $14.95 wherever you buy from, which is £10.23 right now, according to xe.com.
According to Impulse, $14.95 = £10.22.
And according to Steam, $15 = £9.99.
I think I'll trust Valve on this one. The only downside of getting it from Steam is that for some reason, the release seems to be delayed by about 24 hours compared to the other places, and they aren't preloading it, but it is only 119mb. Available from steam right now.
It's an excellent game too. Demo here.
Weekend Special Roundup 10/4
Steam:
Peggle Complete - £6.99
Includes Peggle Deluxe and Peggle Nights.
GamersGate:
Prey - £4.99
Prey was very underwhelming for me. It has a few nice ideas, and a very good opening, but honestly, there are a lot better games for you to invest your time in.
Helldorado - £12.99
Also of note, GamersGate seem to be charging UK folks in GBP now, instead of just charging us in Euros. I've not conclusively worked out if this makes it a better or worse deal for us, but at the very least it makes the pricing a bit more transparent.
Good old Games:
Spring Promotion -
Giants + Sacrifice - $8.98
ToCA Race Driver 3 + Screamer - $11.98
Arx Fatalis + Stonekeep - $8.98
Painkiller Black + Redneck Rampage Pack - $11.98
Second Sight + Messiah - $11.98
Perimeter + Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising - $11.98
Freespace & Expansion + Freespace 2 - $8.98
Greenhouse:
Defense Grid: The Awakening - $9.95
And Yet It Moves - $9.95
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One - $9.95
Impulse:
Not up yet.
Gears of War 2 [Limited Edition], Xbox 360 - £24.99
Gears of War 2 [Limited Edition], Xbox 360 - £24.99
Just seen this in store at Blockbuster.
Red Faction: Guerilla demo
THQ are giving codes for early access to the Red Faction: Guerilla demo for the PS3/Xbox 360. You have to sign up to myTHQ, which I bet none of you want to.
Easy (and ironic) solution, use guerrillamail.com to get a temporary email address.
Once you have signed up, head here, and you can get a demo key.
PSN Sale
There is a sale on the PSN right now. Until the 23rd of April, the following games are on special offer:
PAIN - £3.99
Crash Commando - £4.79
Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty - £7.99
Echocrome - £4.79
High Velocity Bowling - £4.79
SIREN Blood Curse - £14.99
Elefunk - £3.99
Riff: Everyday Shooter - £3.99
Snakeball - £3.99
Nucleus - £3.99
Toy Home - £3.99
Pixeljunk Racers - £3.99
Blast Factor - £3.99
Calling All Cars - £3.99
Dark Mist - £3.99
Piyotama - £2.39
Wipeout HD - £11.99
Everydays shooter is pretty incredible. Echochrome is worth a pop too I reckon.
GOG Spring Promotion
Good old games are having a Spring promotion. The following bundles are on offer:
Giants + Sacrifice - $8.98
ToCA Race Driver 3 + Screamer - $11.98
Arx Fatalis + Stonekeep - $8.98
Painkiller Black + Redneck Rampage Pack - $11.98
Second Sight + Messiah - $11.98
Perimeter + Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising - $11.98
Freespace & Expansion + Freespace 2 - $8.98
Details here.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, PSP - £7.99
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, PSP - £7.99 delivered
ChoicesUK Clearance sale
ChoicesUK seem to have a pretty good clearance sale on.
I'm busy atm, but I will try to pick out the highlights later.
2100 Microsoft Points - what cost?
I recently bought 6300 MSP, as I am wont to do whenever I want to take advantage of a cheap deal, such as the recent one at Smiths. I bought three separate 2100 point cards, as it was the cheapest way to get them.
I received them yesterday. I received three items, exactly the same, whose serial numbers show were one after another from the same batch of cards, in three separate envelopes. Despite ordering all three in the same order, I got an invoice for each in each envelope. Take a look:
Now, this is ridiculous. I'll of course be letting WH Smith know what I think of this, and while I'll be re-using the envelopes for other things I'm sure you can see while I have an issue with it.
But the real culprit here isn't Smiths. Even if they bundled it together in one envelope, I'd still have a load of waste. Take a look at that image above again - each card has plastic shrink-wrap, a plastic DVD case, a paper sleeve, a card insert, and the card itself with the code on. And I can't see any reason for it - any information on any part of the package is actually repeated on the card. And to top it all off take a look at the inside: 
The case is specially manufactured for the card. It's not a regular DVD case. There is no other use for this piece of plastic than to provide a safe shipping container for a piece of goddamned cardboard. Your average person is going to extract the useful part of this, and throw the case directly into the recycling - or, more likely, the general waste bin.
Here's how I could have received these cards:
One standard envelope, one sheet of paper for an invoice, and three credit-card-sized cards. I could even just receive the codes through email, although I understand that might require a little more communication between Microsoft and retailers - the recent news that Amazon has opened a digital goods store for Xbox Live in the US is a great step in the right direction for this.
I really can't see the reason for this much packaging. I can see the reason for some, possibly to prevent theft from stores, but never this much, and retailers already lock the actual product behind the counter in any case. Protecting it in transit is not an issue. Neither is preventing the silver covering from rubbing off - in America, this has already been replaced with a tear-off strip in some instances, although reportedly they're still available to buy in even more mind-boggling packaging - those infernal impenetrable blister packs.
Are there any other reasons for this? To make the customer feel like they're buying something more tangible? Aren't we beyond that?
Street Fighter IV [Collector's Edition], Xbox 360 - £29.99
Street Fighter IV [Collector's Edition], Xbox 360 - £29.99 delivered
Cheers to more heat than light for the tip off.
Street Fighter IV [Collector's Edition], PS3 - £29.99
Street Fighter IV [Collector's Edition], PS3 - £29.99 delivered
Cheers to more heat than light for the tip off.
GH2 X-plorer Guitar, £9.99 - Xbox 360
Gibson X-plorer guitar for Xbox 360 - £9.99
This is the wired GH2 guitar, compatible with all the guitar games on the 360. Available for in-store reserve for free, and they'll hold it until the close of business the next working day. Total is £15.79 with home delivery.
For those going straight to a store without reserving online, the item number is 566/8935.
Thanks to $h@d0w for the tip.
Saints Row 2 [Limited Edition], Xbox 360 - £19.99
Saints Row 2 [Limited Edition], Xbox 360 - £19.99 delivered
Contains:
Limited Edition gun mould packaging (not actually a gun)
1gig Gold Bullet USB 2.0 Memory stick
Exclusive content, including buddy icons and wallpapers
Limited edition artbook
Stilwater Map poster
Exclusive 3rd Street Saints Poster
Cheers to more heat than light for the tip off.
The best price for the regular edition atm is £18.99, so this seems like a real good deal.
Edit: Well that didn't last long. Between posting it, and attempting to order it, it went out of stock...
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, Xbox 360 - £14
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, Xbox 360 - £14 delivered
Dragon Quest - Chapters Of The Chosen, DS - £9.73
Dragon Quest - Chapters Of The Chosen, DS - £9.73 delivered
Zack And Wiki: Quest For Barbaros Treasure, Wii - £11.73
Zack And Wiki: Quest For Barbaros Treasure, Wii - £11.73 delivered
Far Cry 2 [Fortune's Pack Edition], PC - £9.99
Far Cry 2 [Fortune's Pack Edition], PC - £9.99 delivered
Due for release on the 17th.
MadWorld, Wii - Review
Madworld, Wii - £17.99
Review by LewieP
Very cool.
Very very cool.
Fuck Mediawatch-UK, Fuck Anne Diamond, and fuck the Daily Mail. MadWorld is fun fun fun fun fun.
MadWorld makes an incredible first impression. It sucks you in and demands to be played. At it's heart beats an unrelenting combat engine that is as challenging to play as it is badass to watch. It manages to make QTEs feel fresh, which is an astounding achievement. The scoring system is hilarious, and if you want, there is a decent amount of depth to be found.
You only need to see the game for a few seconds to understand the visual appeal. Yes it looks like Sin City, and yes it works very well as a game. Not since Jet Set Radio have I played a game and had to just sit and stare thinking "what the hell is this? How have they made this?".
The Jet Set Radio comparison applies to the music too. It has similar, fantastic contemporary hip hop, although maybe a bit grittier. Some of the songs have lyrics about what is going on in the game too, which is cool.
At all times, you feel very very powerful. Jack can simply kick a lot of ass. You never feel completely overwhelmed, and you have always got the tools you need to put a violent end to anyone who gets in your way.
The genius of the game comes from the fact that you do not get points for just killing, but the way in which you kill. Throw someone in a fire, get a few points. Shove a signpost into someone's head, then throw them in a fire, get a few more points. Shove 3 signposts into someone's head, set them on fire, hold them up against a giant circular saw, head butt them a few times, and then throw them into a fire, and you get a hell of a lot of points.
I know, it is not big, it is not clever, and it certainly shouldn't be played by children, but they are very solid game mechanics. It is a violent game, but it never feels like it is just going for the cheap shocks for easy controversy marketing, unlike, say, the Manhunt games. More stylised than gore.
Some levels are small, some are big, but they are always interesting, and always have a huge variety of ways to use the environment to your advantage. It is a lot of fun experimenting ways to get the highest score, or just do badass things.
Controls are almost convoluted. To be honest, they took me quite a long time to get used to it, but it is worth it. It uses pretty much every function of the Wiimote + Nunchuck, but once you have gotten used to the set up, you have a lot of freedom over what Jack is doing. Simplifying the controls would have certainly been detrimental to the game.
The story starts off simple enough to completely avoid getting in the way of the rest of the game, and cut scenes provide just enough of a framework to hook the events of the game onto. As the game progresses however, the conspiracy storyline gets increasingly interesting, and the ending is pretty great.
It is not a game you are going to play solely for the story, but it is at worst inoffensive, and at best interesting. The in game announcers can be annoying, but only because they start to repeat pretty quickly, which is inexcusable in such a short game. It's a shame, because they can be pretty damn funny. They also respond to what you are doing in game, which can work really really well.
The whole package is presented phenomenally. Everything just works well as a game, there are some very funny, subtle references to other games. The cut scenes are wonderful, and from the moment you insert the disc, to the end credits, it feels like a game made by people who love video games as much as you do.
I am not going to lie, it has problems. The time limits seem like a bit of a lazy design crutch, and I've spotted a few graphical glitches that you might see too if you look hard. If I was forced to, I could come up with a few more flaws, but you can't force me to, so I am not going to. There are a few minor, inconsequential problems with the game, but nothing that is detrimental to the game overall.
Whatever the hell "Hardcore" even means, you will struggle to find a game that is more hardcore on any platform. MadWorld is like the best bits of several good games crammed into to one disgusting bloody orgy of fun, and that is more than enough for me. MadWorld is not just a standout title in the Wii's library, but a must play in every sense of the word.
If you liked God Hand, you will love Mad World. If you didn't like God Hand, piss off to IGN.
Make PC World give you stuff for cheaper than they want too
I've been out in town today, and spotted a few bargains about. However, rather than getting them from where I saw them, the best option is to get PC World to pricematch them, and get even bigger savings. I've put together links to the items in question at PC World, and put the price they are available elsewhere, and where from afterwards, and then the price you should get them for from PC World in brackets. Here they are:
Xbox 360
Play and Charge Kit Black/White - £9.99 at HMV (£9.49)
Battlefield: Bad Company - £13 at HMV (£12.70)
DS
100 Classic Book Collection - £15.06 at Tesco (£14.56)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games - £15.21 at Tesco ( £14.23)
PC
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 - £2 at HMV (£1.20)
World In Conflict [Complete Edition] - £10 at HMV (£9.01)
There was also these in HMV, but PC World do not stock these:
Xbox 360
Mass Effect - £10
Blacksite - £8
PS3
Blacksite - £8
Wii
No More Heroes - £8
DS
Chocobo Tales - £8
PC
The Incredible Hulk - £2
Full Throttle - £4
Universe at War - £2
Billy Hatcher - £3
Dark Horizon and Tarr Chronicles, PC - €2.99
Dark Horizon and Tarr Chronicles, PC - €2.99
Two games for next to nothing.
Rhythm Paradise, DS - £24.99
Rhythm Paradise, DS - £24.99 delivered
AKA Rhythm Tengoku Gold/Rhythm Heaven. The DS iteration of the the Warioware teams insane rhythm game.
The Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena, Xbox 360 - £32.99
The Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena, Xbox 360 - £32.99 delivered
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