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"Final Fantasy" may be a big deal, but true old school fans of Square Enix -- though it was just Square at the time -- know that the best of the classic role-playing games, really one of the best 16-bit era games overall, is "Chrono Trigger." The time-jumping RPG was first released for the Super NES in 1995, but it's popped up a couple times since then, in enhanced ports for PlayStation port and, later, Nintendo DS. The game is supposed to be coming to the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan this month, and we learn today that it also seems to be making its way to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

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Tags chrono trigger, psone classics, square enix

"Minecraft" is one of the most inexplicably successful games of the modern era. That's not a negative comment on its quality -- if the game weren't awesome, it wouldn't be huge right now -- but rather the fact that it's a PC-only release that is technically still in beta and features graphics that would have felt a little outdated 10 years ago. It's great though, and it's popular as a result. So much so that one pair of fans were inspired to create a board game adaptation as part of an art project.

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Tags minecraft, mojang specifications

When you were first watching Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," was any part of you surprised that the movie was rated PG-13? This movie, with its intense violence (the pencil scene alone!), was approved by the MPAA for viewers aged 13 and above. And yet, when you think again, how much do you really see? You never see the Joker jam a pencil in someone's eye. You see some blood, sure, but most of the intense, disturbing stuff in that movie is all filled in by your imagination and by Heath Ledger's amazing performance.

The very same thing happens when playing "Portal 2," a game which is rated E-10 for Everyone by the ESRB. What other games have an E-10 rating? "Cake Mania Main Street," "Wildlife: Forest Survival" and "Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge."

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Tags ea, portal, portal 2, valve

Aspiring game developers got some great news today from Crytek. The "Crysis 2" dev announced that editing tools for the PC version of the game will be coming out way early this summer. Then, in August, Crytek will be releasing a free version of the software development kit for its CryENGINE game engine for creating entirely new content within CryENGINE 3, which is what powers the recently released "Crysis" sequel.

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Tags CryEngine, cryengine 3, Crysis, crysis 2, crytek

A handful of years ago, Geoff Keighley wrote of his first-hand experience inside the halls of Valve Software as the finishing touches were being put on "Half-Life 2." The piece, titled "The Final Hours of Half-Life 2," is a fascinating look into a company which has, traditionally, dodged the media spotlight. Keighley has since gone on to do a number of other things, including being the host of GameTrailers TV, but he apparently hasn't forgotten his roots or the familiar folks at Valve. Keighley returned to the company this year for a new feature, "The Final Hours of Portal 2," in which he documents the process of creating what I would consider to be one of the best games ever made.

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Tags portal, portal 2, valve

Back at the beginning of March, right around GDC, Electronic Arts confirmed the forthcoming release of "Shadows of the Damned," a Grasshopper Manufacture production, for June 7. That also happens to be the same day this year's E3 kicks off. In what is most likely, at least in part, a response to that, EA has now pushed back the "Shadows" release to June 21.

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Tags ea, electronic arts, grasshopper manufacture, shadows of the damned

Reports have emerged in recent days that Nintendo will be unveiling a new gaming console at this year's E3. The company has yet to issue an official statement -- and likely won't, until just before or during the June trade show -- but the mounting number of sources speaking out on the news have all but confirmed it. Some new details have now come out on the makeup of this Wii 2's controller, which is said to feature a built-in touchscreen.

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Tags nintendo, project cafe, wii 2

We learned in March that Radical Entertainment will be turning things around for former protagonist Alex Mercer in "Prototype 2." He'll actually be the Enemy this time, pursued across the healing streets of a virus-wracked Manhattan by the grief-stricken military veteran, Sergeant James Heller. A new developer diary delves into some of that backstory, and you can check it out after the jump.

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Tags activision, prototype, prototype 2, radical entertainment, Video

Back in February, Cro-Team and Devolver Digital announced the next video game adventure for Sam "Serious" Stone, "Serious Sam 3: BFE." It's coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC this summer, and today brings some new screens for you to feast your eyes upon.

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Tags cro-team, devolver digital, serious sam, serious sam 3: bfe

UPDATE: On April 26, Sony revealed the reason they pulled the PlayStation Network servers offline, and it's about the worst scenario you can possibly image. In a post on the official PlayStation blog, Sony's Patrick Seybold revealed that "certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network."

What sort of account information was obtained? Here's a list of what Sony thinks the hacker responsible might have gotten access to:

Name
Billing Address (city, state, zip, country)
Email address
Birthdate
PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login
PSN Online ID
PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers
Credit Card Data (Sony doesn't have evidence of this, but can't rule it out)

Sony is recommending that users change their passwords when the service comes back on line, and are sure to change any passwords on other services that use the same log-in information.

Basically it's a nightmare scenario for Sony, with every single piece of secure user data being stolen by a hacker or hackers. The company will be emailing registered users with information on how to guard against fraud now that their personal information has been compromised.

There's still no update as to when the PSN servers will return, but Sony says that "teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible."

UPDATE: On April 22, Sony posted the following statement on their official blog:

"An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share."

Seems the rumors of hacker involvement were indeed true.

Original Story: The PlayStation Network has seen its fair share of problems since it launched, but its latest woes may be the worst yet. Starting this morning, users started running to forums and blogs to complain that they were having difficulty connecting to PSN, receiving an error code "80710A06." The reason for the outage is presently unknown and apparently more serious than Sony was expecting. On the official PlayStation Blog, Patrick Seybold, the Sr. Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media for SCEA, laid out the present situation in a brief statement:

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Tags PSN, scea