Image from KrebsOnSecurity.com

Hmmmm.

MCV reports that, as detailed over at KrebsOnSecurity, Square Enix have suffered hacks over at the Deus Ex and Eidos websites. On Wednesday evening, both sites displayed a banner reading ‘Owned By Chippy1337′ which also included names and handles of several other hackers (above); shortly after, both sites went down until mid-late Thursday morning.

Anonymous have been accused of the hack, as the handles given are known Anonymous members. In an interesting turning of the tables however, KrebsOnSecurity claim that they managed to get hold of a transcript of the hackers’ online chat. Fuel is added to the long-running fire that Anonymous is fighting itself here – the hackers are not those named in the banner. Part of the hack’s aim, it seems, was to act as a frame-up.

For full details and a full copy of the transcript, head to KrebsOnSecurity. The hackers apparently use the Ids ‘evo’, ‘nigg’, and ‘e’. They claim to have stolen data including details of 80,000 Deus Ex site users, 9.000 Eidos resumes, and – possibly – Deus Ex source code. They plan to publish some or all of this information online.

They originally planned to booby trap the site; evo at one point says (unedited) “there security will be responsible/for like/thousands of fucked up computers/and it would make the news” before being told it wouldn’t work. Later, nigg says “leaking the sql will cause a stir”. It seems fair to say that they’re after publicity.

This further evidence of Anonymous splitting and turning on itself – added to the fact that it’s videogame related sites being attacked – puts the notorious hacker collective in the spotlight for the PSN hack again. What if Anonymous hacked the PlayStation Network and then, when the extent of the laws which had been broken became apparent – to the extent that the FBI became involved – the hackers responsible became scared, and refused to admit to the hack? Or perhaps the files implicating Anonymous left on Sony’s servers were part of a frame-up…

Open world games are very good at instilling a general level of madness and carnage as it can feel as though everyone and their rabid dog is out to get you. GTA often sends wave after wave of suicidal policemen your way who appear to have no desire to experience their children growing up, and Far Cry 2 has an entire nation of people turn against you for no discernible reason.

These seem like tame experiences full of cuddling and playful nudges however, in comparison to some of the madness that a few well placed bullets can rustle up in Just Cause 2.

Square Enix released a very generous demo last week on Xbox Live, PSN and Steam which we have very busily been sinking our grappling hooks into. The taster experience gives us 30 minutes in which to completely tear up a 35 square mile desert area filled with cars, buildings, helicopters and lots of stuff that explodes.

After a quick run around the starting area to get used to the basic controls, you hurl yourself off a cliff and start an exhilarating base jump waiting for a handy reminder to open your parachute. Being complete masters of everything in gaming, on the first attempt we pushed our luck and watched powerlessly as we started slumping down the face of a cliff, landing like a sack full of dead kittens at the bottom, realising that our chute opening response times were a little off.

Spherical landing zones have always been a bad idea

Very soon we found another high spot to try a successful parachute experiment, and a well timed button press let us hang in the air safely. It was only at this point that we realised what an amazing graphical achievement Avalanche Studios has pulled off. As far as we can tell, there are no draw distances, no distant fog that shrouds the environment ahead in mystery and hardware efficiency. Being able to look over hundreds of acres of pristine tropical paradise just shows off the huge scale of this game, and really makes us want to explore the rest of the island.

It was at this point that we landed in the middle of an enemy compound and found ourselves in a firefight. The on foot combat at a basic level feels similar to Mercenaries 2, with no cover system or Resi 4 style shoulder aiming to speak of. Fighting like this is going to get you killed relatively fast. This is where the game’s central gadget, the grappling hook comes into play, and boy, does it let you play.

As well as being a handy time saver when travelling, it can also be used offensively as a melee flail, tether guards to just about anything, and it lets you shoot up to that handy vantage point, away from the beeping grenade at your feet. It’s very satisfying to get yourself out of a violent situation by tying an unfortunate guard to the back of a passing car in the blink of an eye, just to watch him get dragged off into the distance like a rubbish water skier bouncing off tarmac.

The locals don't take kindly to freestyle hitchhiking

The grapple can also be used to fling you up in to the air allowing you to open your parachute, which makes clearing high obstacles and accessing rooftops easier than flipping a pancake with two frying pans. Once you get used to the slightly fiddly controls you will find yourself pulling aerial acrobatic stunts like these with no effort, as if you were James Bond, high out of his mind on ketamine and breath mints.

Even the relatively mundane task of driving everywhere has been spiced up, with the ability from the first game of instant parachute assisted bail outs returning, letting you watch your car sail over a cliff to its fiery demise as you float back to earth with the grace of a feather holding an assault rifle.

Add to this the ability to hop between cars like stepping stones whilst at motorway cruising speeds, and the whole thing comes together to give us an unseen level of insanity that has yet to be showcased in a game.

When trying to pull helicopters out of the air, anchoring points are essential

The Just Cause 2 demo has really left us short of breath and anxious to see just what the full game can deliver. If videos and screenshots are anything to go by though, it just keeps getting madder and madder, with cars tied to helicopters for use as wrecking balls, fighter jets being boarded mid air, and unfortunate henchman becoming cosmonauts when tethered to speeding gas canisters.

Look out for this one when it is released on March 26 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Partners in violence and various criminal doings, Kane and Lynch are returning for their second outing sometime next year, and here’s a new trailer giving us our first real look at it.

The video shows Kane in a spot of bother as he fights off an unseen enemy in a rather intense shootout, which contrasts with Lynch’s appearance of being disturbed in the night and having a wee.

There still isn’t a huge amount known about the game, other than it should be seeing a 2010 release date on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Sky diving, car hopping, heli’ jacking third person shooter Just Cause 2 has finally been given the release date of the 26 March 2010 in Europe, the Middle East and Australasia, three days after the American release.

In the game, players take control of Rico Rodriguez, tearing up a 400 square mile South East Asian open world sandbox island by hijacking just about anything that moves before blowing a lot of stuff up.

“Just Cause 2 offers the freedom to explore and tackle the world in any way you choose”, said Lee Singleton, General Manager of Square Enix London Studios.

“The grapple and the parachute mechanic will change the way you play open-world games, allowing players to be in the air in seconds, tackling missions from above and using the aerial advantage. If you prefer to stay on solid ground, the choices offered by the grapple are limited only by your imagination.”

We’ve heard plenty of promises like this before, but the grapple and parachute mechanic is rather unique to this series. It was a very fun addition to the original Just Cause, but it was just a few other factors that let it down a bit.

Just Cause 2 is looking very promising from what has been shown off so far and hopefully it will only be a four month wait until we find out how much it has been improved. Look out for the game next year on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Murderous, unpleasant, criminal bad asses, Kane and Lynch will be getting another violent romp in to gamers’ homes with the up and coming sequel Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days.

IO Interactive isn’t revealing a great deal about the new crime shooter other than it’ll take place in the gritty Shanghai underworld introducing us to a new visual experience.

Translated in to PR speak, this has been said as, “Dog Days is inspired by documentary filmmakers and the user-generated era. Every aspect of the game has been designed to deliver a fresh perspective to the words ‘intensity’ and ‘realism’ in video games.”

They can certainly talk the talk but can they deliver a good sequel to the 2007 original that unfortunately hit just below the mark?

A new ‘Fragile Alliance’ multiplayer mode has also been mentioned, but not much is known about this. It could possibly be talking about the shaky relationship between the two protagonists which means that co-op will probably feature again, but that isn’t new. Perhaps it’ll be something else.

Expect to see this on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC sometime in 2010.

Eidos announced on Friday that the upcoming PS3 version of Just Cause 2 (due early April 2010) will allow players to upload videos of their gameplay direct to Youtube. Although the details are yet to be revealed, we can confirm that the game itself automatically records the last 30 seconds of play and makes the video available for uploading from the menu, all at the touch of a button. We can also confirm that players will be able to manually record up to ten minutes of gameplay and then upload direct from the menu screen.

There are no plans to add this feature to the Xbox 360 version and they’re neither confirming nor denying that the PC version will follow suit.

When questioned further, a spokesman for BHPR, Eidos’ out of house press office, stated that further details of the function will be announced shortly. Watch this space.

Kane and Lynch is probably best known amongst gamers for sparking the furore at Gamespot which resulted in reviewer Jeff Gerstmann’s dismissal from the site, after scoring the game as a 6/10. Despite the relatively lacklustre reviews and critical response, the movie version still sits just over the horizon and having Bruce Willis on board will no doubt raise its profile.

Willis is to play Kane in the adaptation, with the role of Lynch yet to be cast.

Before you get your hopes up too high at the idea of a film adaptation of a game that isn’t completely rubbish, bear in mind it’s from the same producer as the Hitman movie.

Still with Bruce on board there’s hope for it yet, the Die Hard star knows the action genre better than most and retains a huge fan-base from the Die Hard franchise. Then again his taste isn’t exactly impeccable, Hudson Hawk anyone?

Spotted at Eurogamer