Gears Designer: Wave of Hacking Makes it 'Scary to be a Game Developer'Every other day there seems to be a new report on a video game company database or network getting hacked (Sega is the latest). It's as if the hacking community has found new confidence in the wake of the PSN disaster and become even more brazen, and that's created an environment that's "scary" to work in, Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski told IndustryGamers.
When we asked Bleszinski about his reaction to the terrible PSN situation, he replied, "It f***ing sucked! I think dealing with hackers is a very sensitive thing, because if you piss off...the wrong hacker group, they can really get to your stuff and mess you up."
"It’s just a shame. It cost them an untold amount of money; I know developers who couldn’t put their betas out there because of it. I mean, it was a major problem. So it’s pretty scary to be a game developer, especially when you talk about there being a connected future," he continued.
Interestingly, the Gears of War designer noted that Microsoft's way of accepting Kinect hacks may have spared them the sort of massive attack that PSN endured; it goes in stark contrast to how Sony took away the Other OS feature on PS3, which displeased many. "I think you look at Microsoft and [how they viewed] them hacking the Kinect, they’re embracing it," he said.
Although Microsoft does not officially condone modifications to hardware or software, word is that the Kinect was left unprotected by design and some a Microsoft have been inspired by how the community has found new uses for the motion camera.
