860°

Sony Hacker Group “Anonymous” Boycotts: Sony Store Sit-ins?

Earlier in the week we were told via ominous video messages that members of the infamous Sony hacking group Anonymous would descend on Sony Centers across the planet and show Sony Anonymous’ true power over the final result over the Geohot/Sony settlement from earlier this week. But so far there have been no mass protests, no violent clashes with police, just a slightly infuriated Manchester store manager.

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maxcavsm4759d ago

Holy shit, that is some funny stuff. One lone dude in a Guy Fawkes mask, looking like mom forgot to pick him up from soccer practice.

I wonder if that one store actually closed in case some shit went down?

-Alpha4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

That picture was taken before today, I've seen it floating around the internet about 4 days ago

Most likely someone who protested alone before the "official" event. Probably forgot the official date or something, maybe even a fake protester who did it to poke fun

This protest wont do much and wont garner much attention unless it turns violent. Anonymous protest groups for Scientology were much bigger yet that Cult is still in business. These guys will tire themselves out eventually. I just hope they don't go back to over-trafficking PSN.

Eiffel4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Anonymous never intended to get rid of the cult, merely change the ways they ran their religion, namely making it free and taking responsibility for their illegal actions they've done over the years, there are tons of facts and cases on the things they've done. And Scientology has been hit hard. Several of their orgs have closed, they've lost many of it's members. Anonymous has saved many people from the cult, referring info to the public during protests, made it safe for people within the cult to speak out, helped get their financial life back, wasn't until mid 2010 that politicians were getting involved. Namely Senator Nick Xenophon who has referred to the cult as a "Criminal Organization" stating action will be taken.

I know I'll get disagrees for speaking positively of Anonymous, due to how uniformed most people here are, but I'm standing by whats been said, and it's true.

gamingdroid4759d ago

I don't know they shut down store in Manchester, and that is likely because of time differences. April 16th was yesterday in England and today in the US so it just about started here..

4759d ago
-Alpha4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

@Eiffel

I wasn't aware of that, sorry, I missed the point of Anonymous' protests against Scientology then. I am aware of what they exposed with Scientology, and they succeeded in exposing their tightly-knit organization.

What I mean to say in the comparison is that this wont change much for Sony because whether or not they did anything wrong is debatable in this case.

While I understand that they are fighting for freedoms, I do not feel Sony is particularly restrictive of the PS3, and that this case is more to do with GeoHot distributing something illegally.

And with fewer supporters with less of an issue that they are dealing with, these protests wont cause the change they are looking for. There just isn't enough support or enough of an issue here to force change on Sony

TheStonedSheep4759d ago

@gamingdroid Dude, we're not talking about Australia, it's only a 5 hour time difference, it's 7:34pm April 16th right now.

BattleAxe4759d ago

These guys are a bunch of losers. There are major wars going on around the world, a major nuclear catastrophe and tsunami devastation in Japan, food shortages and major disease problems in Africa, and these guys are upset and wasting their time and energy protesting because Sony removed the "Other OS"....totally pathetic.

Dante1124759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Lol, like someone said below. Trafford centre is near Old Trafford, today was Darby Day, which means Machester utd vs Manchester city (one of the biggest football matches). Darby day is a very quiet day (Sometimes store managers let a few employees off or close up if it a slow day) and police are usually out because it kicks off between fans (hooligans). Bad choice of day for a protest.

RankFTW4759d ago

Hahaha I've never wet myself laughing untill now.

shoddy4759d ago

I wouldn't do something like that alone.
maybe with 10 guys like we are gansta.

now the laugh is on him.

jadenkorri4759d ago

@ gamingdroid

wow biggest xbot ever, and truly American. Wow its like tomorrow over there.

ChrisW4759d ago

Wow... I find it hard to believe that Sony actually took such precautions. I myself wouldn't be afraid of them.

zag4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

That picture is the whole group of Anons, the others are just Hello, I'm Jane IRC bots.

Be funny if that guy got arrested for being a public nuisance.

HolyOrangeCows4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Just one kid in front of a store in a mall, after it closed. I'll bet that paper in the one picture was placed by one of them, too; it doesn't take a corporation to print an 8-1/2 by 11 and post it on the outside of a closed shop.

"We have 300 on standby for Trafford. Moving them from standby locations until police clear away from centre. Operation is a go. All Manchester shops closed"
300 people protesting and all we have is one picture of a little boy in a guy fawkes mask?
Yeah right. Try harder, failures.

I was wrong about only 10 protesters showing up.....only 1 did! haha.

Bowzabub4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Refer to my original comment to this article.

macky3014758d ago

That is Torrece Davis most probably,..

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 4758d ago
Eddie201014759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

These pictures were taken before the stores were opened for the day. Dishonest reporting and dishonest Anonymous hacking group (hence being Anonymous) trying to make the gaming community think they are much larger and much more organized than they really are. In reality they are as mush a joke as GeoHotz is. These bitches don’t represent nothing but dishonesty and thievery and they sure as hell don’t represent the gaming comunity.

Zeevious4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

I absolutely agree.

I'm a gamer, and I care about gaming and rewarding game developers for great games -- Not stealing them and whining that I have the right to...or tricking people into donating money I'll spend on my court issues while I spend my own money on vacation.

Sometime after this picture, do you think the dedicated Anonymoose member decided to try actually taking a shower, or maybe even talking to someone in a romantic context that wasn't on the end of a Pay-Per-Minute line or website that ended in .xxx or that you had to steal Mommy's credit card to enter, 'single-handedly' ?

I think so...Sitting bored in a Sony showroom waiting for his mom to pick him up wearing that ThinkGeek Big-Mans Pixel-tie was just the self-confidence builder lil-bitty Anonymoose needed to really make a difference in the world.

Go get-em' Sparky!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/im...

Zeevious4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

HAHAHHAHA-Hilarious!

The disagree's make me laugh about as much as all FOUR of the Anannymoose "hacktivist's" fighting for the rights with almost FOUR of their members. (but they have 300 'waiting' - Rigggggghht)
(Let's see if we can actually get all FOUR AnnoyingUs's band of hackette's to all disagree here and support the cause! (only 2 so far...c'mon team, You Can Do it!))

You know it doesn't take an SQL injection to look up Sony's database and see they have almost 50 stores and outlets in just the US alone :
http://www.sonystyle.com/we...
...and about a Billion if you count every place that sells anything Sony.

That alone makes you less "Anonymous" and more "Hilarious" or the phrase I invented for you above "AnnoyingUs" . . . So you "hacktimated" almost a fraction of 1 entire PERCENT of their global store market.

Next up another lame Denial of Service script-kiddie, I've got a mask from the movie Vendetta, look at me...and please, don't forget to pick me up after schooewl mommy, I wish I was a real hacker - 'attack'

I'll say it one more time:

F O U R.

P.s. a DOS attack is the hallmark of the lamest-_ _ _ "hacker" you can get. That's Sooooo mid 90's.

Thanks for the middle-school flashback little-ones -- Next time try something that takes the skill of all FOUR of you.

I don't know if I mentioned this...but...

F O U R

Zeevious4757d ago (Edited 4757d ago )

WOW - All FOUR of Annoyingus's members actually where able to all get together, coordinate a worldwide effort, make accounts on N4G and actually change the world by disagreeing with me here!

FOUR entire disagree's - The same number of dedicated protesters that showed up at the GLOBAL SONY PROTEST from "hundreds on standby"

LOL...Annoyingus, you are nothing but a nuisance, and just showed the world you're good for nothing but taking up space in your parents basements, keeping the Hot Pockets company in business, and inhaling perfectly good air that people who matter could be breathing..

Please...disagree some more, but be careful or Sony and I might tell your parents!

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

P.s. F O U R

WharenPeace4759d ago

I have to admit, when I saw this article, I couldn't help but laugh. What exactly were they thinking? Come to think of it, there's only one answer.

http://img217.imageshack.us...

shoddy4759d ago

super geek in the house!

I'm sorry to say I feel sorry for them.
my sympathy.
they need a life.

4758d ago
Persistantthug4759d ago

Sony stores would have had a section all waiting for the protesters with cookies, cake, and punch, all ready to go for them.

unknownhero11234759d ago

truth be told, if sony did that then I would have joined the protesters just for the free food especially if it was choclate chip cookies. who can say no to choclate chip?

awesomeperson4759d ago

Apparently a few have closed according to the article.

I see this as hurting the consumer still - say I wanted to buy a new TV that day and couldn't because the store had to close.

Due to that I wouldn't go buy another brand TV but just find another shop or come back later. Hell when its closed people won't even know its due to anonymous.

Fails all around.

Shackdaddy8364759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

It won't hurt anything. It would hurt them if the things Sony was selling didn't cost that much and were everyday things. But since they are selling T.V.s and stuff then missing a day wont affect anything at all.

Plus there stuff is sold at any electronics store. "Oh no. This store is closed. Guess I will give up then. Oh wait, there's a Best Buy right next to here. I will just go there".

All this is doing is showing how the people who do protest have absolutely no lives.

Noble Spartan4759d ago

haha fatso alone watching sony tv loool

Brosy4759d ago ShowReplies(4)
Shackdaddy8364759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Oh no. A couple of geeky kids who learned hacking off a For Dummies book are going to boycott sony products...

What is that? Like <1% of the people who already don't buy Sony stuff because they prefer other things? What a joke. Lol.

This isn't going to even put a dent in Sony's profits. lol.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 4757d ago
fluffydelusions4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Lulz, Bit early for Halloween. Wonder how many people asked him why he is wearing the mask.

Shadow Flare4758d ago

And then laughed hysterically when he told them why

Zir04759d ago

I'm surprised they even managed to get one store closed.

You would think Sony would have better security on hand considering all the threats.

fluffydelusions4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

This guy hardly looks a threat to anyone but himself. Looks like he hits the fast food a bit much. That stuff will kill you.

TheStonedSheep4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Perhaps they were just taking precautions, but it looks like the police kind of have that store secure.

I'm sure the employees are overjoyed, now they get to play some PS3 instead dealing with customers.

Dannehkins4759d ago

You would think Zir0 would change the tune he's been playing for god knows how long... but he doesn't.

So that kinda puts a spanner in your works.

lastdual4759d ago (Edited 4759d ago )

Oh, the horror!

...seems more like self punishment to me.

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280°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv721d 4h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle15h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic188112h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio12h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning777h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga14h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

darthv721h ago

to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.

shinoff218314h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga13h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan8h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

S2Killinit1h ago

MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.

romulus237h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv727h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

TheEroica1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
purple10117h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos17h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-6h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac16h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple10115h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic14h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead7h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 7h ago
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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein1d 2h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno23h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k422h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson21h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu22h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson21h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

70°

The INDIE Live Expo 2024 event is to feature over 100 game titles

INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series , will debut never-before-seen games & content updates across more than 100 titles on May 25th.