Nintendo Disables Network ID Logins After Confirming Mass Account Breach

Following numerous user reports over the past few weeks, Nintendo has confirmed that over 160,000 Nintendo Network IDs have been compromised, forcing the company to temporarily disable the ability to log into an account using this method.

Users have been noticing unauthorized login attempts for several weeks now, prompting Nintendo to recommend users activate two-factor authentication to secure their accounts and payment information. Nintendo doesn’t, however, suspect that the compromised accounts are due to a breach in Nintendo’s databases, servers, or services. The company is still investigating the source and will begin contacting potentially compromised users to help them reset their passwords.

Nintendo explained in a statement that it doesn’t believe payment information was included in the compromise. Nintendo Network IDs store a user’s nickname, email, date of birth, gender, and country/region. Some users have reported unauthorized payments made on their accounts with attached payment options (such as PayPal), which is why Nintendo has suspended Network ID logins on all its services. All other methods of logging in are still available.

Although omitted in the English statement provided by Nintendo, the Japanese statement (via Eurogamer) mentions that Nintendo has been aware of the compromised accounts since early April. The company is still investigating further to determine the source, and will reinstate Nintendo Network ID logins when it is safe to do so.

Nintendo recommends resetting your password and activating two-factor authentication in the meantime, and has a help page for anyone who suspects their account might be compromised to work through account recovery.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons — How Nature Day Works

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has just begun its latest limited-time event, Nature Day. It roughly coincides with Earth Day, which was April 22, but instead of just one day, Mother Nature gets a couple of weeks to celebrate. Like Bunny Day, you can take part in some special activities for rewards–but unlike Bunny Day, there’s no horrifying rabbit. Here’s how it all works.

Nature Day goes from April 23 to May 4. The most immediately noticeable addition is Leif, a botanical merchant who sells seasonal plants outside the Resident Services building. He’ll also buy your weeds at double the price of Timmy and Tommy to encourage you to beautify your island. He doesn’t appear every day, however.

During the Nature Day festivities, Tom Nook will offer special Nook Miles+ tasks. These are all nature-themed, focusing on tasks like planting trees or making crafts out of plants. One nature task per day will grant you a whopping 5X Nook Miles multiplier, so it’s an easy way to rack up your points.

Purchasing some of Leif’s shrub starters is an easy way to complete some of these tasks, and once you’ve finished your first one you can talk to Tom Nook for a reward. He’ll give you a DIY recipe for hedges, which essentially serve as decorative fences. And who doesn’t want a nice backyard with some privacy hedges for those sauna parties?

The 1.2.0 update that introduced Nature Day also brought a few other surprises. Redd the art dealer is stopping by the island, letting you look for which of his wares are legit masterpieces so you can add them to Blathers’ museum. The update also lowered interest rates for some reason.

Now Playing: Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nature Day, May Day, & More Explained

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Rainbow Six Siege Dev Acknowledges Cheating Reports Are On The Rise

Rainbow Six Siege developer Ubisoft has updated its list of the top issues and concerns surrounding the team-based tactical shooter, and cheating is a top problem, it seems.

In a blog post, Ubisoft said it has recently noticed an increase in player reports for cheating. The developer reiterated its stance that it has a zero tolerance policy for cheating, adding that the company is working on “multiple strategies” to combat cheating in the game.

One method of cheating in Siege is what’s called “lobby freezing,” which is when players purposefully manipulate the game to freeze during lobbies “to disrupt games to their advantage.” An update is coming soon to allow Ubisoft to track these offending players better.

“The updates will allow us to gather necessary data points that we will use to accurately track and identify lobby-freezing. In future updates we will use this data to automatically detect and kick lobby-freezers,” Ubisoft said.

Siege uses the BattlEye anti-cheating software, and Ubisoft said it is working to “strengthen our collaboration” with the developers of the software to help snuff out cheaters faster.

Go to the Rainbow Six Siege website to see a full rundown of the top issues with Siege right now; the page also lists off a number of bugs that Ubisoft is working to fix at the moment.

If you’ve been on the fence about Siege, now is a good time to give it a shot, as Ubisoft is offering a very nice discount on the game. In other news, Ubisoft has confirmed that Siege will be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at launch, featuring cross-generation multiplayer.

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Fornite Hosted A Travis Scott Concert, Here’s How It Went

Epic has pulled off another historic gaming event, hosting a massive collaborative concert with Travis Scott live in Fortnite. Each of Epic’s live events have outdone the previous ones, by some measurements, with the Travis Scott raising the bar for future Fortnite events.

The event has been set for a week now, with players able to see a stage being constructed in-game at the Sweaty Sands Beach, growing more elaborate as the week progressed. Eventually, a black stage had been built over the water, with massive, inflatable gold Travis Scott heads floating around it.

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Players congregated in-game to watch the concert, wasting time beforehand by killing one another. A planet-size orb appeared on a round screen in the sky, floating towards the players until eventually exploding in an impressive manner to signal the start of the concert.

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Once the concert started, an enormous Travis Scott appeared, a titan that could be seen from any point on the Fortnite island. The Travis Scott model went through a series of outfits during the show, at one point becoming a cyborg. Flames and water were used as effects throughout the concert, with the song “Highest in the Room” submerging the audience underwater with a giant spaceman. The finale even granted players the power of flight, allowing them to fly around the planet.

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While the concert only lasted 15 minutes, it was a sort of surreal experience. Live concerts could only dream of having such expansive visual effects and experiences at their disposal. There’s something about having such a god-like giant figure dancing amongst the skies while you float along to the rhythm that adds something to the concert experience. (Not to mention not having to uber home afterwards.)

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Epic made sure that players who couldn’t attend the concert had a chance to make a later session, with a total of five concerts being held over the course of the day. To find out how to get into a session, head over to our guide on the event. If you still can’t make the in-game concert, check out our full recording of the concert.

Now Playing: Travis Scott X Fortnite Astronomical Concert Event (Full Gameplay)

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Brooklyn Nine Nine Season 8 May Feature A COVID-19 Storyline

The upcoming eighth season of Brooklyn Nine Nine may feature a storyline focused around the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-creator Dan Goor told The Hollywood Reporter that the writing team–which has only just started to think about ideas for Season 8–are now planning for how to incorporate the crisis into the upcoming season.

“We think there is a value to escapism, but at the same time, we don’t want to be ignorant,” Goor said. “There is a debate about what next year will look like.”

Instead of “toiling away in the depths of the pandemic” for a storyline, the writers are looking at other, more subtle ways of acknowledging the crisis.

“But the question is how they have been affected by the virus and the pandemic as New York City residents and as first responders in New York City. How do we keep the show funny? How do we do that while still making them of this world and of their world? It’s challenging,” Goor explained.”

To be clear, it is very early days for Brooklyn Nine Nine Season 8. The writing team has only met up one time–through a virtual Zoom hangout–as of April 23, and nothing is locked down yet in terms of storylines for the next season.

“I do think it’s possible that there will be an episode or parts of episodes that do explore what their lives are like now–or were like now–because that that informs who they are. But we are really trying to figure it out,” Goor said.

Goor shared some of the pitches that writers have put forth for COVID-19 storylines for Season 8, one of which involves the characters living in a world where coronavirus was cured after two weeks. Goor said he didn’t like this idea very much because the audience couldn’t connect with this experience.

Goor said it’s more likely that Season 8 storylines will involve the characters dealing with life after coronavirus. “People lose jobs–does the spouse or partner of one of our main cast members lose their job? Does that put economic pressure on them? Does that lead to funny stories about them having to do multiple jobs at one time or take a night job? There are ways in which we can try to bring the real world into Brooklyn without it being super tragic,” he said.

Another idea is that some members of the precinct caught the virus. “However we do it, we will try make sure the show is still funny and the characters are who they are. Even in an ‘issues ‘episode, we try to do in the most Brooklyn Nine-Niney way we can do it,” Goor said.

Brooklyn Nine Nine has just wrapped up its seventh season. The episodes were filmed before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s currently unknown when filming may begin on Season 8 given that all productions are shut down.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season 7, Episode 10 Review

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season 7, Episode 10. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here’s our review for Season 7, Episode 9.

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Ashley Eckstein wasn’t being hyperbolic when she declared this last stretch of Clone Wars episodes is “some of the best Star Wars ever made.” To quote Han Solo, it’s true. All of it. The Siege of Mandalore is only half over and it’s already lived up to all the hype that’s built up over the past year. Last week’s “Old Friends Not Forgotten” was a terrific start to this climactic story arc. But “The Phantom Apprentice?” There’s a strong case to be made for this installment being the single best Clone Wars episode ever. Which, by default, basically makes it the best Star Wars TV episode overall.

It’s actually pretty impressive how well this episode functions as a piece of standalone entertainment when it’s also one small piece of a bigger whole. More so than even the other two Season arcs, The Siege of Mandalore feels like one big movie broken into four parts. There’s the more cinematic intro sequences, for one thing, but also the fact that Episode 9’s cliffhanger flows directly into Episode 10’s first scene. It seems even more likely that Lucasfilm will be releasing a feature-length cut of this arc, either theatrically or straight to Blu-ray. If the series began life via a lackluster movie, it might as well end with a much better movie.

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Speed is definitely one of the show’s biggest assets right now, something that couldn’t be said for either of the previous Season 7 arcs. This show normally has a bad habit of wasting time during the longer arcs and stretching out storylines that would be better served in tighter, shorter formats. But once Ahsoka confronted Maul in the climax Episode 9, it was clear speed wasn’t going to an issue this time. That efficient pacing continues in Episode 10, which manages to forge a much deeper connection between Ahsoka and Maul and cram in not one, but two major lightsaber battles for good measure.

On the subject of those battles, this episode is yet another showcase for the improved animation quality in Season 7. The fact that original Maul actor Ray Park was brought in to provide motion-capture for the lightsaber fights brings a new level of realism and authenticity to the combat. The character models may be heavily stylized, but their movement is graceful and organic. In a series full of epic lightsaber showdowns, the two Ahsoka vs. Maul sequences stand out as some of the best and most lavishly rendered. It’s not just the choreography itself, but the way body language is used to show Maul dominating the first fight and then Ahsoka surging back to overwhelm an increasingly tired and desperate Maul in Round 2. There’s a great sense of progression that’s reminiscent of the Cloud City duel in The Empire Strikes Back.

This episode is great about adding far more depth and nuance to the Ahsoka/Maul dynamic. While both are among the most important players in this series, they haven’t actually had much (or any?) direct interaction. Maul has always been pretty laser-focused on Obi-Wan, after all. B e we see a fascinating relationship develop. Where first Ahsoka is an annoyance to Maul – a stand-in for the enemy he truly craves – she quickly becomes something more to him. It’s a lot of fun seeing Maul grow to respect Ahsoka and even attempt to make her his new apprentice. All three movie trilogies had their own “Join me and we’ll rule the galaxy” moments, and this episode gives us a fantastic riff on that old trope.

Another reason “The Phantom Apprentice” works as well as it does is it mages to highlight just how pointless and destructive the entire Clone Wars conflict has been. Maul’s lingering insanity really shines through (kudos, as always, to voice actor Sam Witwer) as he grapples with his foreboding premonitions and the even deeper understanding of how much a pawn he was to Darth Sidious. Seeing Maul sink from ambitious usurper to a twisted, petty man who seeks only to ruin his old master’s plan casts Maul in an even more tragic light. This series has brought such a new level of depth and pathos to a character who was previously known for looking cool. Even at this late stage, it’s finding new ways to explore Maul’s tragic arc.

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This episode is equally haunting in hit portrays the growing devastation of Mandalore and Ahsoka’s despair at seeing the monster she’s unleashed. She may have come to this world with the best of intentions, but the images of Clonetroopers wearing her colors and herding “liberated” Mandalorians like prisoners of war speak for themselves. It’s a dark but necessary counterpoint to the rousing scene of Ahsoka being greeted by her old comrades in Episode 9. And it only draws further attention to the question of what will happen with the 501st are forced to choose between their commander and their Empire.

This arc continues to use the looming specter of Episode III to its advantage. We may know what’s coming for most of these characters, but rather than deflating the tension it only adds to it. This episode cleverly ties into the events of the movie through Ahsoka’s conversation with Obi-Wan (quite possibly the last they’ll ever share), cluing us into the fact that the death of General Grievous and the beginning of Order 66 are mere hours away. It creates a ticking time bomb that’s impossible to ignore. And again, the rapid-fire pacing of these first two episodes really pays off. The fact that we’re only halfway through the Siege of Mandalore and Maul has already been taken off the board suggests anything can happen in these final two episodes. To quote Han again, it’s not over yet.

Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age Steam And PS4 Patch Adds Job Reset In Update 1.0.4.0

Until now, the Xbox One and Switch versions of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age have had extra features that the PS4 and PC releases did not. The job reset function, which allowed you to change jobs easily mid-game, and the expanded Gambit system were not available.

That’s now changed. Patch 1.0.4.0 has landed on Steam, and it contains just two changes:

  • Job reset function has been added
  • Gambit system has been expanded to 3 sets

This brings the Steam version of the popular Final Fantasy entry in line with the Switch and Xbox One versions, meaning that anyone playing on PC can now reset their jobs easily. Gematsu is reporting that this patch has also come to the PS4 version of the game.

Despite missing these features, the PS4 version of the game earned a 9/10 in GameSpot’s review. “While its enhancements do not translate into a brand new game for existing fans, The Zodiac Age is nonetheless invigorating,” wrote reviewer Miguel Concepcion. “For an experience that can last over a hundred hours, the subtle tweaks therein go a long way in showcasing Final Fantasy 12’s grand trek in a new light. Its epic, lore-abundant story and its time-tested Gambit System should also appeal to those who missed out on the mainline series’ trip to Ivalice the first time around.”

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Fallout 76 Releases A Community Calendar For Next Month And Teases PTS Return

Fallout 76 recently released its new Wastelanders update, adding NPCs and making the whole game feel a bit more like a traditional Fallout game. Now, as fans enjoy this update, Bethesda has released a community calendar, providing a roadmap for what players can expect over the next month.

The community calendar outlines a coming double XP weekend in May, when galleries will be going live, vanity updates, and more. It’ll let you plan our your next month of Fallout 76 play. You can have a look at it below.

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The developer is also promising a return of the Public Test Server for patches planned in the future. The PTS was used to test Wasterlanders, as well as the earlier Nuclear Winter mode. “We would like to re-open the PTS starting next Thursday, April 30, so that we can get lots of early community feedback for our next update, which is currently planned for May,” the post reads. “As with Wastelanders, your participation will help us get a head start on any needed improvements or fixes.”

The upcoming round of testing will be invite-only, and players will need to sign and return an NDA. Players who used the PTS to test out Wastelanders will not need to sign up again.

Fallout 76 Wastelanders is currently afflicted with a strange bug that makes NPCs steal from player’s corpses.

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