The Xbox Live dashboard isn’t the only Xbox feature Microsoft is giving a makeover to. The My Xbox section of Xbox.com is getting replaced in a few days as well. Microsoft is calling the new section “Social”. Social will implement the previously announced Xbox 360 Beacons feature, and Microsoft’s Metro user interface. Metro is also featured across other Microsoft products such as Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8.

This isn’t the kind of news we’d like to start off the week with, but it may very well affect you. Hackers are breaking into gaming websites left and right. Codemasters was recently hacked, Nintendo’s site was breached and the drama never seems to end with hackers making a mockery of Sony’s web security. The next two victims are Epic Games and Nintendo’s UK site.

Website hacks in the videogame industry are becoming a common occurrence these days. Sony has been on the offensive for several weeks and Nintendo was recently the victim of a website breach. We’ve now learned that the Codemasters (DiRT 3, Overlord series) website was hacked on June 3, 2011.

It appears Sony has not fully protected its network as well as it believed. If you try to log in to the PlayStation or Qriocity sites, you’ll be greeted with a maintenance message. This is believed to be the result of a new exploit that allows hackers to change user passwords. The only thing a hacker needs is the email address associated with the PSN account and the date of birth of the user. This is just a portion of the information that was reported stolen in the PSN hack a few weeks back.

Sony just can’t seem to catch a break. Sony is taking heat from customers and government agencies alike ever since account data belonging to millions of customers was stolen from Sony’s servers. A newly discovered hack involving Sony Computer Entertainment prompted Sony to delay restoration of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to an unspecified time. According to Reuters, Sony recently took down a website in which a small amount of customer data was posted.

The Square Enix Tokyo Game Show 2009 website is now online and all set for viewing! So even if you can’t make it to Japan, you can kind of get the same sort of experience. Well, if you can read Japanese you can.

The site is primarily a guide to the show. You can see where Square Enix’s booth is, tell what games are playable at the event, see which games will have footage and videos displayed, see the Square Enix booth layout, read a blog and tell what you thought about Square Enix’s displays. Little icons under each game on the game listing page tell you if it is playable at the event or if game footage is going to be shown.

Let’s look at all the games appearing at TGS 2009 that are listed on the site…

BlizzCon 2008 is offering a free pay-per-view package to new DirecTV subscribers for its upcoming World of Warcraft tournament starting at 1:30 p.m. on October 10, 2008, and 2 p.m. EST on October 11, 2008, broadcasting live from the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA (USA).

The DirecTV special promotion can be subscribed to only through the BlizzCon website and is available only to those living in the United States that subscribe to service before September 30, 2008, and activate it before October 9, 2008.

Current DirectTV subscribers can…

The blaring calls for tighter videogame regulations coming from lawmakers and activists around the world threaten the creative liberty that game developers enjoy. The games industry remains in favor of the advisory system currently in place instead of outright government censorship.

WhatTheyPlay is essentially a videogames review website from a parent’s perspective, offering an honest account of various in-game sequences (if any) that parents might find too obnoxious for their kids. The website is…

On January 12, 1998, IGN.com was launched, and on January 8, 2008 the site celebrated its 10th birthday. So to celebrate and honor the event, IGN is launching a new website, IGN Retro, and having special editorial features from January 14-18, 2008. Of course it all seems like a fitting way to celebrate a decade more »

K2 Network, publisher of several MMO titles, today (July 24, 2007) announced the launch of GamersFirst.net, a site dedicated to all of its current and upcoming titles. The site will contain information and download portals for all of the publisher’s titles, as well as a community area, gamer scene, an affiliate center and other community-based content, including contests and other promotions.

Also announced today were K2’s plans to show up and show off at several big name gaming conventions this year, including …