The PlayStation Network may be up and running again after April’s massive security breach and the subsequent month-long outage, but the incident is leaving some longer-term reminders for Sony. For instance, the company is now dealing with a handful of lawsuits over the breach, including one filed this week alleging that Sony laid off network security staff just weeks before the breach and ignored previous smaller-scale hackings that demonstrated security holes.

The PSN is back up, but the story’s not over yet.

The complaint accuses Sony of negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and violating the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act by not properly securing customer information. To help make its case, the suit cites a half-dozen former Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Online Entertainment employees as confidential witnesses, many of whom were employed with their respective companies until March of this year.

The confidential witnesses attest that Sony kept vastly different security standards for its own information and that of its customers, using out-of-date software, substandard encryption processes, and no firewalls when it came to customers’ data. Additionally, the suit points out that Sony was warned in early April by hacking group Anonymous that it had become a target for cyber attacks, and it notes that in late March, “a substantial percentage” of Sony Online Entertainment’s Network Operations Center, the group responsible for preparing for and responding to security breaches, had been dismissed in a round of layoffs. (SOE customer information was also compromised around the time of the PSN hack.) As for previous hacks, the suit notes widespread hacking of Modern Warfare 2 made the game “unplayable online” in January, and it refers to unspecified reports in May 2009 that unauthorized copies of customers’ credit cards were emailed to an outside account.

The suit is being brought by a trio of Sony customers, two of whom were PSN members at the time of the massive security breach. The third plaintiff was a member of Sony Pictures’ website and had his personal information made public when the site was hacked earlier this month by LulzSec. They are attempting to get class action status for the suit, so that it may cover all US users of PSN and Sony Pictures’ site at the time they were hacked. The group is seeking monetary damages with interest, attorneys’ fees, and appropriate credit monitoring services for all members of the class. Sony has already launched a program to provide affected PSN users with 12 months of complimentary credit monitoring.

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GameSpot’s PSP News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features

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GameSpot’s PSP News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features

For years, former Vice President Al Gore has been an outspoken advocate for curbing climate change. He has also dabbled in established media, heading up the youth-oriented cable news channel Current TV.

Al Gore is a backer of games as a “mass medium.”

Now, the ex-executive is championing a new form of media: games. Today at the 2011 Games for Change Festival at New York University (as relayed by industry site
Gamasutra), Gore delivered a speech, which, contrary to many politicians, celebrated games as a form of expression.

“Games have clearly arrived as a mass medium,” Gore said. “This is a very large, extremely significant industry with a wildly diverse and rapidly growing audience of players on all kinds of platforms. We already know the immense power of popular media to illuminate issues that can seem intractable and overly complex, but [through games] can be illuminated and presented to general audiences in a way that invites people to become involved in trying to solve the problems that our society has to solve.”

Gore praised socially conscious social games in particular, singling out two FarmVille-like Facebook titles for praise. “It has been very exciting to me to see so many ideas that integrate social good and efforts to make the world a better place into games. … I’ve been encouraged by recent developments like Trash Tycoon and Oceanopolis, and both have spurred my thinking in this area,” he said.

Gore also took a moment to praise Sims creator Will Wright’s latest project, the interactive series Bar Karma, which airs on Current TV.

“The aficionados of the games were drawn to create storylines around the games, and [Wright] took that and created a unique piece of software that allows people to create ‘story genomes’ and then vote on the path the plot takes,” said Gore. “Each week, the results of the user votes are given to a production team to develop live programs. It’s been very interesting and award winning, and it’s been great to get to know Will.”

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Core gamers may have remembered past gems from Vanillaware like Odin Sphere (on PS2) and Muramasa: The Demon’s Blade (on Wii) for their lovely art style and action-heavy gameplay. Fans of such lavish aesthetics should pay heed to the developer’s latest game, Grand Knights History, which will have the same art style that won many hearts. However, Vanillaware will be taking a slower stance this time around, as this fantasy-themed PSP RPG will be turn-based and have small elements of party micromanagement.

Players control a group of four knights as they act out the story set in the land of Rystia where three kingdoms – Logress, Union, and Avalon – wage war against each other. These warriors can be customized, from their fighting style (weapons or magic) all the way to how they look and act. It’s really up to you if you want to include either a female knight with a large dress bearing a sword and shield, or a Red Riding Hood-lookalike with a rifle.

In the land of Rystia, it’s a normal fashion statement to have hats bigger than your head.

Formations play a huge part in combat. There will be 20 formations for players to experiment with, with some of them changing up a group’s attack and defense rating while also giving regeneration bonuses as well. Some of these formations can also make certain enemy attacks ineffective.

Your band of knights can also learn special skills, depending on which weapon they mainly use. For instance, a knight that uses a spear more than other weapons will not only deal more damage with that weapon, but can also learn spear-related techniques like Gallop Beat, which makes your knight charge head-on at an opponent and deal critical damage as a result. A knight who uses a dagger continuously can learn a skill called flash code, which lets a user attack an opponent four times consecutively.

Grand Knights History’s other main feature is its online component, which initially sounds promising. You will get to represent one of the three kingdoms in the game, with the goal being to expand your chosen kingdom’s territory. You will work together with other group of knights online to fight against other online groups from opposing factions. Whether you’ll be fighting against an actual person online or facing off against his or her ghost data, the outcome of each fight will reflect on how your kingdom is doing.

Your knight’s formations can make a difference between life and death.

Control-wise, players are given two options: they can either have direct control over their group or have the AI handle it. For the former, players will need to stay online to control each aspect of battle. For the latter, they can test out combat patterns and set up which commands to prioritize before sending their group to combat. When a battle is over, each participating player gets to vote over which battlefield they get to contest on for the next fight.

Players do not need to be online while they’re handled by the AI, which means that they can put the PSP on standby and check back in a couple of hours to reap the rewards. Gamers can send a total of three groups per online session, as well as make a choice on whether to control them directly or leave it to the AI. Grand Knights History will also have community-based features. Players can check out rankings on the game’s leaderboards as well as follow certain players and chart their battle history.

Amidst the chaos, it seems that the four-legged teapot is gaining the upper hand.

Publishers Marvelous Entertainment said that the game’s network content will allow players to fight against other users overseas. Together with the notion of commanding three different groups of knights fighting for online supremacy for your kingdom of choice, the success of this idea is dependent on the co-operation of the game’s community as well as the overall kingdom’s party setup. Vanillaware has yet to divulge on communication options for the game, but any sign of a simple messaging system between groups in the same kingdoms would be welcome.

Right now, there aren’t any big details on the game’s single-player mode apart from what’s been covered on this site, but stay tuned for more information on Vanillaware’s PSP debut. Grand Knights History will be out on September 1.

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GameSpot’s PSP News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features

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GameSpot’s PSP News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features