Hello, and welcome once again to Replay, WIRED’s weekly roundup of videogame news. This week, we’ve got a hack you should know about, a delay, and some cool new tech. Let’s get to it.
Nintendo Confirms a Pretty Major Hacking Attempt
Earlier today, Nintendo confirmed that a recent hacking attempt on its system compromised the login IDs and passwords of some 160,000 Nintendo Network ID accounts. In the wake of the hack, the company is temporarily disabling the ability to log in to Nintendo Accounts through the NNID system, which, in the labyrinthine world of Nintendo account authentications, is only one method of doing so. We’d explain in more detail, but, honestly, we don’t understand Nintendo’s online infrastructure either.
The important takeaway is that your account might have been compromised. While Nintendo plans to notify affected account holders by email, everyone should probably be taking the step of changing their Nintendo password and setting up two-factor authentication if they haven’t already. Oh, and if you haven’t gotten a password manager, here’s another reminder to do that.
Minecraft Has Ray Tracing Now, Which Is Pretty Cool
The new hotness in high-tech graphics nowadays is ray tracing—a method that crates lifelike lighting effects algorithmically, rendering light and then simulating how it would interact with digital objects (reflections, shadows, etc.). It’s realistic, beautiful, and demanding, which makes any game that can implement the tech automatically a technological showcase. The latest? Minecraft.
Yep: Mojang has just rolled