I’m currently dealing with severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and grapefruit-sized hail. Apparently, the end of the world is well under way. I just didn’t think the punishment from God would come in the form of really big dents on my car.

News Blips:

Register yourself now for Sony’s free PSN identity theft protection. Assuming that this is really you I’m talking to -- and not someone with your PSN info just pretending -- then you should take advantage of Sony’s promise to help protect your identity. The security-challenged company has partnered with Debix, which is providing its AllClear ID service. According to Debix, their product uses “advanced technology to deliver alerts to help keep you safe.” Identity theft insurance coverage is also a part of this deal. You have until June 28 to sign up for free. Now, how long before the hackers target Debix?

EA plans to release fewer games and will focus instead on their biggest hits. The publisher intends to continue its trend of cutting the number of games it will release in a 12-month period. After releasing 54 games in fiscal year 2010, the company only put 36 on store shelves in fiscal year 2011 and will only offer approximately 22 “primary” titles throughout this current period. EA explained in their financial report to the Securities and Exchange Commission that -- despite the number of games they release -- it is from their relatively small number of hits that the majority of their earnings arise. I’d like to shake the hand of the accountant who looked at the numbers and realized that they can make more money by only releasing good games.

Double Fine’s latest, Trenched, will arrive on Xbox live Arcade on June 22 for $15. Gentlemen and debutantes, brace yourselves for the manliest war game to ever revise the details of World War I. The co-op shooter puts players behind the wheel of mobile-trenches -- a fictional invention that resembles the love child of a wheel chair and a mech. This is the third downloadable game from Double Fine in a very short amount of time. Stacking and Costume Quest were met with high praise, which should put the pressure on the team to continue their winning streak.

A man reports that he was forced to farm gold in World of Warcraft while imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp. “Prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labor,” said former Jixi labor camp inmate Liu Dali. Don’t let that confuse you, though -- Chinese prisons are still hell. “If I couldn’t complete my work quota,” Dali continued, “they would punish me physically. They would make me stand with my hands raised in the air, and after I returned to my dormitory they would beat me with plastic pipes. We kept playing until we could barely see things." The men who ran the prison would trade the WoW gold for real cash. Really, I’m failing to see the difference between Dali’s story and the plight of a video-game quality assurance analyst...am I right? [Guardian]

Got any hot news tips? Send 'em over to tips@bitmob.com