PSN still down, Sony admits it was hacked

[Andrew]

I guess it's better than nothing and saves a little face, but if I were a PS3 user I'd still be a bit let down by that offer.

[kibaxx7]

yeah i think you can only keep the games you pay for (the ones that are discounted)

Yeah, I'll try to buy at least a couple of those.

[[Q]]

yeah i think you can only keep the games you pay for (the ones that are discounted)

Yeah, I'll try to buy at least a couple of those.

and then sony wins a gain, because you're buying a game because it's discounted when you would've never purchased it in the first place if they never got hacked

[JaoSming]

IGN actually did an article on that
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1165493p1.html

. It's just that by giving PlayStation Plus to everyone, there's no differentiation between those of us who were into the PSN experience enough to pay for some added services as opposed to a vast majority of PSN users who opted not to. Gamers who paid for a service they were not able to access are getting the same treatment as those who never paid to begin with. That's an unsound way to deal with what, in essence, amounts to PS3's most loyal fanbase.

Of course, this also ignores a more obvious ploy, one that gives everyone a taste of PlayStation Plus only to immediately take it away. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but this will no doubt become a source of new revenue for Sony (because many gamers will opt to pay and retain the service), and in those terms, it seems like a strange way to say "thank you." PlayStation Plus is all about long-term commitment to the PlayStation brand. If you're getting PlayStation Plus for a month, then you'll have access to a free game or two for that month. But because of the nature of PlayStation Plus, which requires you to have a current PS+ account to access freebies, those freebies will only be free for 30 days. To keep on accessing the freebies, you'll have to pay. Therefore, this seems more like a clever marketing ploy on Sony's part than an actual "thank you" to the users for their patience. That much is obvious.

[Andrew]

Spot on. I'd be pretty miffed if I were an existing PS+ subscriber, I'd be wanting some kind of rebate or separate special offer...especially since such users are the ones who are likely to have had their credit card details possibly compromised.

[kibaxx7]

yeah i think you can only keep the games you pay for (the ones that are discounted)

Yeah, I'll try to buy at least a couple of those.

and then sony wins a gain, because you're buying a game because it's discounted when you would've never purchased it in the first place if they never got hacked

Yeah, that's a bummer, but I was gonna buy some games from the Store. Gotta take advantage of that discount (not PS+ games, but regular games)

[The X]

I guess it's better than nothing and saves a little face, but if I were a PS3 user I'd still be a bit let down by that offer.

I couldn't care less. Given that it's only a month, I probably won't even look at PS+. PSN is free so I don't expect anything freebies outside of your game and roster patches plus demos. I do however expect my info to be secure. I'll just give fake info in future. I'd be more pissed if I had credit card details on there, but frankly I never trusted PSN with it.

The free nature of PSN is a major reason I got a PS3 (alone with region free games). I didn't like the idea of having to pay $80 per year even though I only play online occasionally.

[Oznogrd]

Honestly i pay for xbl just because of netflix/hulu capabilities. That way i can watch shit better than whats on cable but still do things like homework/browse the forum etc.

Either way: i'd be pissed if xbl was only giving me a free month of something i already paid for. Especially when it was just randomly down.


Never trust anybody i guess.

[Andrew]

I've got an XBL Gold subscription as well so that I don't have to worry about any restrictions for online content beyond regional ones, but if you'd asked me before I got my 360 whether I'd ever be paying a yearly subscription for online content and purchasing downloadable extras, I'd have said no way. As it stands I'm certainly not going to argue that paying a subscription is the right way to go; I chose Xbox and that's how it is if I want to avoid restrictions with online content.

If this had happened to Microsoft, I can't imagine they'd be offering much more to appease customers than Sony is right now. I guess they could give everyone a few thousand Microsoft points and discount some downloadable games/content for a month or a rebate on XBL Gold subscriptions.

[Phil89]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33978506

TOKYO — Sony said on Saturday it had removed off the Internet the personal details of 2,500 people that had been stolen by hackers and posted on a website.

The data included names and some addresses, which were in a database created in 2001, a Sony spokeswoman said.

Sony also said it would delay the restart of its PlayStation Network despite having said last Sunday that it would begin restoring services within the week. A spokeswoman said on Saturday this would not be possible, and that no date had been fixed for the restart.

Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer apologized on Friday to users of the firm's PlayStation Network and other online services, breaking his silence on the biggest Internet security break-in ever.

Stringer's comments come after he faced criticism of his leadership since Sony revealed hackers had compromised the data of more than 100 million accounts used for accessing games and music over the Internet.

The incident may prove to be a significant setback for a company looking to recover after being outmaneuvered by Apple in portable music and Samsung Electronics in flat-screen TVs and which faces a tough fight in video games with Nintendo and Microsoft.

On Friday, Sony shares ended 2.3 percent lower in a broader market down 1.5 percent, extending its total losses to about 6 percent since it revealed the breach. The Nikkei is up around 3 percent over the same period.

[Andrew]

Ouch. Hopefully for PS3 users, they can address the security concerns and restore services as soon as possible.

[deihatein]

Where's Kevin Butler when you need him?

[kibaxx7]

http://kotaku.com/#!5799891/the-psn-may-not-be-100-back-until-may-31

My brother wants to commit suicide because he can't register Portal 2 on PC. He bought it for PS3 just for that damn Steam key.

[[Q]]

sony shouldnt have messed with the dude that unlocked the ps3

[shadowgrin]

Sony shouldn't have messed with owners who ran Linux in their PS3.

[Drex]

I hope the price of the PS3 drops considerably, to something I could afford. Like $10.

[volsey]

Apparently there was a $100 off at gamespot thing going around. Had to be a member but still a pretty decent price. Wouldn't that be like $199 for the cheapest model?

[Phil89]

phpBB [video]

http://www.gtplanet.net/playstation-net ... egins-now/

PlayStation Network Service Restoration Begins Now
It looks like the long wait is nearly over -- Sony will begin restoring PlayStation Network services around the world over the next 24 hours. A new PS3 firmware update is already available and will be required to connect to the network when it finally does come back online in your location (SCEA is maintaing a service map for U.S. users here). Everyone will, of course, be prompted to change their PSN passwords upon signing in. Watch the video above from Sony president Kazuo Hirai for more information.

[[Q]]

wow Hirai speaks English very well with no accent whatsoever. it was a little surprising.


CALIFORNIA

[kibaxx7]

Finally.

[Lamrock]

I wait three weeks for it to come back up only for it to ask me to change my password, and not send me an email to change it. SMH

[[Q]]

I wait three weeks for it to come back up only for it to ask me to change my password, and not send me an email to change it. SMH

yeah that was kind of odd, considering the ps3 that i activated my account on is no longer working, i did it easily on my roommate's ps3. oh and i forgot to report last night that an attempt to play online was foiled as CoD BO would load the maps but then send you back to the lobby

[Phil89]

It's working for me now.

[benji]

yeah that was kind of odd, considering the ps3 that i activated my account on is no longer working, i did it easily on my roommate's ps3. oh and i forgot to report last night that an attempt to play online was foiled as CoD BO would load the maps but then send you back to the lobby

I think that it will do that if you don't have all the map packs and the rotation has the maps you don't have in it.

[[Q]]

nah, pretty sure that wasn't it because we tried the "regular" maps and it still did the same thing.