PSN Hacked: The Return
Might it be a good thing?
Published: 11:30, 25/04/2011 by Peter [Colossalblue].
28There can’t be many people who haven’t heard about the current PlayStation Network woes. It’s a hugely negative story for PlayStation which is getting attention from national mainstream press and causing competitors to gloat.
We tried to lighten the mood slightly with a few clumsy jokes on Friday but now it’s three days later and the PSN still hasn’t risen. We’re worried you might be getting a bit too frustrated and unhappy so we thought we’d look at what improvements might be implemented while Sony has its servers switched off.
Increased security. This one is a certainty, Sony haven’t given much information about what they’re doing and this is the one thing they’ve been clear about. The new PSN will be stronger and more resilient to the kind of attacks which brought the old PSN down. More security is always a good thing, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of actually using the service.
More servers. This is very possible and would definitely be welcomed. While the PSN is down, they could be adding to their servers so that capacity is increased and the whole thing works more smoothly in the future. This attack on the PSN might be the thing that finally gets us stable multiplayer launch weekends on the beautiful black box along with even faster download speeds and updates that are quick enough to largely silence those that constantly complain about their frequency.
New features. People have taken the opportunity to postulate that Sony might be using the down time to pack in new features – specifically, cross game chat – to the Network services. We think that this is unlikely. It is possible, however, that newly strengthened servers might be better able to handle increased traffic and that might make new features more likely in the near future. We would expect to see this sort of thing in a big firmware update at a high point in the media calendar – like around E3 time.
Compensation. Like it or not, this situation has been a PR disaster for Sony. We’re fairly sure that down time on the network is accounted for when you sign up but customers still have a right to be disappointed that a service they pay for (be it via the initial console purchase, PS+, PSN games that require authentication to run or third party partnerships like LoveFilm, MLB.com, etc) has been missing for so long. One way Sony could help calm the growing outrage is to give something away. To be fair, PlayStation have been very generous with their PS+ service and some heavy discounting recently so we think this is very likely. What they offer their loyal fans is a subject of pure conjecture but we would expect their generosity to be on full display fairly soon after the network hums back into life.
So there we have it, this is all pure speculation at this point but it’s better to speculate on positives than to dwell on the negatives, right? What would you like to see from the new, improved PlayStation Network when it comes back on?
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25/04/2011 at 11:35
Member since: Forever
OtherOS. Minds would be blown.
25/04/2011 at 11:41
Member since: Forever
lol & yes they would
25/04/2011 at 12:27
Member since: Dec 2009
Lol! I would love that if it led to a revival of ppc development for linux… *sigh*..
25/04/2011 at 11:36
Member since: Mar 2009
Free beer! That’s guaranteed to make me forgive and forget. And if they give me enough I’ll end up saying “You’re my bestest mate ever Sony, I love you” before passing out.
25/04/2011 at 12:32
Member since: Feb 2011
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 13:08
Member since: Oct 2010
Here here. this is a drop in the ocean compared to xbox.
25/04/2011 at 14:07
Member since: Feb 2011
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 14:15
Member since: Aug 2010
CCRocker raises a few decent points.
25/04/2011 at 16:19
Member since: Feb 2009
so that would only make the people who pay for DC universe Online happy then? I can’t think of any other online fees needed for PSN
25/04/2011 at 17:24
Member since: Feb 2009
Sorry clashcityrocker, that is just absolute nonsense. MS does not pay most of the advertising costs for sites such as this at all, and even if they did that would make absolutely no difference. That just isn’t how things work.
People arent purposely kicking Sony while they are down, they are criticising them which tries to bring some sense to the wave of blind Sony supporters who have come out of the wood work.
25/04/2011 at 19:26
Member since: Jan 2010
Yeah, but that was 4 years ago and MS learnt from their hugly misfortune. Apparently Sony didn’t care to take note.
25/04/2011 at 11:36
Member since: Oct 2008
Cake. Failing that, a free download of something or other. Honestly,I would prefer cake tho ;)
25/04/2011 at 11:41
Member since: Aug 2009
And there’s no point crying over every mistake;
You just keep on trying til you run out of cake.
And the science gets done and you make a neat gun
For the people who are still alive.
25/04/2011 at 11:53
Member since: Dec 2009
Now these points of data make a beautiful line
And we’re out of beta, we’re releasing on time
So I’m GLaD I got burned, think of all the things we learned
For the people who are still alive
25/04/2011 at 12:01
Member since: Mar 2010
Well here we are again…
25/04/2011 at 12:11
Member since: Apr 2010
Maybe you’ll find someone else
To help you?
Maybe Black Mesa?
That was a joke! haha!! fat chance!!
Anyway, this cake is great,
It’s so delicious and moist!
25/04/2011 at 12:24
Member since: May 2010
For those without their cake
it is hard to imagine life
without it, we would die
PSN is down
i’m not even angry
just want cake
So i am still alive
25/04/2011 at 18:56
Member since: Dec 2008
That doesn’t even rhyme
25/04/2011 at 19:11
Member since: May 2010
i know, i accidently pressed submit when i i was still typing it. Blasted built in touchpad.:(
25/04/2011 at 11:37
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 12:07
Member since: Oct 2008
Japan has had four updates and we, both EU and US, have had three (they got a short one on the 22nd that we didn’t).
Their updates give no more details than ours.
Given that it is not fair to say that SCEE or SCEA care any less about their customers than SCEJ do.
25/04/2011 at 12:10
Member since: Oct 2008
Addendum: The appropriately multi-lingual among you can find the Japanese PSN updates here:
http://www.jp.playstation.com/psn/state.html
Simply running it through Google Translate should be enough to show you that Japanese gamers aren’t being told any more than we are.
25/04/2011 at 12:11
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 12:12
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 12:14
Member since: May 2009
And also with near undecipherable grammar. :P
25/04/2011 at 12:14
Member since: Apr 2010
I like how when it’s translated it says “we fail” and “we continue to fail” :P
25/04/2011 at 12:16
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 12:56
Member since: Forever
@squashme – Get it right will you. I present FOUR updates from SCEA.
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/20/update-on-psn-service-outages-2/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/21/latest-update-on-psn-outage/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/22/update-on-playstation-network-qriocity-services/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/23/latest-update-for-psnqriocity-services/
25/04/2011 at 12:59
Member since: Forever
@squashme – And SCEE have published three blogs and a few tweets:
http://twitter.com/#!/PlayStationEU/status/62170314519478273
http://twitter.com/#!/PlayStationEU/status/61525189753712640
http://twitter.com/#!/PlayStationEU/status/61425873760436224
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/04/21/update-on-psn-service-outages/
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/04/23/update-on-playstation-network-qriocity-services/
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/04/24/latest-update-for-psnqriocity-services/
Can I suggest you make sure what you’re saying is correct before making such stupid claims.
25/04/2011 at 13:07
Member since: Oct 2008
@squashme Have you even checked the EU and US PS Blogs?
The EU one featured updates on the 21st, 23rd and 24th. The US one actually had four updates, two on the 21st, then one each on the 23rd and 24th.
That’s close enough to daily for me. Japan is not getting any more information than we are.
25/04/2011 at 13:18
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 13:22
Member since: Oct 2008
I said “close enough to daily for me” with regard to the frequency of updates. I didn’t say they were daily.
25/04/2011 at 13:40
Member since: Dec 2008
If you want daily updates, go follow one of the community moderators on Twitter, like http://twitter.com/#!/RabidWalker… There, you won’t get any more information, but at least it will be regularly enough for you ^^
25/04/2011 at 11:39
Member since: May 2009
It will rise again pentecost sunday.. :P
Anyway. I don’t expect new feutures, I think Sony has been focused primarily on security. I expect a major update to be shown at E3 though.
A compensation is expected though. While this might be for the greater good and PSN is a “free” service, PSN is still a huge selling point when buying a PS3 (which is more expensive), plus every freaking game brags about PSN features…
25/04/2011 at 11:41
Member since: Forever
As I mentioned yesterday I don’t think Sony /have/ to compensate people for the lack of multiplayer gaming (other than goodwill gestures from a PR point of view), as its already included in the price its a different scenario to MS giving free games away when Live went down a couple of years ago, which is obviously an additional cost.
However, some people are paying for PSN linked services they can’t use and Sony really do need to do something over & above an apology for them.
Obviously from a PR point of view, nearly all companies provide a good will gesture should something go wrong outside the customers control, so it would be very surprising should Sony not follow the corporate norm for all their customers.
25/04/2011 at 11:49
Member since: May 2009
I don’t agree. PSN might be free, but it’s a vital part of the system. A system you have bought and payed a higher price then the competition.
Also when you buy PS3 games with multiplayer, you expect a working multiplayer, that’s part of the price. If the PSN network continues to be this unstable, then it’s time to lower the price on PS3 games.
25/04/2011 at 11:59
Member since: May 2009
You expect it, but somewhere in that ToS you agree to when you sign up to PSN in the first place, there will be a sentence or two that will say that maintenance can happen at any time for any length of time and with any amount of notice that Sony fancies providing.
25/04/2011 at 12:11
Member since: May 2009
I don’t think we are talking about what Sony must do according to law, but what they should do, to apologize to their customers.
25/04/2011 at 11:49
Member since: Jan 2010
people who have subscribed to services like PS+ and Lovefilm ect.. should no doubt get some sort of compensation. All be it a small bit (Say, more stuff on offer or free next PS+ update?), as just ignoring it and acting as if nothing has happened would be worse than the media blackout that they’ve left us in up to now.
Sort it Sony.
25/04/2011 at 12:27
Member since: Nov 2009
This comment is hidden.
25/04/2011 at 15:30
Member since: Jan 2010
Maybe, but these people have subsidised their PSN and are dirsctly missing out on what they pay for. Yes everyone has payed for it when they bought the console but these are additions.
25/04/2011 at 16:45
Member since: Nov 2009
PS+ subscribers should get compensation+ ;)
28/04/2011 at 22:34
Member since: Aug 2008
I should expect something from them! I have three subscriptions on psn
25/04/2011 at 11:42
Member since: Aug 2010
i think these re pretty good speculations… specially the more servers and new features specs… do not think that we will be getting CGC in this update either… i don’t think we’ll ever be seeing CGC on the PS3….
25/04/2011 at 11:44
Member since: Aug 2009
XGC…. eh?.. surely minds will explode, gamers will scream in orgasm, the birds & trees will sing and the world will just go meh still no universal in game music.
25/04/2011 at 11:45
Member since: Oct 2009
As long as they get it fixed properly, I’m not sure I’m that worried! Sure I’ve missed mp but I’ve had a great weekend on socom 4 sp.
Compensation? As a plusser, I get plenty of freebies anyway. Maybe a nice cake?
25/04/2011 at 12:17
Member since: Apr 2010
See the comments above in relation to cake :D
25/04/2011 at 11:45
Member since: Dec 2009
I dont think we’ll see any new features, i dont think Sony was expecting an Outage this big, and it seems that they are having to do some mayor rebuilding of the Network, i think the last thing they may be thinking about is adding more features.
As for Compensation, well im a PS+ subscriber, only a 3 month sub for the time being, im a little cheesed of that i put money into Sony and this happens, but thats life, i also just got a new PS3 last week so i have got no downloaded games installed on it either, but i dont expect any sort of gift from Sony, i dont mind though.
The first 2 you mentioned seem most likely, and it would make more sense for Sony to concentrate on these the most.