There 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?
Thechunkymunky
Personally, I hope they extend this months PS+ content as the mid month content came out the day before it went down.
Other then that, simply getting the Network back up is the number one thing for me.
Kenny
If sony should decide to give compensation, which I don’t think is needed. Then I hope it comes in the form of some psn credits. Though a free “we’re sorry” theme is more likely.
musicmonkey
About the download speeds, i know the PS3 wifi is pretty poor and part of the reason why DLC/updates can take so long to download. If you really want to improve PSN part of it’s down to you.
Check your current router is up to scratch (if it can’t even carry your current internet speeds then that’s where you missing out). One of my friends had this issue with a cheapo router.
Wire the connection if possible (the best solution).
Created a wireless bridge, more stable and faster though can cost abit of cash.
I don’t know just how influencial this is on your speeds but from cases i know it helps those who are taking hours on their downloads.
I’d love to see an article/research on it some time :)
EntitledToOpinion
I dont EXPECT nor really want compensation of any kind. All I want is a newly stable PSN and justice. IF it was an attack, I hope the guys responsible are fined heavily.
I’m not entirely convinced its a hack attack though. Sure there may have been an attempt, but as soon as Sony saw that I’m certain they would just pull the plug. If it transpires that Sony bricked the PSN as an up middle finger to those who dont appreciate it then I applaud that. Basically act like a kid and we’ll treat you like one.
Sony: ‘Hack my console and steal my internets!!?… WORLDWIDE BAN! We haz the powa!’
Blayney
I didn’t realise this was going on… shows how much I use PSN haha
Sounds sucky for those who are still regulars though.
Jas-n
“…this situation has been a PR disaster for Sony…” I think that’s CB’s catchphrase.
BrainDiver
Compensation would be nice, but as long as Sony are doing all they can to keep my details safe then I’m happy. I’m currently addicted to Mass Effect 2 anyway, so that might be why I don’t really care.
Roynaldo
Not too bothered about compensation or anything like that. I dont have PS+ or Lovefilm so im not losing out.
Will be just happy if they get it up by the end of the week.
Foxhound_Solid
Time will tell……
NobbyNobbs
Just hope with the amount of down time it isn’t due to our credit card details being extracted from their databases. Seems a long downtime duration for a simple external intrusion otherwise.
John Malcolm
It might be prudent to stop the card you’ve got registered with the Store and get a new one from your bank ASAP – just to be sure. With the snail-like speed of infomation flow from Sony (assuming they know what’s going on…) this might save some serious heartache (and money loss)…
Paranoid? Me? In this case… YES!
NobbyNobbs
I don;t think you are paraniod.
(From console monster) a Sony spokesperson is now saying that they don’t know if credit card information has been lost.
Unless they have audit information on their credit card database to track read access I guess they will never properly know.
I guess Sony must be checking the on line news as they are only just starting to talk about it. If credit card information has been lost then its shocking that its taken them 5 days to alert the public.