Today sees the most sparse PSN Store Update for years. There aren’t any PS3 demos, the PSP Essentials are unchanged and there isn’t even a premium theme to buy for £1.99. Ordinarily, we’d wail and cry about the US Store Update being so much better but they didn’t get anything new either. Finally, region equality from SCE!
In fact, the only thing we got from Sony this week was an email to let us know they’d left the key under the mat and someone had strolled in and nicked their filing cabinet. I’ll be honest, that’s not as fun to play with as the latest LittleBigPlanet level pack.
So, what are we to do with this downtime when we can’t spend our hard earned cash on new digital distractions? Well, joking aside for a moment, it’s probably best you keep an eye out for someone else spending your hard earned cash with the details Sony may (or may not) have lost. We’re all doing that though, right? Good, then let’s talk about some alternatives.
You can’t connect to the store today and buy the latest pinball table or sticker pack. That’s a shame. You can get it in a few weeks instead. Today, you could start another play through of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves so that you’re all excited and receptive to the info and demonstrations that we’re all expecting at E3. Instead of adding to your rapidly filling hard drive, spend some time getting really excited about what’s on the horizon for PlayStation 3.
You’re missing out on that 20p avatar that would make your online presence roughly 3 percent cooler. Well, how about you press on with Motorstorm: Apocalypse and earn some trophies for when the PSN whirs back into life. An extra cabinet full of trophies is cooler than a new avatar anyway. I’ve heard reports that Motorstorm: Apocalypse is already being quite well discounted by certain retailers so if you don’t already own it, you might consider buying it for the exhilarating single player races.
You won’t be able to save a couple of pounds/dollars/euro/spacebucks on whatever slipped into the Special Offers section. Perhaps, instead, you could get yourself down to your local games store and see what they have in the bargain bin. I’ve seen Vanquish at some very low prices recently, that’s probably worth a punt. There’s even a thread in our forums for spotting great deals, you could trawl that for inspiration.
While you’re in our forums, why not start a high score leaderboard battle with some fellow TSA-ers? Just because the network is down, that’s no reason to stop showing your gaming prowess. Photograph high score boards and post to the forum, encourage others to beat your score and get some rivalry going! Get creative about how you play with others.
There won’t be any new demos or trailer videos to whet your appetite for upcoming games. We’re only just over a month away from E3 though, soon you’ll have more trailer videos than you know what to do with. I suggest you spend the time, not looking forward to the games you might enjoy in a few months time but looking back through your collection at the games you’ve already enjoyed. The release schedule over the past year has been relentless and included a large number of fantastic PlayStation exclusive games which you might not have had the chance to get everything out of before you moved on to the next big blockbuster title. Why not return to them and remind yourself what was fantastic about them.
Today is the first day in a long time that there hasn’t been at least something delivered during the regular Store Update schedule. That’s not ideal and the network being down is quite an inconvenience. But we can still enjoy so much about the platform while we wait for the online functionality to come back on.
I encourage you all to take steps to make sure your data is as safe as it can be. Use different passwords, don’t store credit card details online, keep an eye on card transactions and shred anything with your name and address on it before you put it in the recycling bins. But once that’s all being done, there’s no excuse for wallowing in the current situation: PlayStation is still an amazing way to play and there’s plenty you can do that doesn’t require online connectivity or a Store Update every week. Get creative and let us know how you’re spending the down time!
freezebug2
Double helpings with cream next week maybe?
Laughed at your last paragraph regarding the shredding… In my last job a guy used to bring all of his “sensitive” documents into work and burn them in a workshop bin because he didn’t trust shredders. He must have had some damn good origami/jigsaw puzzle experts living around his way to take such extreme measures….007 wannabe lol.
Roynaldo
No Cb NO! Lets all flail our arms, piss and moan and point the finger over something out of our hands. Yeah that’ll help :p
Im playing Mortal Kombat and those babalities seem very appropriate right now ;)
matthangzhou
I’m smashing my way through that too. Still not found out how to do them yet :(
Roynaldo
i know they are all about 3-4 feet away and liu kangs is d,d,d circle. vids on you tube i believe.
hannes_truce
I’ve picked up Just Cause 2 again and am spending some quality time with it. forgot how fun that game was.
3shirts
That is my go-to offline game. It’s fantastic even for just an aimless blast around
FrusciantesGhost
Dead Space 2 has had the dust built up from January blown off it… What an amazing single player game…. PSN?? pah.
colossalblue
Off topic but… Is your username anything to do with John Frusciante?
That would earn you many cool points on my totally imaginary leader board.
FrusciantesGhost
Of course, how many Frusciantes do you know!? :)
The man is my God.
Tuffcub
Im playing through Dead Space 2 which I never got round to depsite buying it. Loving it.
matthangzhou
Give hardcore mode a try when you’re done. The only time i’ve genuinely been scared in a video game I think since playing Silent Hill all those years ago…
TURRICAN-808
Yh, i remember that radio buzzing and the fog…
TURRICAN-808
Or resident evil 1 where those dogs jump through the window – aargghhh
teflon
Need to actually finish DS1 before I can start 2… I hate going back to games which I stopped playing.
rht992
try getting 40 hours into Valkary chronicles then loosing the save game file -_- that was over a year ago and i still can’t bring myself to play it again.
GregHorrorShow
I’ve been getting stuck into Mass Effect 2, Bulletstorm and Mortal Kombat. Outage has been a minor issue for me, don’t mind playing offline.
More of an issue now that I have to cancel my card but better to be safe than sorry.
quinkill
I’ve gone back to counter-strike source on my mac. Forgot just how great this game is.
3shirts
Excellent. A refreshing change of tone to the rest of the media.
As usual there is scaremongering all over the shop but the facts are that companies get breached like this all the time, they just often manage to keep it quiet as most don’t have to take down any services in the public eye.
The CVV2 data was encrypted, they are taking the precaution of assuming that it has also been hacked (internet security 101), but that is very unlikely.
I have worked in a breach investigation team and seen massive companies, on the scale of Sony, lose hundreds of thousands of card numbers without anyone really hearing about it.
When it’s back just change your password and secret question, keep an eye on your card bills and make sure you only use credit (not debit) cards with any online service.
Pitcher-T
Forgive my ignorance, but why shouldn’t you use a debit card for an online service?
Last night I went round changing all my passwords even though I only used my PSN password for the PSN. I think this just gave me the push to be a bit more security savvy.
colossalblue
Debit cards aren’t as tightly insured as credit cards so if they’re ripped off you might end up struggling to reclaim the cash and sort out the problems. Credit cards automatically insure you against fraud so it will be a much smoother process to fix any issues that arise.
manky_
I OD’d on Killzone 3 MP since launch, so have been playing through SP and I’m just a couple of trophies off the plat now. And Portal 2 is being delivered today, looking forward to that.
Akuar
Nothing for me this week.
…
Ehm, been playing Portal 2 and MySims SkyHeroes which I won from aerobes in the forum-comp. Fun little game alright, gotten 50% of its trophies as well.. :)