Perspective is a funny thing. It’s entirely unique to the individual, and is formed by several factors which play a prominent part in our daily lives. Something that you undervalue could be something that another person would give a limb for, and this is a capacity that not everyone has the benefit of.
Although admittedly hard at times, the reason above should dictate that the utmost appreciation is shown for your every possession, however irrelevant and expendable they may seem. Who hasn’t felt agitated over a malfunctioning electronic in their time, or cursed at the freeview box for not recording your favourite program? This being said, I do think that some members of the internet have shown a considerable lack of gratitude when it has come to discussing the issue of the recent PSN downtime.
[drop] Before I continue, I’d like to highlight that everyone has a right to feel somewhat aggrieved. At the end of the day, you have purchased a product which an online service is a part of, and currently you aren’t receiving it. Sony may be offering a generous “Welcome Back” program, but it doesn’t change what is a poor state of affairs that debatably shouldn’t have been allowed to happen in the first place.When you put your trust in a multinational company such as Sony, you expect your confidential information to be protected up to the hilt. In this case, Sony has failed to deliver and I accept that thousands (including me) are upset with the situation, and will naturally post a brief comment or two to voice our concerns.
However, recently I have read a variety of comments that portray the Playstation Network downtime to be akin to the apocalypse. As previously mentioned I understand the annoyance, but at the same time feel that some people need to put the downtime into some serious perspective. It’s a period of time without the Playstation Network; go outside, do some work, or check out this list. You don’t even need to go without gaming; why not pick up a title that’s been collecting dust for a second playthrough? The opportunities are endless, but I can’t help but think that some are making the worst of a bad situation.
As we sit in our centrally heated homes populating the internet, it’s easy to forget that whilst some are moaning about the lack of Call of Duty, soldiers are out on the front line in places such as Afghanistan, taking cover from sniper bullets without a respawn.
It’s also easy to forget that poverty rages across the world, and in this day and age, it is beyond belief that millions are still without access to a clean water source. The media coverage may have diminished but two months on, Japan is still picking itself up after suffering one of the most horrific natural disasters seen in decades. How many loved ones were never seen again after that fateful morning on the 11th March?
The problems don’t end in this country, either. Unemployment is at an all time high, and the people that are lucky enough to have houses are being forced to push every resource to its limit, as prices skyrocket from fuel to food. The size of the population is increasing, and with government cuts hitting every part of the country, public services are feeling the strain more than ever.
Even though we have one of the most advanced health services in the world, incurable illnesses continue to rip families apart, cutting innocent lives short before they even have a chance to prosper. All of this contributes to a society where children grow up without a sense of right and wrong, and the love and attention that humans at that age so desperately need.
I don’t deny that I am also guilty of lacking perspective at times, but with the heartbreak, terror and sadness that haunts our world on a daily basis, does the Playstation Network downtime really matter?
The decision is yours, but I know exactly how I feel.
cubehouse
Agreed, it’s online gaming for Christ’s sake. It’s not like we’re suddenly denied the air we’re breathing.
Developers on the other hand, have a right to be annoyed, it’s a large source of income. We have no right to be annoyed because a part of our gaming is currently unavailable. It’s *gaming*, and not even all of it, just the online bit.
Besides, in the past year, my email address has been stolen about 5 times already. Hundreds of thousands of websites have been hacked into this past year alone.
TSBonyman
I was longer than this without PSN by my own choice when they removed OtherOs so it doesn’t bother me too much. It would be nice to buy some new content off the store but i’m sure there’ll be a mega update when it’s back up.
However the sooner PSN is up and running, even in a limited way, people will start feeling much more reassured about the whole thing.
fattyuk
loving my SP ATM! Loads of games in my backlog to chase up,
At this rate though by the time the psn is up it’s gonna be a good few hours just syncing trophies for me lol
stylishkev1
Good point on the rough times of everyone else in the world puts a bit of perspective on things don’t it?
I’ve used the downtme to go back to games I didn’t give a fair go at the moment it’s mirror’s edge and other than a couple of bits making me want to break he controller in two, i’m enjoying it.
All these COD guys, crying over their headsets, and trading in their consoles to get their fix, need a kick in the fanny!
InternationalGamer
Im so suprised of how crazy people are going over the PSN downtime, I felt like the only person who really didnt get affected, yes I would prefer the PSN to be online but I’m not going mad over it, just go play single player games.
The PSN went offline, yeah it sucks, but no need to act suicidle or crazy over it… simply, shit happens.
This is like a preview to what will happen to the world if the whole internet system crashed but in a much larger scale.
quinkill
Or won’t happen as there would be no forums, blogs or twitter on which to complain about it :P
quinkill
Perspective is great, but it needs to be a balanced one. Of course there are bad things going on in the world and injustices beyond understanding. Those are separate issues to PSN downtime. And whilst I agree that some people have gone a little OTT on complaining about the downtime, the huge majority are justified calls for a resumption of service. If my home heating or electricity supply goes down, I’m not going to stay mute and complacent because there are soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and someone is starving somewhere, but yeh like you said i’m not going to make out that my issue is more important than theirs.
waddo_89
I agree in the most part. Might I add that the continual reliability of Xbox LIVE sure as hell isn’t helping to ease the pain felt by those loyal to Sony’s product and will almost certainly be a catalyst in causing some of these silly comments and comparisons to be flying around the interweb . However, as had already been alluded to by some of the other comments, we don’t live in a world of poverty, fighting and hardship. The majority of us are able to balance dealing with our own problems whilst maintaining appropriate levels of dignity, respect and thoughtfulness towards others when necessary. Ignore the 13 year old wind up merchants that troll on internet forums, most of us don’t need reminding that PSN pales into insignificance when compared to some of the worlds larger problems, however we still shouldn’t take everything lying down, we are lucky to be where we are and it would be foolish to live our entire lives without demands and expectations, however silly that may seem.
Wow, that was deep. It’s a toughie Toby, so I’m going to stop typing and go and download the escalation map pack! I’m sorry, that was childish hehe.
waddo_89
*however silly they may seem.
matthangzhou
It is always people who have more than most who seem unhappiest with what they have. I regularly see people who are less fortunate than myself but they seem happier and take joy in the small things in life. We could all benefit from taking a step back and finding the things which are truly important.
bunimomike
Beautifully put. All the lovely possessions we have in our lives can easily overshadow how lucky we are to live in a country like the UK (and other 1st world nations). I think, with a degree of perspective and respect for the fortunate environment we live in, it helps us realise that all is not lost with the PSN down. It’s just a bit of a shit, that’s all.
clank250
Everyone with a PS3 still has patience. That’s really all this boils down to. I personally don’t need the online features (although I have been craving Warhawk since Starhawk was just announced) but I can easily pass the time doing other things. The people that sold their PS3 are just being rude to Sony IMO. Sure a huge factor in this generation’s console war has been online gaming, think back to the PS1 or N64 and how there wasn’t any focus on multiplayer, the developers didn’t have a choice other than Split-Screen really. So although it is an annoyance that PSN is down, I agree with the article.
People need to lighten up, and see the good side and have more patience with Sony.
online4ntagonist
I’m playing Yakuza 3 and 4, Operation Flashpoint and the occasional Shift 2 and better still GT5. None of those need to be played online. What I miss most though, is the lack of contact between friends on the PSN list.
But, all things considered, as some say in the Netherlands: Brand is erger. Or: Fire is worse.
To take it to a global scale however, is too far fetched as far as I’m concerned. You can always remember floods in Japan, people in Sudan and Afghanistan, Lybia, Syria and so on. My opinion is that one MUST always remember and think about these issues, regardless of one’s own problems.
If you look at the worlds problems, non of ours will even come close in terms of agony. Remember that.
I’m curious about the welcome back pack.