How 24hr News Cycles, Hyperbolic Media, and Hateful Fanboys are Ruining Gaming (A PSN Rebuttal)

PlayedGrounds.com writes: "I don’t really know when it was exactly that the mass majority of public opinion was held by self-entitled cry babies. Maybe it has always been so and it was just the lack of a structured social/information network that kept that dark little secret tucked away to home dinner tables and cigarette break banter. Either way the age of the bruised consumer is upon us, and you can’t escape it even if you’d like to."

[Chaostar]

Best written article on the subject by far, more people need to think like this writer.

Well said, Zane Gregory, well said.

[FearNoAngel]

Yup well said.

[Ravage27]

Pretty much summed up my opinion of this whole affair.

[Joe2911]

Everyone has an opinion, N4G is crawling with Sony fanboys so its to be expected that they like to think this is nothing and not a problem at all. On N4G, I may be part of a minority. But I can tell you for fact, that in the bigger picture, you are the minority. This is a disaster for Sony, a nightmare for PSN users, CC details and personal info lost, the possibility of cc fraud, identity theft. I'm sick of seeing the same articles popping up time and time again. But don't just pretend nothing is wrong. This is news worthy.

*EDIT* - Keep the disagrees coming, you only have to look at the comments on the playstation blog to see what the majority thinks of this whole situation.

[Neko_Mega]

To bad reports are coming in that 360 might be next on the hackers hit list.

Just don't be mad when you can only post one comment because the lost of bubbles.

[Joe2911]

My comment, wasn't pro 360, nor do I care who is next on the hackers list. Sony f'd up and lost 70 million people's information. If xbox goes and tops that, I'll be commenting about how M$ f'd up. Don't really care about bubbles, only been coming here recently because of the outage.

[Neko_Mega]

You do know their isn't any reports of Sony losting anyones info right?

So far their has only been reports what might happen and to not give out your information to anyone, so you are wrong.

[zane_7849]

I don't disagree that the story itself is newsworthy, it certainly is. But when you see articles like "Sony is finished by 2012" or "WE DEMAND COMPENSATION" it's just good to keep things in perspective.

[joeorc]

To agree with you is not so bad, why because I don't care what i do care is I can see what your trying to do, An it's very Noble of you because you care so much
On how this will effect Sony an the Playstation Gamer's such as your self...that is if your a playstaion gamer are you?

but to get to your point while you may have Valid point's.

Here is the thing yes It was a big mistake,An i would Say Sony will issue a public Apology an a huge blunder..so they are now going to get a Law suit..here an there an is a valid point, do people care there will never be a playstation again, maybe or maybe not, some may think Sony deserve to be out of this market after this right?

that's Why Im saying Sony is rebuilding the psn network, an trying to rebuild their image not just with the developer's publishers but also the most important consumer's Some may think Sony is not interested in doing what's right for the consumer. Or somehow they will get off light that I think is not going to be the case at all the damage is done an if the law suits happen so be it.

Sony can take all the blame for this an be "TOADED"

Has Sony learned from this mistake?

SOME MAY SAY NOT WELL ENOUGH

AT Some point it's Moot..the die is cast what's done is done. this is going to be a test of Sony's brand to survive. after this i doubt anyone could say that Sony will not be the underdog in the generations moving forward with the damage the brand took this past week's an frankly since the PS3 released.

EVEN IF SONY ADMITTED TO THE fAIL, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO MAKE UP THEIR MIND ABOUT THE BRAND MOVING FORWARD..DEVELOPER'S AN CONSUMER'S AN

THE MARKET...at a certain point it's Over an done with..an Sony is going to loose support

but one could say Sony may come back stronger from such failure...or they could fail some more

Sony has taken Quite the beating, An Sony knows it..but after a while the rock bottom is that the rock bottom, an you can always move up.

IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE TOP STORIES ON THE FORUM
Right now do you think the consumer has been quite informed about the fail enough or does this need to keep being posted an the top stories need to be duplicated so many times that its the same thing over again an again to damage the image of Sony further?

I say damage away..the true test of how well Sony bounces back from this is How well they respond to the damage to their Image. which right now it is quite severe.

at this point Sony pretty much had faild but the test will be rebuilding the brand image.

Doom saying aside..we will see about the brand bounce back moving forward

[Joe2911]

I am a PS gamer, I've owned N64, PS1, PS2 and PS3. Quite frankly hate xbox and M$ (so much so that I bought a mac). Loving the disagrees though.

People are entitled to their opinion, and mine is that as a Sony customer, I am scared of the possibilities of credit card fraud and identity theft.

[beavis4play]

sorry - wrong post.

[beavis4play]

joe - i'm a psn user - how is this a nightmare for me? once psn is back, i'll be using it again. if it's never back - i won't.......will it make me sick? will it cause my practice to fail? will it make hy house disappear and leave me homeless?......a "nightmare"?......re ally joe?.
sure i think this is newsworthy. but the problem in todays world is HOW that news is reported. with the internet - if the facts aren't juicy enough - people add on - much like gossip. you've taken a story that, as of now, only has the POSSIBILITY of SOME personal info being compromised and turned it into "Sony f'd up and lost 70 million people's information" - end quote.
and like all the other people saying what you're saying - where is your anger at the criminals who caused all of this?

joe -step back from the edge of the abyss and take a breath. i assure you sony, nor none of us are DOOMED.

[iistuii]

You don't want Sony to take any blame, ok the hackers here are to blame in the first place however how anyone can come on here and defend Sony for keeping everyone in the dark about this is beyond me. People have a right to know as soon as this happened and there was a threat to their bank/credit card details, we should have been warned. I still have had no email or anything to let me know, only the news on tv and twitter, now that's poor service.

[beavis4play]

i got the email - it's very long and detailed.....received it 2 days ago. it probably takes time to send out 70+ mil of these. - if you want i'll pm you a copy

[beavis4play]

ok for those idiots who disagreed that i didn't get the email from sony - here is part of it:

PlayStation(R)Network

============================= ======

Valued PlayStation(R)Network/Qriocity Customer:

We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011,
certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account
information was compromised in connection with an illegal and
unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this
intrusion, we have:

1) Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;

2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full
and complete investigation into what happened; and

3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our
network infrastructure by rebuilding our system to provide you
with greater protection of your personal information.

We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill
as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and
efficiently as practicable.

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident,
we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following
information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country,
email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login,
and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data,
including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip),
and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may
have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your
dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have
been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit
card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have
provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity,
out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit
card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have
been obtained.

For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email,
telephone and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive
information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email,
asking for your credit card number, social security number or other
personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information,
you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation
Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that
you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation
Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or
accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them as well.

To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we
encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and
to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information
for those who wish to consider it:
- U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually
from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report,
visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free [phone].

i would have posted the whole thing but there is a limit to how much i can post.

[telekineticmantis]

Some of what you just wrote has me struggling to figure out how it correlates to the issue at hand. Both the naive PS fanboys, and the Xbox fanboys performing touchdown celebrations are being ridiculous. But at this point I have to smh when I look at the Xbox fanboys who like to beat their chest over the news that peoples money and vital information have and continues to be stolen as some form of victory.

[Rynx]

@Joe

I'm a PSN user and I'm doing fine. I'm not crying in the corner out of the possibility that my life may be ruined. My torch is unlit and my pitchfork is tucked away.

Truth is buddy, that no one really knows the severity of the situation any more than SONY themselves does. It's only common sense that they too want to be careful with what they say to their consumers in order to prevent a mass media frenzy. Which is happening regardless, almost any loser with a webpage is chiming in on the topic solely to get those measly bucks from ads out of web visits. That's what this is all about for most of the media, ad money.

So if that didn't occur to you then you my friend are a sheep and it is sad that you let the media drive you into hysteria but, hey it's not uncommon.

So far the only thing that SONY had said to their consumers (I should know because I got the e-mail from them) is that information "MAY" have been comprimised. This a routine precaution taken by the company and for all we know it probably couldn't have even gotten up to that scale. Their just covering their tracks in the instance that it indeed might have happened.

So just take a breather. Maybe dip your head in a tub filled with cold water, dry up and go back to playing your PS3. By E3 everyone would have forgotten about this.

[zane_7849]

Wow thanks for all the kind words! I'm sure there will be plenty of negative ones to come, but I just wanted to tell you guys I really appreciate you taking the time to read my article.

[GraySnake]

its nice to read something that actually has some brains and out of the sea of all these stupid articles, its a breath of fresh air.

[beavis4play]

yea, great article. it's nice to see someone taking reality into account.

[frjoethesecond]

I hope to see more articles from this blog in future. Very well done.

[Inception]

Like i said over and over:

The (west) media / fanboys who spam news about Sony doom in 2006-2007 are saving their energy for this day
They had a lot of grudge for Sony because Sony aren't doom and gettin better with great games after great games for PS3 (and PSP) users

Honestly, this console wars are gettin more ridicilous -_-

btw, well said Zane Gregory

[darx]

This guy doesn't own all consoles. What BS.

[additup28]

i own all consoles and have only been playing ps3 this past week. don't hold any preference but have mortal kombat for it. game contains tons of single player content and been playing a lot of versus with roommates. its not out the realm of possibly to be just playing ps3 during the blackout. although going back to old titles is a lil fishy as the blogger states

[XRider]

Whats with all the fanboy blogs today?

[Canidae]

Real muthafu**ing talk. This whole mess is a classic example of a knee-jerk reaction by consumers, and the media.

[e-p-ayeaH]

It seems to be a damage control article for Sony.

Im sorry but now is personal because it envolves everyone that made purchases and as personal info on PSN.

They have the right to be mad about this.

[thief]

Sony are doing exactly what they should – shutting down PSn to avoid further risk, bringing in an outside security company to investigate, rebuilding PSN to eliminate the flaws revealed in the attack and not issuing any knee-jerk statements

I have had free online for years on PS3. I had online for just 3 months on the Xbox, because I refused to pay any more

I think its safe to assume that Xbox has similar levels of security as PSN, especially as MS is so poor with security as you can see with Windows. So if you think its an opportunity to kick Sony when they are down, don’t feel too smug.