Image courtesy of Halolz.

For up to date information regarding the PSN hack, check this IGN page.

So as many of you know by now, the PSN went down over a week ago and is currently undergoing “maintenance.” As Sony said it is but later reports revealed that the network was somehow hacked by an anonymous person or persons. Many people speculated it was a response to the case between the first person to jail break a PS3 and Sony. We will never know what the reason was for the hack but it has put many people and companies worried for the PS3 and how the people will react to this. Certain problems surfaced but the major one that has Sony and myself worried is the fact that the hackers could have gotten names, addresses, e-mails, PSN IDs and passwords and possibly credit card numbers (which is the most worrying). Sony in response has written and sent numerous emails out to users and I myself got about 6 of them in a span of 4 hours. They are taking major precautions to this but what my good friend BJ is saying, “when is it going back up?” This is the question that the world is asking and is major issue. Will the PS3 become a console with no online play or will Sony ever get the network back into the swing of things. Only time will tell but for all of the other loyal PS3 fans and myself, try not to go to the dark side (or light, whichever one floats your boat) and buy a 360. Have faith in Sony because in today’s world, people are indecisive and are very finicky.

On a personal level, I’ve been coping with PC gaming and real life activities. Try going out and having a good time. For instance, I went out and shot some stuff and fished for a whole day. Here’s a link to it on YouTube.

So for all you PS3 fans keep on waiting and pray to the gaming gods that this issue gets fixed. Until then get off that couch and go shoot some shit!!!

Judge’s take: I am not a happy camper.  It has been exactly two weeks and PSN is still offline.  Even though I haven’t been gaming much due to the amount of work I have, I still like to get online and pwn some noobs to relieve stress.  The thing that has angered me the most however is the fact that it took Sony nearly a whole week to explain why PSN went offline (PSN went offline on April 20th, Sony informed users on April 26th of possible data theft).  That is not how you treat your customers.  If credit card info indeed was leaked, not knowing that your data might have been obtained for a whole week could be disastrous.  Sure credit card companies do a much better job of identifying fraud, but I would feel much safer knowing right off the bat rather than a week later if some fraudulent charges appeared on my record.  Luckily for me, the credit card data I used for PSN expired two months ago, so I’m in the clear but others might not be so lucky.  Some people have sued Sony for their apparent lack of proper security features.  This is not the type of publicity Sony needs.  They have pissed off many of their customers.  Sony has offered free content to all users upon PSN’s re-activation; however, giving some free swag can only do so much to repair their image.  Some XBox 360 users are no doubt ecstatic and reveling in Sony’s misfortunes; I can agree somewhat with them.  As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”  XBox users pay for their online service; part of this fee goes to constant updating and maintenance of Microsoft’s security structure.  On the flip side, this goes beyond the childish “console wars.”  Sensitive information was hacked and gamers should unite rather than laugh at each other’s expense.  Till next time people…