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Sony Offline Entertainment
So the Sony Network is coming back online today, much to the joy of many gamers who utilize an internet connection on the PS3 or Sony’s online PC games (primarily MMOs), but information is scarce as to why it was down in the first place. Allow me to save you several hours of wading through the various stories, interviews, rumours and accusations that are floating around the internet.
This is the story of why (and how) Sony’s network went down for the better part of a month.
The whole saga began when two gamers known as George ‘GeoHot’ Hotz and Alexander ‘graf_chokolo’ Egorenkov succeeded at jailbreaking the security features on the Playstation 3. Such an accomplishment had the downside of making cheating in online play more commonplace, but it did also allow homebrew software to be utilized on the machine.
Sony was not impressed. They began a rather ruthless backlash campaign (particularly against GeoHot) using their influence and the legal system. The court case has been going on since January this year and is still unresolved, notably threatening GeoHot with a million-dollar Euro lawsuit. The monetary demands struck me as rather sadistic; that kind of suit would cripple most Europeans for the rest of their lives and, honestly, it seems as if they pulled the number straight out of their arses.
To add insult to injury; Sony had authorities raid his home and take possession of anything which might have been related to his work on the PS3. It just goes to show that in Europe “You never buy. You rent.”
Sony even went so far as subpeonaing information from Hotz’s various online connections, including Paypal account associated with him. Sony now has a list of IP addresses of people who they suspect have made the modifications to their systems.
Gamers have been modding their systems since consoles have existed and, as far as I am aware, every court case to deny such a right has sided with the consumer. It’s understandable that the gaming community responded with aggravation at Sony’s antics.
The organization of internet hackers ‘Anonymous’ took note, releasing a statement that is rather effectively summarized in this video:
Anonymous began a campaign to harass Sony, particularly targeting their websites. The whole operation was problematic for them; Anonymous’ main goal was to lay pressure on Sony and, as specified, NOT to grief the gamers who used their network.
In response to this, Sony hired a company named Prolexic and began mitigating the damage. Sites were crashing and rebooting constantly for the first few days while both the hackers and the security firm scrambled to gain the upper hand. Prolexic apparently succeeded in blocking off a range of IP addresses commonly used by Anonymous’ personnel (and many gamers, unfortunately) due to the experiences both parties have had with each other in the past.
Sony could have potentially dodged a bullet if they had just weathered the storm, but during this time they made a particularly big mistake; they gloated. Sony quipped that the attacks were of ‘medium strength’, were just an ‘annoyance to our network engineers’ and shrugged them off, stating they would just ‘get bored’ eventually.
Anonymous announced that they would stop the attacks to prevent harm to the innocent gamers, but a few days later Sony’s PSN network suffered a massive attack which flabbergasted their engineers. A statement was released quoting that the servers would be down for ‘a day or two’ which has since been revealed to have been made as pure P.R. [A course of action made to make a company, product or person more appealing to an audience or consumers], causing frustration for their gaming community.
“The fault lies with the executives who declared a war on hackers, laughed at the idea of people penetrating the fortress that once was Sony, whined incessantly about piracy, and kept hiring more lawyers when they really needed to hire good security experts. Alienating the hacker community is not a good idea” Hotz later stated.
Anonymous denied involvement in the attack, reinforcing their stance on not harming the players who used the Playstation Network.
Sony later released a notice that much of the information stored on their servers had been stolen, including some old credit card information. The servers stayed down and have been until today, with little word to the public regarding when they would return.
Whoever was responsible for this attack has apparently made a devastating job of it; Sony has been dumbfounded since it happened. Was it Anonymous, laying down propaganda to hide a more vindictive nature? Was it a rogue hacker, seeking to punish Sony for mocking Anonymous or the gaming community? Maybe it’s something more sinister, like an opportunistic dollar-seeker who just found the cover scandal too good to be true?
Either way; gamers aren’t the only ones suffering from this event. Retailers are reporting that the Playstation 3 is being traded in and sold at an alarming rate, up by 200% in a single month [Source]. Strangely enough, the PS3 is reporting a 13% increase in hardware sales during this time despite the PSN being offline [Source], though many are skeptical since their statement was released as a response to an NPD date report.
My opinion is: They are either lying, or they are including the sales of used systems in their report. Think about it. A 200% increase in trade-in probably results in some pretty cheap Playstation 3 consoles floating around in stores. Conversely, if you’ve been looking to buy a PS3 then this might be the time to do it; the PSN is coming back up soon and the consoles are probably on sale at many locations.
Sony announced a few days ago that it will be offering compensation to their MMO clients [Source], but many customers have already moved on, and the few remaining are frustrated about the lack of information presented to them. A common question is “Are they even still working on [Insert patch here]?”
Take what you will from the whole mess, but it’s safe to say that Sony has likely learned a valuable lesson.
Connection… Problem?
Everything went better than expected.
All 4 of my teammates connected within 3 minutes in and we won the game… but it was was one of those moments.
Hook, Line and Sinker: What Makes a Classic Game
Boredom begets nostalgia; that moment where you’ve jumped into your desktop chair or kneeled in front of your array of console titles, but then you’re at a loss as to what exactly you want to play.
The stagnancy of development within the video-games industry [Gimmick Games article] happens to be a leading cause of this ‘problem’; it’s so rare to come across a game that satisfies. Sure, you can find a title that will spectacularly entertain you for a few afternoons, but afterwards you are often left with no reason to come back to it.
Enter through the parados thou players of old, and cradle thy controls and keyboards for revisited memories!
The classic game Syndicate, from Bullfrog. They also produced the popular Theme Park franchise.
Where would we be without the gems? Those games with enough variety and soul that they can be picked up and played again and again!
I really hadn’t given it much thought; I buy 4-5 new games a month. Truth be told, I wasn’t completely aware of just how much I had been neglecting the new releases, at least until my friend Pete asked me “So, what new games have you gotten into lately?”
Reflecting upon my past week, here are the games I’ve played for 2 hours or more:
- 5 Hours – Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)
- 4 Hours – League of Legends (2009, regularly updated)
- 3 Hours – Neverwinter Nights 2 (Platinum) (2006)
- 2 Hours – Global Agenda (2010)
- 2 Hours – Darksiders (2010)
I began to answer him, then stopped in consideration. What new games? None. I hadn’t played any new releases in the past 5 days. In fact, most of the new releases I’ve bought this year have been played for under 2 hours, then dropped into a shortcuts folder or put away on a bookcase ‘for later’.
“I guess I’ve just been going back to the classics lately.” I replied. He nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, that’s how it is nowadays.”
There are many other games I tend to fall back to for some guaranteed fun. What was it that made these games special?
Gameplay. The game has to be enjoyable, and in almost every case it has to have some damned difficulty. There’s no feeling of accomplishment when a game handholds you through to the end. At this point, I even give points for steady difficulty curves, even if the final hours of a game end up being a minor challenge at best.
Re-playability. ‘Tactics’ is a great example. Nearly endless customization and advancement paths combined with the satisfaction of executing a vast array of different strategies. You can literally play Tactics through a dozen times and still experience it differently. The same can be said about League of Legends, NWN2 and Global Agenda (mostly due to GA’s multiplayer elements). Even Darksiders allows you to use its Soul currency to purchase different attacks or weaponry, increasing its replay value.
An enjoyable story is another key element often underdeveloped in new games. A great plot can be the difference, even if its impact on the game’s structure is subtle; just look at games like Mass Effect (more direct) or Half-Life (silent protagonist). Even Red Alert 2 with its cheesy, ham-handed acting seems witty and immersive compared to the new releases this year.
When you combine challenging gameplay (the hook, catching your attention), re-playability (the line, pulling you back in) and an entertaining story (the sinker, keeping you immersed and interested) or even just implement 2 of these elements competently, you end up with a potential classic…
…and true classics never die.
Applying Gaming Skills to Real Life Situations – Part 3
Do you ever find yourself annoyed or upset? Maybe you just had a rough day and you’ve come home feeling on-edge?
What’s the first thing you want to do?
If your answer is ‘play some video games’ then you’re not alone.
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Case Study 3: Just What I Needed!
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So life just kicked you square in the cheeks and you need to wind down; you pick up a controller, sit at a desktop or start fiddling with your handheld. Did you ever stop to think “Why am I doing this?”
The answer: It works.
It’s been proven that video games are key tools in the psychiatric world when it comes to treating medically diagnosed conditions which affect concentration (as shown in Case Study 2), but did you know that studies have shown gaming to be a promising treatment for depression and anxiety?.
Multitasking at its finest.
A year-long study by the East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic tested the efficacy of video games for treating depression and anxiety. Almost 60 clinically diagnosed sufferers of depression took part in the testing, and the results were rather impressive.
“The hypothesis was tested using state-of-the-art technologies including psychophysiology, biochemical and psychological measurements, and found an average reduction in depression symptoms of 57% in the experimental ( “video game” ) group.” -Dr. Carmen Russoniello [Source]
Considering how hit-and-miss other forms of treatment can be; 57% is definitely a positive outcome.
“In my opinion the findings support the possibility of using prescribed casual video games for treating depression and anxiety as an adjunct to, or perhaps even a replacement for, standard therapies including medication.”
It has also been shown that the beneficial effects a gaming session has on a person’s mood can persist for the long-term.
The participants of the ECU’s test partook in casual games produced by PopCap, who are famous for Bejewelled and Peggle. The researchers are optimistic about ‘more hardcore games’ as well, so I’m looking forward to a possible future study into how more elaborate or complicated games affect moods. Personally; I like a challenge!
The fact that video games have such an influence on our state-of-mind is intriguing when you think about it, and it explains why we tend to get so frustrated when our gaming sessions are interrupted.
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There’s not much else to say that you don’t already know, so I’ll answer some questions:
“Only your first AGS article was a case study. Why did you call the second one that?” Michael, regarding the AGS series.
That’s a legitimate question Michael; a case study usually consists of analyzing a single example event, chain of events or a person. The sub-heading for this series is actually a sort of inside joke. Each article is built upon where my curiosity leads me after I make personal observations regarding differences between how I interact with my environment when compared to others and, as such, are often linked to a certain event which gives me a moment of clarity and insight.
Whew, that’s a mouthful! To finish up I’ll also answer several questions at the same time; Yes, I did spell ‘more’ as ‘moar’. No, it is not negligence or a typo; it’s gaming lingo. Yes, that was a Dragon Ball Z reference. No, the position in queue wasn’t Photoshopped.
Did you enjoy this case study? Then you might be interested in previous articles of this series:
Moar images?
I’ve been busy lately due to friends moving in for a while, but here’s some image lawls to make up for it:
IT'S OVER 9000!!!
Don’t you just love patch days?
