Remember how great 2011 was supposed to be?

Back in 2010 (less than 5 months ago), I and many of you guys (my fellow Gamespotters) all looked at 2011 with wide eyes. We were hopeful, longing for the year when the promises of video gaming greatness on the PS3 would come to fruition. All exaggeration aside though, things were looking pretty good. Or I should say REALLY good. We had an outstanding lineup, with exclusives like Socom 4, inFamous 2, The Last Guardian, and many others to look forward to. Some of these still remain to come out, and as it is still early in the year, it is obviously a bit early to assess the entire year for Sony and the Playstation brand. However, I can't help but think of how 2011 has got to be one of the worst years for the PS3 in recent memory, or perhaps the worst year since the console launched.

People on this forum know what I'm talking about, so I won't delve into details here. We all know it started with Geohat and fail0verflow, the hacker and hacking group that unlocked the PS3's root key and enabled piracy and caused increased hacking in online games. An unfortunate event, that is for certain, but one that seemingly could not be avoided.

Sony took action, which WAS a wise move on their part - they had to defend their console, of course. Yet this drew the anger from Anonymous, another hacking group which has certainly caused major network issues for Sony.

And now, with this most recent attack on PSN - and with PSN being shut down for a week now - it really is not a good time for Sony at all. And the way Sony has handled this - by waiting a week before they told consumers that their credit card information was in jeopardy - was a very poor decision on their part. We as consumers should have been immediately informed, but this was not the case. As much as I love the PS3, I am EXTREMELY disappointed in the way Sony handled this latest issue. As far as I know, as soon as PSN goes back up someone could take over my account now that they seemingly have my email and other personal information. Also a concern of mine is will Sony allow us to change our security questions? They better, if they want their users' accountsto remain secure in the future.

While the rest of the year is obviously unknown for the time being, I'm not going to lie - this year has just been a heck of a rough ride for the PS3. Here's to hoping things pick up - because really, I'm starting to get fed up with it. As dedicated as I am to the PS3, this latest issue has really made me start questioning Sony's actions - especially on the security front.

Well, that's that. My little rant is over. What do you guys think? Again, 2011 had so much promise - but now all that seems gone.

Well it has been solid so far and we have a nice 8 months still to go.wooooode

I don't think this hack is as serious as people make it out to be. We're still to hear about someone who's TRULY lost money from their CC or something and we're still to wait for the whole problem to get fixed. I trust Sony would fix it. As for the rest of the year, it does look pretty damn promising. I just made a list of the games I'm planning to buy this year and heck it's a long list. I know no hacker's gonna cut away my joy no matter what, I'm gonna buy those games and enjoy them whether online or offline (not a big online player to begin with).

Sure this event is big news, I just won't let come to my mind too much.

[QUOTE="wooooode"]Well it has been solid so far and we have a nice 8 months still to go.Essian

I have to agree with you somewhat. I've not keen to trust them at the moment.

I don't think this hack is as serious as people make it out to be. We're still to hear about someone who's TRULY lost money from their CC or something and we're still to wait for the whole problem to get fixed. I trust Sony would fix it. As for the rest of the year, it does look pretty damn promising. I just made a list of the games I'm planning to buy this year and heck it's a long list. I know no hacker's gonna cut away my joy no matter what, I'm gonna buy those games and enjoy them whether online or offline (not a big online player to begin with).

Sure this event is big news, I just won't let come to my mind too much.

finalserenade75

http://vgn365.com/2011/04/26/psn-users-reporting-hundred-of-dollars-stolen-from-them/

Reports are in. Sorry.

Who the hells gives a damn. Its not like the f***ing games are not coming out.

"PSN IS DOWN FOR 2 WEEKS WAHHHHHH!"

I mean seriously... Get some help.

(This post in just a little rant of mine and is in no way directed at anybody.)

This whole online situation with Sony is deplorable.... I've lost complete faith in Sony.

I started with PSone. So i'm going to stick with Sony to the end

This whole online situation with Sony is deplorable.... I've lost complete faith in Sony.

luc11044

[QUOTE="wooooode"]Well it has been solid so far and we have a nice 8 months still to go.Essian

I am most certainly done with Sony's online service. But I still enjoy gaming on my PS3, even I do wanna get sick every time I see it.

It is kinda like the pause button is stuck at the moment.

i kind of agree with TC. up until very recently, Sony has had my full support in the PSN situation.... but increasingly i'm feeling that that my support is wasted on a company that apparently can't stall a worsening situation.... i'm actually glad that i haven't spent a cent on PSN. i mean, how sad is that?

on top of that, i'm also not entirely impressed by the high profile releases over the past few months, particularly GT5 and KZ3. although they are great game, they are no where near the showstopper i was expecting.

so, yea, overall i'm quite disappointed. But hopefully things will pick up with the release of inFamous 2.

I think the year will still be great, despite the little fact that my once unwavering trust in Sony has now and forever been irrevocably shattered. No biggie, though.

As far as games go, 2011 is still gonna be great. Consumer trust on the other hand.... different story. I gave Sony the benefit of the doubt, but their lack of notifying us of a major security breach where we have all our info is inexcusable. I'm waiting to see if their new security overhaul is reliable. If Anon, or whoever is able to breach that as well, as a consumer, I can't trust them no longer.

PC gaming might be on the horizon for me. :P

so because of a 1 week situation, an entire year is ruined? the 51 other weeks don't matter? not to mention the fact that myself and many others can still play many many games? pleaseAJC3317

Did you not read my post? This whole hacking issue has been going on from pretty much day 1 of this year.

Sony probably will resolve this Internet issue like next week. 2011 has been great on the software side We have had games like

Little Big Planet 2

Killzone 3

Yakuza 4

Then we still have a big list of games to come

Motorstorm Apocalypse

Infamous 2

Resistance 3

Uncharted 3

Ratchet and Clank All 4 one

Twisted Metal

Then there are the lesser known games on PS3

Disgaea 4

Ar Tonelico 3

Atelier Rorona 2

White Knight Chronicles 2

Most major third party games came/or are coming to PS3

Dead Space 2

Marvel vs Capcom 3

Mass Effect 3

Mortal Kombat

Portal 2

Battlefield 3

Elder Scrolls 5

L.A Noir

Duke Nukem

Children of Eden

and others

The two other companies don't have the software lineup Sony has. Nintendo is just about done with the Wii. MS is living off of strong Kinect sales. MS still hasn't come out with a strong retail exclusive so far this year. Granted, if the PSN problems go on for too long, then the software sales could take a huge dive.

Other than this PSN problem, I don't see how 2011 is a bust.

As far as games go, 2011 is still gonna be great. Consumer trust on the other hand.... different story. I gave Sony the benefit of the doubt, but their lack of notifying us of a major security breach where we have all our info is inexcusable. I'm waiting to see if their new security overhaul is reliable. If Anon, or whoever is able to breach that as well, as a consumer, I can't trust them no longer.

PC gaming might be on the horizon for me. :P

KamuiFei

I've also been thinking about it. Will stick to the PS3 for this gen for sure, but next-gen, who knows.

Well, for Gamers, the only real issue AT ALL is the PSN issue that just popped up, and that is it.

The reason why 2011 was going to be great/predicted to be great was for the Games.

Those games are coming. That hasn't changed. It is and will be a great GAME year for the PS3.

Let's look at this year so far and what SONY has provided us gamers this year so far (It's April 27th, 2011 as of this post):

LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, MLB11: The Show, Motorstorm Apocalypse, PS Move Heroes, PixelJunk Shooter 2, DC Universe, and SOCOM 4...

Then, later this year we get from SONY : Ratchet All 4 One, Resistance 3, Twisted Metal, InFAMOUS 2, and Uncharted 3!

That's amazing, and that's JUST SONY's offerings. What other machines 1st Party is delivering us this amount of games, and most of high quality?

Sure, the issue of PSN is a bummer right now (but I'm an oldschool gamer, so I see this time right now as time to finish off some SP campaigns), but ultimately this whole PSN thing will be in the rear view mirror in no time at all, but these great games are still on the way. The fact we got such great games to play right now is a testament to quality game time.

Also, 2011 will be big because of huge 3rd party games coming to the PS3 coming like : Yakuza 4, Portal 2 (with PC version free), Mortal Kombat 9 (with Kratos), Mass Effect 3, Bioshock 3, Elder Scrolls 5, COD8:MW3, Metal Gear Rising, etc.

So, from where I'm sitting as a GAMER, it's been a great year, especially considering I got all the machines and the only 1st party company delivering has been SONY this year. I can't understate how great it is that owning a PS3 means that I don't have to wait ONLY UNTIL THE Holidays to see what big game Sony is offering. They actually provided a ton of games already this year, and the year isn't even half way over.

Well, for Gamers, the only real issue AT ALL is the PSN issue that just popped up, and that is itSolidTy

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]Well, for Gamers, the only real issue AT ALL is the PSN issue that just popped up, and that is it.

The reason why 2011 was going to be great/predicted to be great was for the Games.

Those games are coming. That hasn't changed. It is and will be a great GAME year for the PS3.

Let's look at this year so far and what SONY has provided us gamers this year so far (It's April 27th, 2011 as of this post):

LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, MLB11: The Show, Motorstorm Apocalypse, PS Move Heroes, PixelJunk Shooter 2, DC Universe, and SOCOM 4...

Then, later this year we get from SONY :Ratchet All 4 One, Resistance 3, Twisted Metal, InFAMOUS 2, and Uncharted 3!

That's amazing, and that's JUSTSONY's offerings. What other machines 1st Party is delivering us this amount of games, and most of high quality?

Sure, the issue of PSN is a bummer right now (but I'm an oldschool gamer, so I see this time right now as time to finish off some SP campaigns), but ultimately this whole PSN thing will be in the rear view mirror in no time at all, but these great games are still on the way. The fact we got such great games to play right now is a testament to quality game time.

Also, 2011 will be big because of huge 3rd party games coming to the PS3 coming like : Yakuza 4, Portal 2(with PC version free), Mortal Kombat 9(with Kratos), Mass Effect 3, Bioshock 3, Elder Scrolls 5, COD8:MW3, Metal Gear Rising, etc.

So, from where I'm sitting as a GAMER, it's been a great year, especially considering I got all the machines and the only 1st party company delivering has been SONY this year. I can't understate how great it is that owning a PS3 means that I don't have to wait ONLY UNTIL THE Holidays to see what big game Sony is offering. They actually provided a ton of games already this year, and the year isn't even half way over.gr8scott

That just popped up? This has happened ALL this year in 2011. This didn't just happen recently. This started back in January and Sony promised to resolve the possibility of a breach into their system. I can see how well that worked out. I just did a research on the web about the hacks for ps3 this year. There was a report in January 6th, a report in February 1st, and another later in February. So this isn't just something that just popped up. The fact that Sony didn't even bother to encrypt users' information just shows what a laughing stock their security system really is. I will definitely be thinking twice before making another purchase with the words "sony" on the product.

I'm pretty sure you already don't buy too many Sony products and may have only recently got a PS3 (recently released $299 PS3 Slim, I think), based on what I remember from your earlier posts. :P I know so many, it's all foggy though. I can tell you that general attitude I've run across on the internet of 'thinking twice' when buying products can be applied to a great many companies/console manufacturers once one chooses to start researching on any and all companies. ;) :P That said, from a "Gamers" perspective, this whole PSN going down is recent (five or six days ago). PSN going down, that would definitely affect GAMERS. The whole e-drama thing may have started earlier this year for people up on Geohotzy, but that didn't affect GAMERS. I can tell you I myself have had some very bad experiences with some other consoles, but that's another story. :P

I said, "for GAMERS" up above for a reason. Obviously, folks that like to read up on news may be well informed, but that doesn't mean their gaming suffered. You can research on the web on stuff all you want, but that doesn't mean your gaming habit has been adversely affected. PSN going down, that was bad, it sux, but that's recent. Gamers are suffering now on due to PSN being down, but Sony is rectifying it and making it as safe as they can. Those games that came out this year? They still came out and were great. The future games that are coming out? They are still one the way. As far as 2011, it will end up being a great year for Gamers, and I meant it the way I said it. Gamers will notice the games and be happy.

As far as Hackers, they exploited gaming website Kotaku, Target, Verizon, and multiple places all over the internet. Tomorrow, somone's Gamespot account may get hacked, but in the end, it's not GS's fault, it's the hackers. In the online realm, no one is really SECURE (Major Nelson and Top XBL Cop have also been hacked recently). Sure, companies can take measures, but hackers with enough time can do anything online.

Hackers are to blame in this situation. From where I'm sitting, it's quite simple. Right now, I have no PSN access because of hackers, it's unfortunate, but that's the reality. Sony is trying to take care of that. In the meantime, I'm enjoying a certain Beta, and lucky for me, I buy all the consoles at launch, and I also have plenty of games to play that are of the singleplayer variety. I've been gaming since the Atari 2600/Intellivision days, and I appreciate how far we have come in the medium.

I understand the point you are making SolidTy. I started gaming early on as well, back in the 8-bit NES days. Yes, the only sony products I own are the TV and PS3 that I can think of. I do understand it's the hackers that are to blame. It is unfortunate for Sony to be going through this, but Sony is a multibillion dollar company. For a company of that stature, you would think they would be more secured. I just feel that Sony could have and should have done a better job with their security systems after receiving many reports this year about their system being tampered with. It's not like they were blindsided, their system has been compromised sinced 2011 started and they failed to do anything of any signficance to protect them and their psn users. All I'm saying is that they certainly CAN do better. I know hindsight is 20/20. I'm very disappointed in Sony's way to handle this situation. They waited all this time before telling us that our personal information could be jeopardized. Even before that, no one knew for the first couple days what the heck was really going on. I understand they did not want to create panic, but if my (or anyone else's) credit information and such could be compromised, I would more certainly like to be notified ASAP; not a week afterwards.gr8scott

Hello gr8scott (Dig the online handle btw, it reminds me of old Superman comics, C.S. Lewis Narnia books, and of course the great Doctor Emmett Brown :P)

Ah, the NES had such amazing games, I'm with you there. :P

I do agree that for a massive company, Sony should have been more secure...the main issue I have is that I don't know how secure they were.

I only know that the security was defeated, not the scope of the undertaking involved in defeating the security. For instance, did you know the United States Pentagon was hacked in 2008?

Sony, in fact, may have had great security, but due to the angry hornets nest of hackers, there was a determination to get to Sony, or it could have been that in fact, Sony had very poor security. That's my issue, is that I can't make a fair assessment, I can only assume Sony security was poor based on what little I know.

I guess I should also mention, I've had the PS3 since 2006, and in the last 5 years PSN has been great. So, in a way, it took hackers over 4-5 years, to get this deep into Sony, that's pretty impressive as far as time.

Don't get me wrong, when more is known about this whole PSN going down affair later this year, I may have some 'bah humbugs' to sing at Sony, but right now, the only thing I know for certain due to lack of details is that those Hackers are ruining my little gaming time I have. :(

As far as the CC information, we again know so little, that's it's hard to make a determination. If they did sit on that info and knew longer, I would like to know more on why, or at least how long the top brass knew. I agree though, the situation sux, and I do hope that overall security is upgraded and we can all get back to our happy gaming. :P

This still has potential to be a great year, as a bunch of great games still have yet to come out. They can't steal any money from me (Ok, maybe 40 leftover cents or so, but what'll that buy? An avatar or two?), because I only used pre-paid cards for DLC purchases. When all of this is over we'll still have many things to look forward to.

So by your logic, one of the best yearly exclusive lineups of all time for Sony, if not all three consoles is outweighed by an outage of PSN and a legal scuffle that had nothing to do with us?

A bunch of sad hackers won't stop this year being sensational for me. So much awesome games are coming out, and I'm only interested in single player, not multiplayer anyway.

It's a minor inconvenience that should be over in a week or so. In a few weeks I probably won't even remember it ever happened, except for the occasional "Hacker Indicted By Federal Grand Jury" headline. So no, it hasn't really ruined my year or anything.

I pretty much agree with most of what you said. The hackers are the real idiots but Sony's response to the situation isn't that far off, I'm a little pissed with how they handled the situation so far, But depending on how they handle it from here...I'll just have an wait and see attitude. As far as gaming for the rest of the year is concerned, it's gonna be tuff for me to choose which 3rd party games to get because I have a 360 also.

I was planning on getting most of the 3rd party tittles for the PS3 because of the MP but I'm not so sure now...as I said before, I have to wait and see how Sony handles things from here on.

.

A bunch of sad hackers won't stop this year being sensational for me. So much awesome games are coming out, and I'm only interested in single player, not multiplayer anyway.

Venom_Raptor

Your right Venom, this will be a great year for SP...that much we know will be great. But I really was looking forward to playing GRAW 3 (Future Soldier) with most of my PSN buddies.

It could still be great a very LONG way to go now for Sony though.

Still tons of games I'm anticipating this year.

It could still be great a very LONG way to go now for Sony though.

lord_soultaker

[QUOTE="AJC3317"]so because of a 1 week situation, an entire year is ruined? the 51 other weeks don't matter? not to mention the fact that myself and many others can still play many many games? pleaseVari3ty

Did you not read my post? This whole hacking issue has been going on from pretty much day 1 of this year.

I don't think this hack is as serious as people make it out to be. We're still to hear about someone who's TRULY lost money from their CC or something and we're still to wait for the whole problem to get fixed. I trust Sony would fix it. As for the rest of the year, it does look pretty damn promising. I just made a list of the games I'm planning to buy this year and heck it's a long list. I know no hacker's gonna cut away my joy no matter what, I'm gonna buy those games and enjoy them whether online or offline (not a big online player to begin with).

Sure this event is big news, I just won't let come to my mind too much.

finalserenade75

it's not just personal info and cc.publishers and developers are enormously affected as well.

every publisher and developer who has products for sale on psn are losing sales as we speak.

sony claims that it will be down for another week from yesterday(4/26). that's two weeks of no sales off psn. that's a ton of

money lost.

[QUOTE="finalserenade75"]

I don't think this hack is as serious as people make it out to be. We're still to hear about someone who's TRULY lost money from their CC or something and we're still to wait for the whole problem to get fixed. I trust Sony would fix it. As for the rest of the year, it does look pretty damn promising. I just made a list of the games I'm planning to buy this year and heck it's a long list. I know no hacker's gonna cut away my joy no matter what, I'm gonna buy those games and enjoy them whether online or offline (not a big online player to begin with).

Sure this event is big news, I just won't let come to my mind too much.

Batang_X990

it's not just personal info and cc.publishers and developers are enormously affected as well.

every publisher and developer who has products for sale on psn are losing sales as we speak.

sony claims that it will be down for another week from yesterday(4/26). that's two weeks of no sales off psn. that's a ton of

money lost.

I understand, but Sony has already promised to support studios which were affected by this outage: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1164051p1.html

Also http://www.gamespot.com/news/6310570.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B1

This is some very good news.

These two concern game developers and consumers more than gamers. What I understood from the TC's post is that this outage messed the whole year for gamers, which is not the issue. As a gamer and a consumer (you can't really seperate the two) I did get affected, more than some and less than others. Yet the huge lineup waiting for me this year isn't something that can be easily forgotten by this not-so-minor event. There have been some claiming that they have lost some money but as I said, we're waiting for some who have TRULY lost money. i.e we need evidence not just claims (which what the person replied to my first post with). And the post on Gamespot's homepage proves otherwise. We're still waiting to see how this problem is fixed.

Whatever the case may be, and even if it became worse (at this point I doubt it can get MUCH worse) I can't imagine it affecting the games which are coming out this year.

The PSN crash does not make it a horrible year. And it's got quite possibly the best line up this year so far. Mass Effect 2 and Portal 2 are already released and L.A. Noire, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3, Resistance 3, etc. Fantastic lineup, especially if you like RPGs.

I scanned your text found psn is down stopped scanning. Its the same ol stuff

lol is this a troll thread or what? I'd like to know what kind of life you live where not being able to play online for a total of 2 weeks ruins your whole year...