Here at OSM we’ve been keeping you informed with all the latest about the Sony PlayStation Network outage since the very beginning. Earlier today we told about the Sony Press Conference that had just taken place in Tokyo where Sony issued an apology and said that service will resume this week. We’re wondering now that the Sony PSN outage is almost over, whether any good can ultimately come out of this hacking story.
Among our numerous articles about this incident, two of our recent posts include the fact that GeoHot stated that he was not behind the outage, and whether the situation meant users would consider moving from the PS3 to the Xbox 360. Among one of the things that has already come out of the outage is the ‘Welcome Back’ campaign that Sony announced at its press conference, whereby there will be some free software downloads available and a free 30-day subscription to PlayStation Plus for those affected.
Will any other good points come out of it though? On the lighthearted side we could expect that some people will have unexpectedly spent more time with their families, and may have even enjoyed that time. Others will have found some other gaming alternatives to enjoy. Gieson Cacho over on A+E Interactive has also come up with some pointers about good things that may arise because of the outage. One of those is an overwhelming goodwill gesture but we’ve already heard today about the ‘Welcome Back’ campaign and although this is indeed welcome, we’d hardly call it overwhelming. Maybe Sony will surprise us yet with a bonus gesture?
Another suggestion is that after the controversy that the crisis has caused Sony, security will become the very best that it can be. We’ve already heard today that PSN and Qriocity services are being moved to a new data center and that increased security measures are being put in place, plus once the PSN is back up-and-running it will be compulsory for users to change their passwords. Cacho also says that another good thing that could come from this fiasco is that more people will start to use prepaid PSN cards rather than credit cards.
To read more on this check out the A+E Interactive link above. Meanwhile over on GamrConnect there’s an interesting forum thread whereby Scottie has attempted to work out the cost of the recent attacks on Sony. Costs include the cost to fix the problem, the cost of consumer goodwill and also the cost of the loss of revenue from that loss of goodwill. For now though we’d like to hear from you about what good points, if any, you can imagine seeing from this Sony PSN outage, so please do send us your comments.