CNet is reporting that partial service PlayStation Network has been restored, allowing gamers to play online and shop in the PSN Store. Nearly its entire portfolio of online games, game forums and Web sites will go back online but the company will also require players to reset their passwords.
Sony states:
As the result of a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s network, SOE shut down its game services in order for the company to undertake an investigation and incorporate rigorous enhancements to the overall security of the network infrastructure. SOE worked with several outside respected security firms during the course of implementing significant security measures that strengthen safeguards against unauthorized activity and provide customers with greater protection of their personal information.
SOE made enhancements to overall data security as well, including updating and adding advanced security technologies, additional software monitoring, performing new penetration and vulnerability testing, and increased levels of encryption.
“Our main priority is the safety and security of our customers’ personal information,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “We are making consumer data protection a full-time, company-wide commitment, and have applied enhanced security technologies so that our customers can feel protected and confident about playing our games.”
Hirai added, “We are committed to delivering secure and entertaining games for players of all ages and thank each of our players for their patience and support during this difficult time.”
SOE will also be offering its customers a “Welcome Back” program that includes special game content and services to all registered Station Account holders. As part of this program, players will receive 30 days of additional game time plus one day for each day SOE’s services were down.
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Hi guys great episode!
@Apple: I think Paul brings up a good point that there are some men that would really benefit from this as a teaching tool. I just think they need to put a mature rating on this and have Adult section for apps like this to go into. I think Jordan is right the majority of times male masturbation is mentioned it’s usually derogatory like in Family Guy when Chris Grandpa berates him for his supposed masturbating in the bathroom. They also treated it like a dirty word on Roseanne when DJ was locking himself away in the bathroom. TV and movies gave me the impression that masturbation just isn’t shouldn’t be talked about.
@Sony working on new models of PS4/PS3: I understand working on the current gen console but why PS3? Not that I’m complaining, maybe there will be worthwhile addition or changes.
@External Storage for Xbone: About time I say, I think it’s silly NOT to support external storage via USB. I also love the Xbone term as well.
@Blizzard Sues: For once I’m hearing a good case to sue someone, usually you see very furiously made lawsuits like the lady suing the parents of the kid she hit and killed. I’m glad they are cracking down on those who just break the game, I agree people cheating really turns me away from a game.
QotW: At first the only Party game I could think of was Mario Party but it’s not really a game I would call favorite, the fate of wining left to a random dice roll doesn’t sound appealing to me.
Games that I played in groups were light sports games like Wrestling, however still not my favorite. I do remember getting into fights over Bubble bobble, some people just can’t stand it when you take a power up or 1-up from them.
I haven’t really had good experiences with party games so I’d like to answer last weeks Question:
Lost Mind of doctor brain and the rest of the series of games, I really loved how the entire series would explore all facets of science, history, geography, math and logic puzzles. It honestly made learning fun.
Let me start by breaking the spell and saying that I’m unfortunately not a hunting-killing machine from the Polish woodland 😉 I went to a shooting range once, though, and I did pretty well so maybe hours of Duke Nuke’m 3D did their job…
@Apple
On the one hand, censorship is obviously not welcome but the truth is that a company can do and publish whatever they want. It’s not the government that is limiting the freedom of speech, it’s a private company selecting their content. I’m pretty sure that if it had been an app for male masturbation they would have done the same. The ‘free market’ allows the content creator to look for a different outlet that will decide to publish that content and maybe Google or Microsoft be the ones to grab it.
I personally have no problem with such an app as an ‘introductory course’ but in the end I still believe that the best teacher of female stimulation for guys should be the partner herself.
@Pre-loading
Maybe I’m not as hardcore a gamer as many other people. Well, for sure that’s the case. Still, I can’t really understand that they can’t wait several more hours to play a certain title and they HAVE TO have the game installed and running at midnight when it launches. What is more, I’m very wary of buying the $60 titles online. These are ususally games with many hours of gameplay and ones that will probably be revisited years down the line. What if I want to re-download the game in some years and the servers are no logner working or something is wrong with them? That’s why I’m always a physical-copy-first guy. Also, you can’t really re-sell a downloaded game. Taking all that into account, I don’t beleive the online store revolution will be as successful as the publishers believe. Having said that, I don’t know any numbers that would prove or disprove it. What do you think?
@External storage
That’s a great feature. Although 500GB may sound like much, when you consider that the new Wolfenstein takes up around 60 of that and that only over 100 GB are taken up by the system itself, it quickly turns out that there’s not really that much space for games. Being able to store them on an external drive is fantastic. I’m not sure if the PS4 supports it or plans to do so. I would like to have it there too. However, support for media streaming (DLNA) is something I want sooner. Does the XBone provide that functionality now?
@QOTW
The only two party games I ever play on the PS4 are the Sports Champions titles and Just Dance. SC are really fun and something everyone can play. Obviously, with my notorious hunting skills, I’m unbeatable in the archery competition. Just Dance, on the other hand, works like crap on the PS4. Ubisoft put no effort whatsoever to optimize the use of the PS4 camera so tracking doesn’t really work. Still, for half-drunk friends who simply want to make fools of themselves, it works. The ‘highlights’ of each song shown at the end are hilarious.
The games that Alphashard talked about – Wrestilng or Bubble Bobble, I wouldn’t consider party games, really. I used to play them with friends back in the day because they were fun co-op games and the ‘party game’ genre hadn’t really developed yet. Those games destroyed friendships more than built up a fun, party-like atmosphere 😉 Also, they required some gaming skill whereas the modern titles are created often with non-gamers in mind.