Another (Possible) Reason to the Outage than the Money

I decided to go forward for this one. For all you new owners of PS3 consoles, April is one date we veteran PS3 owners try hard to forget; April 20^th 2011.

That day kiddos, was one of the darkest days of our gaming lives; the PlayStation Network was hit by an outage caused by hackers. Stealing credit card information, stopping all PlayStation Network services and all and such. I was still jamming with buddies at that time in PlayStation Home when it hit. At first I thought my parents had shut off the internet by accident but no; my brother is still surfing the net on his laptop and the cable is still broadcasting sports. Only my PS3 lacked network and as time went on, my worst fears were realised; PSN got hacked!

Anonymous, the mysterious hacker group had hacked PSN days or weeks earlier in response to Sony suing George Hotz, who hacked into the PS3 console. They stopped later but the damage had been done and possibly another group went in to grab credit card data and various other customers’ information. To gamers; one minute you’re playing online with friends and other players and then you got kicked out by the outage. All because of those hacking bastards.

The outage lasted over 40+ days and costing Sony $171 million in damages. Though things have improved, and issues settled and some questions answered. Some people like myself have felt that the other reason why the PSN got hacked wasn’t about money.

If I may say so myself, it’s a console war issue here. Many will definitely disagree with me on this but this is my conclusion.

The other reason why PSN got hacked by hackers wasn’t for money. Rather, it’s a console fanboy issue. In the past few years since 2009, believe it or not, the PS3 was beginning to see momentum in the gaming business. Apart from losing exclusives, PS3 also gained some in return in the form of the Ninja Gaiden series (retitled Ninja Gaiden Sigma) and the Mass Effect series; both are formerly Xbox 360 exclusives. PS3 games are also become blockbusters like the Uncharted series having won more GOTY (Game of the Year) awards than Halo, Gears of War and Forza combined. Blu-Ray disc technology used by Sony as their standard format eliminates the need for a second disc and most games now support 3D function, something that the Xbox 360 lacked. The EVO Fighting Game Championship uses the PS3 as their official console for their tournament because of its reliability and low breakdown rate compared to the Xbox 360.

As a result the hackers, believed to be Xbox 360 fanboys, then hired by Microsoft, decided to team up and hack the PSN, denying innocent players online gaming and other services. It is likely aimed at gamers who are playing Killzone 3 (released in 2011 as well) and also to vent their anger at PS3 owners finally playing former Xbox 360 exclusive games. If not for the decision made by EA to port Mass Effect 2 over to PS3, the game would’ve won another GOTY award for the Xbox Empire since GOTY games by the PS3 outnumber the Xbox 360 games by a huge gap (Xbox 360 only has Halo as the sole GOTY winner). Microsoft (Xbox 360 creator) also helped fund hacker George Hotz’s lawsuit leading to speculation that he worked for Microsoft and has helped them hack the PS3 to find a weakness of sorts.

UNCHARTED 2 Team receiving their VGA Awards for Game of the Year

While the lawsuit between Sony and George Hotz ended, the console war reached an all-out high. Xbox fans despite the hacked felt insulted that another PS3 exclusive has won another GOTY award, Uncharted 3, as well as seeing Sony still picking up the pieces and stealing the show at E3 that same year. Even the delay of the next PS3 exclusive, The Last Guardian, wasn’t enough to damper the PS3 image. The Japanese console has seen a lot of damage that year, especially that earthquake in March 11 but it still fight on to see another day.

And regardless of reason no matter what reports or others will say, I (any many others) will always believe that this hacking on Sony PlayStation 3 and the PSN was instigated by Microsoft and their Xbox 360 fans whom some are also hackers themselves because they hate the console for its successes. There’s nothing I can do about it, except to sneeze or spit at every Xbox 360 demo-station I may see at game shops, IT bazaars or road-shows whenever the chance arises. Just recently, as I passed by a HALO 4 standee, I kicked it down and spat on it. The worst I’ve actually done some time back was to fake a collapse so as to push down an Xbox 360 demo-station. But to aid my claim, one of their staff next to it actually shoved a brochure at my face; the paper poked my left eye hard.

Some wounds will never heal…maybe until Microsoft discontinued their console business now that Japan last year showed that the Xbox has no place in the gaming world. Well, only USA will be their home for good. And rather than to expand worldwide. I rather prefer the Xbox 360 not to exist at all.

“What a childish fanboy rant!” will be the answer by many of you for sure. But then it’s to each his/her own. Denial is futile, for the true lies in the many actions that happened before everyone and that the PlayStation Network was indeed hacked by Microsoft-hired hackers, to retain the lead in console gaming dominance.

Fuck your mother George Hotz. And fuck you Xbox.

Home in a Home

Had to admit; I didn’t spend a single minute on the new games I bought over February. I was embroiled in a month-long event held in PlayStation Home where the highest ranked player gets exclusive virtual rewards for their avatar; rewards only to the elite where it will never be found elsewhere. And for the first time in Asia PlayStation Home, I saw a wave of countless players at the SETSUBUN 2013 Ogre Extermination event, engaged together in a war against the invading Ogres with the aim not just to drive them out but to aim high on the charts to see who stands on top when the event ends.

Then again this topic is about one humbly ignored feature on our PlayStation 3 consoles; namely PlayStation Home. And if you ask me, yes; I’m a proud PlayStation Home user.

When it was first launched, PlayStation Home started out like any virtual social network where players online are represented as avatars, roam around in virtual spaces to chat with other players from around the region and sometimes around the world. Exchanges stories, comparing trophies and playing social games within and build communities and clubs, as well as a place to relax when not engaged into any games at the moment. Given my work commitments, it was the one place I was able to go to, if not, the place I preferred to visit now since I’m somewhat bored out by the crowded weekends at Orchard Road and Bugis Junction, two of my favourite hangouts.

PlayStation Home is the ultimate in social experience…well to most people; count out Asia.

One reason PlayStation Home is hardly given a thought in Asia (Singapore falls under this region along with most Southeast Asian nations from my knowledge; Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea) notably the lack of content and events compared to the other big three: USA, UK and Japan, whom enjoy an extensive array of events and virtual content. Asia is mostly left out for reasons unknown from such events due to unknown reasons; some licensing and some law issues. This has lead the Asia region of PlayStation Home to be mostly seen as empty most of the time and the players in response angrily make new accounts to visit the other regions’ servers to enjoy the content and events offered there because there is nothing for them in theirs.

While I understood their reasons for switching over, I (almost) never have a single thought of following that path and thus I chose to remain in my ‘empty’ Asia region with a few friends. We were together though good and bad times; even during the outage of 2011, until when we can go back, the first thing was to find each other all over again. I’ve made friends from Hong Kong, Malaysia, USA and even Sweden. Some have left but some stayed. Hope was fading at that time wondering if our region will ever survive but we held on to that fragile strain of belief that it will improved over time.

And you know what? It did.

Over the time, Asia PlayStation Home eventually grew, with supporting developers making the much sought supporting move to make content for this ‘empty’ region (and went home laughing with money in their pockets at those who said they’ll fail). And slowly the crowd came back. Gone were the days we would just walk around with the default looking clothing we would see worn by models and such. We are now roaming around as fantasy creatures and medieval warriors and robots. Agents and security officers as well as the ability to levitate and riding on horses (even a lion!), skateboards, bicycles and bikes and all! And yes, have a virtual NPC companion by your side, a small kitten to an adult lion, how about that!?

Asia PlayStation Home eventually began growing up to be almost on par with the other regions now than it was before. And it also has its own Asian-exclusive event too; the Money God event, happening every February where we eventually got a small cash offering (used for buying online PSN content only, sorry) just by finding this mystery avatar.

And then we were in this month-long SETSUBUN 2013 Ogre Extermination event to exterminate Ogres from Edo. Not only that but to earn points and be rewarded with virtual content as well as to rank up high on the charts and be rewarded with exclusive virtual content guaranteed never to be found in shops…ever! As a result, an all-out war raged against the ogres who are hard to kill and among players in Asia PlayStation Home to scramble for the highest kills and to get their names on the score chart. Mindless hording for something that isn’t real? More like a get-together to wipe demons off Edo!

To me, Asia PlayStation Home has improved…okay there could’ve been more done but to see so many players putting their heart and soul during that event already feels like a damn victory.

So what next after this? Who knows? But surely in Asia PlayStation Home, that feeling of ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ is already there.

So while not playing any games, why not drop by and say ‘Hello’ to the many players in Asia PlayStation Home, each with a story to tell and if need be, a help to offer in a game you may have trouble with.

If not, then feast on this March starting with BIOSHOCK INFINITE, the Irrational Games title that won over 75 editorial awards in 2011 including Game Critics’ Award Best of Show. Go back to a storyline of Kratos in GOD OF WAR ASCENSION and see what he did six months after the death of his wife and child. Experience another reboot (again?) this time with LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER, as a frightened gal who will be destined for adventuring greatness in the future. Get it down with HATSUNE MIKU -PROJECT DIVA- F. Or go into a Zerg rush into the next chapter of STARCRAFT 2 with ‘HEART OF THE SWARM’ and see though Sarah Kerrigan’s revenge against Arcturus Mengsk.

With no other event held in PlayStation Home yet, I’ll be in a game of ‘catching up’ with my peers who have finished DEAD SPACE 3 and METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE. Then when I needed a break where else do I prefer to hang out?

It’s my Home in a Home…Asia PlayStation Home. And if you ever thought of dropping by, find me and I’ll see you there.

OF ARGUMENTS AND CHANGE

Actually January (2013) was the month of arguments. We are seeing fan-bases divided between the ones who accepted change and the ones who don’t (as well as the ever on-going feud of who would win or should’ve won in a fight between Dragonball’s Goku and Superman).

That same argument will definitely rear its ugly head once again when Dead Space 3 comes to our systems. Console fanboys aside of which console will the game perform better on (in this case it’ll be the PS3 of course that will perform perfectly but Digital Foundry will be paid well by you know who truly), it’ll be another case of accepting the direction it is in rather than accepting that it’s the end of a story since the incident began on the Ishimura.

Seriously all this talk about how the redesigning of a main character ruined the game of how it was is utter bullshit. The new look Dante making the series look bad? That's what a lot of Dante loyalists believed.

Seriously?

Rather, I was more concerned on the combat system, namely the changing of swords during fights. Yeah in a sense the one Devil May Cry game that turned me off was the fourth game, not with the introduction of Nero but the game’s combat system that required a lot of timing issues, jump-cancels and a lot of weapon switching in between combo and during combat; something I am not very fond of. Maybe using Vergil during Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition made me turned back to it for that time but that was it.

Ninja Theory’s reboot of the franchise made me accept the combat system rather than the character design itself. I managed to download the demo and if you ask me; I’m impressed. Maybe the weapon switching will give me some trouble but it will take some time to get used to after some weeks or months if I can make time for it. Because of Devil May Cry 4, I eventually turned my back on the series. The game was just too extreme for most players like me who lacked the luxury of time to understand the extremely complex combat system given our daily occupations. The problem was also seen in Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, though not to an extent; where mashing through the game with the Force Edge+Yamato combination was just enough for me to plough through even Vergil Must Die mode almost without problems….

Even with the ZERO scores given by users (registered members) on Metacritic, sales and professional reviews have been more positive than mediocre with 6 or 7/10 being the lowest. That’s pretty good for a rebooted game.

And soon the issue will fall on Dead Space 3. Gone (somewhat) are the dark corners of a space station now replaced by an icy snow-filled planet, two player co-op and enemies that now shoot back with bullets and grenades thus turning Dead Space 3 from a horror to a shooter (though the horror theme still remains). Many will say Dead Space 3 has ripped off from Lost Planet have surely not seen John Carpenter’s The Thing, since that alien horror film’s location is also icy and snowy too!

If a change is really that bad surely it didn’t hurt Capcom’s Street Fighter IV when all the characters looked 3D. Or Need for Speed Most Wanted by Criteron, is based on Burnout Paradise (also made by Criteron). Or back to Capcom when Resident Evil 5 became two players and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has three attack buttons with the 4^th being a launcher for air combos (not counting the assists/tag functions). All of them mentioned here succeeded.

Maybe some changes are bad yes, game in question being Ninja Gaiden III and their ‘Steel-on-Bone’ system, thus making killing every goon a guessing game instead. And Team Ninja admitted their mistake on that, only to make it even worst by not porting Razor’s Edge to the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well, making it solely for the Wii-U (hopefully that will change).

Even with the change the said game can still be enjoyable if some things are ignored. Metal Gear Solid 2 where the remainder of the story is finished by some rookie-boyband-wannabe-lookalike named Raiden. And Metal Gear Solid 3 where people like me who are used to relying on radars to accomplish our goals have to make do without them. Again both games are success. And speaking of Raiden, he’s more SOLID now than he once was and I welcomed that change.

February will be one to look out for, with Gearbox’s own re-visioning of the ALIENS franchise with ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES. No Predators this time round; it’s strictly humans and bugs affair. DEAD SPACE 3 will be the final chapter of the DEAD SPACE series and we will all see through Isaac Clarke’s final journey to destroy the marker and the long awaited METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE where for the first time in MGS history; stealth is (almost) not an option.

And basically in the end, it will be how we judge the game not by how it looks but by what its title stands for and how it is represented.

And by the way; here's to a Happy Lunar New Year in advance to all Chinese gamers out there.