PSN Offline?! - For 5 Long Days and Counting

Originally posted by JellyBeans

In our new Xbox 360 they don't over heat, so theres your cooling system! Ps3 was hacked and Xbox wasn't. That says Xbox is better or they would of got hacked.

Anonymous initially hacked PSN in retaliation of Sony filing a lawsuit against Geohot. That was about a month ago, PSN recovered in less than a day.

Anonymous has stated they did not hack them this second time, but could see that it is possible that a small group loosely affiliated with them may have done this.

Sony's response is evident. Shut down and rebuild with a better security system in place. They are rebuilding the servers and network from the ground up, that causes this huge delay.

Xbox can be hacked, MS just has given any reason to hackers to do so like Sony did. XBL still has a lot of MODers and cheaters, not saying PSN doesn't. We have switch-glitchers, hopefully there new system will get rid of them.

I love both consoles. They have pluses and minuses. And my PC's too old to play online games. Still can't beat MAG. 64-256 players. What's XBL highest 24 players for BF?

^Actually I THINK Xbox's highest is really up there with Frontlines: Fuel of War (some random shooter that was supposed to have like 60 people or something like that), but I don't own the game or know much about it so don't take my word for it. I don't think it was rated that good of a game anyway.

I always hear people intermittently talk about MAG...is that any good? 256 players in any game sounds amazing, but what about all the shooting and other key parts to the game? If it has a good formula like Call of Duty or Halo, I'm surprised it hasn't swayed customers to the PS3 all by itself.

^AJClarke,

Well, MAG is not for the casual FPS player. If you're coming from Halo or COD, it will seem a bit daunting at first. It is not a run n gun game. If you do so, you will die over and over. Places for cover are there for a reason, use them. At first the game will seem slower than COD/Halo, but once you get into it and have Vetted a few times, you will be able to increase the pace your Squad, Platoon, etc.

You start at level 0. Armor, guns and your abilities are next to none. For example, if you start with the basic assault rifle, M1A4, your accuracy will not be very good. As you progress up in points, you will need to add foregrip, sights, stability, reload speed, swap speeds in order to use it to its maximum capability. Let alone, how fast your guy can run, it's duration, the time it takes to be able to run. Every aspect of your character is broken down in a skill tree. You can only get to level 70. 70 points to spend in the skill tree that has over a hundred skills. If you like sniping, obviously you will want to increase those abilities instead of say the Assault Rifle abilities.

I am a hard core FPS player. I try to play every shooter that I possibly can, including CrossFire browser game. The game is made by Zipper Interactive (makers of SOCOM), and the current SOCOM4 has borrowed a lot from MAG, including alternate scope ability.

MAG runs a new game engine designed by Zipper. Now why isn't this game being followed like Halo or COD, is relatively very simple. Lack of Advertising. I saw 2 commercial spots 4 months before it's release in Feb of 2010. Once it was launched, I did not see any advertising for it at all. It's all been word of mouth.

Also, there are no campaign modes at all. 100% online only. The story is in the game intro when it boots. It's the near future and 3 PMC's (Private Military Corporations, Valor, Raven and SVER) are all that are left and fight for control of each others economies/contracts of the Shadow War.

Game Modes:

Suppression (32v32)- When the game released this was basically for training purposes. You would play against your PMC to learn how the game works and weapons function, etc. It is now PMC nuetral, so you are playing against the other factions. Take out the opposition only.

Sabotage (32v32)- 1 PMC Attacks 1 PMC Defends. 3 control points on the map. A, B and C. In order to open C, A and B must be taken over by planting charges on a console. It takes at least a full minute or more for your team to hold those letters and must be taken at the same time.

Escalation (64v64) - Similar to Sabotage, however All 3 PMCs compete for 4 total control points, A, B, C and D. Hold as many letters as possible to win match.

Aquisition (64v64) - Steal the opponents vehicles (2 of them to win). Now in order to do so, you have to take out all defensive bunkers, Morters, AAA, Sensors and take all gates down in order to drive vehicles out.

Interdiction (128v128) - This a vehicle heavy mode. Each squad (8 players per, 4 squads to platoon, 4 platoons to a company) start in a vehicle and you must go to and control letters A, B and C and hold them all in order to win match.

Domination (128v128) - The creme de creme of the game. 1 PMC defends 1 attacks 4 sections. Think of this map as a large square with attackers moving in from the outside and defenders keeping attackers from opening up 8 letters. Each section has 4 burnoff towers, all must be taken out to open up your 2 letters that you are attacking. This means taking out bunkers, mortors, AAA, burnoff towers, sensors before you can reach the letters. Take control of letters to increase overall damage to win match. You have 30 mins to fill up the enemy damage bar, which can be done with holding only 2 letters, if you can do it right and your squad and platoon work together and listen to OIC commands.

OIC (Officer In Charge) - Controls all 4 platoons, from tactical situations to tactical refreshes.

Platoon Leader - Listens to the OIC and carry's out instructions to the squad leaders.

Squad Leaders - Are just that and must abide to the Platoon Leaders instructions for optimization.

Like I stated, this game is not for the Halo and COD lovers. Communication is key, reviving downed soldiers before taking out the enemy can make or break an entire Platoon, even the entire Company.

SOCOM 4 did release a MAG Trial Version. Now, MAG is absolutely free to play. It now only costs about $40 bucks. $20 for disc/or download and $20 for Starter Kit, includes all game modes and maps, PMC additional gear from Flashbangs to Heavy Armor, and camoflauge types.

I highly recommend it if, A, you like working as a team to overpower the enemy and take the objectives to win a match, B, like improving your soldiers skills over time and again, play as a team, as in MAG, there is No "I" in Team and C, like working as team. This is a team effort. Have I explained the Teamwork part yet? Headsets are a must. If 1 guy doesn't get a command, it could mean a downfall in that Squad, Platoon or even Company.

Like I said, this game is not for the casual FPS players. This is war. Not getting more kills than your buddy.

Oh, and when you take down a AAA gun, your platoon gets to parachute in. You control the parachutes actions, direction, speed and landing.

Hope that explains everything for you AJ and others whom may read this.

[gouldy]

Main problem with XBox is that it doesn't play the standalone PS3 titles :/

For that reason, the PS3 is the vastly superior console. Also, PSN is free, I'm not about to complain about it being down for a few days because people hacked it, when it's a completely free service.

^Exactly Gouldy. Don't get me wrong, I do love Xbox too. That's why I have both.

The funniest thing is, Xbox lovers say it costs too much, our system is cheaper. Yes. But have any of them shopped for a Blu-Ray player? Take the cost of Xbox360 and add a Blu-Ray player and the cost should come out the current 120GB PS3 console price.

And your a KZ fan Gouldy? You said KZ2 was better than MAG some ago. I think. Not sure it was you or not. But the KZ games feel like Gears of War. I call it the GOW of Playstation. Well, I only played KZ3 and just didn't dig it. But you know, our opinions are all like a**holes, everyone has one, lol. Too stoned, sorry.

But I was able to spread the word on MAG in detail. Ha, ha, ha. And 1 gun from each of the 3 PMCs in MAG, is in SOCOM 4. You can't hold down the trigger in MAG. You will not hit your target if you do, guaranteed.

I wouldn't necessarily call Halo a casual shooter, but MAG certainly seems interesting. I wish it was for the 360, but then again there are quite a few 360 games that the PS3 cannot play that I wouldn't like going without.

Besides, I don't play enough video games to get two consoles. I just have other things to do. [:)]

In the sense that most of top played Halo game modes are kill the opposition with very few options. Just remember these are only my opinions. Halo is a great game series, though I don't like the Reach campaign. It rocks online, when not playing against cheaters. MAG has had a few cheaters here and their too. Every online game is gonna have at least one. It's casual to me.

Congrats! http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/503 ... users.html

[gouldy]

I did like MAG, especially how huge it was in terms of number of players. But KZ is more my kind of game. KZ2 online, 32 players on a small map really meant for 16 players = just absolute chaos <3

I have (or have had) every console from every manufacturer since the Playstation 1 was released, including both of the XBoxes. I even fell in for buying the HDDVD drive for the XBox 360. So you could hardly call me a fanboy, Real.

I love console gaming in general, not just PlayStation consoles. But, for me, undeniably, the PS3 is vastly superior to the 360 in every way you could possibly give scores on, from hardware to cost. Yes, the PS3 is cheaper than the XBox, and always was. Sure, the original purchase cost of the console itself is more with the PS3, but when it comes to - "I wish to watch HD films... Oh, I have to spend an extra ?????????120 on a special drive" ... and... "I want to play my games online... Oh, I have to fork out anoher ?????????60 every year just to do that" ... and ... "I would like this to be connected to the network wirelessly... Oh. I have to buy another separate piece of kit to stick in the back". The list goes on with this stuff.

My 360 hardly ever gets switched on these days, because it is essentially obsolete, other than Kinect. Most games are multi-platform and are created for the 360 and ported to the PS3, not exploiting the console's potential, but still are available for both consoles. PS3 standalone titles blow all other games out of the water, even PC games (with few exceptions) and 360 standalone titles hardly draw my interest (except the early Halo series, i.e. 1,2+3). There is no way people could logically say that the 360 is a better console; I have both sat here in front of me and can make a good and unbiased judgement on features and other such things. I had my 360 for almost a year before the PS3 came out and I loved it and it is a good console, but even you (many are your numbers) 360 fanboys cannot deny that the PS3 is superior in every way it is possible for a console to be superior to another.

The next XBox will be released before the PlayStation 4 and the cycle will continue. The next XBox will be superior to the current PlayStation and then two years later, the PS4 will be released and be superior to that XBox and so on the cycle will continue, as technology improves.

^^^I wouldn't count CTF, Assault, or Territories as objective-less, but that's me. I do have to agree that the Reach campaign is weak, but I still like replaying it.

The thing that I like about Halo is that you have to plan every kill, not just aim good or have a superior weapon (though those are still factors). You have to think each time, given the circumstances, how to take out shields and finish the job faster and more efficient than the other player. That's what separates it from the casual Call of Duty. If it was a casual shooter, you'd be seeing a LOT more "average" people playing it, but those people really stick to Call of Duty and talk about how they don't really like Halo that much at all.

I kind-of think it's funny that I'm typing up all this stuff lol. I'm not your typical "game nerd". However, I have to say that I like them too much for my comfort level.

[Coasterkidmwm]

PSN has been hacked like the bag of cats in my trunk. LOLZ

[Mikey]

The only reason I bought a PS3 was because it had a blue ray player. If I would have known any better I probably would have just gotten a Samsung blu ray player player instead. To hell with sony, I should be able to mod my PS3 do donuts in the target parking lot if I want.

yea you can get a good blu ray player for cheapz now.

[Mikey]

Email I got a few minutes ago from Sony,

===================================

PlayStation(R)Network

===================================

Valued PlayStation(R)Network/Qriocity Customer:

We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011,
certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account
information was compromised in connection with an illegal and
unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this
intrusion, we have:

1) Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;

2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full
and complete investigation into what happened; and

3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our
network infrastructure by rebuilding our system to provide you
with greater protection of your personal information.

We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill
as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and
efficiently as practicable.

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident,
we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following
information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country,
email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login,
and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data,
including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip),
and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may
have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your
dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have
been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit
card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have
provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity,
out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit
card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have
been obtained.

For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email,
telephone and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive
information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email,
asking for your credit card number, social security number or other
personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information,
you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation
Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that
you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation
Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or
accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them as well.

To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we
encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and
to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information
for those who wish to consider it:
- U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually
from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report,
visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.

- We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S.
credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus
place a "fraud alert" on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps
to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can
make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however,
that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you,
it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your
identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others
are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a
fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report,
please contact any one of the agencies listed below:

Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division,
P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

- You may wish to visit the website of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at
www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect
yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice
on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or
suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General,
and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be
contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone
(877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney
General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202;
telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.

We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this
incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the
clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes
information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that
additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information.
Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is
our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you have any
additional questions.

Sincerely,

Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment

===================================

LEGAL
"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered
trademarks and "PS3" and "PlayStation Network" are
trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
(C) 2011 Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC.

Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404

Well, back to Fable II on my...Xbox 360. Lol. Only have 3 PS3 games.

^Yes. Do consult with your creditors and banks asap if you have PSN Account.

[Mikey]

I think consulting with my Lawyer is more appropriate.

I find this amusing. I wouldn't have found this amusing 18 months ago, as my information would have been stolen. Sold my PS3, got an xbox and some cash, got bored of xbox, sold my xbox got more cash Don't play any consoles now. I would like a PS3 again though. Gonna see how this turns out and maybe get one in June.

Originally posted by Onjin

Originally posted by JellyBeans

In our new Xbox 360 they don't over heat, so theres your cooling system! Ps3 was hacked and Xbox wasn't. That says Xbox is better or they would of got hacked.

I love both consoles. They have pluses and minuses. And my PC's too old to play online games. Still can't beat MAG. 64-256 players. What's XBL highest 24 players for BF?

There maps must be huge as love if they can have 256 players without major spawn kill.

PSN is down? Yea, I heard on G4 a while ago about it. I only use PSN for stuff like LBP2 which I dont really play anymore of anyway. Hell, I dont even play my 360 much anymore. At least Steam is working since it is my main gaming platform now.

Yeah, it's too bad PSN is down, but it doesn't matter. Like gouldy said, it's a free service, so I'm not complaining. At least Steam hasn't been attacked yet. YET.

It still down?

Originally posted by Jcoasters

Just be a PC Gamer.

lol. Like thats any better. My 360 isnt getting a virus

@Real, I think its going to be down for a while.

^ Well, if people buy games legit via disc/DVD or via Steam or another download format you should be fine. It the torrents that get people in trouble. And despite Sony getting hacked, at least their systems dont get the RRoD every three years.

[Oscar]

I'd rather RRoD than have my credit card info stolen and used [:)]

[gouldy]

It's not really Sony's fault they were hacked, that's the hacker's fault for doing the hacking. It has proved that their security isn't neccessarily good enough, BUT it's a free service, I don't know what people expect? Even so, XBL isn't free and that's not to say that someone couldn't hack their systems - anyone could hack anthing if they really wished to. I almost hope that someone does, so that the XBox fanboys would shut up with their completely unfounded and totally biased opinions.

It's not even like XBL has never been down for a long period of time:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/31/xbox ... ays-later/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/xbox ... venting-fu

2 weeks is a long time to be having problems like that, don't you think? It's not even like they were hacked from the outside, it was just because their systems were poop... Yeah, I think I'll take the free service, thanks all the same.