X-Box or PS3

[dkw]

If there was ever a week where Sony were shown up, this would be it!

Its gone massively tits up for them hasnt it, such a huge PR fail. Looks like the security breach is something they knew was likely to happen also, seems its down to cutting corners. This is gonna take some getting over by them. I also read Sony knew of it for almost a week before telling customers, thats disgraceful.

 

[Zeta]

Their network security really is pretty poor, only took me about half an hour to hack in in the first place.

 

[Maverick]

The PSN is back online and the 'welcome back' package offers two games for free (download) and a one month subscription of the playstation plus. I must admit Sony has offered more than I had expected.

 

[dkw]

The PSN is back online and the 'welcome back' package offers two games for free (download) and a one month subscription of the playstation plus. I must admit Sony has offered more than I had expected.

Which games are they offering?

 

[ace]

Which games are they offering?

"On PS3, there’s patchwork creation station LittleBigPlanet, open-world superhero game inFamous, futuristic antigravity racer Wipeout HD and its Fury expansion pack, mini-adventure Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty and zombie blaster Dead Nation."

I got excited, but I already have LittleBigPlanet and inFamous, the two "big" titles they put out there. I'd recommend both though for anyone who is going to get these downloads, inFamous is loads of fun, has a real "comic book" style to it, and the highly anticipated sequel comes out in June. I'm sure you know about LBP, I never got into it enough to beat all the levels, but it was enjoyable. I think the main reason I didn't like it as much was because my connection gets screwy so I could never do co-op stuff.

 

[Mod]

Are you in UK ace? Just wondered because it might be different downloads around the world possibly.

 

[ace]

I am in the States. The article I read made it sound like that's likely to be it, although Germany has a couple of differences.

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/05/psn-hack-welcome-back/

Sony has revealed which games it will give away in its “Welcome Back†package as compensation for the last four weeks of PlayStation Network downtime.

Some elements of the service, including streaming media and online gameplay, were restored this weekend, while the PlayStation Store is due to open once again for business toward the end of May. When those digital doors reopen, gamers on PlayStation 3 and PSP will get to pick a handful of titles to download and keep.

On PS3, there’s patchwork creation station LittleBigPlanet, open-world superhero game inFamous, futuristic antigravity racer Wipeout HD and its Fury expansion pack, mini-adventure Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty and zombie blaster Dead Nation.

You’ll get to download two of these for free from the PlayStation Store, unless you’re in Germany, where inFamous and Dead Nation are replaced with Super Stardust HD and Hustle Kings.

For handheld console PSP, your selection is a little more limited. The four-game selection offers LittleBigPlanet, racetrack-builder ModNation Racers, cops-and-robbers sim Pursuit Force and top-down shooter Killzone Liberation.

Again, you’ll get to pick two games you fancy and, again, Germany’s stringent rating rules mean gamers in that country don’t get the violent titles (Pursuit Force and Killzone are dropped in favor of Everybody’s Golf 2 and Buzz Junior Jungle Party).

The firm will also give gamers 30 free days of its PlayStation Plus membership, and 60 free days to existing subscribers, which gives you bonus features like free and discounted games, automatic downloads and cloud storage for save files.

Existing Music Unlimited subscribers will be given 30 days’ free subscription, and there will be some gratis virtual doodads in PlayStation Home.

To account for the missed PlayStation Store updates — gamers missed out on three regularly scheduled content dumps — Sony will restock the shop “multiple times†per week to get everyone caught up.

By then, the entire service will be back to business as usual. Except in Japan, where the country’s government is blocking the service’s relaunch until Sony can prove it has significantly stepped-up the network’s security.

What do you think? Has Sony done enough to compensate you for lost Call of Duty hours, or are you disappointed with the offering? Generosity, good PR or damage control? Please let us know your views in the comments below.

 

[Barry Bridges]

I am in the States. The article I read made it sound like that's likely to be it, although Germany has a couple of differences.

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/05/psn-hack-welcome-back/

Sony has revealed which games it will give away in its “Welcome Back†package as compensation for the last four weeks of PlayStation Network downtime.

Some elements of the service, including streaming media and online gameplay, were restored this weekend, while the PlayStation Store is due to open once again for business toward the end of May. When those digital doors reopen, gamers on PlayStation 3 and PSP will get to pick a handful of titles to download and keep.

On PS3, there’s patchwork creation station LittleBigPlanet, open-world superhero game inFamous, futuristic antigravity racer Wipeout HD and its Fury expansion pack, mini-adventure Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty and zombie blaster Dead Nation.

You’ll get to download two of these for free from the PlayStation Store, unless you’re in Germany, where inFamous and Dead Nation are replaced with Super Stardust HD and Hustle Kings.

For handheld console PSP, your selection is a little more limited. The four-game selection offers LittleBigPlanet, racetrack-builder ModNation Racers, cops-and-robbers sim Pursuit Force and top-down shooter Killzone Liberation.

Again, you’ll get to pick two games you fancy and, again, Germany’s stringent rating rules mean gamers in that country don’t get the violent titles (Pursuit Force and Killzone are dropped in favor of Everybody’s Golf 2 and Buzz Junior Jungle Party).

The firm will also give gamers 30 free days of its PlayStation Plus membership, and 60 free days to existing subscribers, which gives you bonus features like free and discounted games, automatic downloads and cloud storage for save files.

Existing Music Unlimited subscribers will be given 30 days’ free subscription, and there will be some gratis virtual doodads in PlayStation Home.

To account for the missed PlayStation Store updates — gamers missed out on three regularly scheduled content dumps — Sony will restock the shop “multiple times†per week to get everyone caught up.

By then, the entire service will be back to business as usual. Except in Japan, where the country’s government is blocking the service’s relaunch until Sony can prove it has significantly stepped-up the network’s security.

What do you think? Has Sony done enough to compensate you for lost Call of Duty hours, or are you disappointed with the offering? Generosity, good PR or damage control? Please let us know your views in the comments below.

My worry would be their Cheif Exec Mr Stringer coming out arrogantly pretty much stating that Sony users should count themselves lucky they were told after just a week their info had been breached.

I dont care if other companies take longer, if I am your customer and you have a good reason to believe my personal information (including credit information) has been breached, I expect to know as fast as humanly possible.......

 

[dkw]

My worry would be their Cheif Exec Mr Stringer coming out arrogantly pretty much stating that Sony users should count themselves lucky they were told after just a week their info had been breached.

I dont care if other companies take longer, if I am your customer and you have a good reason to believe my personal information (including credit information) has been breached, I expect to know as fast as humanly possible.......

I though that was a massive PR f**k up by him to be honest, came across as a right prick saying that. The games they offer are a bit old or average from what I know of them arent they? Plus 1 month free? Hardly generous is it.

 

[Maverick]

I though that was a massive PR f**k up by him to be honest, came across as a right prick saying that. The games they offer are a bit old or average from what I know of them arent they? Plus 1 month free? Hardly generous is it.

Not exactly old games and with most of them having an IGN rating of 8.4 & above I believe its a steal for the PS3 owners. For sure that was not the best bit of PR but some users need to understand that the PSN is a free service and the current package is potentially worth 60$ and above. To me its a good enough compensation for the down time that we have suffered.

 

[dkw]

Looking at them though they are all around 2 years old or so, other than dead nation so not really that good a deal. Microsoft meanwhile have taken the opportunity to try and make a point by giving away brand new Xbox`s and a years subscription to live for people who are affected by an update for changing the disc formats which make some machines obsolete (older ones I think). Its obviously an attempt at a PR coup by them in the face of the mess at Sony.

Seems Sony have messed up with the update alos if this article is correct http://www.reghardware.com/2011/05/19/rockstar_reckons_ps3_firmware_update_is_overheating_consoles/

 

[Eight Times]

Tried the Playstation 3 twice now, once on launch, and then again about a year ago, just could not get motivated to play it, not

when I had an XBox 360 right next to it.

I dunno, I think when people look back and look at the Sony consoles, the Playstation 3 will feel a bit soul-less when compared to the first Playstation, and

the Playstation 2, just doesn't grab me personally.

Still, I'm quite fond of the old Dreamcast myself.

 

[Maverick]

Microsoft meanwhile have taken the opportunity to try and make a point by giving away brand new Xbox`s and a years subscription to live for people who are affected by an update for changing the disc formats which make some machines obsolete (older ones I think). Its obviously an attempt at a PR coup by them in the face of the mess at Sony.

Very good move from microsoft and surely a brilliant PR but I have to say they've been shrwed since not many of those would be functional as they would have suffered the RROD. Good luck to the ones that received it though.

 

[dkw]

Very good move from microsoft and surely a brilliant PR but I have to say they've been shrwed since not many of those would be functional as they would have suffered the RROD. Good luck to the ones that received it though.

I would be amazed if its even 1000 machines in total, but as you say it looks good doesnt it. Very clever.

 

[Maverick]

The flip side to changing to a new disc format is that we may not hear about a next gen console from Microsoft for a while now. Which is sad since they were the first movers in the current gen era and also have the inferior console in terms of hardware configuration.

 

[dkw]

The flip side to changing to a new disc format is that we may not hear about a next gen console from Microsoft for a while now. Which is sad since they were the first movers in the current gen era and also have the inferior console in terms of hardware configuration.

Rumours have already surfaced about the next gen Xbox apparently, seen some articles about it already claiming hardware is nearly done. http://www.develop-online.net/news/37618/Develop-source-New-Xbox-console-on-desks-at-EA

Also, turns out the console replacement thing isnt to do with the disc format update after all.

 

[Maverick]

Rumours have already surfaced about the next gen Xbox apparently, seen some articles about it already claiming hardware is nearly done. http://www.develop-online.net/news/37618/Develop-source-New-Xbox-console-on-desks-at-EA

I am sure that there is work underway for a successor but if the article is true and the console still does not have a case which means there is still a lot of work to be done and it would take atleast a year till the console is ready to be launched.

Also, turns out the console replacement thing isnt to do with the disc format update after all.

Err in that case what are the replacements for?

 

[dkw]

Clarification time! The console replacement plan that is the subject of some of today’s headlines is related to a previous update, NOT the system update that has been in public beta and will be deployed shortly. The new disc format that is part of the beta has been rigorously tested across all Xbox 360 models and there are no known compatibility issues.

Hope that clears a few things up."

For those not following, the new XGD3 discs work with every version of the Xbox 360 console regardless of age. The small issue stems from console failure post-patch that a very small number of users have reported.

 

[Andreas]

Marketplace is down on xbox 360, cant play FIFA as im getting a error message saying my Online Pass is corrupt, happened after the xbox live update..!!

 

[dkw]

Just fired mine up to make sure its ok, and it is ok. Sounds a strange one that though.