I, among many, used to be a proud owner of Sony's PlayStation 3. My son, Stephen, has an Xbox360, which has been recycled by Microsoft twice for the "red ring of death". I was happy that my PS3 had not suffered any such hardware problem. Then came the hacking episode. It started on April 4th of this year, the PlayStation network was taken offline on April 20th. On May 2nd, Sony released the fact that 24.6 million customer dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers were taken by the hackers. It also said that 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers were lost as well. The network was restored on May 14, so it was down a total of 24 days! A complete listing of attacks can be found here.
For a major electronics company to be taken down that easy, it doesn't speak well for their data security. It doesn't make me feel they had MY best interest at heart, in protecting MY records. To me, it is another example of a corporation NOT taking care of their customers.
Now, for the PS3 itself, it is an okay console. I like the controller. It's easy to use and fits my hand well. To me, the Xbox controller is too large. The PS3 user interface is simple to use and efficient as well. Graphics on the better games are excellent and response time is compatible or better than the Xbox. There is an included blue-ray player built in to the unit, I like that. But yes, there are a few cons.
I was excited to learn when I first got it, that I could surf the web from the PS3. Well, yes and no. The built in browser could be thrown out with the trash. It is absolutely awful! If Sony had included chrome or FireFox and the memory to make either work like a PC, they would have already cornered the market for the best all around box. I get so annoyed trying to surf, I usually turn the system off.
Original PS3s had the ability to add a second operating system. If you added Ubuntu, for instance, you would choose which one to use on startup. That let you have a PC connected to your TV screen for internet usage. A sony system upgrade removed that feature. That was a major disappointment to many people, including myself!
The other annoyance I have with Sony is the PlayStation Plus option. If you'll give Sony even more of your money, they'll let you be a special customer and play more online games free and even get better prices on downloads. Yes, I know, it's all about money. The problem is that most people can't afford the extra bucks. Why not make the program free to all and corner the market?
Sony has tried to make it up to customers for their online service being down so long. They offered a "welcome back" program which included two free older game downloads, and a month free of PlayStation Plus, which is little more than a demo for the service. There were a few more downloads for PSP users. A WIRED magazine article about it is here.
Sadly, I must say that I don't feel as strongly about my PS3. I've been considering wiping it and installing a different operating system. I may wait a while and see if Sony wises up to what customers want. I must say that for myself, I would vote for an open source gaming console where content wasn't as tightly controlled by corporations. Regardless, consumers need more options and less greed from companies!
Now, I must admit that I'm not a heavy gamer. I download quite a few demos and have only bought about seven games for the unit. My favorite is an oldie called, "Supersonic Aerobatic Rocket Powered Battle-Cars". It was released by Psyonix studios. Their website is here. The demo can still be downloaded for free, so try it out. It's a fun game without violence(sort of) and doesn't have bad language like most of the popular ones. According to their forum, they have an version two ready to be released but don't have financial support yet.
Happy gaming... I'm off to play SARPBC!
