6, 7 or 8 years for the life of the console times 50/60 dollars a year does add up. Sorry, but I certainly prefer to play the games I've already paid for which have a multiplayer component to be free when I try to play them online. I'll use the 400 to 500 dollars for the privilege to play online for other things I'd prefer to buy.

I already give enough money to my online internet provider to be able to use the internet and their name does not have Microsoft in their title.

To each their own. Obviously that is what makes the world go around. I personally know xBox subscribers who have dumped xbox live in favor of PSN once they raised the price to use their service.

Thankfully Sony has not followed in their footsteps other than providing optional PlayStation Plus for it's users.

Hacking isn't exclusive to PSN. If you think xBox Live and Microsoft are immune to what just happened I would suggest you're way off base with that assumption. Hacking is sadly going to be a problem that many companies have to deal with in the future. Cyber terrorism appears to be the wave of the future.

Just one example: Games maker Square Enix hacked - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13394968

And I also don't subscribe to the fairytale that xBox live is a better service or that you get what you pay for being forced to pay to play your online multiplayer games.

I've purchased a PVR, capture software for my Mac, cables and the like for around 250 dollars. I still have another 250 dollars to play with.

I like free PSN and hopefully it will continue to be free.

Quote from keara22hi on May 10, 2011, 16:40
The more I think about it, the more I like the idea that a lot of people might be quitting Home and going elsewhere.

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If one of the results of the PSN shutdown is that a few of the rotten fruit get shaken out of the social tree, then I am all for it.

Fairweather fans will always have something to complain about - regardless of whether they jump ship and go to another platform or not. These same people will jump from one bandwagon to the next, just as soon as things don't go the way they like. They're impossible to please, calling and complaining of the most inconsequential minutiae, making customer service agents grow sour and indifferent to complaints, which in turn penalizes those of us who call up looking for genuine solutions to our problems.

As for the topic of hacking: nothing is immune. There were reports from Gamespot just yesterday that Eidos Montreal was hacked, as well as Square Enix. Xbox - specifically one of their execs - was hacked just last year. So it really doesn't matter what you pay (or do not pay) for; this is the world we live in now. It's all just a matter of time before someone else is hacked. It may take months. It may be next year. But it will happen. The real question is have the other networks and developers learned from Sony's mistake and are also taking steps to examine and reinforce their security? Eidos and Squeenix apparently didn't. And if you're familiar at all with the history of Microsoft's computer OS's (specifically the Vista saga), they are notorious for not budging until they're forced to. The early RROD reports are prime example of this.

No company is perfect, and it seems neither they or the people who breach their security are being held to a stringent enough accountability.

We're all paying for online gaming in one fashion or another. It may not show up as a line item on your budget or bank statement, but you're paying for it nonetheless.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the Cyber-Terrorists to be caught or even found out - never mind brought to justice - anytime soon. It's far too easy to be "anonymous" (no pun intended with the supposed Hacktivist Group) online than in the real world, and it took us about 10 years to find a real life terrorist and bring him to justice.

Quote from Travis-Travis on May 14, 2011, 20:23
I like how everyone who ran immediately to Sony's defense in this topic acts like you can't own a PS3 and an XBOX. Only a fanboy deals in absolutes. Like Joanna above; she just talked about buying a Mac, which has nothing to do with anything in this thread except for the fact that it illustrates how unwilling some fanboys--er... girls--are to acknowledge the existence of other consoles. Fun facts time!

**snip**

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Yes I would be a fan girl and not a fan boy and I don't apologize in the least for being a fan of Sony's PlayStation 3. And I'm sorry but I don't feel the need to own all consoles released in a particular generation to feel fulfilled to be a gamer.

Secondly, running around and quoting misleading articles along with sensational headlines from the internet doesn't make you or your OP anymore correct. Lets see some hard facts. Do you have a link that definitively proves that people are jumping ship en mass or are you so willing to believe the hype that websites publish to increases hits when things like this happen. I'd like to see actual numbers if you don't mind and a bona fida research study or verifiable industry market statistics and not the opinion of some GameStop employee or blogger.

Secondly, calling people names is the first sure sign that someones argument may have no merit. Were the fan boy or fan girl comments really necessary to support your argument? I didn't see anyone calling you names.

Furthermore, I didn't refer to buying a Mac by the way. Please try and read what was written a bit more carefully. I own a mac – 2 actually. I was talking about using the money I would have wasted – in my view – by paying for online play with another console maker and instead using it for something I really can get enjoyment out of – a PVR and the recording software that goes along with it in addition to a host of other things.

Here is an example of what that money could be put towards rather than having to pay a company to use their supposed online capabilities.

Interestingly enough when I play Uncharted Multiplayer online I'm using Naughty Dog's servers if I'm not mistaken and not Sony's. Why should I have to pay Sony to use NG's servers?

Last time I checked, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but gamers who use PC's to play multiplayer games online don't pay either Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo a monthly or annual fee to play them.

And relative to the claims that Sony was not using up to date equipment or server technology and software, I think I'll wait until there is definitive proof that this is or was the case before jumping to those conclusions.