PSN is Down yall!

Those of us PSN users have been well aware that since this past Wednesday the Playstation Network has been dead. While we were all hoping it would be resurrected like some mythical figurehead that brings us chocolate bunnies every year, that has not happened yet. As for Sony they haven't made many comments on its status either except that the issue was through an external force.

This external force could easily be the group Anonymous, an elite gang of cyber hackers who has waged war on Sony. While all of that is speculation the fact is the PSN has been down for the longest stretch since its inception.

As a PSN user myself it really doesn't bother me. I don't have to pay for this service so I don't really care, but it seems like some people care quite a bit. IGN even went so far as to post this:

"I barely have the will to play PS3 without its online functionality, and I know there are millions of gamers that feel the same."

Wow really? That bad eh? Can't enjoy some Uncharted? Some Bayonetta? Maybe a bit of God of War 3 (or any of the hundreds of titles that end in "3" now). Assassin's Creed? Has single player gaming died that much? Have we gone so far that we "need" to see friends online? That we have to send messages in between killing bosses? Can we only play games that gives us a bonus +5 points for a headshot? The article goes on further to say that the PS3 is no better than the NES now that PSN is down.

Really it isn't any better than the NES now? Well the games are way better graphically, sound is better, gameplay in general is more robust and interesting, you can play with up to 4 people offline in some games (only 2 on the NES), stories are better and make more sense. I mean there are some pitfalls like 90% of lead characters are all space marines now and most games want to be first person shooters but that's not really any different than when every game wanted to be a crappy side scrolling platformer on the NES. Some are good some are bad. Still I'd say the PS3 has a lot over the NES. Can the NES play Blu Ray movies? Can it play music? Show a picture slideshow? Do you have to blow in the PS3 to get it to work? Of course, I need not go on to point out how stupid I feel this comment is, but the idea that people think a console without online is useless still shocks me.

When I started writing this I couldn't believe how integral online gaming has become to the gaming community. I knew it has become imperative for developers to include multiplayer in games, that was the motif in 2010, but looking at 2011 it seems like every game is made specifically for online play.

Just gazing at this year's PS3 lineup we have Little Big Planet 2, Killzone 3, Uncharted 3, Twisted Metal, SOCOM 4, and Infamous 2. Most of those are pretty much online only games with the offline being an afterthought. Even games like Infamous 2 and Uncharted 3 which will likely have robust offline only seems to be touting their online gameplay in previews and interviews. It's like they don't even care they made an offline component at all.

I'd like to point out that the PSN won't last forever. All these games people buy specifically to play with their friends online will die off and newer games will come. I can still enjoy games like Tetris and Mario 20 years later, but who's going to play Little Big Planet 2 or SOCOM 4 in 20 years? No one that's who. And it's sooner yet for even our modern games. How big is the online scene in the first Resistance game? How big is it even now for the new Homefront game? It sucked, sure and that's why people went back to playing Black Ops, but that's just my point. Why do I have to guess at what online game will stay popular for more than a few months? I'm glad I don't have to guess, I'm glad I can find enjoyment in the single player or offline aspects of games.

But sadly my way of gaming is dying it seems. Even Nintendo's new system is code named Project Cafe. Now what that means we have no idea, but the code name feels like it means online connectivity like being in a local cafe. I'm sure that's where they are going with it. Who knows. All I know is I will rue the day if I ever have to coordinate a dungeon with several other people in Zelda. And YES Zelda 4 Swords sucked ass don't even try say it didn't!

It's not that I'm totally against online play either. I do enjoy it a lot actually. Playing Street Fighter and Marvel online is loads of fun, (albeit frustrating at times) but honestly the offline play is far superior for those games and any fighting game fan will agree with that. As much as I do find 0nline fun for some games I just don't see it as an essential aspect of gaming. It might be for most people, but I can still happily play Vagrant Story on my PSP while watching some online streams of a fighting game tournament or something. I'm only annoyed that I can't play Final Fight HD on my PS3 because it requires a PSN connection. I learned my lesson not to buy Capcom games with that restriction on them ever again. Looking at you Bionic Commando 2.

**EDIT 4/26/11**

Breaking news on the PSN debacle. Sony has finally sent a message to all of us saying it was INDEED hacked and furthermore everyone's personal data has been compromised. That's right, credit card info / passwords to home addresses and phone numbers all hacked. This is seriously FUCKED up! Sony got hosed hard and the backlash from angry consumers will certainly be heavy I imagine. Class action lawsuits abound I am sure. It is ultimately their fault for not securing our shit. This doesn't happen with any other online source I'm aware of, Steam, Amazon, Ebay, my bank or credit card sites have never had this happen. Sony screwed the pooch on this one bigtime.

Worse yet if you use your PSN password for other things be sure to change that IMMEDIATELY. Also, once PSN comes back online you must change your shit IMMEDIATELY lest the hackers change your shit first then you become locked out....from your SHIT! Brad Pitt could have delivered that funnier than I...still...

*PSN is down. So what?*