Video Games & Me Pt. 3

Video Games & Me Pt. 3

I will let you in on a secret, I have never purchased the Playstation 3. It was a gift I received, only in that it would it be used for long distance communication and playing games (to a certain degree). This wasn't used for that aspect, and now sits as a online video streaming box, an optical disc reader, and part time casual digital game machine.

I was impressed with how powerful the Cell processor is, though the system was hamstrung with onboard memory, the idea that this system could be used as a Linux box held strong interest to me. But the cost and the eventual removal of the that option began specific questioning from me about Sony's purpose and practice with open source software.

Being in throes of new technology I went nuts with digital because at that time I felt that why have anything specific with hardcopy due in large of part disc scratching, and sometimes stolen material etc. Though I invested a few hundred dollars into what I felt was the right decision yet later on there were fractures in trusting the entity known as Sony, and finding out much later in how draconian DRM (Digital Rights Management) is with their consoles with regards to media, games, and streaming music in general sense began to irk me.

I had missed out on the first few generations of the PS3 because I couldn't afford the outlandish price, and the lack of backward compatibility with PS2 games. The explanation was because of the code base from the developer side as some titles wouldn't work correctly. Some PSOne titles worked but when Sony announced they were porting many titles to the PSN store, this was an option to take full advantage of.

Using the online format I'd download classic old school game called Q-Bert which is no longer available. TOMBA!, Elephunk, Swarm, Legend of Han Tao (port from Xbox Live), Blade Kitten, Critter Crunch, Earthworm Jim, Jak & Dexter, inFamous, and others.

Something definitely wasn't quite right with digital games. There was always this disconnection of marketing between the two. Sure there were the popular games like Flower, Little Big Planet, Wheelman, and a few others, yet I felt as if smaller named titles were mired and forgotten because of preferred title favoritism.

I also feel Sony failed miserably with the roll out of Playstation@Home application because it was terribly buggy. The console itself would lock up or freeze depending on the network traffic and who was connected.

Which brings me to Spring 2011 and Sony's PSN was attacked by a consortium of hardware hackers through a reverse cracking of the Playstation 3 network algorithm. Since I work around software and hardware technology I was curious.

The details which trickled out showcased how easy it was to break encryption of a console, and this information was placed online for anyone curious enough to patch or exploit. Sony got wind of this and did everything they could to stop the leak. They didn't go in the route of thanking the group but instead attacked the user base who cracked the code as it were. Which in turn resulted in the nastiest and subsequent back and forth with the group until Sony's PSN was compromised.

For two weeks Sony said nothing. Their P.R. and marketing team kept a very tight lid on the corrupted system. How I was made aware was via third party channels, and took steps to fix it. I also learned that anything connected to the PSN is connected via Amazon's cloud service (servers) as is Netflix and others. I took a big step back and recalculated my stance as is it were on consoles, computer, and smartphone technologies.

On the consumer side there are some very frank and disturbing trends, most of which relates to the need to be wound tight by DRM, and that these companies do not trust the user in any capacity. It is about feeding into a always connected aspect with a need to relinquish a little bit of privacy and comfort.

I feel with Sony's complete disregard to its built in user base has soured my continued interest in the console arena. I am convinced that these companies do not have its users information secured, or interested securing any of that data.

I get it...it is a business and money overrules reason and common sense. It is sad that we all are guilty of the dependance upon distant apparatuses for our entertainment, and leisure activity. It is my hope that people are realizing this and are taking steps to not feed into the hyperbolic nonsense these companies are using. But then again we are also unkindly stuck in a machine that either forces us to play into the macabre, or be the outsider.

B.