Xmas Gift Guide, Best Games for 2011

Xmas Gift Guide With the likes of Bulletstorm, Gears of War 3 and Frozen Synapse narrowly missing out on this list of top ten games, it would seem 2011 has been a pretty decent year for videogames.

The vulture-eyed PHT reader will, however, notice the list is dominated by sequels and franchises – for which I make no apologies. It's simply representative of the industry at present, and, in my opinion at least, reflective of their individual merits – each and every inclusion granted not because of the game's pedigree but in spite of it.

If you'll excuse the aside, it's also worth mentioning the ubiquity of sequels usually heralds the end of each gaming generation. With next-gen details presently limited to speculation, and with the PC still heavily restrained by multi-platform development, the industry is in real danger of stagnating.

While it has successfully navigated cyclical troughs before, it has never done so in the face of such stiff competition. This year's top ten might represent an industry at the top of its game, but another year of reboots and sequels could do irreparable damage given the inexorable rise in smartphone and social gaming.

1. Batman Arkham City

Arkham City wasn't simply a much bigger game than Arkham Asylum - just about everything from the original was improved. New stealth moves and gadgets made Batman feel more invincible than ever, and the already excellent one-button combat was polished and refined into arguably the most elegant fighting system in videogame history.

The Joker's relegation to cameo appearance deprived the narrative of its most memorable antagonist, but it was a natural concession to the real star of the game: Arkham City itself. Bursting with character and variety, the vast digital playground was the perfect fit for the comic book source – allowing developer Rocksteady to splice Arkham Asylum's concentrated gameplay with sandbox mechanics and allowing Batman Arkham City to swoop effortlessly in to take 2011's open-world crown from Infamous 2 and Saints Row The Third.

PHT Rating 90%
Platforms PC, PS3, Xbox
Price $50
More Info BAC Official Site

2. Battlefield 3

Have you heard the one about Battlefield 3's Easter Egg? Apparently, there's a full single-player game tucked away on the menu screen right above Multiplayer. It's called Campaign, or something. I mean, who'd have thunk it, eh?

Seriously, though. Ignore the instantly forgettable single-player - BF3 is all about multiplayer mayhem. Whether base jumping from the helipad at Damavand Peak, dogfighting above Caspian Border or suppressing a gagglefuck of noobs in the close quarters labyrinth of Grand Bazaar, BF3 hits the perfect tone between realism and fun.

While the game's Frostbite 2.0 engine impresses across all three platforms, the PC's next-gen graphics coupled with support for 64-combatant multiplayer mean it's the definitive version to own.

PHT Rating 85%
Platforms PC, PS3, Xbox
Price $40-50
More Info Battlefield Official Site

3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

The minute I've finished writing up MW3 in my top five I'm off to the shower with a bottle of drain cleaner and a Brillo Pad. That's how dirty and ashamed I feel. Especially when its inclusion comes at the expense of games like Frozen Synapse and DiRT 3.

You see, like the Metacritic trolls, I was ready to pour hate on the series for all the right reasons: repetition, repetition, repetition. But try as I might, I just couldn't. From the peerless production values and neat narrative conclusion of its single-player to its honed-to-perfection multiplayer, MW3 oozes inimitable quality. For all its familiarity, then, the call of duty remains difficult to resist.

PHT Rating 90%
Platforms PC, PS3, Xbox
Price $45-55
More Info CoD:MW3 Official Site

4. Dark Souls

The uncompromising follow-up to the most difficult RPG of all time, you'd be forgiven for protesting about Dark Souls inclusion in this top ten. But this isn't a democracy, I'm afraid. This is my list, and Dark Souls fully deserves its place.

Sure, you need three hands to play it. One hand to wield the Drake Sword, one to clench the Crystal Ring Shield, and one to type the boss names into YouTube. And yes, it's likely most players gave up long before the end. But no other game was as compulsive and satisfying. While Dark Souls presented 2011's sternest gaming test, it also provided its greatest sense of achievement.

PHT Rating 90%
Platforms PS3, Xbox
Price $51
More Info Dark Souls Official Site

5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

With its intricate neo-noir narrative and distinctive black-and-gold cyber renaissance palette, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was easily 2011's most memorable game. While it lacked the radical, genre-defining innovation of the original Deus Ex, Ubisoft Montreal nevertheless delivered a game with both obvious affection for Warren Spector's work and considerable merit of its own.

It wasn't perfect, however. Misguided boss battles ran contrary to the guiding principle of freedom, and a flaccid middle-third temporarily diluted the narrative drive. But considered alongside the game's other achievements, such as the impeccable stealth and cover-based combat system, these were minor blemishes in an otherwise astonishing game.

PHT Rating 90%
Platforms PC, PS3, Xbox
Price $30 (PC) $40 (PS3/Xbox)
More Info Deus Ex Official Site

Sony: 93,000 PlayStation, SOE gamers' accounts cracked

Sony said today it had locked down 93,000 user accounts on its online gaming and entertainment networks after detecting a large number of unauthorized attempts to gain access to the accounts.

Intruders "using very large sets of sign-in IDs and passwords" had brief access to 60,000 accounts on the PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network and another 33,000 accounts on Sony Online Entertainment's servers, Sony said.

The attacks occurred from Friday through Monday and affected "less than one-tenth of 1 percent" of PSN, SEN, and SOE consumers, Sony said in a statement. Hackers succeeded in verifying sign-in IDs and passwords, but Sony said credit card information was "not at risk" during the attack. Sony locked the accounts after confirming the attempts were unauthorized.

"In this case, given that the data tested against our network consisted of sign-in ID-password pairs, and that the overwhelming majority of the pairs resulted in failed matching attempts, it is likely the data came from another source and not from our Networks," Sony Chief Information Security Officer Philip Reitinger said on the PlayStation blog.

The compromised accounts also "showed additional activity prior to being locked," but that information has not been detailed. "We are continuing to investigate the extent of unauthorized activity on any of these accounts," Sony said.

Reitinger somewhat hinted at what the "additional activity" could be: "We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet."

Sony is actively sending e-mails to affected consumers who have locked accounts and is requiring them to perform a secure password reset.

PSN hacking is a sensitive subject for many following a month of outages earlier this year that were ultimately pegged to cyberbattacks.

The sheer scope of the recent hacking scandal, which compromised the personal information of millions of gamers--was a huge smudge on the public perception of the gaming network. In the damage-control department, Sony issued multiple apologies and the promise of a strengthened network, along with giving affected users a $1 million identity theft insurance policy and free games. It also gave all PSN members affected by the outage access to PlayStation Plus for a month.

Hacker reveals further Sony flaws in Portugal

Sony's hack of the day has been claimed by a Lebanese hacker who says he has breached the company's Portuguese site.

Sony has been under almost daily attack for weeks from various hacking groups, which have targeted the company after an attack took out its PlayStation Network.

The hacker, who calls himself Idahc and also targeted Sony Europe last week, claimed to have found three weaknesses on the Portuguese site.

“I found three flaws on the www.sonymusic.pt - sql injection, XSS, and Iframe Injection,” he said in a posting on Pastebin.

Claiming that he was “not a black hat", he won't be dumping the database into the public domain, but instead posted a list of harvested email addresses as proof of his exploits.

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Sony's PlayStation Network to reopen in Asia

Sony's PlayStation Network online gaming service will reopen for millions of gamers across Asia on Saturday, more than five weeks after it was taken offline following a cyber attack.

Sony pulled the plug on the PlayStation Network and the companion Qriocity audio and video streaming service on April 20, a day after detecting what it later called a "very sophisticated" intrusion.

When service resumes on Saturday in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, there will only be two more countries where service is still offline: South Korea and Hong Kong. Sony is still in discussions with authorities in those markets and can't name a date for the resumption of services in the two countries.

"It's going to take a little while longer," said Satoshi Fukuoka, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo.

Gamers in Asia were kept waiting while Sony briefed authorities in several countries on the hack and its response, but service returned for users in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand on May 14 and 15.

The incident began when an unknown hacker or hackers penetrated three firewalls to get inside Sony's system and steal data on all 77 million registered accounts.

The stolen data included user names, e-mail addresses, login IDs and passwords. It was originally feared that millions of credit card numbers had also been leaked, but a subsequent computer forensics investigation failed to find any evidence that the credit card database had been accessed by the attacker, said Sony.

PlayStation users are required to download a firmware update for the console before they can reconnect to the network. Then, as a security measure, users must change their password upon login.

Sony has initially resumed a subset of the full PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. Back online are: online gaming, playback of already rented video, "Music Unlimited" online audio streaming, access to third-party services like Netflix and Hulu, PlayStation Home and friends features such as chat.

Full service is expected to resume in all markets, except South Korea and Hong Kong, by the end of May.

The attack and Sony's response to it will cost the company around ¥14 billion (US$170 million) this financial year, it said Monday. That includes the cost of calling in several computer security companies, a rebuild of its security system, identity theft monitoring for users in some countries and the offering of several free games to users.

PlayStation Network: hackers claim to have 2.2m credit cards

Discussions in hacker forums point to huge numbers of credit card details stolen from Sony's PlayStation Network, while some owners see fraud – but is it just coincidence?

Hackers in underground online forums are claiming to have access to credit card details stolen from Sony's PlayStation Network in mid-April, though security researchers say it is not possible to verify the claims.

The online discussions centre around a haul of 2.2m Sony customer credit card numbers that are claimed to have been copied during the attack, which led Sony to shut down the network for more than a week after it happened between 17 and 19 April.

At the same time some of the 77 million PSN users have begun to report discovering new fraudulent charges on their credit cards, though the timing could be coincidence and not linked directly to the breach. Any sufficiently large number of credit card owners is certain to include some who have recently been defrauded by other methods.

The claims of fraud include the equivalent of $1,500 spent in a German grocery store on an American credit card, and dozens of people reporting charges on items such as German airline tickets and Japanese stores.

Kevin Stevens, a security analyst with Trend Micro, said in a tweet that "the hackers that hacked PSN are selling off the DB [database]. They reportedly have 2.2m credit cards with CVVs" - the latter being the three-figure number required for "card not present" transactions.

But Stevens added that he couldn't be sure the claim was true. The hackers were also claiming to have offered to sell the database back to Sony, but that the company declined it. Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said that as far as he knew there was no truth in that claim.

Speculation is growing that the hackers who carried out the attack could be European, based on the names being used in forums, though no further details have emerged so far.

One reader of Venturebeat said he had been contacted by Sony and told that his card might have been compromised, and discovered two new charges totalling $400 he hadn't made.

Sony insisted in a blog post that the credit card data it stored was encrypted: "While all credit card information stored in our systems is encrypted and there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility.

"If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained. Keep in mind, however, that your credit card security code (sometimes called a CVC or CSC number) has not been obtained because we never requested it from anyone who has joined the PlayStation Network or Qriocity, and is therefore not stored anywhere in our system."

PlayStation Network users fear identity theft after major data leak

Sony issues worldwide alert after personal details of 77 million PlayStation users, including 3 million Britons, stolen by hackers

Up to 3 million Britons are believed to be among the 77 million users of Sony's PlayStation Network, which has been hacked into by criminals who have stolen users' personal information, possibly including credit card details.

Reeling from one of the worst such security breaches in history, Sony warned all users of the PSN network – used to play games online and download content including films – that they should be alert for fraudulent activity on their credit cards. Users have been warned to be wary of "phishing" emails pretending to be updates or security information, and to urgently change the passwords on any sites or services that use the same password as their PSN username.

The firm conducted a "forensic security" examination and discovered a hacker, or hackers, had accessed the internal corporate computer systems that hold the details. The UK's information commissioner said he would ask Sony to explain the circumstances of the data leak, which might constitute a breach of the Data Protection Act.

The details of the users of the worldwide PlayStation Network – used by owners of Sony Playstation 3s and PlayStation Portables – include names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, and passwords to the network. They are a treasure trove potentially worth more than £100m to those who have stolen them if sold through online black markets, where the data required for an individual identity theft can cost up to $10, and a million unverified email addresses cost just $8.

Sony confirmed late on Tuesday that it had suffered an "intrusion" into its system on Wednesday 20 April, and that it had shut down the PSN and its Qriocity music streaming services as soon as the incident was discovered.

The PSN system was still down late on Wednesday. As well as costing Sony money the closure will be affecting a new generation of games companies that had hoped to use the system as a new means of selling games solely through downloads.

The admission will be a huge blow to Sony, which has been struggling to regain its once iconic status after years of missteps, and will increase pressure on its chief executive, Sir Howard Stringer.

Sony has not said how the hackers broke in. But Rik Ferguson, a computer security consultant at Trend Micro, said: "This has all the hallmarks of commercial criminal activity going for a saleable commodity. It doesn't look as though they would have broken in directly through the PlayStation Network. Far more likely is that they breached the corporate systems and then moved through them to access this valuable data."

The breach is one of the biggest ever, and in terms of the value of the data contained may be the most valuable to the hackers. In January 2009 a US payment card processor, Heartland Payment Systems, was hacked, affecting up to 100m cards; in March 2007 the systems of the store chain TK Maxx were hacked, leading to the theft of 46m credit card details.

However the PSN break-in is potentially more valuable because of the quality and breadth of data involved, as it could be used to construct an entire identity.

Security experts are wondering whether Microsoft's rival XBox Live service, which provides a similar function to Sony's PSN, could be targeted, though experts said it was a more closed system.

Dave Whitelegg, a data security blogger, said: "Microsoft's approach to [running a gaming network] is a bit more guarded than Sony's. The PSN is a much more open system. It's a whole different philosophy. A classic example is, on Xbox Live you do not get a web browser – the reason for that is security; it's a possible attack vector and could get you into their network. But the PlayStation 3 has one."

Ferguson said highly targeted commercial hacking attacks had increased recently, with large online repositories of information being targeted. The activism group Anonymous took the unusual step of insisting it was not behind the breach. It had previously attacked Sony over the company's legal complaints about gamers who tried to hack software that would let PS3s play any game.

"For once we didn't do it," the organisation, which describes itself as fighting for internet freedom, wrote on its blog. "AnonOps was not related to this incident and does not take responsibility for whatever has happened."

Sony has been criticised for the fact that the hackers have apparently been able to copy the data directly, implying it was not encrypted.

Almost every commercial site scrambles a user's password before storing it; when the user tries to log in, the password they provide is scrambled in the same way and then compared with the stored one, meaning the "plaintext" password is not available. It does not appear that Sony has done this.

Ian Shepherd, chief executive of video-games retailer Game Group, told Reuters: "The issue, the experience that Sony are having … is a really serious one. It's one we're staying very close to. I think there are lessons for the whole industry from the experience that Sony are having."

Many gamers expressed anger. On the PS3news.com online forum, PSN member Jarvis wrote: "Stop purchasing anything remotely related to Sony. Let companies who deal with Sony know that you can't support them if they continue to work with Sony."

But Ferguson said such threats were unlikely to amount to anything. "That's just frustration. There would be a real hardware cost in doing that. In fact, it's likely to be more like what happens after a terrorist attack: security is stepped up and everyone is much safer for some time afterwards."

Since Stinger's appointment in March 2005 he has struggled to break the company out of its "silo" organisation that has prevented co-ordination between different divisions.

But revenue and profits have both remained flat, while the company has struggled to make an impact in new areas. The PlayStation 3, launched in 2006 in Japan and 2007 elsewhere, is widely seen as third-placed behind Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's Wii, and has dragged down profits.

A series of other problems such as battery fires and spyware embedded on music CDs have not helped its reputation either, and Stringer is now widely seen as being vulnerable if the company's performance does not improve.

Meanwhile the first lawsuit resulting from the security breach has been filed.

It was filed on behalf of Kristopher Johns, 36, of Alabama. Johns accuses Sony of not taking "reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users."

PlayStation hack: will you think twice about sharing personal data online?

Sony has warned that information about 77 million people with accounts on its PlayStation Network has been stolen. Will this make you think twice about sharing personal data online?

Sony's PlayStation Network has suffered a massive breach, allowing the theft of names, addresses and possibly credit card data.

Will you now think twice about sharing personal data online?

PlayStation Network hack: what every user needs to know

Comprehensive guide to what's happened and what all PlayStation Network users need to do

Sony's PlayStation Network – the infrastructure that allows PS3 owners to play online games, as well as buy movies and other downloadable content – has been infiltrated by an unknown hacker, and the customer details of up to 77 million users have been compromised.

But how worried should we be, and what can PSN users do to protect themselves? Here are a few of the answers we have so far ...

What has happened?
Between 17 April and 19 April, Sony realised there had been an "unauthorised intrusion" on the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. The company shut the services down and undertook an investigation. It claims that the full extent of the security breach was only understood yesterday.

How has this happened?
Good question – and one that Sony should be required to answer as soon as possible. Indeed, US senator Richard Blumenthal has written to SCEA president Jack Tretton demanding an explanation. It seems, though, that there have been recurrent weaknesses in the PSN security infrastructure. In January, the PS3 system root key, which authorises software running on the machine, was hacked, potentially allowing pirated games and unauthorised software to run on "jailbroken" PS3s. There are now numerous coding sites offering custom firmware, allowing PlayStation owners to run their own apps and operating systems on the machine. This is not unique to Sony's console however: both the Wii and Xbox 360 can be "hacked" to run pirated software – however, the accounts and personal details of other console customers have not been involved on this scale.

What have the hackers obtained?
It seems that any personal information you have entered into the PSN service is vulnerable. That means your name, address (including postcode), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password, login, password security answers, and your PSN online ID. Sony says that it is also possible that your profile data may have been obtained, "including purchase history and billing address". If you have used your credit card to buy downloadable content via PSN or Qriocity, your credit card details, excluding your security number (usually the three-digit number on the reverse of the card, on the signature panel) may have been obtained. Sony is stressing that all of this is a possibility; it doesn't know for definite that the hacker has acquired all of this information.

What should I do about my PSN account now?
While the network is down, there's not much you can do. Sony won't say when the service is going back online, but when it does, you should immediately change your PSN password.

What other precautions should I take?
If you use the same password elsewhere online, change every instance. Ideally, you should employ different passwords on every secure site you use. From now on, try to make your passwords as un-guessable as possible. Use numbers, capitals and symbols. When the Gawker network was hacked last year it was discovered that the most popular password among users was "12345"; the second was "password". That's not a good idea if you have credit card information to protect. If you use a Google Mail account to access secure sites, consider employing two-factor authentication.

Also, be aware that phishing scams will now be in operation: if you receive emails claiming to be from Sony and asking for account information or personal details, do not reply. Sony has stated that it will not email PSN users requesting details.

How will I know if my account has been compromised?
You probably won't know if someone holds your data until they attempt to use it. Keep a close eye on your credit card statements – look out for any unusual transactions and inform your bank or credit card company immediately if you see anything suspicious. If you are worried, you can pay for a credit card report from one of the three UK agencies: Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. They also run subscription services that monitor your account and alert you to suspicious activities. Senator Blumenthal has urged Sony to provide PSN users with free access to credit reporting services for two years. This is unlikely to happen. In its online FAQ, Sony has broached the subject of refunds, stating: "When the full services are restored and the length of the outage is known, we will assess the correct course of action."

When PSN is back online will it be safe?
Sony has said that it is rebuilding the service. The company has also bought in third-party security experts to trace the source of the hack. It's worth pointing out, however, that data security is an issue facing every site where customers hand over personal and financial details. There are question marks over whether online data systems can ever be 100% safe.

PlayStation Network hackers access data of 77 million users

Sony says hackers have accessed personal information, but says there is no evidence of credit card details theft.

Sony has warned that the names, addresses and other personal data of about 77 million people with accounts on its PlayStation Network (PSN) have been stolen.

Gamers have been locked out of the network for a week, but the company has revealed that the system has been suspended since it was hacked last Wednesday.

Sony said it discovered that between 17 and 19 April an "illegal and unauthorised person" got access to people's names, addresses, email address, birthdates, usernames, passwords, logins, security questions and more.

Children with accounts established by their parents also may have had their data exposed, according to Sony, which put the warning on its US PlayStation blog – although the warning about the compromise might not be immediately visible to passing readers. The company is also emailing people who might be affected.

The intrusion is potentially one of the biggest ever into a store of credit cards. Sony's PSN is one of the world's biggest holders of credit cards, though not as large as Amazon, eBay, PayPal or Apple's iTunes, which each hold more than 100m accounts.

The previous largest hacking attacks were on Heartland Payment Systems in January 2009, when up to 100m US credit and debit card details were stolen, and TK Maxx in March 2007, when up to 46m credit card details were stolen.

The company said that it saw no evidence that credit card numbers were stolen, but it added: "Out of an abundance of caution, we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained,"

The online marketplace launched in autumn 2006 and allows users to purchase and play video games, music and films on their PlayStation consoles.

The hack attack has put it out of action and it says that it may be up to a week before it is operational again.

Sony said it had hired an outside security firm to investigate what happened and has taken steps to rebuild its system to provide greater protection for personal information.

PlayStation members are required to submit credit card and personal details to play online games and download software, films and music.

Warning users of the network to be on the look out for telephone and email scams, Sony said: "To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant to review your account statements and to monitor your credit or similar types of reports."

PlayStation Network posted an apology to users through the Sony website saying it would email those who are suspected to be victims of the hacking.

It said: "We don't have an exact date to share at this moment as to when we will have the services turned on, but are working day and night to ensure it is as quickly as possible.

"Please note that we are as upset as you are regarding this attack and are going to proceed aggressively to track down those that are responsible."

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos, said that the theft of so much detailed customer information would be seen as a "public relations disaster".

Hackers keep PlayStation Network offline for fifth day

Sony says it is working to get internet-based retail service back online quickly after an 'external intrusion'

Hackers have kept Sony's lucrative PlayStation Network offline for a fifth day while engineers scramble to overhaul the system and make it more secure.

Sony's equivalent of Apple's iTunes Store, PlayStation Network is the internet-based retail service that allows users of its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable devices to buy games, films, music and game add-ons, and to chat with one another.

Sony confirmed on Friday that the service had been attacked by hackers, describing it on the official PlayStation blog as an "external intrusion". Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications, wrote that Sony planned "a thorough investigation … to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services".

In an update on Monday, Seybold wrote: "This is a time intensive process and we're working to get them back online quickly."

Staff have not been given any details about the problem, which first resulted in PSN going offline last Wednesday. A weekly internal progress email mentioned the "external intrusion" but did not give any indication how long the service would remain offline.

Sony's troubles began when it removed the "Other OS" option from all PS3 consoles in March last year, which meant users could no longer choose to install and run the Linux operating system. Sony cited security concerns, but the move triggered some users to hack the PS3 so that they could still run Linux.

Sony then moved to sue a group of hackers that included 21-year-old George Hotz – who had already earned a reputation after jailbreaking the iPhone – who had allegedly published a root key for the PS3 that meant any content, such as films and music, could be played on a jailbroken device.

The high-profile Hotz case, which was settled out of court this month, attracted attention from the Anonymous hacking network, which pledged to target Sony. A post on the Anonymous blog on 4 April said the action against Hotz and fellow hacker Graf_Chokolo was "wholly unforgivable".

"You have victimised your own customers for merely possessing and sharing information … Your corrupt business practices are indicative of a corporate philosophy that would deny consumers the right to use products they have paid for, and rightfully own, in the manner of their choosing," it said.

Despite the threats, a later post on the blog stated "for once we didn't do it" and said Sony could be "taking advantage of Anonymous' previous ill-will towards the company to distract users from the fact the outage is actually an internal problem with the company's servers".

Patrick Garrett, on the games industry blog VG24/7, said the PSN crisis could have dire consequence for Sony if it did not adopt a more sophisticated strategy for dealing with hackers. "PlayStation's entire 2011 so far has been marred by a single issue: hacking," he wrote. "Sony has now allowed the issue to affect its entire audience: it has been forced to deny millions of PSN users a key PlayStation feature over a global holiday."

Garrett referred to speculation that hackers might have compromised personal information for Sony to have taken the serious step of closing PSN for five days. PSN has an estimated 75 million users worldwide, many of whom have credit card information registered with the service.

"Sony's escalation of its war on hacking could potentially threaten not only Sony's ability to cut content deals, but, in a nightmare scenario, may compromise personal information of its millions of users. Sony must demonstrate it is capable of dealing with this situation right now. If these episodes become regular in any way, PSN's users, core or not, will lose faith in its brand and gravitate elsewhere."