Is Anonymous behind PSN outage?

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 21 April, 2011

Sony investigates possible "targeted behaviour".

Sony is investigating the possibility of "targeted behaviour by an outside party" as the PlayStation Network continues to remain offline across the US and Europe.

It has been impossible to sign in to the PlayStation Network throughout today.

This morning Sony described the problem as an "outage", but in a new message posted on the EU PlayStation Blog, manager James Gallagher suggested hackers may be responsible.

"As you are no doubt aware, the current emergency outage is continuing this afternoon and all Sony Online Network services remain unavailable," he said.

"Our support teams are investigating the cause of the problem, including the possibility of targeted behaviour by an outside party. If the reported Network problems are indeed caused by such acts, we would like to once again thank our customers who have borne the brunt of the attack through interrupted service.

"Our engineers are continuing to work to restore and maintain the services, and we appreciate our customers' continued support."

The Anonymous group, upset at Sony and George "Geohot" Hotz' out of court settlement over the PlayStation 3 jailbreak lawsuit, declared war on Sony earlier this month.

In a video posted to YouTube last week, Anonymous promised to deliver "the biggest attack you have ever witnessed".

However, earlier this month Anonymous "temporarily suspended" its war on the PlayStation Network – saying its beef was with Sony, not Sony's customers.

"Anonymous is not attacking the PSN at this time," Anonymous said. "We realise that targeting the PSN is not a good idea. We have therefore temporarily suspended our action, until a method is found that will not severely impact Sony customers.

"Anonymous is on your side, standing up for your rights. We are not aiming to attack customers of Sony. This attack is aimed solely at Sony, and we will try our best to not affect the gamers, as this would defeat the purpose of our actions. If we did inconvenience users, please know that this was not our goal.

"This operation is a response to Sony's attempt to deprive their customers of products they bought and therefore own, wholly and completely. Anonymous will not attempt to fight this by following the exact same course of action.

"We have plenty of tricks up our sleeves."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (127) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lcmnick #1 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 12:48:44 14-04-2012

  • PixelPirate #2 1 year ago

    attack the psn on portal release day? Are they total muppets??

  • magicpanda #3 1 year ago

    IMPOTENT RAGE

  • Ninja_Tino #4 1 year ago

    Regardless of whether or not Anonymous are behind it, I wish they'd just fuck off.

  • mungolikebeans #5 1 year ago

    If it is those Anonymous C***S the i will personally hunt them down and teabag them.

    4 days off in the UK you Bellends!

  • bemaniac #6 1 year ago

    Don't worry the all powerful Sony will get over it Sony fans
    Edited by bemaniac at 21/04/11 @ 16:30

  • drumbaby #7 1 year ago

    Are they anonymous enough to all die in fires and not be identified via dental records?

  • j1m.ch053n #8 1 year ago

    would love to see sony vs anonymous celebrity deathmatch, where they both repeatedly hit each other with handbags

  • Dizzy #9 1 year ago

    Plenty of companies can keep servers up during DOS attacks. It is not that hard.

  • CaptainQuint #10 1 year ago

    I'd love to 'target' one of these greasy little cunts with my fist.

    And I don't even go on PSN.

  • Eighthours #11 1 year ago

    Since Anonymous's targeting of Sony stores was so hilariously pathetic and a massive, crushingly embarrassing failure, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they've started targeting PSN again. Despite saying they wouldn't. They are, after all, a shower of pathetic cunts.

  • Slikz #12 1 year ago

    An attack on Playstation is an attack on the gaming industry as a whole.

    This doesn't benefit anyone but their ego's - so fuck 'em.

  • milks #13 1 year ago

    what a sad collection of self-elected, self-righteous, petulant, mis-placed sh*t kicking c*nts
    Edited by milks at 21/04/11 @ 16:18

  • LazyNinjaUk #14 1 year ago

    Is this Anonymous' retaliation for Sony "sticking their dick in a hornets nest", I honestly don't know what their goal is. I really wanted to play Socom you fuckers!!!

  • YailBloor #15 1 year ago

    @bemaniac

    A seriously fucking dull movie, full of pathetic, hateful characters, maybe......

  • Doctor_What #16 1 year ago

    Yeah, it could be Anon, or possibly trying to get PSN and Steam to play nicely together has seriously buggered something up. I suspect my scenario might be more likely.

  • wow_yeh #17 1 year ago

    I wish these inbred scumbags would get a grip, get a life, get a wash and stop getting up every morning for a sayers sausage roll. please die!

  • Eraysor #18 1 year ago

    Fingers crossed they slip up, get caught and get sent to prison.

  • SandyMcD #19 1 year ago

    "Anonymous is on your side, standing up for your rights"

    Then reveal who you are, big shots!

  • wow_yeh #20 1 year ago

    whoever gave me a negative then also needs to get a life

  • KrazyFace #21 1 year ago

    They'd bloody well better not be behind this, I've been waiting all day to get into PSN. If they are, it's THEM that needs a lesson taught, not me for "being with Sony" or whatever.

    Seriously guys, just drop it.

  • Duggie8472 #22 1 year ago

    Fucking bell ends!! Get a life, your so mighty hiding behind your name, wise up and fuck off!

  • wow_yeh #23 1 year ago

    wow yeh!

  • Ninou #24 1 year ago

    "This operation is a response to Sony's attempt to deprive their customers of products they bought and therefore own"

    A bit like you're doing by depriving me from accessing my own PSN account today...? Nobs.

  • Flash27 #25 1 year ago

    LOL just listen to the sad mentally handi-capped retards. They really think they're something.

  • chessboxer #26 1 year ago

    "We realise that targeting the PSN is not a good idea. We have therefore temporarily suspended our action, until a method is found that will not severely impact Sony customers."

    Blah, blah, blah.

    Funny how they only said that after Prolexic got involved. Before that, we were "collateral damage" according to a statement released by Anonymous after their first attack.

  • obidanshinobi #27 1 year ago

    Mmm prob Sony's incompetance, though Anonymous would be a good scape goat ......
    "Were not shit at managing an online network honest, it's those bloody hackers, yeh, the hackers blame them !!"

    WTF neg me futha muckers !!! You can't handle the truth !!! I'll stick my dick in your ear and fuck what you heard !! etc.....
    Edited by obidanshinobi at 21/04/11 @ 17:04

  • CaLeDee #28 1 year ago

    Internet nerds raging on other internet nerds. Fantastic.

  • greenthumb #29 1 year ago

    Sounds like Sony using anonymous as a scapegoat for a fuck up somewhere at Sony to me

  • CloisterBlack #30 1 year ago

    It's Skynet.
    It had been foretold: April 21 2011.

  • coolbritannia #31 1 year ago

    I think you'll find PSN is currently down for maintenance.

    Sony wouldn't lie about it, that would be proving Anonymous's point.

  • emhaslam92 #32 1 year ago

    FFS. Arseholes. I seriously hope it's fixed for the weekend.
    Edited by emhaslam92 at 21/04/11 @ 16:51

  • shen #33 1 year ago

    "Internet nerds raging on other internet nerds. Fantastic."
    Internet Nerd laughing at internet nerds raging on internet nerds.
    Internet nerd commenting on internet nerd laughing at internet nerds raging on internet nerds.

    holy meta...

  • Dogs-not-Gods #34 1 year ago

    [link url=http://www2.b3ta.com/bigquiz/hacker-or-spacker/
    ]http://www2.b3ta.com/bigquiz/hacker-or-s...[/link]

    I find this simple quiz a good way to understand the complex issues facing the misunderstood hacker in today's society.

  • Shikasama #35 1 year ago

    EMPTY THREAT! SWEAR WORDS MAKE ME FEEL BETTER! IGNORE THE IRONY OF WHAT I SAY WHEN I CALL THEM NAMES AND QUESTION THEIR MATURITY! MISPLACE ANGER!

    Is that how it works?

    I'd love to know exactly how you bring down a global network protected by one of the biggest companies on the planet from your bedroom. If a group of 'hackers' brought down PSN in both the US and the EU I would be both impressed by them and amazed that Sony was set up in such a way it could happen.

    Normally Sony are shit hot on their secur....ah, hang on.

  • 00.00.01 #36 1 year ago

    @coolbritannia
    Unlikely, PSN has been borked all week. Had to resort to doing an 'Internet Connection Test' evry day since Sunday before logging in. On tegh other hand, it's absolutely fantastic weather in the UK as well as in mainland Europe. BBQ, anyone? Cold brewski?
    .
    (do feel sorry for new SOCOM4 owners though..)

  • joelstinton #37 1 year ago

    Whether they're behind it or not, they're still a bunch of idiots. Seriously... in the name of Glengarry Glen Ross "WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT"
    Edited by joelstinton at 21/04/11 @ 17:04

  • Machiavellian #38 1 year ago

    If it was Anon, i doublt they would keep quite about it. Doesn't fit their profile. Probably more along the lines that Sony and Valve have some integration issues to sort out but having a scape goat is also good.

  • FenderMaster #39 1 year ago

    80710092

    Cunts

  • Sodding_Gamer #40 1 year ago

    LOL!! We were all taking the piss out of anonomous & Skynet earlier and now they say it could possibly be them :| lmao that is funny but ffs man worst day I wanted to play portal with my greasy pc gamer buddy grr!!

  • streetjo1 #41 1 year ago

    I doubt it was Anon and they are saying that it is not them http://irc.lc/AnonOps/Opsony
    If it definitely isn't them their not going to be happy with Sony blaming them, this will go on for a while

  • Architect_z #42 1 year ago

    SONY OUTRAGED!!!!!!!!!!!

  • kangarootoo #43 1 year ago

    Its probably got nothing to do with anonymous.


    In other news, that embedded video is embarrasing. The more I hear about Anonymous, the more they just look like a bunch of nerd kids trying to feel cool. I mean using the V for Vendetta mask, seriously? Really? What next, a Batman suit?

  • kangarootoo #44 1 year ago

    Btw, nowhere in this thread do I read anything suggesting Sony are blaming Anonymous. The closest it gets is a spokesperson saying they are investigating all potential causes, including an external attack (investigating, not confirming).

    So what on earth is everyone on about? Read the words people, it really is that simple.

  • RodHull #45 1 year ago

    As Anonymous are denying this it would seem to be a case of Sony incompetence. Maintenance should happen outside of peak hours. For me PSN has been buggered all week so the most likely culprit would seem to be the Steam shenanigans.

  • joelstinton #46 1 year ago

    @kangarootoo

    i think alot of people recognise that Anon may not be behind it, i think people are using this space to comment that they are fed up with hackers, and all this bullshit. After all, 99% of us are gamers and just want to play games without the hassle of a couple of people trying to ruin it for everyone else.

  • RobTheBuilder #47 1 year ago

    Personally I support the aim of Anonymous in this case, however I am not a fan of the way they have gone about trying to get there.

  • drxym #48 1 year ago

    Anonymous are largely ADD teenagers and misfits engaged in cybervandalism. The fun will be watching as some of the morons who took part and ran LOIC get their collar felt for their troubles.

  • RobTheBuilder #49 1 year ago

    http://xkcd.com/834/

  • kangarootoo #50 1 year ago

    @joelstinton

    Hey, I get entirely the anti-Anon venting, and I'm in agreement with that sentiment 100%.

    There is just a bit of my brain that gets all firey when I read statements that are blatently intrue. When someone writes "Sony blaming Anonymous..." when they simply haven't, the sparks start firing and my vision goes blurry :)

  • Spong #51 1 year ago

    If Anonymous is behind this, I say good on 'em. What was that stupid 'picket a Sony store' shit about? That was never going to do anything. Attack PSN, attack it constantly and make it unusable, bring Sony to its knees. Sure, PS3 owners everywhere lose out on the ability to play online, but they didn't seem to mind it when Sony took away features such as OtherOS or backwards compatibility.

  • oi #52 1 year ago

    "Sounds like Sony using anonymous as a scapegoat for a fuck up somewhere at Sony to me"

    Indeed.

    Sheeple likes neg? Seems so!

  • oldschoolsoviet #53 1 year ago

    Ah, forgot about the arranged 'marriage' between PSN and Steam....

    So Steam's the string vest wearing, Stella drinking frontman, and PSN is hiding in the bathroom, frightened to show the fresh bruises ?
    *gasp*

    Metaphorical domestic abuse quips ? :o BLAME THE GAMES !

  • photoboy #54 1 year ago

    Nice of Sony to be honest about what's going on, this morning PSN was "down for maintenance". Why not just admit then it was being hammered/hacked?

  • rodpad #55 1 year ago

    Genius move by Sony to blame Anonymous for their own outage. What little sympathy anybody had left for that joke of an activist group will have totally diminished by now.

    Clever girl.

  • andijames #56 1 year ago

    PSN issue due to a problem based in Japan?

    Link

    Entirely feasible i guess.

  • FireMonkey #57 1 year ago

    If Anonymous (or any hacking group) were behind it (and I hope they aren't as that sort of act really pisses me off) they would be making a big deal about it to show how great they are. There is no point doing an attack like that if you are not going to claim you did it otherwise what is the point as it doesn't get your group or your cause any more recognition. In fact Anonymous are actively denying it was them.

    Sony have not said it was an attack, just that they are investigating the possibility. They know that any downtime could be blamed upon hacking groups and therefore damaging said groups reputation in the eyes of PS3 owners whilst saving themselves some face.

    Potentially a nice little scape-goat for Sony though.

  • Phishfood #58 1 year ago

    lol -90 negs, never thought I see that, but still its true they only have themselves to blame

  • madjim #59 1 year ago

    WTF?? And I thought it was my new router! Thankfully I restrained myself of throwing it out of the window.

  • andijames #60 1 year ago

    Oh, and it could be down for 1 or 2 days. Not the best timing in the world..

  • Kaminari #61 1 year ago

    I'm utterly fed up with the crappy tabloid stance of EG.

    After 18 hours of "emergency maintenance", you'd think hack groups eventually behind this outage would have taken the opportunity to speak up and claim responsibility. Obviously they didn't. Like with the calendar bug of last year, Sony are responsible for this worldwide mess.

  • chessboxer #62 1 year ago

    @Spong

    Exactly when did Sony take away backwards compatibility? My 60GB PS3 still plays PS1 & PS2 games that are on the compatibility list (although I have very little need for the feature).

  • Kaminari #63 1 year ago

    @andijames Nice find. That would explain the error message in Japanese on both US and EU blogs when trying to sign in.

  • coolbritannia #64 1 year ago

    Dudes, it's scheduled maintenance, Sony said so.

  • miiiguel #65 1 year ago

    It's not Anon, it's down for maintenance:
    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-0...

  • joelstinton #66 1 year ago

    @Kangaroo

    Fair point! actually theres been a few times when i have thought the same tbh. But it is still great fun to read some of the comments

  • scoop #67 1 year ago

    @Dizzy "Plenty of companies can keep servers up during DOS attacks. It is not that hard. "

    I laughed so hard I nearly pissed myself when I read that. You're 21 days out mate.

  • grussbarbar #68 1 year ago

    Wesley, could you please stop trying to make up spectacular headlines and stories and just stick to the facts?

    Sony didn't mention Anonymous, so you shouldn't either. By writing these headlines and articles, you get a result like you can see here: 90 percent of commenters get infuriated at either Anonymous for presumably attacking PSN or Sony for presumably scapegoating Anonymous, while the one scapegoating them is actually you.

    You've got some responsibility as a journalist not to imply someone (or some group) could be guilty if you don't have any proof.

  • timewarp87 #69 1 year ago

    Anonymous may not be behind it, but remember, they distributed the tools that target Sony servers, so whether they are running the attack or someone has packed the tool into malware that installs on a bot net, Anonymous distributed the actual code to do this, so they are effectively the cause of it.

  • MaxiSleep #70 1 year ago

    Hackers are quite a good excuse for fucking up your own network ofc....

  • MaxiSleep #71 1 year ago

    Hackers are quite a good excuse for fucking up your own network ofc....

  • MaxiSleep #72 1 year ago

    Hackers are quite a good excuse for fucking up your own network ofc....

  • coolbritannia #73 1 year ago

    ^Skynet strikes again

  • SavageEvil #74 1 year ago

    Funny thread, full of xbox clowns too. @ coolbritannia and the like. I don't get it, we have pro anon people in here too, really guys? Go sell your PS3 and all it's games as well, since you feel that anything anon does is righteous or virtuous. I'm all for following a cause, but how can you follow this cause and still game on a Sony system and use any device that Sony has a hand in. Stand up for your right to choose and don't give Sony your money and or use their products O.o.

    So boring bunch of armchair activists full or hot air, not out there practicing what you preach. I mean if you could hurt Sony by somehow telling us how crap their stuff is, then Sony would have folded ages ago...the definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting different result. You might not comprehend that considering you might be insane :).

    People still with this crap about Sony taking away Other OS, really is that all you moron can say? That argument has been thrown around more than a 3 day old whore, let it die because it's basically beating a dead horse, it's never coming back. Sony will probably never ever allow it in a system again thanks to supposedly "adults" acting like children and doing ridiculous things to retain something that was basically an after thought. No one can say installing linux on their PS3 was anywhere near as useful as having it on a PC, if you can either you are one amazing hacker or a very bad liar. Drop the removal of software you paid for crap, if it was such a big deal why didn't you take it to court? Because it simply wasn't viable as there are other alternatives and a court, judge would most likely say the same. Galavanting around claiming to be saviors of the people and what not doesn't help your cause because you can't hurt Sony without hurting it's customers...again with ability and skills why aren't these guys out there doing us a real favor and catching criminals what a waste. To say we as a species are coming to an end is an understatement, we care more about spiting someone amazing. Kudos friends carry on, what makes this crap any less ridiculous than terrorism? Claiming to fight for a cause, check...will send out videos warning of impending attacks, check...and will say that bystanders are casualties to be expected, check...wait a minute?

  • M_of_the_sys #75 1 year ago

    Facts presented = 0. Do carry on choosing the fantasy which suits your agenda everyone. I'll continue playing games so I can become a better drive by shooter.

  • Caimbeul #76 1 year ago

    Why would it be them when they have said they will not be targeting PSN?

  • NeonKitten #77 1 year ago

    Nobody ever used OtherOS. It was too crippled, and slower than a 486 when it came to running Linux. But hey, when a cause is fashionable etc etc. Anonymous can fuck off. I'm off to play Rift. Where little boys with pre-built hack tools don't go.

  • RobotRocker #78 1 year ago

    Quit gettin' mad at videogames.

    Seriously, some of you should have some much better priorities.

  • lockload #79 1 year ago

    No one can complain its not like you pay for it

  • X201 #80 1 year ago

    Amazon's third party web hosting has had a major outage too, looks like a major real world problem at a remote hosting site

  • TopKatt #81 1 year ago

    Surely if Anonymous was behind it they would be boasting about it by now?

  • cjb_bjc #82 1 year ago

    Why all the hate? There's more to life than playing online. Go outside it's sunny for christs sake! If not play a single player game!

  • silversun #83 1 year ago

    The downtime is not a major issue for me even though portal 2 just came out.
    For me i still playing old playstation 2 games , so yes online downtime is an issue but not a major one , it could however be one if consoles ever went full drm and download online then it would be a major issue.

    also mortal kombat online pass thing i need sort out as well.
    Psn getting better on what they offer but the nextwork itself is not as good as xbox live and i can say that as a neutral towards both consoles, ps2 is still in my view best console ever made.

    Also can sony give us some reasurrance that are personal details like billing info will be safe from hackers, as this is something i am not sure about.
    Edited by silversun at 21/04/11 @ 20:17

  • TopKatt #84 1 year ago

    @thedriffter

    At least they've abandoned any pretence at standing up for gamers and are now openly trying to fuck us over.

  • FenderMaster #85 1 year ago

    I don't care whether it's anonymous, or Sony's fault, Anonymous are still cunts.

  • davisorle #86 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:14 09-05-2012

  • monkfishjoe #87 1 year ago

    I'm not a PSN user, but I have sympathy for all of you who are. If this is Anonymous, then it's complete balls.

    What C*NTS

  • Chibi-Kibou #88 1 year ago

    If it is those idiots, I wish they'd sod off.

    I can think of people I'd very much rather be represented by than a pack of teenagers with botnet access playing cyberterrorist -.-

    Besides it very well could be 'Anonymous', in the sense that it's quite possibly members of the amorphous blob that, in true anarchic spirit, decided to act contrary to the press release.
    Edited by Chibi-Kibou at 21/04/11 @ 21:00

  • t8yman #89 1 year ago

    jesus h christ

    IT IS NOT ANONYMOUS

    use your heads, read the article. no-one but EG is claiming it is anonymous.

    edited to remove unecessary bad language, Ive calmed down a bit now.
    Edited by t8yman at 21/04/11 @ 21:22

  • PeacockDreams #90 1 year ago

    All this week, i have had to manually sign on to PSN, it wont do it itself even though the 'Sign on automatically' box is ticked, anyone else had this?

  • Chibi-Kibou #91 1 year ago

    @t8yman

    As the one above said: [link url=http://n4g.com/news/748746/anonymous-claim-giving-credit-card-details-will-get-you-back-on-psn
    ]http://n4g.com/news/748746/anonymous-cla...[/link]

    Nobody but EG, huh? Oh and way to use obscenities there, it made your argument so much less fallible.

    Right now it looks like it's pretty well up in the air. I certainly hope it isn't, but I wouldn't be surprised if it Were those cyber-yobs.
    Edited by Chibi-Kibou at 21/04/11 @ 20:59

  • coolbritannia #92 1 year ago

    It's just a PSN fault, so Sony DO only have themselves to blame, and 130 plus negging fuckwits are wrong. Again.

  • Machiavellian #93 1 year ago

    i think alot of people recognise that Anon may not be behind it, i think people are using this space to comment that they are fed up with hackers, and all this bullshit. After all, 99% of us are gamers and just want to play games without the hassle of a couple of people trying to ruin it for everyone else.

    Would it be those same people who use No Cd hacks, download pirated games, movies, TV shows or what have you. The same people that use hacks every day of their life but act self righteous when they find themselves affected. Nothing funnier than gamers who getting worked up over hackers when it's those same hackers that allow them to circumvent stuff all the time.

  • NeonKitten #94 1 year ago

    Err no, Mach, I just want to play UC2 with my friends. Anonymous is getting the blame because they threatened this mere days ago. Coincidence? I think perhaps NO.

  • SavageEvil #95 1 year ago

    Mach, sorry to burt your bubble but I bought and paid for every piece of software and hardware I currently own. I use netflix and buy blu rays, haven't bought much music as of late as most of it is crap and the radio does a fine job of oversaturating my ears with it on a daily basis. Right now sitting at my laptop, with wireless paid for internet service watching my brother play 360 online, used the PS3 late last night no problems then so I'm guessing it happened after I signed out. Fact these things happen, another fact is this group also said that they would attack Sony. Is it them, who knows, but doesn't change the fact that they sent out a video warning of impending (terroristic) actions. I don't sympathize with any kind of actions like this as they are redundant, unless you can figure out a way to get the law to side with you and bring Sony some hurt all this kind of crap is folly. In the end all it does is give legal precedence to create a even longer and farther reaching legislation that can reign in hacks from any part of the globe. So think about your actions before you start making yourselves and others targets.

  • BlinkeredAxis #96 1 year ago

    Anon are not a cohesive group, so the 'official' denial may not carry much weight. A few individuals who perhaps got offended that Sony threatened anyone accessing GeoHot's website with court action might be suspects. If true, they're wrong to do it, but their argument is sound.

    Or it's just a regular network outage caused by insufficient bandwidth after announcing the Steam thing. We may never know.

  • tyciol #97 1 year ago

    Well SavageEvil aren't you special. Unfortunately, some people are poor =P

  • RFturrican #98 1 year ago

    I think what I don't understand is why they're targeting Sony in the first place.

    They don't charge to play games online, so everyone can game with their friends for free on the net. If this is what happens when we're not charging for multiplayer, heaven only knows how many toys would be slung out the pram if they did.

  • silversun #99 1 year ago

    "Well SavageEvil aren't you special. Unfortunately, some people are poor =P "

    I buy my stuff new as well , i think issue here is games prices not everyone has a job or is able to buy 3 big full price releases at once , this week portal 2, mortal kombat and final fantasy 4 complete collecttion came out.
    Ok for me because im working and want to get these games and save money fairly well but not everyone in that position.

    Prices for video games could be cheaper maybe then more people would buy them. i guess its up to people that make the game to ask themself is this game worth selling at £39- 49 then yes sell it at that price or should we sell it cheaper and maybe sales would increase.

    I read somewhere that prices in uk are falling very quickly compared to other parts of the world, so maybe waiting few weeks is the solution then getting the game.
    Edited by silversun at 22/04/11 @ 10:32

  • itsfuzzy #100 1 year ago

    I would have said throw the idiots in jail so they can get buttfucked in the shower. They would probably enjoy that though. . .

  • kahaunadream #101 1 year ago

    I copied and pasted this article on to my Facebook as a comment and everytime I did it it got REMOVED! WTF??? Why arent we allowed to let everyone know it could be down to anonymous???!!!
    Have a go yourself and see what happens!!!!
    Apparently we cant even play some single player games because of trophy info!
    GREAT!!!!!
    Edited by kahaunadream at 22/04/11 @ 11:24

  • FladgeMangle #102 1 year ago

    Isn't it strange that those people who "use No Cd hacks, download pirated games, movies, TV shows or what have you" always assume everyone else is doing it too?

    No. No we're not.

    I see the bizarrely arrogant "I'm poor so I have a right to steal it" mentality is being paraded about now too. Holy fucksticks, we're doomed.


  • silversun #103 1 year ago

    "Apparently we cant even play some single player games because of trophy info! "

    Which single player games are effected by this on ps 3?


    Would be helpful to know if they end ps 3 support in future.

  • Voz #104 1 year ago

    Well this wouldn't have happened if people would have taken them seriously lol. And if you have a PS3 and a PC well your better off playing portal 2 on your PC instead .

  • man.the.king #105 1 year ago

    @SavageEvil

    Indeed SavageEvil - I'm in the same boat as you. A number of my friends and acquaintances cheat and use tricks like custom Receivers to get free cable and channels and everything. Not only this, they will proudly flaunt this in front of other friends (meaning me). I just don't understand this mentality. As far as I'm concerned, if I cannot afford it or do not want to pay for it, I will GO WITHOUT IT.

    I have never even snuck into another screen in a multiplex (barring one occasion when my wife pressed me - I felt like sinking into my seat and tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible the first 40 or so minutes of the movie - felt like everybody was staring at me).

    As for Machiavellian, I wouldn't put much stock in what he says - what he says very often tends to depend upon the platform he has "chosen to side with".
    Edited by man.the.king at 22/04/11 @ 15:35

  • riseer #106 1 year ago

    Icmnick,You are a moron Sony doesn't want people cracking their console and posting it on the net.Stop being a dickface and understand these guys are assholes for messing up psn for everyone.

  • Bluetooth #107 1 year ago

    This is bollocks and I don't even own a PS3. If people wanted to complain against Sony then they wouldn't buy their products and services, plain and simple. They certainly wouldn't want the network that they play on to be disrupted.

    More likely these loners living with mummy are just targeting the only thing related to Sony available to them - anything actually resembling physical movement, like marching to their HQ, will instantly fry their pale skins.

  • HyperShadow #108 1 year ago

    PSN is down, Sony can't get it back up, Anon had put up a threat days before, now we have blame of conveience.

    The most likely reason is Sony messed up and won't come out and say why due to embarassment. If they were attacked by Anon, surely Sony would have said something to show that it is not their fault and get the gamers on their side?

    Going by previous outages, my blame sits on Sony, after all, you get what you pay for.

  • CallOfDuty_1997 #109 1 year ago

    Anonymous are angry because george hotz "just wanted the inner workings of the ps3" if they are standing up for us why not show your inner workings and tell us your names?

  • kymesh #110 1 year ago

    I too wish I could play COD and hope my stats are safe. But I do not believe it is Anonymous that did this. I can bet that there was an unexpected error in the code to merge the PC and PS3 through Steam and it broke Sony's system. Sony benefits by everyone blaming Anonymous and then has no incentive to put the service back online.Why should they when all the gamers are berating Anonymous as the bad guy. Obviously the education system is a failure for the masses but judging from this response to a game community being offline it is apparent that the Corporate /Government world has succeeded in dumbing down the masses. Sony offers free online access by wrapping the cost into inflated prices but has no obligation to provide it since its free. Nice trick. Lawyers should be banned.
    Anyway, Just getting tired of people lashing out without considering who really benefits from this outage. When you follow the money you always find the culprit. It isn't Anonymous, It is Sony. More than likely it is bad code for integration or bad code from a trap to ban modded systems that accidentally banned all systems. As long as noone is blaming them they will not fix it.
    Please band together and point the finger and blame at Sony. This is just the tip of the iceberg when you consider the magnitude of the problem we are facing with corporate lawyers stripping privacy and rights out of everything just like the government in the USA has already done. The Constitution is now an antique relic that bears no weight in the new US legal system and once that is complete then the elite win without a shot ever being fired. We lose and it won't be just an online game in the end.
    Think people. Please try to remember what freedom was and maybe we can turn the tide and save our societies. One World Government will be a lot worse than "I want to play Call of Duty" The consumer rights are being stripped for the benefit of governments and corporations. When you do not stand up for those rights then you deserve none at all and that is exactly what those in charge have in mind.
    Edited by kymesh at 22/04/11 @ 23:58

  • WH4TNOWFOO #111 1 year ago

    they should make a south park episode on this!!!

  • KilledFirst #112 1 year ago

    When you can't think for yourself, any outside influence is good for you. Hackers are the new hippies, fighting the power and what not; and of course their too scared to use their fists to make their misguided point. Structure saves more lives then it takes, why do you think religion was invented. Even with the education systems today that reach more people, it is still too easy for one ideological idiot to get a bunch of followers. Thinking for yourself must be too taxing on ya. Idiots unite I have an idealistic way of life and you need to follow me in the shadows of fear from the authorities. Ever question why you need to stay ANONYMOUS, like your groups name states. It's not the fear of authority, but it is the fear of being resented by the guy who doesn't agree with your blindly followed cause. Acceptance, the lack there of can break a man.

  • Dushmany #113 1 year ago

    Ok, so I read all of the posts in this article, and noticed no one has asked this question yet, (or at least not that I know of during the time it took me to post this)
    I just wanted to ask, Does any one know when Sony reckon the PSN will be back up and running? Or at least point me in the right direction to go find out pls?

  • Darksjeik #114 1 year ago

    F*** downtime, I just want to know if my creditcard information is safe :(

  • TheGuvernor #115 1 year ago

    Anonymous's attacks against the cult of scientology were fackin' awesome.
    As were their actions over the persecution of Assange after Wikileaks.
    I'm glad they're around.
    Don't know diddly about this Sony b.s.

  • DrMGinius #116 1 year ago

    I just love how Anon "fights for the rights of" everybody despite nobody ever, you know, actually asks them to...

  • memlock101 #117 1 year ago

    They cant admit it cos they know how pissed everyone is but theres no doubt they did it. Sony have got to rebuild the whole thing so they dont get hacked again. Its being switched back on at 5pm gmt 24/04/11

  • Dushmany #118 1 year ago

    Ok, if like me you are reading this to see if there's any news about when the PSN will be live again, I found this article stating it might...Might be up and running by Tuesday, also @ Darksjeik, dude, that's why I wanted to know also, my Card details are on it and that's worrying me too.

    Here's the link (Apologies if I'm not allowed to do this, in which case I'll be happy to remove the link)

    Link removed because it's Tuesday and On MY PS3 it's still down.
    Edited by Dushmany at 26/04/11 @ 18:17

  • TexMurphy01 #119 1 year ago

    I'm fairly sure it wasn't Anonymous. They tend to be the first ones to say if they did it because they're happy for the publicity. Saying it was them when it probably wasn't, gives them app the publicity for none of the effort.

    Sorry wait, this is the Daily Mail website right?

  • icematt12 #120 1 year ago

    Somewhere I looked at over the weekend linked to Anonymous's Facebook page. By their wording they admitted to it, apologising to the owners and saying to bear with it. Two demands as well mentioned, to run whatever software they want and the return of Linux. SCE might as well do the second, hasn't exactly helped to prevent piracy.

    If my own interpretations, there are two possible scenarios. The first is that they basically lied to the people they claim they are fighting for, that and being responsible for taking down PSN can't be good for their respect from PS3 owners. The second is they are trying to save face for people acting on their own, like in a film I saw (possibly The Sum of All Fears). Rogue Russian aircraft attack US forces, Russian President says it was an ordered attack. He claims better to do that, risking WW3, than to look incompetent. Personally, my money's on the second.

    I'll look to see if can find their FB page again, not a big fan of the site as a whole.

    EDIT - 2 quotes from their FB page

    There are things that go beyond your personal pleasure... you may not be able to enjoy things because of our actions but it is for a greater cause. Fri 3:55am

    Take a break from online gaming for a while.....it will help your skills, your health, and your emotional levels, which by the way are a bit out of order if they are being shackled by the PSN being down. We have no qualms about our actions, even though it may affect fellow anonymous or supporters... we hope they understand the bigger picture. Friday 4:21am

    Edited by icematt12 at 25/04/11 @ 12:28

  • dethridge1 #121 1 year ago

    this isn't saw, take off the mask and give up already i want to go online!!.

  • themrbran #122 1 year ago

    "Anonymous is not attacking the PSN at this time," Anonymous said. "We realise that targeting the PSN is not a good idea. We have therefore temporarily suspended our action, until a method is found that will not severely impact Sony customers.

    "Anonymous is on your side, standing up for your rights. We are not aiming to attack customers of Sony. This attack is aimed solely at Sony, and we will try our best to not affect the gamers, as this would defeat the purpose of our actions. If we did inconvenience users, please know that this was not our goal.


    Like they said they do not want to target the customers they are simply targeting Sony and it is Sonys fault that PSN is down they were not trying to steal info they just wanted to give back To customers. Yes it sucks it is down but I like anonymous for what they are trying to do

  • MarioCarnello #123 1 year ago

    @themrbran - you say it's not the Anonymous group, because they said it isn't them. Do you always believe what criminals tell you?

    If it IS the case it was an outsider working under the Anonymous umbrella without their knowledge, it is STILL them to blame - it wouldnt have happened if they didnt start it in the first place. Bunch of pathetic morons, all of them.

  • gamer95 #124 1 year ago

    If you are against anger don't read.
    They call themselves our FRIENDS?? They ruined our gaming. I don't give a damn what they do but NOT ending PSN.

  • Emyylii #125 1 year ago

    anonymous hasn't attacked Sony, for your information a ddos attack on Sony would require so many computers that it's totally implausible; To ddos something you have to overload the traffic it usually would receive; PSN receives millions of users at a time all over the world, there is no way for it to be held offline by a ddos attack.

    Though saying that, if the reporter on this article did a little digging, they would find out that jailbreaking your playstation lets you download anything you like off playstation store by pretending to be a developer console, this in of itself makes PSN as it was before the shut down a bigger source of copyrighted material than the pirate bay, and as such Sony have spun a little 'oh it's not us doing it' PR campaign and shut it down to fix it, you want people to blame, blame the PSN users that downloaded the jailbreaking torrent off the pirate bay.

  • bacnch13 #126 1 year ago

    Wow thank god for these hacktivist to fight the evil empire that is sony!lol We have two wars going on and the world econemy is in the toilet and they are mad at a toy maker.lol

  • marni84 #127 1 year ago

    ''doctor_what: Yeah, it could be Anon, or possibly trying to get PSN and Steam to play nicely together has seriously buggered something up. I suspect my scenario might be more likely. '' finally someone that is speaking sense, someone that has actually bothered to look into this rather than just believe the rumours they hear. FOR THE RECORD: SONY WANTED TO INCORPERATE 'STEAM' WITH 'PSN' FOR THE RELEASE OF PORTAL 2 (its kind of like trying to link psn and xbox live together in certain ways, in other words...very difficult) so because of this Sony were already in the process of altering aspects of psn. isn't it a bit of a coincidence that psn got hacked at EXACTLY THE SAME TIME????? hmmmm, but Sony wouldn't be dishonest to you as a customer or rip you off would they now?????? its not like they've done it before is it??? its not like people go around hacking Sony's websites etc because of how poorly they treat their customers. come on people, wake up!!!!!!