When PSN is no longer down, PS3 gamers should get these perks from Sony

Written by Matt Swider on April 25, 2011

News: PSN is still down, but that doesn't mean Sony's strategy team should be offline. They should be working around the clock right now like tech support.

The PSN outage over the last four and a half days has roiled the PlayStation videogame community. Unable to play online games on the PS3 and PSP, many disgruntled gamers are trolling the Internet for updates about the network's status. Almost every site that you turn to, whether it's Facebook, Twitter or right here in our comments, there's someone suggesting that they want a free game.

Yes, PlayStation Network is a free service, which contrasts with Xbox Live's required paid subscription. Xbox 360 owners fork over $60 a year for many of the privileges, though, Amazon.com sells a 12-month XBL Gold subscription card for as little as $43. Regardless of that discount, PSN costs exactly $0. Online gaming, chatting with friends and access to Netflix isn't behind a paid wall.

But gamers who bought into the idea of free online gaming - to the tune of $500 for the console and $60 for each game - should receive something from Sony besides "Sorry. Our bad!" This is a disaster that can't be quickly swept under the rug. Not when you just sold three of the hottest titles, all of which contain online play: SOCOM 4, Mortal Kombat and Portal 2.

If there's a silver lining, Sony does have options in making it up to its ticked-off fanbase and many of them are just good business strategy.

1. Earth to Sony?! Why did Gaming Target receive a 2266% increase in hits? "What we have here is Sony's failure to communicate!"

You read that number right - this site received a 2266% spike in hits from Thursday (usually a busy day) to Saturday (usually a slow day). It can't be denied: One of Sony's biggest weaknesses has been its lack of communication. Why do I have hundreds of thousands of hits that weren't there in previous days and a thousand new comments from angry and bored PS3 users asking "WTF is up with PSN?" The company's details have been sparse and no one is to blame but Sony. The evidence is right on this site - our servers crash every time we post something that even mentions the PSN outage. That's how much people are searching for an answer... that's how much Sony isn't providing its users with the proper details.

2. Announce the PSN Vault - Make people feel safe

The name "PSN Vault" sounds like pure marketing, but the value of assuring users that their credit card and personal information is safe goes beyond the public relations department. People want to know that their data is in secure hands, so coming out with a detailed statement saying just that should be job number two for Sony. Additionally, the name can help sell this so-called "rebuilt security for PSN" as the real deal that won't disrupt future Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer sessions.

3. PlayStation Plus free trial for all those affected

This one is just good marketing. The extra-laden PlayStation Plus service costs $50 a year or $18 for a month. Every month, the subscription grants you a few "free" games (if you continue to pay your dues), cloud storage for $150 MB worth of game saves, PlayStation Store discounts, early access to demos and betas and one-hour full game trials for select games. But there's no free trial offer to get us hooked. Seeing how the free downloadable games expire as soon as the PS Plus account does, Sony has the potential to rope in new users who refuse to give up on certain titles, while users have the benefit of trying out a much-ignored feature that is unfortunately behind a pay wall.

4. Pull a Microsoft: Give users a free downloadable game

In January of 2008, Microsoft remedied a series of Xbox Live outages during the preceding holidays by offering its users a free XBLA game. The title, from developer Chair Entertainment, was Undertow and it was made available for free for a period of four days. Granted, Microsoft was charging $50 a year for Xbox Live at the time, so Sony doesn't have to give everyone a free game - but it should. A peaceful game like Flower (pictured above) would help soothe everyone's frazzled nerves.

5. Don't go after people like George Hotz, then try to hire another hacker who did the same thing to a Motorola product

Ooo. Look at that 21-year-old menace to society! George Hotz, or geohot, decided to take a break from unlocking iPhones and, instead, jailbroke his PS3. He then went on to post a video online, publicly detailing how to access everything that Sony doesn't want you to access inside the machine that you bought. In an attempt to silence Hotz, Sony set out to take him to court.

Trying to take a hacker to court wasn't just a dumb move on Sony's part because hackers everywhere may have messed with the network. It was also dumb because the company tried to hire a hacker who jailbroke the Motorola Xoom tablet. Koushik Dutta was the first person to hack the rival tech company's device, so Sony offered him a job. That offer was turned down by Dutta, who responded with:

"I appreciate that you reached out to me. The opportunity does sound very interesting! However, due to Sony's recent treatment of a fellow hacker, George Hotz, I could not in good conscience work at Sony."

Class move. Sony, you can't sue one hacker and attempt to hire another who is guilty of the same "crime."

There's no question that Sony needs to act in the best interest of its users right now and restoring online gaming with a couple of perks is necessary, even for a free service. I appreciate all of the extra website traffic and visitor feedback, I really do. It's what I live for. However, PlayStation needs to reach out to them - not me. Constant updates on the progress of the servers should have been there from the start. Sony should be letting everyone know that it's working on the problems at hand, even if it means filming the tech fixes and turning it as a web-based reality TV show. It would sure beat The Tester.

In the meantime, want a free game? We're giving away Homefront for PS3! Click the image below to Like us and comment!