Feature: PlayStation 3 Retrospective - Part Two

2011: Down But Not Out

2011 was poised to be a good year for PS3. Going into January there was a lot of emphasis on Sony’s enormous first-party line-up. Big titles such as LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, MotorStorm Apocalypse and inFAMOUS 2 were all scheduled to release in the first half of the year, prompting heavy awareness of Sony’s reconsidered first-party strategy. But disaster struck.

On 20th April 2011, the PlayStation Network went offline. It wasn’t the first time the PSN had been pulled offline – a similar event occurred the previous year – and many assumed that Sony was simply suffering from a network issue. The following day, with the service still offline, the PlayStation Blog issued a statement that suggested the cause of the downtime was “being investigated” and that it may take “a full day or two” to get the service fully functional again.

The reason for the outage was due to an external intrusion, which caused mass hysteria at the time. Sony advised customers to be vigilant with bank statements and passwords, as it could not rule out the possibility of a data leak. It did later reveal that all sensitive information was properly encrypted – despite rumours to the contrary – and indicated that the service would return once it had taken the necessary measures to secure its network.

PSN finally resumed normal operations on 15th May 2011, nearly a month after going offline.

In an attempt to reinstate consumer confidence, Sony Computer Entertainment’s Kaz Hirai publically apologised to customers as part of a webcast, and announced the Welcome Back plan. The apologetic promotion included several games, in addition to a month’s free access to PlayStation Plus and more. Sony also teamed up with AllClear ID, an identity theft and data breach response company, in order to give customers peace of mind.

While there were reports of credit card fraud attached to the PlayStation Network intrusion, nothing was ever officially linked. Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer later clarified that there was “no confirmed evidence [that] any credit card or personal information has been misused.”

On 23rd May 2011, Sony revealed that the PlayStation Network outage would cost the company $171 million. SCEA president Jack Tretton later apologised for the intrusion at E3, and took a moment to reassure customers that the company had significantly bolstered its security measures. The industry would be struck by a series of other hack attacks, including intrusions on Nintendo and Square Enix’s websites, before the year closed.

Still reeling from the outage of its network, Sony used its E3 2011 conference to reinstate positivity in the future of the PlayStation platform. Having made so many strides throughout 2009 and 2010, the hack attack initially seemed like a massive set back, but it was quickly forgotten as the network returned to normal and gaming returned to the forefront. What seemed like the end of the world in mid-Spring had quickly evaporated into a bad memory by the end of the year.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception set the pace for Sony’s E3 conference, with Naughty Dog once again raising the graphical fidelity bar by showing an exquisite set piece from the game’s cruise ship stage. Other games included Resistance 3, the ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and the ambitious MMO crossover DUST 514.

Unsurprisingly it was Nathan Drake’s latest adventure which stole all the plaudits for PS3 in 2011. The game released in early November to expected critical acclaim. In spite of the strong review scores, some players criticised Uncharted 3’s default control scheme, infamously forcing Naughty Dog to invite some members of the NeoGAF forum to its head office in order to discuss the issues with a couple of the game’s technical engineers. A patch was later introduced to help alleviate the control concerns.

But with Uncharted 3 out of the way, Naughty Dog wasn’t done with 2011 just yet. Leading into the end of the year there was heavy speculation about a mysterious PlayStation 3 exclusive horror title. A sneaky reference to the game was later uncovered in Uncharted 3, but it wasn’t until 10th December 2011 at the Spike TV awards that the pieces finally clicked into place. Naughty Dog announced that it had expanded its studio into two teams and was working on an upcoming PS3 exclusive called The Last of Us. The debut trailer showed a gritty, futuristic world in which the planet’s population had been adversely affected by a fungal infection. The team expressed their desire to tell an emotional, character driven tale in a terrifying world.

2011 was without doubt the most tumultuous for PS3 yet. It was ushered in with positivity, and ended with similar excitement. But the PlayStation Network outage severely hindered the system’s Spring months, and while the hack was quickly forgotten due to a humble response, it certainly impacted what should have been the best year for PlayStation 3 yet.

2012: To Infinity and Beyond

2012’s been a quiet year for PlayStation thus far. In previous years its release schedule has been fairly well known, but this year Sony has opted to play its cards a little closer to its chest. Rumours are rife regarding the release of a Super Smash Bros.-style brawler called Title Fight, in addition to the impending arrival of a new God of War, but at the time of writing nothing is official.

In spite the secrecy surrounding its upcoming releases, Sony may have already stolen game of the year with March’s release of Journey. Voted by Push Square staff members as the greatest PS3 title to date, thatgamecompany’s PSN exclusive has captured hearts with its intelligent multiplayer integration and stunning art direction.

What comes next, though, is excitingly unclear. With Sony shying away from a PlayStation 4 announcement, this year’s E3 press conference is certain to be packed with surprises. Will we get a new God of War in time for Christmas? Is Title Fight a real product? And what’s next for the PlayStation brand? We wished we had a crystal ball to tell you – but part of the excitement, as always, is being part of the journey and uncovering it together. We’ll be with you every step of the way.

Feel free to share some of your favourite (or, indeed, least favourite) PS3 memories in the comments below.