411 Games Fact or Fiction 05.03.11: PSN, Madden, 3DS and More

Posted by Adam Larck on 05.03.2011

Is the fan service being provided in Call of Duty: Black Ops' zombie DLC a good thing? Will Sony lose its fan base because of the PSN outage? Is the Madden 12 cover athlete a joke? 411’s Armando Rodriguez and Dan Watson debate these questions and more in this week’s 411 Fact or Fiction: Games!

Welcome back to another week of 411 Games Fact or Fiction. I'm Adam Larck, and I'm one Achievement away from perfecting Portal 2. Other than that, I've just been playing some Mortal Kombat and Din's Curse.

This week, we have Armando Rodriguez going up against Dan Watson. Let's see how these two do. Time for banner!





1.) Sony will lose a lot of its fan-base with the recent PSN intrusion.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: I have read a ton of complaints on the internet and people claiming they are going to switch consoles. However, if Microsoft didn't lose their support with the "Red Ring of Death" and other faults, I really don't think this will affect Sony this generation as much as I think it could. It will cost them money, it will cost them potential new consumers, but those that already have the system will stay put. I chose Fact because of all the negative comments in the internet, but it all might be people blowing hot air.

Dan Watson - Fiction: Sony Fans are not buying a PlayStation 3 for the internet system this console supplies. The PlayStation Network has always been this system's Achilles' tendon. I still play my PS3 and am not concerned about the hacking. Things happen, when you have a database of millions of people, of course people are going to try to hack it. Sony wasn't prepared for this obviously but they made themselves a target by all this anti-hacking nonsense that they have been talking about. So short answer, no Sony will not lose any fans.

Score: 0 for 1 - I think the main difference between the 360 and PS3 is that Sony lost customer info. They could see their user-base dropping a decent amount after this.



2.) It's no surprise that lawsuits and fines are hitting Sony about the PSN intrusion.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: Sensitive information like credit card numbers can really break someone. This can lead to identity theft and other more serious scenarios. There is nothing worse than finding out there is another YOU in India or somewhere like that and that he owes thousands of dollars that are now being dropped on you. So really, the lawsuits, fines and government investigations are expected. Sony will learn from this and do better and really, that's all that we ask. If the rumors of the "Custom Firmware" that led to this are true, then it was Sony's fault for being overly trusting. I don't know if I am taking this better than others because I didn't have any credit card info on the system (always buy PSN Cards), but I really believe this could have happened to anyone.

Dan Watson - Fact: Microsoft had class action lawsuits for the red ring, of course Sony was going to have lawsuits when anyone who was registered possibly had their identity compromised. In the end, I am sure Sony will offer some sort of free download or some nonsense. This was very much expected and will be settled quickly I am sure.

Score: 1 for 2 - By the time this is done, Sony will have a much lighter wallet.



3.) Another attack like this will affect either Microsoft or Sony in the future.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: Sony was the victim this time because they where dumb enough to challenge the hackers. Let Bill Gates or someone from the big M do the same and the same things will happen. I mean, these people have hacked banks and government computers, do you think PSN or Xbox Live have more security than that? To all the Xbots that are gloating now about how "that's why we pay for Xbox Live" I just hope this doesn't happen to you, BECAUSE IT CAN! Now, be men and admit that you pay for Xbox Live because if you didn't you could not play online. That's the real reason. Microsoft's got your balls there. Back on topic, yes, as long as there are hackers the chance of this happening again to Sony, Microsoft or even Nintendo (if they launch a dedicated online service with the next console) will be there. 

Dan Watson - Fact: Hacking attacks on video games were only a matter of time. Look how much information they collect from you when you are just setting up your system and getting ready to play. Additionally, with so many people buying the consoles it was only a matter of time until someone started hacking and getting information on everyone. Maybe this will curb how DLC is purchased and how often it is released or what information is collected each time you set up a new account.

Score: 2 for 3 - Like Armando said, the next group to tick off a big group of hackers will probably suffer the same fate.

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4.) It's odd that Modern Warfare 2 has been hit with a phishing scam on the 360, but no other game has.

Dan Watson - Fiction: What game is played more than any other game on Xbox 360? Again, you aren't going to attack a game that no one is playing. You attack the big game and get as much information as possible. If you get busted, at least you did it on the big game, if you don't get caught you just got a ton of information on a lot of people.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: I guess the same principles apply to the original Modern Warfare, Black Ops and pretty much every other online game, so the fact that only MW2 has been a victim of this is pretty strange. Something tells me it happens in other games, they just haven't found out yet.

Score: 2 for 4 - Honestly, I'm curious as to what the scams have been.



5.) You think the Madden 12 cover athlete is a joke.

Dan Watson - Fiction: I think this is an interesting pick. Peyton Hillis didn't even start the season as a started last year. He became a fantasy football stud but didn't lead the league in any big stats, except fumbles. I would say that the city of Cleveland has been cursed for a long time, so maybe they finally get the curse lifted because of John Madden. You can't really blame the Madden curse if he has a bad season, you just blame that he is a Brown. Overall, I'd say this is great for EA and the Madden name. If you had Vick, you would have had so many crazy ass people out there screaming that he is a felon and they aren't letting their kids play the game.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: I swear, people did this on purpose to mess with EA. Of all the nominees, they selected the only guy I didn't know or care about. I hope they don't do this with their upcoming NBA franchise, or we will end up with Brian Scalabrine on the cover.

Score: 2 for 5 - Who knows, maybe next year the 12th Man will be on the cover. That's about the only other "person" on the vote that was less of a joke.

Video Games | Call of Duty: Black Ops | Escalation DLC: Call of the Dead Trailer

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

6.) You like the fan service that's being shown in the upcoming Black Ops Zombie map.

Dan Watson - Fact: I like anytime a company makes the fanbase happy. If they made the map pack free, that would be even better but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. Overall, the company needs to make as many fans as possible happy after all the recent issues they have gone through.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: I hate to be so agreeable with everything, but fan service is always a good thing. We all like to see things that we love or are familiar with and a decent amount of fan service might even lead to increased sales. Not that this map pack needs that, it will sell a katrillion, but it is still nice to see.

Score: 3 for 6 - This seems like a great idea, and a good touch for a Zombie map to set it apart from the rest.



Bonus Question.) The 3DS only selling 3.61 million units so far is not surprising.

Dan Watson - Fact: One of the problems is that the system is in short order everywhere I go. I haven't seen many in stock after launch week and that is one reason they haven't sold more units. I would have thought 5 million would be a target they were hoping for at this point. I also think that the handheld market is falling apart because of so many phones have apps that compete with these handheld consoles. After doing a bit more research Nintendo was projecting 4 million sold by March 31. Here we are a month later and they haven't hit that goal yet. I am also tired of hearing the excuse that the economy is bad. The economy didn't slow down Kinect or IPad. The 3D fad is passing quickly as well. Pick any of those reasons as a fact.

Armando Rodriguez - Fiction: We have two understand two things: 1) It has a pretty high price point when compared to the cheaper DS and PSP. 2) It was launched in the middle of "The death" period of gaming. Had this come out closer to the holiday season those numbers would have doubled at least. Those two things combined make it a hard sell. Plus, since it looks so much like the DS and the DS had a billion versions, parents are still confused about this. Is it just another version of the same DS, or is it something brand new? I know this because I worked at a game store during the holiday period when pre-orders started and that was the most common question. Things will improve as we get closer to Christmas.

Adam Larck - Fact: I personally think "the death" period of gaming is over. Games have now proven that they can sell throughout the year, as long as they're marketed right and garner interest. I think the main problem here is the price. For a handheld system to cost more than a console can scare a lot of gamers away. Sure, the 3D is an interesting feature, but can strain your eyes and has to be at a near-perfect angle to use. It will still end up selling great in the long run I think, but its current start doesn't surprise me a bit.

The pair finish this week 3-for-6. What do you think? Agree or disagree with their answers? Let us know. See you in seven!