Sony, poor Sony.
 
It’s been a rough past few months for the technological giant, and the company just can’t seem to catch a break.
 
For those who haven’t been following along (or are in need of a quick recap), Sony’s PlayStation division has been under attack.
 
Back in January, hacker George “GeoHot” Hotz cracked the PlayStation 3 root key.
 
By doing so, he allowed owners to modify or alter their PS3 in ways other than Sony intended.
 
Sony then filed a lawsuit against GeoHot, and the Internet came running to GeoHot’s defense.
 
Other hackers “declared war” on Sony, bringing its website and the PlayStation Store down.
 
Sony quickly settled on the lawsuit with GeoHot, and it seemed all was well.
 
Wrong.
 
Sony then discovered an “external intrusion” and brought the PlayStation Network offline, disabling online play and the PlayStation store.
 
However, they were too late.
 
Hackers had broken through Sony’s security, compromising the personal information of approximately 77 million users.
 
This put the community up in arms.
 
Users not only had personal information including names, addresses, credit card numbers, etc. in the hands of a stranger, but were also unable to play games online.
 
After weeks of waiting, PSN did come back online.
 
The plan was simple.
 
First, users had to update their PS3s and change their passwords.
 
After successful password changes, players were allowed access to online play as well as other services such as movie rentals.
 
Unfortunately, a glitch in the password change update allowed hackers to secure users’ information yet again.
 
Strike two, Sony.
 
Finally, Sony promised to have the PSN Store up and running by the end of May.
 
While Sony broke that promise as well, the store (and the rest of PSN) became fully operational again June 2.
 
Attempting to win back the hearts of disgruntled gamers everywhere, Sony is offering free games with its “Welcome Back” program.
 
PS3 users with registered PSN IDs will be able to choose two of five games to download for free.
 
These games include: “Dead Nation,” “inFAMOUS,” “LittleBigPlanet,” “Super Stardust HD” and “Wipeout HD.”
 
While “inFAMOUS” and “LittleBigPlanet” easily top the list, I already own retail copies of both games, so I’m going with “Dead Nation” and
“Super Stardust HD.”
 
Also, PSP users will be able to download two of the following as well: “Killzone Liberation,” “LittleBigPlanet,” “Modnation Racers” and “Pursuit Force.”
 
Finally, Sony is offering a 30-day free trial of its premium service PlayStation Plus to all users.
 
Free stuff definitely doesn’t hurt, but is it enough to win back the hearts and trust of those betrayed gamers?
 
Will it be enough to pull Sony out of the $3.2 billion hole it projected last fiscal year?
 
That’s up for the gamers to decide.
 
Vote with your wallets, people, and don’t forget to download the free games Sony is offering.
 
Even if you’re leaving them, might as well take everything you can get before you head for the door.
Adam Arinder is a 21-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
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Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]