It’s a regular apocalypse for PlayStation 3 owners (or should I say, ApocalyPS3?) as the console has been brought to its knees once again. Last year it was an internal clock error, brought upon by the console not recognizing that 2010 was not a leap year, and now it seems the menace may be more serious than our wacky calendar system.

For those of you unaware, it’s been a dark time for Playstation players as users have been unable to sign onto Sony’s internal network, PlayStation Network (PSN), due to internal system errors which PlayStation is reporting is due to “external intrusion” – which leads everyone to think of one possible suspect: Hackers.

It’s been rather well-known that PlayStation has been working overtime to gain back control of their console from the tech-savvy hands of hackers such as George Hotz or the now infamous Hactvist group “Anonymous”, but now there seem to be a new causality: the players.

First and foremost, I should make my view on these hackers clear. I cannot side with these apparent “Robin Hood” like characters, who claim they’re sticking it to the man when in reality they’re just sticking it to the players. In my opinion, the PlayStation company still has its money, but the players don’t have their games.

Booooo!

If the reason behind the PlayStation Network blackout is due to the outside forces of hackers, then this is just another reason why I cannot bring myself to side with their cause.

Not only that, but if the fear that security of personal account information has been compromised due to this external intrusion, then these so-called “righteous” hackers have now crossed the line into the territory of Identity Theft.

The PlayStation Network connects more than 70 million users, meaning they have the personal information of all those players. Credit Card information, mailing address – everything could now be at the fingertips to whomever has taken control of network.

It Only Does Identity Theft

It would be nice if PlayStation would give an update regarding this fear, but too bad they don’t comment on rumors or speculation.

While the Senior Director of Corporate Communications for PlayStation, Patrick Seybold, is updating the PlayStation Blog with new breakthroughs regarding the network’s reconstruction, it seems that he’s saying a lot of nothing. The only news players have gotten from these posts can be simplified to, “We’re working on it.”

When dealing with a situation that could compromise user’s personal finances, I think we deserve more than a “Hold tight” from the company.

I can understand why PlayStation does not wish to be a transparent company at this time, because if we knew the extent of the situation gamers would pretty much freak out. However, we’re already freaking out – our games don’t run, our service is cut and we have no idea what’s going on with our account information.

No news is not always good news, and ignorance is not always bliss.

The least Sony can do is provide us with a timetable for when PSN will be up and running again, or a status on our personal account information.

Another side to this coin could very well be that Sony knows just as little as we do, and if that’s the case then this is a far more serious situation than anyone is reporting.

EDIT: And now we’re all totally fucked.