PSN set for 'best Christmas ever' despite 2011 hack woes

PSN set for 'best Christmas ever' despite 2011 hack woes
PSilent night

Sony seems to have put this year's mega PlayStation Network outage firmly behind it, revealing that the network is set for its best Christmas ever.

As well as pontificating on just what the company learned from the hacking scandal, as well as pointing out that loads of companies have been hacked this year, not just Sony you know and no credit card details were actually taken and, if you think about it, it's probably not really Sony's fault at all, Sony Network Entertainment head Tim Shaaf explained that the only way is up for the PSN.

Those pesky hackers

"We had a kind of a wake up call in terms of the nature of the [hacking] community we have to deal with, but I think this is going to be a fact of life as we go forward," he said, speaking at a roundtable event that TechRadar attended.

"We're not going to let it slow things down. We were, of course, concerned that customers wouldn't come back to the network, but the vast majority of customers came back right away.

"And since then many more customers have joined – in fact, we'll have our best Christmas ever this year. As far as customers are concerned, the balance of benefit and risk isn't skewed to risk side.

"There's just unquenchable thirst for this internet stuff."

Yes, that internet stuff is mighty compelling. Sony reckons it will release around 300 million new devices in the next couple of years, and it hopes to make all of them connected to its streaming services offered on the PlayStation Network, as well as opening its doors to devices on other platforms.

The PlayStation suite is already on its way to non-Sony-made Android phones, while plans for music streaming via Music Unlimited on iOS devices will also be revealed soon.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.