Bin Laden has killed over three thousand innocent Americans, while Colonel Gaddafi has terrorised the lives of Libya’s six million inhabitants; however, we are involved in an even greater strife. A strife which has left a hundred million people worldwide in a suicidal state of sorrow and solitary: a strife in which the online Playstation Network has stopped working.
The anger of millions is exploding through both the virtual and real world, because around 80 per cent of Playstation Network users have had their personal details stolen by hackers, while Sony are left prostrate in a come-and-get-me plea to criminals that even Dale Winton couldn’t refuse.
And they have good reason to be annoyed. The Playstation Network has provided endless entertainment to the masses; be it because of an enthralling ten kill streak on Black Ops or a letter of apology on FIFA. Yet the victims are not angry because their personal details have been breached, but because they have been unable to go online for so long. Rather than accepting that these things take time, many are becoming infuriatingly impatient as to how long it has taken for Sony to fix it. It is this impatience which has come to epitomise British society.
Ask any child what they want to be when they’re older and they’ll unequivocally answer with the f-word: “famous”.Despite knowing nothing about fame or how they are going to achieve it, the mantra of having everything now and doing nothing for it remains.
In games you can have any and every dream satiated: from being a title-winning football manager to being acclaimed for your singing exploits. But in reality the zenith of this unfilled desire has seen thousands of moronic hopefuls apply for ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ to cling to their dreams of fame and fortune. One stands just as much success this way as Bin Laden does of walking through the streets of Washington D.C.
Sony has apologised to the online Playstation community and has offered free one-year insurance packages and games to those who have been affected. As noble a gesture as it may seem, Sony is just as sardonic in preserving the ‘want culture,’ by offering gifts that will only provide short-term relief to those affected; meeting the current whims of gamers, so long as Sony’s profit margins are not deeply affected in the future.
So how can we lead the revolution against our impatient society? One way would be to resist watching talent shows which manipulate its audience into believing they can achieve anything without effort. However, there is something amusing in doing so. Ignoring the criminality of hacking into the Playstation Network, it may be a blessing in disguise in fighting our over-demanding society. The disruption has forced people to be patient, which is ironic given the on-demand world which games create.
It took almost ten years to capture the world’s most wanted man – it happened through the virtue of patience. Perhaps without the vagaries of media manipulation and the facade of fame we could overcome this society of expectancy minus effort. Until then, so long as the Playstation Network is down, we should all be amazed at what the Americans can accomplish.