After some careful consideration, I've determined my course going forward with Sony after the recent catastrophe that is their response to the intrusion on their systems.
As much as I enjoy the PS3, I can't in good conscience continue to support a company that so blatantly lied to, and then suppressed information from their customers. As consumers, we vote with our wallets, and Sony will receive far fewer of my dollars from here on out. I used to buy every game I could on the PS3 if it was multi-platform despite the fact I knew it would afford me a smaller pool of potential online players so I could support the system that I preferred. That now changes. For the foreseeable future, unless it's a PS3 exclusive, my future game purchases will be made for the 360. I'm not foolish enough to make a blanket statement that I'll never buy a PS3 game again, because I know that I can't miss out on some of those great games. However, at least 10 games per year that would have went toward licensing fees for Sony will no longer go there. If I give them two or three as opposed to 12 or 13, I can live with that. And for those that are "selling their PS3" out there, you're proving nothing. Someone new now owns a PS3 and will be purchasing games for it. If anything, Sony actually gains in that equation because they have a new user that must create a PS3 library of games.
In addition, my personal information that Sony keeps will no longer be accurate. Let me make one thing crystal clear here. I'm in the IT industry. I know that anyone can be hacked at any time. What is unforgivable is that Sony should have informed their customers the millisecond they had any inkling at all that customer information was at risk. This would have let their customers begin proactive measures to protect their credit and have their shields up against potential scams. It is for this reason that I no longer trust Sony to hold my accurate personal information.
This greatly saddens me, as despite many people's criticisms of Sony's business practices, I've never had a problem with Sony as a company. I've used many of their products (owned a couple of surround systems and a big screen TV) and have always been happy with their performance. I certainly can't say I have any problem with the quality of the items they manufacture. Unfortunately for them, they've broken my trust as a consumer. That will take a long time to rebuild, if it can ever be rebuilt at all.
