PlayStation Update: Asia Given Go-Ahead for PSN Reboot, PS4 Confirmed?

By James Lee Phillips

May 29, 2011 10:25 AM EDT

Sony may very well feel that the company is taking heat from all sides. In the aftermath of a devastating series of PlayStation Network breaches that compromised over 100 million users' personal information, the company's security and willingness to be forthcoming has been called into question by consumers, investors, and government regulators alike.

While online gamers in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East have been enjoying a mostly restored PlayStation Network for nearly two weeks now, Sony is still dealing with a fresh batch of SQL Injection attacks in several countries, a class-action lawsuit, political pressure, and a surge in PS3 returns (made even more bitter by the likelihood of exchanging the console for an Xbox 360 instead).

Meanwhile, gamers in Asia seem largely unimpressed by both the time it has taken to restore the network as well as Sony's peace offerings, which (in comparison to the US) leave out the free identity theft protection and offer a more limited list of free games. Sony's home base of Japan dealt the company a practical as well as symbolic blow last Monday when regulators refused the initial request for a PSN restart, requiring more reassurance of network security.

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The good news? Sony has promised to bring the PSN back online sometimes tomorrow in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Players in South Korea and Hong Kong are still left out until further notice.

So it may come as less of a surprise yesterday when Eurogamer reported that Sony CFO and Executive VP Masaru Kato was hinting about a next-generation console during a conference call. Understandably, investors were concerned that Sony seemed to be spending R&D money during a time when public relations and security investments seemed to be more prudent. Kato defended the expense, saying "...this is a platform business, so for the future platform - when we’ll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that - but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there."

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Obviously, Kato is not about to confirm that a PS4 is in the works, but with the E3 conference right around the corner, Sony is all-to-aware that long-time rival Nintendo is poised to unleash the sequel to their blockbuster Wii console. The original version eschewed more powerful hardware and next-gen graphics in favor of casual and social gameplay, not to mention a significantly lower price point. Both Sony and Microsoft spent considerable time and expense to catch up, and the last thing Sony needed was a lack of confidence among the very segment of consumers (and investors) that will be most interested in the possibility of a Wii 2.

James Lee Phillips is a Senior Writer & Research Analyst for IBG.com. With offices in Dallas, Las Vegas, and New York, & London, IBG is quickly becoming the leading expert in Internet Marketing, Local Search, SEO, Website Development and Reputation Management. More information can be found at www.ibg.com.

This article is contributed by IBG.com and does not represent the views or opinions of International Business Times.