With the recent security breach of the Playstation Network, many people are expressing some hesitation at the thought of purchasing content on the PSN once it gets back up. That’s a very understandable worry, given what’s happened. The funny thing is that when the PSN does come back online it will be a much more secure and better protected system than what it previously was. However, its reasonable to expect there to be a stigma around using a service that just got hit hard by a hacker attack and lost all of your personal data and probably lost most if not all of your credit card data.
That doesn’t change the fact that there’s a lot of worthwhile content on the Playstation Network. There’s a wealth of quality PSN games, PSOne classic games, and game add-ons to choose from. So how to get all this content once the PSN comes back online? I’m sure many gamers know by now that Sony sells PSN Cards in stores that can be redeemed on the PSN for credit. They come in $20 and $50 varieties and can be found at just about any retailer that sells video games. There’s also a lot of options online as well. Amazon, Best Buy, and Gamestop all sell digital code versions of these cards, meaning that as soon as you purchase them you will have access to the code so you can redeem it immediately. From skimming the reviews Amazon’s service seems to work the smoothest for this. Both Best Buy and Gamestop reviews seemed pretty pleased with their purchases, but there were a few instances of buyers complaining that they had to wait hours or even days for their codes to be emailed to them.
What’s probably less well known is that you can purchase PSN content directly from these online retailers as well. Amazon has an entire section for the Playstation Network where you can purchase just about any game that is currently on the PSN as well as a good selection of add-on content (Rock Band tracks don’t seem to be available though, sadly). Amazon seems to have taken the most time to set up their PSN storefront, with full navigation options featured content.
Best Buy has a very sparse selection of PSN games to download. There’s less than 20 games at the time of this writing in fact. And there doesn’t seem to be any add-on content available.
Gamestop offers a bit more selection than Best Buy, with over 100 full PSN games and over 150 pieces of add-on content. Their navigation is a bit messy though. It’s basically just a search result.
If you’re looking for the quickest way to get PSN content, Amazon is your best bet. Over 1,200 games, over 650 pieces of add-on content, plus 100s of PSP and PSOne Classic games. All three retailers offer quick solutions for acquiring redeemable codes for pre-paid PSN Cards, although Amazon is again the smoothest here.
In the wake of what’s happened to the Playstation Network many gamers are going to be a lot more careful of where and who they give out their private information to. That’s understandable. I also expect that Sony is going to have to work very hard for a long time to rebuild trust in the security of their online services. But in the meantime, there’s still plenty of ways to acquire and enjoy PSN content.
Happy gaming.
