Sony Merges PlayStation Network Into Broader Online Services

The Tokyo-based tech giant continues to align its once-independent PlayStation platform with its other products and services

By Jay Alabaster
Tue, February 07, 2012

IDG News Service — Sony will merge its PlayStation online gaming service into its broader online platform from Tuesday.

The company said in a message to PlayStation Network users that their accounts will be rebranded under the Sony Entertainment Network. Online PlayStation users will be rerouted to a new login screen for the more general service, and the first time they sign in will have to agree to a slightly different privacy policy, including new terms related to parental controls.

Sony emphasized that only the name of the network will change, and all login details will remain the same. The move is the latest by the company to integrate its PlayStation platform into its broader services and products, a shift that incoming CEO Kazuo Hirai has said is crucial to its strategy. Last year, Sony combined all of its electronics goods, game consoles and network platforms into a single division, with Hirai in charge, after moving its gaming division from the trendy Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo to the more business-like Shinagawa district, next to its headquarters, in 2010.

"This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more," the company said of the latest change.

The shift will be implemented in software updates to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita game consoles. The Vita handheld, which was released in Japan last year and is due out in North America and Europe later this month, is due to receive a software update from tomorrow that includes an online map service and adds the ability to shoot videos to its photo app.

While working to bring its broader online contents to its gaming consoles, the company is also trying to expand its gaming holdings to its other devices. Under its "PlayStation Certified" program, Sony has designated some of its tablets and mobile phones as able to seamlessly run certain games, although only a limited number of titles have been offered so far.

Sony said last week that Hirai will become CEO from April, replacing current chief Howard Stringer.

What is Tech Briefcase?

TechBriefcase is a new, free service where IT Professionals can Search, Store and Share IT white papers and content like this. Learn more

Bookmark content

Speed up your research efforts with content across the web.

Search and Store

Find the white papers you need. Create folders for any topic.

View Anywhere

Open your briefcase on your iPhone, tablet or desktop. Share with colleagues.

Don't have an account yet?

You are here: Technology Topics » Data Center » News

Most Recent Data Center Stories

White Papers »

Finding the right cloud solutions for your organization

HP is driving the evolution of what we call the Instant-On Enterprise. It is an enterprise that embeds technology into everything it does to better serve citizens, partners, employees, and clients. We believe that today's Instant-On Enterprises need to think differently about how they source and deliver services that are enabled by technology. They need to take advantage of a hybrid delivery model-one that truly optimizes the mix between traditional IT, private cloud, and public cloud.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Measuring the Business Value of CI in the Data Center

One of the key strategies that IT teams are pursuing to reduce capital costs while boosting asset utilization and employee productivity is the transition to highly virtualized data centers. However, IDC finds that expectations for further boosts in IT asset use and operational efficiency often surpass the actual results for a variety of reasons. These problems can quickly overwhelm any hoped-for benefits as the scope of virtual server deployment expands.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Defining Tier One Storage in the Modern Data Center

This report defines "tier-1" storage in the modern IT world and in the data centers and services that support it. What was a simple environment just a few years ago with mainframes or a few large servers to be supported has evolved into a complex web of virtual machines, clouds, and expanding user expectations -- factors which demand and create flexibility, but do so in a way that pushes a lack of predictability upon the storage infrastructure. Learn what your criteria should be for tier-1 storage.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Blade Servers

The market for blade servers is becoming ever more complex and diverse due to the convergence of related modular form factors, a fast-growing interest in fabric-based infrastructure and the influence of cloud computing on buying behavior. Download the Gartner Magic Quadrant to see how the vendors in blade servers stack up.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Nemertes Research PilotHouse Awards: Server for Virtualization

The Nemertes Research PilotHouse Awards provide insight on the performance of technology vendors, according to feedback from IT decision makers who use their products or services. See which vendors were recognized for their servers built for virtualization.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Real Fabrics for a Virtual World

Many factors influence what "ideal" approach organizations should take when planning to implement a fabric-based infrastructure policy. This presentation charts the likely evolution of the market for fabric-based infrastructures, to help IT leaders determine the most appropriate vendor approach.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Webcasts »

Oracle Database Appliance Best Practices

Business users increasingly demand 24x7 availability of their data while IT departments face the challenge of ensuring maximum availability while operating with limited budgets.

Redefine Expectations in the Data Center

Need to do more with less? Watch this video to learn how HP ProLiant Gen8 servers can help your business deploy servers three times faster; initiate problem anaysis five times faster; increase administrator productivity three times; and experience storage performance six times faster.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Best Practices to Optimize Your Data Center at Every Layer of the Stack

Date: May 31, 2012
Time: 1 PM EST

Organizations are reaping the benefits of simplifying IT, lowering costs and dramatically improving transactional throughput by deploying optimized application-to-disk solutions. These pre-tuned, tested solutions encompass a wide variety of applications and use cases. Hear from industry experts, and IT executives, how these full-stack solutions can achieve three times faster deployment times and up to 75% reductions in acquisition and operational costs.

5 Steps to Successful IT Consolidation

Learn how to reduce IT management overhead, ease revision control, guarantee data security, scale systems more quickly and reduce server and software costs.

Workload Automation Trends and Best Practices in 2012

Find out when you join EMA Senior Analyst, Torsten Volk, for a discussion on the 2012 trends in workload automation and how these trends contribute to better connecting workload automation to business processes. These trends are derived from EMA's empirical research work conducted for the 2012 Workload Automation Radar Report.

Analytics at the Speed of Thought

What if you could run financial and operational planning cycles 10 times faster? Or monitor and adjust marketing campaigns in real time? What if you could instantly visualize how a price change would impact the profitability of thousands of products?

Newsletter Sign-Up »

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter