68w ago - Sony has announced today that their PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts will be migrating to Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) accounts next week.

Below is the official press release, as follows:

Press Release: On February 8, 2012, your “PlayStation Network account” will be renamed a “Sony Entertainment Network account” or a “SEN account” in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation 3 system software and PlayStation Vita system software updates. (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system at this time.)

For general purposes, this account change is a change in name only. Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them. In accordance with this transition, some necessary naming changes will be made to the TOS and Privacy Policy.

This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering. As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation Network will be aligned with “Sony Entertainment Network.” This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.

76w ago - Today Sony's associate brand marketing manager Crystal MacKenzie has confirmed that PS Vita PSN accounts are linked to the handheld's memory cards and not the device itself for those wondering.

Essentially this means those who like bringing their gamer profile and downloadable games over to a friends house to show them off will probably like the PlayStation Vita since the PSN accounts are bonded to the memory card they're downloaded to.

To quote from GameInformer.com (linked above): "Your PSN ID is bonded to your memory card and your memory card is bonded to your Vita," Sony associate brand marketing manager Crystal MacKenzie told Wired.

"So if you wanted to change different PSN users but use the same memory card, you would need to go factory reset."

So accessing your PSN account and games is as easy as swapping out the memory card they're installed on. Sounds simple enough. If you have too much media for one of Sony's spendy storage devices, you can have your PSN account linked to multiple memory cards.

One question I have is how often do you think you'll be swapping out memory...

239w ago - According to Shae5O9 from the official PS boards, Sony's PlayStation Home is being promoted as one of the PlayStation Network's features to gamers who are creating new PSN accounts.

Many are hoping that this means Sony will stick to their word and release the PlayStation Home Open BETA soon.

Jack Tretton, SCEA president, recently said that the PlayStation Home Open BETA will launch this November.

However, Kazuo Hirai, president and group chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment recently said we will see the "Open BETA by the end of this year" which is slightly contradictory.

Needless to say, only time will tell for sure.

294w ago - Although SCEA insists that consumers weren't harmed, an IT imposter recently managed to gain access to customer information on the PlayStation Network. The access was immediately disabled and SCEA is conducting an ongoing investigation.

Last week, one of GameDaily BIZ's sources close to Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) informed us that there had recently been a "breach of security" in Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN). Our source indicated that one of SCEA's employees was actually tricked over the phone into giving out this important access to the network.

With our curiosity piqued we contacted SCEA and the company did confirm that there was indeed a problem. Kimberly Otzman, Corporate Communications, said that it really shouldn't be considered a "security breach," however, because a hacker did not physically break into the network.

Otzman explained, "Just to clarify, there has been no hacking or electronic breach to any of SCEA's electronic security systems. An as-yet-unidentified PSN user impersonating an SCEA IT employee apparently called customer service agents in order to gain unauthorized access to two PSN user accounts not belonging to the imposter. The unauthorized accessing of the two accounts was discovered immediately after it took place, the unauthorized access was disabled,...