Playstation Network Back Online in Eastern U.S., more places to follow.

Well folks, I booted up my PS3 this evening to a message asking me to update my system software to the latest version 3.61, and upon accepting and sitting through a lengthy download and install my suspicions were confirmed.  I was asked to change my account password, and after doing so was able to log in.  PSN was launched back up across the country on May 14th throughout the afternoon/evening and at the point of writing I have been able to fill and play through quite a few games of Motorstorm Apocalypse without a hitch. Parts of the North America haven't gotten Network access back quite yet(mainly middle states currently, see PS blog for map of activation) but every state will be phased in by the morning of the 15th if all goes to plan.  Sweet jesus! I think I can speak for gamers nationwide when I say about time.  Features back online include our friends list, online matchmaking/chat, trophies, Playstation Home, and the ability to access Hulu, Netflix, and other pay services linked to the XMB.  Expect to see the Playstation Store and your download lists back up and running within the next few weeks at some point.  Sony has already outlined the details of a welcome back gift for all registered users, which includes a free month of Playstation Plus for all users (an extra month for the already subscribed) and a few free games.  Which titles we will be able to select from has not been disclosed, but we will likely see more of this loyalty package within the next few days.  For more information, and a direct video apology and explanation from Sony's head honcho Kazuo Hirai, take a look at Sony's blog.  Have a good night all, I know I will sleep better knowing that this outage has finally come to a close.

PSN Outage extends into holiday weekend.

After one of the year's biggest weeks for releases (expect to see MK and Portal 2 reviews up shortly)  Sony is suffering from "external intrusions" and on the evening of April 20th they shut down both PSN, and also Qriocity, a music platform that was recently introduced to the system's XMB.  Anyone attempting to connect to these services will get an error notification, or a message saying that the network is currently undergoing routine maintenance.  At first, the company didn't say anything besides that the network would be down for a short bit and that they were working as fast as they could to resolve it.  Finally, a spokesman for Sony posted an explanation on the official Playstation blog, though they still didn't give an estimated time as to when PSN will be back up.  Here is what it they had to say...

"An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share."  - Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications and Social Media
 

  Now that it has been more than the two days that Sony initially hoped it would take to fix and the outage continues into the weekend, questions are being asked.  Is this the work of Anonymous, a relatively well-known hacker group that has been known to have bad blood with the company?  How will the Sony compensate Playstation Plus members who will not be able to connect?  That is paid time we are talking about.  PSN itself is a free service, but gamers can subscribe to PS Plus to receive early access to betas, free game downloads, dynamic themes, and more for a yearly rate of fifty dollars.  Also, certain online titles require a monthly service charge, such as the recently released DC Universe Online.  It will be interesting to see how Sony handles these concerns.  Any updates will be posted as soon as we hear more.

- Ian @ NBD