UPDATED!
Breathe easy gamers of the world, despite the finest efforts of LulzSec and Co. today Sony have announced that the Playstation Network will be fully operational this week. A pared down version has been up and running for a couple of weeks now but according to Sony Computer Entertainment president Kazuo Hirai this will soon no longer be the case.
“We have been conducting additional testing and further security verification of our commerce functions in order to bring the PlayStation Network completely back online so that our fans can again enjoy the first class entertainment experience they have come to love.”
So there you have it. Now I’m off to play COD whilst it’s still free…
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18/5/11
Just in case any PS3 owners out there missed it, we thought we’d let you all know that the hacked Playstation Network is now back online, and Sony is offering all its customers a little summit summit to say they’re sorry. Bless.
Emails are currently arriving in customer’s inboxes, in case you’ve not got yours yet (we think the process is being staggered due to the immense client base) here’s their peace offering in full:
Dear PlayStation®Network user:
As you may have heard, PlayStation®Network was suspended worldwide on 20 April 2011 following a criminal cyber attack on our servers. We’re pleased to say that we have now started restoring some PlayStation Network services. Over the coming days, more services will be back up and running and you should keep an eye on eu.playstation.com/psnlatest an
d PlayStation.Blog at blog.eu.playstation.com for the very latest developments.
Before you start using PlayStation Network again… In restoring PSN, we have introduced a safety measure which means you will need to update your PlayStation Network account password before you can start using PSN again.
If you’ve got a Playstation®3, you can do this by updating to system software version 3.61 and then signing in to PlayStation Network from the XMB (XrossMediaBar) Menu. Find out more at eu.playstation.com/ps3psn. Otherwise, you can change your password by visiting https://store.playstation.com/login.gvm on your PC. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes and if you’d lke more help you can follow the step by step guide at eu.playstation.com/psppsn.
Free games on us…
To thank you for your patience whilst PSN has been unavailable, we’ll be rolling out a Welcome Back programme for all PSN users shortly; this will include free games to download and a month’s free subsciption to PlayStation®Plus (or a free month for existing members). Once available, we’ll publish a full list of Welcome Back offers in your country at eu.playstation.com/welcomeback.
Again, we would like to thank you for your patience and support whilst our teams worldwide work to get PSN back up and running. Remember, for the very latest updates, you should visit eu.playstation.com/psnlatest, PlayStation.Blog at blog.eu.playstation.com and follow us on twitter.com/PlayStationEU.
We look forward to seeing you online soon, The PlayStation Network team
Wow – “criminal cyber attack”?! Strong stuff – it sounds like they’ve had a run in with Skynet or something! Anyway, free games, huh? Pretty cool! Apparently we’ll get the choice of TWO from the following list:
DEAD NATION
INFAMOUS
LITTLE BIG PLANET
WIPEOUT HD
SUPER STARDUST
Now, if we could only log into their site as per instructions… it’s currently down for maintenance. D’oh!
For a full breakdown of the situation read our awesome new gaming column PIXEL JUICE.
Does this make up for all hassle caused? Let us know with your comments below!
