MAJOR PS3 GLITCH

[President Jeff]

Sony's PlayStation Network has been hit by a glitch that has left users on all continents unable to connect to the online service, the company said Monday.

The PlayStation Network is an Internet-based service that connects PlayStation 3 consoles to online stores, software downloads and is used as a platform for some multiplayer online games. It has about 38 million users worldwide.

The problem appears to be affecting only the older PlayStation 3 consoles and not the newer so-called "slim" models that were recently launched, according to messages on Twitter.

First reports of the problem began appearing online at around 4pm PST on Sunday, and acknowledgement came from Sony's U.S. unit in the form of a blog and Twitter posting.

"We're aware that many of you are having difficulty connecting to the PlayStation Network this evening," said Jeff Rubenstein, social media manager for Sony Computer Entertainment America, on the company's blog.

"Know that we have narrowed down the issue and have engineers working to restore service even as you read this," he wrote.

But the company's Tokyo headquarters said shortly afterwards that it had yet to determine the problem that had caused so many consoles to be denied access to the network.

The Twitter channel was filled with messages from PlayStation 3 owners. The vast majority of the messages expressed anger at Sony and many Twitter users turned to profanities to express their feelings towards the glitch.

"We're narrowing down the issue and continue to work to restore service to all. Updates as soon as we have them," the company said on its @sonyplaystation Twitter channel.

As of time of writing, shortly before 9 a.m. GMT, the channel had gone about five hours without any updates. The lack of information appears to have frustrated other users.

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Right now I can't sign into my PS3 and the date on my PS3 has changed to 12/31

[Mac]

SONY HAS ANNOUNCED TO KEEP YOUR PS3 OFF FOR 24 HOURS!

ewcprez.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=vidgames&action=display&thread=20078

[President Jeff]

This was taken from Gamespot.com

Following nearly 24 hours of the "ApocalyPS3," afflicted units of Sony's console begin to come back online--albeit with an erroneous date, casting doubt on the trophy system's stability.

The past day has been a traumatic one for owners of the PlayStation "Fat." Last night in Australia--one of the first territories across the International Date Line--reports began to surface that non-Slim units of Sony's console were suffering from "Error 8001050F"which force-quit games shortly after they were started. As a result, thousands--perhaps millions--of owners of pre-2009 PS3s were locked out of the PlayStation Network for an indeterminate amount of time.



The error at the heart of the "ApocalyPS3."

With furious console owners decrying the "ApocalyPS3" in myriad forum, this morning Sony announced a solution to the problem would arrive within 24 hours. By this afternoon, the global crisis appears to have begun abating. Around 3 p.m. PST, all the older-model PS3s in the GameSpot offices began working again. Similar reports began popping up on other game-news outlets and on online forums.

Though Sony had not responded to requests for clarification about the cessation of Error 8001050F, it did say this morning that the problem was likely associated with the internal clock in older PS3s. Indeed, the problem's sudden abatement was accompanied by a resetting of afflicted consoles back to Sunday, February 28. This was true of all the PS3s in GameSpot's US office, including debug units used for testing preview games. The fact no system updates needed to be downloaded and installed adds weight to Sony's theory.

Unfortunately, the erroneous date raises the issue which many believe was at the center of the problem--that the clock error was causing problems with the PS3's trophy system. Sony warned specifically that playing afflicted PS3s could result in loss of trophies. Several GameSpot editors who resumed playing games on older units were earning trophies, but with the wrong February 28 date affixed. Inquiries sent to Sony Computer Entertainment America about the status of the trophy system were not answered as of press time. However, gamers worried about losing trophy data may want to hold off on the official announcement before resuming playing.

[Mac]

Sony said Monday that problems with its PlayStation 3 game console that made it incorrectly consider 2010 to be a leap year have been resolved.

The problem persisted through most of the Monday, March 1, which older PlayStations thought was Feb. 29, 2010, a date that doesn't exist.

Sony said on its blog that the problem resolved itself once the PlayStations' internal clock switched from "Feb. 29" to March 1 GMT.

"If the time displayed on the [XrossMediaBar] is still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet," the company's senior communications director, Patrick Seybold, wrote on the PlayStation blog.

Earlier Monday, Sony advised customers not to use the older PlayStation 3 systems until the problem is resolved.

The company warned that using the PlayStation could cause errors, potentially erasing users' game trophies, their accomplishments within certain games.

Some PlayStation users saw the date on their game consoles reset to Jan. 1, 2000.

The problem came just as PlayStation 3 sales are picking up. According to the NPD Group, 276,900 PS3s were sold in the U.S. in January, up from 203,200 a year earlier and following Christmas-season U.S. sales of 1.4 million in December.

The problem didn't appear to affect newer "slim" models of the PS3.

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IN OTHER PS3 NEWS


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Heavy Rain has knocked Aliens Vs. Predator off the top of the PS3 weekly chart.

Sega's shooter drops one place to second, above fellow FPS Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which remains third.

At the midway point of the chart, two new entries appear back-to-back, with Sony's exclusive RPG White Knight Chronicles entering at seven, above Sonic And Sega All-Stars Racing at eight.

The top ten in full:

1. (-) Heavy Rain (Sony)
2. (1) Aliens Vs. Predator (Sega)
3. (3) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision)
4. (7) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony)
5. (2) Bioshock 2 (2K Games)
6. (4) FIFA 10 (Electronic Arts)
7. (-) White Knight Chronicles (Sony)
8. (-) Sonic And Sega All-stars Racing (Sega)
9. (9) MAG (Sony)
10. (5) Vancouver 2010 (Sega)

[Jesse Nuñez™]

yeah this sucked. I spent several hours trying to get the David vs Goliath trophy on NBA LIVE 10 where you have to beat the Lakers with the Kings on Superstar mode. And when I finally did I didnt get my trophy. FML.

Lol but glad it was cleared up. Also get MAG, shit tight. Play it more than MW2 now.

[Mac]

I heard MAG wasn't all that great... but I shall give it a try. I'm getting Heavy Rain tomorrow, apparently it's VERY short, but worth it. I can just imagine how many kiddies did the "sex" parts of the game over and over

[President Jeff]

I finally beat Uncharted on Crushing mode but didn't get the trophy, so now i gotta play it though again. And I also heard MAG wasn't that great either. I'm kinda looking forward to Final Fantasy 13 coming out Tuesday, so hopefully it get good reviews

[biggs]

Yeah, about Final Fantasy XIII, y'all can expect to not hear from me at all next Tuesday. (It also doesn't help that I have work and I'm going to the SmackDown! taping in Seattle, but hey, at least it'll give me a reason to get all my APW stuff done over the weekend.)

[Jesse Nuñez™]

Heavy Rain demo was alright, I'll probably get it. I like MAG cause its a change of pace from COD and you can't go into the game expecting COD but bigger. Its a separate game, if you go into it like that than you will like it.

[biggs]

I might have to give MAG a try after I get through FFXIII. I've been getting bored with COD as of lately, thanks to one of my roommates going though and leveling up completely while I'm at work. There's no sense of achievement or progression for me on that game.

[Nick Watson]

I don't like FFXIII, the games continue to get farther and farther away from the turn base combat it was famous for and get closer and closer to being a button mashing extravaganza. Now for you PS3 owners...Versus is going to be better than XIII. So pick it up.

[President Jeff]

I just wish they would remake Final Fantasy 7 for the PS3