Ben-DutkaIf you're like most PlayStation 3 owners, you've been asking "when?" for quite some time now.
Well, Sony has issued a big update concerning the estimated return time for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. This update also includes some bonuses in a "welcome back" program.
Some PSN services will be restored this week, and all PS3s will receive a mandatory firmware update that requires users to change their Network passwords. Unfortunately, Sony boss Kaz Hirai said the PlayStation Store won't return until later in the month – which is bound to upset some people – but here's a list of what to expect this week:
Sony also provided us with specific details concerning the attack, which happened at the company's data center in San Diego. Hirai reconfirmed the FBI's involvement in the case and as of now, it's "unclear" as to what the motive was behind the hacking. To make things safer, the company has tossed in more firewalls and added "enhanced levels of data protection and encryption." As for that "goodwill" Sony hinted at before-
The "welcome back" program will offer every PSN user a free month membership in PlayStation Plus, with current Plus members getting a free month as well. We'll also get "free entertainment content" downloads, although we don't have any details just yet. Well, that's not bad, right?
Finally!!!!
Loving that pic
THANK YOU SONY !!!!!
love tha ps plus free month
They announced that at 1 am today. Just saying. But what good is free ps plus without the ps3 store being open? Or will it be open?
Ben has to sleep at some point.
You should still get all of the other features of Plus, like the cloud saves. And the Store is estimated to be back online within a month, so you should still end up with those freebies and discounts. Just sayin'
There also might be a chance it would start when the store does go back online.
Exactly. He has to sleep, eat, sex up his girlfriend and/or masturbate and actually play some games.
Last edited by CoolBLKguy on 5/1/2011 11:56:57 PM
bens no superman lol
Some services are restored this week like listed in the article. However normal PSN will resume soon after. I'm sure it won't take them a month to get PS3 store back up so you will be able to take full advantage of PS Plus.
I'm pleased about the news though although I will be back in my university home, so PS3 stays in my family home… I guess I will have to state clear orders to them to download every single freebie for me 😀
Last edited by parasitic on 5/2/2011 5:51:50 AM
This was actually announced on May 1st.Either way this is great news,cant wait to get back to KZ3.So dont complain embrace what is coming back,and big ups to the demise of OBL.Yeah its a human death but it was by far justified,the man was a monster!
Bin laden is dead
Anyway, freakin' finally. Can't wait to get back on MK online
Well, that's one villain put away for good. YOU'RE NEXT ZEUS!!!
They should put Bin Laden in MK. I would practice all my fatalities on him.
Last edited by Bugzbunny109 on 5/1/2011 10:47:05 PM
That's messed up. I thought you were referring to the hacker and then a news flash popped up.
This is good news, be glad to be able to chat with friends again and getting a free month of ps+ is nice.
Personally I don't think Sony owed us anything, but I'm not surprised. That's just how they are and that's great because it's great customer service.
Is it just me or is Sony really not out anything by giving everyone a free month of PS+.
Think about it. The people that get a free month, get some free games and avatars or themes, then when the month is up, all the games, avatars and themes go away.
I guess it is a way for Sony to show people what they have been missing by not buying the PS+ but I don't think it is any kind of goodwill gift either. That's just me.
Yay! I suppose this means that the headlines will no longer be dominated by doom and gloom about the PSN and we can resume normal services. Sure, it won't really be back to normal until all services are functional, but it's a step.
>.>
Yeah, that really is my biggest concern with this whole affair. :S
Peace.
PS+ for one month Thank u Sony.
Playstation Forever.
I think this is overly generous of Sony giving away free content. I was a returning customer anyway and I hope Sony realizes that not everyone was crying for free stuff. I wish Sony the best with their network and I'm looking forward to having regular service restored.
LOL at Hezzron's reference to Osama Bin Laden the other day and now he's dead.
Osama… that is.
Last edited by tes37 on 5/1/2011 10:13:28 PM
Indeed. Terrorists deserve only one outcome.
Bin Laden's death being announced around the same time as PSN coming back on. Coincidence? Hmmm….
Man, that WAS weird…even for me!
Ben ur only 27 hours late
If you require minute to minute updates you could always try a site with a staff of more than 1.
See, just like I said over a week ago,
(& even though Sony didn't need to do so), that they would do a "goodwill gesture"
+1 to Sony
Last edited by BikerSaint on 5/1/2011 10:12:17 PM
Free PS+ will be fun.
Clarify " this week " please?
Killa Tequilla,
The long clarification…..
If You can get on the PSN this Monday, then it's up.
If you can't, then it's down.
These same observations can also be applied to…..
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
The short clarification….
Whenever it's up, then it's up.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 5/1/2011 11:19:01 PM
C'mon guys…
What I meant…
Sony said on the 26th or 27th (not sure) they will bring PSN back up within a week, meaning by tues or wed…
Or this week meaning anywhere from mon – sun?
Does Sony mean by tuesday or by sunday?
Everyone keeps saying within a week, but noone knows what they are talking about…
Last edited by Killa Tequilla on 5/2/2011 12:51:48 AM
Kaz said the initial (limited) version would be rolled out to the various regions and that the roll out would begin "shortly". Given that he said so around 24 hours ago, I would bet the first region (likely Japan) might go live any time now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's Tuesday (or even later) before it's live everywhere.
I wonder what the free downloadable goodies are. I wouldn't mind having a downloaded copy of ME2. hmmm hmmmm Sony? Maybe that's asking too much =p
That's fine, I can live with a I *heart* Sony PSN avatar.
Remember, the average month of PS Plus means at least 4 free games…and it's likely to be above-average, given that items originally set for release during the down time will be pushed forward.
The ones already scheduled for the next month or so include Crash Commando, Alien Zombie Death, Streets Of Rage 2, and Golden Axe 2, plus at least 1 PSOne classic.
I would bet Sony sweetens the pot a little, as well.
However, I wouldn't expect a full $60 (third-party!) game like ME2. 😛
Last edited by Fane1024 on 5/2/2011 2:22:44 AM
I just realized something… If we're all getting PS+ when this comes back, doesn't that mean we need the PSstore in order to get those extra features?? Unless Sony means they'll start the 30 day thing after PSstore is back up. Otherwise that seems like kind of a waste… I'm excited to be able to have PS+ for a month, but won't the PSstore being down cut into that time? Just a thought…
Last edited by Gamer Girl Gemo on 5/1/2011 10:19:23 PM
Im pretty sure it's after the Ps store is up, you have to activate + anyway so…
My theory with this is Sony is trying to get people to purchase Ps+ that normally wouldn't have in the 1st place. People will see that the service is worth it.
More people buy + = Money for Sony, people without + get free content.
It's a win – win.
Last edited by Killa Tequilla on 5/1/2011 10:31:11 PM
maybe thats why sony is giving out free month of psn plus. they're making it up to plus subscribers and figured to extend it to everyone since they're thinking that the store will be done for about a month. its a good move too, they let people have a taste of what plus has to offer and lets them choose whether they want to keep it going for all the things we get.
I wonder this means better running servers and maybe cross game chat? They DID say chat functions
… but they DIDN'T say Cross Game Chat.
give it up on the cross game chat already, no offense. we really dont need that feature in my opinion. would you rather have someone talking into you ear about a game while playing a different game? when i play, i want to immerse myself in the world. if its a really good game, i ignore everything. messages, chat invites, and game invites gets ignored. there are already chat features on the ps3 by the way. you can even do a video chat.
It means that for a start they fully patched the Apache servers used to host PSN…known vulnerability!? Despite everything I've written about the security and encryption and hashing of data on PSN, the flaw in the armor turns out to be a patchable flaw? *sigh* I know that most organizations have many servers that are not fully patched, it's almost inevitable on a large network. On the other hand, if you know you are a target, you take precautions – like patching servers. Of course they were more than likely doing a global upgrade to patch the servers as part of the data center move. Which might explain the timing of the attack since the data center move was approaching fast. The attackers were clearly aware of the vulnerability, so they may have decided to attack while they felt the servers would remain vulnerable.
Let that be a lesson to all security professionals, patch all known vulnerabilities as soon as you know they are there and there is a patch available. If there is no patch do what you can to mitigate the vulnerability and remain vigilant.
@high: Yeah I know. I have no further comment on this topic really, only that it adds to my opinion about their former level of security.
Oh I can't help myself, gather your downthumbs, folks. Here goes: They were damn lucky if this was done by some hackers (Anonymous?) that just wanted to spank them. If this was done by (typically) russian industry hackers aiming for their customer database they would quite possibly have been above their heads in uglyness now. And that's probably why Homeland Security is on this case.
Keywords: Sloppy & unfocused.
However, creds en masse for the quality of their information flow from Sony lately. I think this is the work of the external consultants too, lets hope Sony have learnt from this – I think they must have.
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/2/2011 6:56:19 AM
@johnld
But they did say 'chat' so there might be an upgrade/improvement coming by. If you don't want it, then don't use it. You don't have to join every invite and you can make your party invite only. Not a lot of features in general are 'needed', but don't you think it's cool to take to your friends no matter what game they're playing?
johnld: So just because you don't need it the rest of us should not want it, then?
The poor excuse of a chat that is there today disables the possibility to play *any* game. They could just as well remove it. I'd love a cross game chat, cause I got a lot of friends on my list, and I do not only play complex games that require me to focus on the game. Plus we could share experiences while playing the same single player game. Or whatever. I would love it, so would The Doom, so *we* really would enjoy such a feature. So just stfu, no offense.
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/2/2011 9:00:54 AM
don't need anything from Sony besides a case of Sam Adams summer ale, since summer is coming 😉
I second that motion.
Well, that's nice but utterly useless. I like to keep my games and play them when I have the time, what can I do with a bunch of stuff that expires in a month?
The only things the expire with the PSN+ are the free games for PSN+, You keep everything else. Plus they are giving more non-PSN+ things for free too.
What else does it give ya but free stuff and cloud storage?
Some really good discounts on DLC and games. Some have been as much as 50% off.
plus the cloud storage rocks.
yeah if I can find a discounted game or DLC I want then I'll grab it. Of course thatll hafta wait till the store is up.