Playstation Network Globally Pwned

[Methais]

PS3s Suffering From Global Network Lockdown

All around the world, PlayStation 3 consoles simply aren't working like they're supposed to, with an error preventing people from not just going online, but from playing some PS3 games offline as well.

From Europe to the Americas to, well, my house in Australia, users (mostly of older "Fat" consoles, those released before 2009's "PS3 Slim") are complaining that upon booting their consoles up, they're unable to sign into their accounts, check their trophies, use dynamic themes or access the PlayStation Network. That's fine, Sony say there are PSN connection problems, and that they are "looking into it".

Problem is, the error does more than just prevent you from going online. It prevents you from playing certain games offline as well. Even for some consoles that aren't connected to the PSN, like debug units. The screen above is what I was greeted with on a retail console when attempting to play Heavy Rain, and pressing out of it simply reboots the PS3, returning you to the main menu screen. It's the same story for other games that feature dynamic trophy support.

Sony say "stay tuned" for updates on the problem. In turn, we've emailed Sony for comment and will update if we hear anything more.

While theories abound that this has something to do with the calendar on older PS3s (some users are reporting their date/time settings have been reset), bear in mind Sony has redesigned its PlayStation website over the weekend, so it could be the result of some tinkering under the hood for the PlayStation Network. Then again, if consoles not connected to the PSN are also affected, it could be something else. Who knows!

Whatever it is, though, you have to wonder at the design process that turns a network outage into something stopping you from playing an offline, singleplayer title.

UPDATE - Sony has updated on an update, saying "We're narrowing down the issue and continue to work to restore service to all. Updates as soon as we have them."

UPDATE 2 - A mass story-telling session on internet gaming forum NeoGAF points towards the issue potentially being related to a calendar bug in older PlayStation 3 consoles, not the PlayStation Network as was first suspected. Bear in mind this is mob science, however, and is by no means official confirmation on the cause of the problem.

http://kotaku.com/5482328/ps3s-suffering-from-global-network-lockdown

http://ui28.gamespot.com/155/pwned_2.jpg

[NicAlbion]

No...words can describe...the fail.

[Methais]

No...words can describe...the fail.

This guy begs to differ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aimPRKfqKGw

[NicAlbion]

HOLY SHIT.

THAT'S A HUGE BITCH!

(Caps intentional.)

Edit: I found his rant pretty damned funny.

[Revalos]

I love how the rumors about the PSN being hacked and people pointing to a link on the playstation website that has some snarky 404 message spread much faster than Sony's official response.

It appears that the issue has to do with how leap years are coded into the hardware at a CMOS level (hence why it happened once it became March 1st in Japan since this year is not a leap year). This could end up being a huge problem if the problem lies in the hardware. The only solution would be to open up the PS3 and pull the CMOS battery from the motherboard to reset it, since downloading a firmware update is pretty much impossible now.

Y2K.1 bug indeed.

[Skeeter]

I haven't had any problems and I bought mine right when they came out.

[Geshron]

This is the first time I've ever not been able to sign on, actually. Interesting.

[Marl]

hasnt bothered mine

[Geshron]

hasnt bothered mine

what model, though? Their twitter stated that the "Slim" units (120/250gb) are unaffected. It seems to be a problem with the battery and some leap year wtfpwn. Some Modern Warfare 2 geeks are opening theirs and resetting it manually how you would a CMOS but I am not even going to fuck with that. I'll wait another day. I have the 80gb Metal Gear Solid 4 package edition.

By the way, are one of you guys on here "a_scooby_drew" or know who that is?

[Marl]

I have a fat 250gb version,
I checked last night around 1:30am and signed onto PSN fine and actually downloaded the god of war 3 demo and heavy rain demo

nope not a_scooby_drew

[Deathravin]

Must have been that kickin COD-MW2 game I had last night. PS network just couldn't handle the awesomeness of my 1337 uber pwnage.

[Revalos]

Official statement from Sony:

"As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

"We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

"Errors include:

* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; "An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)".
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; "Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game."
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; "The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)"
* Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

"We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

"As mentioned above, please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused."

Yeah...good thing no new games are coming out tomorrow made by EA. I mean what could possibly go wrong?

[Methais]

What's coming out tomorrow? Battlefield?

[Kithus]

What's coming out tomorrow? Battlefield?

MLB:2k10 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

[Revalos]

MLB:2k10 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

2k10 as well? Heh. At least it wasn't another Madden game, we'd have mass purchasing of XBOX360s today if so.

Now I'm just really happy I bought BBC2 on the PC instead of the PS3. Many of my friends were kind of surprised since it would mean we couldn't play together on the console, but I just built this monster PC and needed a good test of a brand new game running on it.

[pabstblueribbon]

Let us know how BC2 is. Its supposedly got destructable environments, and all kinds of goodies. Should be a fairly good indication of what BF3 is going to be like, since they both use Frostbite.

[Revalos]

Let us know how BC2 is. Its supposedly got destructable environments, and all kinds of goodies. Should be a fairly good indication of what BF3 is going to be like, since they both use Frostbite.

I honestly wasn't going to buy it until I saw the ad for it while watching Unskippable do a show on Bayonetta (which is hilarious by the way http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/unskippable/1474-Bayonetta ) and it reminded me a bunch of ye olden times when I played BF2 with a bunch of DC Police guys and we would make machinima movies of us pwning everyone on Sharqi Peninsula and the other urban Middle East maps.

Only complaints I've heard is that the maps are too big. Too big? Shit, I stopped playing COD games online after they all started to feel like that one map with shipping containers and everyone just ran around crazy it was so constrained.

I fucking can't wait for BF3...as long as it really will be the spiritual successor to BF2, not 2142.

[Methais]

2k10 as well? Heh. At least it wasn't another Madden game, we'd have mass purchasing of XBOX360s today if so.

Now I'm just really happy I bought BBC2 on the PC instead of the PS3. Many of my friends were kind of surprised since it would mean we couldn't play together on the console, but I just built this monster PC and needed a good test of a brand new game running on it.

FPS with mouse > FPS with analog controls anyway.


Unskippable do a show on Bayonetta (which is hilarious by the way http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...1474-Bayonetta )

Is it just me, or do almost all video game reviews have at least one guy that sounds like Kermit?

[pabstblueribbon]

I fucking can't wait for BF3...as long as it really will be the spiritual successor to BF2, not 2142.

x324234235254234252352354344333

I've read all the leaked info. It looks badass. It will hage HUGE maps. Bigger than BC2. There will be another tier in the player organization too, supposedly. Batallions, allowing multiple squads to link up.

[nub]

Another fat PS3 user (the PS3 being fat) and is not working. Just started playing MW2 like 3 weeks ago, so not happy.

[Guarrin]

Just when I was looking into buying a PS3. I guess I'm safe if I buy a slim...

Am I the only one that actually sort of liked 2142? I didn't play it for anywhere nearly as long as BF2, but I still enjoyed it.

[Revalos]

PS3s are working again, I heard rumors across the net and just turned mine on and it seems to be working fine...but is an hour off when setting clock via the internet.

As expected Sony did jack and shit and just waited the 24 hours before 2/29/10 ceased non-existence in the CMOS. At least they'll have two years to fix this in firmware before it happens again.

[Latrinsorm]

The real problem is stupid game design - having a working, physical copy of a game and a working, physical system to play it on should never be overridden by an inability to access a network. Whether this is something Sony (or Microsoft) demands is the next natural question.

[Back]

As of 7:40pm EST my fatty reconnected with no software update.

Timeline...

PS3 has not been on in 24 hours.

Turned on tonight at approximately 5:45pm EST with full knowledge of said problem. PS3 turns on, log on, date comes up as 12/31/2000. Error code comes up for no connect to Playstation Store.

Changed date in System menu. Logged off, back on, same error but date is correct.

Installed GOWIII demo that had been downloaded 2 days ago. Played demo. Awesome!

Finished demo, back to main screen, Playstation Store available. No System update required.