PS Store to be Restored

Hello, there is a press release that was just posted by Sony. All PSN (including PS Store) will be back online worldwide with the exception of Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. It will resume all services on June 2, 2011 which is tomorrow.

Update(1): Welcome Back package will not be available until sometime later. Expect some delays and errors when you try to access PS Store as many will be trying to access it at the same time.

To see the press release yourself click : Sony Press Release PSN Restoration"


"Tokyo, June 2, 2011– Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced today that Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI, the company) will fully restore all PlayStation®Network services today June 2, 2011, in the Americas, Europe/PAL territories and Asia, excluding Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. The company will also resume Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity™ for PlayStation®3 (PS3®), PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), VAIO and other PCs."
- Sony Press Release

Portal 2 Music for Free

Hey Portal fans! Maybe some of you don't know that the music for portal is available for download for free from their website. I have downloaded the album and so far I am amazed how good this album is. It also comes with the album cover. Also, they have free ringtones for android phones as well as for iPhone. Check it out! Reminds me of my first play through when I listen to some of the tracks.

http://www.thinkwithportals.com/music.php

New PS3 7.1 Headset

7.1 Goodness

Few days ago, Sony announced a new headset designed for the PS3. It is wireless and offers 7.1 surround sound. I wish I have waited for this to come out before I bought a PS3 bluetooth headset. The current headset is uncomfortable but it is nice because of it's minimalistic design. I think I will pick this new peripheral and then a surround sound system sometime in the future.

Oh and yes, that is a mic sticking out of that thing :)

PS3: Firmware Update 3.61 is Up For Grabs! SOE and PSN Back Online Today!

That is right! 3.61 firmware upgrade for PS3 is now live. Like I stated in my old post, it is a security update that forces you to change your password. I think we are nearing the end of the dark times. Turn on your PS3 and get your update :) Also, PSN is coming back online now for North America - "state by state" as we speak.

* Not confirmed but just rough estimates/predictions. It could be some of their surrounding states as well. Thanks :)

Update(9): Playstation Network is online for North America 12:00am Pacific May 15, 2011. WOOT! See you guys online!


Canada is also back online. You can request your change of password now using your PS3. It is faster than PC. I highly recommend using the PS3 to change your password. Remember, only the PS3 you always log-on into will work for the password change.


If you are going to try to change it through your PC, you have to wait for an email that could take 24 hours to arrive. The email will provide you a link so that you can verify that it is you and update your password.This is what you would see from your PC if you try to log in:

"To sign in, an update of your account information is required. An e-mail message with instructions has been sent to Your_Email. It may take up to 24 hours to receive this message."

Update(8): West coast and mid-west U.S.A is now back online. Also some Central parts, Alaska and Hawaii as well. Every state in U.S will be back sometime in the morning. Welcome back guys! Now we look forward for our "Welcome Package". 11:00pm PST. Congrats!

Update(7): Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are up and running! (Officially confirmed) 10:30pm PST

Still coming up next few hour or so*:
Washington State (Possibly next)
Texas and surrounding states- Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma (Possibly next)
North/South Dakota(2-3 hours or so)
and Oregon (in about 2-3 hours or so)

Update(6): Florida, South/North Carolina,and Georgia are now online 9:00pm PST (officially confirmed) Enjoy guys!

It seems like they confirm states every hour. Please be patient.

Still waiting for Washington state(trying to confirm right now), Louisiana, Dakota, Texas, Michigan/Ohio (trying to confirm as well), possibly Oklahoma as well as Alabama, Illinois and their surrounding states to come up next hour.* One of these should be officially confirmed as well as some of their surrounding states

Germany (Will be back on soon as well).

Update(5): Florida, Louisiana, Washington State, and Dakota coming up next. In addition, Texas and Michigan/Ohio area are coming up too. Alabama will join shortly.

Update(4): State of California is now on as of 8:11pm PST. Europe servers are still down but has updated their blog post. PlayStation Network Restoration Begins - Sony UK


Update(3): Seems like the official site is having trouble loading. Probably the server is being overwhelmed. Nothing has changed so far from the map. 7:51 PST

Update (2): New York are and entire far North East of U.S is now officially back on. Still no word for Canada. You can now access your PSN and online multiplayer if you live in NY, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey area.

Update(1): People are reporting that they are having trouble downloading the new update probably due to the amount of people downloading it. So just keep trying and you will download the update successfully. The PSN is still down in my region as we speak.

"An error occurred during the download operation. A connection to the server cannot be established. (80710101)"

____________________________

PSN is going back on today state by state. Maybe by tomorrow, the whole North America will be back online.

"Please note that these services will take a bit of time to be turned on and rolled out to the whole country. The process has begun and some states are being turned on now, so please be patient as we reach your city and state."

They kindly put up a map on which state is currently on. To see the official blog. Click :

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/14/play-on-%E2%80%93-psn-restoration-begins-now/

"We strongly recommend that all PSN account holders with PS3s update their systems to prepare for when PlayStation Network is back online. The release of this update is a critical step as we work to make PlayStation Network significantly more secure. Thank you for your continued support and patience."

 -  Eric Lempel - VP, Sony Network Entertainment

It is quite a big update. I am pretty sure there is more behind this update other than just forcing you to change passwords of course. There was no noticeable changes made but we will find out once the PSN gets back on.


However, PSN is still down but I think it will come back soon. I expect another firmware update once before the whole service is back up since PS Store will be disabled up until the end of the month.


For full official blog post:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/14/ps3-system-software-update/

Also, a welcome message from Kaz.
Kaz Hirai - PSN Relaunch Announcement


SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT

In addition, GOOD news for SOE PC gamers! Your service is coming back on today! Still no words for PSN though. Happy hunting!

"Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) announced today that restoration of its game services will begin today. The phased restoration will include the return of nearly all of SOE's portfolio of online games, the reinstatement of SOE's game forums and websites, and added functionality to require players to reset their passwords."

 For the official announcement :

http://www.soe.com/securityupdate/restorationannouncement.vm