Sooner Than Expected: PSN Begins Phased Restoration

Well, it's been almost a month, but Sony has finally begun their "phased restoration" of the PlayStation Network. For those of us in the States and Canada, odds are your service is already up and running. 

In a video addressed to Qriocity and PSN uders affected by the attack, Sony Computer Entertaint president Kazuo Hirai details a bit about what the first phase has restored:

• PlayStation Network and Qriocity sign in
• Restoration of online game play across PS3 and PSP
• Enabled third party services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.tv, etc.
• Access to PlayStation Home
• Access to 'Friends' category, including Friends lists, chat, and trophy comparison
• Restoration of Sony Online Entertainment games

Upon your initial log in, you'll be prompted to change your password, which you must do. Also, PSN Store has yet to be activated, so for those of you hoping you'd be able to buy the latest downloadable game or content, you'll have to wait for a later phase. 

Kaz attempts to soothe PSN users by detailing the security upgrades Sony has put into place to prevent an issue like this from arising again: increased encryption, added firewalls, and some other security services that most big corporations should already have in place. Welcome to the party, PlayStation. 

The 'Welcome Back' program - see: free compensatory shit - has yet to be detailed, but more information will be released in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Head over the PlayStation.Blog for the full rundown, as well as Hirai-san looking cool, calm, and sharp in his expensive suit sans tie, to give the impression he's been hard at work. 

Sony Details 'Please Don't Leave Us' Program

In the wee hours of my New York morning, several Sony Computer Entertainment big wigs held a press conference on the other side of the world, discussing the well documented troubles with PlayStation Network. Security, free content, and Anonymous, oh my!

I hear you guys. What do we get for our hours of lost online play? It's a perfectly fair question, but let's start with something a little more pertinent: when will the system be back online? Sony is calling it a phased restoration, with some of PSN's features returning sometime this week. Which features exactly, I'm not sure, but some is better than none I suppose. Sony states PSN should be fully operation by the end of May. You might be thinking that's a hell of a long time, an you're absolutely correct, it is. However it's unavoidable as Sony makes the proper upgrades (see: measures that should have been put in place years ago) to assure a fiasco like this will never occur again. To that end, a new Chief Information Security Officer position has been created, which coincidentally, sounds something like the type of job GeoHot was pining for when he opened the PS3 hacking floodgates.

Now the good stuff. What's in it for us, the near 100 million users who are affected by Sony's ludicrous debacle? All PSN users who are not currently subscribed to PlayStation Plus will receive a free month of the premium service. Current PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive one free month of service. PlayStation Plus allows PSN users early access to demos and beta tests, as well as certain free downloadable games and downloadable content. Needless to say, I'm sure PlayStation Plus will not see any free game releases during this time, as Sony surely wants to lose as little money as possible.

The PSN faithful will be rewarded with some free content, which values at a couple thousand yen ($20 - $40, most likely), which could end up being Warhawk, a few premium themes, and some PlayStation Home content. Don't be surprised. In addition to the above, existing Qriocity users - anyone out there? - will get a month for free.

Sony execs and press threw around the name Anonymous a few times at the conference, and though no fingers were pointed, Kaz Hirai didn't rule the Hacktivist group out, especially considering that Sony has found Anonymous' ire as of late. Stop snitching, Kaz.

Hopefully, the end is in sight for Sony's nightmare and our deprivation of fulfilling online interaction. What say you about the whole ordeal? Is the security of your information worth an addition month of service downtime? Is 30 days of complimentary PS Plus access reparation or a marketing ploy? Does $20 worth of content right countless lost hours of online playtime?

PlayStation Network, WTF Mate?

If you're a PlayStation 3 owner who enjoys online gaming, odds are you've already experienced PSNs downtime first hand. PlayStation's online network has been FUBAR all weekend in what most thought would be a service blip, but has turned out to be a failure of catastrophic proportions, with no end in sight. WTF mate?

To be honest, I don't think anyone has a clue to what's ailing PSN. Sony is blaming hackers for disabling the system, which is plausible seeing as how hacktivist group Anonymous had threatened Sony and PlayStation with action as retaliation against their persecution of Geohotz (great hacker, horrid rapper). Anonymous, always ones to soak up the limelight, would never shy away from accusations this large. Though they haven't claimed responsibility for the latest attack, they haven't ruled out the actions of other off-shoot groups. WTF mate?

The latest on the topic comes from Joystiq (via Reddit, of course) where some dude who claims to be someone he may or may not be - a mod at PSX-Scene - has the whole scoop. "The truth is, there was a new CFW (custom firmware) released known as Rebug (link omitted). It essentially turns a retail console into a dev console (not fully, but gives you a lot of the same options that usually dev's only have access to)." No big deal right? The redditor continues, "well, it also turns out that some people over at NGU found out that you could provide fake CC# info and the authenticity of the information was never checked as you were on Sony's private developer PSN network (essentially a network that Sony trusted). What happened next was extreme piracy of PSN content. Sony realizing the issue here shut down the network." He also states that personal information is not in jeopardy, so don't go canceling your mom's credit card yet.

It doesn't sound unlikely, but Sony, WTF mate? If true, why couldn't you say something along those lines instead of spewing garbage about hackers attacking PSN. If this is the case, hackers did take anything down, they found their way into the network, and with no real security in place, Sony has taken down the network themselves. 

This whole ordeal is frustrating for me, and I don't even use PSN that frequently. I can only imagine what the Killzone 3 faithful are going through right now. I don't know what the underlying cause is, but I do know that PlayStation needs to make good on this outage one way or another, especially to the people who are paying $50 a year for a service you can't render due to the inability to provide a secure network.

Extend Your Play Time with User-Created Content for Infamous 2

There's no way around it, Infamous 2 looks like a jolt of fun administered right to your brain in the most unorthodox ways imaginable. Developers Sucker Punch have chosen to omit multiplayer in favor of creating a truly immersive single player tale. Bummer, innit? 

Fear not fans of PlayStation 3 exclusives, Infamous 2 is attempting to win you back and keep you playing with the latest announcement of user created content. While it won't be as deep as Little Big Planet 2's user-creation modes (really though, what is?), it will surely be a great way to extend your hours logged as the shocking Mr. MacGrath.

It looks as if user-creation is 'limited' to creating unique missions in various modes with various goals, such as stealth, defense, search and destroy, races, and so on, but that in itself will give creative gamers plenty to work with. Once you've created your masterpiece, throw it on PSN and let the rest of the world suffer through your impossible user-created mission. Really though, why did you have to make it so difficult?

Amped for Infamous 2? Your day is about to get even better with the news that a limited beta will be available to a few lucky gamers to jump in Cole's stylish shoes and drop a beating on some very well deserving individuals. Check back on March 14 for details.

via PlayStation.Blog

WTFNGPSP2OMG! PlayStation's Powerful New Portable Confirmed

In the wee hours of the morning, while the northern east coast cowered in fear from some serious thundersnow, the far east coast setting off some big things. Big as in PlayStation Portable 2 reveal. The curve ball though, is that Sony has avoided as branding as PSP2, instead opting to codename it NGP, or Next Generation Portable. Will it be renamed to PSP2 at some point down the line? Damn if I know. These companies and their naming conventions these days, drive me crazy! For sanity's sake (as in, making you as insane as I am), I'm just going to call it the NGPSP2.

Click to read more ...

Watch the PlayStation Phone be Fondled Aggressively

Sony Ericsson's Xperia PLAY, otherwise known as the PlayStation Phone, has found itself a long way from home -- again. Previously filmed in unromantic locales such as a McDonalds, a factory, and a basement, the PSPhone now finds itself in a parking lot, where a hungry geek slides his long fingers all over her sleek body. Poor PSPhone, she gets no respect!

The device itself is looking quite nice from a purely physical standpoint. The touch screen seems to be a bit unresponsive to the intrusive man's commands at times, and the slide mechanism looks to be incredibly stiff, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it. I'm sure it'll loosen up with use, but hopefully not by too much.

The video shows us some key parts of any mobile phone such as micro-USB port, and LED flash, as well as a few mobile gaming specific items like the shoulder buttons. The body is slightly chunky to accommodate the slide out gaming controls, which still look a little bland to me. Let's see the touch pad in action! 

Word is the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY, which is starting to be abbreviated to S.E.X. PLAY, will finally have its official introduction at next month's Mobile World Congress. Until then, we'll look forward to seeing it taken on more cheap dates with shady, long-fingered dudes.

Work Your Mandible On New Resistance 3 Footage

As a late adopter to the PlayStation 3 (money don't grow on trees, kids) I've never played any installment of the Resistance series, but have always heard good things. Resistance 3's earlier trailer featured a bunch of nap-inducing live action scenes that, while well done and moody as hell, wasn't one of the more exciting things I've watched. Then the VGA's rolled up with their exclusive trailers, and the third chapter of the Resistance saga became infinitely more appealing.

PlayStation.Blog has hit us with a director's cut of said VGA trailer, adding a good half-minute of additional footage. It's likely that the extra 30 seconds wont do anything to make you wet your pants, but it's worth a watch in case you've forgotten about, or have yet to see, the original VGA trailer. 

Sony Ericsson's PlayStation Phone Gets Felt Up

Sony Ericsson's PlayStation Phone has been spotted in the wild, and immediately gets groped on camera. Not much has changed cosmetically since it's first low quality photo reveal. Actually, nothing has changed, which is a bit disappointing to say the least. PlayStation has always impressed me with its cutting edge designs, but the PSPhone is a little disappointing to say the least, especially once you slide the screen up and look at the underwhelming controls.

Android's Gingerbread OS is looking pretty sexy though, and that could be the only thing this device has going for it right now. Expect to get more details very soon.

via engadget

Say Hello to the New PSP: PlayStation Phone

It's heeeeeere. The oft-speculated PlayStation Phone has finally made its first appearance, effectively silencing its doubters and knocking the pants off anyone who didn't see it coming. 

The crafty folks at Engadget have gotten their hands on what appears to be a prototype model, which looks pretty impressive. Rumored to run the yet-to-be released Android 3.0 OS, the PSPhone runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, with an approximately 4-inch screen. Fancy! 

To go along with all that's under the hood, the PSPhone's touchscreen slides up to reveal a directional pad and the usual PlayStation face buttons. I suppose analog sticks would be too bulky for this tight little package, so they've been replaced by a multi-touch pad. Shoulder buttons included, Memory Stick not. In place of Sony's much pushed, less than ideal storage solution, is the more universal MicroSD slot. That's a good look. 

As a prototype model still, it's hard to say the PSPhone Engadget got their hands on won't change, but even if it didn't, it's still an impressive piece of phone. Sony turned a lot of heads when they confidently entered the console wars years back, can they do the same in the mobile market? Will they send the police to kick down Engadget's door and reclaim the device? Will the PSPhone be any good? Stay tuned. 

via Engadget.com

Playstation Phone gallery

DC Universe Online has Good News and Bad News

So which do you want first? Let's just start with the bad news. You're going to die. You're in perfect health and will probably live another 75 years, but you're definitely going to die if you try to see me in Halo: Reach, son! So, now that we've gotten past that, here's the not-as-bad news: DC Universe Online has been delayed until early 2011. That wasn't so bad, was it? Upsetting, maybe, but not as woeful and embarrassing as getting torn to shreds with an assault rifle on Boardwalk.

On the upswing though, the good news is that Sony Online Entertainment has assured us that this delay is helping them to release a much more polished product. Isn't that what all delays are for, SOE? Well, I'm not going to sit here and split hairs about delays, this is a time for coming to terms with the news, DC fanboys.

To make good on it's delay, SOE has released new in-game footage of DC Universe Online; the first being a "fly-through" of Superman's home city of Metropolis. I know what you're saying, it looks really good, but there's not much action. Chill homeboy, that's where the second video comes in. Nothing but a minute and a half of frenzied brawling! It's more confusing than trying to spot Elmo at a Bloods initiation, but the carnage looks fun as hell. 

Watch, enjoy, discuss.