Keep It or Trade It?: Max Payne 3 (360)
Keep It or Trade It?: Tales of Graces f (PS3)
Keep It or Delete It?: Ketzal’s Corridors (3DS eShop)
Keep It or Trade It?: Prototype 2 (360)
Keep It or Trade It?: Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (3DS)
If you’re like me, you were unpleasantly surprised this evening by the PlayStation Network going down. Normally, this alone wouldn’t be an issue, but gamers who want to enjoy their new copies of MAG aren’t the only ones who are getting blocked. Many single-player offline games such as Star Ocean: The Last Hope (which I’m trying to get done for review) require a trophy check at start up. Unfortunately, the glitch that is currently happening prevents even that simple action from occurring.
Reports indicate that it is only affecting the older “fat” PS3s. Earlier in the evening, some people were reporting that upon calling technical support, they were told that the error code they received “8001050F” meant they needed their PS3s to be sent in for repair; however, it’s highly unlikely that every older PS3 died at the same time. One symptom of this issue is that the date has been reset to 12/31/1999…well before the launch of the system.
The newer slims with 120GB or 250GB hard drives seem to function normally. Hopefully, Sony will fix this soon. Via their Twitter, Sony has disclosed that they are working on a fix, but haven’t announced any more details about the problem or the solution. We will update as we get more information. In the meantime, read a good book.
Update (2/28): Apparently PS3 consoles that are not connected to the internet have suffered a similar fate, indicating that this is the result of a firmware bug, not the PlayStation Network. Various online discussions indicate that it may be related to an issue in the calendar.
Update 2 (3/1): Sony has released an official statement on the matter that essentially says, if you don’t have a slim, don’t try to play games until the matter is resolved. They are shooting for resolution in the next 24 hours. Here’s their full statement:
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.
Update 3 (3/1): The Gaming Vault has some interesting insight into the PS3 debacle. It seems that someone with knowledge of the hardware has an idea about what has caused the problem, and also reports that some PS3 Slim owners are also having issues. I also have a co-worker who has a “fat” PS3 that has successfully gone online today. According to The Games Vault, it seems to be related to the ARM SYSCON CPU that powers the front of the PS3, similar CPUs were used in the Zunes that suffered a similar fate a few years ago.
Update 4 (3/1): As of about 6:30 p.m. Eastern, I was able to get back onto the PSN. All trophies I acquired during the play session when the network went down are gone, but everything else seems functional. Consider this information, not a go ahead to try yourself. Sony still has not given their official word on the matter.
