Dawg Talkers Message Boards: NCAA PS3, Big 12..part 2

PlayStation 3s around the world refusing to connect to PSN
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/65870

Is your PS3 console refusing to go online for multiplayer action, movie rentals, or downloadable game shopping? Can't play some of the most recent trophy-enabled games like "Heavy Rain"? Join the club. Update: Unless you've got the "slim" PS3, "do not use your PS3 system" until the bug is fixed, Sony warns.

Millions of PS3 gamers got a rude surprise Sunday when their consoles suddenly stopped connecting to the PlayStation Network, a glitch that disrupted (and, as of Monday morning, continues to disrupt) online multiplayer matches and access to the PlayStation Store.

As Sony Insider reports, the problems seemed to begin around 4PM PST on Sunday, with players trying to log onto the PlayStation Network getting the following (and not terribly helpful) message: "An error has occurred. You have been signed out of the PlayStation Network."

That means no access to the PlayStation store for downloadable games, add-ons, or movie rentals, and no online multiplayer for games such as "Modern Warfare 2" or "Killzone 2."

Even worse, though, is the fact that some single-player games that you'd think would work in offline mode aren't working, either. Indeed, I just tried to fire up "Heavy Rain" and got an error: "Registration of the trophy information could not be completed. The game will quit." Next I tried "Killzone 2" and only made it as far as the Start menu. The theory among commenters on the various PS3 boards is that games with support for PlayStation "trophies" aren't working at all—and after successfully testing out the trophy-less "Unreal Tournament III," that sounds about right.

OK, so is the PlayStation Network itself to blame? Maybe not; as Kotaku reports, users with the new, "slim" PS3 don't seem to be having any trouble at all. Instead, we might be talking a hardware problem with older, "fat" PS3 consoles—specifically, a glitch with the PS3's on-board clock, which may have tripped over the date change from February 28 to March 1 (or at least, that's the "going theory," Sony Insider says).

On its official Twitter feed, Sony says that it's "narrowing down the issue" and will "work to restore service to all." That was 11 hours ago, though (the time now, as I write this post, is a little after 10 a.m. EST), and for now, my 40GB PS3 is still refusing to go online or (to my extreme annoyance) play the brilliant (if glitchy) "Heavy Rain."

Anyway, I'll post an update once we get more info or (hopefully) a resolution. In the meantime, any other PS3 users out there having trouble? Got a theory on what's happening? Feel free to vent right here.
Update [1 p.m. EST]: Sony has an update on its official PlayStation blog; apparently, the problem does in fact affect "the models other than the new slim PS3," and stems from (as suspected) "a bug in the clock functionality."

Sony promises a fix within 24 hours, but here's the scary part: "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."

So wait ... "not being able to restore certain data?" What does that mean, exactly? Are our earned PS3 trophies at risk? Hopefully, we'll know more details soon, but I know I won't be the only one who'll be upset if I wake up Tuesday morning to find that my PS3 trophies have been erased.

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