As most of you know, the PlayStation Network is still down. The good news is that Sony announced that they will shortly begin a phased restoration by region of PlayStation Network, beginning with gaming, music and video services to be turned on. The company also announced both a series of immediate steps to enhance security across the network and a new customer appreciation program to thank its customers for their patience and loyalty.
The initial rollout will include:
• Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems
• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers
• Access to account management and password reset
• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation Home
• Friends List
• Chat Functionality
The key phrase is "shortly"... Some reports have said that the rollout will be sometime this week, but caution is probably advised as Sony had previously reported that they would be back online last week (which obviously didn't happen).
Along with implimenting increased security features to help prevent future attacks, the company also expedited an already planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location that has been under construction and development for several months.
There was a bit of a scare last week due to reports of that a group tried to sell millions of credit card numbers back to Sony. Sony's Patrick Seybold (Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media) addressed this concern in an update over the weekend: "To my knowledge there is no truth to this report of a list, or that Sony was offered an opportunity to purchase the list."
When the PlayStation Network DOES come back online, there will be a forced system software update that will require all registered PlayStation Network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service. The password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which that account was activated, OR through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.
Our objective is to increase security so our customers can safely and confidently play games and use our network and media services. We will continue to provide updates as we have them.
Sony revealed yesterday that they will be offering a "Welcome Back" Appreciation Program. Details are vague... There will be different content and downloads offered to various markets. The one universal element in the program is that all users will be given 30 days of PlayStation Plus, and those that are already subscribers to the service will have their current subscriptions exted an extra 30 days.
We also reported last week on
PS3 Owners Switching To Xbox. Because the scale of the original poll wasn't very large, we decided to create our own poll and see what PS3 owners had to say about switching to Xbox 360. If you haven't done so already, you may participate in our poll below.