It's about damn time. I can only hope that after it goes up, it isn't immediately hacked again, causing further downtime. While it's great and all that the hackers managed to hurt Sony, it has wreaked havoc for all users and sites like us. During the downtime we were unable to redeem review vouchers, putting us way behind on providing proper coverage on a select number of games. I hope Sony really learned something from all of this and have a better idea of how to protect themselves and their users' data.
All PlayStation Network Services to Return This Week
A Sony press release confirms a full return of PlayStation Network functionality, though an exact date still has not been specified.
Sony confirmed today that thePlayStation Network will be fully functional once again some time this week. According to the company, this includes the PlayStation Store, in-game commerce, ability to redeem vouchers and codes, Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3, PSP, Vaio, and other PCs, and Media Go services. Online multiplayer services have already been restored across all regions, with Asian territories only having returned three days ago on May 28.
The PlayStation Network originally went down nearly a month and a half ago on April 20, due to a sudden hacker attack. Data supplied by 77 million PlayStation Network users was compromised included names, email addresses, birth dates, billing and physical addresses, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and even security questions and answers.
Return of the store will also signal the availability of the Welcome Back program which supplies all PSN users with a number of freebies to make up for the breach in security and downtime of the service. All North American users will receive one free month of PlayStation Plus and Qriocity as well as free rental movies over one weekend. PlayStation 3 owners will also be able to choose two of the following titles: Dead Nation, inFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, Wipeout HD + Fury. PSP owners have a choice of two titles from the following list: LittleBigPlanet (PSP), ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force, Killzone Liberation. Europe's program differs only slightly from America's, offering Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty in place of Super Stardust HD.
With the PlayStation Store returning to service, Sony will be incrementally releasing all of the PlayStation 3 and PSP content that was unable to be released during the downtime. This includes a variety of games and DLC across both platforms.
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