Sony's "Welcome Back" Program Now Available in Playstation Store

If you're one of those people, which I don't doubt, that have been itching to access the Playstation Store to get your demos, DLC, and etc., then you may be happy to find out that the Playstation Store has already returned. What about the "Welcome Back" program that Sony had promised us since they had begun rolling out restoration worldwide? Well, you're in luck because the program is now available!

Today, the official Playstation Blog announced that it had finally launced its program! To refresh your memory, on the PS3, you wil be able to select 2 of 5 games Sony has picked out for us to download for free! This goes for PSP as well; choosing 2 of 4 PSP games.

The following list are the games you will be able to pick 2 of, previously detailed by Sony in our recent article detailing the program:

Playstation 3

• LittleBigPlanet
• InFamous
• Wipeout HD/Fury
• Super Stardust HD
• Dead Nation

PSP

• LittleBigPlanet
• Modnation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone: Liberation

PS3 users will also be able to access Playstation Plus for 30 Days Free as well. Along with that, Sony has also set up a FAQ section explaining Playstation Plus for newcomers, like me, for example that have never used the Plus service. This FAQ section can be seen in their announcement they made today, right here

Now this whole PSN outage has finally ended, we can all return to our daily PS3 gaming lives!

PlayStation Store Returns With Major Update

Finally things are back to normal (in the U.S. at least), the PlayStation store is up and running again after six weeks of being down as a result of the PSN hack. Its glorious return is marked by a ton of content being released that was meant to be spread out over the last month and a half.

True to their word, Sony will be updating the store multiple times a week for a while, with the next batch of content to be released this Friday. Sony also encourages users to "be sure to check back daily," as they'll be releasing "some special publishes" after the weekend during E3 week.

The 'Welcome Back' games and goodies Sony promised are unfortunately not available yet. According to Sony the pack is "currently in the final stages of testing and will be available to download soon."

A bunch of games have already been released in this update; Alien Crush, Bonk's Adventure, Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls, Sega Rally Online Arcade, Star Raiders, Red Johnson's Chronicles, Back to the Future: Episode 3, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, Bomberman '94, and Learning With Pooyoo's are all available to download right now with more on the way as time goes on.

Demo wise you can try inFamous 2, Red Faction: Armageddon, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, Motorstorm Apocalypse, The Fight: Lights Out, Star Raiders and more.

DLC includes the Honest Hearts add-on for Fallout: New Vegas, a ton of Rock Band songs, and other small things to buy.

PlayStation Plus users get some new freebies and get their old offers extended as well.

The full update listing can be found on the PlayStation Blog.

PlayStation Store Will Be Back By the End of the Week, Unless You're in Japan

I'm sure you're all as tired of reading all this Sony news as I am about writing it, but this should be nearly the end of it all. It was thought that the PlayStation Store would be up and running last week because that is what Sony had told developers. Obviously that didn't happen, this morning it was announced the store will be up and running by the end of the week.

So by weeks end you'll not only be able to browse and make purchases via the store, voucher redemption will be up and running, as will "Music Unlimited" for Qriocity on the PS3, PSP, and VAIO, as well as access to Media Go.

As for regions of Asia--Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong--we still have no word on when the service will be up and running. The Japanese government is slowing the process by demanding more specifics from Sony about their responsibility to consumers. Right now all we've gotten from Sony about the services return in those regions is that details will be released "as they become available."

Playstation Store to Return on May 24th?

Seems like things may be starting to look up for Sony and online gamers, especially if they need their DLC fix and of course, the "Welcome Back" program that's been set to start as well. A memo written by Sony and for its partners was obtained by Gamasutra, inquiring plans for the return of the Playstation Store along with updates that were planned before the whole fiasco. PSN Content Manager, Jack Osorno, stated, "We thank you for your patience as we work to resume service of the PlayStation Store, in the memo.

Sony is planning to release 2 updates a week to catch up on the Playstation Store, starting with May 24th. On that day, all DLC, demoes, add-ons, etc. that were set to come out on the 26th will be available, along with the "Welcome Back" program. 3 Days later, on the 27th of this month, DLC that was also meant to release the week after will come out as well. After the delayed updates have been set in motion, regular weekly updates will commence as usual.

Also, the memo says that Sony will be willing to move certain DLC and add-ons a little earlier that may have come out later to a much earlier time when the Playstation Store re-opens if there's some that are eager to play. One example that I'm thinking of is Fallout: New Vegas' latest DLC, "Honest Hearts."

Online play doesn't matter to me that much, but when it comes to certain DLC, it does a bit, but it's really that big of a concern to me. Either way, things are getting back on track with Sony!