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.

Sony Beginning Regional Restoration of PlayStation Network Starting Today [UPDATED]

UPDATE: PlayStation Executive Kaz Hirai appeared in a video published to the PlayStation Blog minutes ago where he went over Sony's process for the situation and some new security measures for PlayStation users.

"I'd like to send my sincere apologies for the inconvenience the service outage has caused you," said Hirai, "and want to thank you for all the patience that you've shown as we've worked through this restoration process. Since the attacks on our networks, we've been working around the clock to bring game and media services back online."

Hirai spoke about new additions to the PSN's internal security system to avoid situations like this in the future, new features like advanced security technology, increased levels of encryption, additional firewalls and an early warning detection system.

Sony is also offering identity theft services to customers in regions where such services are available.

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It's almost over, things are almost back to normal.

Sony has issued a press release which details a region-by-region "phased restoration" of the PlayStation Network, starting with the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. It sounds like some PSN functionality (in the Americas at least) will be up and running by the end of the day today, with functionality fully restored world wide by the end of the month.

The first of multiple phases will include the following features according to the press release.

• Sign in functionality for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, including resetting passwords
• Restoration of online gameplay across PS3 and PSP
• Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation Home
• ‘Friends’ category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc
• Access to 3rd party services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and MLB.tv
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC

As soon as we have more news on rollout details we'll let you know.

Dark Souls Releasing This October

Demon's Souls; you either love it or hate it. Why? Because people have always seemed to rage quit  in the middle of the game because it's pretty damn difficult. Some say that it even puts Ninja Gaiden's difficulty to shame, but somehow, people manage to get through it. Even I ask myself how the hell they've completed the game!

To some, completing that game is like an accomplishment and without a doubt, Dark Souls will definitely be like that as well. Dark Souls, developed by From Software, who was also behind Demon's Souls, are getting ready to possibly even put their previous game's difficulty to shame. With October seeming to be the release window for the game, the announcement also comes with a complimentery trailer to show what's in store for us. God damn, they have something in store for us without a doubt!

Playstation Network Begins It's Return This Week With New Security Measures

After an entire week of being out of commission due to a hacker attack, Sony held a press conference in Japan on Sunday to give everyone the latest updates and steps being taken to restore the Playstation Network. The first bit of good news is that there is still no evidence to show that credit card information was taken.

According to Sony this whole problem began following a "criminal cyber-attack" on one of their facilities located in San Diego. After said attack Sony brought in security firms to investigate. The investigation took several days which is the reason Sony gave for their delayed first response to the issue.

The good to come out of this is a set of new security features to make sure an incident like this doesn't happen again. These features include moving Sony's Data Center to a new location, a force of a password change via the main Playstation 3 or the verified email address, adding multiple layers of internal security, and hiring a chief information security officer.

Exec. deputy president of the Sony Corporation Kaz Hirai has assured users that Sony has been working around the clock to get PSN up and running again.

"This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry," says Hirai. "These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers’ information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks."

Throughout this week PSN features will start to return. Sony has of course prioritized certain features over others. The list is as follows.

• Restoration of online game-play across the PlayStation 3 and PSP systems (this includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games)
• 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

Of course before you can access all those you'll need to do a firmware update mandating a PSN password change.

Finally Sony has been promising compensation to it's users, we now have some details about some of that compensation. Sony is launching a "Welcome Back" campaign, every PSN user will get a free 30-Day subscription to Playstation Plus. Existing PS Plus subscribers will get another 30 days free. Qriocity users will also get a month free, for all two of you who use Qriocity. There will also be more additional content offered for free, but that content depends on the region your in, and there's been no announcement yet of what it is.

We'll know soon about when each service 

PSN Could Be Down for a Few Days

With the recent evens with Geohotz Vs. Sony, it's hard not to think that these events are connected with the hacker group, "Anonymous." Anonymous "attacked" Sony by bringing down a lot of their official websites, along with PSN, as soon as Geohotz Vs. Sony claimed that there wouldn't be anymore software modding on any Sony consoles. The attacks have happened and ended not too long ago, but there is possibly another attack, but it's been confirmed that Anonymous has nothing to do with this...just yet, but Sony has confirmed, finally, that it does have something to do with an "external intrusion"

For the past few days, PSN has been undergoing maintenance with users reporting that it's been an issue to sign on. What's a bummer is the fact that with the PSN being down, you can't log on to things such as Netflix at all. Who knows what's going on, whether it actually is an attack or not. For those that are urgent to get online, just give it time.