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PSN update now live across the U.S., go change your password now

Adam Rosenberg By

Sony's PSN is now back online with limited functionality across the United States, along with a system update requiring a password change.

In case you missed it — and you very well might have considering what time this ball got rolling — Sony has officially flipped the switch on the PlayStation Network, restoring service in a limited capacity as a gradually filling map of the United States. charted the progress of the rollout through the night. The map is now fully green, which means firmware update version 3.61 is now available for download to all U.S. users. In addition to online gameplay, the update brings back video rental playback, Music Unlimited on Qriocity, Netflix/Hulu access, Friends Lists, chat, Trophy comparison and PlayStation Home.

The update is a zippy download and installation as of 9:30 a.m. eastern time today, taking no more than 10 minutes to load into your console and do its thing. We’ll see if that changes as more of the country wakes up and tries to bring PS3s back online. In order to complete the update installation, you’ll need to change your password. Not that you wouldn’t want to, since… you know… your private information was compromised and stuff. That said, the real safeguards built into 3.61 are presumably under the hood, since even the most complex password won’t do you a lick of good if all of your info is stolen from the network servers again.

Sony no doubt wants to put this whole unfortunate affair behind it, but there will very likely need to be an extended healing period before consumer confidence can be restored. “Welcome Back” promotions and the like are all well and good, but only time is going to make this mess go away. Look at Microsoft and the whole “Red Ring of Death” circus; slightly different situation but with a similar reach. Both companies made mistakes before stepping up and doing what needed to be done; like Microsoft, Sony’s got a large enough user base that a return to business as usual is a certainty, even if it does take some time.

After all, that new Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack is going to come to PSN at SOME point.

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Showing 38 comments

  1. Wow at 7:11am 16th May 2011 Well mines working.. I'm in rhode island. Only black ops though.. Mortal combat and homefront won't work
  2. Carlodys Almeyda at 5:40am 16th May 2011 at last!!!
  3. Sergei Mooha at 4:56am 16th May 2011 it do not let me change the passwod sad
  4. Cashew Gaul at 3:33am 16th May 2011 co-op rather
  5. Cashew Gaul at 3:33am 16th May 2011 limited functionality huh.... going to attempt some Uncharted II coop and see what happens
  6. Cashew Gaul at 3:23am 16th May 2011 oh please Trip...i think most of us have jobs. Well at least I do. That's how I pay for gaming...
  7. Izhar Lilo at 3:08am 16th May 2011 what about japan..?
  8. Cashew Gaul at 3:03am 16th May 2011 yay!
  9. Trip Affleck at 2:50am 16th May 2011 or just cancel your account and get a job.
  10. LaZyGUY at 7:27pm 15th May 2011 Ive tried to log into my account to change my password, but its wont let me. It says PSN is currently undergoin maintence. Can someone hit me up with some info?
    1. Nickolas Barker at 7:43pm 15th May 2011 idk but its not just you i was on psn earlier then now its down again so i guess the only thing to do is to wait and see
      1. Nickolas Barker at 7:47pm 15th May 2011 We’re currently experiencing an extremely heavy load of password resets, and so we recently had to turn off services for approximately 30 minutes to clear the queue. As such a large number of people are attempting to change their passwords at the same time, it’s taking longer than expected for all those emails to clear all of the ISPs.
        1. LaZyGUY at 8:13pm 15th May 2011 Okay thank you for the information.
  11. Nik Rolls at 7:18pm 15th May 2011 Playstation shut it down again to slow down the number of password reset emails going out and allow ISPs to clear some of their backlog. They said it would be down for around 30 minutes.
  12. Laurent at 7:03pm 15th May 2011 What is the time frame for Australia to go live?
    1. Nik Rolls at 7:17pm 15th May 2011 It already was live, but Playstation shut it down again to slow down the number of password reset emails going out and allow ISPs to clear some of their backlog. They said it would be down for around 30 minutes.
  13. xXxdibxXx at 7:03pm 15th May 2011 and when mine was working i had great connection!!!! DANG HACKERS!!!
  14. xXxdibxXx at 7:00pm 15th May 2011 i mean UNDERGOING MAINTENECE
  15. xXxdibxXx at 7:00pm 15th May 2011 Gosh Damn hackers why do you have to hack the psn................................. I was able to get on but then i got logged out and said the same DAMN thing ( MAINTENENCE UNDERGOING) ..............
    1. Nik Rolls at 7:17pm 15th May 2011 It wasn't hackers -- Playstation shut it down again to slow down the number of password reset emails going out and allow ISPs to clear some of their backlog. They said it would be down for around 30 minutes.
  16. ChristianRocker at 5:52pm 15th May 2011 It says Netflix is working again but it never stopped working.
    1. Nik Rolls at 7:16pm 15th May 2011 You normally need to log into PSN to use Netflix. Though I've heard some people could get in regardless.
      1. jaremy mount at 5:01am 16th May 2011 you just had to sign in then whn it said unable to sign it you go back and you could still use Netflixs
  17. lee dixon at 1:53pm 15th May 2011 Yeah mine was up for a minute, could play online but couldn't access netflix or the store and now its all back down again. Not to mention while it was up, it made no mention of upgrading for free to playstation plus for a free 30 days. The other thing it spoke of on here was getting free things for certain games yet nothing for cod?
    1. Nik Rolls at 2:47pm 15th May 2011 Give them time, the free PS+ subscription is an automatic rollout.
  18. Alex at 1:42pm 15th May 2011 PSN is back down.....
  19. Codi at 1:39pm 15th May 2011 Mine isn't working again wtf?
  20. phil at 1:27pm 15th May 2011 The update forces you to change it when you try to sign in on the console
  21. Alexandher at 1:08pm 15th May 2011 I'm getting numerous 8 digit number errors trying to change my password. It's my official opinion that Sony doesn't know what the heck they are doing when it comes to networks. It's ridiculous, even before I would have like those # errors occur and it says to turn the modem off. BS. Everything else works FINE. You should too. [/end rant]
  22. Josue at 11:05am 15th May 2011 Wht about psp? When do we get an update so we can use the psn store and online gaming again?
    1. Nik Rolls at 2:46pm 15th May 2011 No update needed, as long as you've done the PS3 update PSP will start working.
    2. Nik Rolls at 2:53pm 15th May 2011 If you don't have a PS3 to do the password change on, follow the instructions here: http://uk.playstation.com/psppsn/
  23. Some guy at 10:54am 15th May 2011 Awesome! I love playstation. Can't wait to get online and check out all the stuff I been missing. Did take a while, but hackers are everywhere, just got to be patient
  24. Vaughan at 8:25am 15th May 2011 First
    1. Nik Rolls at 7:17pm 15th May 2011 Actually you were second. Sux2bu.
  25. That_Bush at 8:24am 15th May 2011 sooo...what u gonna give us who checked every day and DIDN'T switch or even think about switching to SUXBox 3SUX-D...not trying to be rude but i am a little annoyed.
    1. Kyle Thorn at 9:07am 15th May 2011 Stop ya complaining and just be thankful that it is up and running .....
    2. Nik Rolls at 2:46pm 15th May 2011 Go complain to Sony. This blog is not Sony.
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