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

By Adam Rosenberg May 15, 2011

Image used with permission by copyright holder

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.

Editors' Recommendations

How to change your PSN name

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

The best Power Armor in Fallout 4 and where to find each set

Fallout 4 key art featuring the power armor suit hung up in an armory.

From the very first Fallout game, the Power Armor has been every wastelander's dream to pilot. This hulking suit of armor can make your normally squishy Vault Dweller nigh unkillable in Fallout 4. But there's more than just one type of Power Armor, and each one has different stats and requirements to wear. Not only that, but some you might find one piece at a time and need to build yourself, while others can be found as a complete set. If you want to make even a Deathclaw think twice about attacking you, only the best Power Armor will do. Here are the best suits in Fallout 4 and where to find them.
Raider Power Armor

This is the only Power Armor in Fallout 4 that even a base-level player can wear right off the bat. While that's great, it does mean it's the weakest option out there. The best stats you can get with it are 500 damage resistance, 250 energy resistance, and 1,050 radiation resistance for a total rating of 1,800. It's great for the early game if you can snag one, but is quickly outclassed by everything else on this list. A guaranteed spawn for this armor is in the cave right beside Skylanes Flight 1665 on your map.
T-45 Power Armor

Gaming

3 great Xbox Game Pass titles you should try this weekend (April 26-28)

The current gen version of Fallout 4.

This has been a pretty busy week for new releases, with the likes of Another Crab’s Treasure, Stellar Blade, Sand Land, and more coming out. Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s video game subscription service, has also had quite a busy week. Three games in particular stand out as must-plays this weekend for those who want to delve a bit further into the service rather than spend money on a new game.

One is an excellent single-player Star Wars game from 2023 that you might have missed because of how busy last year was for big releases. Another is a new real-time strategy game that earned buzz on Steam in the lead-up to its release. Finally, there’s a Bethesda Game Studios classic that just received an Xbox Series X update that you can experience free of charge via Game Pass. If you're looking for a new game to start this weekend, but don't feel like buying something new, give any of these a try.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Computing

Save $400 on this Razer gaming laptop with an RTX 4060

A game playing on the Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop.

For a gaming laptop that will be able to handle the most demanding games, you're going to want a machine that's as powerful as the Razer Blade 14 with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card. It's understandably expensive, but you can currently get it with a $400 discount from Razer that drops its price to an even $2,000 from $2,400 originally. We're not sure how much time is remaining before this offer ends though, so if you want the savings, you're going to have to complete your purchase as soon as you can.

Why you should buy the Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop
The Razer Blade 14 is capable of challenging the best gaming laptops with the help of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, which offers excellent efficiency and strong ray tracing performance. Combined with the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor and 16GB of RAM that's good for gaming, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need, not only will you be able to play the best PC games without any issues, but you'll also be prepared for the upcoming PC games of the next few years.