WE posted here last night, that Sony where close to releasing a new Firmware, that Firmware version 3.70 is now live and brings the following features:

For PlayStation Plus members, System Software update 3.70 introduces two often requested features: Automatic syncing on trophies to PlayStation Network and automatic upload of game saves to Online Storage (only available to PlayStation Plus subscribers). Syncing of Trophy information will occur at the time you select in the Automatic Download settings; due to these additional functions, ‘Automatic Download’ will be renamed as ‘Automatic Update’.

System Software 3.70 will also make some changes to the layout of the XMB. The [TV] section will be renamed [TV/Video Services] and is where you will find the streaming video services available in your territory, such as BBC iPlayer in the UK.

In PlayStation Store, a ‘recommend’ feature has been added, allowing you to message your PlayStation Network friends and highlight a game or other piece of content.

MPO (Multi-Picture format) files for 3D photos and multi-angle photos can now be displayed under Photo and in [Photo Gallery].

3D playback of Blu-ray Java (“BD-J”) content is now supported. You can now enjoy BD-J content recorded on Blu-ray 3D discs.

—-

SCEE via its Twitter account, posted that tomorrow, Thursday the 11th of August, there will be a scheduled maintenance, which will start at 4:05 PM BST on Thursday evening, until 2:00 AM BST on Friday morning.

EDIT:
Regarding the Firmware update, i think it may have a bug, regarding network.
I have my PS3 connected via Ethernet had no problems with it until i updated, now each time i try and sign in, it tells me i have no Ethernet cable connected, if i redo network settings and and do a network test, it says everything is fine, im connected to the internet and PSN, but when i go to actually sign into PSN, it tells me no Ethernet cable is connected, i can connect via WiFi, but prefer Ethernet.
Im wondering if any of you have experienced similar problems ?

UPDATE 1:

Just a reminder the DNS bypass trick works again for lower firmwares (67.202.81.137 for primary/secondary DNS). Will only work for 1-2 week as usual following the new firmware update. The DNS trick is for 3.60 and above. Not for 3.55 and below. This is because of the XI-Passphrase that was changed to keep CFW off PSN

UPDATE 2:

According to internet reports, the new firmware brings a set of keys (making new releases unplayable on CFW at all). It also patches the holes that Cobra-USB supported.

Some people thought it was going to happen, while some knew. Hackers have found a way to get into Sony’s hidden PS3 server. Now you can play online if you are using a CFW on a 3.66 server. The hackers were able to do this because they used some tools that were released recently. Pretty cool hu?

Some hidden features were found inside PS3′s, and what would you do if you found some secret? You would investigate it and share it with other people. This is exactly what we did. Sony’s fault, Oh well. They even pulled off a trick on us! They did nothing on their servers when they had 1 full month to add or change something here and there.

HACKDEPS3 explains how to do it:

His second post:

His third post:

People strongly recommend you do NOT do this. I am only bringing the news, so do it at your own risk!

[VIA PS3 Crunch]

We all knew it was coming since January when it was rumored that Sony would start implementing activation codes on future PS3 games. Brand new games will come packaged with an online code that you are required to input before any of the game’s online features are available to you.

This is obviously Sony’s response to piracy as well as the used games industry.

Originally posted on IGN-

So it seems Sony fears we will soon have access to their precious PSN again, which soon may very well be true with all of Gitbrew’s work to get the rootkey and their work on a 3.56+ exploit.

SOURCE

If you are on PSN for some crazy reason, today  is your last day to nab your “Welcome Back” garbage goodies on PSN.

As a reminder:

For PS3 owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section in the PlayStation Store, and select 2 titles from the following list:

• Dead Nation
• inFAMOUS
• LittleBigPlanet
• Super Stardust HD
• Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section of PlayStation Store on your PSP system and select 2 titles from the following list:

• LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation

Oh and ofcourse, PSN is having heavy traffic, expect downtime and problems (as usual):

UPDATE: Due to high traffic on PlayStation Store, you may encounter error messages or issues. We advise you to check back a little later and try again.

Note: In order to download two games at no cost, you must redeem them from the “Welcome Back” category. The individual titles are still available for purchase outside of the “Welcome Back Program”

If at any point you can’t find the ‘Welcome Back Free Game 1 or 2’ products, the list of available titles or a game you’ve selected, go to your XMB>PlayStation Network>Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to complete the process.

Sony has stated that they dont know who the PSN hackers are, but Spanish police seem to think it is a group of local hackers, who the claim to be the Spanish wing of the hacktivist group Anonymous, here is a quote from the source:

PARIS — The Spanish police said Friday that they had arrested three suspected computer hackers in connection with recent cyberattacks on Sony’s PlayStation network as well as corporate and government Web sites around the world.
Readers’ Comments

In a statement, the police said that with the arrests, they had dismantled the local leadership of the shadowy international network of computer hackers, called Anonymous, that has claimed responsibility for a wide variety of attacks.

According to the statement, Anonymous is made up of people from various countries organized into cells that share common goals. The activists operate anonymously, but in a coordinated fashion.

One of the “hacktivist” detainees, the police said, had harbored a computer server in an apartment in the northern port city of Gijon, from which the group attacked the Web sites of the Sony PlayStation online gaming store.

It also was used in coordinated cyberattacks against two Spanish banks, BBVA and Bankia, the Italian energy company Enel, as well as government sites in Spain, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chile, Colombia and New Zealand, the police said.

The police provided little information about the suspects.

It was not immediately clear if the group had been the sole, or even the main, perpetrator of the recent attacks on Sony. About a dozen Sony Web sites and services around the world have been hacked, with the biggest breaches forcing the Tokyo-based company to shut down its popular PlayStation Network for a month beginning in April.

The company has acknowledged that hackers compromised personal data for tens of millions of user accounts. Earlier this month, a separate hacker collective called Lulz Security said it had breached a Sony Pictures site and released vital source codes.

Sony has estimated that the hacker attacks will cost it at least 14 billion yen, or $173 million, in damages, including information technology spending, legal costs, lower sales and free offers to lure back customers.

Mami Imada, a Sony spokeswoman in Tokyo, said she had no information on the arrests and declined to comment.

The police said members of Anonymous made use of a computer program called LOIC to crash Web sites by flooding them with denial of service attacks.

The arrests follow an investigation that was begun last October, when hackers overwhelmed the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s Web site to protest Spanish legislation increasing punishments for illegal downloads.

Among recent attacks, the hackers also brought down the site of the Spanish National Electoral Commission last month before regional and municipal elections.

The movement against the anti-piracy law has been closely linked to the broader youth-led political movement that have occupied Puerta del Sol in Madrid and other city squares since May 15.

These protests have called for a complete overhaul of Spain’s political system — and the laws targeting illegal downloading.

Source The New York Times

Note:
Above image is a random pic and is not a photograph of the suspected PSN hackers.

The belated PSN Welcome Back is now live, it is a great package for those that do not have those games, though as they are the most popular games, most people already have them.
The process to download the games is quite problematic, with a couple of errors, here is a quote from the PS Blog, followed by Q & A, followed by some images i took.

With the PlayStation Store back online, we’ve been getting all caught up this week, having launched an abundance of amazing content for download on PlayStation 3 and PSP. Today, we’re excited to launch the Welcome Back program to thank you for your loyalty and below we’ve detailed what is available, how to go about downloading it and a list of frequently asked questions.

Thanks again for your patience and understanding as we restored the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services – your support has meant a lot to us and is greatly appreciated.

(more…)

Playstation Download Manager has been updated to version 3.87.

Download PS Download Manager 3.87 | 01/06/2011

Official Site

The wait is finally over, the PS Store is back, here is a quote from the source:

The PlayStation Store is back online and thank you everyone for your patience. You will notice a huge lineup of new downloadable games, demos, add-on content, themes, avatars and videos. Also, PlayStation Plus has been updated with new full game trials, free games and DLC, free avatars and even more discounts.

You may have noticed that the content promised as part of the Welcome Back offer is not yet live. It is currently in the final stages of testing and will be available to download soon; we’ll be sure to let you know when.

The next PlayStation Store and PlayStation Plus update will be this Friday, June 3, and then we will roll right into some special publishes starting next week for E3 (so be sure to check back daily!).

In the meantime, check out all the new downloadable content on PlayStation Store(Check Source).

Source

Well it has almost been two weeks since we started the competition to win a $50 PSN card and today i am happy to announce the winner, who is……….lets talk about the console the winner chose first, the console of choice was the Sega Dreamcast, which was the first sixth generation console to be released, whilst the console was popular, unfortunately it wasn’t popular enough and this was the last games console we would see Sega make, many people blamed the Dreamcasts demise on the fact it was rife with piracy, but that simply wasn’t the case, it was more than likely Sega’s inability to work with third party developers, in the future it would be nice to see Sega rise again as a games console manufacturer.

And on to the winner, who is:

Congratulations Qraze1, you shall receive the PSN Card tomorrow

Thank you to every one who entered and we will hold another competition soon

Well we are half way through the week and Sony have promised to return the PS Store before the end of this week, starting quite soon, the PSN network will be down for a few hours for maintenance, which Sony states is an important step to full restoration of all PSN services, here is a quote from the source:

Starting soon, the PlayStation Network will be inaccessible for several hours for maintenance. The server maintenance performed at this time represents a crucial step in the full restoration for PSN, including the PlayStation Store.

During this maintenance period, users will be unable to sign in to PSN, though those that are already logged in should be able to remain online.

Resumption of full PlayStation Network service is still on track for this week in most regions.

Thank you once again for your patience as we work to return PSN to the highest level of service.

Source

It has been a few weeks, since we have been able to access the PS Store, though it seems that we should be downloading from the PS Store by the end of the week according to Jeff Rubenstein Social Media Manager, here is a quote from the PS Blog:

This press release just hit the wire – PlayStation Store and related services (like voucher redemption) back this week:

SONY AND SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE FULL RESTORATION OF PLAYSTATION®NETWORK SERVICES

Tokyo, May 31, 2011 – Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced today that Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI, the company) will fully restore all PlayStation®Network services in the Americas, Europe/PAL territories and Asia, excluding Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea by the end of this week. The company will also resume Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity™ for PlayStation®3 (PS3®), PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), VAIO and other PCs. Details for Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea as well as the remaining services on Qriocity will be announced as they become available.

The company implemented considerable security enhancements to the network infrastructure, as well as conducted testing of the payment process and commerce functions. The first phase of PlayStation Network and Qriocity restoration began on May 15 in the Americas and Europe/PAL territories, followed by Japan and Asian countries and regions on May 28, when the company brought partial services back online. With this partial restoration users were able to access to some of the services such as online game play, account management, friend lists and chat functionality were restored. The full restoration of PlayStation Network as well as part of services to become available on Qriocity will include:

• Full functionality on PlayStation®Store
• In-game commerce
• Ability to redeem vouchers and codes
• Full functionality on Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3, PSP, VAIO and
other PCs
• Full functionality on Media Go

Customers will be able to purchase and download games and video content from the PlayStation®Store on PS3 or PSP. In addition, consumers will have full access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity through PS3, PSP, VAIO and other PC’s. Service restoration of Video on Demand powered by Qriocity™ and Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for a variety of network-enabled Sony devices will be announced later.

“We have been conducting additional testing and further security verification of our commerce functions in order to bring the PlayStation Network completely back online so that our fans can again enjoy the first class entertainment experience they have come to love,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “We appreciate the patience and support shown during this time.”

The company will be offering customers a “Welcome Back” package of services and premium content to all registered PlayStation Network* and Qriocity account services. The details of this program will continue to be detailed regionally.

* Only available for those countries with access to PlayStation®Store.

We will update the PlayStation Blog when the PlayStation Store is once again open for business.

Source PS Blog

Also don’t forget today’s PSN maintenance, you can read about that here.

For those of you that will be returning to use the PS Store and will be looking forward to the free PS+, read this warning thread by PS3HaX member $n!pR.

Over the past few moths, Sony have been getting quite a bad deal in regards to hacks, after the return of PSN, we had the issue on the official Playstation websites, where a vulnerability was found with the sign in process, then security experts F-Secure found a Phishing website being hosted on the official homepage of Sony Thailand(Source).

Sony Thailand Official Site:

Phishing Site On Sony Thailand Server:

Then Sony Music Indonesia was hacked and defaced, by an individual or group known as k4L0ng666(Source)

So-net Entertainment Corp, an Internet service provider subsidiary of Sony Corp, reports that they have had an intrusion and redeemable customer gift points worth about $1,225 were stolen.

Sophos Security reports that Sony BGM Greece gets hacked and information dumped, information belonging to 8000+ people(Source – thanks to KingKush for the tip).

On top of all this hacking, Sony have just reported a (more…)

The Playstation store will be up quite soon, a report here states the 24th of May, other reports suggest the 31st of May, so to celebrate the return of the PS Store, we are holding a competition, where the lucky winner will receive a $50 PSN card, below i will state the terms and conditions.

How To Win.

• You must name your favourite Games Console and the reason why you like that console.

Example:

My favourite games console is the original Xbox 1 console because, i loved its design, its sturdiness, the control pad in my opinion was awesome and it made for the greatest homebrew console in existence

• The console can be any from the first generation to present day Seventh generation.

• Handhelds are allowed.

• You must only pick one console and only make one post.

• Competition ends on 1st June

• Your post will be your “ticket” and we will use the same number generator site we did the last time.

• The winner will be selected and informed on the 2nd of June, the code will then be emailed to the winner.

Who Cannot Enter/Disqualifications.

• Sorry Staff cannot enter.

• People who do not use PSN.

• Posting more than once = Auto disqualification.

• Posting without giving a reason why you like the console = Auto disqualification.

Finally Good Luck

To read more about the various different consoles and generations, visit this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console

According to a report by gaming website Gamasutra, Sony says PS Store is to be back up and running on May 24th. Something we have all been waiting for. Well, some of us. When it comes back we will receive our “Welcome Back” goodies. On top of that, we will also receive PS +! If you already have Plus, you will get 60 days of free plus, here is a quote from the source:

Barring any additional problems, Sony plans to bring the PlayStation Store back online next Tuesday, May 24, according to a memo sent to Sony’s game developer and publishing partners.

The company has sent a tentative publishing schedule to partners detailing when their games, expansions and other releases will become available to players. In the memo, obtained by Gamasutra, Sony unveils plans to do two content pushes per week for the next two weeks to catch up with the backlog of content.

“We thank you for your patience as we work to resume service of the PlayStation Store,” wrote PSN content manager Jack Osorno to developer partners.

The first push, set to coincide with the PlayStation Store’s reopening, will distribute content that was originally scheduled to publish on April 26. Three days later on the 27th, another round of games will go live, which were originally scheduled for May 3.

The following week, pushes will take place on May 31 and June 3, using content that originally had been planned to be spread over three weeks. At that point, the company will be back on schedule and, presumably, return to a single content push per week.

View full article at Source

On the 29th of April, a United States House Of Representatives Sub Committee, sent SCEA Chairman Kazuo Hirai a letter asking questions regarding the PSN outage, Kazuo responded to that letter, but it seems that those answers weren’t enough, Mary Bono Mack, Chairman of that Sub Committee has sent yet more questions to Kazuo, here is the letter:

May 17, 2011

Mr. Kazuo Hirai
Chairman
Sony Computer Entertainment America
919 East Hillsdale Blvd.
Foster City, CA  99404
Dear Mr. Hirai:

We write today to follow up on requests we submitted in our letter to you on April 29, 2011.  In that letter, we made several queries regarding the data breach experienced by Sony Corporation’s Playstation Network last month.  We thank you for providing a written response and for making Sony representatives available to speak with us in person on May 3, 2011.

At the time you sent the above referenced response and at the time of the briefing, Sony was unable to answer several of the queries we posed in our April 29, 2011, letter.  Now that more time has passed, enabling further investigation of the incident, and particularly in light of the news that Sony restarted its Playstation Network on May 14, 2011, we submit these questions to you again, as well as questions regarding the discovery of a breach impacting Sony Online Entertainment customers.  We request answers no later than May 25, 2011.

1. Has your investigation revealed any additional information on what customer information was specifically obtained, and whether the information was obtained from all accounts or a portion of the accounts?

2. When Sony representatives briefed our staff on May 3, 2011, they indicated that personal information from all 77 million accounts had been breached in some form.  In your May 3, 2011, response to our letter you indicated not every piece of information in each account had been stolen, but that some personal information on all 77 million had been stolen.  Has your investigation revealed what information was taken from each individual account?  Do you have any additional information that would call for revising the number of affected accounts?

3. Has your investigation revealed how the breach occurred?

4. Your initial reply to us on May 3 indicated the attack may have been coordinated and directed by the group of cyber criminals named “Anonymous”.  Have you identified those who are responsible for the breach, including any individual(s)?

5. When our staffs met on May 3, 2011, your representatives indicated Sony could not confirm whether credit card information had been breached but, at the time, there was no evidence to indicate that such information had been breached.  Has your investigation revealed any additional information regarding whether credit card information was indeed taken?

6. Sony discovered on May 1 that an additional breach of its network occurred.  This breach reportedly involved approximately 25 million user accounts at Sony Online Entertainment.

a. Was this breach the same as, related to, or unrelated to the Sony Playstation Network breach?  Have you identified the responsible party?

b. When did the breach occur?  If there was a delay in the discovery of the Sony Online Entertainment breach, what was the reason for the delay?

c. How many user accounts were impacted?

d. What information was taken?

e. When did Sony notify its Sony Online Entertainment users that their accounts had been breached?

7. What steps has Sony taken or does Sony plan to take to mitigate the effects of these breaches on its customers?

8. Regarding both the Sony Playstation Network and the Sony Online Entertainment servers, you indicated in your May 3 response steps Sony is implementing to prevent future such breaches. Do you believe these additional security measures will prevent future breaches or illegal intrusions?  Why did you not have these measures in place prior to the breach(es)?

9. Did Sony have a policy in place at the time of either breach addressing data security and data retention practices?  If not, why not?  If so, what are those practices and does Sony plan any changes in its policies as a result of this breach?

10. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive Howard Stringer said Sony “can’t guarantee the security of its videogame network…in the ‘bad new world’ of cyber crime”.  Please explain what he meant, as well as the potential impact on consumers.

Thank you for your attention to and assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

Mary Bono Mack
Chairman

G. K. Butterfield
Ranking Member

Source

So PSN is finally up, what do you get for all the downtime?

PS3 users, 2 of the following games which can be kept forever:

• Dead Nation
• inFAMOUS
• LittleBigPlanet
• Super Stardust HD
• Wipeout HD + Fury

PSP folks you get 2 of the following:

• LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation

And here is a bunch of “goodies”:

• A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.
• 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.
• Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.
• Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.
• Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.
• To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

 Loading ...

[VIA PSBlog] – Thanks to iDelete for news tip.

UPDATE 1:

Official Sony reply to those said this program sucks:

I’m really sorry tha[t] there is nothing there that you want. We’ve tried really hard to put together a list of high quality BD games, rather than simply offering cheaper PSN titles. The average metacritic rating for these games is over 84%, so these are high quality games. Unfortunately with a user base of 77m people, it is really hard to offer something for everyone.

A couple of days ago, Sony released Firmware 3.61 and slowly the Playstation Network came back up, while all that was great, Sony didn’t give us any real information on when the PSN network would resume as normal, so today via the PS Blog, SCEA/SCEE have answered some questions:

Q: So what exactly is working right now?
A: Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity (including the resetting of passwords), online gameplay for PS3 and PSP, playback of rental video content on PS3 (if within rental period), Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity on PS3 (for current subscribers), access to services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and MLB.tv, “Friends” category on PS3 (including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc), in-game leaderboards, and PlayStation Home.

Q: I’m having trouble changing my password/I forgot which email I used on my account/I used a fake email to set up my account.
A: Click here for a set of tips on resetting your password. If you’ve gone through the process and are waiting for an email from us, please note that the very large number of requests has caused certain ISPs to slow the rate at which recipients get emails from us. Please be patient as the systems work through the backlog.

Q: The PlayStation Store hasn’t updated since April 19th. When can I download digital games that were planned to be released since then?
A: To date, three Tuesday publishes were missed, which included items like Under Siege and the MotorStorm Apocalypse demo. Rest assured that you won’t miss any of this great content. To catch up on the large amount of material, we’ll be publishing to the PlayStation Store multiple times per week once commerce functionality is restored.  We will update the PlayStation.Blog with information on timing of the Store restoration, as well as the full list of new content as each publish occurs.

Q: How will PlayStation Plus members be affected by the PSN downtime? A number of games/items were slated to go live or come down on April 26th.
A: We will be picking back up with the PlayStation Plus content calendar where we left off to ensure that you won’t miss out on anything.

Q: Sucker Punch has indicated that they will extend the inFAMOUS 2 beta. Any details?
A: Sucker Punch is evaluating extending the inFAMOUS 2 beta, as well as expanding its scope. Stay tuned for more details here in the coming days.

Q: Is anything special planned for the SOCOM 4 multiplayer community?
A: Zipper will announce details on activities to re-engage fans of SOCOM 4 who have patiently waited to play online.

Q: What about the Call of Duty: Black Ops Double XP weekend that was missed while PSN was down?
A: We have been in discussions with our friends at Treyarch, and they have ensured that all Call of Duty: Black Ops fans will get an extra Double XP event as soon as PSN comes back online. We don’t have details on timing just yet, but look forward to an announcement as soon as we have news.

Q: How can I redeem the Welcome Back offer that was mentioned by Kazuo Hirai? What’s in it?
A: Hang tight – we’ll be announcing all the details soon.

Q: How can I sign up for the Debix AllClear ID Plus protection announced last week?
A: More details are coming soon.

Q: When will the PlayStation.Blog start talking about games again?
A: Tomorrow! Thank you for bearing with us as our role changed over the past few weeks. We’ll be once again talking games every day leading up to E3, which is just a few short weeks away.

Source US PS Blog

Q: So what exactly is working right now?
A: Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity (including the resetting of passwords), online gameplay for PS3 and PSP, playback of rental video content on PS3 (if within rental period), Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity on PS3 (for current subscribers), access to services such as Mubi and Vidzone, “Friends” category on PS3 (including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc), and PlayStation Home.

Q: I’m having trouble changing my password/I forgot which email I used on my account/I used a fake email to set up my account.
A: Visit eu.playstation.com/ps3psn for a set of tips on resetting your password. If you’ve gone through the process and are waiting for an email from us, please note that the very large number of requests has caused certain ISPs to slow the rate at which recipients get emails from us. Please be patient as the systems work through the backlog.

Q: The PlayStation Store hasn’t updated since April 19th. When can I download digital games that were planned to be released since then?
A: To date, three Wednesday publishes were missed and rest assured that you won’t miss any of this great content. To catch up on the large amount of material, we’ll be publishing to the PlayStation Store multiple times per week once commerce functionality is restored. We will update the PlayStation.Blog with information on timing of the Store restoration, as well as the full list of new content as each publish occurs.

Q: How will PlayStation Plus members be affected by the PSN downtime? A number of games/items were slated to go live or come down on April 26th.
A: We will be picking back up with the PlayStation Plus content calendar right where we left off, to ensure that you won’t miss out on anything.

Q: Sucker Punch has indicated that they will extend the inFAMOUS 2 beta. Any details?
A: Sucker Punch is evaluating extending the inFAMOUS 2 beta, as well as expanding its scope. Stay tuned for more details here in the coming days.

Q: Is anything special planned for the SOCOM: Special Forces multiplayer community?
A: Zipper will announce details on activities to re-engage fans of SOCOM: Special Forces who have patiently waited to play online.

Q: How can I redeem the Welcome Back offer that was mentioned by Kazuo Hirai? What’s in it?
A: Hang tight – we’ll be announcing all the details soon.

Q: When will the PlayStation.Blog start talking about games again?
A: Tomorrow! Thank you for bearing with us as our role changed over the past few weeks. James will be back tomorrow and will be talking games every day leading up to E3, which is just a few short weeks away.

Source EU PS Blog

While rest of the world is enjoying PSN again, Japan refuses to allow PSN activation unless it is assured safe. Dow Jones reports that Japanese government will not allow activation of PSN because of a few issues.

One of the issues is that Sony promised counter-hacker measures which have not been fully added yet. Second reason is that Japan wants to see more preventative measures taken to ensure credit cards and other private information won’t ever be exposed in the a possible future incident. It is said Sony is working to see these demands fit.

[Engadget VIA Fox-DowJones]