Well, it’s been a crazy weekend for both Sony and fans of the PlayStation 3. As many of you may or may not know at this point, gamers around the globe have been experiencing issues with their PlayStation 3 consoles both online and off and while the problem remains to be fixed as of this posting, Sony responded yesterday with the following statement via the Official US PlayStation Blog:

“We’re aware that many of you are having difficulty connecting to the PlayStation Network this evening. Those of you with “slim” PS3s (the 120/250 GB models) appear to be unaffected.

Know that we have narrowed down the issue and have engineers working to restore service even as you read this. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, and genuinely appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this.

In the meantime, you may want to follow our Twitter account for the latest updates.”

Well, the latest tweet, issued 11 hours ago as of this posting, reads:

PSN status update (part 2): Readers/followers are confirming that “slim” units (120/250 GB models) are connecting normally.

So, while it appears that “slim” owners might be in the clear, what about the older consoles? Who else out there is having issues? Are your single player, offline games still being affected? Let us (and Sony) know in the comments below. Hopefully this will get resolved soon and we’ll do our best to update this story once things are rectified.

via Kotaku

UPDATE: Ok, update time folks…The PlayStation Blog was the source (here) a few hours ago when Sony sent word that they have identified the problem as being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system. In other words, it’s like Y2K, but Y2PLAY instead…

The post lists the known errors and goes on to say that they hope to resolve the problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, Sony warns that “if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.”

Well…crap.

We’ll do our best to keep you posted on new details as they emerge.

UPDATE PART DEUX: According to the Official PlayStation Blog, service has been restored. According to the post, the problem was caused by the PlayStation 3 incorrectly identifying 2010 as a leap year and therefore clicking over to February 29th instead of March 1st. Its unclear if Sony did anything to fix the issue or simply waited twenty-four hours for the problem to correct itself.

Greetings ye Children of the Axe! EBA Forum Moderator Nich here taking a break from laying waste to the never-ending hordes of Geth (Yes, Mass Effect 2 is indeed taking over everyone’s lives!!!) to give you the low-down on the EBA community in this, the inaugural edition of EBA’s inForum, a new feature where we point you to the hottest topics being discussed at the moment inside the EpicBattleAxe.com Forums!

This week, the unholy members of the Axe are discussing and dissecting many current topics such as Epic Moments in Gaming, what PS3 exclusive games are worth buying, video games that you wish have never bought, immersion breaking experiences, and so much more!!!

It’s time to dive in and get you ready to Cry Havoc and Let Your Voice Be Heard! Let’s do it then, shall we…
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Zipper Interactive have been busy trying to add the finishing touches to its next game, MAG, but they recently took the time to reveal the game’s box art and some impressive stats from the beta.

First, the cover itself… become mesmerized with all the pretty explosions coming from every possible direction, that may or may not play in slow motion when you play the game, due to your faulty internet connection.

What do you think? Pretty explosive art, eh? Now, check out the sweet stats that came from the beta via the Official PlayStation blog.

• More than 42,000 matches were played over the course of the full public beta (August 17 – December 5).
• During October’s beta period alone nearly 534,000+ miles were traveled in-game by MAG players each week.
• During the final month of the Beta 4 and 4.5 periods (November 9 – December 5):
  • Of the more than 65,000 players that logged on, 17,000 of them qualified for Squad Leader, 3500 people qualified for Platoon Leader, 1100 folks made it all the way to OIC, and 206 dedicated warriors made it all the way to the level 60 experience cap.
  • Nearly 18 million kills were made and an excess of 700 million shots were fired.
• The Top 3 most played maps all belonged to the Sabotage mode. They were, in order, Syr Darya Uplink, Darien Network, and Copper Hills Relay.

Interesting.. There are no statistics on the amount of teabags or friendly fire kills.

MAG is slated to release in North America on January 26, 2010, exclusively on the PlayStation 3.

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Sony wants you to celebrate the holidays at “home” this year in a big way and will be unlocking some surprises around PlayStation Home to not only bring holiday cheer but to give away some free stuff.

That’s right folks, not only are they hanging Christmas lights and decorating a tree in the Central Plaza but the Home community has a chance to get a free copy of Diner Dash!!!  Not quite what you had in mind? Well, you can also enjoy a ton of new content being released in the most festive of ways.

You can collect several free items to celebrate Chanukah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa. These items are available through the mall in Home.

Also available in the mall is a miner outfit that you can purchase to celebrate the announcement of Dead Space 2. Nice.

Fans of MotorStorm can also purchase a sweet new MotorSport:  Pacific Rift beach locale to call home and impress all your online home friends with. You can then purchase some MotorStorm themed furniture and items from the Furniture store to decorate your new place.

For those of you interested in a free copy of Diner Dash, the developers plan to host an event today for your chance to snag 1 of 50 copies. As pointed out by the US PlayStation Official Blog:

This Friday, December 11th, we will be throwing a scavenger hunt event to celebrate the release of Diner Dash. Those of you that log in between the hours of 12:00pm and 5:00pm PST (3:00pm and 8:00pm EST) will find segments of a voucher code scattered throughout PlayStation Home. The first 50 users that assemble and redeem the code will receive one free download of Diner Dash on the PlayStation Network. So if you’re reading this now, it’s time you get into PlayStation Home and start searching high and low. These codes are guaranteed to go fast!

Next week on home, PixelJunk also plans to reveal a new space for there new game PixelJunk Shooter so stay tuned for that.

Seasons greeting to everyone, no matter which home you spend your holidays in and good luck for those playing the scavenger hunt!

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This week on the Playstation Store you can finally pick up one of the most anticipated DLC games to be released this year for the Playstation 3, “PixelJunk Shooter“.

Pilot a subterranean exploration vehicle to explore the interior of diverse cave-like complexes. The player must affect the surrounding and dynamic terrain to safely rescue survivors scattered about the cavernous environment. Both environmental elements and enemies, including bosses will attempt to hamper the player’s progress.

You can pick up PixelJunk Shooter for $9.99 and it comes in a 108MB file.

If this puzzle shooter isn’t to your liking, you can stick with the classics as Frogger comes back with a new game, “Frogger Returns“.

Frogger Returns takes the heart-pounding challenge of arcade Frogger and takes it into the next dimension! Classic top-down 2D gameplay is updated with colorful 3D graphics, a new perspective, all-new levels, new enemies and game-changing power-ups to dodge and use! Local multiplayer lets you race a friend to victory.

You can pick up Frogger Returns for $4.99 and it comes in a 42MB file.

Hit the jump for the full list of awesome.

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Joystiq is reporting that soon PlayStation 3 owners will have the ability to access PSP minis software via the optional Firmware update 3.15.

From the post:

“Like PSone classics, a single purchase from the PlayStation Store will work on both platforms. If you’ve bought a Mini and want to play it on your PS3, you’ll be able to access it from the Store’s archived Download List.”

We don’t have a concrete release date for the firmware other than the report noting that it is expected “soon”. We’ll keep you posted.

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Sony has released a video previewing the PlayStation 3 firmware (v3.10) update which will deliver Facebook integration, PSN Friends list modifications, and a revamped XMB. Why read when you can watch though, right? Check out the preview video below for the deets:

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Secure the gate and make ready to take the city, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! In this week’s skirmish our spies bring word on Final Fantasy XIII’s release date, the demo for Dante’s Inferno, the first round of DLC for Borderlands, and Capcom’s announcement that Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition is headed our way soon.

Microsoft has been in the news cycle heavily as of late and we take a moment to discuss tomorrow’s dashboard update that brings the much-hyped Twitter and Facebook integration along with some recent rumors on Natal’s release date and price point. Next up, with last week’s release of Modern Warfare 2 becoming the biggest in entertainment history, we mull over gaming’s status in mainstream media and ask if our favorite pastime is getting the respect it deserves.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mass Effect 2 making an appearance on the PS3, the BBC iPlayer channel on the Wii, and early adopters taking some pride in their support for the game industry.

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The gang over at Joystiq have caught up with a representative of Netflix to ask a few questions about the recently announced Netflix service for the PS3. Among other things, what caught our attention was the fact that PS3 users will have to have the streaming disc (which will come for free with the service) in the PS3’s at all times. That is until they conjure up some magical way for users to download the application straight to their PS3’s via the mystical Network of the Playstations.
Anyway, it’s a pretty good read and delivers some neato insight into the rather big development. You can catch the full interview right here.

Break out the popcorn and boot up the PS3, Sony has announced a partnership with Netflix to make “thousands of movies and TV episodes” available to be streamed instantly via the PlayStation 3. Netflix expects to begin streaming via the PS3 system next month at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States who have a PS3 system.

“The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming, and it will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. “Whether you want to watch content on Blu-ray disc and DVD, download it from the PlayStation Network’s video delivery service, or stream videos instantly from Netflix, the PS3 system is the only solution that offers it all.”

“As instantly watching movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix becomes an increasingly popular way to enjoy the Netflix service, our goal is to rapidly expand the devices that stream to our members,” said Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings. “As a leading game console and Blu-ray disc player, bringing Netflix to the PS3 system is a real win for both Netflix members and PS3 system owners.”

Hmmm, pretty interesting development. Wonder what Msoft thinks about it;)

Check out the full press release over on the Official US PlayStation Blog.

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