The Destiny Beta has begun, and just like clockwork, the PlayStation Network - aka PSN - is down. Due to high volume created by what we must assume IS the Destiny Beta release, PSN is experiencing "Connectivity Issues." You can see the official post via PlayStation Support - if you can access it - which suggests that you Try Again Later.
Amongst the PS4 news rolling out right now at the Sony E3 press conference is good news for Far Cry fans -- particularly those who enjoy it but don't necessarily plan on investing in the game. The co-op mode in Far Cry 4 will be opened up to PlayStation Network users who don't own the game but have a friend who does.
Sony will disable several PlayStation Network features for the European launch of the PS4 on Friday, the company has confirmed, temporarily blocking access to the functionality in the hope of avoiding a crash as gamers rush to use their new consoles. "What's New", which is the PSN's discovery stream showing recent activity on the console by the gamer's friends, and the "Content Information Screen", which pulls friends' activity related to the current title being looked at will each be deactivated at launch.
As early as last week on the 20th of November, users of the PlayStation Network (aka PSN) have seen their passwords reset without prompt. According to Sony support forum admins, this reset was done "purely as a precautionary measure" without specific evidence of any accounts being compromised. Users who find their passwords not working are being told to do a simple reset using the normal "Forgotten Password" button tap.
Sony has announced a funding related update for those using the PlayStation Store on a PS3. Moving forward users will be able to add funds to their Sony Entertainment Network wallet using PayPal. Or more specifically, from PayPal and directly through the PlayStation Store. You see, in the past you have been able to use funds using PayPal, however prior to this update -- that was done via the web interface.
This afternoon the folks at Valve have let it be known that they're rolling in with a cool 65 million users total for the Steam gaming network. This number can be compared to the most recent report from Sony on the PlayStation Network working with 110 million users and Microsoft reporting that they're in at 48 million users in Xbox Live. These numbers are not the same as "active users", a number which is much more difficult to grasp.
Supposing you didn't see the news yesterday, there's word from Sony today that the PSN (PlayStation Network) will be down today starting at 9:15 AM PST until 3:15 PM PST. This is a standard amount of down-time and will affect the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home community, or any of the account-management settings. This 6-hour period will be spent tuning up and maintaining the PlayStation Network and Sony has assured us the world will continue spinning while the downtime commences.
As part of its keynote at the Tokyo Game Show, Sony has detailed the PSN aspect that will come with the PlayStation 4, saying that in addition to PSN IDs, gamers will also be able to use their real names. Such a change will facilitate the ability to form more traditional friendship-esque bonds over the PS4 gaming experience, rather than the impersonal nature of random IDs.
Amidst one's gaming schedule, Sony has advised PlayStation owners that they'll need to work around a maintenance event that it has planned for the PlayStation Network tomorrow, removing access for a while. The PSN service will go down for about half a day, leaving players without access to the Store, Home, and Account Management.
Jetpack Joyride is already on a number of different platforms - most notably iOS and Android - but just in case the mobile version isn't enough to satisfy your coin collecting cravings, you might like to know that it's going free-to-play on PSN. The switch is happening today in Europe, while North American PSN users will have to wait until Monday, December 31 to snatch the game up at no cost. Interestingly, Halfbrick announced the "launch" the game today, even though it was previously available as a PlayStation Mini for $3.99.
Last year, Sony's PlayStation Network was hacked, resulting in a massive breach of users' personal information, something the company delayed in announcing. A class-action lawsuit was filed against the company, which was mostly dismissed this morning by a California district judge. The reason? Sony didn't promise users perfect security.
Sony is always looking for more ways to make the PS3 standout from the likes of the Xbox 360 and Wii (soon to be Wii U), and one new way its doing that is by putting games on PSN the same day they launch at retail. Unveiled today, Sony's new "PSN Day 1 Digital" program will kick off in October with the release of Resident Evil 6, letting users purchase and download full, new games on launch day right from their couch. Even better is that PS Plus users will get to enjoy a 10% discount in some cases.
