PSN Store and Quriocity Services Back By Friday?

It has been a long and frustrating few months for owners of Sony's PSP consoles in the wake of the malicious security breach which meant the closure of all major Playstation online services, but Sony are now insisting that full Playstation Network Store and Quriocity services will be restored by the end of the week.

Sony has already provided a special System Update (version 6.39), which means that all existing PSN and Quriocity customers will be forced to update their passwords and confirm their credit card details before being allowed back into the online store and other services.

This is just one of a number of new security measures which has been implemented since the cyber attack, which is thought to have placed 77 million Playstation users' personal information at risk, and cost Sony almost £105 million in revenue.

Sony also promises that it will be providing a full Welcome Back package to all of its existing users in the near future. The package has now been unveiled and will attempt to offer 'something for everyone', including:

• A selection of free  movie rentals for all PlayStation Network customers over the course of one weekend.
• Non-PlayStation Plus subscribers will get a free, 30-day PlayStation Plus membership.
• Existing PlayStation Plus members will get 30 extra days free.
• Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscribers will get free access for 30 days, plus time lost.
• PlayStation Home will offer 100 virtual items.

Mini Gamers is very pleased to hear that Sony's digital store will soon be open for business, however, the cyber attack and the delay in restoring its services may have caused untold damage to Sony's reputation and any profits that the company  might generate in the future. Only time will tell whether Sony will be able to fully recover from this unforeseen turn of events.

PSN and Quriocity Services v. 6.39 System Update...Is Sony Back?

Sony have today released a new System Update (version 6.39) to their PSP customers, in light of the devastating hack that is expected to cost the company almost £105.8 million pounds in revenue.

The new update forces existing PSN and Quriocity customers to change their password and re-confirm their credit card details before being allowed  back onto Sony's online services. It is all part of the enhanced security features that Sony had promised its customers, in order to ensure that an attack of this magnitude cannot happen again.

However, despite the fact that the update has now become available to all of Sony's PSP and PS3 customers, the PSN store and Quriocity services remain offline, meaning even more frustration for Playstation customers.

Reliable sources within the gaming community have claimed that all of Sony's online gaming and music services should be restored by the 31st of May 2011 at the latest. Nevertheless, Sony has remained guarded about when the PSN store and Quriocity services will be available again.

So, it looks like PSN and Quriocity users will have to remain patient for at least another week. However, the question is, will customers still feel safe about using the service after all this time, and is Sony's intended 'Welcome Back' Package enough to make up for the weeks of frustration that gamers have been forced to endure?

If you have any comments about the Playstation Network hack, and the delay in restoring the PSN and Quriocity services, then please share them with us via our comments link or via our suggestion box. We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Sony Starts PSN Restoration Process At Last. 'Welcome Back' Package Details NOT included...

Sony has today begun restoring access to its online Playstation Network and Quriocity services after a malicious security breach forced them to close down for over three weeks. PS3 users will be able to access the service from today. However, some areas of the PSP Playstation Store are still undergoing maintenance at present.

In an attempt for tighter security, PSN users will now be forced to update their account details before being allowed to access the services. PS3 users will automatically receive a system update that will do this for them.

Sony has also promised its customers a 'Welcome Back' package including some free game downloads and free one month membership to Playstation Plus, but there are no details of this at present. The details of the package are expected to be revealed soon. Further details can be obtained by clicking HERE.

This is terrific news for users of either Quriocity or the PSN store. We here at Mini Gamers are delighted with the news and can't wait to start using our PSP consoles again.

What about other gamers out there? Are you pleased that the services are now back online, or has the breach left you feeling unsure about using these Sony services?  Let us know what you think about this issue by leaving a comment in our comments box (at the bottom of each post). We'd love to hear your thoughts.



PSN and Quriocity Outage Could Continue Until The End Of May...

Sony's Playstation Network and Quriocity services continue to be unavailable for yet another week, and it looks as though the services will not return until the end of May at the earliest.

Mini Gamers first reported on the Playstation Network Outage in April of this year. At that time, Sony was confident that it would have both services up and running within a week. However, subsequent information leaks and fears of a second intrusion have meant that the "Phased Restoration of service" that Sony was planning, has so far not taken place.

Sony has suggested that they will be offering a so-called 'Welcome Back' package to all its customers, including the possibility of two free game downloads or music downloads and a thirty-day free membership into the Playstation Plus account amongst other things, but with Playstation gamers growing ever more impatient, it looks as though it may already be too little, too late where Sony is concerned.

Gaming website GamesIndustryBiz recently reported that there had been a higher trade-ins for Sony consoles, including the PS3 in the wake of the Playstation Network outage. This is a trend which could spell disaster for the Sony gaming franchise should it continue.

Sony's Head of Publisher Relations, Rob Dyer, recently wrote a letter to the company's developers and publishers in which he described the steps that Sony had taken immediately after the attack and how the company intended to get its services back online. The full contents of the letter can be read by clicking HERE.

At the time of this blog post, there is still no clear date when either the Playstation Network or Quriocity services shall return, but the longer that the outage lasts, the greater the overall damage done to Sony's reputation. Could this be the end for Sony as we know it?

What do you think of the current outage? Do you think that Sony have taken responsible measures by shutting down its services immediately after the breach? Have you lost interest in Sony products in the wake of the PSN outage?

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment in the comments box. We'd love to hear from you.



Sony Admits Playstation Network Hack...

Sony has today admitted that "an illegal and unauthorized intrusion" has put several thousand user accounts at risk on both their Playstation Network and Quriocity online services.

According to Sony, certain service user account information was compromised during the intrusion, which occured some time between the 17th-19th of April  2011. Sony promises that they are doing their best to investigate the matter further, and have advised all of their PSN or Quriocity customers to change their usernames and passwords as an extra security measure.

Sony are busy restructuring the Playstation Network in order to make its services stronger against this type of security attack in the future. As a precautionary measure, all Playstation Network and Quriocity services have been temporarily suspended.

 The security breach, which may also include the theft of users' credit card information, has left several Playstation users angry and demanding answers.

 It is not yet clear how the intruder gained access to the Playstation and Quriocity accounts in the first place, but it casts serious doubt on the safety of Sony's Playstation services and is likely to be a devastating blow to the Playstation franchise as a whole.

If you are worried about the security breach and want more information on this subject, you can visit the official Playstation Website by clicking HERE.

Remember to check in with the Mini Gamers blogsite for more information about this issue in the coming weeks.