Yesterday (2 June 2011) Sony announced that the PlayStation Store was returning to the PlayStation Network (PSN) after over 40 days of hack-related downtime. However PSN users are still awaiting the launch of the Welcome Back which will provide a selection of two of five free games as Sony’s way of apologising for the mess.
Technical difficulties
Some users have also been experiencing technical difficulties due to the high traffic on the service. Sony responds:
“If you are having issues accessing the store (or are receiving the error code 80710D36), please be aware of the high traffic accessing the Store at this time. You may have encountered the error code 80023103 when checking your download list or attempting to add funds to the wallet. We are currently working to increase capacity across the network to allow everyone to connect.”
PlayStation Plus
As part of the Welcome Back programme, PSN users will be given some free PlayStation Plus subscription time. Sony updates us on this:
“It has been confirmed that, due to the Store coming back a little later than we hoped, the extra days added to Plus memberships is being extended by another 10 days so you are getting a total of 70 days extra for free (for existing members). This will show up automatically on your account in the next few days.”
“If you were a Plus member on or before the 21st April, we have automatically added a full 60 days onto your Plus membership to make sure you get back any time missed. You don’t need to do anything to get this; it has been added to your account and your membership will simply carry on for 60 days past the original renewal date.”
“We will be keeping April’s content on the Plus section of the Store for a further 2 weeks in case you missed anything before the 21st.”
Those who were not PlayStation Plus members before the downtime have been automatically upgraded to a 30 day subscription to the service, with access to all content. Anything purchased and downloaded during the subscription period will remain theirs forever.
Redeeming Welcome Back game content
The free game redemption is still a few days away while Sony irons out the kinks. When the games are available, users will be able to access them thusly, according to SCE James Thorpe:
“When the welcome Back pack launches, there will be a thumbnail in the Welcome Back section and you just download this as you would any other product and then you will access to the Plus section of the Store, where all the content will be. Hope you enjoy it.”
Users will be able to choose two of the following five games:
– Little Big Planet – 2.21 GB
– infamous – 6.68 GB
– Wipeout HD + Fury – 738MB
– Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty – 2.4GB
– Dead Nation – 1.39GB
Additional free game
Sony and developer System 3 have teamed up to offer their PSOne title James Pond 2 as a free download to PlayStation Plus members. Be sure to grab it during your free Plus membership window. “Now that the PlayStation Store is back up we thought it would nice to give everyone something special. Think of it as a little present from us to you,” said System 3.
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