The Wait Is Over - PSN Limps Back Online

PS3 gamers rejoice!  After being taken down by Sony on April 20th due to an external intrusion on their systems, the PSN is at last limping back onto the Internet.  Sony has announced a phased rollout to restore the PSN as of roughly 8:15pm Eastern time.



Though the Playstation Store is not yet currently available, users will slowly be able to finally sign in, see their friends list, sync trophies, manage their PSN account, access un-expired rented movies, visit Playstation Home, and most importantly, play online.  No word yet on when the Playstation Store functionality will return.

Also, as previously announced, users will need to apply the available firmware update before being able to access the new and improved PSN.  Firmware version 3.61 took slightly more than eight minutes for me to install on my PS3, and I have reasonably fast broadband, so that's not terrible given past speeds.  Users will also be required to change their password before being given the keys to the network again.  Given the already sloth-like speeds of the PSN even before the coming avalanche of users about to destroy the PSN update servers, I wouldn't bet on the speed continuing to be that good.  Get on it as soon as you can!.

So install that firmware, sync those trophies, and let's get gaming!

(Updated 9:08pm 5/14/11 to include information about the requirement to change password)

UPDATE 10:00pm Eastern, 5/14/11 - Some users are reporting issues downloading the new firmware.  Sony has provided an alternate link.  Download the firmware from here and save it to a USB stick.  You can then update the system with the firmware on the USB drive.