Playstation 3 problems...

March 2, 2010

Sony says it has fixed the problem that bugged "millions" (© Metro newspaper) of PS3 users.

But it's not saying precisely what caused the problem - although all the signs point to defective software in a clock system.

On the official PS3 blog it says:

"We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally. If the time displayed on the XMB is still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet. If we have new information, we will update you through the PlayStation.Blog or PlayStation.com."

Wait - the software thought that 2010 is a leap year? Truly that's some terrible software. Unsurprisingly, there are more than 100 comments on the post, though they mostly seem to be expressions of relief.

And for those who were worried that they'd lost trophies (as was happening yesterday), one commenter says "the local trophy collection is blanked for any disk game you started while this happened and you cannot synch (PSN games seem to be spared). Get a new one and the trophy list will be refreshed. If you already 100%'d a game your trophies still show up in the compare list so no worries."

So, basically, your trophies weren't wiped - the problem was that the clock fault meant the PS3 couldn't join the network and verify itself.

Yet it looks as though Sony might have fallen victim to a form of the 2010 bug - which early this year hit 30m German shoppers, because the systems they were using couldn't believe that there was ever going to be a year beyond 2009.

We await details of precisely how Sony is going to fix this - specifically, whether this problem will arise in 2012 (which is a leap year). Of course by 2014 we'll all be on PS4s... won't we?

In the meantime, is anyone finding that they can't get onto the PSNetwork, or that they have lost trophies?