Digital Foundry vs. ApocalyPS3

By Richard Leadbetter Published 2 March, 2010

The chip culprit, and Sony's response.

The panic is over. Just as quickly as they were crippled, "fat" PlayStation 3 consoles worldwide started working again as their faulty internal clocks moved away from the fateful date of 1st March 2010. Sony can breathe a deep sigh of release: no firmware update patch will be needed (for a while at least), no hyper-expensive recalls will be required. Everything is as it was. Balance has been restored.

So, what actually happened? And will it happen again? Throughout the debacle, Sony referred to the issue erroneously as a "network connectivity" problem, with the blame pinned squarely on poor old PSN.

However, as gamers rallied and experiences were shared, it quickly became obvious that the issue was far more serious: consoles that were disconnected from the internet displayed the same problems as those that accessed PSN. This wasn't anything to do with the online service, but everything to do with a specific piece of hardware within the PlayStation 3.

The PS3's internal clock is completely invisible to the end user and is used to sync with PSN, as well as time-stamping trophies and downloadable content activation certificates. Yesterday, with this invisible master clock now set to a date that simply didn't exist due to a misunderstanding of leap years, most trophy-supported games wouldn't launch either online or offline, PSN couldn't be accessed, and the activation certificates for downloaded content became invalid. Those affected were left with a games console that wouldn't play games.

Early yesterday afternoon, PS3 users on the #Efnet IRC network claimed to have pinpointed the problem. A small ARM Syscon CPU dedicated to menial tasks within the PlayStation 3 was known to have an issue dealing with leap years. The same piece of silicon had a history of causing similar aggravation for mobile devices with the likes of Zune and some Blackberry devices afflicted. In those cases, MSFT and RIMM were on top of the issue. Sony, unfortunately, was not.

As it happened, the fix for this issue was remarkably straightforward. Similar to a PC motherboard exhibiting CMOS memory issues, the ApocalyPS3 could be resolved by opening up the PlayStation 3, removing the button-shaped battery and letting the power dissipate internally. If you re-inserted the battery and reconstructed your PS3 10 minutes later you were good to go. Great if you're confident dealing with electronics and happen to have a set of the special Torx security screwdrivers needed to disassemble the PS3. Not so great if you're just a regular gamer, nor if you fancied retaining your warranty (if you still have one for a "fat" PS3 anyway).

In the here and now, the problem has righted itself and a patch for the ARM controller can be incorporated at Sony's own pace into a future firmware update. Internally the company must surely be relieved about the bullet it has dodged. Unofficial community-compiled lists of "fat" PS3 hardware affected by the problem suggest that of 11 different SKUs, eight of them use the bugged controller chip, resulting in a colossal amount of affected users.

PS3 SKU Type Affected by ApocalyPS3 bug
CECHA01 Yes
CECHA01 Yes
CECHC04 Yes
CECHE01 Yes
CECHG01 Yes
CECHG04 Yes
CECHH01 Yes
CECHK01 Yes
CECHK04 Yes
CECHL01 No
CECHL04 No
CECHP01 No

This isn't just thousands or tens of thousands of units, it's surely millions of them worldwide. While an internet-delivered mandatory firmware update could have solved the problem, it's difficult to imagine how Sony would have handled the multitudes of these units in homes with limited or non-existent internet connectivity.

Thankfully such desperate measures not required. Power up your PS3 and you're back in action. The raging, NSFW fat bloke on YouTube can return to "owning noobs" and that comment-writer on the EU PlayStation blog can probably revise down his estimate that ApocalyPS3 is equivalent to "9/11 x 1,000". However, one of the most disturbing things about the whole episode was the lack of accurate or worthwhile information from Sony itself.

While pointing out the slim owners were safe in its initial blog posting, there was never any acknowledgement that offline consoles didn't work either. Promised updates on Sony's Twitter page never happened in a timely manner, nor offered much in the way of useful information.

As the real cause of the issue became common knowledge within the community by mid-morning, Sony urged gamers not to "trust info regarding this issue unless from an official Sony source" but failed to produce any meaningful information until the late afternoon when the internal clock issue was finally confirmed to be the culprit. The lack of clear, unambiguous information on the root cause and how it would be fixed was disappointing to say the least.

Clearly there are lessons to be learned here and it will be interesting to see how Sony chooses to handle the aftermath.

Picture of Richard.

About Richard Leadbetter

Rich has been a games journalist since the days of 16-bit and specialises in technical analysis. Commonly known around Eurogamer as the Blacksmith of the Future.

Read more articles from Richard by visiting the Richard Leadbetter archive page.

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Comments (64) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TonyCB #1 2 years ago

    Couldnt agree more with this article - the responses here were *mostly* less than hysterical but I wait with baited breath for the incoming TV advert....
    "Has your gaming experience been affected by an injury in an internal time keeping chip? Then call claims direct on..."

  • CunningLinguist #2 2 years ago

    Great!

    I love your conclusion. I can see why you felt the need to write an article about it. Eye-opening to say the least.

  • Tyronne #3 2 years ago

    Community 1 - Sony 0.

  • Lee_Morris #4 2 years ago

    I was just thinking this morning how poorly Sony handled the situation. They really did seem to stick the head in the sand and hope the sun would rise this morning, so to speak.

    Can we have Richard on the eurogamer podcast sometime to discuss such matters in the group?

  • berryl227 #5 2 years ago

    bang on Richard Sony have really done one on this issue! Ok the fault occured and the blame as to why and how to ensure it doesnt happen again can be looked at in due cause. But the lack of information reassurances allwas being done to rectify the problem was beyond awful!!

    If they really want to charge for PSN communication to the users must be improved....

  • Zoro #6 2 years ago

    So the "official instructions" were waiting for today and hoping for the best, were they?

  • f00b_inc #7 2 years ago

    Hmm.. my PS3 says it's a CECHG03

  • Der_tolle_Emil #8 2 years ago

    The weird thing is: Sony or ARM already knew about the issue - otherwise it wouldn't have been fixed in the newer versions. I suppose that (as with the Zune) the code supplied was from ARM but since they fixed it they obviously knew about the bug. I wonder if Sony just didn't care or whether ARM fixed it without mentioning the bug and hoping that noone would notice.

    Either way, Sony should have known about this before it even happened. If all consoles are affected then fine, this would have been a different matter. Unless the newer PS3 consoles use a different ARM CPU to handle the calendar they obvioulsy are running updated code. If that is the case then someone should pay a bit more attention to the changelog.

  • jellyhead #9 2 years ago

    NeoGAF kept me informed and entertained. Thanks, Sony I had a laugh during the ApocalyPS3. It's a shame you couldn't have released some PR for us to laugh at also :)

  • Bitkari #10 2 years ago

    EFnet.

  • Moonprince #11 2 years ago

    molehills, WE MUST MAKE THEM BIGGGGGGGGG32!!!!

  • Doctor_What #12 2 years ago

    Rirchard: any idea why some people are reporting that their save games have gone missing? Could you poke Sony and see if they have any answers on that one please?

  • The_Inquisitor #13 2 years ago

    9/11 x 1,000. lmfao

  • M_of_the_sys #14 2 years ago

    Hmmmm. I don't want to sound all SDF but are you all really thinking that Sony knew about this but just decided not to say anything to their customers?

    Personally, I think they didn't have a clue. As with all companies, you can't just advise on something if you're not 100% sure of what it is. It may have done more harm than good to say something and then turn out to be wrong.

  • frunk #15 2 years ago

    @ M_of_the_sys

    I think you are probably right. They did not know but should have known. They would have not deliberately "not fixed" the issue since it could have been rolled into a simple firmware update.

    More likley a process/management failure. ARM would have told them but their organisation did not get that infomation to the right place to do anything about it. Just one of those problems with large organisations. Probably on some poor programmers' "TODO list" who had his priorities messed around with too much to get it sorted and it fell into obscurity :)

  • Blerk #16 2 years ago

    There's no way Sony knew about it ahead of time, it's been a complete PR disaster and there's no way they would have ever wanted that. Their handling of the issue was nothing short of diabolical, though - without the community's work there'd have been practically no information at all. Burying your head in the sand and hoping for the best is not really a "solution".

  • buggrit #17 2 years ago

    The "joys" of PS3 ownership had already made me state a reluctance to buy whatever the next Sony console is. This mess and consequent incompetence from our friends at SCE have pretty much settled it for me - no more Sony in my house after the PS3. Poke it, you twats.

  • StooMonster #18 2 years ago

    The funniest part is the term ApocalyPS3

    Genius bit of waggery.

  • busboy33 #19 2 years ago

    Now that all the dust has settled and this turned out to be no more than a 1 day pause in people's gaming . . . Sony's handling underlies my reluctance to purchase a PS3.

    Sony screwed me with a launch PS2, just completely ijgnoring the well-known drive failures and using my broken unit as an excuse to suggest I just buy another (repairs are so costly and take so long, after all). They said the same thing then as now -- "don't listen to all those millions of people reporting the same thing on the Internet. You can't trust any of them. We'll totally tell you the truth. And the truth is, Sony is Da Greatest".
    As has been pointed out, this is essentially the same problem that bricked 30Gig Zunes last year for one day . . . but at least MS was vocal about the cock-up and what to do ("Yes, we screwed up. No its not permanent. It'll fix itself automatically in 24 hours. We'll make sure it doesn't happen again. We are very, very sorry";). They may have initially denied the RRod problems publically, but they never hesitated (AFAIK) to be Johnny-on-the-spot with the free repair, even before the "official" 3-year extended RROD warranty. When XBL crashed over Christmas, Major Nelson kept the updates flowing and MS followed it up with a free game as an apology.
    MS may have had its share of problems (to be fair, more than its share), but at least in the games and entertainment division they have worked hard to earn some trust. Sony has not.
    From last genation to now . . . I just don't trust Sony anymore. And this is from a PS1, PS2, Bravia, Vaio, and Sony Audio system owner. Yes, I'm a Sony "hater" but its incidents like this that keep reminding me WHY I am.

    Regardless, I'm glad the PS3rs out there can get back to gaming. A one day gaming break isn't so bad in the grand scheme of theings, but going thru it (especially if you don't know if the end is a few hours away or a few weeks away) is a painful thing. My sympathies for my fellow gamers, and here's hoping that the "lost save data" claims really ARE just Internet rumors.

  • TopKatt #20 2 years ago

    Personally I think all future consoles should do this once a year. They could call it "get some fucking sun day."

  • berryl227 #21 2 years ago

    @buggrit

    Although a little harsh I understand your sentiments. So much has not gone to plan with the PS3 and surely lessons have to be learnt? Yes ground has been made up and the PS3 does give a good experience but ....

  • oreillymj #22 2 years ago

    There's a saying in politics "When you're explaining, you're losing"

    So when faced with a potential recall of perhaps millions of faulty consoles, it's not surprising that Sony would say nothing, until they knew for certain that they either
    a) had a problem
    or
    b) had a fix

  • funkateer #23 2 years ago

    I agree with the article, except for the bit about Microsoft and RIM being on top of the issue.

    Microsoft communicated things better than Sony, but ultimately they also just let the Zune fail and waited until it fixed itself.

    RIM was actually much worse than Sony. They recommended their users to do a full wipe of their phone, which obviously caused data loss, and which didn't actually fix the problem.

  • beep #24 2 years ago

    A special "I survived the ApocalyPS3" trophy should be given to all. Plus a free game :)

  • Bigglesworth #25 2 years ago

    Oh stop with the sensationalism, for pity's sake. There was nothing "disturbing" about this problem, never mind several things.

    Lack of accurate or worthwhile information?? Lets think back: an early announcement to say they were aware of the problem and were investigating; a followup to say the problem had been verified and was being handled with urgency; a further note to warn people not to do any of the stupid things being suggested online; a subsequent description of the problem and advice on how to avoid the worst issues whilst a solution was found; a final announcement to confirm that the issue was over, people could return to normal practices, and suggestions for how to resolve lingering issues.

    Really, what more do you want? Pathetic.

  • onyxbox #26 2 years ago

    I found Digital Foundry twitter feed was spot on yesterday. I just waited until midnight and all was well. If Sony had just come out and said sit tight and wait... it'll fix itself there would have been less panic in the air.

  • zepekit #27 2 years ago

    @Bigglesworth
    TRUE!
    Finally, someone with some common sense

    @onyxbox
    If they had said that, and it wasn't truem then what? think about it ;)
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 10:38

  • buggrit #28 2 years ago

    @berryl
    "So much has not gone to plan with the PS3 and surely lessons have to be learnt?"
    Many of them could have been learnt by observing their direct competition - PSN is still flaky today, and I'm getting signed out continually. Sony's response and explanations have been lacking, to say the least.
    Liking the fact that the SDF are marking my previous comment down, BTW - so the PS3 has been perfect for you then? I doubt it

  • M_of_the_sys #29 2 years ago

    @buggrit

    The PSN has been fine for me until recently. I was getting signed out on a regular basis for a couple of days. Seemed to have righted itself though.

    It's fair enough that you're annoyed with Sony but is it because of this problem where you had to wait until midnight for it to right itself? Is it because of the lack of communication, which Bigglesworth has pointed out wasn't actually lacking? Or was it just the straw that broke the camels back?

    You're a Sony 'hater' and you've stated as much. Perhaps some of us just aren't as annoyed as you are.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 11:00

  • buggrit #30 2 years ago

    M-of-the-sys:
    The sad thing is, I'm not a hater. I have owned every Sony console so far at UK launch (or before with the PSP), still get excited at new game/product announcements for the current machines and own several other pieces of Sony kit too. Sadly, their talent for shockingly bad customer relations and continual self-ownage (SIXAXIS/rumble, shitty BD drives, this calendar bug - just this gen!), coupled with the barely-competitive hardware at a higher price.... well, my patience has worn rather thin.

  • M_of_the_sys #31 2 years ago

    @buggrit

    Sorry. I wasn't trying to accuse you as being a Sony hater. I was suggesting that your post hinted as much because you had said it. Who knows... If I'd had the problems you have, I'd probably be just as annoyed.

    I just personally think that one company is as bad as another and a lot of people are a bit eager to jump at the other company when the slightest* thing happens.

    Edit: *Not that this was a 'slight' problem but I certainly don't think it's as detrimental as people are making out.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 11:20

  • buggrit #32 2 years ago

    No offence taken - I have had a LOT of issues with Sony kit (my TV being the latest - thank fuck for home contents insurance), but my PS3 has (so far) been very reliable and it does stuff that my 360 can't which is why I keep it around :)

  • M_of_the_sys #33 2 years ago

    @buggrit

    Shit. Ok big apology here. I was getting your post mixed up with Busboy's post. I take it all back.

    I am crap :(

  • Murton #34 2 years ago

    "Otherwise i suspect it will be used by the public/fanboys/media as a big mark against the PS3 "usual" solid build quality and hurt them quite alot. "

    Kinda like DF did with this article. A full article basically saying "Sony didn't see it coming despite the problem being known about in the electronics industry and lied about the causes and didn't update twitter like they said they would and blah blah blah"

    It's good to see an impartial interpretation of the facts available, doesn't happen that often unfortunately as both EG and DF live off of the additional hits created by sparking rows between fanboys with articles such as this.

  • buggrit #35 2 years ago

    :D No probs.

    /still can't get on PS Home though, never have been able to, and Vidzone is toss too.

  • GreyBeard #36 2 years ago

    Actually didn't MS just do exactly the same thing when the Zune buggered up? Keep schtumm and wait for the problem to right itself?

    To be fair to Sony, no doubt their main worry would have to be collateral damage to system and network data resulting from unpredictable side effects of, and repercussions to the root problem. That's why their suggestion was for people just to wait it out.

    Had they been upfront about the cause of the problem, no doubt many people would start poking around inside the case to reset the battery, and/or try all kinds of silly stuff to see what still worked what didn't, possibly causing more problems down the line by creating files with dodgy date-stamps.

    The point is that had they gone on record with a precise diagnosis, should something else go wrong as an unforseen consequence of the calendar bug they'd look even worse and more incompetent.

    More than anything else though, this whole episode showed how paranoid and badly informed large swathes of the internet are. By that I mean the idiots suggesting this was the harbinger of a total recall/mass bricking, when it was clearly apparent what the cause of the problem was, and how it was going to resolve itself pretty much from the start.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 11:32

  • leeram #37 2 years ago

    "resulting in a colossal amount of affected users."

    Come on! You should know that it is "resulting in a colossal number of affected users".

    Sort it out!!

  • Mnia786 #38 2 years ago

    Lol people were on about the ARM syscon cpu yesterday - good work who ever figured that one out. I think Sony got VERY lucky in that it fixed itself otherwise heads would have been rolling as to who chose the bloody chip!

  • ShinMegami08 #39 2 years ago

    that Sony said on its Twitter that the problem would be resolved in 24 hours, shows me that they weren't sure if the clock would change correctly on March 2 or not.
    They seemed to hope, that it would resolve itself after midnight, but damn...they weren't sure at all.
    Else they would have said: "The problem will be resolved after midnight".

    I hope that some heads are rolling in the tech department of Sony.

  • Bennicus #40 2 years ago

    "Actually didn't MS just do exactly the same thing when the Zune buggered up? Keep schtumm and wait for the problem to right itself? "
    Maybe so, but when only 3 people own a zune who cares how they handle it?

  • Murton #41 2 years ago

    Shinmegami: that's a good thing though surely? They said "within 24 hours" as they were unsure if it would fix itself at midnight, but knew that they could get a patch out within that timescale in case it didn't. I'd much rather get a little vague information that still holds true than a load of detailed information that later turns out to be false. That's just good PR.

  • kangarootoo #42 2 years ago

    It does rather seem that a "lack of accurate or worthwhile information" boils down to not giving people 5 minute updates when there is nothing new to tell them.

    If people who were told "chill out till tomorrow, it should be fixed by then" could just bring themselves to DO exactly that, they would already have all the information they really need.

    This reminds me of Duke Nukem Forever, where some people just needed the dev to say "we are still working on it, here are some screens" every bloody month or they would suffer some kind of seizure.

    And the guy (child... obviously) who compared this to 9/11 is the world's biggest prick.

  • Number1Laing #43 2 years ago

    I remember Sony saying early yesterday that they expected a "fix" to be out within 24 hours. And it was! It was called the passage of time. There was no reason for Sony to rush out a firmware patch that may break other things if they could just wait and incorporate the fix in a future update.

    I realize people love their videogames but the uproar across the internets was embarrassing to say the least. Videogamers are often stereotyped as being stunted man-children and this incident did nothing but reinforce that.

    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 13:19

  • kangarootoo #44 2 years ago

    @MattDamon

    I'm not part of your pityful war. The only thing I spring to the defense of is common bloody sense.

  • M_of_the_sys #45 2 years ago

    The only thing I spring to the defense of is common bloody sense.

    That makes you part of the SDF apparently...

  • alcides #46 2 years ago

    btw you don't need it to be connected to the internet to update a PS3 :). It just takes a connected PC and a USB key ;)

    edit: ah, but... would that even have worked with that bug? *scratches head* :/
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 13:32

  • kangarootoo #47 2 years ago

    @M_of_the_sys

    "That makes you part of the SDF apparently... "

    In the eyes of an idiot, apparently so.

  • Bigglesworth #48 2 years ago

    I find it tragically amusing that DF is now being quoted as a source on other tech news sites, when DF's own source of information was 'some bloke in a chat room'.

  • AC!D #49 2 years ago

    WOW what a bunch of babies including you Mr Leadbetter. Some of you are never going to buy another PS console because this was a console apocalypse? What a sensational headline!!!! They didnt update you babies personally every 5 minutes to let you know whats going on so they are once again arrogant? I guess you guys missed the apology from them too for you babies or was that not enough and you need a loli for your 24 hours without gaming? Microsoft communicate better hey? thats why they lied to us for 3 years about RROD. Grow up all of you please. Infact sell your PS consoles now and rid us of your presence in PS3 threads. Maybe then we will not have need for these stupid flamebait articles!
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 14:08

  • M_of_the_sys #50 2 years ago

    "It was a general over view of the current state of the threads."

    It was actually a stupid comment irrelevant to the subject at hand.

  • kangarootoo #51 2 years ago

    @MattDamon

    Ok, if I wasn't one of the targets then its my bad. I was assuming that you were suggesting anyone "defending" Sony on this had fanboy motives for doing so, and as I was in a way defending them (against an onslaught of tabloid rage) I assumed I was in part being labelled SDF.

    Sorry for calling you an idiot.


    "Really? Sony's PR machine being in full swing in the threads is irrelevant. Hmmm. Yeah. Right."

    But now you are doing it again. Enjoy your paycheck? Is it not possible that some of the people who disagree with you are doing so because you are wrong? I'm still sorry for calling you an idiot, but I don't agree with you.

    Edit: I wrote this before you specifically referenced my idiot comment. I think the above explains it (if not excuses it).
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/10 @ 14:16

  • Kaminari #52 2 years ago

    As I said on Kotaku, the Force is strong in the PS3 (my 360-owning friends wish their once-affected system could have self-repaired overnight from a RRoD), but the way Sony managed this crisis was alarmingly pathetic. Actually, it appears they didn't manage anything at all. The sheer impact of the bug probably left them thinking Sony was -- seriously -- on the brink of bankruptcy.

  • Chufty #53 2 years ago

    It's actually a surprisingly common cause of software errors. Last year I had to deal with all sorts of issues on March 1st due to the fact that adding a year to 29th Feb 2008 does not equal 29th Feb 2009.

    These things happen, it will all be forgotten soon enough. Except by rival fanboys.

  • Mackero #54 2 years ago

    9/11 x 1,000. lmfao

    = 818.181818181818

    It's a pretty funny number alright....

  • Josh128 #55 2 years ago

    Sony vs. MS, MS vs. Sony-- whoevers "side" youre on, theres no denying that these 2 machines since release have pretty much been the #1 and #2 biggest POS, unreliable consoles ever released-- with PS2 right up there as well. Can any other consoles even compete?

  • freakzilla #56 2 years ago

    This event highlighted a problem Sony has been having for a while, I've seen sony (and its many subsidies) fail to act in any sort of swift or decisive manner several times now.

    PS: Some people are waaay too into gaming, complete meltdowns after just one day of no gaming.

  • captain-future #57 2 years ago

    *chuckling* (from a software engineers viewpoint)

  • Diomedes #58 2 years ago

    I agree ,it was dissappointing that Sony didnt say straight what was the problem.

    In any case ,it was more or less some kind of PR thing...saying that it was a PSN problem served to calm some people as the PSN is Sonys responsability so it was up to them to solve the problem and they were at that.It also avoided headlines about 18 million faulty consoles breaking simultaneously as in some true console Armageddon and diverted it to a simple "temporal error in the service".

    Thing is that it didnt let players play offline either ,and our downloaded PSN games didnt work either (bar some exceptions as Critter Crunch).So it was clear it wasnt only a PSN thing.

    The problem was pinpointed early on,many users at Gaf 1 hour after the debacle already knew exactly what was happening and called for an autofix in 24 hours.

    Probably Sony thought they could cape the temporal of 24 hours with 2-3 tweeter messages and assuring everybody that in 24 hours everything would be allright as they must have been sure was the case.

    But things didnt play out like that ,yesterday there was a mass hysteria ,with hordes in the net blaming Sony ,exchanging experiences ,finding their own workarounds on the problem ,haters rejoicing ,imaginative people creating hilarious Gifs after Gifs .....it was really a great day as strange as it may sound!

  • busboy33 #59 2 years ago

    @greybeard:

    "Actually didn't MS just do exactly the same thing when the Zune buggered up? Keep schtumm and wait for the problem to right itself?"

    MS was getting the word out that there was a widespread problem by 8am that morning:
    [link url=http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2008/12/31/ 30-gb-zune-issue-update.aspx
    ]http://zu neinsider.com/archive/2008/12/3...[/link]

    and was releasing press statements explaining what was going on by 2pm:
    [link url=http://zuneinsider.com/archive/20 08/12/31/30gb-zune-issues-official-update.aspx
    ]http://zu neinsider.com/archive/2008/12/3...[/link]

    Now whether that was enough or too little is a matter of fair debate. Personally, when I compare that with Sony's handling, I'm more impressed with MS than Sony, but I'm sure this won't convince anybody on either side if the issue either way.

    @Sharx:
    I’m lying about my opinion? Well . . . damn. You got me there. I implicitly trust Sony without reservation, I was just testing you. Good job spotting the subterfuge tiger.
    Btw, you might want to wipe away some of the spittle and froth from your shirt. Makes you look a little like a retarded clown shoe, which I'm sure isn't the look a considered and reasonable gentleman like yourself is going for.

  • Xensor #60 2 years ago

    In a week this be forgotten.

  • bushwod #61 2 years ago

    Great! So how do I get my Heavy Rain trophies back Sony??

  • kimchibaka #62 2 years ago

    I found the information coming out of Sony pretty lacking myself, so I called them.

    First they wouldn't tell me anything. So I said 'some people think it's the internal clock' - 'ah yes, we think it might be that'. I pushed on: 'some people are opening up their machines and fixing the clock themselves' - 'yes that might work' (not a HINT that I could damage my machine if done incorrectly, or asking if I still had a warranty to explain that it'd be invalidated if I did so). My final question was if reports that trying to turn on the machine might lead to loss of trophies or other data were true 'oh you don't need to worry about that, absolutely no risk whatsoever'.

    I suggest next time Sony HQ staff keep an eye on the forums. Most people already knew what was happening, how to fix it and what the risks were, and that it'd probably fix itself.

    I've had some bad advice from call centre staff but Sony outdid themselves that day.
    Edited by 1 at 03/03/10 @ 13:08

  • mr01010101 #63 2 years ago

    xbots are just butthurt this didnt hurt sony at all. for 24 hours they were really hoping this was the end for playstation and now they crying for compensasion and recalls like some bitches. the fact that the xbox live downtime during the holidays or the rrod issue didnt get this much backlash is just pathetic.

  • mr01010101 #64 2 years ago

    @bushwod

    start latest heavy rain save, exit game, synch trophies.