Sony Asks PS3 Owners Not To Play

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It’s not everyday that you hear about a tech company asking you not to use their products, but that is happening at this moment. Today, early-generation PlayStation 3s (the non-Slim models, aka “Fat” PS3s) received a bad firmware update that corrupts the console’s internal Real-Time Clock (RTC) and the system’s firewall blocks it from connecting to the PlayStation Network.

Although users have been having trouble logging into the PlayStation Network since yesterday, Sony only recently released a statement on their official blog. They said that the problem is related to the console’s RTC and here’s the real interesting quote – “In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system.”

The update has apparently been setting the console’s RTC back to January 1st, 2000. Internet speculation (by people who are not Sony’s software engineers – so take with a grain of salt) has it that the console’s firewall blocks consoles with an corrupt RTC setting, possibly has a defense against hacked or counterfeit consoles.

Sony will likely have a patch up soon, but so far their “Just Don’t Use It” workaround is pretty weak. Microsoft had a similar workaround for a Zune RTC bug in 2008, which got considerable flak from the internet. Any TFTS readers with “Fat” PS3s that have been effected by the clock error?