News: PSN Welcome Back Appreciation Program Detailed

Now that the initial phase of the restoration of PSN is almost complete, Sony has now detailed the the "Welcome Back" appreciation program for their existing users. The package includes a selection of  free games for both PS3 and the PSP, free days for PlayStation Plus and tons of other content. Check out the details after the break!

News: Sony Announces "Welcome Back" Appreciation Program

In the latest press release of Sony with regard to the PSN fiasco, Sony has announced that they will be implementing a complimentary offering and a "Welcome Back" appreciation program for the millions of registered PSN users affected by the service outage and information leak. Other updates were also provided. Will you accept this make-good offering of Sony? Read ahead for more details.

News: Updates on PSN Shutdown - PSN User Info May Have Been Compromised

Tons of information regarding the PSN service outage were released yesterday, including the possibility that your personal account information may also have. If you're having a headache not being able to connect to the network, this is now a bigger headache for Sony, and millions of its PSN users. If you're one of the many concerned regarding this security alert, here's a rundown of the updates so far, and some tips on what you can do:

News: [Updated] PSN Down for a Day or Two Due to Investigation of External Intrusion

UPDATE2: Up until now, PSN is still offline and no timeframe as to when it will be back online was provided based on the latest post on the PlayStation Blog. Patrick Seybold mentioned on an earlier post that their efforts to restore the PSN service would involve rebuilding their system, which they admit is a time-consuming process, and they are taking this time also to provide additional security to the system.

UPDATE: Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director for Corporate Communications & Social Media, has confirmed that an external intrusion was affecting the PSN service. In order to investigate the situation, the PSN service was turned off. No estimated time when the service will be back online was cited. Click on this link to view the official statement.

Earlier Post:

I know this might be old news, but according to the PlayStation blog, PSN may be down for a day or two. No reason for the outage has been cited as of this writing. It's also unconfirmed whether the recent attacks of "Anon" on the PSN are related to the said outage.

It's been down since yesterday at around 1:00 PM here in the Philippines. Upon signing in to PSN, you'll encounter the error 80710A06 screen, so if you're wondering if it's your connection, it's not.

Up until now, no official update has been released. Stay tuned for updates.

Video: Tri-Ace Tech Demo Shows Console Graphics Are Still Far From Being Outdated

Tri-Ace, the guys behind PS1 classic Valkyrie Profile, and their latest release Resonance of Fate, is hard at work pushing current generation consoles to its limits. In a recently revealed tech demo of their "Physically-based Rendering", Tri-Ace shows the world that the Xbox 360 and PS3 can still go toe-to-toe against the PC in terms of graphics rendering, and in terms of producing stunning imagery and effects. Check out the video below:

What I find truly amazing in the tech demo is its focus on lighting, and how important it is in capturing photo-realistic images. And what's amazing is that all of this is rendered in REAL TIME, using current generation console technology. Here's a rundown of the effects that they showcased:

• Physically-based Shading Model
• True HDR
• Physically-based Lighting
• (Overcoming) Difficult Lighting Conditions

In a nutshell, these features showcase light and material rendering techniques in creating truly realistic rendered objects. That includes the right mix of lighting, proper reflection of that light, proper rendering of various light sources, and material rendering. Here's the link to Tri-Ace's Research and Development official site discussing in detail the effects used in the demo.

You might also want to check out an earlier post, demonstrating on the other hand the real time rendering capabilities of Unreal Engine 3 from Epic Games in the "Samaritan Tech Demo" on the PC.

Leads from Kotaku.

Guide: How to Connect Your PS3 Wirelessly to a PPPoE Broadband Connection

Online connectivity is crucial to experiencing a rich console gaming experience, but what if your ISP choices are limited? One ISP here in the Philippines (I'm not going to mention for obvious reasons), has been pushing a "one-device-only" connection scheme, to its residential clients. I have been one of those unfortunate enough (being in the province, and having no other options available) to have been subscribed to this scheme. Under this scheme, it's seemingly impossible to connect your console to the net, or other PC's simultaneously with a router, but there's a workaround for this. How? Just follow this guide for some easy steps on how to connect your PS3 (or other PC's in fact) to your PPPoE broadband connection.