Occasionally, when an Internet connection drops, you might hear someone ask “who shut-off the Internet?” Well, that entire notion’s ridiculous. You can’t just yank the cord on the entire Internet. PSN, however, is another story.

For the past couple hours, Sony’s PlayStation Network has been bombarding users with 8001050F error codes. But what does this mean for you, befuddled PS3 owner? Well, for the time being, your fourth Heavy Rain playthough’s gonna have to be put on hold. See, the error locks users out of PSN and corrupts trophy data. These two things, when combined, cause certain games to lock up and throw away the keys.

Many games like the aforementioned Heavy Rain and Demon’s Souls won’t run regardless of whether or not they normally require a PSN connection to function. Sony, meanwhile, is “looking into” the sudden error epidemic, but hasn’t managed to solve the issue just yet.

Sounds like the PSN outage’s only part of the problem. PS3s that haven’t suckled at the Internet’s bounteous teat for years are reverting their clocks to 12/31/1999 for some reason. If we didn’t know about Sony’s strict no-mad-scientist policy, we’d swear this was part of some larger conspiracy. Thanks, Joystiq and lindblum_resident. SCEA’s said in a seperate blog post on the US PS Blog that it has “narrowed down the issue and have engineers working to restore service even as you read this”

We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as Sony finds the guy who tripped over the big, neon sign-illuminated PSN cord.

Update: Sony has just issued a stark warning against connecting any PS3 to PSN on its DevNet. Said the firm on the developer-only resource just now: “We would also recommend not connecting any consumer units to the PSN to the network for the remainder of today.”

The note is the latest in a horror day for Sony, in which first-gen PS3s on a global level were struck with a clock bug that prevented them from connecting to PSN and put them at risk of Trophy data failure.

SCEE has just issued a consumer-facing statement on the matter, confirming the issue is related to the machine’s clock and saying it hopes to have matter resolved within 24 hours.

The DevNet line is in contrast to the statement, which merely warns, “If you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data. “As mentioned above, please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error.”

Sony has issued a full status update on the crippling “fat” PS3 blog plaguing machines worldwide today, “caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.”

According to the following statement we just received from SCEE, the company is aiming to have the issue resolved in the next day.

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:
* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
* When the user tries to sign-in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
* Users are not able to playback certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

For the latest status on this situation please check either the PlayStation blog (for SCEE: www.blog.eu.playstation.com/for SCEA: www.blog.us.playstation.com) or PlayStation.com.

As detailed in full here, first-gen PS3s have been smitten globally with an error message today, the result of a problem that prevents machines from connecting to PSN and puts them at risk of Trophy data corruption.

When’s the PS4 coming out? That’s the question on everyone’s minds, because… Wait! No it’s not! The PS3’s only just getting started! So said SCEA CEO Jack Tretton in an interview with Fast Company.

“We’ve just passed the third year of the PlayStation 3 and we’re just hitting our stride. And I don’t think anyone is saying, ‘This is a five-year cycle; what’s new on the horizon?’ I can’t even imagine what can be done technically beyond the PlayStation 3 in the near future.”

“A question I often get is when we are going to see PlayStation 4. When somebody can craft the technology that exceeds what we’re able to do on the PS3, but we are still just starting to harness it.”

Sadness. Now we’ll have to wait even longer to see inside the pores of Kratos’ skin. And don’t even get us started on the slightly up-rezzed versions of previous-gen games that characterize console launches. Man, we absolutely love those. Such a bummer that we’re still a ways out from the life-affirming thrill of another console launch.

Bungie’s not confirming if the new IP the studio has in development is coming to PS3, but when speaking to CVG, it didn’t deny it neither. The developer’s community head Brian Jarrard told the site the studio’s future was currently “undefined”.

“I think our whole future’s kind of undefined right now and it’s definitely not something we’re going to be comfortable getting into too much detail about,” said Jarrard. “We’ve had another team internally [other than those making Halo: Reach] for quite a while now, they’ve been working on the genesis of what will become our next big thing.

“It’s a little premature to get into specifics, but you know, I think we have a really good mix of old blood and new blood in the studio,” he further added.

Bungie confirmed at the Tokyo Game Show in 2008 that it was working on a new IP, although not a hint has been dropped on it since.

However, the developer did say in July last year it was “close” to striking a deal with an unknown publisher for the project. Bethesda’s Ashley Cheng said a couple of days later that any of the top-tier could publish it, but thought it was unlikely the title would be published by SCE.

For now, the studio’s final Halo project, Halo: Reach, is due out this fall. A multiplayer Beta kicks off on May 3.

According to this, OPM US are rumouring cross-game chat will be a premium feature for the PSN when Sony introduces a subscription plan for the service at some point in the year. The magazine brings it up during a feature in the latest issue just released.

It said:

“Aside from the 3D goodness, cross-game party chat is the obvious “next big feature,” even though it might be restricted to paid [PSN] subscribers.” The feature was thought to be coming as a free feature in a firmware release last year, that never happened.

Late last year, Sony announced at an investors meeting there was plans to introduce PSN subs into play for PS3. Regardless of what is introduced for PSN, however, online play will remain free according to SCE president Kaz Hirai.

Via TSA.