Asian PSN services partially restored [Updated]

Asia’s PSN services (for Singapore at least), have been partially restored on Saturday morning, after more than five weeks of being offline. Here is a quick FAQ summary of the situation:

Update (May 31): As of Monday, 7.30am (GMT +8), the Asia PSN site’s log-in function has been taken down for maintenance. You can still login to your PSN account normally via your PS3.

Original:
How do I change my PSN account password?

Upon logging into PSN using your old account password, all users will be prompted to change to a new password. If you do not have access to your PS3, you can still change your password via the Asia PSN website.

What services have been restored so far?

• Friend’s list is working.
• The Asian PSN Store, as of Saturday, 11.30am (GMT +8), is down for maintenance.
• Asia’s PlayStation Home is working, but with limited functionality. Purchasing of items through commerce points, and the redemption of vouchers are currently disabled.
• Online, network play is working. I did a very quick test using Demon’s Souls and Arcana Heart 3. Yes, online netplay is finally restored for our region.

What “Welcome Back” package will we receive for the PSN outage?

Now here’s the fun part. According to a press release on the Asia PSN website, these are the free games we will receive:

PS3:
The Last Guy (Chinese/English Version)
Come on, LocoRoco!! BuuBuu Cocoreccho (Chinese/English Version)
Trashbox (Chinese/English Version)
Hustle King (English Version)
WipEout ®HD Bundle (English Version)

PSP:
Everybody’s Stress Buster (Chinese/English Version)
LittleBigPlanet™ (Chinese/English Version)
LocoRoco™ -Midnight Carnival- (Chinese/English Version)
Modnation™ Racer PSP® (Chinese/English Version

PlayStation Plus:
All existing PSN members will be entitled to a free 30-day subscription for Sony’s premium PlayStation Plus service.

Compare this to North America (US)…

PS3:
Dead Nation
inFAMOUS
LittleBigPlanet
Super Stardust HD
Wipeout HD + Fury

PSP:
LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
ModNation Racers
Pursuit Force
Killzone Liberation

… and Europe

PS3:
LittleBigPlanet
Infamous
Wipeout HD/Fury
Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty
Dead Nation

PSP:
LittleBigPlanet PSP
ModNation PSP
Pursuit Force
Killzone Liberation

LittleBigPlanet, inFAMOUS, and Ratchet and Clank are high-profile games for the PS3 that have received good reviews. I won’t blame you for thinking that we Asian PS3 gamers have gotten the short end of the stick, yet again.

Stay tuned for more updates as other PSN services are restored.

• Related Items
• PlayStation 3
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