Sony Advising Not To Use PS3 Until System Fix Available

Today marks one of the biggest fails in PlayStation history, with thousands of PS3 units experiencing issues due to a system clock issue. The PlayStation 3 was released in North America and Japan November 2006 and has passed four years without the March 1st issue causing an issue. Unlike we previously reported, the issues are not entirely related to the PlayStation Network.

The reason? 2007 and 2009 were odd-numbered years, which do not have leap years, and 2008 was a leap year with the PS3 correctly accounting for the extra day. 2010 is however the first even-numbered year without an extra day (non-leap-year). It seems the software (or hardware) didn’t account for the non-leap-year correctly and has caused the date to be reset on most consoles. The complaints started coming in at 4:00 pm Pacific Time, which coincidentally happens to be 12:00 am GMT.

Sony have identified the issue and are working hard to fix the issue, most likely in preparing a new firmware update for the console. Naturally, the process is a bit lengthy as the changes need to be tested thoroughly on all models in order to ensure maximum compatibility, and to avoid another major cock-up.

If you are worried about the issues causing damage to your console by deleting data or corrupting trophy information, we recommend you do not turn on your console until a working fix is available. The issue will affect your PS3 system whether you are connected to the internet or not.

Click here for the full statement released by Sony.