Late last night, phat PS3 units across the globe were suddenly unable to connect to the PlayStation Network due to a supposed glitch with the system’s clock functionality. If you wanted modern day evidence of a technological disaster, this is it. Not only is PSN inaccessible on the affected units — which exclude slimline models — but to add insult to injury, certain titles that take advantage of PSN’s trophy reward system have been rendered inoperable. A prominent one being none other than the recently released Heavy Rain.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, thankfully. Sony is working around the clock (excuse the pun) and hopes to have a fix ready within 24 hours for the 8001050F error that is plaguing older PS3 units. Until then, get used to seeing the ominous error message pictured above when booting up your unit. The full statement, courtesy of SCEA spokesperson Patrick Seybold, can be found past the break.

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 play back 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 apologize for any inconvenience caused.

For the latest status on this situation please continue to check either the PlayStation.Blog or PlayStation.com.

A messy situation, that’s for sure.

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