By Nick Mcdermott
Sony said the glitch only appears to be affecting the original PlayStation 3 and not the new slimline version
Thousands of PlayStation 3 owners were yesterday warned to stop using their consoles after a glitch caused older models of the machine to stop working.
Electronics giant Sony said it was working hard to resolve the problem, which has left many British users unable to play their favourite titles or access the online gaming and shopping network.
Industry insiders say the errors are most likely caused by a calendar bug, which began affecting gamers yesterday, as the internal clock and calendar on the PS3 switched from February to March.
Many owners reported their console clock had reset itself to Dec 31, 1999 or Jan 1, 2000.
Players were also unable access the free online PlayStation Network, which allows them to experience online games, as well as chat to friends and family around the world and surf the web.
Other users complained that trophy and achievement data, which is built up as the player improves, had been corrupted or lost.
Sony warns that even if owners did not attempt to access the online network, data and saves may still be lost.
The problem is only believed to have affected the older PS3 models, but not the newest slim version that went on sale in September last year.
Those with older machine trying to access the PlayStation Newtork were presented with an error message that read: '8001050F – Hardware failure. Cannot update Firmware or connect to internet'.
The glitch comes as a blow to many hardcore gaming fans only days after the release of much-anticipated flim noir thriller Heavy Rain, which requires a download update before it can be played.
Sony yesterday said it was working 'flat out' to resolve the glitch.
In a statement, the Japanese firm said: '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.
'We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.'
It is still unclear whether a 'patch' which will be released to resolve the issue, will reinstate or fix the loss of trophy data.
Sony is not the first company to deal with a Y2K-like bug years after 2000.
At the end of 2008, thousands of Microsoft's Zune media players unexpectedly crashed, due to a problem with their internal clock.
source: dailymail
Sony said the glitch only appears to be affecting the original PlayStation 3 and not the new slimline version
