According to an email making the rounds to PlayStation Network users, Sony is no longer referring to online accounts on PS3 or Vita under the familiar PSN banner. Going forward, any registered accounts across the company’s entire suite of online services will be known as Sony Entertainment Network or SEN accounts. It’s effective February 8.

Outside of minor TOS alterations, the change is in name only, PSN as we know it will stay the same. Sony says the move will help further establish “a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.” That said, the company has been beating the integration drum for awhile now, so we’re not too surprised to see this happen.

Here’s the email in full: more »

Sony has retracted an earlier statement in which associate brand marketing manager Crystal MacKenzie claimed PSN accounts on PS Vita were bound only to the Memory Card. In a follow-up email to Wired, Sony noted that in order to switch PSN accounts on Vita, it requires a full system restore — not a mere swapping of Memory Cards.

Sound familiar? That’s what we originally reported. What’s more, however, is that doing a factory reset will just not wipe out settings but clear all data tied to that PSN account from the Memory Stick — including save data. Which means, users will have to re-download content each time they want to swap PSN accounts.

Clearly, the restrictions imposed by the PS Vita are not friendly to users that want to access cross-region content digitally. While we imagine this will only affect a small amount of people, it’s still a huge step back from what was allowed on PS3. For importers, it’s mostly a non-issue since retail content is completely region free, although accessing PS Store exclusives will prove to be a hassle unless a workaround surfaces.

Sony Online Entertainment’s latest release of Payday: The Heist will be attempting to steal Christmas. A new update will be coming to the game to give players more to enjoy and spread some Holiday cheer.

SOE has planted a wrapped present for players to find and unlock the latest achievement. If you manage to discover the achievement you will be given the ultimate Santa mask that will equip you with a completely new identity for the Holiday season and a chance to win a gift from Steam.

The OVERKILL Software team has new updates coming for Payday as well in the form of patches.

• Player Drop-in: Join ongoing games and continue stealing those precious gems and dollars without  being locked out
• Improved Combat: Strategize, as fighting and acting have been heavily improved for enemies! The team and enemies now pick better cover and firing positions, and use more intelligent firing lanes for suppression and sniping
• New Masks: Choose one of the four all-new masks that have been added in celebration of the recently released military shooters
• Additional Updates: Improved AI, smoother combat, grouping and aim, and more

For more info, check out www.payday-theheist.com

Update: Sony has issued a response to this report, stating that it’s not possible to interface with more than one PSN account on PS Vita, even with multiple Memory Cards.

Sony’s clarified its one PSN account per Vita policy — according to Sony associate brand marketing manager Crystal MacKenzie, users can create more than one PSN account on a PS Vita by using multiple memory cards. This is due to the fact that PSN settings are tied to the memory card itself, rather than the system.

“Your PSN ID is bonded to your memory card and your memory card is bonded to your Vita,” MacKenzie told Wired. “So if you wanted to change different PSN users but use the same memory card, you would need to go factory reset,” more »

Unlike the PS3, it seems that the PS Vita will only allow one PSN account per system. If you want to create multiple accounts to access different store regions, you’re out of luck. Well, unless you do a restore to factory settings, which wipes out your entire system configuration each time. Talk about a hassle.

This is according to a user that attended a local PS Vita event held in Osaka, Japan. Printed on the FAQ section of a handout was the following:

Only 1 account. If you want to to use a different account, you need to format the system to factory settings.

The PSP had the same restriction, in that it did not allow users to create multiple accounts on a single unit. Still, we’re surprised to see Sony taking this backwards approach with the Vita.

Sony’s announced that the PlayStation Network will be offline tomorrow for most of the day, from approximately 8am until 10pm PST, clocking in at just over 14 hours. Users will be unable to access the PlayStation Store on both PSP and PS3, as well as account management and registration options during this timeframe.

Those already authenticated in PSN before the maintenance window hits may be able to continue playing online. No further details were spared, so we wouldn’t expect any surprises once PSN is back up and running. In the interim, sounds like a prime time to get busy with the single-player epic that is Skyrim.

Sony Computer Entertainment is busy ramping up support for its cross-platform framework PlayStation Store in November, announcing an closed beta test open exclusively to developers.

Entry into the closed beta test is limited, with sign-ups now accepted on Sony’s official site. Subject to license agreement, developers will receive an early version of the PS Suite SDK (software development kit), along with associated tools and libraries. SCE will take in feedback received during the beta to help guide refinements and usability enhancements. more »

In an effort presumably aimed at clamping down on gamesharing, Sony has reduced the number of content activations to a mere 2, down from 5.

This means content purchased from PSN can be activated on up to 2 PSP or PS3 systems at any time, including the unit said content was purchased from. However, the policy only affects game content purchased after November 18, so existing shares above the revised count are safe.

Additionally, Sony plans to provide a new PlayStation Network account management website where users will be able to deactivate devices attached to their PlayStation Network account via their PC. Currently, deactivating accounts must be done while logged into your PSN account on the PS3.

It’s safe to assume the upcoming PS Vita will have the same limitation when it comes to sharing content.

Joining the “Only On PSN” program in the store update this week are exclusives PixelJunk SideScroller from developer Q-Games and Sucker Punch’s downloadable inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood.

Halloween is almost upon us and, as you may have guessed, Sony and Sucker Punch want to mark the occasion.
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Sony’s Chief Information Security Officer released a statement today warning users that it has detected attempts to brute force username and password combinations on PSN and associated Sony Online Entertainment services.

While PSN itself remains safe, Sony noted that the attackers successfully matched credentials with approximately 93,000 user accounts using data stolen from outside sources. Around 66K are tied to PSN, while the remaining 33K are SOE accounts. Sony has promptly disabled these accounts, noting that “only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked.” Additionally, credit card details are not at risk.

“We are currently reviewing those accounts for unauthorized access, and will provide more updates as we have them. Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk. We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet.”

Those affected will be prompted to change their PSN/SOE account password via email.