It’s not PSN: PS3s are being downed by internal clocks, “APOCALYPS3″ continues

UPDATE: Gamers currently believe the situation will resolve itself when the PS3′s clocks can agree on a date which actually exists. Read more.

The mysterious story of PS3s everywhere not working properly, which Shufflingdead reported just hours ago, has led to a truly shocking place. PS3′s online functionality isn’t being downed by Sony’s PlayStation’s Network, it’s been taken out by the system’s own internal clock. chubigans over at NeoGAF provides an explanation:

Here’s what’s going on right now: something with the PS3′s internal clock has borked in some pre-slim models. This is not a PSN issue; it has to do with your PS3′s clock. This clock is NOT related to the OS clock. It seems to be a leap year bug. Setting your clock ahead will do nothing. All PS3s around the world were affected at the exact same time.

[...]

-If you have a “fat” PS3, you may be affected. Some fat PS3s have worked ok, but it seems a good majority have been bugged.

So there you have it, the reason behind error 8001050F. Instead of being an issue which could be quickly fixed by work on Sony’s end, the PS3′s plight may now turn out to be far more severe. We’ll have to wait and see if this is a problem which can be rectified by the PSN guys or not.

For those encountering the bug, it means an inability to access PSN. You won’t be able to play any PSN games, play games which rely on PSN, or access DLC. It’s been reported that Heavy Rain isn’t working, likely due to the game needing to access the system’s clock in some fashion. The best thing to do now is wait it out, don’t turn your PS3 on, and see if the systems auto-correct in 24 hours.

One theory suggests that the PS3′s internal clock is trying to roll over to the date of 2/29 instead of 3/1, with the system incapable of handling a date that doesn’t actually exist, the whole thing falls apart. It may be that the system is confused by its first even-numbered non-leap-year.

[source]