Attention all you PlayStation gamers - a widespread PlayStation Network (PSN) error is affecting games.

Booting up even a single player game nets PSN Error Code: 8001050F for some users. It looks like it could be tied to trophies, as in my case Darksiders wouldn’t boot because it couldn’t register trophy data. The only option the game gives is to quit. According to gamers at PlayStation Universe, themes aren’t working either. It’s pretty bad news for games trying to get a little game time in - especially with this the first weekend since Heavy Rain’s release.

Users on the forum are reporting a range of issues from inability to play to random date changes on the console. There’s even speculation DLC, themes and trophies could get corrupted. All I can say first hand is there are definite trophy syncing issues.

Having this problem? Let us know in the comments!

Update #1: Sony has responded to the downtime, saying via its Twitter account,

What we know now is the PSN downtime is affecting both single and multiplayer games on “Fat” PS3s. PS3 slims are unaffected, with users reporting the ability to play games and access the network. It’s clear the problem has upset thousands of users and other than acknowledging the issue, Sony has yet to offer a hint as to what’s behind the downtime, or when the PSN will be back up. Speculation ranges from date issues (a Feb. 28, 2010 version of Y2K?) to links to the site update at the official Playstation blog. All I know is, I’d like to play some games please.

“We’re aware that many of you are having problems connecting to PSN, and yes, we’re looking into it. Stay tuned for updates.”

We’ll post another update when we know more.

Update #2: via Sony’s Twitter Account:

The Sony Playstation website appeared to be hacked at one point as well. Earlier, if you went to http://us.playstation.com/PS3, you were redirected to http://us.playstation.com/PS3/dearplaystation/ which simply stated:

PSN status update: We’re narrowing down the issue and continue to work to restore service to all. Updates as soon as we have them.

PSN status update (part 2): Readers/followers are confirming that “slim” units (120/250 GB models) are connecting normally.

Update #3: Over at the NeoGaf forums, posters have reached an unofficial consensus that the problem appears tied to certain PS3’s internal clocks, which improperly accounted for February’s leap year.

get flash and/or enable javascript and stop wasting my time.

Update #4: As of 8:00 a.m EST, Sony has still not fixed the problem or stated what the issue is. The website Develop is now reporting that the debug units of various developers have become unusable due to an endlessly looping error message and that they suspect internal-clock hardware errors as the culprit.

Update #5: More bad news from Sony. From their consumer alerts webpage [Edit: This may be an old alert from a previous hack attempt. We are attempting to confirm, but Sony has been quiet since its last twitter post]:

Update #6: Sony responds to PSN issues.

We have found out that there has been a possibility of unauthorized access to personal information on the PlayStation®Store through PCs, a content download service of the PlayStation®Network. Although unlikely, it is possible that the passwords of a small percentage of PlayStation®Network users may have been changed through unauthorized access, making it possible to view users’ personal information and/or use the Wallet for the PlayStation®Store. PlayStation®Network accounts do not display entire credit card numbers, so any unauthorized access to your PlayStation®Network account is very unlikely to compromise your credit card number.

We have taken immediate measures to rectify this issue and system security is restored.

We have investigated the extent of unauthorized access and possible alteration of passwords that could have occurred before corrective measures were taken, and are directly contacting customers who may have been affected by this incident. In order to verify that your account is intact, we strongly suggest that PlayStation®Network users sign in to the service. If you can successfully sign in with your pre-set password, your account is not affected by this incident.

Update #7: Problem Fixed! Read about the PlayStation issues being fixed here.

More news as we receive it.