[Update: PSN Asia] Details for PlayStation Network compensation in North America [w/ video]

More information about Sony's compensation for the PSN outage was posted on the Playstation Blog today. We already know that the "welcome back package" will include a free 30 day subscription to PSN+, now their giving us 2 games free of charge for the PS3 and 2 games for the PSP.

[UPDATE] “Welcome Back” Package for Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia

Contents/Services of “Welcome Back” Package: All contents and services listed below will be offered to PlayStation®Network members who registered before 21 April, 2011 unless otherwise specified.

Game Contents: Existing members can enjoy free download of a total of four game titles, including two games for PlayStation®3 and PSP® respectively from the following titles.

PS3™:

The Last Guy (Chinese/English Version) Come on, LocoRoco!! BuuBuu Cocoreccho (Chinese/English Version) Trashbox (Chinese/English Version) Hustle King (English Version) WipEout ®HD Bundle (English Version)

PSP®:

Everybody's Stress Buster (Chinese/English Version) LittleBigPlanet™ (Chinese/English Version) LocoRoco™ -Midnight Carnival- (Chinese/English Version) Modnation™ Racer PSP® (Chinese/English Version)

Custom Theme Existing members can enjoy free download of the following theme for PlayStation®3

Dokodemo Issyo Spring Theme

Subscription Services:

PlayStation®Plus All existing PlayStation®Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation®Plus premium service, available through PlayStation®Store. Current members of PlayStation®Plus will receive 30 days plus 1 day for each day of the outage of free service (automatic extension, details will be announced in due course.).

PlayStation®Home A special offer will be available for ALL PlayStation®Home users (regardless of account registration date). Details will be announced in due course.

[UPDATE] Playstation blog for Europe has mentioned the welcome back package for that region.

Europe

Pick two PS3 games:

- LittleBigPlanet

- Infamous

- Wipeout HD/Fury

- Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty

- Dead Nation

Pick two PSP games:

- LittleBigPlanet PSP

- ModNation PSP

- Pursuit Force

- Killzone Liberation

German PSN users will swap Dead Nation and inFamous for Super Stardust HD and Hustle Kings on the PS3 and they will get Everybody’s Golf 2 and Buzz Junior Jungle Party on the PSP instead of Killzone Liberation and Pursuit Force.

Additional Content

- 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PS Plus subscribers. -  Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will be given 60 days free subscription. -  For existing Music Unlimited subscribers, you will be given 30 days free subscription. -  We are working on a Welcome Back offer in PlayStation Home and will share that when it is confirmed.

Australia

Australia will also be getting the same package given in Europe. As for Asia, we are still waiting for an update on their package. The North American package is listed below.

This package will be made available to all existing registered PlayStation Network and Qriocity users in North America (US and Canada), and will be made available shortly after we have fully restored the service. More specific details about these offers and eligibility requirements will be posted as the services go live.

All PlayStation Network customers can select two PS3 games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

• Dead Nation
• inFAMOUS
• LittleBigPlanet
• Super Stardust HD
• Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, you will be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

• LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation

• A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.
• 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.
• Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.
• Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.
• Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.
• To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

The package is starting to look pretty neat to get some customers smiling again after the PSN outage. This is in North America, so announcements about the welcome back program for other regions is yet to be announced. It could be the same, or it could be tweaked for a certain region, we'll have to wait and see.

Check Playstation's blog now for the full post.

Update:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvGc6ZI0vPc&w=560&h=349]

Chrono Trigger is on Virtual Console

So Chrono Trigger is on Virtual Console. And that is freaking awesome! From Dtoid:

This week's digital releases for Nintendo platforms are headlined by the classic Super Nintendo RPG Chrono Trigger (800 points). Its inclusion on Virtual Console was actually notable enough to warrant individual blog posts prior to today, something you rarely see any more.

And then there's the rest. Sorry, everyone who isn't Square Enix. DSiWare gets some fishing action with Big Bass Arcade (500 points), more word-search puzzles with Word Searcher 3 (500 points), and a coloring book of all things with Hellokids – Vol. 1: Coloring and Painting (200 points).

The terrible twosome on WiiWare this week is Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove: Monster Mix (500 points), a dancing game, and the demo for Lead the Meerkats. I had no idea that meerkat sims were a thing now.

All Witcher 2 Downloadable Content will be free

Witcher 2 is coming tomorrow, so to start things off and give a little incentive to buy this PC-only  RPG, developer CD Projekt RED  has announced that all up-coming DLC's will be free of charge.

"Let [us] announce that all our DLCs will be FREE," they write. "All of them. If anything will be for purchase, those will be expansion packs. First DLC (side-quest called "Troll Trouble") [launches] together with the game release."

Witcher 2 is said to clock over at least a minimum of 40 hours of gameplay. When i say minimum, i mean the main storyline will take that long to finish, so if you add all the extra side quests and other things you can do in the Witcher world, where looking at maybe 70+ hours? this is indeed a meaty RPG and I'm sure all RPG fans are anxiously waiting for the game's release. We need more hardcore PC RPG's just like the old days and I hope more will come in the future.

There's a possibility in the future that the game will be released also on PS3 and Xbox 360 but for now it's considered a PC exclusive.

Just in case you don't know the Witcher 2, here's a few videos to get yourself familiar with the game.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR5VVJ39gCk&feature=fvst]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBENUW2SMbc&feature=related]

Also Check out the System Requirements for Witcher 2 to see if your PC can handle it, just to be on the safe side.

[Source: Kotaku]

FAQ for Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition in Console

SSF4: Arcade Edition is hitting consoles on June and I'm sure everybody has questions. What happens to my BB or PP online? can i fight people with the new DLC? can I fight the new characters even if I don't have the DLC? well here's a FAQ I found to give you all the info you need about Arcade Edition in Console.

It's a great FAQ and pretty much all your answers about the DLC if you had any. The people at Capcom-Unity did a good job at bringing this info together just in case there will be confusion when the DLC hits on June 7.

Just in case you missed the link above, here's one more link to the FAQ.

PSN Restoration has begun

Sony has just announced that restoration of the Playstation Network has begun, they have released a system update for us to download which pretty much allows you to change your password. This is the first phase and they will be going country by country beginning with the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. Sadly, japan and the rest of asia is not included in the first phase of restoration and will be announced soon.

Whats the first phase in restoration? the first phase includes:

• Sign-in for PlayStation®Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords 
• Restoration of online game-play across PS3 and PSP
• Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC
• Access to 3rd party services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.tv
•  'Friends' category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc
• PlayStation Home"

The PSN restoration was first announced on their PlaystationBlog and Kazuo Hirai has given a video announcement about the restoration.

They will be announcing what will be inside their Welcome Back package in a few days. Take note though, they mention that it will be different for each region. With the number of days it took Sony to get things working again, i don't think their welcome back package will be enough but it's better than nothing i guess.

It's slowly coming back so people who hasn't thrown their PS3 out the window, start downloading the new system update now. I have the system update installed but so far it still says it's under maintenance. I guess the first phase is still underway so we'll have to wait just a little bit longer to get some online action. Will update this post for any new development.

Has any of you accessed PSN after the system update?