A clock glitch in the Sony PlayStation 3, which caused widespread connectivity problems for players on Sunday and Monday has been resolved, according to a statement released by the company.
Sony Computer of America spokesperson Patrick Seybold wrote on the company blog that the internal clock in the PlayStation 3 "recognized the year 2010 as a leap year."
"Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally."
"If the time displayed on the XMB (the name for the console's user interface, called the XrossMediaBar) still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet. If we have new information, we will update you through the PlayStation blog or PlayStation.com. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
Reports of error messages began cropping up on game blogs and on Twitter Sunday, when the date changed from February to March on the PlayStation 3's internal clock. Gamers saw the messages not only when trying to connect to the console's online service, the PlayStation Network, but also when trying to play games offline.
Problems were isolated to the bigger, so-called "fat" model of the PlayStation 3, which sold from the console's launch in 2006 until Sept. 2009. Users who own systems purchased after then were not affected by the glitch.
Certain games, such as the recently released "Heavy Rain" and "BioShock 2," require that players synchronize with the PlayStation Network's achievement tracking system — called "trophies" — even when trying to play offline.
Microsoft experienced a similar glitch with its 30-gigabyte Zune media players on Jan. 1, 2009, when the device's internal clocks failed to reset properly. (Msnbc.com is a joint Microsoft-NBC Universal venture.)