Fail: New PSN exploit found, PS3 firmware 3.61 overheating older models

Sad Yoda is. Play L.A. Noire he cannot.

Things just aren’t getting any easier for Sony. After going almost a month without the PlayStation Network, just when we had a glimmer of hope last Sunday when PSN went back up, Sony took it down today to fix an exploit.

To put it simply, PSN’s password recovery system has a major flaw. Anyone can reset a user’s password just by using the email address associated with that PSN account and the user’s date of birth–some of the information reported to be compromised during the original hack of the PSN. Senior Director Patrick Seybold reported on the PlayStation Blog that “there was no hack involved,” and Sony is still working on fixing the system’s exploit.

If that wasn’t bad enough, proud owners of the original 60GB PlayStation 3 (like myself) have another reason to treat their system with ridiculous amounts of tender loving care. Rockstar Games has reported they’ve been getting many customer complaints regarding the PS3 version of L.A. Noire. It seems gamers playing the murder mystery thriller, mostly on the original 60 and 80GB PS3 models, are reporting their unit overheating or just shutting down and refusing to turn on. Blaming these events on the recent PS3 firmware update, Rockstar Games continues by saying, “This can range from games randomly freezing to PS3s turning off anywhere between 30 mins use to 2 hours. We have confirmed locally that multiple games (Rockstar and non-Rockstar) overheat or freeze only when 3.61 is installed.”

Sony has not commented about this situation at this time.

[via CVG]