How To Change Your PSN Password On PS3 In Ireland, UK, India, Canada, Australia

Written by Matt Swider on May 15, 2011

Ireland, UK, India, Canada Australia PSN News: PSN is back up as of May 14 in many parts of the US, so here's how to protect your PSN user ID.

Now that PlayStation Network is back up in the United States, here are some helpful tips for PS3 gamers in places like the UK, Ireland, India and Canada where PSN isn't back online in full. Changing your PSN password is going to be your first order of business after downloading PS3 firmware 3.61, the latest system update for the console. In fact, it's your only order of business. Sony has made changing your password a requirement as soon as you attempt to log into PSN for the first time.

Step 1: To thwart the hackers, all you have to do is follow the on-screen instructions. A notification will pop up that reads "Your password is no longer valid. You must change your password." No please or thank yous, Sony isn't messing around in this very frank message. Pressing the X button will take you past this initial box to the next screen.

Step 2: The second screen is where you'll enter you new password. You do not need to remember your old password. We know, it's been three long weeks and you may have forgotten what it is. Simply type out your new password (a combination of numbers and letters) in the first dialogue box and re-enter that same password in the second dialogue box. If it meets Sony's security standards, you'll be able to press X and proceed to the third dialogue box.

Step 3: If done successfully, the third message box will read: "Update complete." This is the message we've all been waiting for during the past 24 days of the online outage. Hitting the X button to get beyond this screen will send you back out the the XMB where you'll still be logged out, but officially signing back to the PSN is a piece of cake.

Step 4: Logging into PSN for the first time in 24 days is exactly like you remember it. The familiar sign-in opaque dialogue box appears with your user ID and new password information already saved to the system. Simply hitting the X button brings you and PSN back together for the first time since April 20.

Bonus: Check to see how many of your PSN friends have already signed online by looking at your PSN friend list. Since I was one of the first to make my way onto PSN here in California, not one of my PSN buddies had been online. Moreover, almost all said "Last Online 24 Days Ago," which is exactly when this whole PSN outage began 24 days ago. I'm sure they'll be pleasantly surprised when they wake up in the morning.

Thank you to all of our readers who have kept up with Gaming Target for the latest "PSN is down" news over the past week weeks. With Sony's silence during much of the debacle, an enormous amount of people came to this site for answers and we tried to provide the best information possible. Thank you. Please keep in touch in the page comments, the Gaming Target Facebook Group and check updates like our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 news as we go forward. Happy gaming.