GDC 07: Less than half of PS3 owners are "connected"
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Mar 9th 2007 at 10:20AM }
Sony discussed the number of people that were actively interacting with the PlayStation Network services in yesterday's bloggers meeting. According to Sony, there are about 500,000 PSN accounts open in the North America. However, according to recent sales data from VGcharts.org, one can see that there are about 1.3 million PS3 systems out there: shouldn't more PS3s be connected to Sony's Xbox Live alternative?Phil Harrison was quick to point out that the 500,000 figure represents PSN sign-ups only. You can still use the PS3's online capabilities without ever registering for Sony's online service by uploading music to your console, or by using the Internet Browser, or by downloading a firmware upgrade. The goal of Home, however, is to increase PSN sign-ups, and have people become increasingly involved with Sony's robust online services.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
RangerPrimeX @ Mar 9th 2007 12:37PM
Makes you wonder how many people bought a cheap blu-ray player as opposed to a game system.
tom @ Mar 9th 2007 1:36PM
So, less than half have an updated system and are still plauged with all the launch-box problems. Is there a way to update a PS3 without a direct internet connection?
jose @ Mar 9th 2007 1:58PM
Tom,you can update firmware and use the browser without signing up. I didn't even notice the option to sign up until I was going through the account management options. Before that I was doing all of the afore mentioned things.
jose @ Mar 9th 2007 2:04PM
Sorry for the double post. As far as I know sadly, there's no way to download updates without a direct connection. At best when my signal was out I went to the library and used their computer.I just saved the update to my flash drive and transfered it later.
Andir3.0 @ Mar 9th 2007 6:19PM
jose, you just explained the way to update the system without signing on the PSNetwork. You just have to download the new image from the Playstation.com site (http://www.us.playstation.com/ps3/network/updates/pc_update.html#update_PC) to a flash drive, put it in the PS3\UPDATE folder and have your PS3 update from the drive. You don't need an account to do that. You can even update it using a game disc that has an updated version.