If it seems like it’s been a painful eternity since the Sony PlayStation network went down, well, that’s because it has been a frustrating few weeks for customers. Relief is nigh, however, oh ye hankering consumers, as the announcement you’ve been waiting for has come: The process of reinstating the PSN has started.

The official PlayStation blog echoes the restoration news posted in a video by Sony exec Kazuo Hirai, letting those in the PSN know they can expect the service to be up and running soon across the country.

Thank you for your patience and encouragement over the last few weeks. As covered in the post from earlier today, you can now update the firmware on your PS3 and change your password. Kazuo Hirai just announced that we have begun the phased restoration by region of some of the services, starting with online multiplayer functionality.
Please note that these services will take a bit of time to be turned on and rolled out to the whole country. The process has begun and some states are being turned on now, so please be patient as we reach your city and state. We’ll be updating the map below as service comes online in individual states. It will take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country, so please keep checking back for the latest updates. In the meantime, now’s a great time to get your PS3’s firmware updated, which is required to get online.

In the post, they’ve provided a map of the U.S. with the areas highlighted that should be back in action.

The trouble began at the end of April, when Sony announced some customers’ info had been accessed by a third party. Hackers then announced they’d nabbed millions of credit card numbers from the PSN, and the network was taken down while everything got sorted out.

In the video announcment from Hirai, he details which services are back online, including the PlayStation game network, access to Netflix and Hulu, Qriocity services, PlayStatio online game play and chat functionalities, while explaining the newest improvements and security measures to take place in light of the attacks on the network.

Users will be required to update and change their passwords for PSN and Qriocity, either through email validation or by using the same PS3 your account was activated

Kazuo Hirai: PlayStation Network Restoration Announcement [PlayStation Blog]

Play On – PSN Restoration Begins Now [PlayStation Blog]

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