The news that Sony was shutting down PlayStation Store servers for PS3 this summer spread like wildfire on Monday. The conversation in comment sections is filled with rhetoric against DRM and renewed promises from game collections only, because without content servers to connect, your digital PS3 purchases will eventually become unplayable. Even if legitimate purchases are installed on the console’s hard drive before Sony ‘turns on the switch’, they can only survive as long as the internal clock stays in sync. Therefore, this guide is to replace a PS3 PRAM battery written by [Andrew] the renewed importance. After replacing the battery, the internal clock must be reset and it must be energized by the PlayStation network (you know the one that will be turned off soon).
Wildlife Conservation Group [Does it play?] drove home the impact of such a business decision by Sony on Twitter. The thread quickly points out that even if users are quick to download all their purchases back to a PS3 system before the July 2 deadline, those games will eventually become unplayable if the system clock is synchronized. Replacing the PRAM battery and reconnecting to the PlayStation Network before Sony shuts down their servers will require the user to purchase even more playing time. Without any further changes to Sony’s licensing policy, however, little else can be done to ensure that the digital PS3 games will work forever.
Sony is not the only one who has been involved in the grief of digital rights advocates regarding the termination of their online services. Nintendo closed the DSI store in 2017 and Microsoft shut down access to the original Xbox LIVE servers in 2010. The three major console manufacturers have all let their consumers down by removing the possibility of recycling the purchase in some way, but the fact that so many PS3 exclusives were still available digitally, but it exacerbates issues with digital rights . Falling into a fresh coin cell may not be the permanent solution everyone is currently looking for, but it may not hurt to re-familiarize yourself with the Cell Processor.