After over a three week closure of the PlayStation Network, Sony has finally brought the popular network back online in parts of USA and Europe.

Users have to install a firmware update (for which instructions have been posted) and change their passwords to get back into the PSN system again. In addition, users will benefit from an identity theft protection programme in countries where it is available.

"Thank you for your patience and encouragement over the last few weeks," said Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications and social media, Sony in a blog post that announced the news about PSN going back online.

He also added it was a restoration of services in phases, but would eventually be rolled out. Activating PSN now will bring back online gaming, chat, friends list and trophy comparison, PlayStation Home and services such as Hulu. Access to purchase games will be restored later.

"The process has begun and some states are being turned on now, so please be patient as we reach your city and state. 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," he added.

In addition to this, Kazuo Kirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment made a video address apologising to users and informing them about PSN going back online.

Customers have been promised a "welcome back" package, details of which will be given out soon.

PSN went down on April 20, and it was later revealed that an external hack had caused Sony to take their PSN services offline. There were also reports that PSN users' personal details and credit card data may have been compromised, and gamers were unable to go online for all this time.

What was nearly a full month of downtime mixed with anguish, anger, and just a pinch of hysteria is finally coming to the end... or the first phase of an end, anyway. As first announced on the official PlayStation Blog, Sony Computer Entertainment is rolling out the restart of PlayStation Network across the country, which began in the early evening Pacific Time.

The announcement comes alongside a video from SCE president Kaz Hirai, who again offers his apologies to everyone affected by the downtime/hacker attack, and details the make-good plans the company is launching for members. On top of that, PS3 owners must download and install a new firmware update for the system, which will prompt PSN users to change their passwords before fully logging back in, and can only be changed on the same system the PSN account was activated, or via email confirmation. The PlayStation Store service is not yet up, with the assumption that Sony still plans to get that up and running after getting the rest of the network up.

As of this writing, the rollout just recently reached California after starting in the northeast United States. The map viewable in the PS Blog post is only for the U.S., though the European blog has the same announcement.

Call of Duty 8 is upon us, as developer Infinity Ward has confirmed the first official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 details through not one, not two, not three but four trailers this evening. All four videos uploaded to the official CoD YouTube page are teaser trailers, so they contain no gameplay footage. However, they do confirm many of the rumors that have been circulating about this long-awaited game.

CoD MW 3 takes place in New York City, Paris, France, London, England and Germany. Rumors have stated additional levels from Dubai to D.C. are also part of the campaign mode's chapter list, but this has yet to be confirmed by Activision. We can say for sure that Russian enemies from MW2 return. This game picks up where its 2008 predecessor left off, meaning that Manhattan is under attack by the Russians. The first 35-second teaser trailer even ends with a brief message in Russian right along with a missile being launched over top of the Big Apple, as seen by a 3D radar guidance system. 

The second set of trailers, uploaded two hours after the first American-set teaser, all take place in Europe. The three videos feature the same 3D radar guidance system set up and are 35 seconds long. But, unlike the Manhattan flyby which cuts to the MW3 logo all too quickly, we actually see the affects of the blasts in London, Paris and Germany. The London House of Parliament is the target of terrorists in the England video, while a port-diving bridge is in their sights next to the Eiffel Tower in the France video. We're unsure of the German city, as the 3D radar imagery depicts a nondescript skyscraper exploding along with a take rolling down an unknown street. It's likely Berlin or Hamburg, as both Germany cities are rumored by be a part of the campaign. 

All of this information wasn't set to release just yet, according to the Twitter account of Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling. He tweeted: "Wasn’t planned, but you’re clearly hyped, so here is the 1st of many Modern Warfare 3 videos coming in hot today! #MW3," referring to the week-long leak of CoD 3 details. As a cautionary note, Bowling also tweeted seven hours before making that statement: "A lot of hype & a lot of leaked info on #MW3, some still accurate, some not. To avoid spoiling the experience, I'd wait for the real reveal." 

This means that while Activision and Infinity Ward are confirming many of the CoD MW3 rumors, not every piece of information that has been reported earlier in the week can be considered fact just yet. This includes the game's November 8, 2011 release date. The videogame publisher likes to save that nugget for E3 2011, so if that pattern holds true, the release date will appear at the end of the E3 2011 trailer. Of course, just because the company hasn't confirmed this and many of the other widely-believed information out there, doesn't mean we don't buy into it 100% already.