While the multiplayer section of the PlayStation Network may be operational, the store is still down, and Sony has been hesitant about sharing details about when it could be back up and running. This is bad news for racing fans who purchased Dirt 3, a game that requires a one-time use code to access the multiplayer features. That, in turn, requires the store. The store is down. The bad news is nothing can be done until Sony fixes its online service.

While Mortal Kombat's developer and publisher were nice enough to drop this requirement temporarily so people could play online, Codemasters is claiming that it wouldn't be that simple for them, as the game was designed to require the code. "Changing this would require considerable development time and a patch which would need to go through the submission process. This in itself would be a longer process than waiting for Sony to bring the PSN Store back online," the company told Eurogamer.

For now, you can only enjoy the game offline, and there's no timetable for when you'll be able to access the rest of the game. There is a large amount of fail whale in this situation: Sony still doesn't have a target date for when the online system will be back up and running; Codemasters has no way to disable their one-time use code so people who paid them $60 to play the game can do so; and gamers don't get to enjoy the fruits of modern technology.

I miss the days when you just had to blow the dust out of a cartridge to get it to work.