May 4 is the day that the Playstation network down problem was supposed to be fixed. May 4 is here and the world is still waiting for their favorite games to come back online.

Second in command at Sony Kaz Hirai held a press conference in Tokyo said that PSN should be back up later this week, although not all features will be functional. PSN users will be required to download one of Sony’s famous firmware updates, which will also prompt every single PSN user to change his or her password. The password will only be able to be changed on the original console that the account was activated on, or through a validated email notification.

After this, not all features will be available. Here’s what WILL be working:

* Online gameplay (so people finally have a reason to own SOCOM 4
* Qriocity online music service
* Access to account management and password resetting
* Download unexpired video rental downloads
* PlayStation Home
* Friends list
* Online chat
* This should also be when all the trophies you’ve gained over the past week and a half should sync up.

Hirai also said that Sony will be rolling out a regional “Welcome Back” program. Current PSN users, both regular and PlayStation Plus subscribers, will get 30 days free of the PlayStation Plus service.

Sony’s Playstation Network has been down since a hacker accessed personal information on roughly seventy-seven million user accounts between April 17th and April 19th. Sony failed to release further information to customers until April 26th.

There are millions of people that are sick and tired of the waiting game though. What have you been doing while the online games are down?