When the demo for the new Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit debuted on the PlayStation Network, it was met with an incredibly warm reception. As gamers far-and-wide competed with their friends for record times, download numbers went up, as did, presumably, pre-order numbers. On November 9th, all that was taken away when EA barred further access to the demo, whether you had downloaded it or not. However, regaining access is easy as pie.
If you were one of the many folks who downloaded the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit demo and have been enjoying it over the past few weeks, you were probably baffled when you realized that you could no longer access the demo, as were we when we hopped on to play, despite the fact that we had already maxed out our stats. Well, it seems that EA has stealthily denied access to the demo via the PS3’s internal clock, while at the same time shutting down access to the online demo servers. Sure, you can initiate the demo, but are then presented with the game’s trailer, and then booted out.
Fret not PlayStation LifeStyle faithful, as demo access, at least single player demo access, can be regained in mere seconds. Despite checking out the detailed information for the Need for Speed demo and realizing that there was no expiration date, we decided to try and bring our beloved friend back to life anyway. We then discovered that it is possible to revive the demo by changing the PS3’s internal clock! Simply go into the PS3’s time and date settings, then set the date to anytime before November 9th, 2010 (we’d recommend a date within the demo’s intended time frame). Then, like magic, you once again have single-player access to the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit demo!
Though minor, we couldn’t help but find some way to get this working again, as we literally couldn’t wait for release day to get our hands on the high-speed mayhem again. And for those who may not have the means to snag it on release day, you can at least enjoy a portion of the game until you acquire it. For all the latest PS3 tips and tricks, be sure to stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle!
