Sony's PlayStation Network has been hit by a glitch that has left users all over the world unable to connect.

The PlayStation Network connects PlayStation 3 consoles to online stores, software downloads and is used as a platform for some multiplayer online games. On the network are about 38 million users.

The bug only effected the older PlayStation 3 consoles and not the newer so-called "slim" models that were recently launched. The problem was noticed late afternoon on Sunday and acknowledgement came from Sony's US unit in the form of a blog and Twitter posting.

Sony still had not confirmed the cause of the problem at time of writing.