back to article Sony confirms major PS3 firmware update features

It’s been rumoured that Sony’s set to overhaul the PlayStation 3 with a grand-scale firmware release in the near future, and now the electronics giant has gone on record and confirmed the juicy features gamers can expect. Eric Lempel, director of PlayStation network operations, recently wrote on the PS3 official blog that …

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  1. Mark
    Gates Horns

    My PS3 is almost like a 360! Yippeee!

    Finally I'll almost have some half decent functionality in my over priced bucket of power!!

    Now all i need is some friends!!

  2. Liam

    @ Mark

    yes - now all it needs to do is have shite controllers, no HD player support and crash all the time and its the same as a 360!

    are all 360 owners w**kers? or is it just the ones that come in here?

  3. Mark
    Gates Horns

    @ The Fake Mark

    You really are a pathetic cretin. It's laughable...

    How much does bill pay you to defend his urelianle sack of shit?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Mark

    I am glad my PS3 is nothing like a 360, it means I have a reliable console, that does not sound like a aircraft landing in my living room, and has a decent library of broad specturm games.

    It sounds like, from what I can tell, this may actually trump the 360 in features, as it allows access to all XMB functionality during a game, so you might want to fire up the browser and check out sime hints on the web, I don't think the 360 can do that (basically, because it does not have a web browser).

  5. Jim Coleman
    Flame

    Whoah there, Sony!

    Don't go giving my PS3 too many 360-like features, we can do without ones like the RROD for example. And try not to cripple the Blu-Ray drive so it only plays those old-fashioned DVD thingies, too. Cheers.

  6. Greg

    I'm sorry, but...

    ...the last thing on my list of "Things I Want From a PS3" is that it's more like the 360. I've no interest in bragging rights or being able to call other players "douchebags" whenever I want. I want good games, good hardware, next-gen movie playback. That's why I'm a PS3 man. Let the people who want to sit online and exchange profanities with 13 year old American children buy a 360, let them buy Halo*, let them sit there with their brains ticking over. I'll be over here playing better/more interesting games, watching high-def movies, and not having my wallet rimmed for online play.

    *I have actually started using Halo as an insult, it's that terrible. I apologise for its use in this post.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Games taking ages to load

    Why aren't they using solid-state memory? Or even better, Flash non-volatile storage with a battery-backed-up DRAM module (for when you're playing games frequently so it'll stay re-charged) too?

    Bugger all load time, no problems with not having enough RAM on the console as the game can add more as required. It's not like mass-produced plastic cases for the cartridges and DIMMs are hugely expensive these days is it?!

    *grumbles, goes to play the SNES*

  8. Bad Beaver

    Man...

    ... next thing you know it will regain SACD playback...

  9. Matt

    Out of date.

    I don't mean to be rude but this has been known for some weeks and 2.36 came out yesterday (or was it the day before, I downloaded it yesterday).

    I didn't see anything different and as I've never had stability problems I can't see any changes there either.

    In terms of features I'm looking forward to 2.4 but not being 12 years old I'm not too excited about "trophies" and while in game XMB will be fun it's not something I'll lose sleep over.

  10. Mark H

    @ Greg

    'I'll be over here playing better/more interesting games'

    Out of interest, what are these better/more interesting PS3 games you talk of, cos I'm struggling to think of any?

  11. Alistair James

    PS3 loading times what a joke

    Long loading times from disc, long install times for downloadable content, i gave the PS3 3 months of my life, what a waste of time. The graphics are no better than the 360 (I ran comparisions between the 2 on multiformat games, the 360 has better quality.) It has less memory than the Wii. (The 512 of the PS3 is split between CPU and GPU before any of you Pony monkies start argueing, look it up.) and the worse thing of all no Backward compatibility for the only version available, now that is something that Sony should add to an update, not trophies....

  12. Jimster71
    Stop

    Calm down fanboys, it's only an update.

    Nothing like an innocent console story to start a fanboy flame war.

    Sony is obviously adding the features because of how popular they are on the 360. Why they didn't have in-game messaging available at the start is a mystery.

    The Trophy thing does sound like a bad idea. On the 360, the achievements and gamerscore idea has been built into the machine from scratch and is integral to the gaming experience on that platform.

    Adding unlockable pictures to a game is hardly an exciting feature. Will it be compulsary for developers to use it? Little point if it just an optional extra.

    PS3 is crap anyway. Go on fan-boys see if you can ignore that flippant and baseless comment.

  13. Sam

    Loading times

    GTA4 loads quite quickly on the PS3... I get the loading pictures and music for 40 seconds when I start the game a black screen with Loading - $Level name$ when it loads my save game and thats it. No loading between islands or anything. and the viewing distance is huge. (shadows have a habit of popping into existance in really fast cars but I don't care too much)..

    As far as in game XMB, I can't wait. Want to be able to chat with my mates while they are playing GT5.

    Trophies not really my thing though.

  14. Dz
    Boffin

    Calm Down Children!

    You all claim not to want to trade insults with 13 year olds, yet you will happily trade childish insults here! Little bit of a double standard happening. Each to their own.

    Personally, I have a 360 & a PS3. They are both fun and more or less on par! Do you buy a console beause it is fun or to use the concept to beat the next man over the head!

    Grow up! Children, mother is coming to spank your arses if you don't behave yourselves!

    Dz

  15. matthew bennion
    Unhappy

    I wish....

    I wish they'd update my Sega Megadrive so it was capable of this....

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Get a life.

    yeah but, no but, yeah but, no but, yeah that is like so racist hitting off on other peoples consoles like that cos its like what mark said to our tracy about terry being too fat because all he does is sit inside and play consoles cos hes sick and tired of his mum banging his friend from next door cos her husband is stuck at a building site whistling at girls that walk past which is sexist cos he fancies them but they dont fancy him cos hes like got a building site bum which is like what happens to fanboys who spend too much time like trolling thereg site looking for news stories to post about how big their manhood is only they're talking about games consoles which is really sad cos its not like they can bang them, or maybe they do.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    RE - the CONSTANT fanboy bickering

    <Begin Rant>

    The console fanboy wars are getting OLD. You know what? Whatever console a person has chosen, that console was chosen by THEM. I don't care if a person is playing the PS1 or an old Sega Genesis, if they enjoy it, it's right for them. What is this irrational fanboy need to be Right?? Are you really so insecure in your own buying decision that you must deride everyone who chose differently than you? If you enjoy your console – great. But here's a thought – I enjoy my console too, and I don't need to hear you endlessly bitch about my choice if it's different than yours (also don't care to hear your congrats if you think I chose the “one true console”).

    These fanboys remind me of rabid religious fundamentalists. I'm not going to hell for choosing a different console than you, and I don't care to hear the Gospel according to Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo – or any other company. I also don't need to hear how you think (insert hated game here) is going to rot my brains/damn my soul. If you don't like it, don't play it. But – try to grasp this – If I want to hear your opinion on my games/game console, I will ASK. Otherwise, keep your religious convictions to yourself.

    <End Rant>

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    @Alistair James

    Are you a mental defective?

    You don't compare multi-platform titles to determine which console is better. Multi-platform development is all about compromises. You look at the platform exclusives, where no compromises were needed. The PS3 exclusives clearly show it's capable of things the 360 only dreams of.

    GTA IV for example, despite running and looking better on the PS3 hardly uses any of the 7 SPE cores available to it, it's all done on the main PowerPC core, because that's how the 360 works, had it been a Ps3 exclusive (like all future Rockstar games now are), things would have been much different.

    As for loading times. Again, you talk crap, the 2X BD is faster than the 360's 8x/12x DVD drive.

    I suggest you read this factual information before making yourself look an idiot by claiming otherwise..

    http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=42157

    Finally, as for memory, The PS3 has 512MB 256MB of GDDR3 for the GPU running@700Mhz, 256 XDR running at 3.2Ghz(not a typo) for the CPU. However the GPU and CPU can read and write the other's memory pool via FlexIO bus.

    The 360 has 512MB of GDDR3 running@ 550Mhz available for flexible sharing between the GPU and CPU.

    The Wii has 88 MB main memory and 3MB GPU memory.

    The even pretend the PS3 has less memory than the Wii is simply staggering, and shows how clueless you really are.

    Even Paris knows that PS3's 3.2Ghz XDR more than makes up for the fixed split between GPU and CPU memory.

  19. Julian Cook
    Unhappy

    am i missing home?

    Was this not part of the home offering, or has that died a death

  20. Mark
    Stop

    urelianle?

    Mark 2!

    You've found a googlewhack! Well done for making up a word.

    Here's my attempt:

    markisabigidiot

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Sad!

    You're all a bunch of desperately sad nerdy f**kheads! Get a life you friendless wonders.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Hooray!

    Another console war, it's going DOWN people!

    @Dz - It's great having both consoles eh? Best of both worlds, more games of all kinds than you can shake a sixaxis at.

    As for the rest of you, yo mamma's on welfare! j/k

    I shall be looking forward to being able to respond to a message while playing a game on the PS3 for sure. "Meh" to trophies.

  23. Mark
    Gates Horns

    @ Mark 3

    Stop talking about how much you like the 360, the Wii is the clear winner this generation.

    Mark 2, i know what you mean, Mark 1 is sounding like the bill gates money whore isn't he? Because that's what Bill Gates and people in Microsoft do, they pay people to spend time coming on to forums and wind up people who stick up for the PS3 for no clear reason or conclusion.

    I'm with Mark 4. He's got the right ideas.

  24. Toby Graham
    Heart

    I Love The Bickering

    You've got to love it, I get this in the office whenever a PS3 or 360 is mentioned.

    So all I'll say on the matter to any 360 fanboy is that I'm going to watch a nice 1080p blu-ray tonight, I thank you.

    Sorry can't resist it....PS3 pads are loads better too!

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's too late.

    The PS3 already has some of it's key games out, the new in game XMB wont be integrated into the games because it can't be, it's not an integral part of the development kit as it is with the 360.

    It'll never be as good as the 360s for this reason because Microsoft integrated it into the full experience whereas Sony have slapped it on afterwards where it's too late to integrate into already released games and to hence implement it in a way anywhere near as clean.

    This will also likely lead to additional problems too of course so expect it to be buggy as hell for a while to come!

  26. Mark
    Gates Horns

    @Julian Cook

    The Trophy support in 2.40, as I understand it, is the core firmware support for it, so games can use it, and the trohpies are displayed in the XMB interface (and possibly viewable by others, unconfirmed...), Home will extend this, with a Trohpy cabinet approach.

    So no, not died a death at all... I think Sony could not wait for home, as they are being crucified by gamers for holding these features back, whilst home slipped.

  27. Mark H

    Re: @ Alistair James

    All those numbers are interesting but how do you explain this then?:

    http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=137829

    Also which PS3 games specifically do you feel couldn't be achieved on the 360?

  28. Alistair MacRae
    Thumb Down

    Anonymous Coward is the biggest PS3 fanboy on here.

    You jump on any xbox\negative PS3 comment ever :P

    I actually like my jet propelled suicide xbox360 so there :P

    Truth is they've both been sitting unplugged for ages. PS3 spends 50% more time unplugged than the xbox though.

    Is MGS4 worth getting? anyone?

  29. IHateWearingATie
    Stop

    Oh dear god....

    ... I just don't care whether or not the X360 is better on this or that than the PS3.

    Some people treat this stuff like football teams - you choose and support one and slag off all the others. There'll be chants next.

    Both PS3 and X360 have good games - buy both and shut the hell up.

  30. Alistair James

    @ Anonymous coward

    I am not talking about drive speeds you muppet, I am talking loading times, I have made a cuppa in the space it takes to load, and that includes filling the kettle.

    So if the Wii has such a tiny amount of memory why do the games look better then?

    What exclusives make the PS3 look good then? Haze? Uncharted? GT5 Prologue? C'mon where are the exlusives, oh right Resistance, please.

    As for comparing multi platforms, how else would you decide which looks better seeing as the arguement is always over which has better graphics for this or that game, comparision is the only way you muppet. Why is it that when people see the same game on both PS3 and 360 side by side, they go for the 360 version? or buy the 360 and the game if they are looking to buy a console.

    I am not saying the 360 is without fault, however the ps3 does not deliver all it was hyped to give.

    As for being anonymous stay that way, because you obviously don't have the courage of your convictions.

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I just like decent games

    Really don't care what the platform is, that's why I have everything from PS3 to Atari 2600. It does tend to take up a fair amount of space though.

    I guess if you own a single console, you've got to justify your hard earned money being spent, regardless of how misguided it may be.

    Always nice to see a load of FUD though.

  32. Monkey

    Once again...

    ..how does an article about a firmware update turn into a feckin console cock waving contest?!

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    @Mark H

    It's simple, it's Eurogamer, the biggest Xbots on the planet, all the editors simply love the Xbotch360.

    For the TRUE story, check out real screenshots, the 360 has horrendous dithering of the scenes, that make it look horrible, the suggestion is, that even thou the native resolution is 720p (vs 640p on the PS3), the textures are so heavilly compressed to fit onto the DVD, the image quality sufffer much worse than the lower PS3 resolution. Has this been a PS3 exclusive, none of the compromises to make a multi-platform title would have been needed..

    Anyone that claims the 360 version of GTA IV looks better, plays better, has less popup, or loads quicker is basically kidding themselves...

    360:

    http://www3.telus.net/public/dhwag/G.jpg

    PS3:

    http://www3.telus.net/public/dhwag/H.jpg

  34. Steven Raith
    Stop

    Xbox360 Vs PS3?

    N64 + goldeneye + 4 players/one hit kills/complex FTW.

    Only way to improve upon the above is to substitute GE for Perfect Dark and throw in a couple of DarkSims.

    Truly the peak of videogaming.

    Argument over.

    Steven R

  35. Chad H.

    @ Sad

    Hey, that applies to 80% of the register audience... You better be careful, or we'll set simon on you.

  36. jay019

    @Anon Coward

    [quote]

    The PS3 already has some of it's key games out, the new in game XMB wont be integrated into the games because it can't be, it's not an integral part of the development kit as it is with the 360

    [/quote]

    Um numbnuts, there is this tiny little thing called "updates" that ALL ps3 can download to their built in hard disks. Go get yourself hit by a cluestick!!!

  37. James Henstridge

    memory speeds

    Note that the XDR memory (which is an evolution of RAMBUS memory) uses quite a different transfer method to DDR memory, so you can't compare clock rates directly. The XDR memory uses fewer pins, but transfers data over those pins at a higher rate.

    The 3.2GHz XDR memory is roughly equivalent to 400MHz DDR memory. So it won't necessarily give better performance compared to the PS3's DDR memory or the 360's DDR memory.

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    @ LIAM

    Liam Said 'yes - now all it needs to do is have shite controllers, no HD player support and crash all the time and its the same as a 360!'

    Shite controllers lol you gotta be kidding :-)

    - For a start the analogue sticks arent overly sensetive and poorly positioned on the 360

    - The weight of the controller is far too light on the PS3 and the build quality is cheap

    - The triggers were added as a afterthought on the PS3

    - The ergonomics of the controller are terrible on the PS3

  39. Scott
    Joke

    This argument is easy to resolve:

    PS3's are made of win.

    XBOX 360's are made of fail.

    Thank you, and Goodnight.

  40. paul
    Gates Halo

    BR / DVD speed.

    Right, I think the xbot wins this one. 12x DVD drive is faster SOMETIMES :(

    DVD runs faster on the edge of the disk , and slower in center.

    BR - runs the SAME speed all the way through (CLV).

    But remember , there is only going to be a couple of gig that runs faster than 50g of BR.

  41. Neil
    Thumb Up

    Horses for courses.....

    Being a mature gamer, I prefer the PS3 as it looks cool in my louge, goes well with my shiny black LCD & black Cinema system and as an added plus, i can hear the TV as it's quieter and finally, it's Japaneese and not american so it's NOT a Tastless looking Jug Kettle.

    The 360 has more great games but less great gamers.

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