PlayStation 3 2.40 Update
I'm surprised no one has posted this:
Update Includes XMB™ Access In-Game for Easier Communication with Friends and Trophies, a New Ranking and Rewards System for PS3™ GamersPrint
FOSTER CITY, Calif., June 30, 2008– Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced details of PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) system software update 2.40, designed to enhance the way PS3 users play and interact with one another. Through regular firmware updates, SCEA has the ability to continually deliver new features to PS3 system that address the needs of its users. Now with the 2.40 update, PS3’s community and ingame experience will be upgraded with new offerings that gamers have asked for. The update will deliver XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) access in-game, enabling PS3 users to connect and communicate with other gamers and utilize other XMB features seamlesslywhile playing most games.
In addition to being able to communicate with friends from within a game, PS3 users will also be able to earn Trophies following the 2.40 update. This new, integrated system enables gamers to tout their accomplishments via profiles, which also allow users to compare their skills to other members of the community. Firmware update 2.40 will be available on July 2.
“Today’s PLAYSTATION 3 experience has evolved significantly from what we debuted at launch, and the 2.40 firmware update will drive the PS3 community experience forward at a time when the platform’s momentum is stronger than ever, with the launches of several recent blockbuster titles and other exclusive content on the way,” said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing and PLAYSTATION®Network, SCEA.
“We listen closely to our community, and we’re proud to deliver new features that have been among the most requested D XMB access in-game and Trophies. These features provide new ways for the PS3 community to easily connect, communicate and share gaming experiences with one another in and out of games.”
XMB Access In-Game
XMB access in-game will enable gamers to interact with friends using messaging, view their friends’ online status and profiles (including their Trophy collection), and add new friends they meet online to their Friends list– all without interrupting the flow of gameplay. By pushing the PS button on the PS3 controller, the Home menu takes center stage over a game in progress. Depending on the game, XMB access will either automatically pause the game or it will continue to run in the background. With these enhanced communications features further connecting the PLAYSTATION Network community– which has more than 9.8 million registered accounts worldwide as of June 2008– the Friends list capacity has doubled to 100 Friends.
Beyond utilizing Friends list features, XMB access in-game will allow users to sign-in to PLAYSTATION Network, manage PLAYSTATION®Store downloads, quit a game, and access various options within the Settings category. PS3 users can also quickly end their game and navigate directly to other PS3 system features simply by selecting to view content such as photos or videos stored on the system’s hard drive. XMB access ingame works with most existing PS3 games.
In addition to these enhanced community features, the 2.40 update lays the groundwork for gamers to customize their individual gaming experience by accessing the XMB during a game and selecting music stored on their PS3 system’s hard drive. Once a music file is played, users can access a control panel via the XMB that enables them to pause, stop, or repeat the track; go to a different track; or shuffle. The 2.40 update provides developers with the tools that will enable them to offer personalized background music as an option in their games, and the supporting titles are expected to be announced in the future.
Additionally, the firmware 2.40 update includes Google-powered Internet search functionality on the XMB, allowing users to input search terms and be directed to a search results page without having to first open the PS3 Internet browser. PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system recently added similar Internet search functionality through a firmware update.
Trophies
Trophies offer a new and innovative way for gamers to showcase their gaming accomplishments. PS3 users can earn virtual trophies, which will be viewable on the XMB’s Game category under a new Trophy Collection icon, and will also be touted through individual profiles. These profiles will serve as virtual representations of PS3 users, allowing them to personalize their identities and display their gaming accomplishments within the PlayStation community. Gamers will be ranked on a Level basis depending on the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum trophies they earn across all games. They will also be able to see how much progress they have made toward the next Level, as well as compare their Trophies to friends.
Super Stardust™ HD, a PLAYSTATION Network-exclusive released in June 2007, will be the first game to leverage the Trophies system and will offer a variety of trophies*. The following first-party games are also slated to offer Trophy support:
BUZZ!™ Quiz TV
LittleBigPlanet™
MotorStorm™ Pacific Rift
NBA 09 - PS3
PAIN*
PixelJunk™ Eden
Resistance 2™
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
Warhawk™*
*Requires a game update to be downloaded and installed.PS3 users can expect to see additional first and third-party games bringing Trophy support to their feature sets through 2008 and beyond, providing even greater opportunity to showcase their accomplishments and compete with friends. SCEA is actively working with developers to ensure that Trophies are incorporated into new titles in the future.
About PS3 and PSP System Software Updates
PS3 and PSP systems were designed to continually evolve with regular system software updates that deliver new features. There’s no additional investment required from consumers, who simply update their systems and can immediately enjoy the benefits of the added functionality. This process lengthens the lifecycle of PS3 and PSP, and consumers no longer have to worry about their hardware becoming outdated or missing out on exciting new capabilities. SCEA will continue to release system software updates on an ongoing basis. For further details and instructions on how to update the PS3 and PSP system software, please visit us.playstation.com.
About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system, the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system and its online and network services PLAYSTATION®Network and PLAYSTATION®Store.
Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
I haven't downloaded it yet but I will today. I'm looking forward to improved funcutionality. I hope that the PS3 Online community can grow here on GWJ, but I think it's too late for most gamers to want to switch. I have no interested in Trophies or anything achievement like.
For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that, I gave Jesus a chance. ~Ron Shelton, Bull Durham, 1988
I predict some degree of self-satisfied harping about PS3 having to do what XBL has been doing for years, but the truth is that this is _exactly_ what the PS3 needs to do to compete and my feeling is that it's about damn time.
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
This certainly helps the PS3 compete with the 360. But for those of us, like myself, that own all of the consoles, I'm not sure that this closes the large hole that the PS3 still has to contend with, i.e. more compelling exclusives.
I personally know that achievements extend a game's life for me. I played a lot more of Assassin's Creed and Crackdown than I think I would've without achievements. Trophies, therefore, might get me to consider the PS3 versions of single-player-heavy cross-platform titles more readily. But cross-platform games with strong multiplayer components will likely still go to the 360 simply for the community.
XBL: NSMike | Steam | PSN: NSMike | Wii Friend Code: 7763 1519 2475 2278 | GWJ Google Calendar
That's absolutely true, but the trophies thing still feels like too little, too late to me. Admittedly, though, that is mostly because of the sporadic and unpredictable support they are likely to have in existing titles since they haven't been a core part of the PS3 experience from the beginning. Of course, if going forward Sony makes a concentrated effort to get every game to support the new system, well, my feeling there could certainly change.
XBL/PSN: zeroKFE | BHA: zeroKFE | Spore: zeroKFE
Oh, by the way, any GWJers running with an IR2BT for home theater setups with universal remotes, prepare to be disappointed... There are apparent issues with the IR2BT power-on function no longer working.
XBL: NSMike | Steam | PSN: NSMike | Wii Friend Code: 7763 1519 2475 2278 | GWJ Google Calendar
Oh man. I haven't picked one of those up yet but now I'm especially glad I waited. I'm assuming these are flash-programmable over the mini-USB connector?
Xbox Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
My wife liked the man part monster I made. -Pharacon
I don't think so. I think that's purely for power purposes. If you want an alternative, there is the IR4PS3 option, which uses the hardware from the BT remote Sony made, and actually just adds on an IR receiver, with a small piece of hardware that connects to the BT remote board through the keypad connector, and simulates keypresses based on the IR signal. If you have the BT remote already, you can assemble the thing yourself, or if you don't, you can have the dude who made it buy one and do it for you. He doesn't have a website as far as I know, but you can e-mail him at ir4ps3@hotmail.com. I think this is the route I'm going, as it uses Sony's tech, and most likely will never be unsupported. There's an assembly video here as well.
XBL: NSMike | Steam | PSN: NSMike | Wii Friend Code: 7763 1519 2475 2278 | GWJ Google Calendar
Sounds like a good PS3 update.
That said, my main gripe was never the features of PlayStation console but the PS controller. I never been a fan of it's design/layout... that is one of the major reason why I usually pick up Xbox/360 games over PS version.
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ
I would much rather see more online content. The current amount of content seems to pale in comparison to the downlaodable games, videos, etc. on Live.
Getting killed, though? In a way that you don't like? Suck it up, Gertrude.
Judging from the fact that the PS3 has been outselling the 360 the last few months and has consistently been kicking its butt in Europe, I'm not sure this was required for them to be competitive. That said, it's good to see this and they should be ashamed of themselves for not having this functionality at launch. It's still not 100% either because chat doesn't work in-game yet and custom soundtracks only work in games where the developer chooses to have support for them.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
Yeah, it's a great positive first step into a more relevant comparison to Xbox Live. I still want XMB chat that carries from game to game like Live does.
Still, didn't expect them to get it all in one shot. This is very encouraging.
Certis beat me to it. - Elysium
And the fact that it is free makes this announcement ever sweeter.
The Gaming Chronicles
PSN ID: Harbinger01
Steam ID: [GWJ] CrashedHardrive
Elysium wrote:
I just logged on to download 2.40 but it's saying I've already got the current version, which is 2.36. Did anyone else run into this problem?
Lag used to be a lot worse back in the day. Hell, it took Jesus 3 days to respawn.
Quintin_Stone wrote: The typical American eats 3.5 bigfoots in their sleep each year.
PSN: x93_confirmedx (message me for Socom!)
Yeah, it isn't available for me yet either. I'm assuming they just haven't pushed it to all their servers yet. I'm hoping it comes out tonight. Strangely, the patch for Super Stardust HD that adds trophies is out though.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
It actually was out last night, I downloaded it but I heard they removed it because it was bricking some systems
but mine's working fine, here's the link for 2.4
just download it to usb stick and it should work fine to transfer to ps3
2.40 file download
Xbox 360 Live Tag: Lothar71 PSN - Lothars
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Mex refering to Actresses:
Make no mistake, I'd hit them all so hard that my pelvis would have to be classified as a deadly weapon, I just don't think they're all
According to Kotaku, the upgrade has been pulled temporarily
Xbox Live | Steam | Last.fm
Going by the video overview they had of the improvements, I was getting the impression that now you can receive messages from a buddy that is playing a different game, but you can't send him a message back without changing to the game that original message was sent from. Seems odd to implement it asymmetrically like that.
Danjo Olivaw Lives
Well, text messages are able to be sent from any game and read from within any game.
Cross-game invites aren't currently implemented via the in-game XMB.
Some games -- for example Rainbow Six Vegas 1+2 and Lego Star Wars -- will send their game invitations as messages using the built-in messaging system, but you need to exit the game you're currently in and load the game in question before you can get a Join button on that message to join in. So while you're playing something you can go to the text messages now and see those invites, and can then opt to write a message back to them, but you can't take the host up on their offer without exiting out of your current game.
I think voice messaging is a missed opportunity (among others) for Sony thus far. They've got access to very good voice compression and other tech with their SOCOM developers. Let us record a voice message via the in-game XMB and send it instead of having to reach for our keyboard. It would encourage everyone to always wear a headset and be much easier than typing. Plus it's so much more personable to hear your pal's voice.
"Frogger did not convince me to jump into oncoming traffic." --rabbit
Writing, gaming, and stuff.
The IR2BT guys are reporting that they think they've been able to nail down the issue, and are working on a means to update current IR2BT owners. Still, I may not go for the IR2BT if I can get an IR4PS3.
XBL: NSMike | Steam | PSN: NSMike | Wii Friend Code: 7763 1519 2475 2278 | GWJ Google Calendar
Anyone else notice that 2.41 is out?
XBL: NSMike | Steam | PSN: NSMike | Wii Friend Code: 7763 1519 2475 2278 | GWJ Google Calendar
It's been out since last week... I think they released it on Wednesday. I was a bit surprised that there was very little talk about it but eh... I still have not patched mine from 2.36. I should probably turn it on one of this day.
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ
Heh, shows how often I turn on my PS3.
XBL: NSMike | Steam | PSN: NSMike | Wii Friend Code: 7763 1519 2475 2278 | GWJ Google Calendar
I'm right there with you.
The last four times I've turned on my PS3 I've had to sit through an update.
I just don't use the damn thing. I used it a lot for a while because I bought a bunch of blu-ray movies, but that's slowed down a lot since I caught up on newer releases. Now I'm back to having exactly two games to play and nothing else to do on the system that the 360 doesn't do better for me.
XBLive: Thin J
PSN: Thin_J
I don't imagine master craftsmen leaping away from completed projects and shouting "Done, motherf*ckers! - 1Dgaf
Believe it or not, though, I turn on my PS3 more than my Wii. And damnit, why'd they have to pick a name that always sounds like a double entendre?
XBL: NSMike | Steam | PSN: NSMike | Wii Friend Code: 7763 1519 2475 2278 | GWJ Google Calendar