PS3 2.4 Firmware Detailed, Available July 2nd

[Gorvi]

Eric Lempel, Director of PlayStation Network Operations, has posted 2 videos on the PlayStation Blog detailing the 2.4 firmware update that we'll be getting sooner than expected, July 2nd. The first post is here (http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/29/firmware-v240-walkthrough-part-1-the-xmb/) (detailing the ingame XMB) and the 2nd post is here (http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/30/firmware-v240-walkthrough-part-2-trophies/) (detailing Trophies). More from the blog:
The update also adds a mini-control panel that you can use while playing music and an internet search feature powered by Google that allows you to initiate search directly from the XMB (similar to what we added to the PSP recently). In addition, when you’re using the XMB or accessing the XMB from in-game, the current time and date will be displayed in the upper right hand corner. There are a few more minor enhancements included in this update, once the update is live you’ll be able to read about them here.

Firmware v2.40 will become available for download on July 2nd. We hope you enjoy these much-requested features, and look forward to your feedback.
Looking good there, it's about time.

[Yeti2005]

Well they got some of it right but there's still issues:

- Only text messaging across games (no voice chat) - EPIC FAIL :)
- Custom soundtracks only work in certain games
- Pulling up the XMB doesn't pause the game so you'll have to pause first then pull it up.

The first point is the only one that really sucks.

Edit: I will say it might be cool to pull up a browser and search the web for a help or a cheat while you're playing the game.

[asimonk]

Finally, an in game clock!

[BC Stereotype]

The trophy thing looks curious. Not that I'm trying to be negative but I'm not entirely sold on the trophy 'levels' - the thing that is nicest about 360 achievements is the simplicity inherent in just having a score. With different types of trophies and levels ... it just sounds messy.

[bean19]

The trophy thing looks curious. Not that I'm trying to be negative but I'm not entirely sold on the trophy 'levels' - the thing that is nicest about 360 achievements is the simplicity inherent in just having a score. With different types of trophies and levels ... it just sounds messy.

As someone not interested in gamerscore, this is not a feature I can comment on well. As long as they don't interrupt play in any way (for instance, I don't want to spend time waiting for these to download if I have to visit another player's "Home" (when that comes out) to play multiplayer, then I am indifferent).

Texting over XMB and no voice is retarded. If this was a PC, then that would be fine, but also antiquated. The whole thing about console games is that you are presumably on a couch and do not have a keyboard handy. Will you at least get alerted when your friends come online now? Will you be able to see what they are playing and join their games in progress or invite them while still in-game? You see, it's not JUST voice that is missing.

Edit: The PS3's best online feature is that it is free, and that hasn't changed.

[absolut taco]

I seriously wonder why in game XMB took so long to implement. Looks great though.

[Purple Santa]

Edit: I will say it might be cool to pull up a browser and search the web for a help or a cheat while you're playing the game.

I hadn't thought of that advantage. That makes the broswer/search worth it to me now.

[Gorvi]

Edit: I will say it might be cool to pull up a browser and search the web for a help or a cheat while you're playing the game.
Did that actually work ingame? I can't rewatch the video right now to check, but if so, that's completely awesome. Hell, that's worth it to me more than the messaging.

[bapenguin]

Finally, an in game clock!

Seriously - this is the best thing ever. It's amazing how much I rely on the 360's.

[51|RandoM]

I seriously wonder why in game XMB took so long to implement. Looks great though.

Squeezing enough memory out of that reserved for the OS to fit it into.

Somebody dropped the ball back in the design stage not planning for these features and the physical memory required to make them happen without robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Cross-game invites are the only must-have on my list. I should watch these videos and see if that feature is part of 2.4.

[vallor]

It is nice to get something big out for the holiday and I'm looking forward to this update but any PM worth their salt knows never to launch something like this just before a big holiday.

While nothing may go wrong but with this is a beefy update with a very high risk of something going wrong. I've seen lots of companies try to do things coinciding wiith a holiday and some of the failures are epic since they rarely seem to plan to have the staff or necessary equipment on hand to deal with it. It may be just a U.S. holiday but thats still a lot of customers to potentially piss off.

I, for one, will be turning off the networking functionality on my PS/3 so I don't get the download till next Monday just in case. I don't want to risk my system being funky over the holiday.

[Morratut]

Hopefully this will do cross game invites. I can live without the voice chat between different games, for now ;)

[dbh1973]

Now what will PS3 owners have to complain about?:p;)

Better late than never. While I really don't care about trophies, the in-game XMB is a most welcome addition. I assume it has cross-game invites, but I could be wrong.

[Torgo]

A few tidbits:

-From what it sounds like, they had to re-write a LOT of the code to implement these features. Remember that all of this was written by Japanese devs, and many online features aren't a priority over there

-Custom soundtracks HAD to be done on a game-by-game basis as to not infringe on Microsoft's patent

-I don't believe that Cross-Game invites are a part of the OS yet, but the ability to switch to anotehr game instantly is on the right track. We'll have to test a game like Rainbow 6: Vegas 2 that allows you to accept an invite from the XMB to take you straight to the game. Again, it seems like this will be on a per-game basis for right now.

One thing that REALLY stands-out to me is how snappy it is. The 360's dashboard is usually so sluggish when I pull it up in-game, and can be frustrating when you're trying to mute someone etc. It's great to me to see his update and the huge difference in usability that's being added.

[Gott]

What's funny is that some folks who only know the PS3 and not any other system are going to be like, "OMG this is amazing! I'm so impressed with the job Sony has done."

When all of us are like, "OMG it's about time! I'm so not impressed with how long it took Sony to do this."

[51|RandoM]

Watched both videos.

They didn't show automated cross-game invites, but they did show everything you would need to make them happen.

Pulling up a browser window while playing pixeljunk monsters was pretty cool, wonder if that works for all games? A lot of PS3 units are going to have a browser open to gamefaqs most of the time they are online, if so.

Custom soundtracks looks good.

Having the option to pause/not pause before going to XMB is nice, particularly for those times when you are waiting for some in-game event and actually want some in-game time to pass while you might be browsing or sending a message.

Not a fan of achievements/trophies, but am pleased to see them value completion percentages over raw numbers, something I've brought up in some of our achievement discussions before. Anybody (http://www.evilavatar.com/index.php?pageid=leaderboard) can buy/rent more games to pad their total score, but how many people can hit 100%?

[Gott]

Watched both videos.


Not a fan of achievements/trophies, but am pleased to see them value completion percentages over raw numbers, something I've brought up in some of our achievement discussions before. Anybody (http://www.evilavatar.com/index.php?pageid=leaderboard) can buy/rent more games to pad their total score, but how many people can hit 100%?

Learning from experience...hitting 100% many times is more of a chore than it's worth. Many times it involves many long hours of searching for something or doing a repetitive task to reach a goal. I've focused more on having fun with the games i play because i already have a job...

[Ph00p]

TROPHIES=USELESS

There is a VERY limited list of trophy titles so far, so the only thing trophies will tell you so far is that the person plays those games, not that they accomplish alot of things in game. If they have trophy support for EVERY GAME only then will they mean something.

Also one has to wonder if the trophy system is advanced enough to interpret saved games and find trophy requirements within them, OR will you have to REPLAY EVERY DAMN GAME all over again!

Of course NO VOICE CHAT MESSAGE=RETARDED as stated before.

Congrats PS3 that much closer to becoming CURRENT GEN!

For the time being though what trophies mean, I might go back and plays some Warhawk, hopefully the trophies will tighten morons up and make them play as a team although, its hard to do when hardly anyone has a MIC and everyone has MIC channel muted when they DON'T have a mic, then also the great PS3 your mic transmissions are sometimes garbled completely and you just don't know it, wasting valuable time.

I hope they add trophies to UT3 I can see that reviving some games, but theres fat chances of looser games that didn't sell well getting a patch. BUT again IF 3rd parties are SMART(hopefully they are) then they will add trophies to renew the life of their old games with poor matchmaking, one can only hope!

[Yeti2005]

-I don't believe that Cross-Game invites are a part of the OS yet, but the ability to switch to anotehr game instantly is on the right track.

That's correct. Cross-game invites DO NOT work. I can send a text message to a friend asking them to come to my game (seems pretty primitive). However I believe each individual developer can develop a way to invite friends.

[Hellstorm]

All this bitching for stuff that's FREE.

[51|RandoM]

Speaking of which, Burnout: Paradise sends out invites already, now people will be able to accept them without leaving their current game first, which would seem to imply that any developer could do this.

...which is the double-edged sword of Sony's open approach with developers' PSN implementations. Let them do what they want and you can be sure that lots of them will do their own thing or won't do anything at all.

[ZeroOmegaZX]

Well they got some of it right but there's still issues:

- Only text messaging across games (no voice chat) - EPIC FAIL :)
- Custom soundtracks only work in certain games
- Pulling up the XMB doesn't pause the game so you'll have to pause first then pull it up.

The first point is the only one that really sucks.

Edit: I will say it might be cool to pull up a browser and search the web for a help or a cheat while you're playing the game.

Thats not all true, as was demonstrated today, it looks like any game can use the music system. GT5 had to have the music turned down manually but its better than requiring a patch to start using it.

Other than that its about time, I can start NOT buying 360 games hehe. I love the custom soundtrack deal, and now I won't have to worry bout the RRoD unless its a 360 exclusive.

[Kelegacy]

Not a fan of achievements/trophies, but am pleased to see them value completion percentages over raw numbers, something I've brought up in some of our achievement discussions before. Anybody (http://www.evilavatar.com/index.php?pageid=leaderboard) can buy/rent more games to pad their total score, but how many people can hit 100%?

Heck, a recent video on Inside Xbox was for how to get achievement points easily and quickly by playing crappy games. Surf's Up? Going out and buying Madden '06 and turning the CPU skills to 0 and boosting yours to 100 to rack up easy points? Terrible.

I've been guilty of it in the past, but I think I'm starting to turn over a new leaf. Like you said last week, Unlockables would be better in every game, since they are a reward you can actually USE.

[King Drewsky]

Wow, Sony. Did your dev team have another monitor set up to display XBL's achievement system while developling your trophies? That's the most direct copy of intellectual property that I have ever seen.

Achievements? Check.
Gamercard? Check.
Gamerscore? Check.
In-game toast pop-ups? Check.

The compare trophy screen was identical to XBLive's. I would be embarassed if I was one of the devs that worked on this.

[Yeti2005]

Thats not all true, as was demonstrated today, it looks like any game can use the music system. GT5 had to have the music turned down manually but its better than requiring a patch to start using it.

GT5 was probably built to use the music system. I think it's still on a game by game basis.

From Joystiq:
The ability to stream your own music off the HDD during gameplay is a feature of 2.40, but only works in games that have been designed to utilize it.

Honestly though playing custom music on all games is low on my priority list. I'd rather have cross game invites and voice chat.

[grognard66]

Well they got some of it right but there's still issues:

- Only text messaging across games (no voice chat) - EPIC FAIL :)
- Custom soundtracks only work in certain games
- Pulling up the XMB doesn't pause the game so you'll have to pause first then pull it up.

The first point is the only one that really sucks.

Edit: I will say it might be cool to pull up a browser and search the web for a help or a cheat while you're playing the game.

It's also worth noting that in the video, Eric Lempel said "most" PS3 games will be compatible with the 2.4 update. Without having these features available across ALL games the appeal lessens significantly. Hopefully, they'll have a list of compatible titles online when this releases.

Do you get pop-up notifications in any game when your friend sends you an invite? It wasn't clear to me if that was how it worked and the whole thing would be kind of pointless if you can't tell when your friends are online and want to play a different game with you.

[Gorvi]

Do you get pop-up notifications in any game when your friend sends you an invite? It wasn't clear to me if that was how it worked and the whole thing would be kind of pointless if you can't tell when your friends are online and want to play a different game with you.
Since that seems to use the normal messaging system, you would, since it'd pop up like any other message with the friend name and message title.

[Greeble]

Will you at least get alerted when your friends come online now? Will you be able to see what they are playing and join their games in progress or invite them while still in-game? You see, it's not JUST voice that is missing.


You already get alerts when your friends come online. And you can see what they they are playing from the xmb so yeah this will work too. As for game invites I think this is up to the game developer to implement. I've used game invites for Warhawk, EoJ and CoD4 and they work well. And yeah voice chat would be nice. Hopefully that will come soonish in a future update.

[Siraris]

TROPHIES=USELESS

There is a VERY limited list of trophy titles so far, so the only thing trophies will tell you so far is that the person plays those games, not that they accomplish alot of things in game. If they have trophy support for EVERY GAME only then will they mean something.


This makes absolutely no sense. First of all, you are saying that achievement points are totally useless. Second of all, trophy support is there for achievements. It functions exactly the same as achievements do, giving you extra incentive to play, and replay a game. What does it matter if they are in every game, or only in one game for now? Why does every game supporting them have more meaning than only some?

[Micasa]

One thing that REALLY stands-out to me is how snappy it is. The 360's dashboard is usually so sluggish when I pull it up in-game, and can be frustrating when you're trying to mute someone etc..

Were we watching the same video? He pulls it up and it circles to load, he switches tabs and it circles to load - I've never had that on my 360.

[Talon-]

There is a VERY limited list of trophy titles so far, so the only thing trophies will tell you so far is that the person plays those games, not that they accomplish alot of things in game. If they have trophy support for EVERY GAME only then will they mean something.

Does anyone honestly look at the Achievements of another player?

The only judgment I make from Gamerscore is this: the higher the number, the paler the person.

[bapenguin]

Does anyone honestly look at the Achievements of another player?

The only judgment I make from Gamerscore is this: the higher the number, the paler the person.

I've used it from time to time, but I do it to see if someone has done something I didn't so I can ask them a question.

[biosc1]

The compare trophy screen was identical to XBLive's. I would be embarassed if I was one of the devs that worked on this.

It's not unheard of to mimic your competition. If they have something that everyone likes, why would it be embarrassing to copy that and, potentially, get those users over to your system, using similar features?

Happens a lot. Heck, our company does it...our competitor adds a feature that we find users like and want...we add the feature to our product? The only embarrassing moment is that we didn't implement it first...if we continue to not implement it and people are clamouring for it...then that's embarrassing.

I'm happy that they have added trophies to the PS3. It gives some extra incentive to play a game...or to play it a little differently than you may have thought of playing it.

For a great use of achievements, I always refer to Dead Rising...you had to play the game through multiple times, multiple ways, with differing strategies to get all the achievements.

[51|RandoM]

Does anyone honestly look at the Achievements of another player?

I have when trying to figure out secret achievements or when I've just gotten a particularly obscure and/or very hard to acquire achievement.

[Siraris]

Does anyone honestly look at the Achievements of another player?

The only judgment I make from Gamerscore is this: the higher the number, the paler the person.

I look at it all the time on the 360. I use it to see what games people have been playing, how far they are compared to me etc.

[Yeti2005]

Here's the very short list of games that will support trophies / achievements:

BUZZ! Quiz TV
LittleBigPlanet
MotorStorm Pacific Rift
NBA 09
PAIN
PixelJunk Eden
Resistance 2
SOCOM: Confrontation
Super Stardust HD
Warhawk

It kinda sucks that Sony isn't making all developers use trophies. It feels too piece meal right now (music works on some games but not others, cross invites up are to the developer, trophies only work on certain games, XMB doesn't pause the game unless the developer programs it, etc).

[Siraris]

http://www.sony-playstation.cz/news.php?extend.2416

Looks like ingame chat is in there. If you look at the second screen down, it shows Eric in GT 5 with the XMB up (going to check his friends trophy's) and it says "Start new chat". That fucking rocks.

[Disgustipated]

http://www.sony-playstation.cz/news.php?extend.2416

Looks like ingame chat is in there. If you look at the second screen down, it shows Eric in GT 5 with the XMB up (going to check his friends trophy's) and it says "Start new chat". That fucking rocks.

It rocks... except for the fact that the 360 has had it all along. It just makes me glad that I'm getting a PS3 around the time all of this is being implemented. Waiting for this stuff must blow.

I just hope people are still playing Metal Gear Online when I get my PS3.

[Gorvi]

http://www.sony-playstation.cz/news.php?extend.2416

Looks like ingame chat is in there. If you look at the second screen down, it shows Eric in GT 5 with the XMB up (going to check his friends trophy's) and it says "Start new chat". That fucking rocks.
That may actually take you out of the game, though. There's stuff in there that you can use but it makes you quit the game first. I think in that whiny little article Joystiq wrote they said they confirmed that you can't chat ingame.

[Tycho]

I'm not certain that the browser is available inside games, directly from the XMB. There's a quick cut in the video, and the Pixel Junk Monsters screen there isn't from the game proper, it's just the menu item.

[Yeti2005]

http://www.sony-playstation.cz/news.php?extend.2416

Looks like ingame chat is in there. If you look at the second screen down, it shows Eric in GT 5 with the XMB up (going to check his friends trophy's) and it says "Start new chat". That fucking rocks.

As Gorvi mentioned that might not actually work. Here's a quote from the Joystiq article:


We were surprised by the fact that the in-game XMB displays all of the standard XMB functionality, including video, music, photos, and so on. You can select anything from the menus, but it's not guaranteed to work. If the feature isn't supported in-game, you'll get a message asking if you'd like to quit the game to access it. Seeing this in action, we couldn't help but think it would have made more sense for the in-game XMB to be contextual, displaying only the options that could actually be utilized in-game.

[Siraris]

Well, it should be there. I can totally understand the browser not being there because that will take quite a bit of RAM in order to run. Private chat can't take that much memory to use, but what do I know about developing on the PS3.

[Agnostic]

This will change gaming. I predict people across the United States will be throwing parties and shooting off fireworks for days after the release of the firmware update. Epic celebration!;)

[King Drewsky]

It's not unheard of to mimic your competition. If they have something that everyone likes, why would it be embarrassing to copy that and, potentially, get those users over to your system, using similar features?

Happens a lot. Heck, our company does it...our competitor adds a feature that we find users like and want...we add the feature to our product? The only embarrassing moment is that we didn't implement it first...if we continue to not implement it and people are clamouring for it...then that's embarrassing.



When it takes 3 years to develop what is essentially a carbon copy system with no improvements whatsoever, that is fucking embarassing. :o

[menage]

When it takes 3 years to develop what is essentially a carbon copy system with no improvements whatsoever, that is fucking embarassing. :o

I'm kinda sorry to have to agree on this. Trophies for like 10 games (I don't own one of them, so that's nice), music for some games, no chat. It kinda makes me wondered if they shouldn't have waited 3 months and make it right. No consistency.

[Yeti2005]

I remember a while back MS said Live is a platform and that their competitors were welcome to use it (obviously for a fee).

This is a pipe dream but what would it be like if the PS3 had Live for online (yes I know some would bitch about paying for it). Imagine cross chatting across consoles, comparing achievements, and possibly even playing against each other.

The downside is there wouldn't be any competition for improving the online experience.

[Isamura]

You really have to give props to Xbox for what they've accomplished, after seeing what Sony has put out. Even after this firmware update, they are still behind. Oh well, at least it's free.

[Kelegacy]

I agree that all titles should have trophies, or none at all. Still, it's not a huge deal for me. I like achievements, but if they were confined only to the 360 platform, that would still be fine with me. Perhaps Sony needs to come up with something even more addicting as a meta-game. Achievements are extremely successful on the 360, perhaps Home will be the true answer to them?

Competition is good. :)

[Ozymandias]

Squeezing enough memory out of that reserved for the OS to fit it into.

Somebody dropped the ball back in the design stage not planning for these features and the physical memory required to make them happen without robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Cross-game invites are the only must-have on my list. I should watch these videos and see if that feature is part of 2.4.

Nope. Cross-game invites require a matchmaking backend... Sony's still asking developers to do that themselves.

[brokenFUN]

Still awaiting the RSS reader. ahh oh well.

[Gorvi]

Still awaiting the RSS reader. ahh oh well.
You and me both.

[Talon-]

I've used it from time to time, but I do it to see if someone has done something I didn't so I can ask them a question.

I have when trying to figure out secret achievements or when I've just gotten a particularly obscure and/or very hard to acquire achievement.

I look at it all the time on the 360. I use it to see what games people have been playing, how far they are compared to me etc.

But all of you actually are going after achievements. Achievements have grabbed the hardcore gamer, in other words, which is great 'cause that's what Microsoft was aiming for.

Personally, I feel like the most valuable achievements should be beating games, but, hey, that's just me.

[Siraris]

But all of you actually are going after achievements. Achievements have grabbed the hardcore gamer, in other words, which is great 'cause that's what Microsoft was aiming for.

Personally, I feel like the most valuable achievements should be beating games, but, hey, that's just me.

Yea, for me, I just get achievements and never finish the game. In fact, once I have all the achievements (except the one for beating the game) I snap the disc in half, and throw it in a pile in the corner.

[Siraris]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/30/firmware-v240-faq/

No in game chat
No invites in game
No web browser (duh)
Can't access in PS2 or Blu-Ray movies (why?)
Trophies should be mandatory
In-game soundtracks has to be patched by developers or added in the future
Eric's favorite cheese is Mozarella

One small step forward for PS3 kind.

[inmostlight]

Having the option to pause/not pause before going to XMB is nice, particularly for those times when you are waiting for some in-game event and actually want some in-game time to pass while you might be browsing or sending a message.

I'm the opposite; I like how the Xbox blades automatically pause. Far too many games have sections where I as the player can't pause -- for instance, maybe it's a cut scene, and pressing start will skip it. Opening up the guide will still let me pause to answer the phone or answer nature's call or whatever.

Ideally developers would let me pause whenever I want, but until then I'll take this half-baked approach.

[Disgustipated]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/30/firmware-v240-faq/

No in game chat
No invites in game
No web browser (duh)
Can't access in PS2 or Blu-Ray movies (why?)
Trophies should be mandatory
In-game soundtracks has to be patched by developers or added in the future
Eric's favorite cheese is Mozarella

One small step forward for PS3 kind.


At this point, after almost 2 years... I don't know if we'll ever see in-game chat. I think Sony will continue to have this disappointing online service until maybe the PS4 where they can redesign it without mediocrity in mind.

That being said, Sony is going to have to work their ass off to compare to Microsoft's current Xbox Live service, let alone Xbox Live v3.

[Siraris]

I'm the opposite; I like how the Xbox blades automatically pause. Far too many games have sections where I as the player can't pause -- for instance, maybe it's a cut scene, and pressing start will skip it. Opening up the guide will still let me pause to answer the phone or answer nature's call or whatever.

Ideally developers would let me pause whenever I want, but until then I'll take this half-baked approach.

I'm pretty sure that there are many parts in 360 games where when you bring up the guide, it does not pause the game.

[inmostlight]

I'm pretty sure that there are many parts in 360 games where when you bring up the guide, it does not pause the game.

True, it doesn't work in every game and not in multiplayer. But I've used it frequently in places where I couldn't otherwise pause.

[Talon-]

I'm pretty sure that there are many parts in 360 games where when you bring up the guide, it does not pause the game.

There are a handful of games that don't pause.

Still no cross-game invites? :|

[Spigot]

Does anyone honestly look at the Achievements of another player?I might check if it's a game I'm currently working on to see how far they are compared to me (or in a game like Rock Band, if they've mastered Expert Singing or something like that).

[Morratut]

No cross game invites. Booooooooo! Sony missed the biggest part of Live :(

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/30/firmware-v240-faq/

[Kamalot]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/30/firmware-v240-faq/

No in game chat
No invites in game
No web browser (duh)
Can't access in PS2 or Blu-Ray movies (why?)
Trophies should be mandatory
In-game soundtracks has to be patched by developers or added in the future
Eric's favorite cheese is Mozarella

One small step forward for PS3 kind.

Thanks for clearing up a bunch of lingering questions with this summary.

[Spigot]

Wait, there's no RSS reader on the PS3? Hell, there's a RSS reader on the PSP! Come on, Sony!

[Gorvi]

No cross game invites. Booooooooo! Sony missed the biggest part of Live :(

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/30/firmware-v240-faq/
Ok, now this may just be me being dumb, but wouldn't sending a message saying "Hey, play game X with me!" be the equivlant to a cross game invite since you can now get to your messages while in a game? Or are people just missing this being an automated function with LIVE?

[Yeti2005]

Ok, now this may just be me being dumb, but wouldn't sending a message saying "Hey, play game X with me!" be the equivlant to a cross game invite since you can now get to your messages while in a game? Or are people just missing this being an automated function with LIVE?

People are just used to the ease of cross game invites with Live. Someone sends you an invite and two button presses later you're playing with them. Sending a text message with the game name and possible server information and then having to hunt down that person in the lobby, server selection, etc seems pretty primitive.

Inviting yourself to a game by clicking on a friend (if the icon indicates they're joinable) is also a powerful feature that needs to be implemented by PSN.

I'm glad they're moving forward with adding functionality but I feel like they've underdelivered on what was supposed to be the update that fixed most of the outstanding requests.

[Flatpicker]

no background downloading?
That should have been addressed.

[bean19]

Ok, now this may just be me being dumb, but wouldn't sending a message saying "Hey, play game X with me!" be the equivlant to a cross game invite since you can now get to your messages while in a game? Or are people just missing this being an automated function with LIVE?

You have to type it though. Do you really want to even mess with that?

[Dukefrukem]

I'm guessing this will be accessed by the PS button on the controller?

[Gorvi]

You have to type it though. Do you really want to even mess with that?
I wouldn't mess with either becuase I really couldn't care less about 99% of the online portions of games out there. I'm just saying, the same functionality is there, it's just not nearly as elegent as it is with LIVE.

[Yeti2005]

I wouldn't mess with either becuase I really couldn't care less about 99% of the online portions of games out there. I'm just saying, the same functionality is there, it's just not nearly as elegent as it is with LIVE.

I'd argue it's really not the same functionality at all. An invite from Live now only informs your friend you want to play but it also (and this is the more important part) brings you to their game.

[Kelegacy]

no background downloading?
That should have been addressed.

Isn't there already background downloading? I have used the option myself after downloading a bunch of demos.

[RestlessAvenger]

no background downloading?
That should have been addressed.

And it has been, quite some time ago actually.

[Talon-]

You have to type it though. Do you really want to even mess with that?

This.

It's a hell of a lot more convenient to be able to just click on "Invite Friend."

[Nodus]

Its a step in the right direction, but my most needed feature still wont be around for ages it seems.

--------Private voice chat across games/system-----


This is just so huge for me, I'm surprised the demand for it is not higher. The other day, me and a my good gaming pal were playing some MGO and said screw it, turned our 360's on and got into private chat, and just switched over to HDMI and resumed playing PS3.

I suppose it depends on how often you game with someone online but its a very strong feature i feel live has. Even friday, my buddy rented alone in the dark while i was playing some earth defense force 2017. I get a chat invite and he begins chatting while mentioning his opinion of the game while i mow down countless alien ants and spiders in attempt to beat the end spectrum difficulties. The point is, the functionality behind the feature is astonishing. We didn't even play a game but at the drop of a dime, he could have said "pop GTA4 in and start a party" or just did it himself and invited me to a game of that.

The new firmware at east makes checking his messages possible while in a game, but it feels worlds from the Live cross system integration that I almost feel guilty to admit has spoiled me.

[Flatpicker]

And it has been, quite some time ago actually.

it's not 100 percent. It shuts off if you watch a movie.

[Gorvi]

it's not 100 percent. It shuts off if you watch a movie.
Or play a PS1 or PS2 game. The nice part is that you can set up to 15 things to download at a time as opposed to the 6 you can set with the 360.

[boneyardweller89]

I'm not too worried about a lot of this stuff. All I really care about now is in-game invites, changing video output, and in-game voice chat. I'm sure a lot of it will be in 2.45 or 2.50.

[Spigot]

changing video outputBy this, do you mean that it will do it behind the scenes instead of making my TV flicker between resolutions while it tries to find the type it wants?

It irks me that the 360 will output/upscale without me being any the wiser yet the PS3 makes me watch my TV convulse as it tries to find the resolution that Game X wants to output to. It's even more annoying when the game is going to output to 1080i (my TV's max) and it still has to do the flicker dance when a game starts. Grr...

[RestlessAvenger]

It looks like 2.4 is now live. I am downloading as we speak.

[Micasa]

I wouldn't mess with either becuase I really couldn't care less about 99% of the online portions of games out there. I'm just saying, the same functionality is there, it's just not nearly as elegent as it is with LIVE.

It's nowhere near the same functionality. You can't simply click and join friends, and you can't send them a message and have them - with two clicks - join your game directly.

It completely missed the mark on cross-game invites.

[Variable Gear]

This is out now.

[Variable Gear]

Playstation Blog Walkthroughs:

XMB (http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/29/firmware-v240-walkthrough-part-1-the-xmb/)
Trophies (http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/30/firmware-v240-walkthrough-part-2-trophies/)

[Psykoboy2]

"Playing" it right now.

[Morratut]

Ok, now this may just be me being dumb, but wouldn't sending a message saying "Hey, play game X with me!" be the equivlant to a cross game invite since you can now get to your messages while in a game? Or are people just missing this being an automated function with LIVE?

Sony are stepping in the right direction. No doubt about that.

As soon as Sony implement Xgame invites then Sony will be pretty much on a equal playing field for multiplayer with MS.

[Gorvi]

Hmmm. I don't think they'll be able to do cross game invites like that ever, then. It seems like something you'd have to have built in from the beginning, unless it's just added to all future games and patched in individually to old games.

[Morratut]

Some people are having problems with the 2.4 update...

http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/07/02/many-ps3-owners-complain-of-firmware-240-freezes/