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PS3 Firmware Updates: Fewer In Number, But More Content?

If you were paying attention during last week's GamesCom news blitz, you read all about the upcoming firmware update 3.00 for the PlayStation 3.

But what you may not realize is that it could be the start of a Microsoft-like trend for the system: less updates, but with each update comes more stuff . Update 3.00 will deliver a totally revamped Information Board, premium avatars and animated themes, PlayStation Store shortcuts, and a significant alteration to the Trophy system (among other small tweaks). It's arguably the biggest update of the year and it should be here on September 1, which is coincidentally the launch date for the PS3 Slim. Is this update the last one for 2009…? Well, according to G4TV , PSN operations director Eric Lempel said it's probably the last "major update," which led to the question: would Sony start issuing fewer updates with more features per update? Lempel responded:

"We try to release updates a few times a year and try to put as much as we can in them and depending on the different schedules and what we have ready at a certain moment, it may or may not make it into an update. We do want to continue to evolve the PS3, continue to go along our road map but also listen to what the users are saying and making the necessary enhancements to make their experience better."

Well, that doesn't really answer the question, but it makes sense. And one can look at the history of firmware updates on the PS3 and see that the number of them has decreased drastically over the years. For instance, during the early days of the system in 2007, firmware updates were arriving on a very frequent and consistent basis; sometimes multiple updates per month. Now, it's more like we see them once in a while – as it should be – but when they do arrive, they come with some serious content. Isn't that the right way to do it?

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www
www
14 years ago

I will update with my portable USB drive as always cause this is gonna be one BIG update, and leaving the PS3 on for that long might be dangerous.

englishgolfer
englishgolfer
14 years ago

why would it be dangerous?

PS3addict
PS3addict
14 years ago

I guess you have never played a game or watched a movie on your PS3??
The updates are never more than 2.5 hours download time…

Unless you have 56K or lower bandwidth.

MadKatBebop
MadKatBebop
14 years ago

Dose it really take 2+ hours to download an update? I know I haven't had a PS3 for that long but when I updated mine it only took like 20-40 minutes tops!


Last edited by MadKatBebop on 8/25/2009 11:41:01 AM

PS3addict
PS3addict
14 years ago

Depends on your bandwidth and how long your PS3 was on the shelf before you bought it.

MadKatBebop
MadKatBebop
14 years ago

Oh! makes since.

www
www
14 years ago

Well they say you shouldn't TURN OFF the power during an update in the manual. I'm scared leaving it on whiles updating and someone trips on the power cord or just turns off the system from the switch. But at the same time, some guy put a video on youtube switching his PS3 off multiple times whiles updating and nothing happened, but you'll never know the aftermath. Now if his PS3 died later, he wouldn't put that on youtube, so I can't be sure.

BTNwarrior
BTNwarrior
14 years ago

I have left my ps3 on for weeks at a time and it never seems to have any ill effects.

And I am using a day one 60gb model so it has had plenty of use

unleash_jad
unleash_jad
14 years ago

HEY WWW IM JUST TELLIN U THAT I ALWAYS LEZVE MY PS3 ON ALL-NIGHT-LONG TO DOWNLOAD DEMOS IT NEVER OVERHEATS N IT AINT DANGEROUS AT ALL SO U CAN UPDATE USING UR PS3 WEN UR SLEEPIN OR WEN UR AWAY !!! 😀 😀

unleash_jad
unleash_jad
14 years ago

HEY WWW IM JUST TELLIN U THAT I ALWAYS LEZVE MY PS3 ON ALL-NIGHT-LONG TO DOWNLOAD DEMOS IT NEVER OVERHEATS N IT AINT DANGEROUS AT ALL SO U CAN UPDATE USING UR PS3 WEN UR SLEEPIN OR WEN UR AWAY !!! 😀 😀

Orvisman
Orvisman
14 years ago

@ JAY_UNIT,

STOP SCREAMING!!!

@ the rest,

Yes, the download time is based on your connection. I have 20/10 Fios, so anything I download is quick.

I'm not sure how long your PS3 sat on the shelf before you bought it has anything to do with it though.

www
www
14 years ago

Hey ALL YOU!

The key phrase here is WHEN UPDATING, yes 'update'!
You realize the 'Do not turn off your system WHILES UPDATE is in progress' warning, whiles updating???? So I'm basically saying, I don't want somebody in the house to mistakenly put it off or a power outage or something and brick the console, that's all I'm saying!

I'm not saying the PS3 overheats, jeez!!!!!!

JAY_UNIT, am glad I motivated you to sign up and reply my comment, but I already KNOW the PS3 doesn't overheat,thank you.


Last edited by www on 8/25/2009 12:37:53 PM

NoSmokingBandit
NoSmokingBandit
14 years ago

www, you are spending the same amount of time updating via USB as you are with the built-in downloader. All you are doing is stopping your ps3 from downloading it. You can pull the plug all you want while its downloading and you wont hurt a thing. The actual update process still akes he same amount of time (probably longer if you use USB because the read/write rate of SATA is much higher than USB).
The only time you need to worry about power outages is when your ps3 reboots into the screen wit the background that doesnt move. The updater always has a static image of some kind of swirly something-or-other.

Also, i dont think you can hurt the ps3's firmware. If i have been told correctly, it has two storage places for Firmware. It only updates one, so if it screws up it can just load the working firmware from the other and let you update again. I think so anyway, i might be wrong about that.

cLoudou
cLoudou
14 years ago

FW updates with new, free features are always welcome.

three cheers for less FW updates.

hip hip

kevinater321
kevinater321
14 years ago

hooray!

newchef
newchef
14 years ago

hooray!

Imagi
Imagi
14 years ago

hooray!

Fane1024
Fane1024
14 years ago

Booo!

🙂

cLoudou
cLoudou
14 years ago

🙁

Alright three cheers for less FW updates, but when there are we get cool, free content.

hip hip

….no?


Last edited by cLoudou on 8/25/2009 5:33:51 PM

MadKatBebop
MadKatBebop
14 years ago

Cool! I saw a video about the update on the PlayStation site, the update looks pretty awesome. Just wish it included BC.


Last edited by MadKatBebop on 8/25/2009 10:54:56 AM

Andysw
Andysw
14 years ago

BC won't return unfortuneately.

www
www
14 years ago

No BC is unfortunate but you should rather get a PS2 cause we gotta move on.
You guys are killing your blu ray lens with those old scratched dvds, maybe Sony knows this.
I never really used the BC on my good ol' late 60GB.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

Never say never when it comes to your PS3

Mornelithe
Mornelithe
14 years ago

I wonder if they've announced everything that's coming with that update. I've been hearing that there are some still unnanounced goodies included w/in the Update. Either way, I never mind doing FW updates, patches etc.. Being a PC gamer, I'm used to having to make sure I'm up to date on drivers et al. Seems only natural that over time, updates will come.

jaybiv
jaybiv
14 years ago

Call me crazy, but I used to enjoy the monthly updates when the system first launched.

BTNwarrior
BTNwarrior
14 years ago

Progress did feel pretty good

frylock25
frylock25
14 years ago

i did enjoy getting an update and seeing the whole system get a new look and new features quite often. i still remember the update when they moved the store into its own spot on the xmb and added the news ticker in the corner. then all the updates to fix the lag the ticker was causing on all the systems. i have one of the first 80 gigs and have never had a problem with any of the updates (i did wait a bit on that one that was brickin systems so dont know on that one)

Fane1024
Fane1024
14 years ago

I agree with jaybiv. I liked getting a new feature (sometimes more than one) each month. It's not like the update process actually takes a lot of time. Sure, it's a pain if you're planning to play online and one hits you by surprise, but it's five minutes out of your life.

Oh, and they've been on the "less frequent" schedule for a year now, so it's hardly the "start" of the trend.


Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/25/2009 3:46:31 PM

Jed
Jed
14 years ago

I know what you mean. It's great to download something and then look around at all the new stuff, seeing if you could find something they didnt mention.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

The updates are fine at the frequency they happen now. As long as they're making fixes, adding features and ensuring the security of the system, I don't care how often they update.

One thing they could do is revisit the PS2 BC functionality for the older PS3s. The scaler used seems to have lost some of it's luster in recent updates. PS2 games still look good, but they have looked better in the past. They're still better or on par with running natively on a PS2. It almost looks like the scaling function lost an anti-aliasing pass.

The_Vandelizer
The_Vandelizer
14 years ago

Hey Ben i work at best buy and we are already selling the slim ps3. doesnt look crazy but i want another. ps3 owns

PS3addict
PS3addict
14 years ago
Hezzron
Hezzron
14 years ago

@ The_Vandelizer – I can back up your story. Upon seeing some posts by people here claiming to have gotten one, I ran out to my Best Buy to see what I could find. Sure enough, I walked out with a PS3 Slim! Beats me why the Moderator hasn't seen fit to post this news yet……however, thanks to all here for the heads up.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

LOL @ "The Moderator"

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Less frequant but more content? I'm game.

At what point does the PS3 run out of room for firmware updates?

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Never, the portion of the firmware flashed is fixed in size, but the whole PS3 OS doesn't have to reside in FLASH memory, they can cache some of it to the HDD too. Firmware updates are only limited by the functionality they can imagine adding.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Awesome. Good to know they can continue to push the OS.

NoSmokingBandit
NoSmokingBandit
14 years ago

That would only work, Highlander, if part of the OS is compressed inside the rom chip. They would need to do that so if you install a new HDD the firmware decompresses itself to the new HDD instead of forcing another update. Idk how much space Sony can save by compressing it, but it sounds plausible i suppose.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Well, what you do is place the kernel and essential functions in flash and use the HDD for the non-essential things that don't fit. Then if you put a new HDD in your system so that only the firmware residing in flash memory remains. When the system boots up and discovers a new HDD without the system files, it warns you that X,Y,Z feature(s) are unavailable until you re-apply the most recent firmware. In fact I'd design it with a hardware based tamper detection system that detects when the hard disk is removed even if the original is put back. They it would force a firmware update to ensure the integrity of the system cache

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

TheHighlander's got it right. When I installed a new hd in my PS3 there was no letting me restore my files until I installed the latest firmware from usb drive.

kevinater321
kevinater321
14 years ago

I think they should release them when they are done doing what needs to be done.

Paolo Kutaragi
Paolo Kutaragi
14 years ago

"Premium avatars and animated themes" <<< This is what I've been waiting for. ^_^

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Custom avatars would be nice, they're not huge images after all. I'm sure there's some worry about inappropriate images. But the existing PSN terms and conditions contain more than enough language about mis-use.


Last edited by TheHighlander on 8/25/2009 12:00:59 PM

Paolo Kutaragi
Paolo Kutaragi
14 years ago

I want themes like the ones on the US store. Many of premium themes are available there. The idea of the animated themes alone will make the XMB look much more livelier.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

I want custom avatars. If someone wants to put a boob as their avatar then so be it. You can delete them from your friends list if you're super sensitive like that. Gosh.

yak4life85
yak4life85
14 years ago

What are they doing with the trophies?

www
www
14 years ago

Revamping,renovation,reiteration and anything RE to make it better, is what they're doing with the trophies 😉

fluffer nutter
fluffer nutter
14 years ago

The trophies will now be grouped so that we can easily distinguished which pertain to the original game (think road map to Platinum), and which are for expansion packs. They're also giving developers more freedom with designing the look of the icon for each trophy, upon completion.

kevinater321
kevinater321
14 years ago

I just uprgraded my firmware today…and i'm not sure what it did. But the ps store is down for me right now. And so is home. I wonder what is going on.

frylock25
frylock25
14 years ago

the network is down for scheduled maintence. it is posted on the playstation blog.

The PlayStation Network will undergo maintenance tomorrow, August 25th. Maintenance is expected to start at 8am Pacific and could last for several hours. During this time, users won’t be able to access the store or account management, and may encounter some difficulty while signing in to PSN.

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