PlayStation 3 System Update 2.4 Impressions
Now there's a surprise: Everyone says Sony's servers are getting hammered, but I just sucked the entire update down through a high latency one-point-five Mbps satellite straw in all of 15 minutes. The weird thing about all my Sony updates is, they only get to 50% before completing. Super-secret-Sony conspiracy to overthrow the 100 point scale and make 50 the new A+? Hey, you never know.
Okay, so if you didn't know about the 2.4 update or don't actually own a PS3, the big news slots into two categories here: In-Game XMB access, and Game Trophies. I'll get to trophies in a second, but first let's talk about XMB.
XMB, short for XrossMediaBar (pronounced 'CrossMediaBar') refers to both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable's GUI-based navigation system, which, as it sounds, is essentially a shiftable X and Y bar you can move left-right to access function category icons and up-down to access features within those categories. Until 2.4, the XMB was only accessible when a game wasn't playing, but with 2.4, you can now pop the In-Game XMB menu up as an overlay in PS3 games and access features without abandoning whatever you're playing.
What can you do with it in 2.4? For starters, you can exchange text messages with friends without exiting games by simply hitting the PS button (pausing the game) and scrolling over to the XMB's messaging area to do your business. Okay, no biggie, and I don't know a single PS3 owner or fellow game writer who does much texting on a gamepad, but it's a notable leap forward from having to chuck whatever you're into just to answer incoming texts or pop off a friendly quip or two.
On the cooler side of things, say one of your friends with a Bluetooth headset just came online and wants to jump into whatever you're playing. You can now bring up the XMB bar (again, pausing your game), go into settings, get your own Bluetooth headset ready (if it wasn't) and roll right on forward, all without relaunching or reloading a thing.
What else. You can check download progress, view image folder thumbnails, check the clock/date to remind you that it's 6:00 a.m. and time to go to bed, and in probably the most noteworthy feature of the entire XMB update, swap your own music tracks stored on the hard drive in for the soundtrack playing in your current game.
Outside games, the XMB update adds a Google search button that lets you pop up a text input interlay and query term which automatically pops up the browser and search results -- cool if you're on the go, though an in-game version of this with an overlay mini-browser would've been cooler, say you just want to check some factoid or other you're debating with a friend over voice chat without having to pop out of the game first. And finally, Sony added a power-off button to the 'settings' menu, though why you wouldn't use the PS button to do this, something you've been able to from the start, is beyond me.
Note that the XMB works with PS3 games only. PS2, Blu-ray, and DVD In-Game XMB isn't (yet) supported.
Thoughts: I'll be perfectly blunt. XMB Access In-Game should have made its splashy debut when the PS3 shipped back in 2006, because allowing for minor differencing, Xbox 360 owners have been enjoying this functionality for over two years. Now technically the In-Game XMB's been around since before the PS3 launched, but the feature was temporarily shelved for technical reasons. So while PS3 owners have something to celebrate (and should), it's worth bearing in mind that most of these features are competition catch-up work, not vanguard trendsetting.
Also: The continued absence of voice message and private chatting remains annoying at best, onerous at worst. Sony explains this in its Firmware v2.40 FAQ, stating:
We are evaluating the opportunity to offer voice chat, but for this update, we wanted to focus on text messaging as the key priority for communications that our users have asked for.
Really? They've been clamoring for slow-type stuff on a gamepad more than voice conversation?
Before we hit trophies, let's quash a rumor: Did the 2.4 update add backward compatibility to 40GB models for PS2 titles? Is it one of the rumored "unlisted" features? Don't bet on it. The update might (and I stress because this is pure speculation might) add PS2 backward compatibility updates to models that already officially support the feature, but the chances that Sony wouldn't list a 40GB fix-up as an official feature are pretty much goose-egg-percent. (Nevertheless, as they say, a rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way.)
On to Gamertag Points, err, I mean Trophies. The point is to award you for your accomplishments in game by handing out decorations that correspond to bronze, silver, gold, and platinum tiers, each of which correspond to a behind-the-scenes value that adds up to your player level. Accessing Trophies is pretty simple: On the XMB's game menu you now have a "Trophies" button which lists games that support the feature and a percent-unlocked index off to the right.
The hitch? Out of the gate, you only get Trophy support in the following games:
BUZZ! Quiz TV
LittleBigPlanet
MotorStorm Pacific Rift
NBA 09
PAIN
PixelJunk Eden
Resistance 2
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
Warhawk
The other hitch? Microsoft's Gametag Points system is about as simple as it gets: one number to rule them all. Everything else is just a point derivative of that. With Sony Trophies, you have to think about four trophy tiers, which in turn correspond to background values, which in turn correspond to your player level, which altogether sounds like lots-o-fun for Sony wonks, but a little clunky compared to a simple, singular numeric.
Bottom Line: Like I said earlier, this is mostly Sony playing catch-up to the competition. That's fine, and there's no reason not to huzzah the update for all it gets right. Besides, no one's knocking World of Warcraft for stealing flagrantly (but oh-so-gracefully!) from every other MMO in existence. But PS3 owners hoping to see Sony take the lead in terms of defining and not just reacting to breakthrough game functionality will have to wait and see what the company has in store with its delay-plagued PlayStation Home community-based service, currently in beta-testing, and due either later this year or early next.
UPDATE (7/2/08, 4:35pm CST): It seems Sony has pulled the update from its servers due to complaints on the company's official forums stemming from numerous users having serious issues with their systems post-install. Standby, and I'll run an update as soon as we have something official from Sony.
UPDATE (7/8/08, 10:26am CST): The 2.41 update's out as of this morning, and our own Scott Nichols has tested and pronounced it "just fine."
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Sony needs to put more resources in coding for "better" patches. If they are taking this long to catch up, I guess you can call it the 10 year system. But I want all my features now... its the little things that matter now... because they count!
Great article, and I agree with the first comment. One thing that wasn't mentioned was the in-game music playback. It was mentioned on the official PS3 blog, but it does not work with any of my current games. Is there a list of games that support this feature? CoD4, Bf:BC do not.
i think sony is doing a great job and play on my PS3 almost everday. wish there was more games linked to the trophies but i guess i can get everthing ^.^ oh well. all they need now is a breath taking game and downloadable music.
To the writer...
very nicely done. i enjoyed readding it. hope to see more of your work.
Email: Johnny_K_316@yahoo.com
GamerTag: Joker316
yeah there is a long list of "I wish" like:
--multitasking - accessing files (music) without quitting game
--trophies would apply to more popular games
--downloadable porno in PSN Store
j/k
I'm not impressed with the trophy system at all. It's no where near as simple and cool as Microsoft's Achievement system. And the lack of voice messaging is REALLY STRANGE. I just got my PS3, and I expected voice messaging. Now I find out there's no private chat??? So then every chat I start can be joined by others? I just expect more out of Sony, not realizing Microsoft really has an edge over the competition. These features seem pretty simple, but they must not be if Sony still hasn't fully implemented them.
I, too, would love to see Sony introduce some new things (rather than playing catch-up), but I'm now doubting the greatness of HOME. At this rate? I don't know what to expect, and I have serious doubts that it will top Microsoft's LIVE service...