AfterDawn: News

PS3 firmware update 2.40 coming tomorrow

Sony has announced the upcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update, version 2.40 which will hit tomorrow and will give gamers a few of their most requested features, in-game XMB (XrossMediaBar) and "trophies" for online gaming.

The in-game XMB will allow users to access the PS3 menu during gameplay by hitting the PS button on the controller. Gamers can then check if any of their friends are online, as well as change settings or send messages without having to quit playback. Less notably, the Friends list will double to allow 100 friends which should be welcomed by those who are avid PSN users.



The new update will also bring "trophies to recognize players’ achievements in the online arena." Many games will eventually have gold, silver and bronze trophies, or platinum if you can get all three.

Sony says the first games to have trophy support are BUZZ! Quiz TV, LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm™ Pacific Rift, NBA 09, PAIN, PixelJunk Eden, Resistance 2, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation and Warhawk.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 1 Jul 2008 12:58

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• 28 comments

• glassd

  The only reason I ever wanted to access the XMB while playing was to allow me to change BlueTooth head sets when it's battery went dead. I think the only other reason other PS3 players wanted it was so owners of a different brand console would not throw it in our face that we dont have it. I dont care about trophies cause I am not good enough to get any Gold ones.

  1.7.2008 13:07 #1

• hade

  this is the update most have been waiting for. hopefully with all the new features things don't go awol. personally i think sony's online service has turned a major corner and im starting to wonder just what my $50 a year live subcription cost is actually for.
  
  is PSN on par with LIVE? well may be not entirely but for being FREE i think its apparent that the 360s online advantage argument is getting weaker and weaker.
  
  before the FUD starts to spread there has been no indication from SONY or any other RELIABLE source about charging for sony's online service.
  
  here are a couple videos about 2.40
  
  the first link is about ingame XMB link1
  
  2nd link has to do with trophies link2

  1.7.2008 13:25 #2

• Pop_Smith

  Updates like this are great. Maybe eventually it will entice M$ to make LIVE free because, while I haven't played on PSN, it seems to be getting pretty close to on par with LIVE and PSN is free.

  1.7.2008 13:53 #3

• trexxus

  It's good that Sony is catching up with MS but hopefully the "it's free"thing will kick in with people enough to make it a must have.

  1.7.2008 15:00 #4

• DoomLight

  PSN will never be close to LIVE
  
  Sony doesn't have the money like MSoft to make a good network. despide the weak sauce on live lately. sony will lag behind msoft always.
  
  im not a fanboy by the way. its just fact.

  1.7.2008 15:09 #5

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by DoomLight: PSN will never be close to LIVE
  
  Sony doesn't have the money like MSoft to make a good network. despide the weak sauce on live lately. sony will lag behind msoft always.
  
  im not a fanboy by the way. its just fact.Doesn't have the money? Sony had $88 billion USD in revenue last year haha although admittedly MS has higher operating profit.

  1.7.2008 15:39 #6

• atlnicca

  Originally posted by DoomLight: PSN will never be close to LIVE
  
  Sony doesn't have the money like MSoft to make a good network. despide the weak sauce on live lately. sony will lag behind msoft always.
  
  im not a fanboy by the way. its just fact.That's not fact. I'm not a Sony fanboy, but I know the difference between what's fact and what's not fact. Yes, the PSN can't exactly go toe to toe with Live, but to say PSN will always lag behind is a bit stupid to say the least. Unless you have some magical crystal ball that accurately predicts the future, then your predictions are just that, and not facts.
  
  Now whether PSN will be able to catch up with Live remains to be seen. I do believe they can, especially if they keep adding functionality like they have.
  
  But what I'm really waiting for (and I'll probably be waiting until the day I die) is for PSN and Live to connect together so I can play against my 360 friends. Yes, I know I'm a dreamer. q(-__-)p

  1.7.2008 15:48 #7

• blueroad

  big wow..you'd think that they would at least improve their flash playing capabilities..but instead we get to say to people hey i got a trophy im better then you hahaha..guess the jokes on us..at least give me reason to buy that console other than graphics and (for now) good for nothing blu ray player..

  1.7.2008 15:53 #8

• NexGen76

  To be honest PS3 gamers should care less what Microsoft has.This is a great update & the most wanted out of any updates that has been ever requested by miles....Lets not forget Microsoft trying to play catchup to Sony in the console business period.

  1.7.2008 16:05 #9

• emugamer

  This is a great update. In game music customization is included, which has been a personal want of mine for a long time. It will be game specific, and which games will have it are being worked out, but it's a start. Lots of cool stuff in this update. More details in an article on ECT news.

  1.7.2008 16:45 #10

• SDF_GR

  Originally posted by DoomLight: PSN will never be close to LIVEI could easily say the oposite or anything, can you prove it?
  What live has that PSN dont? I dont have a 360 and i would like you to tell me what have you seen in MS Live that you didn't in PSN.
  I may buy a 360 and pay 50euroa if Live is so great.
  
  Originally posted by DoomLight: Sony doesn't have the money like MSoft to make a good network. despide the weak sauce on live lately. sony will lag behind msoft always.
  
  im not a fanboy by the way. its just fact.Company's like Sony, Mitsubishi, Yamaha, Toshiba etc that manufactures thousands staff is at least silly to say that they don't have money.
  Just for saying that proves that you are a fan boy.
  Sony also has movie/music/game studios a lot of mills there too.
  Toshiba lost 500+ millions $$$ for the media war and they didnt even care.
  By the way Sonys game division has more profits that the MS games division, even with a free dedicated network.

  1.7.2008 17:38 #11

• DoomLight

  Quote:Originally posted by DoomLight: PSN will never be close to LIVE
  
  Sony doesn't have the money like MSoft to make a good network. despide the weak sauce on live lately. sony will lag behind msoft always.
  
  im not a fanboy by the way. its just fact.Doesn't have the money? Sony had $88 billion USD in revenue last year haha although admittedly MS has higher operating profit.i do recall not even a week ago sony hasn't made profit, but lost a crap load of money in the sony gaming division. i stand by what i typed. sony isn't gonna eclipse LIVE. i hardly play my systems anyways. Sony is losing money and is getting desperate. as if adding a few puny copies of achievements is gonna save that crappy PSN. if they did more ground work before releasing their PS3 we wouldn't be having this discussion.

  1.7.2008 18:39 #12

• DVDBack23

  Quote:
  i do recall not even a week ago sony hasn't made profit, but lost a crap load of money in the sony gaming division. i stand by what i typed. sony isn't gonna eclipse LIVE. i hardly play my systems anyways. Sony is losing money and is getting desperate. as if adding a few puny copies of achievements is gonna save that crappy PSN. if they did more ground work before releasing their PS3 we wouldn't be having this discussion.Ok now, you have proven yourself to be a fanboy, it was on the edge before, could have went either way. Microsoft has had 1 profitable quarter for its entertainment division since the 2005 release of the 360, and the profit they made was last quarter, a measly 37 million driven by Zune sales if im not mistaken. Sure Sony is still losing money for the Playstation division but MS is the same exact thing.

  1.7.2008 19:30 #13

• PantherM

  Good update for the PS3. Sony is getting there.
  
  Any yes...this DoomLight person is shown himself to be a fanboy.

  1.7.2008 19:41 #14

• ddp

  DoomLight, watch it!!!

  1.7.2008 19:42 #15

• rvinkebob

  Ahhhh, I've been waiting for this since May!! A nice overhaul on the main features of the system is just what it needed. I could care less for fanboys like DoomLight who are completely oblivious of actual facts. Microsoft has now had about what, 5-6 years to work on their live service, right? PSN just started a little past 1.5 years ago, is free, and is slowly, but surely catching up.
  
  Anyway, here's to waiting a few more hours!
  

  
  

  1.7.2008 22:20 #16

• Hunt720

  Originally posted by blueroad: big wow..you'd think that they would at least improve their flash playing capabilities..but instead we get to say to people hey i got a trophy im better then you hahaha..guess the jokes on us..at least give me reason to buy that console other than graphics and (for now) good for nothing blu ray player..Hey Blueraod,
  
  You make a really good point in the browser issues on the PS3. I find them to be annoying, but overall I can still use the browser. I am wondering however, what you mean by "good for nothing" when you refer to the blu-ray player? I can't seem to find another source of HD content for movies that is as widely available as Blu-Ray right now. Sure I could download a film for a couple days off a P2P network, but I get really good deals on Blu-ray discs online. I usually pay DVD prices for my discs and I enjoy their content. I'm just wondering where you are getting all of your HD films/shows/vids etc. Because by the sound of it, you seem to have a better way.

  1.7.2008 23:43 #17

• 7thsinger

  Looks like a nice little add-on of an update.

  2.7.2008 00:18 #18

• Propagand

  do you guys feel played or just me?

  2.7.2008 01:00 #19

• Rudeboi

  Originally posted by Propagand: do you guys feel played or just me?haha. I feel that there was WAY too much hype around it.
  
  When I installed it, 10 minutes after playing around with In-Game XMB. I got bored.

  2.7.2008 14:09 #20

• Rudeboi

  Originally posted by DoomLight: PSN will never be close to LIVEHere's a challenge for you.
  Name the DIFFERENCES between PSN and LIVE.
  And you better make sure it's $50/year difference.
  
  All you 360 AND PS3 fanboy's just get me on my last nerve.
  You go online, to play online, to race/shoot other people online.
  ITS THE SAME DAMN THING, DON'T MATTER IF IT'S PSN OR LIVE OR EVEN ONLINE PC GAMING!

  2.7.2008 14:13 #21

• Oner

  This thread is about FW 2.4 not about a comparison to other companies services. Please take that to the appropriate forum area for discussion. Thanx.
  

  
  
  Search > http://forums.afterdawn.com/search
  Rules > http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487
  Important Rule > http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/380660

  2.7.2008 15:02 #22

• psplvanub

  It hasnt got the bloody in game music!
  the main reason i wanted it!
  if you know any games that have got in game music enabled plz post them here.
  grrrrrr!

  2.7.2008 15:52 #23

• DVDBack23

  Update 2.40 bricking consoles

  2.7.2008 16:58 #24

• Oner

  Originally posted by psplvanub: It hasnt got the bloody in game music!
  the main reason i wanted it!
  if you know any games that have got in game music enabled plz post them here.
  grrrrrr!All info that has been released states in game music is up to the devs to add into their games or make a patch for already completed titles. This *supposedly* has to do with a patent that MS may have.
  

  
  
  Search > http://forums.afterdawn.com/search
  Rules > http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487
  Important Rule > http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/380660

  2.7.2008 17:39 #25

• psplvanub

  i was looking forwrd to owning people with Kanye West playing...

  3.7.2008 04:04 #26

• psplvanub

  once and if the ps3 is hacked, this annoyance will be solved.

  3.7.2008 04:06 #27

• dsgtrain

  I'm just ready and waiting for MKV support. It all ready has the needed codecs, just needs to support the container.

  3.7.2008 05:06 #28