Hi again! It’s great to see the positive reaction to the unveiling of system software update v2.40. We can’t wait for you to finally go hands-on with XMB access in-game and the Trophy system – and it’s less than 2 days away. Not surprisingly, a number of you have posed questions both here and on other forums. Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions.
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Will voice-messaging/private chat be featured in 2.40 as well? If not, can we expect to see this feature added in the future?
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.
Can you use the web browser in game?
No, you must exit the game before browsing the internet.
Will In-Game XMB come up during playback of PS2 games, Blu-Ray discs, and DVDs?
The XMB is an exclusive feature for PS3 game titles. Accessing the XMB during gameplay was the top request from our users, which we focused on for this update. However, we continually engage PS3 owners for feedback and will evaluate the opportunity to offer XMB access during movie playback in the future.
Can we go to the display settings and change anything there in-game (resolution, input, etc)?
No, you must exit the game before changing these settings.
Will it be possible to change in-game the sound output?
Yes, sound output changes are supported.
Will we be able to access the PLAYSTATION Store while in-game?
No, but you can view your downloads in progress.
Will we be able to stream music (either via media server or USB drive) for custom soundtracks or is it relegated to music stored on the HDD?
Currently only music stored on the HDD is accessible in games that support this feature. We’d also like to reiterate that Firmware v2.40 merely enables custom soundtracks. It’s up to developers to include this feature in upcoming games (or to patch existing ones).
Does 2.4 enable cross game invites? Will it down the line?
No, cross-game invites are not available in this system software update. We are evaluating opportunities to expand on the new features delivered in 2.40.
Will trophies be mandatory for all games release here on out?
We are working with developers to ensure that Trophies are supported across the board in the future.
Where is each player’s trophy stat info held? I am going to upgrade my hard drive and I don’t know if the trophies will still be on my account if I earn some and then get a new hard drive.
Trophies will be attached to users’ PSN ID. Trophy data needs to be synchronized to the online account on PSN to be transferred to the new PS3 system.
Will the patch automatically allocate unlocked trophies according to your saved files or would you have to do it again?
No, Trophies aren’t retroactive.
Can we view PSN profiles/Trophies from a PC using a Web browser? Will there be an API for web developers to access the PSN data, so online profiles can be created?
We’re evaluating these opportunities to expand where Trophies can be experienced.
Can you only compare trophies with friends that are online?
As long as a friend has a PSN account, you can compare trophies with them regardless of their online status.
Is there a limit to how many trophies the devs can put set by Sony?
There’s not a limit on number of trophies, but there’s a value assigned to each trophy. Developers must balance out the trophies that are available to stay within an overall value based on whether the game is considered large-scope or small-scope. Essentially, a user that has unlocked every trophy in one game would have the same level as a user that unlocked every trophy in another title, all titles (depending on scope) have the same overall impact on a users’ level.
Will new games have a cool little icon on the back saying “trophy compatible?”
We’re currently working on how Trophy support will be messaged to the consumer on our software packaging.
When you get a trophy, does it make a noise?
Currently, no.How quickly things can change – there *will* be a sound effect when you unlock a Trophy.
What is Eric’s favorite cheese?
Mozzarella
Once again, we will continue to evaluate opportunities to enhance the PLAYSTATION 3’s system software throughout the console’s life cycle. Consumer feedback has contributed greatly to the contents of Firmware v2.40, and continues to be appreciated. Don’t forget, this Firmware will be available for download on July 2nd.
Wow! One triple friggin zero. O_O … and three.
cool, finaly they answerd our questions
I think the Warhawk trophies should be retroactive since all Warhawk accomplishments are stored server-side in the game anyway – there’s no way to trade out gamesave files with Warhawk because they aren’t saved on the PS3 HDD.
Is this something all of us Warhawk players will see?
I just hope MGS4 and GTA4 will have it. I don’t mind playing those two games over lol.
@ 1005
Yeah, any game that links your stats to your PSN ID, those will be retrospective. But most games link it ALL to the gamesave, unfortunately.
I Just hope they have trophies for COD4,GTAIV, Those Games are awesome to play and i dont mind to replay em. :)
Half of the posts are from gamesblow though so they don’t really count.
Hopefully some Sony representative will review these posts and heed to all the (realistic) requests.
And look, a third one which is starting to feel spiteful towards PSP owners.
Aghhh! My Internet is out (I’m posting from a friend’s house), so hopefully it will be back in time for me to download this awesome update! I guess if worse comes to worse I could always save it to my flashdrive, but it didn’t work the last time. Anybody no what might be going wrong?
This is a great update, and please continue to improve upon it with voice chat, in Movie/Video XMB, and the store as well.
Once most games have custom soundtracks and trophy support this will be even better! Make sure to get Uncharted, MGS4, Ratchet and Clank, Folklore, EOJ (especially for custom soundtracks), GTA4, DMC4, Resistance, and the rest of the PSN games.
Gr8 post! Cleared a lot of things out.
I would like to say two things =)
1#I rly hope that the voice chat gets implemented because it’s the only thing me and my friends would need to spend hours on the PS3 having a blast.
2#Please get Diablo 1 to the PS1 shelf at the PS-Store. One of the best games i’ve ever played when I was younger and I’ve still haven’t gotten the chance to beat it at nightmare mode…
@1012
Its kinda hard to help with limited information like why is your internet down, and what are you asking how to use the flash drive or how to get your internet back up.
why do people point out the stupied flaws of 2.40? Auto pausing who care about having that 360 is the same way on that some game pause on 360 some dont. the real flaws is no voice messaging, having only text messages (this is 2008 right?), no trophys is 99.9% of games, no music play accross games (music player ONLY works in super stardust hd) rest must be pacthed and i doubt they will come fast. No cross game invites. ALL that stuff has been there on 360 since launch. sure they updated 360 but all the stuff was there the only feature they didnt has at launch was background dling. Its been 2 years nearly and i just dont think ps3 can do anything now. Home is great but we wont see it till xbox 4 comes out by then ps3 will look like **bleep**. We all know this is true dont be a fanboy about this stuff speak the truth!
@everyone
what the hells the point on asking questions when sony doesnt even reply ! ill ask again
WHY IS INGAME MUSIC NOT UNIVERSAL ! DONT GIVE ME BULL ABOUT PATENTS AND DONT TREAT ME LIKE AN IDIOT ?!
Wow someone needs to change their tampon…
Jeff, Mozzarella?
You strike me more as a Swiss cheese type, maybe with corned beef, sauerkraut, mayonnaise or Thousand Island dressing on a rye bread. :)
Thanks for the FAQ. Do you foresee a home for a permanent list of Trophy supported games?
@1116
Patents (seriously)
@1017
…pfft
@everyone
all i am saying is why bother to spend all this time and perhaps the second most asked feature isnt even there, and people will say “it is there” but it isnt becuase we have to wait for patches. its stupid.
I would rather see in game chat versus in game text messaging…..
good job with the updates but please if anything add in-game chat to complement in-game text message!!!!!
People have to remember not everyone has a mic and they are going to add a feature first that is going to be able to be used throughout everybody. And nobodies giving them any credit, just wait till it comes out before you judge you may like it / use it more than you think.
@ 1020
The feature IS there, it just needs to be enabled by developers. Look at it like this, if a dev REFUSES to take the time to simple patch the game to support in-game music via the in-game XMB, they don’t give a two sh*ts about you, what you want, or how you feel about that game, they already have your money in their pocket.
Now as you can see, some devs actually care about the fans and want people to continue playing their games (Burnout), but there are some devs that could care less (How about, CoD4?).
And personally, I am not going to be playing any games that don’t have trophy support. Once the games do get trophy support, I’ll play it, and I will conquer. (Plat. trophy here I come)
@1023
thats fair enough but seriously ok this was requested so much there was a petition with over 30000 people to have universal ingame music and it was sent to sony officials they then say were listening, then they misslead us on the video walkthrough. it just sucks it really does.
im done now anyway anger is over im just left with disapointment.
i expected better of sony.
Stop complaining now if it does not come blame the developers
@1025
i think i can say what i like thanks.
and WTF blame the developers it was sonys choice to make it so the devs had to include it, idiot.
@ 1024
Yeah I feel your pain it does suck, but hopefully all the games we DO play, and make sense to have music in it, will get an easy patch. Obviously they could have made it universal (as shown in the video, via an earlier version of 2.4), but they couldn’t for some reason. What is this reason? Personally, my bet is it’s because of patents. Other companies patents are ALWAYS an obstacle for anyone who is trying to make something new/new feature for their product. They found a good way to get around it though.
@ 1026
No need for name calling bro, but I think what he means is that if a developers says NO and they wont put support into their game, be mad at them.. is what he was trying to say.
Ya maybe I should have wrote more then a sentence but I was trying to keep it simple. Thats what I meant Sentry Thanks.
@sentry
ide stop complaining if they acutally gave me a reason if its patents then they should just be honest and tell us god at least then we could understand why they cant do it but there not saying anything.
anyway i guess future games will include it which is cool, i mean dont get me wrong ingame xmb is cool and all but i was really hoping this was gunna be in there.
@1030
I admit I was disappointed but good dev’s will release patches so there is no need to worry.:)
The good thing is that the feature is doable now and well it takes time for all good things.
Sorry if this has already been answered, but there’s a ton of replies to sift through… but will the back-end be opened up through Sony to allow community developers to access information about PSN ID’s, games played/trophies unlocked and so on similar to that other companies XCDP?
@ plqa (1030)
By the way, I never said you are complaining (which you are), but I didn’t accuse you of that. ;)
Yeah I agree, they should just say it. But how would that make some people feel? ‘Oh, in-game music on my PS3 is being restricted because of Microsoft, so I might as well go buy a 360 where I can have in-game music’.
Unfortunately, that is how some people would look at it. And that would make Sony stupid for even mentioning it is because of patents from MS.
But yeah, in-game XMB comes with a full friends support (minus voice chat which will come later), some settings, and the music section, for the games that allow it. This is exactly what we have wanted, and this is only the first step, cross game invitations, voice chat, and trophy related advancements will be made later down the line, the way I see it; this is only laying the groundwork for the future.
@ goroflack (1029)
No problem bro.
By the way guys, an interview with Eric on 2.4; ps3.gamespy.com/articles/885/885361p1.html
Here are some highlights (IMO):
GameSpy: We saw in the video that you pulled up messages in-game. Will gamers also be able to initiate voice chat with buddies as they play?
Eric Lempel: No, they won’t be able to yet. This is phase one of our project, and we’ll be rolling out even bigger plans for the future.
(What did I tell you TristanMike)
GameSpy: Will in-game XMB be compatible with PS2 and PS1 games?
Lempel: Not yet. Gamers wanted it for PS3 first, so we want to ensure that we cover PS3 titles first and foremost.
GameSpy: Are there future plans to implement an automated pause in the game to access the XMB?
Lempel: Some games will do that, but others won’t. It’s not really our decision to make, as much as it’s a developer’s choice.
GameSpy: Is there an official list of available games slated to patch with trophies on or around Wednesday beyond Super Stardust HD, PAIN, Warhawk, and PixelJunk Eden?
Lempel: The only game that will officially be patched on the day of the firmware update is Super Stardust HD. The other games announced on the PlayStation blog will eventually update. We can officially confirm that besides the titles we’ve already announced, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune will also receive a patch at some point in the foreseeable future.
(YAY Uncharted!)
GameSpy: You described the breakdown of trophies and leveling up. What’s the XP of a bronze trophy versus a silver or gold? Is a platinum an automatic level-up?
Lempel: It’s worth noting that platinum isn’t a definite level-up. The value is a behind the scenes quantity. You won’t level up just because you hit platinum on each game. The higher you level up, the tougher the criteria for the next level becomes. It depends on where you are in experience points and what game you’re playing.
GameSpy: What is the current level cap as of the 2.4 firmware launch? What’s the team’s schedule for raising it?
Lempel: The way it’s set up, there’s no way for anyone to hit the current cap for quite some time. In the amount of time it would take someone to reach that height, we’ll be watching players’ levels closely. The system is built to scale, so we’ll monitor the overall progress and adjust level caps accordingly. Ideally, no one will ever hit the level cap due to our adjustments over time. We have some real long-term plans in place for this.
GameSpy: Does Sony have a deadline, loose or rigid, for developers to implement trophies into existing titles?
Lempel: We’re working with developers to hit a deadline. It’s not something that we’re trying to force on them, since it eats into their development schedules. Many of them want to do it. It’s just there’s some additional work on their end; someone has to create art and assets, and we don’t want to interfere with what they’re currently working on. Ultimately, we’ll have trophies for every game, but we didn’t want to force it on them immediately.
So from that, Uncharted will get trophies, the level cap will never be reached, eventually all games will have trophies but Sony doesn’t want to force them just yet, etc.
Did you rike it?
“We’d also like to reiterate that Firmware v2.40 merely enables custom soundtracks. It’s up to developers to include this feature in upcoming games (or to patch existing ones).”
Nine cores and you can’t even match the functionality of an ipod! Its simple I want to play my game, while listening to my music! Not much of a media server if it cant do that now is it?
Some of us actually use this in a home theater system, the inability to play music that we like over the household stereo system is a MAJOR drawback.
wow! i love you Eric thanks for everything.
This is really disappointing. It seems like such an obvious requirement to be able to choose music that one likes while playing a game. When I bought the system and found out it couldn’t do this, I was SHOCKED. It was such an obvious design flaw. Certainly an update 2 years in development would correct it!
I really regret buying a ps3.
@1035 (icspring)
I’m sure you are aware that Sony has to find a different means of implementing custom soundtracks because Microsoft owns the basic patent for playing music through the gaming system.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=mx93AAAAEBAJ&dq=gaming+soundtrack
In fact the very term “Custom Soundtrack” implies a flawed understanding. Playing music through my home theater often has nothing to do with the game I am playing. Maybe someone in the house wants to put on some music, and I want to play a game, it shouldn’t be a choice with a $500 MEDIA HUB. I don’t want “Custom Sountracks” for games, I just don’t want my ability to play music to be pre-empted by my game.
Does anyone know when the official Playstation Bluetooth headset is out?
I believe Sony should of released a headset from launch or bundled it with the system. It seems to me that very few people talk on PSN.
@1035
very true completely agree.
Good Job SONY. Now we’re awaiting the cross-game private chat & invite. That would mostly complete the online experience.
One, more thing for all of you blogging. Please get a headset cause you make the experience less worth it when you join a game of 20 & only 4 people are interacting.
I have a question, would Devil May Cry 4 get the trophies support like burnout? My reason is that the game had something called accomplishments and I work hard for the accomplishments. Is it possible for Metal Gear Solid 4 get trophie support? I would really enjoy getting trophies for MGS4,cause its the final chapter.
It would be awesome if we could custom sound effects when getting trophies. I’d have the victory chime from Final Fantasy or the level up sound from WoW.
Oh and one other thing- There should be no reason why the in game XMB can’t play tracks off of the DNLA servers. Given the small hard drive sizes and the hassle of moving files onto the system, its the only convenient option for large music collections.
Much like my crippled Sony phone, the PS3 does not come close to the baseline expectations implied by Sony.
@ jcspring (1035) – “Nine cores and you can’t even match the functionality of an ipod! Its simple I want to play my game, while listening to my music! Not much of a media server if it cant do that now is it?”
Oh wow, that has to be one of the stupidest things I have seen in a while. It CAN play music in-game, its just up to the developer to use the feature, or not. Oh btw genius, can your iPod play MGS4? Didn’t think so.
@ jcspring (1037)
Yeah, I totally regret buying a PS3, since I can’t listen to my own music when playing ANY game, only the main games I play allow it – GAY! >_>
@ guyverunit122 (1043)
Metal Gear Solid 4 is almost guaranteed to get trophy support soon, as for DMC4, im not sure but it is likely since they already have the groundwork done.
And jcspring, with every post you make, the more and more I cannot take you seriously; your posts are starting to cry with fanboyism.
The custom soundtracks scenario has had only one benefit for me. I’m so disappointed that this has been left up to “Who cares about it” developers, that I lost all enthusiasm for this update and the wait has not been a task at all.
Seems to me that:
Around 20% of people are deliriously happy with the new firmware (and are angry with people who aren’t).
Around 20% of people are somewhat happy with it but feel that there had better be some substantial improvements to custom soundtracks.
Around 20% of people are somewhat happy with it but feel that there had better be some substantial improvements to voice messaging.
Around 30% of people are really angry about the custom soundtracks situation, as there is no list of projected titles to incorporate it and many don’t trust the developers.
Around 10% of people are really angry about the voice messaging situation, as they have no idea when this feature may arrive.
So, yeah, a raging success.
My post is to illustrate the point that I understand that not everyone is feeling the same as me about custom sountracks and that many people are feeling different about this update.
Far from a “all happy” situation.
@1049
thats pretty acurate :D
So since custom sountracks aren’t in EVERY game, only developers who allow it, that makes nearly 100% of the people angry about this FW? LFMAO.
Is the implementation of custom soundtracks a part of the PS3’s core OS and free to use by developers (no memory impact)? Or does it have an impact on the developers available memory?
If it has an impact on RAM, I’m not sure how this can be considered a new feature since it has been available to developers for quite some time. Also if that is the case I doubt we will be seeing many games using this feature.