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.
-
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.
hi jeff is me again and yes i m here just to tell u that not retroactive trophies is just stupid ,my reasons:
i have just bet mgs4 for 6th time and acording to u u want me to beat it other six times in order to get my trophies ,people has other things to do
i finish resistance in superhuman on march 2007 it took me three months to beat it in that dificulty it was really extreme and again u weant me to spend other three months beating it and alos devil may cry 4 ,uncharted and warhawk are u crazy i just dont have enough time to do this ..
If trophies is ur way to satify ur costumers then im sorry to tell u that if they are not retroactive i ll be sextremelly mad and i know i wont be the only hardcore gamer out there so plz just encrypt the data to the online profile so it cant be stole in that way trophies could be retroactive thats all i ask because if the trophies is the way for u to make us happy is just gonna make angry alot of user who have benn with u since november 2006 i hope u take it into account
@ 346
Without a doubt one of the most ignorant things to say. Doesn’t suprise me you work in that environment.
Who do you work with, your mother?
i asked this question on the blog and they replyed with this.
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.
so does this mean its saved onto your hard drive and then each time you go online it updates to the online server and saves to your psn?
one thing that drastically needs improvement is the web browser.
please upgrade the flash player, add .zip and .rar file support, and add support for quicktime movies (.mov or .hdmov). it is currently impossible to just go to apple.com and watch high definition trailers on the ps3. you have to download the trailer on your PC, then convert it using quicktime pro (cost $30) to .mp4 format, then transfer it to the ps3. sony would save a whole lot of headaches if they would include .mov support.
Not sure if you guys are reading down this far, but:
What’s to stop this level system from being abused? I consider myself an avid (and good) gamer who has been playing video games for nearly 20+ years and I worry that online ranking will force me to play with people of abnormally low skill simply because I don’t have time to commit to getting trophies and such. This could easily happen with games that allow people to limit the level of people that can enter their games. This is one of the major gripes I had with gamerscores and ranking systems in other games and systems. What controls, if any, are their going to be on developers creating trophies that reward long game times (beat game 14 times, played non-stop for 24 hours, etc.) instead of skillful routines that may not require a lot of time, but timing or intelligent play?
@ Gamesblow
LMAO! You actually went there. I’m crying now.
ohh and I forgot, will the new firmware have updated Timezones? Venezuela is not anymore at GMT-4 :-P
When is it coming out?
does Fatal Inertia not support trophies already? then what was with all the accomplisment unlocked messages i got playing the demo. (not that i would purchase that game at it’s currently outragously high price) are there gonna be trophies for ps1 downloadable games? if yes, shouldn’t there be ALOT more of them available to the rest of the world outside of japan? (“shouldn’t there be more anyways” – gamesblow i know you’re thinking that) it would appear that finding a new name outside of custom soundtracks may defeat the MS copyright as well. just call it ingame xmb music 1.0, or ixm1.0 for short. if in making this firmware why in satans name didn’t sony BEFOREHAND inform all game makers this was the plan so they all could have implamented the ideas before releasing the games. there’s no way you can tell me this wasn’t on the planning table long before it was first requested.
pls retroactive trophies jut encrypt the data to the profile so it cannot be stole
comn is the only this im asking for i want to be awarded for all those hour money and time i have spent infront of my tv without having to do agian thing that i have just done one they before the patch
@ 351
If they’re saved on the hdd we all better update our hdd’s again, I just got a 320 put into mine but knowing Sony and manidtory installs these trophies will probably be 24mb a pop and if you get enough of them then you’ll fill up a 40gb hdd like that guys. Better buy upgrades, kids.
“shakes head”
It’s becoming more and more clear that the only thing manditory in Sony’s world are 5 gb installs.
Trophies, in game music, none of that matters… it’s all about the 5gb installs guys!
I guess what I don’t understand is why developers need to patch games to have music play over while the BGM is muted. It seems like that’d be more of a PS3 XMB or hardware issue than the game itself.
@gamesblow…
the best part of you ran down your moms azzcheek when your mom was being impregnated
Okay, so it is my understanding that we are able to view our friends’ profiles and compare trophies among other things, but will we also be able to compare trophies and read the bios of people that aren’t added to our friends list? Say you played a few games with someone and you decide to go in to the “players met” column, can you view their profile, trophies and all?
Maybe you see a trophy for a game that that person has and you also have that game so that becomes the deciding factor for adding that person. I think that would be a good idea.
On a side note (now I’m just nitpicking), it seemed like when you viewed a person’s profile that it took a while for the trophies to load up. Images seem to load kind of slow on that profile as well as in the PlayStation Store. Addressing these very, very minor details would be greatly appreciated.
So, in reality the only real difference is that in-game messaging will not be up to the the dev anymore. Games like Skate already have in-game messaging. Games like PAIN already have custom soundtracks, which are still up to devs to put in. They never really have so what makes you think they will now? Is it easier to implement?
In a previous reply you said that the modified version of 2.40 in the video could play custom soundtracks in unsupported games (PJM). why are you letting it up to the devs when you clearly don’t have to? WHY? Trophies are nice but I might as well wait a few years for patches for MGS4 and GTA4 get released then format my HDD (and my brain back to November launch) and replay EVERYTHING just to get my well deserved trophies and such. There is so much stuff. You say in-game XMB but for what all you can do is look at it, and I know its not a limitation in the hardware, WHY ARE YOU HOLDING BACK?!?!?
are you going to make a site that’s all about trophies just like the other console?
what about being able to join friends in games?
@ gamesblow (345)
Here let me break it down into bite size parts for you, since you don’t seem to have the memory span of 10 minutes.
Someone asks if there is a visual notification when you unlock a trophy.
You say something along the lines of ‘no, sony sucks’ etc.
I state that it indeed does have visual notification, if you had watched the video, you would realize that.
You say something like ‘Oh, well still that sucks only a visual identification? What if I look away from the screen for a second of missed it or something? Sony sucks because there is no sound notification’
I tell you that when unlocking a trophy, your eyes will most likely be ON the screen due to you just doing something worthy of a reward, not taking a break for a cup of tea.
And now you continue to complain, as the usual gamesblow always does.
Seriously, am I the only one here who thinks this fellow is becoming a big annoyance?
@ gamesblow (359)
If you were to actually read the FAQ, you would know they are linked into the PSN ID, I just got a dejavu… Oh I know, you being misleading.
@ gamesblow (360) <– (Hey look what a coincidence!)
If you read the multiple previews of FW 2.4 on numerous sites, as well as the above FAQ, you would realize that trophies will become a mandatory factor in the near future, with them being heavily pushed right now.
But I wouldn’t have expected any less of you anyways so no worries there.
@ 346- Oh no you didn’t!! XD
Jeff Rubestein,
:QUESTION:
So once I upgrade to fw2.4, if I pop in Burnout or uncharted can I just replay it and unlock trophies or no?
Thanks
p.s. I know you keep saying patches, but I was under teh impression alot of games already supported trophies.
Not sure if this has been asked but if I am playing a game and have my music playing when I get to a cut scene will my music stop, pause, continue? Also what will happen when I get back into game play, or is this something devs will have to figure out on patches/games?
Jeff and team Sony please get the movie and PS2 XMB access working + the cross chat and voice XMB function. That’s really all these xbots have to whine about and I want them to shut there trap.
Jeff i have a question.
Will the PSP ever get these features that are in 2.40 in the future?
I feel like the PSP is being neglected by Sony
I dont have a PS3, but i love the update and your overall commitment to Playstation, but i feel as though the PSP doesnt get the same features the PS3 gets.
Please respond, its a simple yes or no answer,or atleast tell me your not at liberty to say
Thanks!
gamesblow why do you suck at life?
@ smooch_357, xenosagax112, gamesblow
Great posts.
in-game/cross game chat v4.40.
gamesblow should get a trophy for being the biggest loser on this blog
OK, so the update includes the ability to listen to music while playing a game… except you can’t stream it or have it on a USB drive… oh, and if it’s on your hard drive, you still can’t use it until people start implementing it. So that’s useless.
OK, and the trophy thing… 100%ing GTA? Well, that doesn’t mean anything because I have to do it again to get a trophy for it. I pity the poor fools who got the Big Boss emblem in MGS4. There’s another play bobbled by Sony.
So we’re left with the best thing in this update being that I can see what time it is by pressing the PS button… or does that come with strings attached too?
Man, so many opporunities blown in one fell swoop.
also, any plans for 3 or 4 way voice chat? i think if sony implemented that it would really give it a leg up on the 360
I promised myself I’d stay out of this patent nonsense, but this is getting annoying.
First off, you cannot patent and idea ONLY an implementation.
What this means is that Microsoft can only patent how they did it on the Xbox and Xbox360 and are unable to quelch competitions attempt to copy that idea. This is the glory of capitalism, copy the idea and find another way of doing the same thing. If this wasn’t the case then Operating Systems that use a GUI like Mac OS X and Linux’s front end would not be possible because someone filed a patent for it during the 80’s. Guess who that someone was.
Second off, to my knowledge Microsoft did not succeed in registering that patent. I looked into it myself when I first heard about this BS back in April. No such patent exists.
Third off, give sony a little credit for trying to take a different route with implementation especially given the PS3’s resource pull. Developers can choose to use the full power of the machine for the game exclusively or spare the processing power if available to the game. Honestly I’m more concerned with the game being all it can be than Johnny no brains being able to play Metallica while he is leveling up in Final Fantasy XIII.
Fourth Off, BE GREATFUL!!! We have been without in game XMB since the systems conception. This is a very big leap and Sony’s Firmware team have been hard at work attempting to make this feature work in such a limited space. The fact that they even give us a little taste of In Game Music for IGX is nothing short of amazing. They could have just given us messaging and that is it, which is all I expected. Instead we are getting the ability to alter Bluetooth Accessories, Listen to music, message people, and have hte promise of so much more coming before Firmware 3.0. All I have to say is Thank You sony for coming through. Thank you for giving us a counter for every [DELETED] who presented the argument of “Those features will never be released” with “but In Game XMB was released, Home and other features will certainly be right behind it”.
Anyway lets be happy IGX is coming ^^.
@289 PSFaithful
Thanks!! CaC is a blast.. Haven’t played in a bit..
PSN – ThEosSiE
Holla..
@ axion look ….im jusat pissed that i cant play magic when i kill people on lost planet ….im not going to undate anything untill i get ingame music …thats what i wanted from 2.40 ……i was happy last night but now im pissed ….they token out something i was waiting for .
Is there any way, to just make In-game soundtracks Universal So it plays over the game music (ie.. You could turn the BGM in the game off). Then developers wouldn’t need to include it.
I think that’s a better approach.
I just want to clarify, because I’m confused about the In-Game Music thing. So basically, what you’re doing is giving us exactly what we currently have but putting it in a different package. Am I right ?
Don’t developers already have the option to code in custom soundtracks ? How is this any different from the custom soundtrack option in a game like High Velocity Bowling ? Just that we do it from the XMB now instead of the actual game ?
If I understand right, developers don’t have to make use this a function either. They still have to willing code it in (or patch) for me to be able to listen to my music ? Did I get all that correctly ? So if SquareEnix doesn’t opt for this function in, oh, say a little game called Final Fantasy XIII, then we’re poop outta luck ? No “custom soundtrack” for me. Is that right ?
What kind of crap is that !!??
Oh, and how do you get off showing real In-Game music working and that’s not what you’re giving us ? “Oh, that was an early version of 2.4.” What the hell is that ? Then don’t show it ! How could you show it ??… I’m seriously blown away. Is it E3 2006 ? How could you go into the office one morning and say, “Hey, let’s make a video for the blog of a feature people really want, but only actually give them a snippit of it. YAY !” Come on, where do you get off ? I’m beside myself, really.
And Trophies… 1 game… ONE measly game !!?? And Super Star Dust of all games ? Did you just draw that name out of a hat ? You couldn’t even muster two games from the huge catalog of PSN games ? Or get a single 2nd or 3rd party developer to launch with you ? Come one guys, seriously, W-T-F ?
Sony, you did it again, you give us just a butchered, gimped version of what we want yet you find a way to make it look like it’s just what we asked for. Simply amazing, really.
Yay for in-game message… I guess. :/
Thanks for the updates, cant wait till tomorrow. :D
Hey Eric, I have been meaning to ask this for quite some time now. Why the “avatars” only limited to around 43? With the PSN reaching 19 million or so, being unique is an issue. I hope you guys add a huge bucket load of avatars, which are easily browsed by game title.
and would this lost of in-game music mess up Home ?
(First time Post… the miracles of XMB!) I never really believed that microsoft patent thing… it came too close to april fools day.
BUT, after reading about it again today i did some searching, and i found a link to something that sounds exactly like it.
NOTE: this is on the official website of the US patent office and it really sounds like microsoft has a patent on custom ingame soundtracks)
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=18&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=microsoft&s2=xbox&OS=microsoft+AND+xbox&RS=microsoft+AND+xbox
i asked this question on the blog and they replyed with this.
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.
so does this mean its saved onto your hard drive and then each time you go online it updates to the online server and saves to your psn?
@361 yo i think your right. i think it will play in game music and for games that cant mute the BGM automaticly while you play your songs. prolly might have to turn it off your self. or they might patch it up. but if people are right about the in game music not working and games have to patch up the ability to choose and listen to songs while playing. then why can monsters play custom soundtracks like on video one? i have monsters and if there was a update to allow that. i should of got it right? im confused :( i hope i can listen to deftones and sevendust while i play call of duty 4 and dbz. jeff or can ne one help me out?
i asked this question on the blog and they replyed with this
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 n3w 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.
so does this mean its saved onto your hard drive and then each time you go online it updates to the online server and saves to your psn?
Hey Jeff.. you here..
just wondering if you stop reading comments once the back and forth stuff starts..
Thanks again Sony.. I got you!! (meaning you got my support)
So how much points are trophies worth? How many bronze trophies equals a silver trophy? And how much points are each game given? Does all trophies in one game = 1 level?
@ Briones07 (363)
Yeah, you will be able to view profiles for users in the players met section under the friends icon. If you have seen the leaked images from the past, one of them has a gamer card showing a fourth page which shows what game you met this player in, what time it was, etc. So I assume you will be able to see their trophies and level of course, but im not sure you would be able to compare trophies to them (invasion of privacy?).
Yeah the user profiles did take a while to load, well the images at least, but im assuming that won’t be a big deal since that was an earlier version, plus the images only took a few seconds anyways. :P
@ jqtaxpayer (375)
Well firstly, why would you stream music off of a USB device anyways? I know that when I get my music, from a USB device or an iPod etc, i copy it it right to the HDD of my PS3 and set the author, title, album etc. So that is nothing to complain about, just copy the music, you should have done so anyways…. Now how is the feature useless if devs have to implement it? It is now way easier to implement then before, so devs will most likely be putting it in straight away from future games, and patching up old ones easily.
As for the trophies thing, well what do you want it to be wired to the game save? Then everyone would be putting game saves online and people would all be claiming to have hundreds of trophies and whatnot, when really they are a fake. Would you want a fraud system? I sure as hell don’t, and if that is what they need to do to prevent noobs from doing such a thing, then I am fine with it, honestly.
YES!! THANK YOU soo much!!!
i agree with TristanMike… that sucks pretty hardcore that you need to patch the game just to allow custom soundtracks, but there must have been no other way to do it. however, sony was definitely deceiving showing video of the game working fine and then later saying “oh, well it needs to be patched, and we have no idea if it will be or not”
its kinda likes 360 gamer points
will we be able to see when our friends on the friends list is last online?
@ Sentry (348)
– What’s that supposed to mean??
Hey guys, so about the patent, it says:
“Issue date: Jan 3, 2006” -> Doesn’t this mean that M$ has the patent?
I said it before and I am going to say it again.
PLEASE add a ignore feature to this blog! I am getting sick and tired of gamesblow ruining every single conversation or post that is on this blog.
BTW thanks for the awesome update Sony, I cant wait to play SSHD on wednesday.
If I have to restart my statistics in Warhawk to earn trophies on that game then….BULL POOPOO!!!