Hi everyone, PlayStation 3 (PS3) firmware update (v3.00) adds a number of great new features that we’re excited to share with you. The latest update incorporates changes that improve navigation on your PS3. First, you’ll notice some cosmetic changes to the design of the XMB (Xross Media Bar). We’ve enhanced the look and feel of the XMB so that it’s easier and even more intuitive to use. We’ve also added network improvements and personalization options to help enhance your PS3 experience.
Additional highlights from update 3.00 include:
- “What’s New” – The “Information Board” will be replaced with a “What’s New” section, which allows you to enjoy interactive PlayStation news every time you start the PS3 system. Located under the PlayStation Network icon, “What’s New” displays the latest and greatest game, video, PlayStation Network and PlayStation news and releases, as well as your recently played games, in a sleek, new animated format.
- Status Indicator – In the top right corner we’ve added an indicator bar, which displays your user icon, friend icon, the number of friends you have online and a small message icon to let you know if you have any new messages. The indicator also includes a scrolling ticker that features the latest news from PlayStation Network. In addition, when you press the PS button, the battery life indicator will no longer cover up the clock.
- Friends List – Now your PlayStation Network friends will appear in a slightly redesigned format on your Friends List. Also, messages will now be viewable from each of your friends’ respective profiles.
- PlayStation Store Shortcuts – We’ve added a handy shortcut icon to the PlayStation Store under both the Game and Video categories so you can access the latest content quickly and easily.
- Personalization – Personalize your PS3 with new dynamic custom themes and avatars. Dynamic themes as well as free and premium avatars will be available through PlayStation Store. A dynamic theme takes your screen to a whole new level as it incorporates animated objects into the background.
- Trophies – Showcasing your hard earned trophies just got better. Update 3.00 gives game developers the ability to modify how they display trophies for add-on content. Base and add-on game trophies will continue to be combined into a single list so you can see where you stand in a game as a whole. Within that list, trophies will be broken out into subcategories—base trophies and add-on trophies—that way, you can easily view the percentage of your base game trophy collection, and separately track your trophy progress in add-on packs. Look for this enhancement to be included in upcoming games.
To get a preview of what’s coming in update 3.00, check out the video below:
We’re looking forward to releasing firmware update 3.00 soon. As always, we appreciate your feedback.
1. Voice Messages
2. In Game voice Chat
3. Cross Game Invites
4. Video Messages
5. Better in game xmb (speed, quickness etc.)
6. Updated PSN Profiles (more info, more customizable, give it a reason to actually look at)
Just some things that are REAL improvements and everyone would love.
Hey Sony (playstation sector) love this new update, keep at it!!!!!! P.S. thanks for the new 100$ price drop and ps3 SLIM!!!! SLIM!!!!!
FINALLY, Sony! About time you added new stuff and specifically animation themes! :DD
Can’t wait to update! :))
Thanks. :)
Why is Cross-Game Chat/Party System so hard with all the technology this system’s got, huh Eric??????? Even the 360 Does It And they don’t have the same hardware the PS3 Has, It Shouldn’t Be that Hard, Are You Saying The PS3 Couldn’t Handle It???? Come On Man, If Ya Want To Have A Subscription Version Of The PSN To Have Those Features Just Say It!!!!!
This is a nice set up. But I can see myself accidently going to the ps store instead of booting up my game. Still it’s quite convienent!!!
Im Ready!!!
I’d still really love the option to sort demos and full version games in different sections, instead of scrolling through a long list of icons.
This looks like a great firmware. I like the newer features. The new themes look cool too. But I bet they will cost. :P
All of these features are nice, but they’re really just updates on the aesthetics, something I could care less about. Sure, there are a few things worth noting, but I’d like to see Sony do more than just rename the Information Board and make it look purdy (figuratively speaking).
Personally, I’d like to see more PS2/PS1 options, like anti-aliasing and faster disc loads. The smoothing option is nice, but it’s little more than a ‘blur’ filter which just makes distinguishing from this and that more difficult. I know you guys don’t care because you don’t think it affects you monetarily, but I know plenty of peeps holding off from getting the PS3 because it doesn’t have enough in terms of backward compatibility. Sure, I can play a lot of games, but not with filters and such. I’m willing to bet that you’d be just as well off not releasing updates at all vs. releasing updates like this.
Synopsis? Not bad, but you need to work on the priorities.
Oh, and this firmware update is awesome, btw. :)! Love the animated themes and friend/mail status indicator, and more icons too.
What? 3.0 a cosmetic update? Well… streamming video stops seems to be fixed at least…
-I expect a faster xmb because… we should call it firm$$ware 3.0? putting a pstore icon everywhere with $$ avatars?
ITS OKAY WAS EXPECTING MORE BUT SONY IS REALLY TRYING TO IMPROVE YEAAAA
PS3 SLIM MEANS MORE ONLINE PLAYERS THAT I CAN WHOOP ON COD 4
Wow,
Still no cross game chat, trophy room, backwards compatibility, or a decent back catalog of PS1/PS2 games on PSN.
Please kill all the advertising. Qore, Life with Playstation, Pulse, links to the badly organized store or web sites… None, of that is needed. Everyone gets their gaming info from the web. Sorry.
Adding a new OS capability back into the slim model would be nice touch too. Buying a second PS2 seems less and less likely with each dropped feature.
Why does the firmeware have to release on SPET 1
@ 606
You can. Where have you been? Put them in separate folders. Hit the square button while browsing through them.
wow great update, really useful stuff…I can’t wait to buy a brand new avatar!!
Wric any word of when cross gaming chat will be available or if it ever will be available for the PS3.
Eric please answer him, give him something, for JOURDAIN is only inquiring and i want to know too!!!!
Eric Lempel any word if cross gaming chat will ever be available for the PS3, sorry for double post spelled your name wrong lol..
this is a really nice update, but all updates so far seem to be about what you guys want, and that’s our money, when will you be giving us what we want,what’s really important to us, and i know i don’t need to type that list of features in here, you guys know what we want and i’m thinking you guys just don’t care what we want, as if we needed shortcuts to the playstation store, i think everyone knows how to access the playstation store by now, i do like the new added features but why could you not add ingame voice chat,if i had that option i wouldn’t really care what else you guys do feature wise. 3.0 fw lol, with the features we have now it should really be 1.5, you guys just wanna take take take from us and not give us anything in return. this will be the last console i ever purchase and i’ll stick with pc games, i really don’t like where gaming is headed on consoles.
Nice update however it would be nice if Sony improved the Ethernet LED display on the back of the PS3 and presented that information on the front of the PS3 like you do for the Wireless. If your PS3 is housed in a cabinet you have little view of whether your internet is doing anything. It was nice with the wireless because you could see the activity.
I was hoping to find out if we have support, to output Dolby TruHD audio via bitstream?
wow…
but
dvx 7 codec and mkv?
ingame chat?
disappoint:-(
wheres the new private voice chat update sony?
every one has been asking for it
wow! another useless firmware update how about adding useful features like cross game voice chat/invites and access of the web browser in game
No B/C cmon i wanna be able to play FFXII again… T_T
looks nice….
Thank you very much Sony. You guys are the best and I support only Sony.
You asked for feedback. I don’t like the store icons under the game and video categories, that’s gotta go!
WHERE IS THE PUBLIC API TO TROPHIES?
I give up, buying a XBOX 360 right now.
Showing vital information on that floating panel is very interesting.
The other stuff is all fluff. We need universal voice chat and music playback. PLEASE! We’re the laughing stock of the XBOX community for not having this stuff, even years after the release of this console.
3 Yearso after lauch and no cross game chat? no thophy auto sync? no PS2 BC? man this update is very bad… maybe in 9.0?
I hope that this preview doesn’t include everything they plan to include in 3.00, not that it’s bad, but I’m just hoping for more features
This update sounds great. Hope to see it soon.
That sounds cool, but I’m still hoping for the backwards capability for PS2 games. I hope that comes out soon, otherwise this is some great content.
this update is all flash no functionality
smh
i expected more from 3.0
nothing added impresses me or is useful
they need to improve the browser
in game chat
and some many other things
Lame, no backwards compatibility, No In-game voice chat, no Party system or Voice messages….really pathetic Sony. You know what your customers desire the most but you continue to ignore them.
Only makes me wonder how your corporation will ever become successful and be able to “lead the charge” again when you cant even “get with the times”…
lame update IMO
WhereTheF#@! is in-game music? as in support for every game not just a friggin couple of games. come on. this is ridiculous. but i will say that the new features are very nice, but come on in-game music people!!!
Stunning update!
Just wished we could organize friends…
That and of course all the things people always mention, cross game chat, party, 3D trophie, BC.
But all those requeres a lot of work, and I respect that, but organize friends doesn’t seem too hard to do?
Sweet update.
Any hardcore gamer wouldn’t care for CGC anyway. Were fine with Text chat or video chat, maybe that’s why they won’t give Cross Game Chat . CGC is for Causal Gamers, who want to talk to friends, more than focus on their games.
nicee.. can’t wait!! anybody know or heard of a round about date for the lauch?
Very Cool! When will it be release?
give me that little big planet theme!!! omfg so awesome!!!
So Sony stopped targeting PS3 as ultimate Home Entertainment machine, which is sad.
:( :( :(
New SONY TVs have features better than PS3, which means someone at SONY management has a head and not a hole.
1. Arbitrary RSS feeds so that I can watch online shows from places like Revision 3 and Mevio, etc.
2. Native HD YouTube support, like AppleTV experience.
3. Better H264 support (so that PS3 is less picky about slightly different H264 profiles)
4. Different container formats supported, .MOV, .MKV come to mind first.
5. Internet streaming videos support like MMS and Real protocols, so support for fuller Windows Media Video support [I hate WMV, but all those sites that broadcast don’t]
6. HTML 5 tags support
7. Ogg Theora codec support (SONY does not even need to licence it)
If none of the above, SONY should at least let Linux access nVidia chip directly.
Thank you SONY :(
Thanks Sony for adding some new features I greatly appreciate the update…..Unlike most of the children on here!!!!
If I want to visit the store I can go to it easily already I do not need it plastered under every option on the XMB!!!!
Themes and Trophy updates look cool though.
How easily will it be to create a dynamic theme for non-developers?
I don’t care so much for cross game chat but I REALLY think its time for universal muting of players. If I encounter an annoying person in battlefield bad company – I really don’t want to leave my match to mute them and find other people to game with when I was perfectly happy gaming with the current crowd sans the annoying non-game chatter.
give me that little big planet theme!!! omfg so awesome!!!
and yay alot more avatar. please dont tell me all those animated background will be cost…=(
overall, the update look fantastic!!