Sony have put an FAQ up on their official blog answering questions that were raised by the two firmware videos. Here’s a taster of some of the questions:

Q: 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?

A: 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.

Q: Can you use the web browser in game?

A: No, you must exit the game before browsing the internet.

Q: Will In-Game XMB come up during playback of PS2 games, Blu-Ray discs, and DVDs?

A: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.

Q: Can we go to the display settings and change anything there in-game (resolution, input, etc)?

A: No, you must exit the game before changing these settings.

Q: Will it be possible to change in-game the sound output?

A: Yes, sound output changes are supported.

Firmware 2.40 FAQ

Cheers Sporty for bringing it to my attention via the Shoutbox!

IGN gives a pretty thorough summary of everything that’s in the new 2.40 firmware update. There’s nothing substantially new there that we haven’t seen in the press release or videos, except for this:

For third-parties, Sony promises that many developers are working to add Trophies into their games for this fall and onward. For the near future, Sony will not require that developers feature Trophy support in their games as some titles may be too far along to easily add them. However, at an undisclosed point in the future, all PlayStation 3 releases will indeed be required to make use of Trophies. We’re hoping that’s sooner than later.

Now that’s news that I like to hear. Frankly, I think that Sony’s approach of letting developers do what they want is only good to a point. There are some games that just have to have certain features, and as far as trophies go, I think that all games should support them. So kudos to Sony for getting this right too. (Frankly, I think that all racing games should support custom soundtracks.)

As a side note, I was surprised by how impressed the IGN folks were with the leveling up system Sony’s implemented. It never occurred to me that having levels might be better than just a total points system. As a big action RPG fan (I cried when I heard Diablo 3’s not coming to consoles), I should have seen the merit right away. Tsk tsk on me.

Firmware 2.40 Impressions

The Sony Europe Press Release:

Get more from online gaming on PLAYSTATION®3 with the free 2.40 firmware enhancement

June 30, 2008: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today announced new online gaming functionality for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™), which will become available on July 2, 2008 with the 2.40 enhancement, an automatic firmware upgrade that delivers several of the features most requested by gamers. Combined with PLAYSTATION®Network’s unique service of free* online gaming, the enhancement makes PS3 an even more attractive platform of choice for the online gamer.

Firstly, the 2.40 enhancement allows XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) access in-game. This means that you can access the PS3 menu at any time while playing most games, simply by tapping the PlayStation button on your controller. With 2.40, you can check if any of your friends are online (thanks to their own user profile), read and send messages, change some settings for games, all without having to quit the game you are playing. While you can’t pause an online multiplayer game involving other people, you can rejoin play at any time when you’ve finished browsing. Along with these enhanced communications features, the Friends list capacity will double to 100 Friends.

2.40 also delivers trophies to recognise players’ achievements in the online arena. Other competitive activities recognise winners with trophies – so why not gaming on PS3? Many online games will have gold, silver and bronze trophies – with platinum available for those who snag all three – all displayed on the XMB for everyone to see.

Super Stardust™ HD, a PLAYSTATION Network-exclusive released last year, will be the first game to leverage the Trophies system and will offer a variety of trophies**. The following first-party games are also slated to offer Trophy support:

· BUZZ!™ Quiz TV
· LittleBigPlanet™
· MotorStorm™ Pacific Rift
· NBA 09 - PS3
· PAIN**
· PixelJunk™ Eden
· Resistance 2™
· SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
· Warhawk™**

The 2.40 enhancement is just one more reason to join PSN, the online network for PS3 users that lets you game online for free*. All you need to do to join is connect your PS3 to broadband and register, or go to the connection guide at www.eu.playstation.com to find out more.

Once in, you’ll find online matches and leagues for all of your favourite games – whether that’s MotorStorm™, Resistance™, Warhawk™ or Gran Turismo™5 Prologue – absolutely free (although users are responsible for paying their broadband fees) and at any time of the day or night. You’ll also find PLAYSTATION®Store, where you can download entire games as well as extra levels, content for your existing games plus internet browsing, video chat thanks to PLAYSTATION®Eye and much, much more.

There’s never been a better time to join PSN. Sign up now to make the most of the 2.40 firmware enhancement - see www.(website).com to find out more.

* No subscription required, broadband fees apply

** Requires a game update to be downloaded and installed

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe - Virtual Press Office

President of SCEE David Reeves says so:

“We are delighted to confirm that DualShock 3 will be released in SCEE territories in early July. We hope this will add to the intense gaming experience for our fans, as we continue to evolve PS3, its software and its peripherals,”

It will go on sale July 4th priced at £39.99. Better late than never I suppose.

Sony have really missed a trick with this. They should’ve bundled the DS3 with the MGS4 PS3 hardware bundle and had the new pad on sale prior to the release of MGS4.

I’ll be getting one at some point but I’m not paying £39.99 for it.

Dual Shock 3 Finally Arrives in Europe

Jeff Rubenstein had this to say on Sony’s PlayStation.Blog:

But because I know what you’re going to ask about, and because we don’t traffic in rumors and/or speculation, I invite you to come back to the Blog tonight (just shy of midnight Pacific). We’ve got a video to show you.

Could it be the video walkthrough of the long awaited Firmware 2.40?

I say yes, yes it is (hopefully )!!

Video of Firmware 2.40 Coming Tonight?

EDIT: Yup, part 1 is up on the PlayStation.blog.

Part 2 shows how trophies will work.

Today, it’s well known that Bioshock, a spectacular single player shooter, is coming to the PS3

I just noticed an interesting old interview with 2K Game’s Ken Levine on the subject:

Then there is the lingering question of the rumored PS3 version of BioShock found in the PC code. Levine responds quite clearly, “I promise you, there is no secret plan about the PS3 that we’re keeping from people. There’s no PS3 development going on that we’re hiding. There’s lots of stuff that gets into game code, plans change over time and we got an exclusive deal with Microsoft … that’s not a Rosetta Stone discovery.”

Ken Levine’s was so emphatic that the game wasn’t going to the PS3. It’s surprising to read that now that the PS3 version is official. I’m guessing that Ken Levine was doing that for contractual reasons. I suspect that a stipulation of Microsoft’s exclusivity deal with 2K Games was that they were not allowed to hint or suggest of any possibility of a PS3 version to the public so that the gaming community would be completely sure that a PS3 version wouldn’t be coming during the peak times of attention.

In hindsight, I’d even go as far as to say his quote wasn’t altogether truthful. There was a “secret plan” on the PS3 version: I bet that Ken Levine either knew they would likely do a PS3 version in 2008 or that he would renegotiate that issue.

Honestly it’s hard to stay excited about home when it’s been in Beta for what 1 1/2 - 2 years? They are expanding the closed Beta it in July, so good luck to you all. The Open Beta is November last I heard. I try not to think about it much, to make the wait less painful. E3 will be very interesting this year.

Video downloads coming this Summer to the US PSN Store - I hope it’s true this time. There is a “leaked” PDF document showing a photo of video downloads. If you zoom in on that there is a search button as well. Which would be very handy at times. This should all be explained in more detail at this years E3 in a few weeks.

This is directly from this presentation from Sony. Fiscal year 2008 is from now up through March 2009.

Two points of interest:

• White Knight Chronicles is shipping between now and March 2009
• Afrika is considered a major game (and not a mini-screensaver like Aqua Vita)

I really hope Sony has some real surprises and new game unveilings for us at E3.

The Japanese PS Store got 6 more ‘Classic’ PSOne games today, in the form of Xenogears, Einhander, Astronoka, Rakugaki Showtime, Raystorm and Fighters Impact. All cost 600 Yen each (roughly £3).

So far, the Euro PS Store has been royally shafted when it comes to PSOne releases, especially compared to Japan and North America. Now I don’t want to get into a debate as to why this is the case I’d just like to know which classic PSOne games would you like to see on the UK/NA PS Store?

I’d love (on the UK Store) Vagrant Story, FFVII, VIII, IX, Parasite Eve, Xenogears, Broken Sword 1 & 2, Bushido Blade, MGS, Resi 1, 2 & 3 for starters.

Couple with the ability to play those on a PSP and I’d probably get a PSP again!!

I’m done Act 2 of Metal Gear Solid 4, and I thought I’d give some of my impressions of the game so far. Small warning - I give away lots of gameplay information, but no plot information.

But first, let me just say that this game is a watershed game for me. As many of you know, I like multiplayer - especially local multiplayer - games. As a general policy, I don’t play single player games or single player campaigns. I love CoD4 for example, but haven’t played the campaign. I tried the GRAW2 campaign, but got stuck. But because everyone was raving about what a great game MGS4 is, I decided to request a copy for Father’s Day, and I haven’t looked back since. This game is very addicting, and it’s a blast. It’s got me hooked on single player gameplay (at least for this game). So I’m gonna give CoD4 campaign mode a try after I’m done this one. I might even go back to GRAW2 with a walkthrough in hand.

I’m playing MGS4 on easy mode, because my only previous experience with the Metal Gear franchise was a small bout on MGS2 that didn’t go so well. I’m not generally a very skilled player, I just enjoy playing games. That said, I think I should have at least tried the next-to-easy difficulty. It’s ridiculous the amount of damage I can take on easy, and the baddies just stand around not shooting at you a lot. Though I have to say this superior health helped me during my first boss battle, which was really cool by the way.

One thing that’s just crazy about this game is the number of items and weapons. It’s overwhelming at first, and after a bit I decided to just ignore most of them and go about my business. I am starting to explore them a little now, but there’s lots to learn. Next time around, when I play at a harder difficulty, I’ll play around with the weapons even more. (Yes, I plan to play the game again. That’s how good it is.)

One small thing to note here (small spoiler, but you’ll probably appreciate it). You can pick up the camera and an extra battery using the little robot doohicky thing during briefing sessions. You might want to do that in your first briefing so that you have access to those objects throughout the rest of the game. The battery would have helped me out in several instances. I only got it at the end of act 2 and have yet to use it. (Thanks for the tip Tosh.)

I find the cutscenes a tad long sometimes. I’m sitting there waiting for action and am thinking okay, let’s get on with it already. Second time around, I’ll definitely be skipping the cutscenes.

You’re well rewarded by doing a lot of exploring. You can pick up items all over the place. Tosh tells me that if you pick up and drop a killed or knocked out soldier, that he’ll typically drop more stuff. Even if you do it a second time. I have to try that out now, because I don’t have many Drebin points for spending on weapons and such.

Speaking of weapons, they’re customizable, which is cool. I have a shotgun attachment on my M4. Sweet. I’ll be doing more playing around with weapons as the game progresses. I’m finally getting comfortable with that stuff.

The camo suit is cool. I like to make my camo look like all sorts of funky things I find in the levels. At one point, I had hand prints all over, which was funny. Second time around, I plan to take a bunch of pics of my camos.

There are just so many things you can do in this game, it’s crazy. Tosh has told me about knocking a guy out, placing down the magazine, then waking the guy up and watching the reaction. Good stuff. This game is a universe to itself, and zipping through it just to get to the end is not the way to play.

I’ve heard it said that you don’t have to kill a single person in the MGS games if you don’t want to. But that’s no fun. I try not to kill any rebels, but I do kill PMC types. Adds more variety to the game and makes it more fun. Sometimes I just knock them out instead. Because I can!

Great game.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots