Firmware 2.42 is up | Go grab it! Not sure what it does yet, still downloading it. [Update - Nothing to see here, maybe prep for something to come? Life with Playstation perhaps?]

Rumor: Sony customer support says 2.41 coming ‘midweek’ | I never had any issues, but hopefully this helps the people who did.

Lots of people have been vexed by the lack of in-game music control after updating to firmware version 2.40. Wasn’t this supposed to be one of the features of the new firmware? Sony certainly touts it as such, and give a demonstration using PixelJunk Monsters in one of their firmware videos.

Talking to Gary, I find out that this feature is NOT supported by PixelJunk Monsters. The version of PJM in the video must have been a “special” version. Other people have tried other games, and sure enough, in-game soundtrack support is just not there.

Now, this isn’t surprising really. Because the fine print says that this new feature is only available in games that support it. Okay…

But then - what is new about this feature? Super Stardust HD suppported in-game soundtracks before firmware 2.40. Other games did as well. So why is Sony touting this as a new feature in firmware 2.40? We’ve had in-game soundtrack support for a while now, for games that support it.

Here’s my guess.

Prior to 2.40, if a developer wanted to use in-game soundtrack support, they’d have to give up some of their own precious memory resources to use it. I’m thinking that now that 2.40 has hit, it’s now fully integrated into the runtime PS3 OS, so developers no longer have to take a memory hit to use this feature. Makes sense, right? Maybe that’s why the upcoming Cagney update for Burnout Paradise adds soundtrack support, but is being released after firmware 2.40.

Can anyone confirm or deny? Anyone have contacts at Sony?

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

Firmware (v2.36) coming soon, (v2.40) to include trophies, in-game XMB What does it do? Well not much - “improving system stability when playing select PlayStation format software titles”. But at least we have official word that FW 2.40 will have in-game XMB and trophies. Hopefully we get 2.4 “soon”.

FW 2.40 Not Coming June 10th Unfortunately, the rumours that firmware 2.40 would be arriving today seem to be untrue. Ah well, you gotta treat rumours as rumours…

NeoGAF says it, and it points to this Gaming Age article. And now it’s spreading all over the place. Another rumour about PS3 in-game XMB, and it’s supposedly coming soon. Like, June soon. In firmware 2.30 2.40.

Not only that, but this rumoured firmware update will support universal friend lists (whatever that means), soundtracks, and of course the in-game XMB. Edit: and trophies! Darrin: I don’t remember reading that before for this firmware update.

Anyone believe these rumours this time?

Edit 2: So what’s the deal with universal friends lists? What is it? Access to the friends list from any game? But wouldn’t that automatically be included in the “in-game XMB” category? Is there more to it than that? I have no idea…

Eric Lempel from SCEA talks about the new PS3 2.20 firmware update.

[via PS3Fanboy]

I downloaded this late last night, but didn’t have time to really mess with it. But these are the new features. Glad to see they improved the browser, I’ll have to test that out. The first BD-Live movies (The 6th Day and Walk Hard) will hit stores April 8th.

* BD-Live functionality

* The ability to copy PS3 Music and Photo playlists to a PSP system. We introduced the ability to create Music and Photo playlists on the PS3 in firmware update v2.0. Now you can easily export your playlists to your PSP.

* You can now play DivX and WMV format files that are over 2 GB. In addition, you can now display subtitles when viewing DivX files.

* Resume Play - begin playing a DVD or BD disc from the point where you previously stopped it, even if you eject the disc and insert a different movie or game.

* Use your PSP as a remote control to play back your music files on your PS3 without turning on your TV.

* The Internet browser now displays some web pages faster. In addition [Save Target] has been added as an option under file. This option lets you save a file that is linked to a web page to your PS3 hard drive or storage media.

Firmware v2.20 bringing BD-Live to PS3

It’s available now. I have it installed, but I’m not sure what it does yet. But I’ll update this when we have more info. Maybe Sony is preparing for Home stuff? Or it could just be something else.

[Update] Thanks Børten

If you’ve signed in to the PLAYSTATION Network tonight on your PS3, you probably noticed that you were prompted to upgrade the system’s firmware to v2.17. In case you were wondering what it’s all about (and a quick Google search indicates that yes, you are) the operating stability of some online PS3 titles has been improved.

Firmware Update (v2.17)