Firmware 3.0: The New Features
A round-up of everything we've found so far in the new PS3 firmware 3.0.Published 01/09/2009 at 18:00 by BioEye
Sony seem to only like writing three or four additions for each firmware update before you start downloading, which is odd, because especially with firmware 3.0, there’s a ton of new little bits here and there that could be listed. Not that they were all well received, and this definitely doesn’t feel as such a big improvement such as when we got in-game XMB and trophies in 2.4. So let’s take a look at the actual updates with 3.0 then, shall we?
- The new PS3 logo is shown when the console is switched on
- The orchestra sound that once played on startup has been replaced with a shorter version, with only the string section audible.
- The ‘What’s New’ icon is the default first icon. Staring up the PS3 will bring you to this icon first.
- Specks of light in the ‘Original’ background fizzle out and fly at screen when starting an application or game.
- There is no ‘PLAYSTATION 3′ title or three-note jingle before a game begins. To save time apparently. Four seconds? Shame.
- There is now a new mini analogue clock which appears on the XMB.
- This hands on this clock start spinning to signify loading. This loading icon appears in places such as the PlayStation Store and when using the Internet Browser. The previous loading/activity moving swirly icon is still used in some instances, such as on the background downloads list, meaning there are two styles of loading icons in use.
- The battery indicator no longer overlaps the clock. Thank goodness for that.
- BBC iPlayer icon Will appear under the TV header of the XMB. If this hasn’t happened, check your passport to make sure it says you’re in the UK. If this didn’t work, either turn off your PS3 and turn it back on again, or as others have suggested play a game, and quit back to the XMB. If this doesn’t help, then check this link. If your PS3 is refurbished and model number ends with ‘04′, you may not get the icon. The icon is a link using the Internet Browser to this page.
- Friends List. The name and other info of each friend on your friends list is now inside a silver/grey box. Nasty. Faster loading though.
- ‘What’s New’ icon Shows Sony’s three PlayStation Store picks, last three games played and six latest official news stories or Store downloads. Setting it to ‘Off’ in System Settings does nothing. The ‘What’s New’ icon still appears. It’s just not the default icon on startup.
- PlayStation Store icon has been added under ‘Game’. It Opens six links. One to the Store, four to staff picks, and on to the full ‘We Recommend’ page. Can take a few seconds to load.
- Some text has increased in size to make the XMB easier to read for those using smaller screens. A bit too big though for the rest of us. No option to change the text size.
- Pushing triangle for more options, or opening some menus on the XMB now blurs the background.
- When scrolling up or down a list of files or friends, a translucent scrolling bar temporarily fades in and fades out when you stop scrolling.
- After scrolling horizontally on the XMB, the list of item titles appear vertically. These fade out after two seconds if no action is taken. This doesn’t apply to the ‘Users’ or ‘Settings’ sections. Although once one setting is selected, the sub-menu fades. A little bit odd for navigation.
- The ‘Information Board’ has been removed.
- Sub-headings have been added to the Settings list. Read them and facepalm.
- New thin status bar holds date, time, number of friends online and a tiny (smaller than your [insert small-sized anatomy joke here]) version of your avatar. Number of friends online doesn’t include those who have set their status to ‘Not Available’.
- When you create folders on your media, the folders can be of the photo, music and video type.
- Scrolling horizontally and vertically on the XMB interacts with the particles in the ‘Original’ background. Neat.
- Leaning and shaking the sixaxis controller in certain directions pushes more sparkles on to the page in the ‘Original’ background. Even neater! Give it a try, as it’s a bit difficult to explain the motions when I was swinging the sixaxis around the room. You can throw the particles all over the background if you do it right.
- The sound settings area let you select simultaneous audio output, which makes the system output sound simultaneously through HDMI, optical, and AV Multi. However, everything except for the connection specified in the main audio output setting outputs in 2 channels only.
- Video settings adds HDD audio language and HDD subtitle language options. Using these, you view videos using language tracks and subtitles from your hard disk. Some content does not allow for these settings to be used.
- System settings adds the the ability to activate DTCP-IP. This lets you undergo internet based authorisation that’s required for viewing copy protected videos on a media server.
- Support for animated backgrounds.
- ‘Original’ background has added sparkles. ‘Classic’ background is the same background without sparkles. ‘Original’ is the default.
- Ability to copy and paste text from a PSN message, much like the copy and paste feature from the internet browser.
- Ability to view the upload and download connection speed. Go to Network Settings > Internet Connection Test.
- When playing back video content, you can use the right stick on your wireless controller for forward and reverse.
- “Print this page” added to the internet browser menu.
- “Save screenshot” added to the internet browser menu.
- The Platinum trophy is no longer counted when calculating percentages.
So there we have it. Firmware 3.0. If there’s anything you think we missed, post it in the comments below. What do you think about some of these updates? I personally think the grey/silver boxes in the friends list look a bit out of place, but I do prefer the speed that they load at, especially when playing a game. I’m thinking that the mini avatar in the status bar is a bit pointless, as it’s hardly visible, and it’s not as though you need to be reminded of it. I can’t see myself waiting for the Store button to load under the Game section, but it could be quicker to select a game (Fat Princess for example) if you wanted to quickly view its price or buy it. It saves you from having to go through the entire Store. My favourite bit was finding that the particles in the background move as you rifle through the XMB. So over to you. Better than firmware 2.40?
Tip: td_rules, Topov81, shrimpeh, BoyDay
Source: Official PlayStation Forum
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
Minigun_Fiend | 01/09/2009 18:10
Member
110 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
I like it.
Erroneus | 01/09/2009 18:11
Wanted "Trophy Hunter" but was too late.
2976 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Same here, feels faster and more slick, even tough i agree the font and icons are a tad to big.
BalramRules | 01/09/2009 20:14
Member
98 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
Can someone please help me get the TV Section, I live in UK and I pressed Turn Off after download does any of this help, in fact Im even typin this on my PS3
10dvkz | 01/09/2009 22:19
* Banned *
-31 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
When you update a game like COD 4. It first starts up with everything and then it tells u need to update it. The updte is 12 mb.
CaptainMurdo | 01/09/2009 18:10
Team TSA: Writer
1861 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
Love:
The next status bar at the top
Animated themes
iPlayer even though it is just a link
What’s New
Sparkles
Hate:
No bing when you start up a game
Text and icon size, too big
Friends grey boxes
Lack of new themes for launch
Pretty even then. Wish it was more customizable though and maybe even my Home avatar displayed somewhere on the XMB. Speaking of Home; has there been any updates to it? I want new hair styles!
Jamie Solo | 01/09/2009 19:27
Member
445 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
I hate how they took the bing from starting a game out too… I loved those few notes before the game started.
dirtyhabit | 01/09/2009 19:44
Member
1443 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
@capt murdo. What’s the iplayer streaming like? Hoped it would be a dedicated app. Oh well
On holiday BTW so can’t check for myself
CaptainMurdo | 01/09/2009 19:48
Team TSA: Writer
1861 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
Works near perfectly if you have a decent connection. Watch a few shows myself and I’ve had no lag/jumping. Pity it is just a link but the iPlayer page has been organised to fit the PS3 better.
CaptainMurdo | 02/09/2009 01:13
Team TSA: Writer
1861 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
The grey boxes have actually grown on me but the font and icons are still are little too big. Still miss Zing!
paxpacis | 02/09/2009 09:06
Member
561 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
I think the new information box does not fit within the new style, I hate the lined-box around it and I think the text and icons are to small…
Was hoping they changed the invite for chat option to go to the background and pop’s up in the status box..
I like most of the update.. but the look of the status box and ofcourse the friend list need some work..
Kevling | 01/09/2009 18:11
Member
2023 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Nice summary, and a handy reminder there there are lots of little improvements in addition to the fugliness. Not sure why it couldn’t have been 2.9 rather than 3.0 though.
G_The_Enemy14 | 02/09/2009 07:28
Member
779 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
yeah and then a decent update for 3.0
tatty-bo-jangles | 01/09/2009 18:12
Member
47 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Nice list, but the particles move when you shake the sixthaxis controller. Also i have noticed when you scroll down long lists e.g “players met” a weird scrollbar appears to the left ( oh and you can now have bigger tiles in the ps store by clicking square.
ii3illy | 02/09/2009 11:49
Member
596 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
Indeed. You could almost phrase it like this:
“Leaning and shaking the sixaxis controller in certain directions pushes more sparkles on to the page in the ‘Original’ background.”
and
“When scrolling up or down a list of files or friends, a translucent scrolling bar temporarily fades in and fades out when you stop scrolling.”
modwyer | 01/09/2009 18:12
Member
228 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
have not got FW3 yet but, i’ll be interested to try it out. However the question on my lips is… will TSA be releasing their own animated background?
gazzagb | 01/09/2009 18:19
Master of speling mitakse
2760 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
i dont know if Sony have updated their theme creator to be able to create dynamic/animated themes yet, but im sure they will do soon…
omega | 01/09/2009 18:36
Member
123 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
I think only PS3 SDK owners can create 3D animated themes =(
So we’ll see no user-created animated themes. Maybe simpler animation or something…
Most likely only gamedevs will create animated themes.
cheekyMcB | 01/09/2009 18:34
Member
728 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
they hinted at a background/theme before but I doubt it will be animated as I understand (I read it somewhere recently but I can’t remember where) that you need a developer kit to do them.
modwyer | 01/09/2009 19:39
Member
228 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
Well I have a couple of TSA ones from a while back which I love. Would quite like to see what the lads can come up with this time.
mynameisblair | 01/09/2009 18:16
Member
3875 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
I love it!
Well, thats what I would be saying if it wasn’t for the MASSIVE ENEMY BOXES.
theshockwave | 01/09/2009 18:23
Member
1873 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
Overall, I think its pretty good. If only you could select text sizes and change colour of friend boxes.
SpikeyMikey23 | 01/09/2009 18:24
Member
899 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
“There is no ‘PLAYSTATION 3′ title or three-note jingle before a game begins. To save time apparently. Four seconds? Shame.”
gutted, im really gonna miss that sound, gits
Hodgi92 | 01/09/2009 18:24
The Thumb
1057 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Most of this stuff is good.
But some of it is just down-right annoying.
I could handle the Friends list boxes is they showed something more, like trophy level and percentage or something.
Timesh1993 | 01/09/2009 18:34
Member
1178 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
I agree with you there hodgi.
Hopefully Sony might actually think about something like that, some how doubt it though.
CaptainMurdo | 01/09/2009 18:52
Team TSA: Writer
1861 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
That would make sense! Why couldn’t they think of that?
kissablekirst | 01/09/2009 19:53
Member
208 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
apparently they did. other half was listening to a podcast the other day – fool can’t remember which one – doh (facepalm). they claim that the grey boxes are the foundations that are required before they then make them look like our forum gamercards.
stefhutch20 | 01/09/2009 18:26
Member
371 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Nice list, but I don’t think the Trophies section is correct. As far as I can tell, the only change is that the platinum trophy no longer counts towards the overall game percentage, but the bronze, silver and gold trophies are still weighted in terms of the percentage they give. Hope that makes sense.
colmshan1990 | 01/09/2009 18:41
Member
1101 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
That’s definitely the case as I have 1 (2 if you count the platinum) trophy to get in Harry Potter (it’s gold) and the xmb says I am 91% complete. If it was total number of trophies, this number would be closer to 95%
Sambuque | 01/09/2009 22:43
Member
55 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Trophies percentages haven’t changed for psn game (without platinum)
stefhutch20 | 02/09/2009 01:56
Member
371 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Exactly – basically proving my point.
pvwradtke | 01/09/2009 18:33
Member
222 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
Have tried it out this morning and, quite frankly, most changes are just cosmetic. It’s nice to have the battery indicator away from the clock and 3D backgrounds, but as far as useful stuff that matters, it feels a little empty. No major improvements on supported media (new audio or video codecs). Actually, I think that only two updates meant something to me, the one that added (some) DiVX/XVid support (not perfect, but better than transcoding) and the trophy update. The rest, like this one, were nice, but mostly to add useless features.
Tiltshift | 01/09/2009 18:38
Member
16 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
I really can’t see the problem with the font (using a 1080p 57″ television) it looks fine to me. I do think they should do something about the grey boxes though, perhaps replace them with the frosted / opaque glass look and give a short trophy summary inside so it’s not just useless grey space. And they really need an option to disable the PS store icons in video and games especially for Canadians as we don’t actually have a video store. Other than that I’m pretty happy with the update.
OSAMP1 | 02/09/2009 04:22
Member
111 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Though I don’t have a 57 inch tv. I don’t have a problem with my font neither. The update is pretty cool so far.
colmshan1990 | 02/09/2009 16:38
Member
1101 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
I didn’t like the font, but I’m used to it now. Especially on my Afrika theme.
shakengandulf | 02/09/2009 17:09
Member
134 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
wow 57inch must be a big room..
omega | 01/09/2009 18:39
Member
123 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
I like most of the features. Will miss game-start-three-notes-sound.
debasemasonsgrog | 01/09/2009 18:41
have a nice day!
704 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
I hate that there is more than one icon for the Playstation Store. I only need one.
Also, grey boxes are ugly.
But I do like the wee bar at the top with the clock and number of friends online!
illogicology | 01/09/2009 18:56
Member
857 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
Hate the store link too, one of the things I hated about my 360 was all the marketplace advertising.
G_The_Enemy14 | 02/09/2009 07:31
Member
779 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
its so annoying on the game menu
Colinbarr66 | 01/09/2009 18:43
Member
1014 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I love the copy and paste tool in messages and in the text-entry box. Like the background but not keep on the friends list