Firmware 3.01 Won’t Fix The Friends List

“SCEA is aware of reports that PS3 owners are experiencing isolated issues with their PS3 system since installing the most recent system software update (v3.00),” said Patrick Seybold, Senior Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media on the official US Blog last week. “Rest assured that we are looking into the matter and will provide an update here as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience, as it’s our mission to deliver the best consumer experience on all PlayStation platforms.”

At the time of writing, 787 comments followed – a subtle but faceless blend of “thanks” and “3.00 sucks” – but the problems continue to surface, not least certain older games refusing to run, Dual Shock 3 controllers losing signal, much louder fans, poorer wi-fi signals and somewhat subjective but equally frustrating issues such as the ugly friends list, larger fonts and other general UI issues that have prompted much discussion since the launch of the firmware.  Certainly, a quick browse on the 360′s consistent dashboard only highlights the design mistakes Sony have made recently.

We reckon these personal preferences are going to have to wait, though – we’re under the impression that any such rushed-out firmware will only address the issues that are most urgently pressing: namely the compatibility with titles like Uncharted and the Bluetooth  controller drop-outs.  For the time being at least, we think we’ll have to put up with the typeface point size and the bizarre choice of friends list styling until Sony see fit to throw us a couple of toggle settings – not a big deal to some, we’re sure, but annoying as hell to those of us that used to love the slick, clean XMB.

In the meantime, the EU Blog is planning to do a firmware 3.00 “Q & A” later today.  “Don’t worry. The Q&A is coming tomorrow,” said the Blog’s Jem Alexander, yesterday.  “We’ve been trying to get accurate responses to as many of your questions as possible.”