Sony Introduce PS3 Firmware Patches

Yesterday’s firmware update, which introduced little to the gaming public beyond a simple ‘you may also like’ feature designed to make it easier to buy more games from the Store, was also the first update to trial what appears to be a new ‘patch’ system, if rumours are to be believed.

Normal PS3 system software updates are into the hundreds of megabytes in size, but at some point in the past with a recent update, it seems that Sony enabled the PS3 to just grab smaller patches rather than the full thing, and 3.41 took advantage of this new feature by only downloading a 40 megabyte file if needed.

Speaking on the PS3news.com forum, one user has spotted this patch when updating his PS3, the patch being titled ‘PS3PATCH.PUP’, and lists some of the types of files included in the update.  Naturally we assume the PS3 can only use this smaller PUP if you’re already running 3.40, but most of us were.

This brings the PS3 more in line with the Xbox 360, which can deliver incredibly quick updates that literally only take a few seconds to download and install.  It’s really good to see.  So, quicker updates, less bandwidth for Sony, and the option to swiftly push through new features.  Win, win and – er – win.

We’ll chase this rumour up with Sony once they get in.

Homepage image: Fluid, story source: Examiner.