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Firmware Update

Xenogears, Einhander Coming To PSN
25 Jun, 6:30 According to the latest Dengeki Playstation (due out on Friday) Square Enix has pledged full support for the PSN, committing to releasing 12 of their classic titles on the format, starting today with Xenogears and Einhander for 600yen each. Also released today: Astronoka, Rakugaki Showtime, Raystorm and Fighters Impact. Source 1
Site ‘Invents’ Need For Speed Info
24 Jun, 16:30 This site claims to have information on the next Need For Speed game. Sure, we already knew it was going to be dubbed ‘Undercover’, but did you know it will feature possibility to improving the hero? Us neither. If you’re interested in just how creative some people can be, here’s a big picture. Other gems [...] 0
PSN Goes Down, 2.40 Not Yet
24 Jun, 15:45 We’ve had word that the PSN downtime (starting in 15 minutes) is purely for behind the scenes maintenance work and is nothing to do with Firmware 2.40. During the 5 hour downtime you won’t be able to sign into PSN, register or manage your account, and should you live outside of Europe, you won’t be [...] 9
PS3 Trophies To Be Tiered?
24 Jun, 6:45 We’ve always hoped that Sony’s Trophy system would do something a bit above and beyond what Achievements offer, which is little more than points, and it seems we’re right. In a messy ‘I work for Sony’ GameFAQs thread one member has been claiming insider knowledge of 2.40. What most people didn’t pick up on is [...] 7
PSN Downtime on 24th June
24 Jun, 0:05 The Playstation Network will be offline on the 24th June for ‘scheduled maintenance’. It will go offline at 8:00 am and back online at 2:00 pm, Pacific Standard Time, so most of the evening for us. During the downtime, users will not be able to access Playstation Store or play a game online. Whether this [...] 6
2.36 Up Now, 2.40 Soon
18 Jun, 8:00 As we exclusively reported earlier in the week, PS3 Firmware 2.36 is now available for download. In addition, the Official Blog has confirmed what we’ve all known for ages, that “the 2.40 system software update for PS3 will include XMB access in-game. The update will also include trophies, an exciting new feature that we’ll be [...] 4
The PSN Store Is Changing
17 Jun, 16:00 We all moan about the weekly Store updates, especially us Europeans, but now we’ve got hard evidence that the number of PS3-based games on the Store is actually decreasing, or at least has done for the last 18 months. According to a report on GamaSutra this afternoon, the number of PS3 specific games (like fl0w, [...] 5
Firmware 2.36 Soon?
16 Jun, 6:55 We’ve heard this morning that a minor Firmware update is due very soon: 2.36. The update is a tiny one apparently to strengthen security and fix a few PS3 titles, according to the poster at the link above. Note that the only official source for new Firmware updates is the official blog so please treat [...] 6
Microsoft To Rip Off Miis, Home?
15 Jun, 20:00 Oh noes. Looks like one of Microsoft’s big E3 surprises is Xbox Avatars, according to this story on Xbox360Fanboy. Not sure where they got this from, but it appears to be a survey website for (amongst other things) upcoming games, with one of the surveys being for something somewhere between a Nintendo Wii Mii and [...] 6
The Elusive 2.40: Not This Week
10 Jun, 6:30 Jeff Rubenstein, Social Media Manager over the pond there, has quashed rumours that we’re getting Firmware 2.40 this week. In a reply to a question regarding 2.40 on his “What we read” blog thread yesterday he says: “You know the drill – a few days before firmware updates, we give you the lowdown. That hasn’t [...] 2
Video Uploading Since 2.20?
09 Jun, 11:15 Everyone’s naturally excited about the upcoming Firmware 2.40, not least of all us. One of the new Firmware’s key bullet points is the ability to upload video content, but we’ve learned this morning that for debug users this has apparently been there since Firmware 2.20. This naturally lends weight to the rumours that Firmware 2.40 [...] 7
Firmware 2.40 – We Know Something You Don’t
08 Jun, 19:45 OK, we’ve had a few people get in touch with us since our original story on FW 2.40 being delayed until July (and since ripped off by numerous other sites) and we’ve since found out exactly what might be behind the delay. Sadly, we’re bound to silence from most of the tipsters that have spilled [...] 16
Hacked PS3 Shows In-Game XMB
07 Jun, 17:00 Obviously, we don’t condone hacking of any kind, especially the seemingly low-level stuff going on here, but it appears that the guys over at PS3News.com have not only gotten hold of what looks like Firmware 2.40, but appear to be launching their own code from SD cards. Regardless, the in-game XMB is looking very swish, [...] 10
FW 2.40 Not Until July?
06 Jun, 8:30 Ah, the old Firmware debate. Will it, won’t it? Well, the latest rumours point to “no” – it appears that the next Firmware update, 2.40, won’t make it in June. Regular readers will know we like to keep at least one eye on NeoGAF – because of it’s size and reputation it’s fairly common for [...] 12
Leaked FW Update Log
03 Jun, 8:00 There are bound to be fake firmware lists floating around given that we’re expecting news of the official 2.40 update very soon, so don’t believe anything that isn’t in our 2.40 Guide. The list below is the latest such fake, but it does bring to light a software-based PS2 backwards compatibility, something that we’d love [...] 4
PS3 To Get A Wiimote?
02 Jun, 14:00 The only thing keeping TSA from GTA IV recently has been our pursuit of tennis perfection on Wii Sports. Inspired by the red clay of Roland Garros and a loft-clearout that brought a reacquaintance with tennis trophies of old, we’ve been swinging the Wiimote like a Slazenger. True, Wii Tennis bears as much resemblance to [...] 4
The FW 2.4 Guide
30 May, 9:30 So, with the news this morning that PS3 Firmware 2.40 will include in-game XMB we’ve decided to break it down a little – find out what’s confirmed and what isn’t, and put together what we think 2.40 will actually involve: What’s confirmed: Technically, nothing. Until Sony issue a press release or post something on their [...] 18
In-game XMB Is Coming
30 May, 8:30 Jim Cordeira of Gaming Age has this to say: ‘We’ve finally received word that the long awaited, and much rumored, PlayStation 3 Firmware Update 2.40 is indeed the real deal and is said to be coming relatively soon. Many of the most requested features, such as a universal friends list and in-game messaging will be [...] 8
Firmware 2.40 Rumours
19 May, 9:00 We’re not usually one to start off a Monday with blatant conjecture, but when a blog claims to have ‘insider’ information then it’s probably too good to miss out on. According to the WordPress blog, which doesn’t name it’s source for the information, firmware 2.40 should include the ability to access your XMB chat features [...] 8
To Win Is To Lose For SONY
18 May, 21:00 Some might argue otherwise but it seems like SONY is not doing much to pull ahead of the competition in 2008. Now it turns out that this is actually a conscious decision on their part and is due to a corporate change in strategy that has been heard mentioned in an earnings call. Firmly believing [...] 14
FW 2.35′s Secret Ability
15 May, 12:00 According to Watch Impress PS3 Firmware 2.35 allows developers to give players the option to upload videos to YouTube directly from within the game. This feature can already be seen (as from this morning) with Mainichi Issho, the Japanese-only interactive news reading service, which is great fun. 6
Firmware 2.35 Released
15 May, 8:05 The PS3 has just got yet another minor firmware update this morning to improve the stability of certain titles, although Sony are quick to point out that this isn’t related to Grand Theft Auto IV. Not sure why – seems like the perfect way to patch up some of the issues, and it would tie [...] 1
Trophies, FW2.4 Coming Next Month?
14 May, 9:30 Insiders, gossip and pure conjecture. We love it, and today we’ve got fresh rumours on Firmware 2.4, which will apparently bring trophies (the PS3 version of Achievements) to the XMB, albeit in a 2D format until Home is widely adopted. The source claims that this will kick off around about the launch of Metal Gear [...] 4
Sony Discusses Video Services
16 Apr, 12:30 Sony’s Peter Dille has posted a great article on the official PlayStation Blog discussing what he calls the four pillars of what will make the PS3 successful: the community, free online gaming, digital media download services and original content. Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to [...] 3
US Store > Euro Store
15 Apr, 13:00 Frag-cast have posted about the apparent differences between the US and the European PSN Stores now that they’re up. For some reason our menu options don’t match those of the American version, with the biggest omission being the ‘Demos’ category, which means that if you’re looking for a demo of a game and it’s not [...] 0
Australia Loses Music Videos
15 Apr, 11:50 To be honest, it doesn’t really affect us here in the UK, but our Australian readers might want to head over to PS3 Attitude once they’ve updated their Firmware and read about the sudden disappearance of the Sony BMG music videos that once graced their web-based PSN Store. We can’t remember whether they were always [...] 0
Firmware 2.30 Now Live
15 Apr, 6:00 You can now switch on your PS3 and grab the latest firmware, 2.30. As we said a while back, 2.30 is mainly here to enable the newly updated PSN Store in all it’s glory, and it really is amazing to use, with a gorgeous interface, previews of stuff before you buy and what we hope [...] 13
TheSixthAxis Is Alive
14 Apr, 21:30 So, welcome to our new site. We’re still working on a couple of things, like the ability to add comments, but hopefully we’ll have that back up and running in a couple of days. In the meantime, get in touch and tell us what you think. We’ll be working hard on the new site adding [...] 1
PlayStation Store Down Tomorrow
13 Apr, 19:00 Just a quick update, the Sony customer help site is listing the Store update to start at 8am, April 14th and will be down until 11pm the same day. Those are Pacific (US) times, and there will be no access to the Store during those times. 6
FW 2.30 Next Week
10 Apr, 13:45 Watch Impress has confirmed that the new PSN Store (and the tied Firmware 2.30) will both launch on April 15th, next Tuesday. Alongside any other new content on the store will be a ‘Powered Up’ version of Lair complete with analogue controls (yay) and new content. Check the official site for more info on FW [...] 5
SCE Engineers Discuss FW 2.20
08 Apr, 16:29 Watch Impress recently ran a great article discussing the finer points of the PS3′s 2.20 Firmware Update. Apparently movie studios are satisfied with BD-Live functions in PS3 and its processing speed and graphics rendering is much faster than dedicated players and the performance gap won’t get any narrower soon. Even among current BD-Java titles, some [...] 0
PSP Gets Firmware 3.95
08 Apr, 13:00 We don’t normally cover PSP updates, but the latest one (3.95) enhances remote play somewhat: you can now quit Remote Play and choose to turn off your PS3, or leave it on after quitting. If you’re downloading and want to quit Remote Play you now can, leaving the download running along on the PS3. Pretty [...] 0
[UPDATE] PS3 FW 2.20 Secrets
25 Mar, 6:38 PS3 Firmware 2.20 is out now, and in addition to our extensive look behind the scenes at the new features here at TheSixthAxis we like to look beyond the official changelog to see what Sony have added that they’ve not told us about. There’s nothing major this time (unlike the Earth visualiser last time but [...] 0
In-Game XMB Already Running
22 Mar, 10:51 According to the latest Official UK PlayStation Mag (complete with nice Aliens cover) Sony already has in-game XMB up and running internally. They also say that God Of War III is a long way off and won’t be released until Christmas 09, plodding Xbox RPG Mass Effect is coming to PS3, and that Netflix will [...] 0
PS3 FW 2.17
13 Mar, 8:09 And out of nowhere comes a new PS3 firmware update. Don’t get too excited, it’s just (apparently) a fix to help the online stability of a couple of unnamed PS3 titles. If we find any secret updates in there we’ll let you know. Update: we’ve had a tip in from someone claiming to know another [...] 7
Microsoft say ‘No’ To Blu-Ray
13 Mar, 8:02 Oh, Microsoft, you amuse us no end. Despite rumours recently that Microsoft were looking to the Blu-Ray Association in a desperate attempt to cling on to some kind of high-def media format this morning Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360 told Reuters that “Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the [...] 1
PSN To Get April Overhaul
05 Mar, 13:17 It looks likely that Sony will be showering us with goodness in April, with the news that the oft-mentioned PSN overhaul will finally go live. Who said so? some bloke, here – and he’s from Sony, so he should know. Apparently, the interface for the PSN will be altered to reduce the navigational complexity. That [...] 2
Firmware 2.4 Coming This Summer
03 Mar, 12:06 SCE UK head Ray Maguire sent out thanks to retailers this morning after hitting crazy milestones and outselling the Xbox 360 since last month. “Achieving one million PS3 sales faster than both PSOne and PlayStation 2 is even more gratifying considering PS3 is a premium product introduced at a premium price,” he told MCV. “Our [...] 13
FW 2.15 Leaked
29 Feb, 9:08 A certain site claims to have a ‘leaked’ version of PS3 Firmware 2.15 this morning, which they say is purely for debug /test machines (ie, not the retail ones). We would obviously recommend staying well clear of such files, as installing any such update not officially sanctioned by Sony may well brick your machine, at [...] 6
New Firmware Update To Improve Store?
26 Feb, 21:23 According to Kotaku, the PlayStation Store is due to get an overhaul mid April, bringing it visually and mechanically more inline with how the Singstar SingStore works, which is good enough for us. Yippee! 3
In-Game XMB Not Coming In January
15 Jan, 15:34 Yesterday’s story about in-game XMB has been shot down by Sony, who say they have no plans to bring out an update in January, and that the screenshots are fake. This makes sense, they have SingStore updates to do and 6 month old PSN games to finally bring to Europe instead. Awesome. 9
In-Game PS3 XMB Coming In 2008
14 Jan, 8:33 According to thegamereviews.com Sony rep Paul Purdy has confirmed that the company intends to roll out full in-game XMB access at some point in 2008. Despite some games already offering access to the friends list (including SingStar) and custom music, it’s game-specific and developers have to build in the functionality themselves – hopefully a future [...] 10
Sneaky Extra Stuff in FW 2.10
18 Dec, 10:55 As well as providing DivX and WMV playback in the latest firmware as we revealed yesterday (which is now out, by the way) Sony have added a couple of really cool new features that aren’t documented in the changelist. Firstly, they’ve added a new ‘planet’ music visualiser from our friends at Q Games (press ‘square’ [...] 17
FW 2.1 Details
17 Dec, 13:30 We bring you news of the contents of the next PS3 firmware update, first, including DivX and VC-1 playback and a few other goodies. Voice ChangerThe Voice Changer feature has been added to voice / video chat. Visit the Voice Changer guide in Help & Support under PS3 at eu.playstation.com for more details. Using this [...] 6
FW 2.1 Next Week?
15 Dec, 14:15 It’s that time of the month again, and rumours are bubbling about the next PS3 firmware, which we reckon will include DivX playback and update the PS3′s Blu-ray player to 1.1 specification. The evidence pointing to this is scatty, sure, but we’ve had numerous hints that the next PSP update is due for the middle [...] 3
FW 2.01 Released
20 Nov, 8:59 As mentioned last week, Sony have released firmware 2.01 for the PS3 this morning, which is now available for download. It’s clearly just a few bug fixes, and although it’s pretty vague we’re assuming this will help with Assassin’s Creed crashing, will speed up the Information Board and will stop the daft overscanning on PS2 [...] 0
Expect Firmware 2.01 Soon
17 Nov, 0:06 The PS3 will see another update this coming week taking the firmware to 2.01. Don’t expect much, this will just be a few minor tweaks and bug fixes, such as video animations not playing. 0
DivX Coming To PS3
13 Nov, 13:38 Trading Markets has today reported that the PS3 is now enabled for DivX playback as of the latest firmware update. “We are excited to work with Sony Computer Entertainment to bring DivX to PS3,” said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. “Our technology will expand the multimedia functionality of PS3 by enabling users to enjoy [...] 0
Firmware 2.00 Dated
07 Nov, 17:50 Sony have today announced the release of firmware 2.00 via a press release. There’s some good stuff in there, although it won’t please everyone as the much anticipated in-game XMB isn’t making an appearance. The full press release is available if you follow the link and there’s also a link to some lovely pictures of [...] 0
Online Tekken Dated
07 Nov, 12:09 Just a quick update for you – ThreeSpeech are reporting that Tekken 5′s online feature has a release date, and it’s tomorrow! All you arm-chair pugilists can now take on the best the PSN has to offer. Ordinarily we’d be getting this, but we hate games after our PSN-game-losing-streak recently stretched to 6 months. It’s [...] 0

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