I know a lot of PS3 owners are still waiting on Gaming related updates like Cross Chat, etc..., but I'm most excited about the Animated Themes in this update and can't wait to see what other ones are made available.... I want some God of War, Gran Turismo or Uncharted 2 Animated themes running the background of my XMB, and I'll gladly pay for them.

I know that I'm in the minority for being more excited about Animated Themes, but I'm not much of an Online Gamer, so features like Cross Chat is something that I'm not really anticipating, but I REALLY hope Sony eventually delivers the key Online gaming features PS3 gamers have been clamoring for in the near future so that we all can be satisfied.

Firmware updates are free, so I don't care what comes out at long as its useful.

Message box displayed on xmb.. :)
and the battery icon has now moved out of the clock's way I hope?

Animted backgrounds will be awesome providing users can also create them.
I'll be running onto After Effects to create some awesomeness!

I hope the 'latest played' feature also runs with Music.

A++, and since my rating is more important than yours i win. Now move along there is nothing important to see in this moronic article.

yes because a free firmware update for a free service is definitely a c at best

How can you review a firmware update when it isn't even out yet? I bet there are countless other upgrades and adjustments, even some hidden jems. Sony just showed off some of the main highlights. They even mentioned upgraded an upgraded friendslist and trophies section but they didn't show it to us in the walkthrough.

Another bot trying desperately to downplay the epicness of Sony's conference. I'd say this firmware update is at least a B. It basically just cleans everything up a little bit to make it look more alive and organized.

cross game chat is that when you can chat to someone during a game without them having to be playing the same game right ? i don't see why ppl want it so bad i know i could use it but can everyone ? no not everyone has a headset so cross game chat would be useless if the other person can't chat

That is what I always hoped for.

I love the way these pro Sony guys are always like "I love this update Sony, bring it on!". I just gotta laugh at how mindless some of these people on n4g really are.

Hey everyone, SmashPad publisher here:

I had a long talk with our writer about this update, and his main point is that none of the updates are necessarily "bad" but they're pretty underwhelming especially since the firmware version got the 3.0 treatment. Usually in software releases ".0's" bring significant additions to user experience and there are no big additions.

I actually argued with him over the grade, but he made that point and I had to agree. It jarred me too that the overall grade seemed out of place with the individual grades, but his reasoning was that those individual updates weren't bad, were convenient (What's New Section), were downright cool (Animated Themes), but as a whole there were no killer additions that really made it particularly exciting or worthwhile. Thus it got a C: an average grade.

As comparison, the NXE had lots of great additions (along with it's fair share of "meh" additions, as I've never cared about avatars) but it did bring features like Netflix, which by itself validated the entire update.

It seems that Sony still has a long way to go in matching a lot of elements of the Xbox experience, BUT that doesn't take away from the fact that Sony has made HUGE strides in the right direction over the past year or so after their barebones release.

To show how we've treated other updates, we put NXE through the paces when it was released as well: http://blog.gamer20.com/200...

Though we created a different kind of post with suggestions to Microsoft (none of which they used). In fact, if you have ideas for how Sony can get past a lot of the patent issues they're facing or any other additions you'd like to see, we'll put together a collection of all of your ideas and credit them to you.

how can we grade something that 1. isnt even out yet and 2 not all the features have been detailed and second this idiots logic in averageing the grade is wrong to the least it should be is a B-

from what Sony have said so far...this update fails.

There's some good additions to the XMB, although obviously all the things that would really make the PSN complete like party system, cross game chat, ect ect haven't been added.

The new newsticker is better, and I like the sound of being able to jump back in to your last 3 games easily.
I don't like the PS store icon in the games section, I really don't see the point of having it in 2 places... and cluttering up my game section with sh!t I don't want in it.

The animated backgrounds although not essential will be nice to add a bit of life to the XMB.

is good, but having my ps3 start up to this page every time is bad, is there a problem with options, why cant i start up in the music section

is 3.0 a forced update, i only want the animated themes

theres a reason i have a wallpaper, i dont want it changing every two seconds, every game changes your wallpaper, home icon, life with playstation, photo gallery and store should have translucent options

So according to this the the new XMB is a A or B but because they don't know much about the friends list it makes it a C? Great logic....

what the hell is this guy talking about. he gives every grade b and above except one and give out one d and the rating is a c wtf. sounds like he was mad they didn't give him what he wanted. xgame chat is probably it. but is it really that neccesary. it's a plus but not neccesary.

I completely agree with the review of the 3.0 FW (as it has been announced). Small perks that are cool, but mostly it's just a way for Sony to expose the customer to the PS Store's advertising of content. I really didn't need two more Playstation Store icons on my XMB. I can get to it in two button presses.

Now that Jim Ryan is gone just need to remove Herman Hulst from his position! And maybe give Shuhei the position he deserved.

This gen hasn't been the best for games, last gen consoles are still out there and now there's been talk of the PS6 and Xbox Two for a year or so. Many games this gen will be ported to next gen and the cycle will continue. The re-release of the Neo Geo AES+, games on cartridge for £70 ($95), gaming is going back in time. Gaming has gone pricing mad with the high cost of games, consoles and controllers. The men and women at the top are clueless.

It’s always interesting to hear behind-the-scenes stories like this, especially involving veterans like Shuhei Yoshida and leadership figures like Jim Ryan. That said, there are usually multiple sides to decisions at that level. It could be less about not “listening” and more about differences in long-term vision for PlayStation. Yoshida played a huge role in shaping the brand, so whatever the reason, his impact is undeniable.

If true, and I'm inclined to believe it is, it goes to show that Sony lost their way when they became more western/didn't respect the PlayStation origin story. Andrew House and Jack Tretton did great work, but they also didn't try to fundamentally change the PlayStation DNA. Ryan oversaw the death of Japan Studio and a live service direction.

I already figured this, good lord imagine if Shuhei took over instead, would've been a platinum era 😩

I miss the first three generations of PlayStation. The way they turned PS3 around, we knew they meant business. We were all worried for a bit there around launch. Eventually from 2008 they started shifting slowly. But since Yoshida was fired, it's never been the same. Still enjoy my PS5 daily. I got a backlog dating back to PS2 lol So I'm fine but new games aren't as appealing anymore.

It seems like we were thrown on to the worst timeline possible where everything is too expensive and the wrong people were put in positions that makes the world a shitty place. We could have had Shu as the head of PS but we got the shitty alternative. Same goes for everyone in power around the world. Doesn’t matter the company or country the majority of us got the shitty picks and the world is declining like never before. I do think PS can come out of this because of their studios, talent and IP but they need someone more in touch with gamers leading things like Shu was. They’re still the best place for console gaming imo but it could be much better than it is especially without the massive live service failures. The rest of the world I have a lot less hope for right now. Hopefully the pendulum swings back towards the good ole days but I’m preparing for the worst.

There goes illuminati distraction story

So now there's certifiable proof that Ryan was in fact "fired", as opposed to when it was first announced that he "retired", in order to save face.

There's another guy who recently "retired" as CEO of another large gaming company, after doing a dismantling job as lead for well over a decade.

seems legit, the business man, fires the one who has ideas to move the business forward.

Jim Ryan is the reason why we are entering year 6 since the PS5 launch and many of us don't feel like the PS5 has gotten started as yet.

I hope going forward, we will see a return to form.