2.40 A Failure?

In-game XMB

Now this is not just something that everyone on PSN wanted, it is something that PSN needed. I mean to be honest I don’t see how this wasn’t included in the launch. I am glad I can use this now. But we still can’t do cross game invites which is a big letdown.

View Game-Specific Trophies
Like Xbox 360s Achievement system. A great idea. I’m a big Achievement whore and that fuels my gaming needs. It gives you a sense of accomplishment. I already accomplished a lot. But I guess Sony thinks I don’t deserve trophies for the games I’ve already completed seeing as Trophies aren’t retroactive.

Time/Date display
This is something that should have just came with the system. I honestly don’t see why this was shown off as a main feature. Although it is nice to finally have a time display on my PS3 this comes a little too late.

Send text messages to PSN users on your friends list
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a message in game that was important and didn’t know because it doesn’t show you when you get a message in game. This (along with the In Game XMB obviously) are the biggest features for me in the update

Access accessory settings, such as Bluetooth pairing and voice changer
I did some research and found out this was helpful to very few people. I’d have to agree. Maybe the voice changer is pretty helpful but pretty much I found this to be the least useful part of the update.

View and manage downloads
I know I’m not the only one that got tired of having to wait for downloads to finish when they could be playing a game. I’m glad they added this so I can finally play Metal Gear Solid 4 and watch my Demo, add on, PSP etc downloads.

Quit game directly from an icon under the “Game” section of the XMB
So, basically the same as holding down the PS button and going to quit game. Not really that big of a deal in my honest opinion.I do not see why they advertised this as a main feature of the update.

Search the web using the Google Search option under “Network”I liked being able to do this. So I don’t have to go to the browser, then put in Google then search. It’s a lot faster for me. May not be a big deal to some but to others (like myself) it is.

Launch directly into another game from the one you’re currently playing
At first I thought this might be from retail game to retail game. Without having to quit the game I’m in. Then eject then start another up. I was disappointed to discover that it was only going from PSN to retail and vice versa. Nice feature but for someone like me who rarely plays PSN games it was quite useless.

Play music tracks stored on the HDD (in games that support this feature)
Okay, Now I was really excited for this. Thought I could run around blasting some of my favorite songs while blasting soldiers and bosses in MGS4. Popped in MGS4 and instantly my hopes were crushed like Godzilla wreaking havoc on Japan. I guess there will be one day for when I can use this happily but for now I am disappointed.

Now I’d like to talk about something that kind of bugged me about the update. This quote game straight from PSN Director, Eric Lempel.

Will In-Game XMB come up during playback of PS2 games, Blu-Ray discs, and DVDs?
Eric said that “The XMB is an exclusive feature for PS3 game titles. Accessing the XMB during gameplay was the top request from our users” and “However, we continually engage PS3 owners for feedback and will evaluate the opportunity to offer XMB access during movie playback in the future.”

Now I honestly think they could have gone that extra mile and done at least DVD/Blu Ray XMB. PS2 I see no point but not having XMB in the movies is kind of lazy in my eyes.

Closing Statement:

All in all I was impressed but I was unimpressed by the new firmware update. The pros don’t outweigh the cons.So that’s really why I think it was a “failure”. I really feel that Sony could have waited and perfected some problems plus added a few key things that would have made me extremely impressed. The biggest problem I have with the new update is that it seems rushed and that it destroyed my Pain. I do like how the XMB doesn’t feel as cluttered and somewhat as sloppy as the Xbox Dashboard and isn’t as bland and in all honestly useless as the Wii Channels. While PS3 can take some ques from 360 and Wii. 360 and Wii can take some from PS3.

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