Firmware 2.40

The update that everyone has been talking about, even while other system updates were being released, is about to be making its debut appearance shortly. And as that time draws closer and closer and more details are revealed, my excitement seems to be dwindling.

The biggest hype around Firmware 2.40 is, of course, the in-game XMB capability. With a simple tap on the PS button, the full XMB pops up, however a fair number of features will ask you to quit the game to use time (i.e. the Playstation Store, web browser, display settings and most importantly, voice and video chat!!). Sure it'll take you automatically to where you want to go, rather than having to quit the game, then scroll over to select it, but excuse me if I'm asking for too much, but I'd rather chat while playing, then text while playing. The biggest feature I was waiting for turns out to be non-existent. Much like the Rock Band's in-game XMB, your friends list is fully accessible with a simple touch of the PS button. You are also able to change accessory settings while in-game, so you won't need to quit to turn on your headset, for example. And while we're on that topic, check out Sony's official bluetooth headset to be released separately and with SOCOM Confrontation.

But moving along, as all reports are stating, the in-game XMB is not the only thing included in this update. You can customize your in-game soundtrack to play your own music you have stored on your PS3 hard drive. While this feature will probably give me some moments of entertainment (imagining playing LocoRoco to the MGS4 soundtrack), it's not enough to get me un-bummed about the lack of voice chat. And just to note however, Sony did add a nice little compact music control panel. Trophies is next on the list and is pretty self-explanatory. But it's important to note that rewards won't be given out retroactively -- you'll have to go back and play through each game again. Makes sense since you could easily trick the system by copying a completed game save.

Nevertheless, the short comings do leave room for potential updates in the future. Perhaps this is just the beginning. Firmware v2.40 will become available for download on July 2nd.

UPDATE 7/2/2008: I come home from work today expecting to update my PS3 firmware and was surprised when I received a message that said I already have the latest update. The release of Firmware v2.40 apparently seemed to have caused some issues to those who were able to update to the new release. But it appears, as my PS3 showed me this evening, that Sony has since pulled the update and has reverted back to version 2.36. Reports have stated that players who did update to 2.40 were just prompted to download version 2.36. Seems more tweaking is necessary.