PlayStation 3 Firmware 3.0 Impressions

09 Sep 2009 at 10:55:17 by James Chalmers

Wait a minute, where's my favourite little jingle that greets me when I turn on my PS3?

It's been a week since Sony released the 3.0 Firmware Update for the PlayStation 3 and according to the company it is the last "significant" update of 2009. Along with dynamic animated themes, the update came packed full of other tweaks and features such as the BBC iPlayer. But was it worth the wait? And more importantly does it have enough content and changes to really be labelled as the last major update of 2009?

Ooo, Sparkles

So, about that jingle. Sony has changed the initial start-up, getting rid of the old logo and replacing it with the new rebranded PS3 logo which came with the PS3 Slim. It's nice to see Sony has worked quickly to fit the rebranding into the firmware, but even now after turning on the console for the umpteenth time this week I'm still not sold on the new ‘melody sequence'.

After the initial start up, we are given the one of the most obvious changes. Not only does my theme have sparkles now but the XMB icons have had a session in the growth bags and increased in size. Now the majority of us who own PS3s in the IncGamers office agree that the XMB is one of the most beautiful user interfaces which we have come across, and to me it has been ruined by the bigger icons. It may not sound like much but when you are used to the small and compact logos in previous versions, having these icons make it feel like I'm browsing using a magnifying glass. Even though I have begun to get used to it and nothing major has been changed, the XMB doesn't feel the same to me and it's been the same feeling throughout the PS3 community.

But fear not PS3 owners! We may be getting the smaller icons back according to PS3 brand manager Mark Bowles. His response in a recent firmware Q&A session was that Sony is "looking at the possibility of making the changes optional," so let's hope the fix will be coming soon as I want my small icons back!

The sparkles, which are a part of the theme, are the first of the dynamic themes which Sony has created for the PS3. In essence they are animated themes for the PS3 which should move while you are using the XMB. However, unlike the Japanese and Americans who have the likes of a LittleBigPlanet, PixelJunk Monsters and an impressive Afrika theme, the PAL territories are currently left with... um... what is it... oh yeah: nothing!

At the current time the PAL store doesn't stock the dynamic themes due to the complexities of the publishing process. However since writing this that helpful chap Mark Bowles has once again confirmed we should be getting the first batch of dynamic themes this week, along with a "little surprise" on Thursday. All together now: huzzah!

Of the XMB tweaks, the ugliest comes in the form of the friends section. What Sony was thinking when they decided to put big grey boxes around each friend I do not know, and I'm sure not a single style icon would recommend grey, but I've got a feeling this is how the conversation went down when Sony was deciding how to do the friends list.

Developer: Sir, about these friends lists - we only have a couple of weeks until the firmware update.

Manager: In that case put them in grey boxes.

Developer: But won't that look a little out of place? We could keep them as they were for the time being...

Manager: Grey boxes.

Developer: What about keeping the XMB style for them?

Manager: Grey boxes!

Developer: But sir, we could incorporate the Trophy ID Cards....

Manager: GREY BOXES!

Anyone get the picture? It seems so put together at the last minute and hopefully Sony decides to listen to the community and changes them all together in a future update.

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