Sony released their new firmware update yesterday after fixing bugs with their last one. I tried out some of the new features and here’s what I found:
The new in game cross media bar is a welcome addition, giving you access to more things like trophies and friends lists instead of the bare bones options of before. You can finally view your friends’ profiles while playing games, and send text messages as well. Sadly, you still can’t chat while doing other things, which is a major downer. At the very least, progress is headed the right direction, and the PS3 keeps getting better with these new additions.
The new trophy system is the biggest new addition to the PS3′s arsenal. It is the “me too” answer to Microsoft’s achievements, allowing players to earn trophies in games, compare them with friends, and “level up” their profile. I don’t have any trophies yet, and neither do my friends, since this just came out yesterday. I don’t have much to comment on it now, so that will be reserved for later.
Another welcome addition is the profile makeover. More information is present when viewing your friends’ profiles. You can view trophies and other minor information. A games list wasn’t present, and probably won’t populate for anything other than games with trophies…at least I think.
For the next update, these are the few things I would like to see:
- Charge controller with system turned off. Having to charge it with it on all the time is getting really annoying, especially since the USB that comes with it is so short. They need to play catch-up with the 360 on this one.
- Continue downloading games with the system turned off. Once again, a feature on the 360 that needs to make its way here. Highly convenient and more energy efficient than keeping my system on until it finishes downloading. At least now we can download games while playing, though.
- Improved chat. What good is the chat feature if all you can do is stare at a screen with your friend’s icon and send pictures back and forth. Give us the ability to chat while doing other things like watching videos, browsing the online store, and, most importantly, play games!
- Home. It has been long talked about, then went hush hush as they got the beta ready, and we’ve all been itching to try this out. While its true that this should be thoroughly tested and tweaked before release, people are getting impatient. Some type of status update on it would be nice so we know this ambitious project hasn’t been abandoned.
What would you like to see improved on the next Playstation 3 update?
