Firmware 3.00 Q&A

I’m pretty sure you did a lot of research and thinking before you made the FW 3.0
Most of the things are nice and good. Others need some fixing – you had 12 pages of suggestions

I think it would be VERY helpful, if we could choose which features we want to activate or not. It was said many times.

What I dislike most is the blurred background when entering a sub menu or installing an update. Especially THAT are the moments we can’t do anything else but wait. If I at least would be able to look at my wallpaper in the meantime, that would be great.

Many thanks so far and keep up the good work!

Well as Cillman said the 12 pages speak for themselves I think but I am so damn annoyed by some these features I gotta repeat some of these points. Chime want it back please was cool and has been a staple of PS since forever! What’s New is [DELETED] and I dont need to quickly access games and stuff on my HDD coz they all have their own section on the XMB anyways and were easy and quick to get to BEFORE. As for the background it is awesome but were are the free ones!? (real reason please) and what the hell is with that font size, at least an option please.
Sony PULL YOUR FINGER OUT AND STOP RUINING WHAT WAS GOOD. The time you guys wasted on some of these laughable features could have been put to better use trying to get some of the stuff people ACTUALLY WANT in there. P.S get replying [DELETED].

Rant over, signing off.

The XMB would look better like this: http://web.me.com/steven.shaw/PlayStation_3_XMB/PlayStation_3_XMB.html

@590

The truth is that I do not care if the bar is or not.

It’s just that I’m always curious to know why we lose things about the other territories.

Like everyone, I’d like to see other things in the firmware.

As support for quicktime videos,External file system support > 4gb,A browser that stops hanging etc…

But the feeling is that no matter what we suggested, however useful, they normally ignore.

So better to ask about things they already care.

One reply is indeed a good day’s work.

Dear Sony,

Please bring back the game start chime. Why did you remove it? Not like it affected performance. I would love to see the new “PS3″ logo pop up when i start a game.

PLEASE BRING IT BACK SONY.

Thanks.

Are you people genuinly being serious about the chime/jingle! Are you genuinly so unaware of what your actually doing that you need a screen and a sound to let you know what your actually playing on before every game starts? I’m a grown adult I brought the system myself I don’t need something telling me what it is everytime I use it. I’m smart enough to know what it is. It’s a games console so I wan’t to play games on it as soon as I load a game I don’t want help telling me what I’m doing or to hear a little jingle!

Sony well done for taking this away, you’ve now made your games console a quicker games console which benefits everybody unquestionably. Why the hell are you people moaning about this? I genuinly don’t understand that, do you really not see how stupid this makes you sound. It’s not even funny!

Please, please, please bring the OPTION to have the “chime” and PS3 logo at the start of games. I really think it’s negatively affecting the branding.

What am I playing an Xbox game? A Wii game? Please the vidzone excuse is pretty bad.

@#603

First learn how to spell “genuinely,” not genuinly no offense. Second i’m a grown adult as well, so what is your point? I bought a system myself do I need to tell the whole world that i can afford a PS3? No. Why can’t there be some consistency regarding the game boot? I mean the PS1 and PS2 had it, i don’t understand why all of a sudden Sony decided to take it out. To be honest, I don’t care about the cosmetic changes that everyone is complaining about, in fact i could care less on how it looks because all I do is load the game and play.

So before you start criticizing other people’s comments why don’t you edit your comment before posting, because your intellectual is definitely lacking.

I have a rather serious problem that arose after installing 3.00. I can no longer access the playstation store. This might not even be because of the new firmware, i suspect it is because i have an old J-PS3, even though i’m signing in with my American account, it denies me service based on my supposed “region.” please fix it, I wanted to give sony more money.

Hello,

I normally never reply to such things as this but this time there are a couple of things i wanted to say.

* Ever since I played my first console ( sega 8 bit ) there was always a start up sound of some kind. I really miss the start up sound when you start a game. Call me a moaner but it’s just the chemistry I guess. Please don’t say it loads faster games because it is not, when I start a game in stead of the chime I just get a black screen for a sec or 2.

* Dynamic themes are really cool! I downloaded the Afrika one of the JPN store and it is really great!

* I am glad to read that you will probably make an option for the font of the icons.

* The friendslist, I can live with it, but to be honest I find it a little bit ugly but i’m sure you guys got some plans for that!

* I like the blurry thing, It makes my music & movies titles easier to read!

* The function to slow down video with the right analoge stick is really awesome, especially with sports videos!

* I understand the changes you made, all of those new PS3 slim owners will never even know how the xmb was before, they don’t care. But you should not forget those early adopters such as myself. 23th march 2007 was a great day, the xmb kept on growing to a classy, really mature and easy to go through interface. On 1 sept 2009 some of that changed. I tend to find that a little bit disturbing. Why change a winning team. But i know for sure you guys will keep on improving the xmb!

Great line up of games this year

I’m sorry for any grammar faults , english is not my native language.

Thank you for your time.

Inserting a DVD or BluRay after the system is ON does not play the disc.

The 2.x firmware played the disc unless I actively tried messing with the controllers immediately after insertion … the PS3 now drops me at the XMB if, say I power it on with an EJECT, then insert a disc.

Seems like a major function overlooked, ease of playing movies, in favor of promoting the new XMB experience. Heard this exact same feedback from a coworker in my office, unsolicited.

(cross-posted as # 919 here http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/09/update-on-ps3-firmware-3-00/comment-page-19)

@ Beekske;

Exactly how I see it! The start-up chime was like a warm welcome, a familiar sound to come home to. Maybe it’s just the Pavlov-effect, but it really got me psyched for the game I was about to play. It’s just how it used to be and how it should continue on to be. (Like MGM’s lion roar.)

Again, never change a winning team! Never!

Dannehkins I think the problem for them is that they expected just to give us some random information and that would be the end of it.
Like they usually do and people dont say anything except for a few.
This time it blew out of proportion for them and they dont know how to deal with it.
So my guess is that they are going to do one out of three things.

1. Wait until the psn update tomorrow to see if we get pleased which I dont think most of us will be if they add a “special dynamic theme” for europeans. That would make people explode even more.

2. They weren’t expecting this much negativ feedback. They are used to just give us a few bones and that’s the end of the story and they won’t comment anything before they talked up the chain of command.

3. They will just try the ignore game to ride the storm out.

I certainly dont hope they pick door number 3 because that will make alot of people including me who always played playstation since the first console came out to pick xbox next gen because they can deliver what they promise except for crappy hardware ofcourse

Lukasdave you need to look at more of the comments before telling people they are stupid. 0.2-4 seconds faster loading speed? Wow?
All the new ps3 owners who bought the console and bought games that dont work are supposed to be happy not being able to play it for a week?
If you buy a new car without refunds that doesn’t work would you smile and say “what the heck it’s not their fault”?

Dear Sony,

Please bring back the game start chime. Why did you remove it? Not like it affected performance. I would love to see the new “PS3″ logo pop up when i start a game.

PLEASE BRING IT BACK SONY.

Thanks.

wat about us people who have had the ps3 replaced by sony for a refurb due to it breaking down,
they were meant to replace it like for like but didnt and have sent a load of people eu refurbs from outside the uk and due to this we all cant get the bbc iplayer or tv icon

will this be fixed,it better get fixed

i many only be a small thing but its not the point its meant to be there and its not,why should we miss out on content that we should be getin and should be there and that everyone else gets

why should we miss out on this due to sonys fault

I’m honestly bothered by 3.0 so much, I’ve pretty much stopped turning on my PS3.

Everytime I turn my PS3 on now….

-I am greeted with a Purple/Pink background and sparkles. I hate this. The background always used to be simple black before, since I play at night time.

-I log in to see jumbo sized font and icons… and an ugly grey friends list…

-The “Whats New” section isn’t even showing NEW stuff. (Very annoying

-The store icons above the games and videos sections is intrusive and ….yes, ANNOYING. All they do is take you into the PSN Store. And if you’re going to have store icons over both games and videos, then why even bother having a “What’s new” section?? Just so you can advertise PSP to me??? No thanks.

-I keep checking to see if those avatars they promised us are updated….NOPE. Nothing. Not even one new avatar. All they put there is Just ANOTHER LINK to the psn store!!!!!!! Jesus christ

Sony has gone on record to say the average PSN user is 28 male……

WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S A COOL IDEA TO GIVE US A MANDATORY PURPLE START UP SCREEN NOW??? Do you seriously think 28 year old males enjoy having a purple/pink start up screen?

and BTW — You added the recently played thing to “save us time”???????

What the heck! It takes **2 SECONDS** to go to the games section!!!

The BLUR is also terribly annoying…….

What’s the point of buying a dynamic theme, just to have it blurred out?????

*smacks self in the face*

So what are you(sony) gonna do bout the systems that wont read discs any more…?

There are much more colors on the PSP XMB then on the PS3 XMB.
why can’t we have the same as on the PSP?
And why did you removed the black color from the choise?
This are things I don’t understand

seriously fix uncharted, i feel like my ps3 is gonna get damaged from the freezing… also i have a fat plastation 3 why do i have the crappy slim logo now instead of the cool spiderman text one that I use to have???

I am running the oringinal 60 gig ps3. Here is a list of games I’ve had problems since FW 3.0

Prototype. Freezes all the time. Sometimes before gameplay starts
MGS4. Only tried once but did not load at all
Assassins Creed. Started to play but freezed after 5 mins
GTA4 Only tried once but did not load at all
The Darkness Only tried once. Did not load
Resident Evil 5 Tried a few times and froze each time.
Madagascar “At least the kids are happy”
Resistance 1 Only tried once did not load
Motor Storm Only tired once did not load.

I have also played blu ray and DVD movies. All work fine so its not like my laser is worn out. My disks are clean from all fingerprints apart from Madagascar which is covered in them.

I honesly dont care what the XMB looks like or if I hear the jingle as you start up a game but I am concerned that I can’t use my PS3 to play my games.

I am disappointed about the fact we have only had 2 replies..

i only had 1 freeze with uncharted. i played the game for about 12 hours within 4 days after updating to 3.0. the freeze was around the 80% completion mark. not a big deal. i think the serious freeze issues for people is very isolated

can’t wait to hear today’s excuses.

Ignoring us isn’t a good idea. But here we are, ignored as hell, given only IDIOTIC Q&A THAT ANSWERS NOTHING AT ALL!

The burning questions remain unanswered and 3.0 still isn’t rolled out/fixed.

IT
ONLY
DOES
EVERYTHING
WRONG

I’m not even using my PS3 anymore…

Someone already posted this but here it is again – it rocks and it shows how lame S*O*N*Y is not to able to design better than amateur designers from their own fanbase.

http://web.me.com/steven.shaw/PlayStation_3_XMB/PlayStation_3_XMB.html – HERE, FIRMWARE TEAM! WATCH AND LEARN! THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE! WHAT’S NEW SHOULD BE UNDER THE PSS ICON AND THERE SHOULD BE ONLY ONE PSS ICON! I won’t even mention the rest of improvements, the post would be too long.

Seriously, stop listening to PR idiots and start listening to your fans. We want logic in your actions, not marketing idiocies. You won’t sell more just by adding more ads and PSS icons. Don’t be pathetic. We know where the store is, move What’s New there and stop acting as if you were retarded.

Oh, I’m also stuck with software lock ups, I was going to buy a slim anyway, but why do you have to force me?, did we peed in your drink or what? are we being hard on you? how about I do my work so I can pay your products and you do yours, which you are not?

“We want logic in your actions, not marketing idiocies.”

Harsh words, but very deserved.

I must say i find it quite ‘dishonest’ to post a reply like this in which the majority of complaints are not answered at all and any answer that has been given is nothing more then clever manoeuvrings. At the same time i genuinely think Sony deserves credits for posting a reply at all and informing it’s customers this directly.

Now, on to the post. You ‘forgot’ to mention the friends list and the new and ‘redesigned’ status indicator. Are you looking in to putting a real designer at work here or are you not bothering? Is this the way the ‘design’ of the playstation is going? Why did you think no response to these matters was necessary?

As for your somewhat ‘clever’ remark: “You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time”, there is only two things i have to say:

1) That’s what you get when you WASTE time implementing redesigns and extra links to your playstation store that NO ONE ever asked for, and omitting any REAL progress like cross game voice chat that people have been wanting for many months now. But mostly:
2) If you would have made these unrequested UI changes OPTIONAL, everybody WOULD be pleased.

(part II)

So please, take responsibility and don’t act like this is a fact of life. It is due to the fact that you try to force your marketing-[DELETED] upon your customers and due to the fact that you are implementing functionalities and redesigns that NO ONE is waiting for.

I don’t need to be remembered which game i have been playing this week. The implementation of such a feature makes me wonder what kind of audience you are aiming at: Elderly people with alzheimer?

I don’t need multiple links to subcategories in the same store (that gets updated ONCE a week!) and i certainly don’t need a ticker telling me ‘what’s new’. That’s why i visit this blog and the blog of your US colleagues.

The lesson here is: If you want to please everyone: MAKE THINGS OPTIONAL.

By the way, thanks for the effort put in the Q&A but you guys sound like robots with guns pointed at their heads.

How about bringing some senior in? how about informing superiors? how about acknowledge this is not the right direction?

Please Mr. Andrew House, can’t you see the guys working here at this blog are being under siege? do you really think we’re all microsoft agents or what??

Sorry for stating the obvious but, We Are Customers, the very angry kind.

Let’s hope then AzYWaSCrazY that they realise that some of us don’t necessarily like to be left in the dark for too long

The XMB was slick and smart. Now I’m embarrassed to turn on the Playstation in front of my non-gamer friends.

1) Icons need to go back to how they were.

2) Playstation store should be in one place only. If I want to go to the store I’ll be able to manage with one link.

3) Friends list needs to go back to how it was.

4) “Whats new” can suck my arse.

@ DemonoidPlasma:

I too have a 60gb version of the PS3, but i don’t have any problems with GTA4. Yesterday i’ve been playing for 2 1/2 hours straight with out any hick-ups. The game also booted every time i selected the icon from the What’s New page as well as the Games section. So, no problems here.

Glad you’ve given some feedback on the firmware, and I look forward to Q&A pt2.

I don’t think it’s good to make sweeping changes to an operating system, and then when people don’t like them you just say “no, no… this is better.”

We’re the paying customers and if we would like to see the game startup chime, you shouldn’t force us to adopt the new format just because you say so. Same for the bootup sound and logo at the start.

OK they’re both minor points, but it’s the principle of it. Your number 1 priority should be to keep the customers happy so that they keep a positive view of your company and keep coming back to give you more money. If you just say “tough, we’re taking away bits you like” then it makes no business sense!

I think you should create an option withing the browser to “export bookmark to XMB”. Then I could make my own iPlayer logo (since it seems I have a euroPS3). I could also put a link to demandFive, 4oD, YouTube, etc. etc. and the “TV” section would be much more comprehensive.

One final thing – please allow us to turn off the ‘feature’ where the unselected options in a list fade away…. it’s really counterproductive if you’re trying to look through a list of options….

one big question i would like answered is why this firmware update constisted of only cosmetic changes, won’t call them upgrades, that nobody asked for and hardly anybody likes, except moving the clock, and no real new features that have anything to do with games that people have been asking for for years?
you know, like cross game chat, getting the custom soundtracks working for every game and maybe setting up a system for game invites.
you know all the stuff the 360 was doing four years ago.

The XMB should look like this… http://web.me.com/steven.shaw/PlayStation_3_XMB/PlayStation_3_XMB.html

Hurry up and do it already!

Dear Sony,
on monday evening I got my new PS3 Slim.
First thing I did, was updating to FW 3.0 because I wantend to visit the PSN-Store.
Everything worked great till I wanted to play Uncharted.
I was able to play it till the second level and now I have freezes every 5 or 10 minutes.
It reallly sucks cause I was really looking forward to playing Uncharted and now I am waiting for the fix but the only thing you do is giving us this stupid Q&A.
Great.
BTW I only have problems with Uncharted.GTA 4 and Fifa09 work great and watching Blu Rays or DVDs too.

I hope you can undestand me cause I also have a Xbox 360 and if Xbox users have a freeze it means the RROD ;D

Please release the fix today.
I`d be really happy about that.

Thank you very much

PS: I like the PS3 very much and I`d nearly say I like it more than the 360.

BEst regards

Guys and gals,

Forget about moaning about the cosmetic issues – some of us have PS3′s that DO NOT WORK ANYMORE.

This has NOT been addressed by the kind spokesperson at PS3 HQ which I find deeply worrying…

This firmware can be summed up with the following sentence – “IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA BACK THEN…”

It really looks like the firmware team has no will to keep in touch with the community. After giving us in-game XMB (which was done badly but whatever…), they’ve simply stopped caring at all. They’ve been adding whatever they seem fit – not what people actually want. It was very irritating but at least they didn’t broke anything… until 3.0.

3.0 is a total failure, Sony must acknowledge this FACT. We don’t want any excuses and “clever PR manoeuvrings”. You won’t change reality – 3.0 sucks and you must FIX IT. FIX EVERYTHING THAT’S WRONG WITH IT! STOP TELLING US TO WAIT AND SEE! WE DEMAND ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN ASAP!

If you can’t fix quickly – roll it back!!!!

Pull your socks up SCEE – no one wants to hear excuses regarding language translations etc etc ad nauseum – we want an equal PSN with the US and Japan.

We want GOW 1&2 this year – stop dragging your feet.

and wasn’t there talk of background downloading of game patches?
so we don’t have to sit there watching a bar slowly fill up while we download a half gig patch?
what happened to that?

Im ok with everything 3.0 had to offer, the only thing you need to ramp up is the dl speed from the Store plus updates and patches etc. I am on 50meg and i know it get’s capped around 25 (is it?) but c’mon guys there is no excuse in this day and age of high speed BB connections.

American and Japanese store is better laid out than the uk store , WHY sony WHY ??????
Shouldn’t it be we are all equal , should it not be what they have we have .
Come on sort this [DELETED] out , i would like to have the same options and experience as the rest of the PS users . The fact they get better laid out stores and more games / extras than us is STOOOOOOPID , if you really wanna make money make us all ONE family .
P.S sort my stupid XMB out uk account uk ps3 .

The lack of replies doesn’t fill me with hope or confidence that the PS3 will ever be fixed. I really hope the cause for delay is that they’re finding out about all these requests from the division that writes the firmware, and not just ignoring us and hoping it goes away. 1 reply yesterday is a poor show indeed.

“Mark will be replying to more of your responses in the morning.”
Give him a nudge, Jem – we’ve only had 1 comment from him! :p

This should have read:

“Mark will give one rather poor reply to one minor point in the morning, and then nothing for two days. Hell, we don’t care, we’ve already got your money!”