Sony outlines firmware update plans for 2008

Faster and fewer -- that's apparently Sony's plan for 2008 regarding firmware updates. In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, SCEA's Eric Lempel talked a bit about the old firmware strategy and outlined what we can expect in 2008. He said that "We're trying to certainly cut down on the amount of times we do it ... We definitely understand that it does happen frequently and that can be somewhat annoying to some users." We haven't been particularly bothered by it, but a few times it has hindered our ability to satisfy an urge to play a game online.

For those who got the PS3 around launch in November of 2006, you will have experienced the original PlayStation servers -- those things that were really slow and irritating? Things have sped up since then and things are planned to continue to speed up, says Lempel. In addition to little things like no longer having to connect the controller via USB during updates, "we'll continue to work on other ways of making it easier and faster and we'll probably roll those out some time next year." We look forward to hearing what's in store for us. In-game messaging and a possible soundtrack customization option is really all we need. Nobody can honestly care about watching a streaming video while their game is paused, right? Or viewing a slideshow of pictures? Let's be reasonable.