PS3 Firmware 3.00 features in development pre-NXE

by Andrew Yoon on Aug 18th 2009 4:15PM

"What's New" isn't really that new at all. In a conversation with Joystiq, SCEA network director Eric Lempel revealed that the feature has been in development for quite a long time, before Microsoft first revealed the NXE last year. According to Lempel, Sony "didn't want to do a big update," akin to Microsoft's total makeover. Why? "People like the XMB."

The Information Board, introduced in firmware 2.00, was always meant to serve as a placeholder for the "What's New" feature, Lempel admitted. This evolution of the PS3 operating system will make it clear to PS3 owners "what the latest and greatest is" on the PlayStation Store -- and yes, the system will continue to evolve over future iterations. One missing feature that might appear later on? The ability to see all DLC for a specific title, something NXE currently provides.

Firmware 3.00 will be available to download on September 1st and, while the PS3 Slim will debut shortly afterwords, it will not come preloaded on the hardware. Instead, new PS3 Slim owners will download a day-one upgrade to 3.00.

Tags: eric-lempel, ps3-firmware, ps3-firmware-3.00, ps3-slim, xmb

Reader Comments (93)

People develop stuff that is similar to a competitor's all the time (thanks to things like polls, surveys, focus groups, etc.) - complaining about it as if it's a conspiracy makes no sense.

I bet Intel is developing a faster multi-core processor as we speak. So when someone else does it because it's the new hottest thing (and important for the growth of the industry), does that mean the the second company "stole" the idea?

Oh certainly. Simultaneous developments in science have been occurring for centuries - just look at the work of Newton and Leibniz. And even then, copying is good for competition. If your competitors don't have a feature you have, then you have no incentive to make it better. It just seems like Sony tries to make sure people know that their version of a competitor's idea was developed concurrently and unknowingly, and that their competitor just happened to announce that first. I'm not saying that they're lying, they could very well be being completely honest, but the frequency at which they say these things leaves them moderately suspicious.

So...these features in development Pre-NXE but the NXE Avatars were in development pre-wii Mii's....so, these features have been in development for Firmware 3 since...around the launch of the PS3?

I'm sure they had a lot of ideas when they were discussing the layout of the PS3 Interface. And over the course of time, some of those ideas developed further than others. In the end, does it really matter how long they've been in development so long as they are here (or coming soon)?

my guess is they have had TONS of shit in development since before the PS3 launched. a LOT of which we wont see until 5.0(sometime in 2011)

To me? No. To others? Apparently, since sony (and M$ and Nintendo) feel compelled to mention these things when new features are released that are similar to something else out already.

It looks BEAUTIFUL how come people are so gat dayum nit picky?

What the hell took them so long to get it out then, cause what was announced was very small feature wise. Pretty unimpressive imo

What I would want is ability to do downloads while watching dvd/blu-ray or playing ps2/ps1 games.

This just confirms what has always been obvious: MSFT is the superior software company, Sony is the superior hardware company. This update was being worked on pre-NXE? What the F took so long? MSFT rolled out the NXE and half of this year's update before Sony could roll out 3.0? Molasses.

The interesting thing here is how the console market has become a software v. hardware battle as opposed to a pure better-games battle. Xbox Live and the NXE are actual selling points for MSFT, as Blu-Ray and horsepower are for Sony, and both companies seem to have embraced their market positioning. Is that a good thing? The more fractured this fight becomes the more I long for a more Dyack-ian one console universe. Let's just get back to the games people!

What did you expect? Software would be microsofts strongest point they have been doing software for years

By your logic, this confirms how fast Sony are at producing software - they've announced 3.0 today, and it'll be released in TWO WEEKS!
How fucking fast is that, amazing!
Go ask Microsoft how long it worked on NXE for.

Yeah, Microsoft are so good at producing software. That's why every version of Windows has been so awesome and all have been released exactly when they were supposed to be released.

/sarcasm

The ONLY things Microsoft are good at are making behind-the-scene deals in order to produce monopolies, usually in violation of anti-trust laws, and bribing people to look the other way.

Oh great now theres ads on the XMB.

To everyone complaining

1. They said you can turn it off in the settings, ergo, use the original if you so choose

2. It is not only advertisement, but is used for latest played games which to me sounds ok.

Turn what off specifically? The "What's New" section? So basically we can still have it boot directly to the game section? If so, that's good news indeed.

That's true, but the same is true of the "ads" on the 360 dashboard that everyone has been complaining about.

after what i could understand you can turn it back to the way it is now... so yes, so that it will boot to the game section

@snowblind i was just trying to clarify for some people who clearly got their knickers in a twist

@Snowblind

How is that the same? You can't disable that section on the 360 and on the 360 that is one of the main menu options, not a submenu as on the PS3. If the "spotlight" section was a submenu under one of the marketplace menus and you could turn it off THEN it would be the same.

If I remember correctly, the date on the PS3 in the video was 11/17. This could've been filmed last fall for all we know.

FWIW, that date has significance.

does it really matter who came up with the ideas first? I like the XMB over MS's menu, but as long as the "features" can be turned off or hidden, that's fine with me.

I just want something intuitive and fast. I don't want to have to search for something that should be obvious (like finding the "play" button on a DVD remote). and I don't want extras that take forever to load just to get to the menu that lets me play a game.

the only thing that I think sucks about this update is the amount of time it'll take for the PS3 to download and then install this patch.

so why was PSN offline today and not august 31st? was something else updated today?

say what?

Sony's dev time for any idea/product must be 5x as slow as MS and Nintendo, because they always say "Oh we had that idea first, they just stole it from us and finished it a year before we could release it".

Also, XMB is terrible -- the sooner they steal MS's format the department the better.

Boo. XMB > NXE any day. NXE is a slow cluttered turd compared the the XMB.

You have to be retarded to think that the XMB is terrible. A minimalistic menu where you can get to anything pretty quickly and smoothly.

So what the hell is this. Are we going to have to wait until firmware 3.XX now for better integration with the PSP? I am sorry but if I own any version of a PSP and a PS3 I should not have to use MEDIA GO or a PC by any means to transfer downloaded games, demos or game saves that I am currently not using? Or is this the get 3.00 on Sept 1 and get 3.something on October 1st after it is shown off in Tokoyo? It would be kinda nice if Sony sent out a nice little survey like they used to go and ask everyone what they wanted to see in future updates and what services they would like to see added and if they were would they be willing to pay for them. Then make a top 10 or 20 list and sent out a second round and ask the question of Yes/Maybe/No on the wanted scale then a time frame is this something that needs to happen in 3-6 months, 7-12, 13 - 18 months out.

You can already download PSP demos (and I assume games, though I've not done it) to the PS3 and then install them directly to the PSP.

What else are you wanting? Do you want to copy them back off the PSP? Just leave the originals on the PS3 and delete them off the PSP when you aren't using them.

As far as the people like the XMB yeah it is nice but with every Sony product using the XMB of some sort for PS3 to drop it would not make the powers to be happy I would guess if they even care

Sony updates just suck. They take way too long to download and install. I avoid them until I absolutely HAVE to update in order to play a game.

Yeah, five minutes is interminably long.

facepalm

Correct me if i`m wrong sony makes good machines powerful ones but they have a hard time listening to and giving people what they realy want.

Aah....another update Day 1...hopefully it won't take as long as for the original PS3 launch....

And again.....PSN makes me worry...been trying to play the MAG Beta all day.....and connection dropping all day (and I have Verizon FIOS)....

Has anyone figured out how to post your PSN portable ID to their Facebook account yet? It supposedly can be done yet I don't know how.

A couple months ago it was rumored that the 3.0 firmware would include: simultaneous HDMI and digital optical outputting.

Does anyone know if this is actually coming to fruition?

I am with "chanyangee" on this one, does anyone know if the *Dual-Audio Output* stage is incorporated. It should not be that difficult as it currently works when you run Linux.

"People Like the XMB" !? What is he smoking? XMB has to be one of the worst OS's of the current generation, or ever...I don't know what it would take to make it better, but I'll say this; The Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, GCN and perhaps even the PS2 had/have better OS's

It's a friggin menu and not an Operating System. Tard.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm really thankful that the "battery indicator will no longer cover the clock."

Makes it a lot easier to keep track of time when I'm going a late-night run.

i figured out how to take all the files off of a ps3 disc but not sure what to do next

please join it would help me alot its legit as seen on 6 ABC News so join now my link is http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Twenty21 you could just use the regular web name but this link would help me alot please join THANKS

Previous 50 Comments

PS3 Firmware 3.00 features in development pre-NXE

Reader Comments (93)

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 6:23PM Nobledevil Gaming Optimist said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 6:28PM mbarriault said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:30PM kevin949 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:36PM StormEagle said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:40PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:42PM kevin949 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:35PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:39PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:39PM Jomolungma said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:39PM zefur said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 8:12PM dartmerc said

Posted: Aug 19th 2009 12:06AM Fane1024 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:39PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:45PM Kgg said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:52PM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:53PM Snowblind said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 4:59PM Kgg said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:00PM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:00PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 19th 2009 12:08AM Fane1024 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:04PM ummhello said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:16PM eat it said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 6:16PM evildude said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:24PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:25PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 5:32PM Vidikron said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 7:07PM Kodros said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 6:10PM butlersp said

Posted: Aug 19th 2009 12:14AM Fane1024 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 6:12PM butlersp said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 6:42PM JRock3x8 said

Posted: Aug 19th 2009 12:15AM Fane1024 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 6:30PM Marcus Carter said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 7:16PM GoonieGooGoo said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 7:25PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 8:28PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 18th 2009 9:22PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 19th 2009 4:34AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 19th 2009 12:55PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 19th 2009 4:40AM Angry Frank said

Posted: Aug 20th 2009 10:48PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 21st 2009 7:23PM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW