3.0 is PS3's last major 2009 update

By Tom Bramwell Published 26 August, 2009

Do not switch off or unplug your controller.

PlayStation Network ops director Eric Lempel has said that you "would be correct to assume" that firmware 3.0, due out soon, is the last major update for 2009.

With that said, Lempel, speaking to G4, wouldn't rule out other minor updates "because we are working on some things".

The PSN man, often seen updating the US PlayStation blog, explained that Sony aims to condense as many tweaks as possible into its semi-regular firmware updates in line with its internal roadmap.

"We do want to continue to evolve the PS3, continue to go along our roadmap, but also listen to what the users are saying and making the necessary enhancements to make their experience better."

Let's hope he got my email about a special duck that patrols the XMB to protect it from breadcrumbs.

For (slightly) more on the XMB, check out yesterday's interview with Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, who discussed how 3.0 is a step in the right direction, and why.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • erp #1 2 years ago

    Sitting on the fence a little, isn't he?

    Anyway, Looking forward to 3.0. (It'd be especially nice if it had .mkv playback support... Pleeeeaaaaase.)

  • menage #2 2 years ago

    hMKV would be awesome, never going to happen though.

  • Steroyd #3 2 years ago

    that rules out mkv support for this year. :(

    guess i'm not the only person who first thought of that lol.
    Edited by 1 at 26/08/09 @ 08:45

  • Dillinger #4 2 years ago

    is it too much to ask for an option to turn the sound off on game previews in the XMB? Being blasted with the title tune of the last game i played every time i turn it on is a little agrravating. (some more than others. shatter has a nice tune) especially since the volume varies a lot.
    come on, 5 minute fix or what.. I cant be the only person that wants this?

  • spiny #5 2 years ago

    menage hMKV would be awesome, never going to happen though.

    Don't be so sure. I seem to recall that MKV is now part of the DivX spec (http://su pport.divx.com/faq/view/support... and the PS3 is a DivX certified device.

    So I wouldn't rule it out. In the meantime, ps3mediaserver works very well.

  • erp #6 2 years ago

    @zerolight, I'm *pretty* sure I can stream HD mp4s to mine from my DiskStation network disk drive, but I had to upgrade my network to gigabit (with a gigabit switch and some cat6 ethernet cable) for HD files to work (not 100% certain those files were mp4), as before that they did stutter like crazy.

  • J-B #7 2 years ago

    That duck idea is a corker, im also going to email in and ask for that :D

  • Doctor_What #8 2 years ago

    I hope they paid attention to my request for better music folders. I've got three people's music collections on mine and it takes ages to find anything because all the albums are in a flat folder structure.

  • dr_faulk #9 2 years ago

    How about some good games?

  • Meho #10 2 years ago

    I'd kill for mkv support but... like all good things in life, this one will probably remain a dream for the time being...

  • lambtron #11 2 years ago

    Anyone have a rough estimate as to when this is due out?

  • davymackie #12 2 years ago

    firmware 3.0 out 1st sep

  • sneetch #13 2 years ago

    "because we are working on some things".

    Gasp! Avatars in update 4.0? ;) So long as that duck idea makes it in I'll be happy.

    Anyone know if the slim will ship with the 3.0 update installed or the current one? (Not that it really matters but I'm on a crappy net connection atm).

  • Miths #14 2 years ago

    "Anyone know if the slim will ship with the 3.0 update installed or the current one?"

    I just saw a YouTube video today (sorry, forgot where I came across the link) with the slim, and the guy flipped to the system information screen to show that it was running 2.80.

  • penhalion #15 2 years ago

    It's going to be a wierd case of buying a PS3 slim and immediately having to update the firmware. At least it's the last major update. Now where the heck is Ratchet Future 3 and Drakes 2!

  • Ducer #16 2 years ago

    @Dillinger I have resorted to having my games sorted into folders. This way you never get blasted with the preview sound of the last games. Works for me.

  • peterfll #17 2 years ago

    Sparkles on teh XMB with version 3!

    \does special sparkle dance

  • SeesThroughAll #18 2 years ago

    It's going to be a wierd case of buying a PS3 slim and immediately having to update the firmware.

    Only about as weird as it was to update the PS3 on euro launch to firmware 1.60... It certainly is inconvenient.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #19 2 years ago

    I'm pretty sure I've had to update my PS3's firmware literally every time I've switched it on.

  • Law07 #20 2 years ago

    @Rev

    You haven't turned your PS3 on in a month?

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #21 2 years ago

    Only to play a Tutti Frutti DVD. Once a month would be pretty good going for my PS3.

  • Skire #22 2 years ago

    What about in-store XMB? Maybe I'm getting Alzheimer, but sometimes when I download a demo for instance, I tend to forget whether I already activated the download or not xD I have to close the Store App, check my XMB whether or not my demo is downloading, and go back to the Store if it's not :p

  • DrMGinius #23 2 years ago

    One time my PS3 broke and was unable to load any game or connect to internet, and I think its due to some kind of damaged update, or incorrect download. I think i'll wait a bit until I download this one...

  • Zebula77 #24 2 years ago

    @ Dillinger: I so agree with that! You can put downloadable games in folders (I've got them sorted into 'PS3 games', 'classics' and demos') but the disc ones always bug me. PES 09 has these loud, annoying drums going off all the time, and that's most often the game disc I've got in my PS3. Would be nice to get an option to turn off the sound, yeah. :)

    Also, I'd love if downloads wouldn't halt to a near stop when I play games, and I'd love for games to a have a 'background install' feature. It sucks that you can't even turn off the controller when an install is happening.