Sony answers PS3 firmware 2.4 questions

By Robert Purchese Published 1 July, 2008

Trophies not retroactive, or mandatory.

Sony PSN boss Eric Lempel has sat down to address some questions about PS3 firmware update v2.40 on the official US blog.

The patch, planned for release tomorrow, will finally introduce in-game XMB functionality and trophy rewards.

According to Lempel voice-messaging is being "evaluated", you will have to quit your game to access the PlayStation Store and trophies are not necessarily mandatory but should be included in as many games as possible.

Trophies will make a noise when you earn them and you can compare them with your friends who are on or offline. They will not be retroactive, so you will have to replay games to unlock them, and they will be limitless in each title but draw from a capped value pool - so unlocking all of them in one game will be comparable to unlocking all of them in another.

Head over to the official US PlayStation blog for a full roundup of questions and answers, and to find out what cheese Eric likes best.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (77) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • BravoGolf #1 4 years ago

    \o/

  • bad09 #2 4 years ago

    "Trophies will make a noise when you earn them"

    Cool, my heart does lift a little when I hear that lovely sound coming from my 360!

  • Beano #3 4 years ago

    Good thing trophies aren't retroactive... would ruin the trophy system from day one if people could download saves from the net and get the trophies that way.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 11:56

  • Beano #4 4 years ago

    "Trophies will make a noise when you earn them"

    Very innovative and a true next-gen feature ;)

  • lambtron #5 4 years ago

    Fair enough, making them retroactive would be a PITA and open to abuse.

    But they should be compulsory in all forthcoming games IMO.

  • DFawkes #6 4 years ago

    I know it's unlikely, but I'd love to have the trophy noise user-assignable, as I'd be straight on Major Nelsons blog for the 360 achievement noise! Like I say, ain't going to happen, but it is a great noise. Say what you like about Microsoft, they know their noises!

  • davisorle #7 4 years ago

    This "trophy" story that sony even talks about is the cheapest copy from the xbox patern they could ever do... I mean not only I dont care about the achievements personally but the fact that Sony is doing this is just plain stupid... Is this going to make me think that NOW PS3 is worth buying? Why dont they stop fucking wasting their time with shit and try to pay some companies for some real great games so i wont be feeling so lucky to only have my xbox? Wtf is wrong with them? Im a fucking gamer.... You cant sell me shit for pathetic attemptsreally. The Marketing stuff should have been all fired a couple of years ago as well. Known Sony issue.

  • Machetazo #8 4 years ago

    Hasn't Three Speech cleared out, yet? That'll be the next thing that Sony can fix.

  • Yaster #9 4 years ago

    To be honest I see no reason as to why future multiplatform titles shouldnt feature trophies seeing as the 360 versions will have their achievements. All they need to do is transfer the awards over to give both games the same list.

    And if M$ want to be a bunch of bitches and lock down certain achievements on certain games so they cant be duplicated on PS3 then the developer can still come out and create completely different rewards for both versions of the game. that was people with both consoles and therefore too much money can buy both versions of the game and get 2 lots of unique awards

  • Darren #10 4 years ago

    I think Sony are right in not making the trophies mandatory because as we know from the Xbox 360 some games are better suited to Achievements than others.

  • el_pollo_diablo #11 4 years ago

    Am I the only person in the world who thinks trophies and achievements are a total waste of time?

  • Benno #12 4 years ago

    Hehe I hated it when I was on my Xbox trying to get an achievement and someone came online. It makes the same noise and you think you have finally unlocked it, only for your dreams to be shattered.

  • Moonprince #13 4 years ago

    "Very innovative and a true next-gen feature ;) "

    sucks to be you :(

  • Xerx3s #14 4 years ago

    What's the point of an achievement system if it's not mandatory?

  • Gaol #15 4 years ago

    @davisorle

    Wow, you are really cheesed off considering you don't even have a PS3. Hardware and software companies have been copying each other for years.

    I'm delighted we are finally getting these features on PS3.

  • Benno #16 4 years ago

    What features though? In-game text messaging and a half arsed achievements system? Don't get me wrong, its a step in the right direction but its more of a shuffle than a step. I was expecting more.

  • Darren #17 4 years ago

    el_pollo_diablo - Achievements are both a good and a bad thing. They're good in sense that they can motivate you to get more out of a game than you might do otherwise but at the same time they can ruin games, say, where they're tied in to the online modes. In my opinion, Achievements and Trophies should only be awarded for playing games offline. I'm less bothered by Achievements now anyway but it used to annoy me initially when games used to weigh the Achievements in favour of the online modes, something which I'm not really interested in playing, e.g. Tiger Woods 06.

  • The_Programmer #18 4 years ago

    So no chat or cross game invites. Still your trophies will make a noise so well worth the hype.

  • Darren #19 4 years ago

    *Ping*

    Trophy unlocked! :)

  • Gaol #20 4 years ago

    @Benno

    What is half arsed about the achievements system? Only thing it lacks is PC access , which they are looking into. Other than that, it seems more or less a straight copy, with 'level' replacing 'gamerscore'.

    And in-game messaging is a pretty important feature to me.

    I'm just glad they weren't affected by the latest Home delay.

  • Beano #21 4 years ago

    "I think Sony are right in not making the trophies mandatory because as we know from the Xbox 360 some games are better suited to Achievements than others."

    And legally I belive they can't just change their requirements to publishers/developers now (1½ years after launch) and try to force trophy support into all new games. But they are propably trying to motivate developers to support trophies by making it as easy to implement as possible.
    I'm sure most future PS3+360 multi-platform games will have it - no reason why not.

  • Beano #22 4 years ago

    Anybody know if trophies can be hidden from other users - a privacy setting like 360 has?

    Personally I prefer to hide my achievements/trophies...

  • Benno #23 4 years ago

    @Gaol

    Yeah your right, I meant half-assed as in its not enforced or mandatory to be put into games.

    But yea its pretty much a straight copy. In-game messaging, unless voiced, is a bit pants. Unless I have a keyboard I am much better off phoning my friends up or sending them a text message. All they need to add is a private chat system like Xbox Live, then everything falls into place.

  • Beano #24 4 years ago

    @Benno: I wouldnt call it "half-assed" but I would also really like voice-messages like 360 has... faster than typing with a controller.

  • Rash' #25 4 years ago

    The problem I have with Achievements and now this Trophy business is that they encourage gamers to engage with each other competitively. That's all well and good for a hardcore market which granted MS have targeted from day one, but does it have to be a feature in all games? And does it have to be a mandatory feature on the gamer profile. Shouldn't gamers be given the choice to be involved in such a set up. Not everybody wants to be judged on their playing habits competitively.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 12:35

  • Darren #26 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus - So you've never played an online game where people aren't playing the game properly because they're more interested in getting the Achievements then, either on their own or as part of a group? That's the ruining part I'm referring to. Of course, without the Achievements they'd have no reason to do it. OK so 'ruin' is perhaps too strong a word but they certainly can *spoil* games for others. I know because I've come across it several times myself. ;)

  • zuljin #27 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus
    "No, they really cannot ruin any game. Achievements dont unlock anything except a few meaningless points on your gamertag, so you lose NOTHING of the game if you dont hit achievements."

    Are you kidding me? You've obviously never played Gears online...

    EDIT: 15 seconds too late...
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 12:37

  • Darren #28 4 years ago

    Thank you, zuljin! :)

  • bad09 #29 4 years ago

    @ Rash'

    I don't think so. To most normal people it's not willy waving "look at my score" it's ACHIEVEMENTS. Even my girlfriend feels proud when she unlocks them and feels she's accomplished something in the game. She cares not about getting (or who has) the bigger score and neither do I to be honest.

    Only the hardest of the hardcore (and maybe children) truly give a crap about the actual score.

  • Rash' #30 4 years ago

    farticusmaximus & bad09: Darren illustrated the point perfectly, and what if the style of the game doesn't suit the feature? Flow for example wouldn't sit well IMO.

  • bad09 #31 4 years ago

    @ Rash'

    To be honest I've never thought about, or noticed it. If people are playing for achievements online it hasn't ruined any online games I've played, even Gears.

  • Rash' #32 4 years ago

    farticusmaximus, I guess ultimately as the consoles go more mainstream I'm not convinced it's implementation is well suited for a such a broad demographic.

  • smoison #33 4 years ago

    At least i'm not alone thinking trophies (like achievements) are totally useless and bring nothing interesting to gameing.

  • andywilkie35 #34 4 years ago

    Call of Duty 4 had the achievements idea down perfectly, and Infinity Ward came out and said that they don't put online achievements in their games because (as said above) people change their game for the achievements thus ruining the experience.

    I imagine that developers will put the Tophy system in their games going forward, I think the idea that Sony have of "levelling up" means that "trophy whores" (obviously the equivalent of the 360 "achievement whores";) will want to play games with trophies. not necessarily saying they'll play it if its a shit game....actually if they're a trophy whore they will!

    I hope they add trophies for Metal Gear Solid 4...

  • Rash' #35 4 years ago

    Would a Team ICO game suit such a competitive framework when the work is artistically driven?
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 12:50

  • The_Inquisitor #36 4 years ago

    Cool, an excuse to play all my games again. : )

    I like many couldn't give a monkeys how many achievement points I have though but sometimes it gives you an excuse to vary what you play. If it wasn't for people hunting for achievements, many online games would now be as dead as a dodo now.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 12:54

  • SeesThroughAll #37 4 years ago

    Just a bunch of bronze trophies for fl0w, I guess that would be appropriate.

    In any case, small-scale games are never going to contribute to your level as much as large-scale ones. This is still better than the Gamerscore approach.

  • Darren #38 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus - I never said Achievements were bad though... I said that they have their pros and cons but, in my opinion, they do have a tendency to spoil online games whereas they wouldn't if they didn't have them at all. I don't expect you to agree with that, I'm just expressing what *I* think based on my own experiences. :p

  • des #39 4 years ago

    No mandatory=fail

  • zuljin #40 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus
    No its not complaining for complainings sake. If a reward causes people to go solo in what is essentially a team game, then yes it ruins the game because I like playing in teams! In fact, its why I tend to buy team-oriented games.

    Not to mention as soon as you attach a reward to something people will be much more inclined to cheat to get to it. I'm looking at Warhawk in this instance, with good people getting kicked, or even flag carriers getting kicked.

    EDIT: And ditto, I didn't say achievements were bad, but they can detract from a game.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 13:00

  • MasterNameless #41 4 years ago

    Referring to the Acheivements ruin online games discussion, I must say it does annoy me in Halo 3, especially in Rumble Pit games, where you get American teenagers(usually) constantly asking people to help them get their 'Overkill' achievement or some such. It's probably more prolific in Halo 3 as when you get all 1000 gamerpoints for the game you get a samurai sword on your back. It is an unusually strong incentive to get all the achievements, especially if you're a Ninja Gaiden fan - it is Ryu Hayabusa's Dragon sword no less! It's hardly an achievement though really when you have to go begging people in every game to help you get them...

    I've never noticed it in Gears, but it would annoy me all the same. I wouldn't go as far as saying it ruins, or even spoils the game, for me it just gets on my nerves. As farticusmaximus says though, kids will always piss you off on Live, or PSN for that matter, there's no getting away from that really. Let's just hope this doesn't make them more vocal and annoying on PSN.

    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 13:02

  • SeesThroughAll #42 4 years ago

    If a reward causes people to go solo iin what is essentially a team game, then yes it ruins the game because I like playing in teams!

    If a developer makes a game that should played as a team game reward individualist behavior, then something must have gone wrong with the game design, isn't it?

    This isn't a fundamental flaw in achievement schemes on it's own. It's more of a case of misdirection of developers when choosing what to reward.

  • bad09 #43 4 years ago

    Come to think of it, I did used to work with a guy who used to play with just friends online just to get achievements and rankings, but they were in there own games so it didn't affect anyone else. He asked me to play online with DOA4 and let each other pummel one another to get our ratings up (for the S rank etc) but I said no thanks, How could I judge my ranking with other players if I cheated and ranked up without earning it?

  • TurboBailey #44 4 years ago

    Achievements on 360 are dead good! hopefully this will add life to some ps3 games

  • DanWhitehead #45 4 years ago

    lol the PS3 doesnt have achievements so the xbots bash it...then they get it for free and everyone says "what's the point?"

    I'm pretty sure that Xbox achievements are free as well.

  • Prodigy_BE #46 4 years ago

    I want a pet monkey.

  • BobsUncle #47 4 years ago

    I think Achievements are a very clever idea and can make MP games much more interesting. E.g. 'Get X number of kills with a pistol' makes people (that want that achievement) play with inferior weapons to other people which will increase their own challenge.

    It doesn't ruin my game if I'm running around with an assault rifle and some other guy has a peashooter.

    I'm not sure how they ruined GoW, I only played it for a little while before the Americans ruined it for me instead.

  • bad09 #48 4 years ago

    "I'm not sure how they ruined GoW, I only played it for a little while before the Americans ruined it for me instead."

    LOL you're gay nigga, nigga nigga gay...noob ;)

  • krudd #49 4 years ago

    Well my only interaction with achievements is on Steam and mostly just Team Fortress 2!! I find them adding loads to the gameplay!! But saying that I do play the game with the team and don't just do stuff on my own to get the achievements!

    I was complaining to a friend about how the hell am I supposed to get the achievements that involve playing with friends when none of my steam friends have TF2 and he just said add people, play with them and then delete them ... I for one am not bothered and find it more fun to nag friends to get the game and EARN the achievement that way!!!

  • oreillymj #50 4 years ago

    Am expecting the Burnout patch, which also just happens to be getting released tomorrow, to have some previously unmentioned goodies for PS3 owners. Presumably Criterion couldn't say that trophy support was coming in the Cagney update, but I've got fingers & toes Xrossed.

  • mrpon #51 4 years ago

    Retrospective shirley?

  • Darren #52 4 years ago

    @oreillymj - I know Burnout Paradise on the PS3 is definitely getting the ability to play custom soundtracks so I guess that's due to the new firmware.

  • MasterNameless #53 4 years ago

    @evilfoxhound

    It's a little more than harsh to paint all Americans with that same brush. We unfortunately have the time difference against us, when we play online at 10pm, the little American brats are just getting home from school... at 5am, the Americans are not nearly as offensive and obnoxious - shame I'm not often playing at 5am!

    I've heard plenty of annoying english and french twats online if you play early enough in the day. In fact, I've heard plenty of bigotted English adults online too, it's impossible to get away from it entirely!

    edit: typos... as usual.
    Edited by 2 at 01/07/08 @ 13:38

  • oreillymj #54 4 years ago

    Just checked the Criterion web-site and Cagney is now due on the 9th or 10th July. For some reason I thought it was due out tomorrow. Now I look like a tit.

  • bad09 #55 4 years ago

    @ evilfoxhound

    Yeah Live is full of young angry yanks insecure in their sexuality but I've meet a couple of fools on PSN to. I tend to keep the mic off in those games. :)


    DISCLAIMER!!!
    Not all Live or PSN users are of this ilk, and in general are a lovely bunch of human beings, mostly....

  • napalm68 #56 4 years ago

    Any way to turn off trophys? I'm not a 5yo school kid. I don't need fucking meaningless gold stars to make me feel awesome about myself, and I don't want "woop woop woops" interrupting gameplay...

  • bad09 #57 4 years ago

    "Any way to turn off trophys? I'm not a 5yo school kid. I don't need fucking meaningless gold stars to make me feel awesome about myself, and I don't want "woop woop woops" interrupting gameplay..."

    "woop woop woop" grumpy old git achievement unlocked - 50gp

  • DrDamn #58 4 years ago

    I think it is a very good idea that they aren't mandatory. Some games just don't suit it or developers don't/can't put the required effort in. So why make them and get a half assed load of crap? The best achievements / trophies are the ones where they extend the gameplay available by being well structured challenges outside the main game or are given for exceptional feats in the main game.

    I have seen some Achievement boosting in online games, but in these cases they boost get the achievement and move on. Much more often is the boosting of stats in games which can ruin online play - nothing to do with achievements. A group of mechanics stood round an over turned jeep in BFBC for example. Stick of C4 normally sorts them out though ;).

  • Darren #59 4 years ago

    @ evilfoxhound - "I'm sure that a little box appearing in the corner of your screen for a few soconds won't hurt you, napalm68."

    He won't even have to see those... you can turn off ALL notifications, can't you?

  • SeesThroughAll #60 4 years ago

    @Darren:

    About Burnout: It's getting patched for the bikes and the custom soundtracks, so, yes. Same with notifications, you can turn off everything. And I guess that includes Trophy Awards.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 17:37

  • SeesThroughAll #61 4 years ago

    @bad09:

    No network is immune to those types.
    I once met a guy on PSN who kept on beating me on MKII and went on and on about how I needed to "elite" to stand a chance against him...

    So, yeah, it sucks.

  • drumbaby #62 4 years ago

    "This "trophy" story that sony even talks about is the cheapest copy from the xbox patern they could ever do... "

    Haha, excellent...good for them!

  • The_Programmer #63 4 years ago

    For all those people who have trouble with annoying people on Xbox Live - you do know that you can mute individual people and you can also select an option to avoid those people in future games.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 17:44

  • GamesConnoisseur #64 4 years ago

    Perhaps too much is being made about the new adoption of trophies for PS3, I believe the intentions is to add a level of fun, to give incentive for replayability, to better yourself and as a comparasion with your friends (rather than strangers which is meaningless).

    That is how I have always used X360's achievement with my circle of X360 buddies, and exchanging tips of how had achieved a difficult task and so on.

    The score is not that important I agree fully, Achievements have given extra mileage to games in my view and glad that PS3 owners will have the same opportunity. Sure achievement system doesnt work exactly same way at all the times, but would have been good if Sony could have the feature included in all the games. Interesting for us to see how trophies would impact on gaming in future.

    Dont like it? Ignore it, but wont believe you if you DONT feel a chuff of pride when you see 'Plantinum Trophy unlocked' and not wanting to shout Yay!

    What is European Championship victory worth if with just a title awarded for the hard efforts won, without a bit of a glitter and a great fanfare? Exactly the same here but just a slightly different system for X360 and PS3.

  • zisssou #65 4 years ago

    When i had my 360 i was obcessed with getting acheivements. Its sad but also quite clever, makes you get more out of a game.

  • AOFanboi #66 4 years ago

    I want my "achievements" to be in-game, like signature takedowns and the like in the Burnout series, or even the "figurines" in SSBM on the Gamecube. Displaying them in public is like waving your p*nis around.

  • Zander #67 4 years ago

    Not that i am moaning (I am just happy this has finally arrived) but now we need HOME as well, something they haven't copied from nintendo or microsoft. Oh and better UI in the xmb (xbox blades are so much easier to use i think).

    ""I'm not sure how they ruined GoW, I only played it for a little while before the Americans ruined it for me instead."

    LOL you're gay nigga, nigga nigga gay...noob ;)"

    Hahahaha! Those pesky Americans and their insecurities. Dooshbags.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/08 @ 19:05

  • lindblum_resident #68 4 years ago

    Actually, it seems that whether or not Trophies are retroactive depends on the developer. The Criterion guys have just announced that Burnout Paradise will support Trophies (through an update of their own) and that they will be retroactive. In other words, if you have already done what a Trophy requires you to do, you'll have it as soon as you update Burnout Paradise.

  • Beano #69 4 years ago

    "I'm pretty sure that Xbox achievements are free as well. "

    True... buuuut some achievements are actually online mode dependent ;)

  • Beano #70 4 years ago

    @SeesThroughAll : But a privacy setting (like 360 has) to hide trophies would still be nice.

  • timberwolf #71 4 years ago

    ok. it's midnight anyone have it yet. :D ...also i hate ??? achieves on xbox and all multiplayer achieves are impossible for games with no community or once the community has left plus some bloody stupid be first on leaderboard acheives... so no ??? and no multiplayer trophies please developers or i will ignore them in the hope people realise anyone can kill 10 people with headshots. grrrrrrrrrrr... bad ea. i've got it and now i want a trophy.....
    Edited by 2 at 02/07/08 @ 05:35

  • vaudrj #72 4 years ago

    Got it , downloading the update now

  • Beano #73 4 years ago

    No Trophy sounds in Super Stardust!!!... FAIL FAIL FAIL !!!!11

    ;)

    (looks pretty good actually but with a few minor niggles)

  • gooners2006 #74 4 years ago

    the bastard music doesn't work with any of my PS3 games grrrrrrrrr

  • Beano #75 4 years ago

    In-game XMB soundtracks must be supported by each game. SSHD 4.0 does still not but have custom soundtrack option allready.

    Maybe Pixeljunk Monsters will get a update very soon?.. it was demoed with XMB music in the 2.40 demo video.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/08 @ 10:38

  • makeamazing #76 4 years ago

    Yay upgrading to 2.4 killed my PS3... oh great.

    Glad its pretty new, sony wanted to replace it with a reconditioned unit, i took it back to the store i purchased it from. Lets hope my new PS3 doesnt have the same problem or Im going to be pretty mad!

  • gooners2006 #77 4 years ago

    "davisorle gets a seizure everytime you mention 'Sony'."

    SONY, SONY, SONY, SONY lol