Latest PS3 Firmware Updates

[JP]

I know, it can be so one dimensional talking like this at times.

Anyway, back on to subject...may be worth you having a read of this interview from last summer with the the people in charge of the firmware updates.

[kernow]

Why are people seperating the bios and os , its all firmware.

when you update the firmware on an ipod or something for example, the firmware is the operating system too. on a complex machine such as this there is no seperation, the firmware is the operating system.

on a different note. something has changed on this update because on the last firmware I couldn't play certain div/x movies streamed from my apache webserv, whereas now, more of them play. So I believe they might have tweaked the codec too but not mentioned anything. who knows.

[Matt]

http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2008/5/29-48

We've finally received word that the long awaited, and much rumored, PlayStation 3 Firmware Update 2.40 is indeed the real deal and is said to be coming relatively soon. Many of the most requested features, such as a universal friends list and in-game messaging will be included, in addition to a few rather nice surprises (*cough*soundtracks*cough*). We definitely can't divulge all of the details, but trust us, it's coming. We aren't yet 100% sure of the actual release date, but all signs point to sometime in June. We're guesing that Sony will probably detail 2.40 in the coming weeks.

Sounding good. I was worried ingame XMB would be an incrementally improving system - at first you'd get a friends list, next version invites, etc. If they get a first version out that does it all I'll be very impressed

[Number45]

Nice, and about time too, assuming it comes to fruition.

[Matt]

Now I just need to add all you guys to my friends list. Only have John on it ATM.

[Number45]

I think I have room, I just randomly delete people once in a while.

I don't do a great deal of online gaming anyway. Warhawk is the only PS3 gave I've put any real online time into.

[Matt]

Yeah that's on my "must get" list, but not buying any new games right now.

[JP]

Possibly real I suppose. If it is it's showing icons for trophies, a clock in the top right and also Bioshock running underneath. There's also some other icons visible but they may just be because it's a dev setup.

[Matt]

Looking good, nice and quick back in to the game

Hope you can do frame buffer dumps for screenshots. You never know.

[JP]

Looking good, nice and quick back in to the game

Hope you can do frame buffer dumps for screen shots. You never know.

Most of what it shows there is available in some games already and moving from the game XMB and back again is instant.

A couple of games also have the option to take screen shots. I'm not sure now but I think Resistance is one of them?

Phil Harrison talked ages ago about having the option to record videos & take screen shots while playing future games. With the latest support for YouTube and the fact that it's already been done in some games seems to suggest that it's on the way.

In Resistance, I think it's Resistance, it just copies the screen to an XMB folder when you press Print Screen on a keyboard. That's not so far away from using a button in a pause menu.

That video shows that there will be access to the video section of the XMB, that may be because it's a dev kit or it may suggest that video/screen capture is coming with the next update.

I'm still not 100% convinced that the video is real though. It may well be and I don't understand why people would bother to fake it but if you are watching a downloaded video you can press the PlayStation button on the controller and navigate the XMB while the video plays on underneath it.

EDIT:
Just checked, it is Resistance and you can also do it in fl0w once you have the expansion pavk.

[kernow]

Yeah, you can take a screenshot in resistance by pressing printscreen on an attached keyboard, although I think it might only be for multiplayer online.

2.4 wherrre

[Matt]

Yeah I don't get why someone would fake it - it's happened before and it'll keep happening. Don't see why anyone would waste their time, but what do I know.

Didn't know some games had XMB already, and the screenshot is cool. There were loads of times on the 360 I wanted to take screenshots (REAL screenshots, not the Halo3 super sample bull****). If that's added to the PS3 for all games - and there's no reason I can think of why it can't - then that's great news.

I can't see all video recording being possible on all games, that would be for the devs to add. The problem is, realtime encoding, despite the PS3 having an abundance of encoding potential, would cost a little SPU time and impact game performance as would HDD recording. I'm sure YouTube will be fully featured in LBP

[kernow]

The Youtube API will indeed be nice if a lot of games support it.

[JP]

Didn't know some games had XMB already, and the screenshot is cool. There were loads of times on the 360 I wanted to take screenshots (REAL screenshots, not the Halo3 super sample bull****). If that's added to the PS3 for all games - and there's no reason I can think of why it can't - then that's great news.

I've just sent you a few screens from Resistance & fl0w so check your PSN message box. They're just JPGs so it's easy enough to get shots from your PS3 to PC if you needed to.

[kernow]

Screenshots in fl0w? how so?