Sony readying new PS3, PSP firmware updates

It's not uncommon for developers of game software to find that adding or fixing one feature in a game winds up breaking something else entirely. That holds true for hardware as well, as shown by last week's version 1.92 firmware update for the PlayStation 3.

The system update was released in order to address some unspecified playability issues with the PS3's backward compatibility, but some gamers who downloaded it found they were soon having a hard time keeping the system connected to the Internet. On the PlayStation Blog yesterday, PlayStation Network operations director Eric Lempel advised affected users that help is on the way "in the next few days" with firmware update 1.93. Lempel mentioned no other changes set to be included in the new firmware, but did say it would address the last update's connection issues.

The PlayStation Portable is also set to receive new firmware soon, as Lempel detailed some planned changes to be implemented with the system's 3.71 software. The big addition will be support for themes on the system, with those being downloadable from Sony's Web sites or through the PlayStation Store. Other new features include the ability to play music while looking at photos or slideshows and a scene search for movies.