PS3 firmware upped to 2.0

Latest update will add ability to turn system on remotely, stream SCEA-penned news to cross media bar.

Sony is continuing to tweak the interface and abilities of the PlayStation 3, as today the company announced the impending release of system firmware 2.0.

Set to become available tomorrow, the new update will add a handful of features to the PS3. One such addition is the "remote start" option that lets users connecting to the system with a PlayStation Portable turn the PS3's power on from the handheld using a wireless Internet connection. The update will also add an "information board" to the PS3's main cross media bar. The board will be a streaming news ticker with updates and announcements provided by Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Other features being added include the ability for users to create custom themes (sets of matching custom icons and wallpapers) for their systems, as well as playlists for music and pictures. Finally, a PlayStation Network category will be added to the cross media bar that includes settings and account management for the PlayStation Store, and will also play a role in "several new initiatives planned for the future."

321 Comments

  • halokila

    Posted Dec 19, 2007 4:15 pm PT

    hey dragonman46534, at least the online is is free.

  • ctg867

    Posted Nov 9, 2007 10:12 pm PT

    Cool, more to look forward to when I drop the $400 to get it this holiday.

  • dragonman46534

    Posted Nov 9, 2007 10:21 am PT

    I paid 600 dollars just for the system, when it first came out,, and hudreds more on controllers and games, then they drop the price? and the online doesnt have what xbox has? If i knew this from the begining i would have waited to get the ps3 and got an xbox instead,, i would have saved money and had a better online experiance. this is so stupid, udmatador your right,, they have been stiffing us for way too long, all the devs and people at sony are taking their sweet A** time making this stuff. It would be better if they made updates more frequent, but we get a new update every other month and a half, they work for the company, but all they are doing are playing with each others ding dongs playing games that arent out yet while we pay these guys money to just jerk off.. They are lucky to have these jobs as devs and work for a company like sony, but they take it for granted, i bet half of them hate playing video games, i think these people are in the wrong industry for line of work,,,, have you guys ever seen the people who do previews, or make games on these videos? They act like they got it so freakin bad, they work so hard, and honestly, even the devs are unenthusiastic about they games they make,, i think its not that they cant get xmb out there, its that they are so involved in themselves, and not dedicated enough to wanna put stuff like in game xmb out there. If i was God,, i would vanquish all these bastards that work at sony, and put people like me that love playstation, to make these games, and software so the majority of people who play video games can have a true next gen experiance,, its not about money,, its not about anything else but what really makes people happy,,, who cares about making your ps3 prettier than it already is? we want our xmb freedom! We want what we paid for! I paid more than i should have already!

  • Devvy01

    Posted Nov 9, 2007 6:08 am PT

    Service Pack 2, with built in failure screen saver..

  • ninjajuggalo810

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:37 pm PT

    Great! i hope they add a sleep feature i hate letting my blu rays playing the menu all night

  • renatito15

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 6:00 pm PT

    this is stupid in game XBM we want in XBM

  • udmatador

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 5:59 pm PT

    um ok. great the ps3. hm. lets look at what it has brought to the table in the last year, shall we? ok, first they boast all of this great hardware so the gullible people think its the ultimate machine, because to most vidiots, power is everything. then they start talking about how they were going to have an massive core title line up for release. i think when they released they had less than 10 games? next, lets take a look at this oh so fabulous and populated online community. hmmm, all i hear are crickets chirping. ok, now i want to direct your attention to the updates. usually when software gets a full version update, its because some major changes are happening to the software and its going to change the entire program. like i said below we got meager asthetics and some trivial addons. yes, sony built the ps3 with all this new hardware that is capable of top-of-the-line console gaming, but the amount of letdowns the console has given to us so far is astounding. im not a fanboy to any console. each console has there own resepective strengths. sony has always been #1 for RPG's, series titles (some which now are moving to other consoles), platformers and action games. 3rd party dev's are starting to abandon this console because of poor sales. they tried to charge us 599 for something that doesn't do much compared to other consoles. sales are still dismal, sony keeps dropping thier price to increase sales, when all they gotta do is bring something unique to teh table like they should have when it was released. its was already a year behind xbox, and now its twice that. so if anyone needs a clue. it's sony.

  • obliviousturkey

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 5:39 pm PT

    udmatador you need to get a freakin clue if you think sony's done nothing for us. sure i would have liked in game xmb but hey we've waited this long why not just a little more? heck they created the ps3 so we know sony stepped up to the plate there

  • dorohala

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 5:38 pm PT

    I think theres alot of people online trying to download this new firmware, you goner have to wait for a bit!!! It might take some time but you will get it I hope!!!

  • udmatador

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 5:20 pm PT

    what the heck sony?! this is 2.0? you call call adding some meager asthetics and remote start a full version upgrade? since i've bought this system it has been nothing but a paper weight and you would think that with as weak as this systems history has been they would at LEAST AT *@$#ing LEAST update the XMB to be accessed during gameplay. I have no idea why you feel the need to constantly let us down. You have brought nothing to the table since the release of this machine. NOTHING!!! Home better be amazing. I'm having a hard time keeping this console on my shelf and not selling it back to go buy a new video card for my PC, or some new controllers for my 360 because they are worn from being the only machine thats worth turning on. Do something Sony. Do something to set this lame thing apart from 360 and wii. Remedy your customers buyer remorse and give us something really amazing with home. Bring us a community and a working in game XMB! You're so far behind. please....please....

    /tear
    /wrist
    /die

  • clawboy

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    I just downloaded this long waited update and I'm impressed. So sorry that you're having problems with the long awaited update fuelhandler. Maybe because so many people are downloading 2.0 the servers are causing you're Ps3 to act out. Wait until tomorrow. Everything should be OK by then.

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 4:51 pm PT

    Awesome! I wished it came with Home though.

    Still, I've been waiting for an update!

  • fuelhandler

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 4:40 pm PT

    I just updated my PS3, and it keeps locking up when I go into some of the settings (freezes, until I turn the power switch on the back off and on again). I turned off that annoying stock ticker news ticker thing... and it seems ok now... it appears to crash and freeze if you try to select a setting submenu while the stock ticker thing is conecting to the internet. I also changed the theme setting, and I couldn't change it back, because it kept crashing and locking up whenever I tried to go back into themes... I had to reset the system, to get it back to normal. I assume I won't be the only one having this problem, so hopefully Sony will come up with a fix soon.

  • goliath98

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 4:22 pm PT

    That's pretty sweet.

  • gusnitro

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 3:48 pm PT

    I was hoping for the feature that lets you play music straight from your ps3 hard drive while playing games.=(

  • dragonman46534

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 3:44 pm PT

    oh yeah,, anyone know how to take that heart or rainbow off of the theme airbrush?,,, i like the way the icons look, but that heart and reainbow is pretty fruity

  • dragonman46534

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 3:41 pm PT

    yeah i might have been a lil dramatic when i was saying that the new firmware was worthless, i do apologize, for psp owers its probably a godsend, even though you can just use your ps remote to turn it on, but as for that dude darkride66 that said people can just use the phone,,, well thats what i do and its a pain in the butt, i have friends from all over the U.S. and keeping their phone numbers has been hard for me to remember or write down and not misplace it,, its just more convienent for you to voice chat on the ps3, no looking for phone numbers, or remembering them, its just impractical, if you guys wanna see what im talking about with the eye toy and the xmb, go to the playstation.com website and look at the accesories page,,, look for the playstation eye and there will be a video stream there that you just push the play button,, it takes a second to buff out, but you will see a guy playing a game, then all of a sudden some other person sends him a chat invite, he pauses the game and then instantly is brought up to the voice chat lounge,, can you guys tell me if im crazy, is that xmb at its best? and to darkride66,, its easier to get information about stuff if you look for it,,, or that might to radical for you?

  • Esteban011487

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 2:57 pm PT

    I would like to hear about Home!.

  • NinjaMunkey01

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 1:33 pm PT

    makemeweak I'll tell you why. I also have a psp, and the ps3 is downstairs so sometimes I cannot use it as others are using the tv. Having to turn on the ps3, change the AV, turn remote play on, then swich the AV back is annoying for others watching. Having this remote start cuts out all the having to turn it on yourself. And it actually makes remote play what it is meant to be. Using your ps3's media ANYWHERE. Something you cannot do if you are out of the house with the ps3 turned off. Now thats not aproblem.

    I think thei update is great plus with theme support (which I have tried) I can customise my ps3 further. Which is great. Plus the playlists optio is good but no in game media cross bar? thats annoying.

  • SamuriChamploo

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 1:28 pm PT

    Wonderful. But, what about Home?

  • makemeweak

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:51 am PT

    Why on earth would you want to remote start your PS3?

  • jawshoeuh

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:50 am PT

    "dragonman4653
    I went on the playstation.com site, and i saw a clip for the accesory product playstation eye, and some dude is sitting there playing a game, then got an instant message from a friend that wasnt even playing a game, he paused the game and instantly started video chatting with his friends,,, i mean if playstation doesnt have that capability, then why use false advertisment? Its a good camera, its better than eye toy, but damn man, why they make it look so cool, but then not have anything close to what that product said that it could do in the official playstation web site? its freakin depressing."

    I haven't seen that clip, but man I totally agree. they really need to improve the voice chat experience on psn. It should definitely be easily accessible in-game by pressing the ps button and you shouldn't have to quit your game to say "hey man, i'll play tekken in a minute"... And it seems like a lot of the games just have poor voice chat capabilities. Like I thought Joust and Gauntlet II and MK II would be cool to play online with your buddies, but as far as I can tell there's no voice chat what so ever. You may as well be playing against the computer. And on other games the voice chat just isnt very good. So far from what I've played Motorstorm and Tekken give you the best online experience when playing with friends. Resistance and Warhawk are fun, but trying to locate your friends and start a game with them is usually a pain in the ass and if you're on opposing teams you can't talk to each other etc etc etc.

  • ericblue21

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:50 am PT

    I love the air paint background and icon. Chat room looks even better and easier to use. It is a big improvement

  • darkride66

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:37 am PT

    Prior to this news I hadn't even heard of in-game XMB. When did this become an issue? Expect better friend management to be part of @home. In the meantime, you can always pay MS $50 bucks every year for that feature. Or use a phone. I know, it's a radical idea, but it still works.

  • MrSickVisionz

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:29 am PT

    I think you're gonna need one hell of a wi-fi spot to stream the HD content that you download on PSN to your PSP. I guess its cool that you can stream music though. I wonder how much all of that will drain your PSP battery though. You may not have enough juics left to actually play games once you've had wi-fi active while streaming an HD movie and music.

  • dragonman46534

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:11 am PT

    I went on the playstation.com site, and i saw a clip for the accesory product playstation eye, and some dude is sitting there playing a game, then got an instant message from a friend that wasnt even playing a game, he paused the game and instantly started video chatting with his friends,,, i mean if playstation doesnt have that capability, then why use false advertisment? Its a good camera, its better than eye toy, but damn man, why they make it look so cool, but then not have anything close to what that product said that it could do in the official playstation web site? its freakin depressing.

  • evergrant2

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:08 am PT

    nice! i might have to get a psp imagine that.

  • dragonman46534

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 11:02 am PT

    the 2.0 version is better than the ones we had before,, but they should concentrate on the in-game xmb before they do updates like this, i mean, xmb is the backbone of online capabilities, we all have cd players, and computers, us hard core gamers just wanna be able to communicate with our friends in the most convienent manner, for instance,, i just got the call of duty, and for anyone who knows anything about this game, there is no isntant messaging in the game, so in order to ask someone to invite you, or even say hi to somebody thats not in your party, you have to turn the game off, and use the xmb subject piece to say anything, then log back onto cod4, and all these long waits and load times, its just annoying . How much longer do we have to wait for in-game xmb? Ps4?! Are they even wanting to implement in game xmb? what the hell is going on? I heard the xbox360 has it,, why cant we?

  • tatu2004

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:52 am PT

    down loading right now...

  • freesac2

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:39 am PT

    sweet as hell. and hell no u cant do that with the 360 u kidding. get with the times. the next-gen times

  • hassam7

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:39 am PT

    keep going!

  • jamartaylor

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:32 am PT

    Wow, can't do that with 360.

  • Beefycake

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:28 am PT

    "several new initiatives planned for the future." ( Sigh ) oh well

  • skirlnik

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:24 am PT

    @BaillieBoy:

    Since you can stream your media from the PS3 to your PSP anywhere in the world that has a wifi access point, I'd say the remote start PSP function is actually pretty badass. It means you don't have to leave the PS3 on for weeks while you're away. So with a PC, a PS3, and a PSP I can watch anything on my computer from anywhere in the world.

    And some people still think the PS3 is dead. Pshaw.

    Edit: Also, Resistance was eventually upgraded to the point where you can access your XMB friends list in-game, so that feature is already in there somewhere. I think it's up to the developers to browse that section of their kits and implement it - that or Sony should send team Insomniac around to show people what's what.

  • Temmehkan

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:22 am PT

    Pain as been announced for a definite 2007 release date, with some other PSN titles http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16165

  • randomfulness

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:21 am PT

    I was expecting more but at least we can make folders now!

  • Temmehkan

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:20 am PT

    x-2tha-z There are Custom Soundtracks, geez people look at the playstation blog for all the features

  • x-2tha-z

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:20 am PT

    I don't care about any of that stuff. Where the **** is the custom soundtracks?

  • BaillieBoy posted Nov 8, 2007 10:18 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    BaillieBoy

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:18 am PT (hide)

    Turning your PS3 on from anywhere else but the room the actual console is in, is absolutely stupid. Yes, I may be in america, but I can turn my PS3 on all the way back in Scotland. Woo, my PS3 is awesome.

    That's just plain stupid...

  • Zoomer30

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:16 am PT

    hmmm...."several new initiatives planned for the future." Anyone know what that means?

    Home I bet.

  • Luck posted Nov 8, 2007 10:16 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    Luck

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:16 am PT (hide)

    Another step towards becoming the Dreamcast 2.0 - Sony really needs to step up their game. I dont even know if my PS3 can still turn on, since its been about 2 months since the last time I turned it on. Who cares about updates....give me more GAMES!!!! Uncharted does look good though...but thats about it in over 1 YEAR!

  • lamprey263

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:12 am PT

    they need to spend more time putting more PS1 games up on PSN

  • delcidanddarth

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:06 am PT

    @megamanzero32

    They've had custom wallpapers for a while now. This update provides for custom themes, meaning custom icons. They could have just said custom icons.

    I don't see how adding remote powering on (and hopefully off) plus a news ticker is worthy of a .0 release. That's usually reserved for a major overhaul.

  • blancobo

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:03 am PT

    To those who do not have a clue on the news in here... The remote start application is the one which enables the PSP to turn on the PS3 via a network connection (different from that able from the PSP and the PS3) and not only browse the PS3 content, but also listen to the playlists and any PS3 content via an internet connection. Some of the comments made below are way off... like a guy (or little mammas boy)arguing that the XBox has this feature... well the PS3 also has the feature (mammas boy is talking about) in its Sixasis control. The feature added goes beyond current XB360 and PS3 compared functionality. Finally- if there is ANYONE out there which wants to call me a fanboy, then PLEASE know that I have a XB360, a PS3, a PSP, a PS2 and a PS. Yes, it is true that the 360 is awesome in its own content, but then again... if you DO NOT know the news... restrain from looking like a fool. These new tweaks make it cool to access the PS3 via the PSP. It is frustrating when I come into this forums, where I want to read other GS member comments, and read some of the lost in context comments made. Then again... it is a free world, so ignorance can not be escaped sometimes.

  • margarypr

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 10:00 am PT

    The think I like most is the organization in this update and the playlist. Now I can put game folder, 1 for buyed games, 1 for demos and one for ps1 games. The remote play feature is acting weird but it works but sometimes turn on alone and that is weird. The theme thing is cool but I saw it in the PSP already so isn't a wow anyway they will put free themes and xbox u need to pay so kudos for that. I just hope they make a cool multimedia theme and no a childish theme and game themes, something for mature audience. The message board I though it was better but lets see.

    Like a guy said before, because it's doesn't have the in game xmb for music and message doesn't mean is a bad update because is cool indeed. The new networ icon seems out of place anyway but with themes it will not.

    Just a though, if the HOME let you chat in game, invite in game why they will make something to do that to be useless later? anyway HOME is just so far to wait it.

  • Chaz02787

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 9:54 am PT

    All this stuff sounds like stuff that was part of the Xbox 360s original firmware....I guess it's about time Sony added this stuff.

  • YourDaddy88

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 9:53 am PT

    NicAgent said:
    "Who cares if you could turn your PS3 on through your PSP - Xbox 360 has long had that feature with its wireless controllers turning on the system. News ticker? Ok Xbox 360 doesn't have that but that's what GameSpot is for!"

    The PS3 also had the ability to turn on and off through the controllers I think from day 1 kid. Now you can do it anywhere in the world with a PSP and wi-fi connection and access anything on the PS3 through it. Can the 360 do that?

  • Chiyo18

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 9:49 am PT

    does this mean that we can finally listen to our own music while playing games?? i hope so. i've been waiting for that^^

  • megamanzero32

    Posted Nov 8, 2007 9:49 am PT

    Meh, that isn't much. Oh well, took them long enough, to put freakin wallpapers.

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