Sony posts PS3 update - two weeks after the last one

Hardly two weeks have passed since Sony released the PS3’s version 2.0 firmware update. However, the electronics giant has now released version 2.01, focusing this time on fixing instability issues. The update promises to improve stability issues associated with PS3 software, such as crashing or freezing during gameplay. It …

[Anonymous Coward]

why?

>Sony has also made changes to the option that allows a PSP to remotely start up a PS3 over the internet, which was introduced in firmware 2.0. Some gamers have reported this feature was unreliable

why would you want to remotely start up a PS3 ?

anyway i bet it would use almost as much power been on stand by listening for the remote start up command or what ever then it would if you just left it on, as i guess it would be a webpanel or similar thing that would be listening for a connection to tell it to boot

[Brent Carpenter]

Huzzah!!

About time too.

I have been slightly annoyed over the past 8 months due to the occasional crashes and freezes, but have been increasingly worried during the past couple of weeks.

Ratchet & Clank - No problems whatsoever.

Call of Duty 4 - Occasional issues, mostly while online.

Assassin's Creed - 4 freezes in as many days, the only thing marring an otherwise fantastic game.

I was beginning to think this might be Sony's version of the Red Ring of Death (which Micro$oft have managed to keep reasonably quiet, save for the usual Internet rumblings. Do I believe the 61% of machines affected statistic I read the other day?).

It would be easy to beat Sony over the head with the various problems we have suffered since launch, but they have reacted quickly with a lot of issues so I try not to feel too hard-done-by if my own personal gripe is not attended to immediately (I know people are still waiting for DivX/WMV support, interactive BluRay, etc.)

PS3 is just maturing from its infancy and the recent slew of impressive titles (exclusive or not) show it should go from strength to strength, given the support it deserves.

As a person who has had a PS3 from launch day and regularly extols the virtues of Sony's black slab anywhere he can, surely that qualifies for a bit of cashback - eh, Phil Harrison? ;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

RE: why?

So let's say you set playtv to record your favourite show to the HDD while you're on holiday, you take your PSP, you can watch it there and then. Or if you forgot to set it to record before you left, do it while you're away. That's the kind of application Sony have in mind.

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe Assassins Creed will not keep breaking now

I hope that the recent games like Assassins Creed and CoD4 are fixed, as I have also suffered numerous crashes and hangs.

I may be not as much as a fan boy as Brent, but do agree that the console is still in its infancy, and quick patching like this can only endear the end users to the monolith, and not frustrate them as the hardware failings of the Xbox360 did to its.

[Matthew LaShure]

Lets just be honest

Come on Sony... get it over with, scrap your gaming system and admit you screwed the pooch on this one....

[Anonymous Coward]

Remote start

The ps3 lets you play some games off it with it displayed on the psp, so if you are near wifi you can get the game streamed to your psp, but the ps3 has to be on, and that sucker gets f'ing hot.

Its a neat feature for those who have both, and totally useless to those of us who dont have a psp.

[Colin Guthrie]

Re: why?

Dude, WoL (Wake on LAN - often called Magic Packet) has been part of PC hardware for years. Just look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN

Your ATX machine that you turn "off" can probably be woken up via this technique. It uses very little power.

As for why, you PS3 can have lots of content on it, be it videos, music, games etc. and streaming these to your PSP could very well be desirable.

Now that the PS3 could record TV shows for you it would be nice if you could watch your favourite show on the move :)

[Andy Ivey]

RE: why?

I guess the first thing to answer is why you would need your PS3 turned on when you are not sitting in front of it. The latest firmware enabled “the remote playback of media files on that system fed to the PSP. This particular feature has been anticipated and discussed for some time, and is a cornerstone to Sony's vision of the PSN evolving into a multi-platform network.”

I‘m not an environmentalist, but the ability to remotely power on a device (ex: wake-on-LAN) is generally considered a great way to conserve a device’s total energy consumption. The alternative to WOL is to leave the system powered on around the clock. I assume that would use a bit more power than a network device waiting for a packet telling it to turn on. If standby power consumption is a concern, the PS3 can be easily disconnected from the wall.

[Anonymous Coward]

re: Let's just be honest

"Come on Sony... get it over with, scrap your gaming system and admit you screwed the pooch on this one...."

Scrap a gaming system that is one year old and has sold six million systems? (even though it was much more expensive than the competition)

By your logic Microsoft should have scrapped the Xbox 360 at the one year mark too, as by then they had only sold about the same number of consoles...

[Anonymous Coward]

updated-dated

had mine a fortnight - luv it to bits..

froze twice, both times after the update.. still in comparison to the many pc's I use - no big deal...maybe the microsoft update team are moonlighting at sony ;)

[Anonymous Coward]

RE: Maybe Assassins Creed will not keep breaking now

what about Apollo Creed? :-)

Mnar!

[Brent Carpenter]

@ Anonymous Coward

As I recall good ol' Apollo is broken beyond repair by that nasty Ivan Drago!

What about Creed-ence Clearwater Revival? :-)

Fnar!