PS3 Firmware 3.0

[obonicus]

Sounds like the XMB was made uglier to accomodate ads. Anybody, have any suggestions on how to fix it?

That's an explanation that doesn't really cover everything that was changed, or covers them poorly. It's why PS store icon shows ads, or why there's a 'What's New' tab (which was there already, but less intrusive as the much more ugly 'ticker'). It doesn't really explain why the Friends List was changed the way it was, or why the font was made bigger.

IMO the most valid complaints about this change aren't about the ads, or the store, since you can turn off 'what's new' by default and can ignore most icons by passing them by quickly. It's the strange changes like blanking out other XMB icons after a short time, it's the solid-backgrounded friends list. As well as the 'this isn't really what people have been asking for' argument, which is more valid with every update. UI-wise, hopefully we'll be seeing refinements like we have for the PS STore, which IMO has been getting a slicker and slicker interface, so I'm slightly positive.

 

[jonabbey]

I must say, the improvements to the browser and its flash video support are pretty nice in 3.0.

Previously, I was unable to play video at Google Video, but so far, 3.0 has handled every flash video site I've been to.

 

[deathindustrial]

With NHL video streaming (at least with a Canucks propspect game I checked out yesterday) there does not appear to be full video acceleration happening with the PS3 Flash player. Full screening the vid resulted in a slideshow.

Cheers

 

[betan]

Here's an interesting editorial from Rob @ GI.biz...

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ad-nauseum-editorial

Sounds like the XMB was made uglier to accomodate ads. Anybody, have any suggestions on how to fix it?

Tommy McClain

XMB is definitely uglier. Even the default animated theme is uglier than the previous default "animated" theme. Fortunately you can revert back to it, but it goes to show how xmb "artists" are going for the cheap look with the price cut.

Admittedly the new what's new sticker looks better compared to previous infobar. Great thing about infobar though was that it had a disable option.

I guess among the new additions the primary negative for me is that. Another negative is with all the power, they are still unable to make fonts visible independent of background. Seriously? Accurate 3d head detection but not background dependent font outlining. :|

The biggest negative however, there is not a single thing that deserves version number increment to 3.00. Give me hibernation or something.

 

[jonabbey]

I guess among the new additions the primary negative for me is that. Another negative is with all the power, they are still unable to make fonts visible independent of background. Seriously? Accurate 3d head detection but not background dependent font outlining. :|

Amen to that. I wonder if the Japanese glyphs are too intricate for them to think of putting outlining on them, or something. Having some kind of shadowing or alpha channel fade around the letters to make them stand out against any background seems like a terribly obvious move.

Allowing themes to control the color of the text might be easier than doing outlining, but.. something, Sony.

 

[TheD]

I must say, the improvements to the browser and its flash video support are pretty nice in 3.0.

Previously, I was unable to play video at Google Video, but so far, 3.0 has handled every flash video site I've been to.

Not for me.
Youtube and Youtube XL on the PS3 don't support HD video, even low res youtube videos (youtube, not youtube XL) don't load up fast enough to stop buffering pauses (unlike on my PC) in the video and popdown menus don't work(youtube).
The Youtube XL site is much slower to load up than Youtube, the video control slider says that it has loaded up more video than what playback is upto but still stutters for a while, the mouse jumps around like crazy on the playback screen and to top it all off........

The PS3 crashes when I exit the browser from youtube xl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[patsu]

Firmware 3.0 is definitely less stable compared to 2.80. I get occasional crashes after exiting from different apps, not just the web browser. It still seems to me that something low level has changed (fresh code/bug ? ).

The web browser is less stable now too. I clicked on a link, saw the clock icon, but the page never come back. May be the network stack went out for lunch ? I watched a few youtube videos before that though, so it could be the optimized H.264 codec too.

 

[jonabbey]

Hm, the browser has seemed more stable to me, but I might have been using it less than before. I had lots of browser hangs before which necessitated my rebooting my PS3.

 

[patsu]

Regular HTML browsing seems okay/stable, but the web browser acted up after viewing some youtube videos for me. Accessing from my office, I have no issue watching the videos. This is a fast network afterall.

This is posted from PS3 by the way.

 

[Arwin]

I'm starting to think some of the initial instability issues were network related, as I've not have any more issues.

 

[Nesh]

Firmware 3.0 started to grow on me.

My "barin" has adjusted to the larger fonts, but then again on my 42'' TV they didnt look much bigger to begin with. They are more readable now thats for sure, which helps me when sit far from the display

I havent noticed any issues at all with it so far. The response overall looks to be faster.

Some things that might annoyed at the beginning dont annoy me now. I think it was mostly a matter of getting used to the unexpected changes than anything else. The additional Whats New icon helps me have an overall sense of my console's offerings and acts like a summary of what I should do or what I have done which I like. Its one small common space for everything to make the experience more unified whereas having all those icons separately on different sections brakes the various different experiences and reduces my chances of checking other things that otherwise wouldnt have, or would have checked out less.

I am satisfied in general.

 

[AzBat]

Hmm, seems like there's no unified opinion as they responses are all over the place. To me the the new friends list is uglier & the What's New section seems out of place. Other than that no big complaints. However, tirminyl had a great link showing how it could be made to look better. I'm sure it will take a few more iterations until they get to a point where it's more fluid.

Tommy McClain

 

[patsu]

Yeah that mock up looks more like XMB's original style. However it needs to be tweaked for SD and TV use. In its current form, it's more like a PC interface. e.g., The font size is too small for living room use.

EDIT:
The only real problem in "What's New" is the inconsistency (again !) in UI. Some icon requires you to press "Start" to launch. Some requires you to use "X" to launch. This is stupid. They should all use "X" like the rest of XMB. The user doesn't care whether the icon is a real app or a bookmark. They are just something the user wants to use now.

 

[specwarGP2]

Overall, FW 3.0 is pretty good IMO. There are only two things that I really would like to change.

first, the friend list looks bad. Instead of those grey boxes it should have a translucent box like in the mock up in tirminyl's link. It would be great if that little box showed trophy info, but it would have to update everytime you scrolled over, and that would get annoying fast.

Second, although I do like the what's new section, and how that's the first place you default to when XMB is launched, I dont like how the default position for game and video is PS Store. This is a minor annoyance though.

 

[flynn]

I've been using FW 3.0 for a few days now and can't really complain. I don't find the links to the Playstation store to be that intrusive and absolutely love the new WipeOut dynamic theme. That one alone makes the update worthwhile :smile:

 

[patsu]

Stealth update in 3.0. The player status info can accept longer string now:

 

[patsu]

Oh sh*t, I was afraid this would happen. Fortunately, they didn't attribute it to the 4ever ticker and larger font size:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/playstation-store-sales-jump-on-new-firmware-release

Doublesix has told GamesIndustry.biz that sales of its PSN title Burn Zombie Burn have jumped 40 per cent following the release of the 3.00 firmware upgrade for the PlayStation 3.

The update adds the What's New panel to the system, highlighting the latest additions to the PlayStation Store without users having to go online, and offering direct links to content.

Still glad that they got rid of the old Information Board.

 

[patsu]

PS3 Firmware 3.01 is live. I am downloading now...

EDIT: No visible changes. Probably some showstopper bug fixes.

 

[Arwin]

Probably a fix for the issues people had with the original Uncharted?

 

[N_B]

Font size looks smaller to me (in 3.01). And apparently the Uncharted freezing bug has been fixed (haven't checked).