14 DAY TRIAL // Sony has launched a new firmware version for the PlayStation 3. The 3.30 update for the system software is mandatory and players will need to connect their home gaming consoles to the Internet and get it as soon as they power the devices up. At first sight, it seems the update is minor and only has to do with Trophies and “bragging rights.”
The first lines of the notes accompanying the 3.30 firmware say that players will now be able to sort the Trophy Collection space and the Comparing Trophy section. The big change is that the sorting, which can be linked to game names and to date, can also happen when two players are comparing their hauls.
It might be an interesting addition to some gamers but not something, which could actually make a firmware update mandatory. By contrast, 3.21, the last mandatory update, which was launched on April 1, eliminated support for installing another operating system, which is usually Linux, on the PS3.
But the official entry on the Sony PlayStation blog related to the 3.30 firmware launch also reads, “In addition, this update preps the PS3 system for some upcoming new features, including 3D stereoscopic gaming, which is coming soon to PS3, in time for the launch of Sony’s 3D BRAVIA TVs.”
Sony previously said that one of the big moves for the PlayStation 3 in 2010, apart from the launch of the Move motion tracking system, was the introduction of full 3D gaming. When the Move was set to arrive in spring, the move to 3D apparently was set to come in the fall, just before the crucial Christmas shopping period. Now, the Move should arrive during autumn, so Sony might be ready for the old switch around move, making 3D gaming a selling point for the PlayStation 3 during summer.
The 3.30 firmware update is available on Softpedia.