Rumor: PS3 Firmware 3.0 and New PlayStation Network Coming?

[PS4 News]

According to PlayStation Insider (linked above), a PS3 Firmware 3.0 announcement and details of the new PlayStation Network are planned for Sony's 3-hour press event at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany next week.

To quote: "Our source told us that Sony is planning on announcing firmware 3.0 at the conference, while being very careful to point out that Sony might not release firmware 3.0 on that day, but that they will announce it and detail it's features, possibly in video form.

Our source also said it coincides with the release of the new PlayStation Network, however our source didn't go into any detail as to what this new PSN is supposed to feature. Sony did send out some e-mails recently hinting at a new PSN launching on the 18th, so that lends some credibility to these rumors.

We speculate that it could have some premium features. There was talk a while back about a possible premium service where users pay one flat rate to access unlimited downloads (online gaming and all of it's features would still be free though).

If the price were right, that's something that many could find very appealing. Hopefully this firmware 3.0 will also come with some of our most sought after features, like cross game voice chat, voice or video messaging, etc."

More PlayStation 3 News...

[Preceptor]

Hmmmm Finally some good news...

I hope this firmware brings full backwards compatibility to all ps3s. That would be a nice feature.

[Mantagtj]

Or maybe its a new way of making up for the costs they are about to lose with the price drop & the changes on the psn network? lol

[hibone]

I thought backwards compatibility was hardware in the usa and software elsewhere? If its just software then why dont they let everyone have it? Its a bit crappy after these few years that sony wont allow everyone backward compatibility. How about a nice snes or genesis emulator. Its one of the few things that keeps me going back to my psp.

[maxpwer222]

I thought backwards compatibility was hardware in the usa and software elsewhere? If its just software then why dont they let everyone have it? Its a bit crappy after these few years that sony wont allow everyone backward compatibility. How about a nice snes or genesis emulator. Its one of the few things that keeps me going back to my psp.

The first generation of 60gb PS3's had the Emotion Engine and the Graphics chip. This allows for near perfect PS2 emulation. The first generation of the 80gb consoles had the Graphics chip and the Emotion Engine was software emulated. This was dropped since because of cost factors.

That is why I did not understand all the hoopla over the article a while back concerning Sony patenting Emotion Engine emulation software. It is already in the early 80gb PS3's and still requires the graphics chip. I am sure that there is software that can do both, but Sony is waiting until the PS2 dies before CHARGING us for the software.

That last part is my opinion.

[imdbowlgod]

i really hope they dont include ps2 compatability in a firmware update. theyve made the memory footprint smaller over last 2 years and it would go against that. uncharted 2 devs even said something about being able to use more memory. i hope it is an emulator you download off the psn. i really dont care one way or the other though i have a US 60gb.

[tragedy]

i really hope they dont include ps2 compatability in a firmware update. theyve made the memory footprint smaller over last 2 years and it would go against that.

Putting in emulation wouldn't mean there'd be any less memory when playing games as the emulation code would only be loaded when it was actually needed.

[plains203]

i really hope they dont include ps2 compatability in a firmware update. theyve made the memory footprint smaller over last 2 years and it would go against that. uncharted 2 devs even said something about being able to use more memory. i hope it is an emulator you download off the psn. i really dont care one way or the other though i have a US 60gb.

The Uncharted memory increase is due to engine changes in Uncharted and has nothing to do with Firmware. The firmware being bigger shouldn't necessarily cause an issue with PS3 Game memory availability. Emulation could be in the firmware but only loaded into ram when the Emulation is being used, therby not affecting Uncharted 2 or GT5 etc.