Playstation Update 3.40 & 6.30

Varik

The 3.40 update is available later today, adding the ability to purchase a PlayStation Plus subscription, improved connection between your PlayStation Network and Facebook accounts and more. The PSP is getting a software update to 6.30 simultaneously, concurrently and at the same time as the PS3, adding PlayStation Plus compatibility for the people that own both a PS3 and PSP.

• PlayStation Plus: PSN users will be able to purchase membership to PlayStation Plus which is a new premium subscription service on PSN that lets you expand and enhance your gaming experience and enable you to gain an exclusive set of features and content. Don’t forget though, all PSN users will continue to have free access to PSN’s existing and brand new features while PlayStation Plus subscribers will also gain access to an exclusive set of gaming features, content and functionality.
  
  
  • Games & Special Offers – access to great games every month worth over £200 a year, exclusive discount on PlayStation Store and early access to demos and beta trails.
    
    
  • Exclusive Content – download and keep loads of new and exclusive premium avatars, dynamic themes and game add-ons.
    
    
  • Full Game Trial – Try full games each month for a limited period before you decide whether to buy them.
    
    
  • Automatic Download – Set your PS3 to automatically wake up, download and install all of your game updates, new game demos and even download the latest system software. All without you lifting a finger.
    
    
  • Limited Special Offer – To celebrate the launch of PlayStation Plus we are also offering users the chance to get hold of LittleBigPlanet completely free. Simply sign up for a 1 year membership between now (29th) and the 3rd August 2010 and a downloadable copy of the award winning PS3 game is yours to keep forever.
  
  
• Photo Gallery: A new network based photo sharing feature is now available on the Photo Gallery. The enhancement allows you to upload, browse and comment on photos on Facebook and Picasa. You can also opt to share your photos between your PlayStation Network friends as well as print photos from Photo Gallery.
  
  
• Video Editor & Uploader: Video Editor and Uploader is a new function found on the XrossMediaBar (XMB), which enables you to edit, save and upload video files stored on the PS3 system to sites such as Facebook or YouTube.
  
  
• PlayStation Store Five Star Rating Support: Users can now rate PlayStation Store content they have purchased with one to five five star ratings.
  
  
• Power Save Settings: The default setting for PS3 System Auto-Off will be set at 2 hours, providing you with additional power save options and further improving power save features on the PS3 system.

A separate PSN app will be on Facebook. This builds on the previous connection with Trophies and the ability to share purchases from the PlayStation Store. Now you can further integrate your PSN and Facebook accounts with this new application, which allows you to display your PSN profile on Facebook, send a PSN friend request to friends on Facebook and add the PSN application tab to your Facebook Profile.

Otacon

Despite my lack of interest in the PSN+ service, the other features included are nice enough.

I do like the rating system, which may give people who are unsure of a purchase that bit more information.

noodler

Tbh, my FB friends and PSN friends are completely different sets of people.

pablomakaveli

I've no interest in PSN+ plus either but being able to add some of my friends from facebook on PSN sounds good.

Charlie Haughy

Otacon wrote: »

I do like the rating system, which may give people who are unsure of a purchase that bit more information.

The xbox marketplace has something like this and its utterly useless, as nearly every game is rated between 4 and 5 stars. Its like people either rate 5 stars or 1 star, you know what I mean.

noodler

Charlie Haughy wrote: »

The xbox marketplace has something like this and its utterly useless, as nearly every game is rated between 4 and 5 stars. Its like people either rate 5 stars or 1 star, you know what I mean.

I don't!

Surely that woul;d give you a 2.5 stars average?

noodler

Are we getting the free trial of PSN+

If it is true that we have to keep out + subscription to play certain titles then I won't be interested (I heard that you can download some games for free with plus but if you sub lapses then they are no longer playable).

Charlie Haughy

noodler wrote: »

I don't!

Surely that woul;d give you a 2.5 stars average?

Yeah it should but what im kind of saying is, the fanboys seem to rate 5 stars over and over, with even the worst games being rated 4 or 5 stars on it. If youve seen the xbox marketplace and the stars you know what im talking about.

I imagine its like (old) youtube though, where majority of people rate either 5 or 1 star.

AIR-AUSSIE

Is it just me or is it not available to download yet?
_______________________________________________

It is available now here:
PS3 firmware update

Grumpypants

noodler wrote: »

Are we getting the free trial of PSN+

If it is true that we have to keep out + subscription to play certain titles then I won't be interested (I heard that you can download some games for free with plus but if you sub lapses then they are no longer playable).

Yes we are getting 3 months free to test it out.

You will get the free games each month but once your subscription runs out you wont be able to play them anymore unless you renew your subscription.

Not something i have a problem with you are renting these games more than buying them so you have to either continue to rent them as part of your subcription or choose to buy them.

Similar to the way XBOX live gives you online multiplayer but if you stop paying for Live you loose access to online multiplayer.

noodler

Grumpypants wrote: »

Yes we are getting 3 months free to test it out.

You will get the free games each month but once your subscription runs out you wont be able to play them anymore unless you renew your subscription.

Not something i have a problem with you are renting these games more than buying them so you have to either continue to rent them as part of your subcription or choose to buy them.

Similar to the way XBOX live gives you online multiplayer but if you stop paying for Live you loose access to online multiplayer.

I disagree, the whole idea of the subscription was that we would get free stuff to keep.

Why would I pay them 50e a year fto rent stuff when I can just buy the stuff I really want individually and keep it for good?

PS: We aren't tslking about just restriucting multiplayer access here though, right?

NotorietyH

Charlie Haughy wrote: »

Yeah it should but what im kind of saying is, the fanboys seem to rate 5 stars over and over, with even the worst games being rated 4 or 5 stars on it. If youve seen the xbox marketplace and the stars you know what im talking about.

I imagine its like (old) youtube though, where majority of people rate either 5 or 1 star.

Fanboys of what though? You can only rate a game once. Pretty much the only game that I've seen that is a full 5 stars is Geometry Wars 2, and that deserves it. Most games seem around the 3-4 mark, with only the better games getting 4 or above. Hell Shadow Complex is only just over the 4 mark and it was one of the best games I played last year. I just generally avoid games marked around the 3 star mark. In any case I'd rather a slightly skewed rating system than no rating system at all.

theShawzer

If we get this, are there any downsides to it, or anything we will loose?

Daemos

No, they always announce if that's going to happen. Even when Other OS was removed there was a separate warning to make sure you knew about it.

Grumpypants

noodler wrote: »

I disagree, the whole idea of the subscription was that we would get free stuff to keep.

Why would I pay them 50e a year fto rent stuff when I can just buy the stuff I really want individually and keep it for good?

PS: We aren't tslking about just restriucting multiplayer access here though, right?

why would someone rent a game from xtravision and have to give it back a week later when they can buy it and keep it forever ??.

Why would Sony give you 200 euro worth of stuff for 50 euro ?

It makes complete sense, you get to try out the games for only 4 euro a month if you don't like them then don't buy them. If you do like them so much you want to keep them forever then just buy them using the 20-50% discounts plus members have in the PS store.

Once the movies come online they will be added. Imagine xtravision announced a deal where you could rent a full game and 2 movies and you can keep them all for a month for just 4 euros people would go mad for it.

Sony do it and people moan they cant keep the games they paid 4 euro for !!

Edit : If you sign up for a year before August you get Little big planet to keep forever.

sarumite

Don't really care for it either... I am not on facebook, so all that stuff is irrelevant to me.

Leiva

....Meh

Otacon

Grumpypants wrote: »

Imagine xtravision announced a deal where you could rent a full game and 2 movies and you can keep them all for a month for just 4 euros people would go mad for it.

When Xtravision say they are choosing the movies and game though, the deal loses its sheen. Not a bad deal, but it could be better.

Varik

Otacon wrote: »

When Xtravision say they are choosing the movies and game though, the deal loses its sheen. Not a bad deal, but it could be better.

compare it to sky+ then if you subscribe to the movie channels then record a movie if you stop the subscription you can't view it any more from the HDD.

Otacon

Varik wrote: »

compare it to sky+ then if you subscribe to the movie channels then record a movie if you stop the subscription you can't view it any more from the HDD.

Again though you are choosing the movie you record.

Varik

Otacon wrote: »

Again though you are choosing the movie you record.

yes you are choosing the movies, but of what sky is showing on you on those channels, your also choosing what to download from what's offered on psn+ each month, in both case you've already payed your subscription if you use it or not is your own concern..

Sky premier for example only has a few movies repeated each day for the week, psn+ has the content for a month instead, you can download the games or record the movie for that month/week if you choose.

noodler

Grumpypants wrote: »

why would someone rent a game from xtravision and have to give it back a week later when they can buy it and keep it forever ??.

Why would Sony give you 200 euro worth of stuff for 50 euro ?

It makes complete sense, you get to try out the games for only 4 euro a month if you don't like them then don't buy them. If you do like them so much you want to keep them forever then just buy them using the 20-50% discounts plus members have in the PS store.

Once the movies come online they will be added. Imagine xtravision announced a deal where you could rent a full game and 2 movies and you can keep them all for a month for just 4 euros people would go mad for it.

Sony do it and people moan they cant keep the games they paid 4 euro for !!

Edit : If you sign up for a year before August you get Little big planet to keep forever.

Why are you using Xtra-Vision as an example?

PSN is not a rental store.

The reason you offer a discount to people for paying a bulk subscription upfront is fairly self-evident isn't it?

It provides a consistent and reliable revenue service as opposed to an ad-hoc stream of cash throughout the year (Magazine subscriptions?)

Nothing on the PSN has ever been rent - it was buy or nothing. Why you seem so keen to accept this as the new norm is beyond me but each to their own.

Bonavox

Charlie Haughy wrote: »

The xbox marketplace has something like this and its utterly useless, as nearly every game is rated between 4 and 5 stars. Its like people either rate 5 stars or 1 star, you know what I mean.

Yeah, I agree. Some people just don't know how to mark a game on a scale. May as well only be two stars on the scale.

irish_stevo815

How do you go about getting the free trial for PSN+? All i can see in the store is the 1 year subscription foo €49.99 and the 90 day trial for €14.99.

If there is no free trial as mentioned before, i might just try the 90 day trial first off.

Varik

irish_stevo815 wrote: »

How do you go about getting the free trial for PSN+? All i can see in the store is the 1 year subscription foo €49.99 and the 90 day trial for €14.99.

If there is no free trial as mentioned before, i might just try the 90 day trial first off.

the 3 months is for the US store we get LBP

irish_stevo815

I thought the free LBP stuff was only for people who subscribe to (ie pay for) PSN+?
anyway, just wondering if its worth paying the money for it? Like i dont buy much stuff off PS Store anyway, so would i be wasting money? Maybe the odd game pack here and there and some ps1 games

Varik

irish_stevo815 wrote: »

I thought the free LBP stuff was only for people who subscribe to (ie pay for) PSN+?
anyway, just wondering if its worth paying the money for it? Like i dont buy much stuff off PS Store anyway, so would i be wasting money? Maybe the odd game pack here and there and some ps1 games

only getting 3 months extra when you purchase a year in the US, we get LBP free the full game as if you bought it so after the sub runs out you still keep it.

Just to say i have gotten it and now there is a large + beside my name.

irish_stevo815

Varik wrote: »

only getting 3 months extra when you purchase a year in the US, we get LBP free the full game as if you bought it so after the sub runs out you still keep it.

Just to say i have gotten it and now there is a large + beside my name.

I understand now. So for people who already have LBP (which would be a lot of PS3 owners) you get nothing extra to entice you to subscribe then

Grumpypants

noodler wrote: »

Why are you using Xtra-Vision as an example?

PSN is not a rental store.

The reason you offer a discount to people for paying a bulk subscription upfront is fairly self-evident isn't it?

It provides a consistent and reliable revenue service as opposed to an ad-hoc stream of cash throughout the year (Magazine subscriptions?)

Nothing on the PSN has ever been rent - it was buy or nothing. Why you seem so keen to accept this as the new norm is beyond me but each to their own.

But im not accepting this as the new norm at all, the buy option is still there they haven't gotten rid of that. This is a members club, members get to use certain aspects of the service. If you stop paying your membership you stop enjoying the fruits of that service.

Its like a gym where you can pay to use the pool or be a member and use the pool for free. If you stop paying the subscription you cant seriously expect to keep using the pool for free which is what you are suggesting.

noodler

Grumpypants wrote: »

But im not accepting this as the new norm at all, the buy option is still there they haven't gotten rid of that. This is a members club, members get to use certain aspects of the service. If you stop paying your membership you stop enjoying the fruits of that service.

Its like a gym where you can pay to use the pool or be a member and use the pool for free. If you stop paying the subscription you cant seriously expect to keep using the pool for free which is what you are suggesting.

Okay lets put it another way, what about stuff you buy at a discount because you are a PSN+ member? Should you be denied access to that when your membership runs out?

When this was first mooted, my understanding would it would entitle you to 'X' number of free games per year. That these games would not actually be owned by you (lets ignore the IP argument for a moment) is completely unacceptable to me.

With regards your subscription point, I would have expected features to be available whilst you are a member, but games?

Anyway, I'll take the free trial if there is no obligation. Certainly I won't spend 50e a year to rent certain games if they are purchasable for a much lower price in a physical form.

GavinEire

Its funny the way it shows a + beside the people when they subscribe to PS Plus.

NotorietyH

irish_stevo815 wrote: »

I thought the free LBP stuff was only for people who subscribe to (ie pay for) PSN+?
anyway, just wondering if its worth paying the money for it? Like i dont buy much stuff off PS Store anyway, so would i be wasting money? Maybe the odd game pack here and there and some ps1 games

Funnily enough I was saying to someone earlier that it's more worth your while to sign up if you haven't bought much from the PS Store as I found that pretty mcuh everything they're offering I have already. Seems slightly counter-productive as the people who are most likely to sign up for PS+ are more than likely the kind of people who have already bought a lot of PSN games. :P

Varik

NotorietyH wrote: »

Funnily enough I was saying to someone earlier that it's more worth your while to sign up if you haven't bought much from the PS Store as I found that pretty mcuh everything they're offering I have already. Seems slightly counter-productive as the people who are most likely to sign up for PS+ are more than likely the kind of people who have already bought a lot of PSN games. :P

i had all the killzone 2 maps before but don't mind too much that was only a few Euro in the first place, but would have maybe have waited a month if i had wipeout already.

NotorietyH

Ah yeah I signed up too, I just have pretty much everything they offered already. Have Wipeout, the Killzone maps etc. Don't mind, but I think that if maybe they offered a brand new game as a 'signing' bonus it might get more people to join. If say it was the same week Joe Danger came out and they offered that free with a year sub instead of LBP or something. Or discounts on brand new games. Which I'm sure we'll get at some stage.

Varik

NotorietyH wrote: »

Ah yeah I signed up too, I just have pretty much everything they offered already. Have Wipeout, the Killzone maps etc. Don't mind, but I think that if maybe they offered a brand new game as a 'signing' bonus it might get more people to join. If say it was the same week Joe Danger came out and they offered that free with a year sub instead of LBP or something. Or discounts on brand new games. Which I'm sure we'll get at some stage.

A bluray game?

NotorietyH

Varik wrote: »

A bluray game?

No PSN games. There's already a couple of discounts on existing older PSN games, so hopefully at some stage we'll get a discount on a new release PSN game.

Varik

NotorietyH wrote: »

No PSN games. There's already a couple of discounts on existing older PSN games, so hopefully at some stage we'll get a discount on a new release PSN game.

oh, i hope they bring out stuff like on steam where you can download games early and then activate them straight away when released including betas, mag was a pain in the ass.

Varik

The update has an option to calibrate the Motion controller. So what are we supposed to do with it now? There are a few options. You can wait patiently for Move's September 19 release. Or you can stand in front of your PS3 with a Wii controller or TV remote and play "make believe."

NotorietyH

Varik wrote: »

oh, i hope they bring out stuff like on steam where you can download games early and then activate them straight away when released including betas, mag was a pain in the ass.

Yeah hopefully. I just activated the auto-download thing there int he settings menu. Think it's just for patches and updates at the mo' but could expand which would be nice. Would be cool if you could choose what you want to download, liek have it automatically download demos when they became available.

I forgot the one nice disocunt they offered was on the Fat Princess DLC, so that's a day one discount already. They've said it's going to keep evolving and expanding so it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

Headshot

folks how big are the files ?

Varik

Headshot wrote: »

folks how big are the files ?

LBP 2GB
wipeout 1GB
destruction derby 70MB
minis 29MB * 2

the rest of the Free* stuff it a under a 100KB except the killzone DLC and i didn't download that as i had it.

we don't get infamous but that was 6.9GB.


oh my PS3 was set to update everything at 6-8am it did so and downloaded the heavy rain and modnation demo they have a + beside them to indicate they'll auto there downloaded by + and will auto delete if needed.
i had the heavy rain demo before but never played it and deleted it myself before getting +.

Headshot

sorry my mistake

i ment how big are the new playstations updates 3.40 etc

Varik

Headshot wrote: »

sorry my mistake

i ment how big are the new playstations updates 3.40 etc

They are always the same size as the full PS3 OS is downloaded each time not just the changes to the last version, its around 130Mb.

tok9

So if I get the 3 month sub, I get LBP to keep.. forever ya?

F1ngers

tok9 wrote: »

So if I get the 3 month sub, I get LBP to keep.. forever ya?

No.
You need to buy the 1 year sub. to get LBP for free.

Josey Wales

Working out pretty well so far. I already own LBP and Wipeout HD but I'm currently downloading:

Destruction Derby
Fieldrunners
Age of Zombies
Shatter (Full game trial)

Well I was downloading until I was just signed out. Boo

Grumpypants

The zombies game is a laugh.

tok9

F1ngers wrote: »

No.
You need to buy the 1 year sub. to get LBP for free.

Thought so.. that deal would have been sweet. Maybe if i Hadn't bought Wipeout 2 weeks ago I might have gone for this.

Varik

Grumpypants wrote: »

The zombies game is a laugh.

Did you kill the

Zombie T-rex

yet, Destruction Derby is so ugly it may be giving me a headache.

Grumpypants

Varik wrote: »

Did you kill the

Zombie T-rex

yet, Destruction Derby is so ugly it may be giving me a headache.

Yea got past the Mummy's one before i got too tired last night.

Varik

tok9 wrote: »

Thought so.. that deal would have been sweet. Maybe if i Hadn't bought Wipeout 2 weeks ago I might have gone for this.

i think the LBP deal is available next month as well, but i'm not sure.