PS3 Firmware Q&A Addresses Glitter, Jingles, Uncharted Problems

I like the glitter effects.

As for the jingle... _ they do realize it never went off when there was video before. Couldn't they make it a games-only thing?

yanipheonu

@shredmanifesto: Yeah, your PS3 should at least wait in the closet before it knows who's playing the game.

Invisible-Echidna

@spannu: They thought it'd be dazzling to the eye and get us to buy more PS3s! or something!

As long as Q Games are designing ridiculous PS3 themes, they should make a theme out of Every Extend Extra. And it'd be so trippy it'd make the PS3 unusable as a result, as well as causing headaches and death.

I can understand why people hate the removal of the chime or the fact the firmware broke the gameplay for some games. But complaining about the glittering? Come on....

Night_Elve

I fail to see how the glitter is an annoyance!

Wait, someone hates the glitter?

WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?

@shredmanifesto: Drop support for EA games.

Then you not only have working cross-game voice chat, but wont have to bother with all EA's other bullshit.

They forgot the unnecessary Store Segments under every column (also see: "What's New"), the 'wishes-it-were-subliminal' news ticker below the time in the top corner, and the elephant in the motherfucking room.. those god-damn gray, eye-vomit-inducing bubbles around each person on the friendslist.

@dowingba: It was designed by Q-Games as a simple demo for the new animated theme capabilities, which they also designed.

The real question is why Sony took that throwaway idea and made it the default for everyone.

spannu

@D Mitsuki, Gotta have guts kid!: I see you studied java

@SynKade: The majority of these complaints are stemming from one and only one thing:

No XMB Voice Chat in firmware 3.0

Granted some of the new "features" are a bit of a downgrade if you ask the majority of PS3 owners but the majority of the animosity here is coming from people disappointed that their was no VC with 3.0 and its just bleeding over onto all this other undesirable stuff.

There will ALWAYS be this kind of tension between Sony and PS3 owners until Sony implements (or "figures out a way" to implement...shrug) XMB Voice Chat for its players.

@Chances: Wait, so doesn't that turn off the "boot up XMB"?
hold on I'm gonna check
Edit: Rather bad wording on your part.
It turns off the "Whats New" (which is nice) but doesn't reset it to the PS3 default of playing whatever disc in the drive. So in my case it's just placed the 'cursor' on the Video tab.

Oh and HEY GUYS LOOK OVER HERE USEFUL INFORMATION FROM THIS GUY

System - System Settings - Display [What's New] - off

@Boulayman: I actually enjoy it! Now if only they would release some free themes that take advantage of this new feature.

I hope they do make the new stuff all optional. I just got my PS3 shortly before the update and liked how clean it looked with the news box off.

@SynKade: yes, the jingle is important :) . Imagine you booted the a Sonic game on Genesis, and didn't see+hear "seega".
It's a Pavlovian Dog thing. Now the doggy is starving :( .

Since FW3.00 my mate is rather upset that his PS3 has been invaded by Zebras. He also doesn't like me snickering at the fact.

And he had nothing to say about the permanent ticker or point of having 2 clocks?

So they did make the icons bigger! All this time I thought it was just me and my eyes. Now I know..

OddOne

People were whining about the glitter? Just goes to show how many people shout their mouths off before actually reading up on the subject. The fact you can turn everything bar the icons back to the "classic" way has been known since the patch dropped.

Gamers really are a whinging bunch, aren't they?

I still miss the jingle.

None of this is really bothering me at all.

-The jingle was nice but, come on, it's a jingle. Does it really mean that much to you?

-I actually like the 'glitter'. I think it looks fine and livens up the traditional 'ribbon'. Besides, the girlfriend likes it so it's fine with me.

-I love having the icons and text larger. I have my system hooked to an HDTV with an HDMI cable and I hated how it effected the XMB. Now, with the larger XMB, I have no problem knowing what the hell I'm looking at.

-I bought Uncharted, literally, yesterday. Finished it two hours ago. I had zero problems with it.

For me, this update was all pluses with no minuses.

SynKade

I haven't bothered updating my PS3 yet since 3.0 came out. So this is the first I've seen/heard of this "glitter" thing. Watching it in action, I have to wonder what the hell they were thinking with that.

Am I the only one in the world who likes the giltter effect haha ? I have been reading pretty much only bashing about that lol

Boulayman

@WhiteMage: It's those painful moments of clarity that interrupt uncontrolled rage and hate.

I liked the chime, although I haven't tried the new non-chime startup since my PS3 died, for some reason I think it'd be cool that they did new chime for the new logo. Only, instead of a chime they should show the new logo and "playstation" voice from the old/new ads.

better still, they should give us the option to customize that however we want.

One thing I'm disappointed they didn't mention is how to bypass the "What's New" thing on startup.

Go to your System Settings menu and find "Display [What's New]". It can be either on or off - turn it to off - now your PS3 starts up at whatever game is in the drive, just like it used to.

Yknow the only thing that bothers me about this firmware is that when you start up your system you are fucking forced to look at that magenta background and sparkles until I select my ID.

Yes, this 2 seconds of magenta and glitter offends me and makes me question my sexuality.

Not really but it still doesn't look as sleek as the old design.

I remember back when I was a ignorant little gamer, I always complained companies didn't fix bugs in games fast enough. I thought that surely the people who make these things can't possibly not be able to pinpoint where these problems occur, I thought it was even stupid that they happen in the first place. After all, they are professionals and should know what they are doing.

Then I actually learned what programing was and how to do it. Now all I can say to them is

public class Bugfix {
public static void main(String[] args){
System.out.Println("lol good luck with that");
System.out.Println("i feel your pain guys :(");
}
}

@CitizenErased115: That game has been a complete nightmare on the PS3 since it launched.

I've had some very frustrating freezes with Battlefield Bad Company. I can't progress meaning I can't unlock my trophies. This is a huge issue. I'm stuck on the level Crossing Over. It only happens with this level. I tried loading other levels and it was fine. After trying other levels I went back to try Crossing Over once again and the same deal. I contacted Sony and let them know because it happens every time and has happened 15+ times now.

What patience and understanding?

I really hope they get rid of that "Vision impaired" mode. Horrible.

Thank god they're thinking of making the large icons optional.

However, why does everyone hate the glittery XMB? It looks really good imo. I hope they leave that.

@LordThayer: ._. Oh. My. God.

@LordThayer: Mass racial genocide. Always fun.

I just want my fuckin jingle back, man. Really tied the system together...

@Rinaldus: This is a game playing machine.. if you like that jingle so much make it your ringtone.. I'd rather "retardedly" get to the content I want faster.

Bastard11

...I like the glitter. =(

ctorrans

@PapaBear434: get a bigger TV... i barely notice the thing since its all the way in the corner of my TV real-estate :P

Vylen

@LordMaim:

i think the large icon problem is for those who DO NOT have an HDTV. i have not noticed a single size change in icons and i have an HDTV running 720p resolution.

my sdtv pals said the text and icons were much bigger, sony was addressing complaints about text readability on sdtvs.

or so one would think :P

@SynKade: I have my system hooked up to a HDTV with an HDMI cable as well. With version 3.0, the icons on the screen are literally three inches across. That's just uncalled for.

@D Mitsuki, Gotta have guts kid!: java is never appropriate... ever

Vylen

I actually like the bigger XMB.

But Sony, please listen to me. This is probably going to be the most important thing you're going to hear all year....one of those things that you could be laughing about in sorrowful retrospect someday.

If you take away the PSP's jingle, I will not leave a single Japanese person alive on this planet. The half-breeds will have to flip a coin, No Country style.

I don't mind the chime. I don't mind the glittery background. In fact, I LIKE the glittery background.

The only thing I don't like is lacking the option to turn off that god-awful box in the corner. I wouldn't mind the status update so much, but I REALLY dislike having the news crawl flying across there.

I don't like feeling that advertising is being forced on me. And this is exactly what this thing is doing. Just scrolling away, bothering the shit out of me.

@PristineSneakers: Espeically those of us in Canada who have a store icon under the video menu as a constant festering reminder of the fact that we DON'T HAVE A VIDEO STORE.

@wohdin: I love 3.0 too, but you didn't notice the icons were enlarged? Seriously?

I wondered if firmware 3.0 was the Reader's Digest Large Print Edition of the firmware.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that you can affect the flow of the glitter by shaking your controller?

Sadly I was transfixed by that for a good half an hour. I may have been coming down at the time.

@Bialia: it's not their fault, the glitter told them to.

@deanbmmv: maybe.. just maybe... it'd be a brilliant idea to give users options to use the PS3 chime, the PS2 intro sound or a sound of their own....

Vylen

@Pete359:

I like the PS2, but the PSone was the best imho. The house-shaking bass hitting on the second note of the SCEI logo, then the 'wa-whooosh' of the PlayStation logo poping up. Man, they should bring that back :)

@dalejrfanfreak: Maybe make the game startup chime optional too, so that we can all turn it back on.

@dalejrfanfreak: yeah, i miss it too.

Really looking forward to being able to reduce the font size. On my tv, everything is so large as to actually be less readable than it was before.

@GardnerEumelus: That MUST be it. They decided that glitter was more important than Uncharted, and then broke it deliberately!

I want my chime back too. Taking away the chime is a serious crime in this console war time.

dalejrfanfreak

@deanbmmv: Gotta love thet Afrika theme. Not my animal of choice, but it's pretty cool.

I'll spend my precious thought space here and reiterate my disdain at most of the changes. Of which the overly interested can see in my history of comments.

It's like... you got a nose job. When I thought your nose was perfect to begin with...

Psudonym

@ChaoticInfinityX: Yeah, I don't think anyone had a problem finding the store before, we don't need an icon under every fucking tab.

@ThreeOneFive: See theres two voice chat rumours going around..
One is EA blocked it and the other ( I much prefer) is that Sony are getting Skype on PS3 ( as well as PSP as it is now)

Retarded reason to get rid of the chime. I say leave it in and change the logo.

As for the bigger icons... I kinda like 'em.

Edit: But the only thing that really bothers me are the pig disgusting gray boxes around every single name in your friendlist.

Rinaldus

@bobtheduck: The bare bones of it...but explaining a joke is kinda...
Anyway, he has kinda a started to like the Zebras, though he's been playing KillXone n LBP recently, so just boots right into them.. I might stick on the Noby Noby boy theme tomorrow.

@Myxomatosis: I would do some Console.WriteLine's, but java is most appropriate for the internet!

@D Mitsuki, Gotta have guts kid!: Have you done any development on a real product? Companies know about most of the bugs that ship in their software, but they ship them anyway because fixing them would take too long/be too expensive, unless it's a really bad bug.

However, these bugs are so numerous and prevalent that it sounds like they didn't do anywhere near the amount of QA necessary for a milestone release.

That's one possibility. The other possibility is that they knew about the bugs and sent it out anyway.

In either scenario Sony wasn't doing its job and is an asshole.

GardnerEumelus

@Pete359: See if it got replaced with that noise.....NOSTALGIA!!!!
(oh it'd also raise far too many hopes)

@GardnerEumelus:

you know, i think it's the 360 zealots who treat RRoDs like badges of honor, who have the gaming community screaming BLOODY MURDER and calling the for burning of Gates in effigy.

for the record, i call foul on any update that jacks a system.

i want my chime back =(

Hartia

@SynKade: Agreed. I like it!

I miss the jingle.

I still love the PS2... noise. It was great.

@Bialia: Because it's a constant reminder that Sony focused on some utter bullshit instead of making sure they didn't break any games or functionality.

GardnerEumelus

First bit was pretty obvious in its reasoning, especially after watching the boottime comparison vids. Second bit? I love those sparkles, and even though I would never turn them off I figured out how to do so within 10 seconds.

...And I didn't even notice that the icons were enlarged.

I don't own Uncharted, so that part's null for me.

I love 3.0.♥

@cin1122: You have to hook it up to the internet... wait, what?

@GardnerEumelus: It doesnt look that bad in 1080p but on some the of the 4:3 SDTVs it looks downright ghetto.

@

GardnerEumelus

I refuse to update my PS3, especially after the following issues my friend and I encountered on his console:

- Streaming MPEG4 from a DVD started to give "corrupt data" error messages and refusing to play. Streaming the same files from a portable drive plugged into USB allowed correct playback (the disc worked fine before the update, of course).

- RE5 froze and then crashed, and now *will not start*. That's a big fucking deal, right there.

Not to mention how horrible the new font size looks, how annoying it is to have the PSN button the default choice in the Video and Game sections, or how non-selected items will fade out. Adding glitter to the background... are fucking kidding me? That's really worthy of an update?

If an Xbox update caused the kind of problems that the new PS3 firmware is causing, everyone would be screaming BLOODY MURDER and burning Bill Gates in effigy.

GardnerEumelus

@ThreeOneFive: I'm still not buying that EA rumor because its... well... just that.

Not a big fan of EA personally but any platform in the world would be insane to drop support from them.

@Boulayman: You are not the only one my friend. I too am smitten for the glitter/fuzz effect. Much better than the gray to black gradient that was our PS2 background.

I think most of the bashers just have a little too much testosterone exploding their man-sacks into warrior men men that hate "sparkle-shiny" things .

yhummo

@BubbleF**kingBuddy: I bet he doesn't like candles either...C'MON!!

@OddOne: I never noticed...
It must be my eyes :P

@deanbmmv: So your mate doesn't know how to work themes and you do is what you're saying?

@dowingba: the first thing I though when I was it in action on my own tv was "it just look like dust floating in the air". but its nice that the ps3 now has the capacity of having animated themes.

chamoo232

@deanbmmv: see now Ive been saying this forever while everyone goes on and on bitching about how its possible on the 360 only because of a unified core or whatever like its the only way to have voice chat work on a console.

I really don't think anyone is aware of what the cell can do with software let alone some dinky little VC client like skype.

@bakagaijin: hey, we paid for their system, they better listen to our feedback! so please, don't call that stuff ''petty'', with that you are also saying that this update is full of petty... oh...

@SuperTongue: i seriously hate the Wii background noise... it cant even be called music.. its noise.. of the same 4 or so notes looping...

Vylen

@Ca$h (aka mr. €uro):

That's the stuff. It's still great after... 15 years. Damn I'm old.

Did anyone get an A for the Q about whether we can turn off the fucking spam ticker?

Matthew Weflen

Wait, gamers complaining about the most petty of things? I've never heard of such a thing!

At least one of those complaints is understandable. Hopefully they'll fix the Uncharted issue soon. I can imagine there are many who want to play the first Uncharted before the sequel comes out.

@deanbmmv: Well it's hella better than the Wii's boot screen with no sound whatsoever...

(Couldn't really find any better videos, so skip 30 seconds if you've been living under a rock.)

All this thread proves is that you can't please everyone.

@Ca$h (aka cold hard): Not to mention all they are doing is telling you about PS3 or PSP games and related stuff. It's not like you're seeing Doritos or Mountain Dew ads.

I fail to see what the big deal is. It's nothing more than the RSS feed that was there before, redone.

I also love the gray boxes on the friends list. It makes it so much easier to see and read, and doesn't get mixed in with the background.

@Ca$h (aka cold hard): Oh god NOOOSTAAALGGIIIAAAAA

Damn Sony sure do have their start up themes perfect.
Compared to *woomph* come on MS....

Ahh, so the jingle has been removed in part because of the inclusion of video services that won't be available in my region and a second or two load time increase. Wonderful!

I would trade my precious pre-game seconds to have that delightfully ostentatious chime back!!

Glad to hear they are addressing the issues early. I hope these quirks are remedied soon.

Isentropic_Storm

@Ca$h (aka cold hard): SHUT THE FUCK UP DONNY!! :)

@ReynaldoRiv: dear god.. why did you link some dub version.... inspector megure sounds like shit :(

Vylen

@Psudonym: Like Tatsuya Kimura/ Justin Moon. Okay, so the reference should be clear to fans.... I'm a loser.. :'(

ReynaldoRiv

@Placentasaurus:
I didn't watch my buddies die face down in the mud to come home and hear people complain about their fuckin' jingles. Am I right or am I right?

@OddOne: And knowing is half the Battle...

What bout the gray tab horror that is the pathetic excuse for a friend list?

@Bialia: here here! I love the glitter. The font and Icons, now those give me nightmares...

@PristineSneakers: Big woop you don't like Zebras wanna fight about it.

I think the whole update is pretty stupid...

I mean first of all it's 3.0 if you're going to make visual that from focus groups you know it's going to be 40/60 received... you better have a feature update that makes it worth it.... i mean COME ON. there's NOTHING NEW.

epionx111

@PapaBear434:
As someone who hates ads to the point of canceling cable, I feel you about the ad scrolling. But listen, the PSN is free. Have you checked out what xbox users have been paying for on their dashboard lately? Big, in your face, animated ads. Multitudes of them.

By comparison, the ads on the PS3 are almost a godsend. Free service, no pictures, no animations with sound - just text. I think it's one of the best deals in gaming outside of the Orange Box.

@Vylen: Yessssss. Any sound I want.

spannu

glittery background adds some flare... I'm def indifferent about it.

but I want my chime and playstation logos back... the new "ps3" font is pretty ugly... I don't want to be a slim...

epionx111

@SocraticMethod: it must be people not on kotaku who hate it, based on all the comments here, we all love it...

these outsiders just need to get in touch with their feminine side...

Vylen

The chime is to stimulate the orchestra tuning/warming up, signifying that the show is about to start
kinda neat

ergonomicuser

@MaximusDM: C'mon. You mean to tell me that you don't like redundancy?

@LordThayer:
I lol'd.

I felt bad, but I still lol'd. The No Country part sealed it.

@Polite Society: Glitter's a hell of a drug.

@PapaBear434: I agree. I hate the news ticker, it's useless info anyway. Dump that, the grey boxes around my friends, make the icons small again, and 3.0 will be good.

@serotoninzero:
honestly who doesnt like glitter!

@Astrofox: It's like this knee-jerk reaction to just complain, complain and complain. Scrolling down the comments you see nothing but whining.

You know what? I LIKE the glitter. I wish every game would ship with a packet of glitter so I could rub it all over my chest while I sing the theme to My Little Pony.

And I LOVE the new gray boxes--I can finally see and read them clearly-perfect to know just exactly what those people I played one game with 2 years ago and never spoke to again are actually doing.

And the jingle? It could say "Go fuck yourself" every time I turn it on and it wouldn't bother me in the least. Actually, that would be kinda cool--Ron Burgundy style. 3.1 firmware confirmed. "Go fuck yourself gamers." Yeah. I like that. God knows someone needs to say it.

@PapaBear434: Then stop thinking about it like it's advertising?

I'm fine with that new bar, as well as the little icons it shows you when you view the store or video sections. I like to be told what has recently come out, as I don't always notice everything. It's nice to be informed of sales and stuff as well. It's not like it's an intrusive commercial that you're being forced to watch.

WHY did they add the sparkles? I know that I can turn them off, but WHY are they there in the first place?

@SocraticMethod: yup same thoughts!! and ps3 chime was sweeet.. i hope they bring it back :)

What's wrong with the glittery effect, I think it looks sweet. ...

@Netnavi: That's an asinine comment. The glitter probably has nothing to do with Uncharted. But you're right, after every update they should have people debug every single game in the PS3 library, including PS games and PS2 games for those with the Emotion Engine. Oh hell, why even release an update, they need to make sure every blu-ray plays right.

@deanbmmv:
I really think that "whoomph" is to cover the fans powering on.

sqlrob

@afrosheen: riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, now moving on to a less fanboy-like comment.

@GardnerEumelus: "If an Xbox update caused the kind of problems that the new PS3 firmware is causing, everyone would be screaming BLOODY MURDER and burning Bill Gates in effigy"

Not really, because Microsoft doesn't listen to any of its customers. Nobody asked for avatars or ads plastered everywhere, but they got 'em.

afrosheen

@afrosheen: I dunno, I always got the feeling Microsoft was the only one reading blogs and such. This can be good and bad of course.

OpinionMan

@Ca$h (aka mr. €uro): Damn, a 20 second intro *before* the game even started? Why didn't I ever complain about that?

afrosheen

@shadow763: I am not happy with your comment !!

I will demand a change!

@Vylen: honestly people are too much. it looks more like particles to me tbh. and now that ppl now its optional i hope kotaku is free is glitter whining. im mean we have great games coming in 09. why are people stuck on pointless bullshit?

i know i know, the internet is the world's punching bag. :P

@Blass: YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT DONNIE!

afrosheen

@ReynaldoRiv: *sigh* I love that stupid awesome show.

Psudonym

If the shoe was on the other foot, i.e. Microsoft updated the Dashboard and put dancing penguins on it, users could rage on the interwebs for years and they'd never fix it.

At least Sony listens to the people that buy their products and not just focus groups and marketing girls.

afrosheen

@CrashBandicooter: well at least it aint 'jizz'

Vylen

@Bialia: wow. uh no, Sony got careless focusing on cosmetic changes that don't do anything.

@Boulayman: glitter effect didn't bother me one bit. people just need to stop playing around in the XMB and actually play some games. Myself included. :D

@bakagaijin: I know it's like people feel they simply must have a strong opinion on everything when it comes to these situations.

Everyone needs to stop obsessing over small visual differences and play some games.

@SuperTongue: I feel like any discussion about video game startup screens is incomplete without the Saturn bootup.

I'm not sure what's worst the addition of the glitter or the fact that they officially call it 'fizz'.

CrashBandicooter

@Jus in melancholy: That would be load time decrease, as in games load faster. We're sorry you live in the wrong country, you could always just create a fake account, get some PSN cards from the country you want to buy stuff, like every one else. Finally life isn't fair, work around it. At least Sony won't ban your console for having accounts from other countries like some other console maker.

StinkyPinky69

@silverhold: ... or we just don't like 'em.

@CHunterX: Even if you turn 'em off, they're there before you select your profile. This is a small niggle, but that couple of seconds of sparkles going to no sparkles in the classic theme makes the PS3 feel disjointed and cheap now.

I want my chime back. It was a nice touch, and frankly, I'd have a hard time imagining anyone freaking out over an extra 2-second load time.

Also, I prefer the old boot-up sound. A kommenter once said here that it sounds like a synthesizer booting up, and every time I hear it, that's all I can think of.

I would also like to see the PSN Store icons become an option; I know where it is, Sony, and I don't like having it shoved down my neck, thanks.

This may be unrelated, but my PS3 has been overheating after awhile (less than 2 hours) of playing. I doubt dust is the issue (it's kept on a dustless shelf above the floor, lots of space around it) and it only started doing this after the 3.00 update.

I would also like to see the huge box in the top-right corner become an option, as well as the size of icons in the menu.

This might be a lot of stuff to be asking for, but they already had it that way before; just make them options.

@shufflemoomin: Actually, they have. They don't ban your account, but the fake account is banned when it if found.

@bakagaijin: Yeah. I'm not gonna pay for a theme on a mates PS3. (or on my own for that matter)

@serotoninzero: I like it a lot too. It reminds me of the effect a beam of light has in a room as the light reflects off of the dust particles in the air.

People like to jump on the Hate Bandwagon.

silverhold

@deanbmmv: Yeah I do, but I don't have any money in my wallet. Is it free or something?

@StinkyPinky69: Microsoft has never banned accounts for being created in a different country. Video services use GeoIP lookups so creating a foreign accounts wouldn't solve anything. That's a lot of fail in one comment.

shufflemoomin

@bakagaijin: You not have a Japan account?

@bakagaijin: I also actually like the new style friendslist. I'm not sure why so many people have such strong hatred for it.

shufflemoomin

@afrosheen: I have never seen such blind fanboyism in my entire life! Sony listens to customers? Sony don't give a shit what what their customers want and never have. This is a new development and even then, there's no guarantee it's not just lip service.

shufflemoomin

@Ca$h (aka mr. €uro): Whoa. It's been so long since I played a PS1 game on an actual PS1 that I forgot entirely about the first part of the start up. Thanks for that. :)

I want my chime back. Why not make THAT an option? This lousy excuse of it only being meant to indicate the start of an game. They even used that answer to spin it into some promotion BS talk about the vidzone.

Who in their right mind would defile his 1080p screen with those videos? Besides, the vidzone already takes minutes to start, so nobody cares about that extra second.

They forgot to address everyone's top favorites to pick on:
the ugly grey friend's list boxes, and the ticker. Those people will still be peeved.

I don't really care about the ticker, but the friend's list IS a just so sexy like, like, like, like... I have no witty comparison.

Other than dynamic themes, I don't see any particular major improvements worthy of praise. Taking out the jingle didn't make any noticeable improved load times.

@deanbmmv: We don't have the Afrika theme yet. I wish we did.

I do have the animated LBP theme though, and it's pretty sweet. Little sackboy, making the world go 'round...

The worst thing about it is that after 3 seconds all the menu options fade away & you cant see any options any more.
Its so annoying.

Scroll to your list of movies - you dont have time to check the list before they all fade away.

You have to play this retarded game of dancing up & down the list just so it doesnt disappear.

Whats more retarded is that in the menus that you dont care about the other options, they stay. The menus you need to see, disappear. Its inconsistent and extremely poor interface design.

Riquez

@Isentropic_Storm: I want my fucking chime back sony! Give it TO ME!

@serotoninzero: I like it too!! I bet you everyone that hates it was one of those kids that got glitter-in-the-eye-syndrome as a child. Shameful.

CosmicElement

@CHunterX: Worked for Stephenie Meyer.

@mykie: that is a bad ass boot!

@Asbestos_Underwear: Not like the chime was THAT long to begin with, so who would actually complain about loading? Obviously, the opposite is true, that people are not offended by the 1 second chime added to game loading and are actually requesting it back! So please Sony, I love your products, but I'd like some actual proof of people complaining about the chime. I bet there is proof of more people complaining about not having the chime than having it take 1 second longer to boot up game.

@Bialia:
NP. :) I still like to hook that poor ole guy up whenever I get the urge to play a PS1 game instead of booting it off the PS3. You know... for the authentic experience (and the fact PS1 games look like crap on an HDTV).

@SG79: Tell me about it.

@PlayerX: The new tune up sound is just a more intimiate sounding orchestra rather than one with more reverb and room ambience. Its the same type of sound, just a little closer to the listener. In orchestral settings, its actually more detailed to hear it that way than to have a "huge" sound that takes away from sound detail.

Yep, the Uncharted freezes are nastier than I thought. There was one certain point further into the game where my newer, pre-slim PS3 froze three times in a row, right after loading. I only made it because I ran through that room as fast as I could.

SiddhimaAepytus

@PlayerX: You mean in the same ironic way that my PS3 thinks 'off' is? When I switch off my 360, it's off. When I tell my PS3 I want it off, it just hums quietly in Standby. It doesn't ask if I want to go into standby, it says 'off'. Maybe I just notice the 360 going off more because it's at that point I realise how loud the bastard was when it was on.

shufflemoomin

@Bastard11: Or they could just make it optional.

Rinaldus

@Vylen:

Well with the huge text and that huge box in the upper right, it certainly looks like they jizzed on my screen.

Bricked

Reading through these comments so far (and many of the ones that followed the original system update to begin with), almost makes me ashamed I even bought a PS3 finally.

Not that I wasn't almost as ashamed after the NXE came out. Still. Mother Lovin' fackatoids people, did your mothers give you shit for taking her good dishes into the basement again, and you're lashing out against something that can't fight back for it?

What about that annoying box in the upper right? I have a nice background and I hate to see it cluttered with useless crap. I've yet to see anything I've actually cared about in that little news ticker.

OH and I don't need THREE links to the PS Store.

And is it just me, or does it take days for it to read media I have on my 500GB external that's plugged in?

Bricked

@Nintenboy01: Which one do you have? I have a 40GB into which I swapped a 320GB Seagate 5400RPM drive.

@Polite Society: I had no idea...

*runs off to try it*

@PlayerX: Funny, when I first got my PS3 last year it ran hair-dryer hot for the first few hours I used it. But after updating to 2.40 it ran cool and mouse-fart quiet (to this day). Weird.

Wait...people are seriously up in arms about the loss of a little sound and the addition of some sparkles? I'll never understand the whole "change is bad" mentality.

@shadow763: That's one of the first things a designer has to take into account.

Fortunately, for something like GUI, it's easy to include older options to stifle people like me who preferred the older presentation.

@Astrofox: Some people are more sensitive to visual/audio/whatever stimulus. Expecting everyone to have your opinion is unrealistic. I'm not trying to "slam" you or anything, here; I'm just saying that some people actually hate the new update, and would like the option to revert to the older presentation.

@The Moof: Source?

shufflemoomin

@shufflemoomin: We'll see if anything happens. Frankly, I'm not expecting much.

Of the missing chime, they ignored our WANT of a chime and pointed out that its absence decreases load times.... Who cares if it's 2 seconds?! Honestly, I thought it brough a neat little touch to the PS3, but it was apparently making load times just life-endingly unbearable for some people.

The sparkles, you can't turn them off, yes, but not all the way off. They're still there before you log in, like one of those old JVC tvs where "mute" was just "really, really quiet".

@Polite Society: Sweet thanks for that info I just tested it out and it actually does change with the motion of the controller. It's pretty transfixing.

What would you do for your PS3 chime back?

Would you stand on one foot?

Would you act like a monkey?

...

Would you kill a man?

@SonicTheMonkey: just back away slowly. keep all fingers and toes covered.

At least they have a blog where they can talk about system problems, whereas with Microsoft you have to wait until problems become news.

@sqlrob:
Same reason we thought cell phone-quality graphics were the shit back then :)

@StinkyPinky69:

Increase thing was a typo, I meant decrease my mistake.

My post was intended to be tounge-in-cheek, and it's main gist is that something I and many others liked (albeit not the most important thing in the world) was removed for something that cannot be utilized or has little to no importance. Those who 'can' utilize the feature find the removal of the jingle annoying, well that goes doubly for those who cannot.

Then again I guess it's my fault for living "in the wrong country" or whatever it was that you were trying to say. It's always "life isn't fair, suck it up" until the shoe is on the other foot. As your proposed "work around" is ineffective (and certainly not practical even it did work), tough luck for anyone who doesn't live in the US or Japan eh?

@Bricked: yea, its rather in your face isnt it...

Vylen

@PlayerX: id gladly trade 2sec for the chime even if its with the new font

ramz888

@Chalkdust:
If I understood right, jingle means that game is starting. vidzone = no game = jingle no good.

TaMss

@Isentropic_Storm: the chime is wicked i do wish they bring it back even if its with the new logo

ramz888

@GOLD5: Agreed, the PSN Store everywhere is extremely annoying.

djricekcn

@PlayerX: yea... maybe its the people with ADD or ADHD that are complaining

"OMG THE GLITTER IS STOPPING ME FROM PLAYING MY GAMES CAUSE ITS SO DISTRACTING"

"THE NEWS TICKER IS ANNOYING, THE SCROLLING GRABS MY ATTENTION AND I JUST CANT GET AWAY"

etc etc...

(disclaimer: apologies to anyone who does suffer from ADD/ADHD... it is a serious condition that shouldn't be taken lightly)

Vylen

I can't believe that anyone complaining about the glitter didn't think to change the theme. It's the most obvious thing there is.

Odin

@PlayerX: So turn them off. Problem solved. Next?

How about going back to just one instance of the PSN Store instead of twelve?

One of the reasons we removed the PS3 jingle is that it was created to indicate the start of a game, but now we're offering non-game content such as Vidzone in addition to games. More importantly though, this change makes the loading time a bit quicker than before, which we think will be a noticeable benefit for all game users.

So am I missing something, or is this a really nonsensical reply? What does this "Vidzone" have anything to do with the jingle?

The vision impaired mode is really my biggest issue right now. I can't imagine how anyone thought that it was a good idea to go and just change the XMB resolution for everyone.

Anyway, hopefully it won't be too hard to make these bad 3.0 changes optional, and fix Uncharted/any other games having issues. It's not so much about pleasing everyone, Sony, but simply providing flexibility in an OS.

@Tzion: Don't forget Mariah Carey!

Squirrelbot3000

@Chalkdust: I'm with you. I liked the jingle, and it was also a way to test my PS3--sometimes when firing up a game, the data would become choppy and the tone turned down on sound--kind of like putting your finger on a record and applying pressure.

Oh sure, since the update that problem doesn't happen thus far, but I also knew by sound alone that my game was starting up.

Also, between the MONDO GIGANTO FONTS and the greyed boxes for friends lists, its all just become annoying.

If it's not broke, fix it--corporate lesson No. 1.

Squirrelbot3000

@dowingba: They should actually release E3 first on PS3 before the themes.

Heck Q Entertainment Games did a rush job with Luminus IMO (PS3) with no online multiplayer support and they didn't include any of the Genki Rocket and removed most of the good tracks including the add on.
I'll be more skeptical in the future if Q ever release E3 or Rez HD on PS3 instead of buying it on blind faith on their past work.

Hey Bash, if your reading this wasnt Q Entertainment suppose to be in charge for Rockband Japan with the localization and track lists? What ever happened to that game, did they cancel the project or what?

...AND my boot-up jiggle is MISSING!!!!

@Vylen: Yes, I have ADHD -- and my start-up jiggle is still missing.

@Astrofox: I can't play games, because I can't hear the jiggle. how else will I know if game boots up?

I don't care what their opinions of things are, they should make stuff like the startup jingle optional. Default it to 'off' if you must, but at least let the users toggle it if they so desire. Aren't they supposed to be making US happy?

PS3 XMB Marketing Enhancements Plan
----------------------------------------...

1. Collect Underpants

2. Spam PSN Store Links on the XMB

3. Profit

So, do I have to update? Because, I don't see any reason to do it based on the current comments. Will it update automatically? Can I still use the playstation store?

Shinta

@OddOne: Now if they can change the colors of the fonts... I begged for that feature forever.
Since some EDTV have really bad brightness/contrast ratio and some themes is too bright that you have to lower the background (theme) brightness just to read the XMB.

Sony --- I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!!!!!

@Riquez: Its certainly un-comforting to see that as Sony move forward they are being more and more inconsistant with their UI design. Maybe the person in charge moved jobs or got over-ruled my marketing, but i cant believe (being a UI designer myself) that the PS3 UI designer(s) who came up with the XMB even thought any of the FW3.0 changes would benefit the UI at all.

@spannu: Hahaha, I have that sound clip as my start up for years, brought many laughter at lan parties.

I fail to see what the big deal is. It's nothing more than the RSS feed that was there before, redone.

@bakagaijin: Yes that's true but now we don't have the option to turn it off. Even if you don't log in to the PSN account it still streams it from the standard internet connections. Still PSN is free and the ads are for PSN stuff related material, but do they have to plaster PSN store on every XMB now? Kinda redundant if you think about it.

@djricekcn, @GOLD5: couldnt agree more, the spamming of the PSN store links that it makes things easier for us only makes sense in the mind of a marketing person.

In fact an awful lot of the 3.0 updates seem far too marketing driven without any thought to the aesthetic or usability.

@Odin: If you have a multi-user PS3 (like mine) you see that damn glitter every f**kin' time you start the console.

I mean, my inner Bruce Willis is very displeased...

Dedwan / Deadpool

As a wise person once said, "You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time" — We love hearing everyone’s opinion so keep the comments coming!

Yeah, but you could try, douchebag.

3.00 pleases Sony's marketing department and little else.

ForkInSocket

@Gloibin: Yes, Yes... possibly.

@GOLD5: The idea of that annoyed me quite a bit at first, but I actually don't mind it so much considering that if you just press X, the first available option is to boot the last game you played.

Though, I'm on a Japanese account. I'm not sure if the NA or EU accounts boot differently.

@jamBot: Why?

Because of the new PS3 firmware? The entire point of this post is that they're acknowledging that some of its features are unpopular, and that they're looking into fixing exactly that.

Or is it because Uncharted is experiencing issues with the new FW? Because as frustrating as I'm sure that is, they also acknowledged that and stated that they are working on it.

Or do you just hate Sony for some arbitrary reason?

Just curious.

@Shinta: No, you don't have to update. No, it won't update automatically. No, you can't use the PlayStation Store without updating.

The new update isn't as awful as everyone says. The new visual look it brings is a bit ugly, but it won't hinder you from enjoying any PS3 games.

That is, unless you're playing Uncharted. That's supposedly got some freezing issues with the new firmware when played on a DualShock 3. Everything else seems to run just fine, though.

@afrosheen: I think you're unlikely to see a penguin in a Microsoft product.

dd528

@Matthew Weflen: So far, all quiet on the Western front.
I for one don't think it's ever going away from this point on.

Squirrelbot3000

@Clive Bavels: Hmm, Mine stayed in their albums..
try hitting square a few times.

@Noodle-Works: ya I actually like the glitter too. don't see the problem with it

belsunce

I quite like the glitter. Plunkett doth protest too much, he's afraid of admitting he likes the glitter in case someone thinks he might be gay.

The most annoying thing about 3.0 is that I had all the games on the hard disc arranged tidily in 'album' folders - full games, demos, Eye games and PS1 classics - now they've all been lumped into one big fucking mess of a folder with apparently no option to organise them how I want them! What's up with that?

how can you complain about the glitter?? it looks so pretty on an HD set, you can actually see the particles rotate individually... pretty neat for just a UI!!! I'd like to see other effects. flames? smoke? water?

people are like assholes. they can complain about everything.

...i think that's how the quote goes.

Noodle-Works

@SonicTheMonkey: I didn't like the new firmware at first. In fact, I still would prefer if it went back to the old style. But really?

I can still play my games just fine. I'm used to the new layout after a couple days of using it. I think I'll find a way to cope.

Some people just need something to whine about.

@deanbmmv: yeah, it seems to revert back to the cluttered list with the new update. But you can group them according to the type by hitting square, i think.

kearneybobs

@Riquez: I'm glad someone pointed this out! I haven't seen anyone complaining about this and it's annoying me no end. What's the point of a list that disappears halfway you are reading it? Is it supposed to look cleaner, although all the other updates to the UI are cluttering it?

Pilch

@deanbmmv: I tried that, it only sorts them into PS3 and PS1, not the custom albums folders I'd set up previously.

@TaMss: I don't get the relation. They could keep the jingle for games and not add it to Vidzone. After all there wasn't a jingle when launching a film stored on the hard drive, there was no need to remove it completely because it wouldn't fit with Vidzone.

Pilch

I do miss the chime. Only real gripe. When I start up MLB '09, it just goes to a black screen for like 20 seconds. Every time I feel like I have to hold my breath and stare at the screen until something pops up because it looks like the system just crapped out.

@Noodle-Works:
I love em too. They also move along with your menu movements. If you scroll up in the XMB the particles move up etc.

These are the complaints people have? Really? Other than Uncharted freezing, these are pretty nit-picky. I always thought the text was too small anyway.

@Clive Bavels: Hmm, well mine were fine, including my music n video folders.
Are you sure you've not do anything else?

Is there any way to change the color of that purple background to something else?

@dd528: maybe a stupid annoying dog though... or a paperclip

@Asbestos_Underwear: very true, vidzone takes bloody ages to load... thats the main reason i never use it, other than that its a nice idea, altho quality of vids are pretty poor.

Removing the jingle though? ugh... what a dumb reason to remove it, thats BS if you ask me, they removed it because they didn't have enough time to come up with a new logo/splashscreen since they wanted to rush the PS3 slim out with the full re-branding of "PS3"

right now it really feels like something is missing/broken when i launch a game and it just goes to a black screen with nothing happening for a moment... this is where the jingle and logo would normally be

yes it is a stupid thing to argue about, but it is one of those very small things i really liked when playing my PS3

You think we'll FINALLY be able to change the colour of the font for the xmb now? What's the point of having a theme as pretty as Afrika when you have to squint to see it even with the massive writing?

ShiftBreaker

@Dedwan / Deadpool: the glitter flashes up whenever I start up my console too and it's set to classic
I'd like to know if it's the same for everyone or is there a way for it to disappear completely?

@Odin: Hmmm is there not more to that though? i dont use the glitter theme, i changed it to the old classic without glitter, then i changed to Afrika theme... anyway now whenever i open the browser, the background changes to the glitter background when using the browser... weird

The LARGE icons and text is the one that I feel should be fixed asap. If youare running a Full HD (1080p) set then maybe it doesn´t look so bad but it sure does at 720p.. and 1080i aint an option cause it makes the games look like jumbled poop.

So please please for 3.1, give us an option to set folder/text size... S/M/L perhaps?

As for the glitter, I only turn it on saturday evenings when me girl feels its time for some Singstar.. So thank you Sony for pimping my PS3!

This guy Plunkett complains about everything PS3. It shouldn't really be a surprise at this point.

@cyruss: No the option to boot into game is still there.
I never said otherwise.

@deanbmmv: i always had my PS3 set to boot to XMB instead of straight to Game. Are you saying that now since 3.00 it will always boot to XMB, and no longer is able to go straight into the game like before? wow if thats the case....

@Noodle-Works: I would love some water effects, like rain or something, it'd be like looking out of the window in the UK :D

@Neko_Tech: yes! changing colour of fonts is a must! the Afrika theme is so hard on the eyes with the current text colour.

I don't mind the bigger font in 3.00, i have grown used to it, it makes browsing files from TVersity so much easier to read, no longer have to squint when scrolling through a long list

@bakagaijin: afrika theme is free, u can get it on Japan PSN Store... or was it US Store, i forget... it sure wasn't the PAL Store thats for sure... our store is shit

@LunchBox55: Here's a car analogy for you: Ford decided to "upgrade" your car by hanging annoying glitter from your rear view mirror, made the steering wheel larger and removed all the wooden elements in the interior (they were a nice touch). They also decided to paint stickers advertising their accessory stores on every available surface. Oh, and now you can't go to New York, that destination causes your engine to stop every few minutes. If you refuse this "upgrade", you can't take any passengers and you won't be allowed into said accessory store.
Would you complain if Ford did that, or would you say it's nitpicking?

@Bialia: I just dont like it, i think it makes the console look really girly....

im not complaining about it though, since i can just change theme.... althou even when i change theme it stop comes up when im in the browser ... oh well

i'm more annoyed at losing the jingle/logo COMPLETELY much more than the silly glitter.

even if they just made a new splashscreen/logo, sure i'd probably hate it, but everytime i turn on a game now and it goes to a black screen i keep thinking something has broken, it doesn't feel right *sigh*

Just in case anyone from Sony is actually reading this, I'd like to say I definitely prefer all the new cosmetic changes. The XMB is now much more readable and quick to move through (and I'm on a 42' HD display, so screen size is not the issue), the sparkly background looks nice and next gen, and the startup sound always annoyed me. Startup seems faster and 'cooler' now, in as much as that matters. Really nice, minor improvements.

@Clive Bavels: My albums are still existant and organized after installing 3.0. I had them before and now after the update.

generic corporate responses...especially the part that said "We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience and understanding."

xxnike629xx

How come so many have problems with the glitter?
It's like most people don't realize you can just put a background on there and it will be gone, you won't have to deal with it.
It's more like people went "Holy fuck, it's glitter, now I am never using my PS3 again"

I'm a new PS3 owner with the slim, so I upgraded to 3.0 right away. I have no issues with icon size, or glitter, and I don't know what jingle/log they are referring to.

I've already donwloaded some free themes and wallpapers and changed it all up anyway. 4 bit retro theme ftw!

All I really want is Uncharted fixed. I wasted a rental on this game thanks to Sony's poor QC. Not a good way to start my PS3 ownership.

I miss my start up "jingle", but I LOVE me some grazzing zebras!!

I love my PS3, but this just seems like a fine example of how Sony appears to make arbitrary decisions without considering one key factor - public opinion. They are like the person that's been so wealthy and successful they've lost touch.

screamingslave

Until Uncharted is patched I'm not budging from 2.80; and for the record, I love glitter.

friendslist sucks now but i can tolerate it, its the retardofont that bothers me, makes 1080p look like 640x480

I dislike being forced into these. I fired the PS3 up and everything is gone (friends, messages,...). I do a system update and then BAM! This crap defaults to clock with banner moving, and crap icons? WTF Sony??? Can't be trendy and have to follow M$ with Ads next? (shhhhhh!)

Meanwhile on the cranky morning front: WTF is it with the h8trs and PS3? Best Buy had that sale (mentioned here) last week to buy one get another game for 360 at 50% off. And this week it is for PS3, BUT...you can't get the same deals on the pre-order titles you did for the 360 that are on the PS3 (I pre-ordered ModernWarfare 2 and got Halo ODST at 50% off, but on PS3 I want to order MW2 and WET...no go. ) :(

SigmundTheSeaMonster

@Ducce: I run at 720 (cause most games default to that) with a 1080i menu and I've noticed no problem with the text...

anyway it sounds like you'll be getting your wish

@Neko_Tech: dude I'm soooo with you on the luminous comment. I refuse to buy any other Q Entertainment games because of the gimped PS3 version. How do you release Luminous on console with no online, no way to compare scores with friends, no local multiplayer...then on top of that, Q releases Meteos on XBLA which doesn't have the controls to play it like it's meant to be played. Wii would have been a far better choice.

I'm done with Q Entertainment. Too many blunders in situations that should have been no brainers. Don't get me started on 99 Nights or Luminous 2 on PSP...Holla Back Girl...? really? Someone needs to be slapped for that.

@Tracid: it changes in respect to the month. You can just download a theme and switch to that. there are a tonne of free ones

@screamingslave: what do you mean? they've streamlined the set-up a good bit. The only real problem is the uncharted bug. Aside from that it's pretty good. Also, at least they are working to change the size of the icons thanks to customer feed back. I still have those giant pictures staring at me when I use my 360. If the PS3 ones bother people then these must as well

@bakagaijin: The Afrika theme is free

@Clive Bavels: Mine stayed arranged in the folders I made. Are you sure you didn't break it ;-)

At least make the jingle optional. I don't really care if it makes the game load two seconds faster but you already force me to install some games that takes minutes to install, a two second jingle won't hurt anyone.(Plus it lets ME know that the game is actually loading).

Not every user is going to like every little change but if you make changes that don't do anything to the PS3 why not make it optional?

@Zorantor: Thank you for the answers.

Shinta

I like all the new features, but a feature I would like to see added is one where I can sort my friends by "buddy list" or so, so I can organize them into the games I have them added for. Or sort them by current game they're playing..actually, just make the invitation system better. Then I won't even have to worry about it.

@dd528: You get a gold star. Good job, sir!

DarkWolf7

hmm, looks like they "overlooked" all the people complaining about the store icon being plastered over the other menus. Kinda touched on it with the smart bar question but just skirted around the question. Everything else I can deal with but having them plaster the store icon when I know exactly where it's at seems rediculous.