The news supports previous reports on Sony’s 3D PlayStation 3 strategy, suggesting that a firmware upgrade would introduce the capability to existing consoles. Not only does Sony plan on upgrading the console to support 3D, but release games in 3D as well in order to take advantage of the enhanced capabilities.

Of course, 3D games and 3D televisions would go hand-in-hand, so adding the capability to the PlayStation 3 would definitely help drive at least a few television sales.

Would you purchase a new television to support 3D gaming, or is Sony seeing things?

When asked about the feature, PlayStation Network product manager Joe Thorpe wrote “I wish I could just give you a date, I really do!! Trust me when I say that as soon as I hear from ‘up top’ I will be shouting about it and making myself the most popular person on the blog.”

“I hope, like you all do, that its sooner rather than later,” Thorpe writes, adding a little wink and a smile.

Not a confirmation from Thorpe, but thankfully not a denial.

Last month, cross-game chat was mentioned in a quickly-deleted post by Naughty Dog developer who wrote that “the next PS3 firmware update is going to allow cross game chat.”

Maybe the next-next update then?

Sony’s Facebook integration is the coolest aspect of the forthcoming firmware. It lets users bind their PlayStation Network account to their Facebook account, automatically feeding their status updates with Trophy information, PlayStation Store purchases and specific in-game events that developers can include in PS3 games.

Fortunately, all of these Facebook features are optional. It also appears the software will prompt users if they’d like to post these types of updates to their Facebook news feed at each occurrence.

The new photo browser makes better use of screen real estates, offering a grid of photo thumbnails for quick viewing instead of a long vertical list.

Finally, due to popular request…

A less visually offensive version of the PlayStation 3’s Friends list — perhaps the most reviled change in firmware 3.00 — is coming. Sony has listened to fan feedback, offering a more toned down look at who’s online in the XMB.

PlayStation 3 Firmware (v3.10) Update Preview [PlayStation.blog]

While the feature has been rumoured to be in development for months, a post on the official PlayStation forums today may have inadvertently confirmed its imminent release. “Naughty Dog Dev” ReklissAbandon wrote in response to player requests for enemy spectating in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves that PlayStation 3 cross-game chat might make that request unfair.

“But I will suggest it anyway,” ReklissAbandon wrote. “Not to mention that the next PS3 firmware update is going to allow cross game chat. So if players use that instead of in game communication then they would also be able to communicate enemies positions.”

That post was quickly deleted, leading some posters to take that as further confirmation that cross-game voice chat was coming, but not yet ready to be announced.

We contacted Sony Computer Entertainment to verify that slip of the keyboard, and received the following response: “As you know, we haven’t made any announcements on upcoming firmware and don’t comment on rumour or speculation.”

Re: Elimination suggestion [PlayStation Forums]

John Kennedy filed his complaint against Sony Computer Entertainment America on October 3 in, where else, federal court for the Northern District of California. That would be San Francisco.

The suit’s complaint mentions two things: one, “that as a general rule, Sony ‘encourages’ PS3 owners to install the latest version of system software, Sony required users to install the Firmware 3.0 update”, and two: a Sony forum featured enough complaints about the Firmware causing console failures that Sony responded with a firmware FAQ.

At this point we put on our hushed baritone court-reporter fine-print voice: Class members demand declaratory relief, compensation and restitution for breach of implied warranty, negligence and unjust enrichment.

Firmware Update Borks PS3, Man Sues SCEA [Game Politics]

Tethering may be the most enticing new feature in the imminent PSP firmware update, offering an alternative method for connecting to the internet via a Bluetooth device. And since that’s a Bluetooth feature, we’re guessing that’s for PSPgo owners only, which features built-in Bluetooth.

Slightly less enticing is new SensMe music categorisation support, a proprietary Sony application that automatically categorises whatever music PSP owners have transferred to the device. If you’ve ever wanted to listen to some tunes that are “Evening” flavoured, SensMe has you covered.

Finally, PlayStation Network Ops director Eric Lempell says that a new PlayStation Store interface for the PSP’s Media Go software will be supported in 6.10. It looks very iTunes-esque from our expert squinting.

Expect the newest firmware update to hit soon. Very soon.

PSP Firmware Update (v6.10) [PlayStation.blog]

Major Nelson confirmed the new firmware in a late-night post; also, for any of our friends who were up late and gaming and found the system update spit back a router error when connecting to Xbox Live, that has been totally resolved, tweets the Major.

Xbox 360 System Update Rolling Out [Major Nelson via VG247]

Fortunately, sounds like Sony’s listening to those complaints. Amidst the usual kvetching about cosmetic and functional changes—and the lack of additions that people have been demanding forever!!—comes word that, yes, Sony is taking negative feedback about firmware 3.0 seriously.

Mark Bowles, European brand manager for the PlayStation 3, offers the following update to concerned owners.

“OK, we hold our hands up about the lack of replies on this post but we have shared with you everything we can at the moment,” Bowles writes. “As I said before the updates to firmware don’t always suit everyones tastes, but on the flip side there are those that really like the changes – except maybe the friends list ;-) (which we are looking into based on your comments by the way).”

You might think that the winking emoticon means that Bowles and company aren’t taking it seriously. But they are. And that’s worth emoticonning about.

Firmware 3.00 Q&A [PlayStation.blog EU - thanks, Ryan!]

Like…enjoy having a few more XMB background colours to choose from! And sleep easy knowing that the console’s security has been updated. And revel in the fact that “Network Update” has now been renamed to “System Update”.

Sounds boring—and don’t worry, it is—but then, it also beats seeing an upgrade that includes “Adds Glittery Sparkles To XMB”.

PSP Firmware (v6.00) Update [PlayStation]

You know the one, it’d play every time you booted up a game and the system flashed the old PS3 logo. It was a nice touch! But now, it’s gone, and that (and a number of other changes) have some PS3 users feeling a little shirty.

Enter the PlayStation Blog, who are able to address some user’s frustrations, while politely fobbing others off.

On the loss of the startup jingle:

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.

On the awful “glitter” sparkling away in the background:

To turn the fizz off, go to the Theme Settings under Settings on the XMB, you can choose different themes from here. “Classic” is the default theme without the fizz.

Helpful. On the new, larger icons:

Based on your feedback, we are looking at the possibility of making the changes optional.

That would be great, thanks, it currently looks like my pS3 is set to “vision impaired” mode.

On Uncharted freezing for some users since updating to 3.0:

We’re aware of the problem with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune following the latest system software update and have a team working hard to isolate the issue. We’ll update further information here on the blog, as and when we get it. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience and understanding.

Firmware 3.00 Q&A [PlayStation]