PS3 firmware 2.00 details leaked?

Brace yourselves PS3 jockeys, a 2.00 firmware update is rumored for release. The full details were apparently inadvertently posted on Sony's PS3 press site (and subsequently removed) but not before being snagged and then posted to the official PlayStation user forums by a veteran contributer. While we have no way of validating the source, regular contributers to the forum are in a tizzy since the person behind the original post has gotten it right before. So what's in store? Well, we're talkin' 34 new features or enhancements including XMB access during gameplay. Yeah, thought you'd like that one. Other notables include RSS channel support, new photo effects and custom wallpapers, and enhancements for PS1 and PS2 compatibility. Sorry, still no DVD upscaling but who knows, it's only a rumor for now which unfortunately lacks any mention of availability.

[Via Next-Gen Gamer, thanks cloudstrife13]

Update: Ruh roh, looks like the post has been pulled and this called a hoax. Thanks for riding the rumor-go-round with us, everybody. See you next time. [Via GearFuse]

[Rowdehaj @ May 14th 2007 8:54AM]

Wrong article? :S

This list features all sorts of things that were supposed to be in there when the thing was first released!

[varish @ May 14th 2007 6:56AM]

wat?

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 5:37AM]

Or it could be a simply ploy by the Xbots to get PS3 owners hopes up, and then destroy them, when Sony release firmware 1.80 with a couple of imcremental changes.

Whilst I would love this story to be true, I'm taking it with a pinch of salt, and certainly not getting any hopes up.. I suggest others do the same...

[Bee Hatch @ May 14th 2007 8:03AM]

Will this sort out frame rate issues in some games?

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 8:16AM]

WARNING: XBot alert....

Never seen any framerate issues in any games.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=163859

[Bee Hatch @ May 14th 2007 8:44AM]

I'm pretty far from an 'Xbot'. I hate Microsoft and don't own / ever intend to own an Xbox. Some games on the PS3 *DO* have framerate issues. You obviously haven't played Tony Hawks Project 8 which has them considerably. So does the Xbox version but not as bad.

My question still stands.

[Revrant2394 @ May 14th 2007 8:30AM]

Won't make me buy a PS3, but Ooooo all the same.

[shaun @ May 14th 2007 8:42AM]

I so hope this is true!
Considering it's touted by sony as such a powerful machine, the fact that it struggles to multitask is astounding

[shaun @ May 14th 2007 8:43AM]

not that I don't love it, I just know it's capable of so much more

[Keith @ May 14th 2007 8:47AM]

Not capable of Multi-Tasking??? Are you on drugs, or just a dumb American waking up? The PS3 has a 8 core CPU, (5 more than the 360), and has no problems multi-tasking..

[shaun @ May 14th 2007 8:53AM]

it can't go on the internet and play music at the same time, and you can't multitask whilst playing a game.
Oh and I'm english but thanks for letting everyone see your prejudiced opinion on americans

[Andir3.0 @ May 14th 2007 9:20AM]

Framerate issues will not be resolved by a firmware patch. Those are bad programming from the developer side.

[Bee Hatch @ May 15th 2007 2:01PM]

Thankyou!

[Jared @ May 14th 2007 12:13PM]

Technically the Xbox has 3 effective cores vs the PS3's 7*.
*1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/617/617951p2.html
http://www.audioholics.com/buying-guides/how-to-shop/playstation-3-vs-xbox-360

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 9:07AM]

Well you have to be pretty dumb to realise that framerate problems are caused by bad/lazy programmers, and not the system itself..

That crappy skateboarding game is launch title, rushed out 360 port. Did you expect it to take advantage of the PS3's capabilities???

[rafa @ May 14th 2007 10:23AM]

It definitely CAN browse the web and play music at the same time. You can even load up Youtube videos while playing your music and browsing another page.

[Tommy J?nsen @ May 14th 2007 8:58AM]

All these improvements are nice, but not NONE of the critical lacks have been fixed:

Still no playlists for music
Still no DVD upscaling
Still no wide codec support (xvid, divx)
Still no surround for movies on harddrive
Still no fix for the units with unacceptably loud fans (or is that the energy saver feature?)

But I think we're getting there! I'll have my money ready when we do!

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 9:07AM]

PS3 has better codec support than the 360, it's done H264 from the outset..

I personally don't want XVid/Divx support, it's a lousy codec, and used by the Warez community.. H265 AVC all the way...

[Tommy J?nsen @ May 14th 2007 10:33AM]

Please don't make this a 360vPS3 issue. I don't care about 360. This is about PS3, and people like their things to play back anything they have.

It's true though that Xvid/Divx is widely used in the pirate scene, and I think that's why Sony won't support it even remotely. But there are plenty of legal animeshows in the format too (which also means that I'd like to see dual audio and subtitle supprt also :-)!

[Bee Hatch @ May 14th 2007 10:26AM]

Guess what, I was asking a question. This may be a surprise to you but people usually only ask questions they don't know the answer to.

[PostScript @ May 14th 2007 11:17AM]

No Mak, you must be plenty dumb to spell realize with an s. Not everyone is an "xbot" and PS3 is sub-par at best. Now please stop your fanboy antics before someone gets hurt. (i.e. I want to stab myself every time you have commented on this thread.)

[Gareth Burleigh @ May 14th 2007 9:20AM]

I just want the green screen RGB DVD Blu Ray thing fixed, Im not ready to go HD until 1080p sets are the norm and a bit more affordable.
As for wider codec suport? I dont see Sony going for that for the same reasons as my above gripe.
Also what is it with all the talk of fan noise I keep reading more and more about it, my PS3 gets a fair few hours play every day on Resistance and Virtua Fighter then usually folds all night and I think Ive heard the fans kick in once for about 20 seconds, other than than its no louder than the fan on my Mac mini. Infact the fan on my Western Digital external HD is louder.
If units are that noisy are Sony replacing them or are people been told this is the norm?

Gareth

[Tommy J?nsen @ May 14th 2007 10:33AM]

"If units are that noisy are Sony replacing them or are people been told this is the norm?
Gareth"

Yes, people are being told that this is the norm. And in most cases it is, here in europe. Some people have been through 8 units without finding one that fit's the description "silent". Other's have been lucky the first time. My own unit, which I returned, was far too noisy to use as a movie player - the fan would compete with dialogue...

[v_roger @ May 14th 2007 10:26AM]

wow... it's great!

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 10:49AM]

" Some people have been through 8 units without finding one that fit's the description "silent". "

Guess what, Sony have never stated the PS3 was going to be silent. Show me where they have ever quoted that... All they HAS been said by Sony, is the PS3 is slightly quieter than a slimline PS2.

[Gareth Burleigh @ May 14th 2007 10:59AM]

Oh I wasnt aware of this, I actually have a Euro model as I live in sunny England. I guess I should count myself as one of the fortunate ones.

Best of luck with your replacement

Gareth

[Tommy J?nsen @ May 14th 2007 11:44AM]

"Mak: Guess what, Sony have never stated the PS3 was going to be silent. Show me where they have ever quoted that..."

Gladly: "For use in living rooms, maximum heat and noise reduction has been achieved with a noise level equivalent to that of the current slim-line PlayStation 2."
http://www.us.playstation.com/News/PressReleases/341

"All they HAS been said by Sony, is the PS3 is slightly quieter than a slimline PS2."

Excactly - the units in question are way more noisy than the slimline - they don't even compare! Measurements have put an idle noisy PS3 on par with a regular Xbox360 at idle.

I'm happy for you, if you happen to have a silent running PS3. Many of us european (pre-)owners aren't that lucky, and we're counting on firmware-updates to make the fan operate more like the silent models.

[AC @ May 14th 2007 12:03PM]

You idiot. In England, yes, the country where English comes, realise is spelt with an 'S'. And i think the notion of you stabbing yourself every time he comments is just more of an incentive for him to continue.

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 12:04PM]

You made a bit of an ass of yourself, as not everyone speaks American English.. Some of us speak the proper English.. No go and stick your head in the trash...

[PostScript @ May 14th 2007 1:55PM]

I can admit when I am wrong. I apologize for my ethnocentric language perspectives, and my errant slight at Mak. I am sorry Mak, and I apologize to all the European English speaking individuals on the board. However, that does not excuse your ridiculous accusations that everyone who finds a flaw with the PS3 is an "xbot". And it does not change the issues that Sony has left unresolved. Personally I would buy a PS3 if it had a scaler (being that my television only supports 480p and 1080i).

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 12:09PM]

Still can't see the word "Silent" in Sony's claims..

My PS3 whilst it makes a small amount of noise, it's on-par with my slimline PS2, exactly as Sony claimed it would...

The problem here, is MANY people focused on the word silent, and assumed that it would be, despite Sony never claiming it would (perhaps the Xbots at work again, trying to detract from the 360's jet takeoff noise) There is no way you would ever get a mass produced system, that generates as much heat as the PS3 (or 360), to disipate that much heat without a small amount of fan noise.

My PS3 is considerably quieter than my 360 was before it blew up. My 360 was so loud, you could hear it in another room. My PS3 is pretty quiet, but certainly not silent...

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 12:30PM]

"Jared @ May 14th 2007 12:13PM
Technically the Xbox has 3 effective cores vs the PS3's 7*.
*1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy"

Yep, so 1xSPE + 1xPPE = ??? Yep 8 cores....

Jeez, do Americans go to school?

[Carlitos @ May 14th 2007 4:31PM]

@ Jared
"Technically the Xbox has 3 effective cores vs the PS3's 7*.
*1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/617/617951p2.html
http://www.audioholics.com/buying-guides/how-to-shop/playstation-3-vs-xbox-360"

If you read thoruoghly your first artigle, ign.com, conlcudes: "When you break down the numbers, Xbox 360 has provably more performance than PS3." and the PS3 is harder to program. "Game programmers do not want to spread their code over eight processors, especially when seven of the processors are poorly suited for general purpose programming." This is all coming from your article.

The second article is fairly old and even includes a picture of the previous revision of the PS3 controller, and is just a compraison of specs, but not of actual performance.

PS3 might be better folding numbers but not better at gaming procceses, they are different functions. Maybe one day developers will take their time to fully use PS3's CELL potential, but then it will most likely be limited by its GPU which is a bit less powerful than 360' ATI. Coming from ign.com: "GPU-Even ignoring the bandwidth limitations the PS3's GPU is not as powerful as the Xbox 360's GPU"

[3v1lkr0w @ May 14th 2007 12:19PM]

I would like that if this is a true update, hell, even if it is only 1.80, they include the ablity to put AE for a state so i can input my billing address finally!!!

[Mak @ May 14th 2007 12:31PM]

Yep, so 7xSPE + 1xPPE = ??? Yep 8 cores....

Sure I typed 7, ohh well...

[KC @ May 14th 2007 1:08PM]

That's pretty cool. I'm looking forward to the audio and video RSS content, just like on the PSP. Having it pull down those podcasts would really be the neatest thing to have.

[Jakob @ May 14th 2007 1:45PM]

In Denmark (Europe!!!) there has been problems, with the noise. Mine for example, make to much noise, than the normally PS3. But if I open the window, for a half hour, it's much more silent. So I think the enviroment, also is important factor.

Sorry for my Danish Europan English speaking. I'm just 14 years. Am I OK to English? :)

[Ordeith @ May 14th 2007 3:48PM]

SPE!= a "core"

The X360 has 3 cores with dual pipelines that enable it to work on 6 instructions at a time.

the SPEs in the PS3 are severly handicapped sub-processing units that can barely manage a weak subset of what a full processor core can do. The PS3 has 1 core and 7 assistants.

[James @ May 14th 2007 4:33PM]

Re: Xvid/DivX support -- it's not just used for piracy, it's a pretty decent codec for free home use with a wide variety of free encoders available. I record my own TV shows, but my capture card only does MPEG-2 (e.g. huge) output. I compress using DivX (or sometimes Xvid) because it doesn't take all day on my ancient Athlon 850. I use my "good" (circa 2003) PC hooked up to my living room HD set to watch the shows, but only because my 360 *still* does not support DivX, even after the recent Dash upgrade. I'll probably keep transcoding my TV shows to Xvid/DivX as long as I'm using my old PC to do the work -- I'd like to transition to x264 or something but I just don't have the CPU grunt to pull it off. So there's still some good reasons out there to support the "hacker" codecs...

...I miss my XBMC...

[matjet @ May 15th 2007 2:32AM]

@Carlitos, i didn't realize there were still poor uneducated souls like you out there. That press release is known by 99.98%(100%-Carlitos) of the gaming world as false propaganda that Microsoft sent to ign, in a rushed attempt to quell excitement about the ps3. ign then posted the article unaltered from what microsoft gave them on their website. Microsoft then presented a link of that article as proof of "the xbox360's superiority according to the media".

[Skillet @ May 15th 2007 10:48PM]

Honestly, the only thing I'm hoping for is that Sony lives up to it's promise to fix the downscaling problem for sets that don't support 720p.

[Sunil @ Jul 7th 2007 10:15PM]

F**k all you Xbots!!! You shouldn't even be on this site if you don't like Sony! I do agree though that Xbox is better than the Sony PS3 in some cases but the only reason i bought the PS3 is because it is better Quality wise (material & output display). I have bought every single Sony console to date and am proud of a console which says SONY on it. I dont hate Microsoft because i use it on my PC. But i dont think ill ever buy an XBOX! (SORRY about going off course accoring to this forum Topic).Its suposed tobe about PS3 firmware & these Xbots are just ruining it all!!! (sorry bout any spellin mistakes, i usually use slang. :)

[GXP @ Jul 22nd 2007 2:09PM]

Sunil, notice that M$ Windows can be quite inferior when you look at alternative, free systems, such GNU/Linux. They run faster on older computers and have greater security qualities.

Besides, I hope in the future that they include a 60hz option in XMB for PAL users, because the flickering of 50hz is really bad for my eyes.