PS3 firmware v2.30 is out: new PS Store and DTS-HD MA now yours for the taking

It's April 15th which means one thing: taxes PS3 firmware 2.30 is due. Right on cue, Sony made good on the new PlayStation Store and DTS-HD Master Audio sound reproduction sure to make audiophile-types lean in for a listen. The Store is acting a bit sluggish at the moment, something that's likely to get sorted once the rolling update is completed. Nevertheless, users are claiming easier navigation and richer experience. So whatcha looking at -- get out of here kid, there's on-line updating to be done.

[Thanks, Paul R., Nathan, and everyone who sent this in]

[Mo @ Apr 15th 2008 12:59AM]

Sweet, now thats what im talking aboot

[Adam @ Apr 15th 2008 1:02AM]

And hopefully Home Public beta will follow soon!

[genaldar @ Apr 15th 2008 1:45AM]

No one in their right mind cares about home. Its a 3rd rate Second Life knock off. Goody my avatar can talk to your avatar. Whoopty shit.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Apr 15th 2008 2:52AM]

It is a multi-user virtual environment. It doesn't have points or scores. It doesn't have winners or losers.

Oh, it has losers.

[tom @ Apr 15th 2008 9:05AM]

shoot...forgot to do my tax return =.='

[tyler @ Apr 15th 2008 11:31AM]

I love the redesign of the store.

[gabe @ Apr 15th 2008 1:02AM]

time to buy EVERYTHING! :O

[Tony @ Apr 15th 2008 1:02AM]

Just finished installing. I like the new store BUT, none of the images are loading... i'm guessing it'll be working by morning for me, i love how fast it is!

[NineT9 @ Apr 15th 2008 1:02AM]

Sony does it right!
The negative people below me do it wrong!

[Wiliam @ Apr 15th 2008 1:07AM]

And DTS-HD MA is broken!!! woohoo!! For most of us (those with Onkyo/Denon receivers), 7.1 tracks (Hairspray/Pan's Labyrinth are only playing in 5.1! Yay! Good job, Sony!

[Truckondo @ Apr 15th 2008 1:10AM]

did you check your sound settings?

[Jawad @ Apr 15th 2008 1:13AM]

Make sure its not on bitstream... suppose to be on PCM

[NotNormal23224 @ Apr 15th 2008 4:09AM]

It's not broken New Line titles have issues with a bunch of Blu-Ray players and 7.1 Pan's Labyrinth does the same thing to me but Saw IV works perfectly and they both have the same soundtrack specs. I saw a posting about New Line titles 7.1 issues over on AVS. The PS3 isn't alone with this problem.

[rawd @ Apr 15th 2008 1:46PM]

I believe the root of the problem in this case is that you own a copy of Hairspray, queerbait

[oGMo @ Apr 15th 2008 1:08AM]

Am I the only one for whom all the images are broken?

[jasheeky @ Apr 15th 2008 1:16AM]

images are broken for many, almost all users. i take this is just a temporary glitch, i give it less than 24hours.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Apr 15th 2008 3:37AM]

The images are working for me, although they are kind of slow in loading.

If I had to describe the update to the store in one word it would be "fluid".

Also I checked to see if my download code for the Metal Gear Online demo was working (ahead of the scheduled date of the 17th) after updating. It did not work.

[Victor @ Apr 15th 2008 1:06PM]

TAXES?!??!

[Wiliam @ Apr 15th 2008 1:21AM]

Yes I'm sure everything is set correctly. Others are reporting the same issue on the AVS forum. And Crank plays fine in PCM 7.1...

[rv @ Apr 15th 2008 1:26PM]

The real question- Why do you have crank on blu ray?

[John @ Apr 15th 2008 1:26AM]

I'll download tonight, install tomorrow. But I wasn't planning on any post-midnight store binging, so I'll be alright.

[Elisha Adeagbo @ Apr 15th 2008 1:36AM]

Yay!
lol taxes

[Mark @ Apr 15th 2008 1:42AM]

It is going to take a bit for everything to settle on their end so expect images to work a bit later. Even though I understand work is still being done right now, I freaking LOVE IT!

[ethana2 @ Apr 15th 2008 1:56AM]

Time to see how this update is treating the homebrew folks....

[Kurian @ Apr 15th 2008 3:54AM]

There was never any homebrew to begin with...

[Jonathan @ Apr 15th 2008 2:28AM]

west coast. cant even log into playstation network to dl this shit.

[thespecter.org @ Apr 15th 2008 4:10PM]

Quote from the Playstation Blog:

"Since the new Store is no longer web-based in the way the old Store was, all of the coding is brand new, as well as thousands of new images to import and farm out to the different servers."

So the images will come soon.

[COOCOOBEE @ Apr 15th 2008 2:42AM]

I love my PS3, and I'm happy about the DTS-MA support, but the store is only marginally better. Just slightly rearranged is all. You still have to click on a demo, click download, tell it where to download, click again to start downloading, click again to tell it to download in the background (for those of us who don't fancy staring at progress bars), and then after it's finished downloading you still have to then install the demo. So, I think the 360's interface is still slightly more streamlined in comparison. There not worlds apart, but I do find there's a lot more button pushing with my Sony experience. The new GUI is nice, but really not all that different to tell you the truth. I do appreciate that the back button takes you back a page rather then asking you if you want to exit the entire store now though.. All and all mostly happiest with the audio upgrade. Thanks Sony!

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Apr 15th 2008 2:55AM]

Thanks, good report. I'll put off downloading until morning.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Apr 15th 2008 2:59AM]

Oh, what the hell. I guess I can't wait until morning after all.

[Kurian @ Apr 15th 2008 3:56AM]

I prefer finer control over each step in the process.

Like if I want to archive the demo installers on my PC to install them later.

[James @ Apr 15th 2008 4:19AM]

Store Updated in the UK, but for me the store is about ten times worse than the old one, with lots of menus showing blank squares with no content, just the large poster style adverts showing.

Anyone else get this?

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Apr 15th 2008 4:35AM]

Here in the US, the squares were taking a long time for their pictures to show up. However, I could still see the text describing which item each square was for.

[Marc @ Apr 15th 2008 6:32AM]

expect home soon peeps... not because 2.30 came out.... just expect it

[James @ Apr 15th 2008 7:40AM]

Evidence to back up a statement we all want to be true.....?


Hope your right though :-)

[Evan @ Apr 15th 2008 8:50AM]

Downloading as I'm writing this...

What I don't understand about the updates is... it asks me to press the PS button ON THE CONTROLLER, not the remote, to continue. I don't keep my controller handy!

Okay, it's done...

The store seems easier to navigate. Why is the grid only 5x4, when there's clearly room for another row and column? I will try DTS-MA later.

Also, there appears to be no new movie trailers, and no new PS3 demos. Nothing new to download. Oh well.

[7egend @ Apr 15th 2008 9:04AM]

the whole reason for me getting this is the pure DTS bliss I am about the throw myself into.

thank you sony :)

[Ty @ Apr 15th 2008 9:33AM]

I didn't think I would notice anything too much better about the new store but I think it's slick and definitely much better. I do have to figure out how to cut off the sounds in it, that *beep beep beep* everytime you navigate is already annoying.

[Elton @ Apr 15th 2008 10:01AM]

Huge improvement! I may like this more than the Xbox 360 store now.

[ApathyRules @ Apr 15th 2008 11:05AM]

The big questions is..... can I now get the Still Alive song for Rock Band!

[Tony @ Apr 15th 2008 11:31AM]

I thought when the store came back there was supposed to be a bunch of new downloadable content? or does that happen on thursdays? i cant remember their update schedule anymore...
oh and

@Evan- You dont keep your playstation controller handy for your PLAYSTATION??

[Solar @ Apr 15th 2008 5:59PM]

The PS3 remote doesn't have a PS button on it like the controller does?!

[BarryBee @ Apr 15th 2008 6:53PM]

It does, the system just requires you to use the PS3 controller.

[Edgar @ Apr 15th 2008 11:46AM]

Ahh this is awesome. Finally we can use the "O" button to go back!

[paul @ Apr 15th 2008 1:02PM]

I got credit for being the first tipster! I would brag more if such a thing required any actual skill.

[Azayzel @ Apr 15th 2008 2:28PM]

The re-design is much better than the previous one, things are grouped a little better and being able to go back one page is much nicer than getting ganked all the way back to square one when you're drilled down a few levels. Sucks there's no real *new* content yet, i was hoping for somore more demos. I picked up a few sucky games when it first came out, so if I can't demo it, I won't buy it. Not a major upgrade, so why'd it take so bloody long to d/l & install and they didn't even mention the audio upgrade under improvements when you installed it!!!

[El Chompiras @ Apr 15th 2008 4:08PM]

sony or harmonix need to update is the les paul controller. maybe it can get leaked by some digruntled worker. ;)

[slarity @ Apr 15th 2008 4:40PM]

Now I wait for the Onkyo 606 to come out before I can really enjoy this...

[MaxVest @ Apr 15th 2008 9:40PM]

They just couldn't squeeze in a fix for the bug introduced in update 2.20 that broke streaming .mp4 buffering, could they? Dang it.

[Daniel james @ Jun 16th 2008 2:07PM]

Once it will completely updated then features will be quite attractive and anyone can operate and enjoy it.
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Daniel James
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