Video: In-game XMB demonstrated on PS3 v2.40

It's here kids, in-game XMB demonstrated on a firmware 2.40 PS3 for the first time. Yup, that's the clock and date displayed upper-right with a quick hit of the PlayStation button. Sony also reveals that the 2.40 firmware update will deliver the Google search bar (like the PSP update last week) and the ability to play and control your own music stored on the hard drive in-game. See that and more in the video after the break.

[whowhatme @ Jun 30th 2008 3:47AM]

sweet! when can i download XD

[TimeyWimeyStuff @ Jun 30th 2008 8:40AM]

Sony just announced it will be available July 2nd

[Dxw @ Jun 30th 2008 9:26AM]

Where did you hear that?

[Dxw @ Jun 30th 2008 9:28AM]

sigh, never mind I searched and surprisingly I found it.

[fistpittingnork @ Jun 30th 2008 9:43AM]

According to talkplaystation, the official release date is today. Can anybody confirm this?

http://talkplaystation.com/ps3-system-software-firmware-2-4-announced/

[Dxw @ Jun 30th 2008 10:22AM]

The playstation blog says July 2nd. And it looks like that page just says there was going to be an announcement today.

[yode @ Jun 30th 2008 3:55AM]

Can you do private voice chats in-game?

[bohsocks @ Jun 30th 2008 8:22AM]

Yeah but that costs extra, and they make you go to the champagne room.

[Bryan Thornsberry @ Jun 30th 2008 2:39PM]

ughg. i dont like champaigne. and i dont like rooms.

[Das Boot @ Jun 30th 2008 4:04AM]

Don't get me wrong, i am up this late because I been playing my ps3 all evening and now morning long (bcause i have no life), but its hard for me to not be sarcastic when I see this dude acting so exited about something that should have been included since the beginning. I also love how they say its going to come out very soon. I guess if they say that rather than say it will come out on so and so date, they won't get lynched when they dont delivier (although we were kinda screwed with being told that Home would be ready this spring and now being pushed for open beta in the fall). I can't say im excited about this update because the excitement died down a long time ago, but i still love my ps3 even if sony isn't delivering. Some may argue that they delay for better quality, but that route really isnt working if the ps3 system in number three in says. Get it together sony, Bite the bullet and take the bitch down. Time for bed.

[Das Boot @ Jun 30th 2008 4:05AM]

I meant its third in sales. sleep deprivation makes you type weird things.

[Zorque @ Jun 30th 2008 4:45AM]

I know. I know it's going to start a console war, and I hate doing this, but the 360's been able to do this for what, 2 years now? It probably wasn't too hard to implement, and it should have been included at launch.

[w4rh34rt @ Jun 30th 2008 5:32AM]

Serious man, I know it's a big thing, but I got my console about 3weeks after launch and I've never found the lack of XMB annoying or anything, yea', i would have liked to seen it implemented from the beginning, but, it's never been something I need to be able to enjoy my games, etc.

All I'm saying is that yea', it's late, but there must have been some reason behind it and it's coming very soon now so we can just be excited its' finally coming!

[Garst @ Jun 30th 2008 6:04AM]

I don't have a PS3, but if I did, I, too, would not be able to say that I'd be excited about the update.

[Bill @ Jun 30th 2008 6:24AM]

Agree completely...love my PS3, blue-ray and all that it can do, but my response to this update is tepid at best; and I found the enthusiasm of the presenter sinister in a Hitler Youth kind of way...

[benny boy @ Jun 30th 2008 7:40AM]

What's with all the complaining?? Seriously, a long-awaited feature has just been shown to us and will be released soon.

We should all be joyful!

Seriously though, whatever Sony do, they seem to get bashed for it. They're now adding in-game XMB and people all already complaining and it hasn't even been released yet. Anything they do, people will find something to complain about it.

Why must it have been included from the start? Just because the X360 has it? People complained about the PS3 not having it so now they're bringing it out and people are complaining about it being brought out now.

[cduran01 @ Jun 30th 2008 9:40AM]

You know what should've been in there from the very start?

RELIABLE XBOX 360 HARDWARE!!!!!!! How about complaining about that? Why complain about a software feature not being there from the start, Sony was busy making a rock solid piece of hardware, software can always be added later while hardware cannot.

[Luigi193 @ Jun 30th 2008 11:23AM]

Yeah, this is going to be an awesome update!!!

But I think it would have been easyish to have at launch, cause i believe (total guesses beyond this point) if you think about it like a computer, your running WIndows Explorer or Finder and you launch an app... you should still be able to access the WE or Finder... The games run ontop of the XMB... it shouldn't have been TO hard to implement this feature...

[John @ Jun 30th 2008 7:01PM]

This is an amazing update. It might be stuff you would expect Sony to have had in the first place, but if you don't have one, what do you care, and if you do have one, then you knew it didn't have these features in the first place. There's nothing to complain about.

[MIKE @ Jun 30th 2008 4:13AM]

dashboard?

ORGASM~!!!!!!!!!!

not

[NineT9 @ Jun 30th 2008 4:13AM]

I own you. Rank me low.

[Zorque @ Jun 30th 2008 4:47AM]

I was going to mod you up but I realized you're using reverse psychology to get me to do that. Of course you knew I'd think that and mod you down, so I'm modding you up. ENJOY HIGHLY RANKED, CHUMP

[waffles @ Jun 30th 2008 2:32PM]

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

[Andres @ Jun 30th 2008 4:15AM]

Xbox much?

[Dxw @ Jun 30th 2008 4:20AM]

Ridiculous.

[Jakob Henner @ Jun 30th 2008 4:15AM]

I'm just waiting for the next person who want in-game photo slideshow. You always want what you can't get, Sony you're doing a great job with these firmwares updates!

[benny boy @ Jun 30th 2008 7:42AM]

Thank you. Someone who's not complaining. Yay, Firmware 2.40. Yay

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 30th 2008 10:20AM]

From 0 to Fanboy flame war in 35.2 seconds.... anyways I am very pleased with this update because it will come in handy in racing games and GTA4 to play your own music in the background.

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 30th 2008 10:25AM]

Okay that was supposed to be in a post all by itself not a reply to your comment... but anyways yeah In game Pr0n sounds like something I might want to see in between loading screens. Cant wait for that slideshow feature.

[Joe Trent @ Jun 30th 2008 4:18AM]

I wet myself a little.

[graham.williams @ Jun 30th 2008 4:22AM]

This is the type of communication I'd like to see from Sony in the future: content oriented, zero hyperbole, delivered by an ordinary guy in plain english. Awesome stuff.

[Bill @ Jun 30th 2008 4:22AM]

Great update, if i only had my ps3 to install it!!!. The $%^$ Bluray drive died on me after 6 months of delicate use. They should be working on THAT issue. BTW, mine "was" a 60GB PS3 and is on its way to Moscow to get all dissected and stuff. for what i heard 99% of them don't make it through and Sony just gives you a voucher for a new one.....after 4 weeks!
Go SONY EUROPE!!!! Darn it!

[Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 30th 2008 11:12AM]

Don't low rank Bill. My 60gb PS3's Blu-Ray drive broke actually after playing GTA4. About 10 hours in the game, it would start to lock up and then finally not read the disc in the XMB or give a startup error when it did detect the disc. It still read my CDs and DVDs however, but not Blu-Ray discs. I sadly sold it and got a 360 instead.

I've looked around and seen lots of complaints about people's drives breaking, mostly from playing MGS4 and GTA4, it is happening, it is a bit of a widespread problem.

I REALLY want to buy a PS3 again but want to wait until this is fixed, this is somewhat like the 360s RROD.

[spimoles @ Jun 30th 2008 4:25AM]

This looks great. Its nice to see that Sony is listening even if they took forever to roll this feature out. With all of the devs they have on staff I wonder what they do all day. I believe facebook to be the culprit of these slow updates.

[thefiendster @ Jun 30th 2008 4:27AM]

cant believe it's taking Sony this long. they should have rolled this out day one.

[BLee @ Jun 30th 2008 4:29AM]

I dont know how hard it would be or if its possible, but it'd be cool if you could access the web browser while playing a game.. a quick gamefaq or code look up would be great for some games..

[Rowdehaj @ Jun 30th 2008 5:02AM]

Yes yes!

[BobTurbo @ Jun 30th 2008 6:35AM]

Stop cheating.

[DrXym @ Jun 30th 2008 6:36AM]

You can already do that in some titles (e.g. Metal Gear Online opens the browser so you can register an account) but the the web browser module must be explicitly pulled in by the game and it consumes memory. So you're never likely to see it for some random game.

[HuGo @ Jun 30th 2008 4:40AM]

I'm so glad that you can access the bluetooth accessories in the in-game XMB. When he was heading over to the settings menu in the video, I though it was going to prompt him to leave the game and then go into the settings menu. That is one of the biggest things I'm looking forward to. Because my headset always disconnects in between rounds of multiplayer.

[CreepinJesus @ Jun 30th 2008 4:55AM]

Haha - Xbox 360 has had most of this since launch! Get with the times, Sony.

[Jamesology @ Jun 30th 2008 5:18AM]

WOW you are smart. Thank you for stating the obvious, I'm pretty sure not a lot of ppl knew that the XBOX had this from the start. What other smart things can you tell us? Is the XBOX made from Microsoft? Can you pls confirm b/c I'm pretty sure not a lot of ppl know this.

[MMM @ Jun 30th 2008 5:40AM]

This is a particularly dumb retort. The reason the PS3 is outselling the 360, despite the higher price, is that the PS3 has a lot of functionality that the 360 doesn't.

For example, I am typing this on Firefox from my PS3. I also have a 20 page seminar paper in Openoffice on my PS3's taskbar that I'm going to print as soon as I proofread it again. My kids make claymation movies with Eyecreate (free PS3 software), watch Planet Earth in 1080p, and I play 60 person multiplayer games with no online fees. The graphics of my games, such as Uncharted and MGS4, are almost as good as my PC's (on which I have games like Gears of War).

The 360 is a great system, and it's good that Sony is taking the ideas that some PS3 users want and implementing them without rushing. But it's crazy to claim that the PS3 is 'catching up' with a console if that console seems to be technologically and functionally inferior in several respects.

If all you want to do is play multiplayer FPS games, the consoles are getting pretty equal but the 360 has the historical advantage. But I can think of a lot of other interests a console owner can have that would make the 360 seem behind the times.

[CreepinJesus @ Jun 30th 2008 5:48AM]

Yeh, you're right. The PS3 does make a good PC.

[Phil @ Jun 30th 2008 5:48AM]

HDMI? Oh that's right, PS3 had this right from the start. Get with the times Microsoft!

Oh, and then there's Blu-ray........

[DrXym @ Jun 30th 2008 7:28AM]

HDMI, Blu Ray, Bluetooth, Wifi, serial ATA, web browser, free online play, etc.

[BobTurbo @ Jun 30th 2008 7:50AM]

The ability to continue working after a month.

[kastonie @ Jun 30th 2008 10:04AM]

wtf people..... my xbox 360 is a launch unit and it still works perfectly.....I own all 3 systems and I can honestly say this should have already been part of the system from the beginning....

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 30th 2008 10:10AM]

No power brick that burns down family homes....

[mayhem85 @ Jun 30th 2008 5:03AM]

Shouldve ripped off the xbox from the get go rather than trying to copy the wii's motion controllers...

this stuff shouldve been out day one... maybe im just spoiled with my xbox that automatically installs stuff that I download rather than having to wait forever to d/l and then install it... yes you may have an 8 cell processor but what good is it if you dont program properly for it (i like to multitask you know like d/l something and play a game at the same time, even if its not an online game)?

that system has so much potential and feel like the only reason sony pushed it was for the blu-ray player and not for the games or other features... if all i wanted was a blu-ray player sony i wouldve bought a standalone player, but instead i bought what i thought was going to be a great competition for the xbox in functionality and features...

all the consoles have their ups and downs but as ive said before I'd rather cook my xbox then watch my ps3 collect dust... (fin)