You may have seen our story recently on the recent firmware 2.40 update and all the (potential) deliciousness it brings. We actually shied away from going all-out on pimping it because we were told from multiple dev sources that it was very much a foundation for stuff going forward. I even personally tried to tell forumgoers elsewhere that it was something that was going to take time to really gain traction.

The reality of what 2.40 adds to the PlayStation 3 experience is something that isn’t exactly tangible from the get-go. Yes, you have custom soundracks. Yes, you have Trophies, which to me is huge because rather than an arbitrary number, you now have that and an RPG-style level. Why the hell this is more engrossing to me than GamerPoints has actually caused me a bit of concern. There is quite literally zero difference between the two in the grand scheme of things; it’s still just a number, but something about the idea of “leveling up” based on grabbing Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies is, admittedly, intoxicating.

We don’t even have a full-fledged game yet patched (at least at the time of this blog) that supports the idea of the “Platinum Trophy” (you get it for earning all the Bronze/Silver/Gold Trophies, and it gives you, in effect, an “experience boost” for nailing ‘em all). But I want it. I don’t even know why I want it, but I do. It’s the RPG nut in me, and duplicative though it may be toward Microsoft’s Achievements, something about it being not another number yet, yes, still another number amazes me.

But 2.40 isn’t perfect. It went well for most of our systems, but Warren’s machine has bucked and decided to restart at random times. Still other tales persist on forums across these here tubes that tell a far more frightening tale: PS3s are getting bricked. We’ve contacted Sony, but not after all this rabble has eased a little, to hopefully get an official comment on things (we’ll let you know when we know).

It does seem that this is an issue commonly tied to people that opted to go the very route that Sony had allowed and upgraded their hard drives. In many cases, this includes the 40GB folks, which, aside from the Metal Gear Solid bundle, have already had to suffer no PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility if they wanted to play someting other then PS3 and PS one games. The (relatively) meager storage space was also a reason to throw another hard drive in there.

It does seem the solution so far is to just insert the normal system-ready hard drive back into the PS3. Things update (begrudgingly, if my 30 minutes of literally constant rebooting and searching for an update to Super Stardust HD are any indictation), but we’ll get an official word from Sony here soon… I hope.

From the desk of Sam Bishop, Editor-in-chief

Hey Kids! Looking to Break in the Games Industry?

So you probably thought this was a post about MAKING games (just like everyone does when we tell them what we do). Nope, we’re looking for bright, energetic (insert other clichéd buzzwords normally found in hiring announcements) people to help continue the meteoric rise of our company which has been around for almost 12 years, yet you’ve probably never heard of. We’re kidding, of course. Self-deprecation is really just our way of weeding out those without a sense of humor and a willingness to poke a little fun at ourselves while striving to become THE home for readers interested in all things PlayStation – including (primarily) games, but also the wealth of entertainment options afforded by the PlayStation systems (read: games, movies, music, home theatre and so on). We’re not looking to bring down the established sites in the industry, but we DO think we can be something different, which is where you come in. Are you relentlessly committed to helping a small group of like-minded folks build a company that puts quality above quantity? Do you abhor the idea of letting sensationalistic headlines guide editorial? Do you like video games? Do you like WRITING about video games? Perfect, then you’ve passed Test 1: So You Want to be a Gaming “Journalist.”

We obviously favor humor above almost everything else, but an encyclopedic knowledge of at least the past 10 years of gaming is a major plus, and being able to string together sentences with sprinkles of nuance, pinches of humor and just a hint of work time masochism is important too. Above all, though, we’re looking for people who can actually WRITE WELL. The all-caps means we’re serious business, and all joking aside, if you haven’t a solid command of the English language, including spelling and grammar, you needn’t apply. As we’re a small-time site, we offer the mere pittance of trips to industry-sponsored events and free games as our form of payment, but the experience gleaned here is absolutely invaluable at getting a foothold in the industry. We’re not interested in folks looking to make a name and then jump ship, but we’re also an understanding bunch – and if you catch a break while working with us, we’re not going to stop you (and yes, it’s happened more than a few times in the past).

So, if you’re interested in learning the ins and outs of the industry from a group of folks that have decades (yes, that’s multiple) of experience between them, then you’re already off to a good start. We need someone that’s willing to work during daytime hours (more or less 9-5), have a lock on proper grammar, and a willingness to be put through the ringer for a few months until we’re comfortable enough to send you free games. Yes, you read that right, if you work here, you get free games. And trips. And really meaningless but still somehow awesome random stuff like backpacks and figurines. If that sounds like your bag, here’s what we need from you:

-A resume and writing samples (the latter is KEY, as we need to get a good idea of whether or not your writing style fits the tone of the site).
-A mock review of your favorite game or a game released in the past six months, at least 500 words.
-Your contact info across IM services that you use.
-A basic write-up of the last great game you played and why.

Simple stuff, sure, but if you can prove you know games, know how to write and don’t mind being just a wee bit sarcastic about stuff, then you may well find yourself joining us. English majors and Bay Area residents are preferred, but if you blow our socks off, concessions can be made. Thanks for reading all the way through this, and we can’t wait to meet you! …Unless you’re that scary dude that works in the game store a couple miles from here and you smell like beef cup-o-ramen. We like you, man, honestly, but… naw, we don’t think it’ll work out.

Holy crap, we have a blog! Apparently this whole weblog “thing” isn’t a fad after all, which means that in classic TotalPlayStation fashion, we’re finally jumping in with the bare minimum of effort. I can’t promise that this blog will end up being updated all that regularly (though the fact that it won’t just be me adding updates will hopefully mean more than one a month), but at least you now have a direct portal to the minds of the collective TPS staff.

It’s entirely possible (and indeed likely) that we’ll eventually break things off into staff- and user-specific posts once we start embracing all that community stuff that is also, apparently, not a fad. All joking aside, this is a rather exciting time for all of us here because it represents a slow but sure step toward actually making good on all those things we’ve had bouncing around our noggins over the last few years. No, it won’t all happen at once (or, uh, even over the next few weeks, as much as I’d love that), but at some point we will have a thriving community again.

It’s a little weird to even be talking about building a community back up again. Years ago, right before the launch of the PlayStation 2, PSX2.com (TPS’ predecessor) had so many forum members and had managed to snatch enough of the PS2-curious parts of the internet that some folks actually thought we were an official Sony site. My, how things have changed. Still a chance to start over isn’t always a bad thing, and I welcome you, dear reader, to the start of things to come. Hopefully we’ll be able to claw some of the other guys working behind the scenes out to talk a little about what’s next for the site, but for now, I’ll just leave you with a promise that we’re working our asses off to get TPS back to the PSX2.com’s heyday. It’s just going to take a while. But hey, after more than 10 years, I’ve learned to be patient.

Oh, and because I promised it like two years ago, I want to dedicate this first blog post to pimping the work of a friend. Christopher Folino whipped up a funny, even slightly poignant peek into the lives of a handful of guys who are working on clinching the record for the longest tabletop role-playing game in history. What started as a childhood game has become a nearly two decade obsession, even though the kids are now very much adults. Well, adult age at least. The movie chronicles the closing days of clinching the record and what happens when grown men are finally forced to, well, grow up.

Even if you weren’t (or aren’t) a hardcore D&D player, the jokes and the writing still work, making Gamers a surprisingly good debut with more than a few names that any child of the 80s will geek out upon seeing. Go pick up a copy, and Chris, for what it’s worth, man, I’m sorry it took me so long to give you the props you deserve.