2.10 Firmware Released
We give you the details on the latest iteration of the PS3 firmware to hit the system.
Published: December 17, 2007
The Playstation 3's firmware has improved remarkably since launch as each update inevitably contains some sort of audio/video enhancement, and 2.10 is no exception. With the update comes support for the DivX and VC-1 (WMV) codecs, which pretty much complete the system's ability to play almost any video file thrown at it. For those of you with legit copies of movies, as well, you'll be ready when Blu-ray Profile 1.1 discs start hitting the shelves -- because as of Firmware 2.10, the PS3 now supports them.
With such monumental improvements to video playback, Sony may have overlooked the audio enthusiasts out there, right? Wrong. For those of you who are just fed up with only two types of bitmapping, you'll be glad to know that a third has been added to the music settings menu. Another visualizer theme has been thrown into the mix as well: press square during music playback to see it in action. Earth is seen hanging out and doing it's thing from several angles and distances, with occasional glimpses of stars and eclipses. It's a rather nice touch, even if it doesn't pulsate along to the music very much.
We were surprised to discover that the new firmware update allows for any PSX title on your PS3 to be played on your PSP over remote play. Whoa! Yeah, you read that right. Why Sony doesn't feel like mentioning these things in the changelog is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps they know that the faithful gaming press will have to babble on about it within minutes of its release, so why bother writing it all down, y'know?
While these important updates serve to enhance the overall Playstation 3 experience, we can't help but chuckle at the seemingly out of place "voice changer" that's been slipped into the accessory settings. Using this tool, users can adjust the sound of their voice to be higher or lower than normal, and the changes are carried over to any online game with voice chat. Here in the office, we've already discussed plans to become robots when we taunt our online opponents, and it should serve as a handy tool should we ever be questioned about the location of John Connor.
With such monumental improvements to video playback, Sony may have overlooked the audio enthusiasts out there, right? Wrong. For those of you who are just fed up with only two types of bitmapping, you'll be glad to know that a third has been added to the music settings menu. Another visualizer theme has been thrown into the mix as well: press square during music playback to see it in action. Earth is seen hanging out and doing it's thing from several angles and distances, with occasional glimpses of stars and eclipses. It's a rather nice touch, even if it doesn't pulsate along to the music very much.
We were surprised to discover that the new firmware update allows for any PSX title on your PS3 to be played on your PSP over remote play. Whoa! Yeah, you read that right. Why Sony doesn't feel like mentioning these things in the changelog is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps they know that the faithful gaming press will have to babble on about it within minutes of its release, so why bother writing it all down, y'know?
While these important updates serve to enhance the overall Playstation 3 experience, we can't help but chuckle at the seemingly out of place "voice changer" that's been slipped into the accessory settings. Using this tool, users can adjust the sound of their voice to be higher or lower than normal, and the changes are carried over to any online game with voice chat. Here in the office, we've already discussed plans to become robots when we taunt our online opponents, and it should serve as a handy tool should we ever be questioned about the location of John Connor.