Sony announces new PS3 firmware upgrade

Tuesday 1st July 2008 - 11:00

Version 2.40 all set to introduce new Trophy System and FIFA Manager 09 PC screens

All PS3 fans who have looked enviously at the Achievement Points system available to Xbox 360 gamers can now look forward to a similarly addictive system of their own! Sony has announced a new downloadable firmware update enabling in-game access to the system's XrossMediaBar and introducing the new Trophy System. Unconfirmed reports suggest the update will be available from tomorrow.

According to the official release, the in-game XMB feature will enable players to access the PS3 menu at any time while playing most games - simply by tapping the PlayStation button on the system's controller.

"With 2.40, you can check if any of your friends are online thanks to their own user profile, read and send messages, change some settings for games, all without having to quit the game you are playing. Along with these enhanced communications features, the Friends list capacity will double to 100 Friends," adds Sony.

Sony's director of PSN Operations Eric Lempel outlined what Sony has in mind for its answer to Microsoft's popular Achievement system, something that we can't help but think is a direct imitation, but nonetheless an advantageous feature.

"The main point of the trophy system is to award you for your accomplishments in-game," Lempel explained. "There's a large community of you out there playing games and this will really help you build your profile and show your friends and other gamers how much you game and what you've accomplished in-game."

Trophies are rewarded by successfully achieving certain milestones in a game. Depending on how many milestones you achieve you'll be awarded the corresponding bronze, silver or gold trophy (or indeed a platinum version if you get all three). Your PSN profile will display all achieved trophies for everyone to see - with the number of achievements contributing to your overall player 'level'.

There's little news on which back catalogue games will now be patched to include the new Trophy feature but we understand that LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 and Motorstorm Pacific Rift will all feature the new system.