(Warning) PS3 update 2.4 renders system useless

PC world ^ | July 03, 2008 | Ian Paul

[edzo4]

Sony has pulled the latest PlayStation 3 firmware update after complaints that it is causing problems with the game console and sometimes bricking (cannot function in any capacity) PS3s. It's unclear how widespread the problem is. Sony claims problems with its PS3 firmware (2.4) have only affected an isolated number of customers' machines.

There have been a number of people on the Sony PS3 forums who have described problems with the PS3 update made available just yesterday. One camp of PS3 users complain of their consoles are freezing up. Others have had better luck, but report once the firmware has been installed games such as Metal Gear Solid 4 will produce errors delivering a black screen.

No official word yet from Sony on the root of the problem or a fix. Sony will post updates to its official blog as more information becomes available.

As of this morning Sony has not said when it anticipates to have the problem solved or what, if anything, it is going to do to help out the users with bricked systems. In the meantime, you can see the effects of the 2.4 bug here.

[edzo4]

hyundai will always sell more cars than ferrari

what does that have to do with quality?

and I am not so ignorant I can't spell technologies

have fun with your TPH games, BTW, TPH stands for 3rd person hula hoop

3d sonic sucks, as I said grahpics do not make a game

but have you used wii's internet connection to battle you friends around the world and see who can balance the broom longer? or put in grannies teeth faster?

graphics are not the most important game play is

that is why my favorite game currently is GT5

with the logitech driving force wheel

Formula One drivers Jarno Trulli and Kazuki Nakajima, along with WRC champion Sebastian Loeb, have all used Gran Turismo games to learn real life circuits.

Writing for the Japan Times Online, veteran motoring journalist Peter Lyon revealed that several racing drivers used the simulator to learn tracks they were unfamiliar with.

“Even Formula 1 racing drivers such as Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima have been seen practicing in front of a console,” said Lyon. “Whenever a new track comes onto the racing calendar, like Fuji Speedway did last October after a 30-year absence, and drivers cannot get there to practice for real, many fire up Gran Turismo.

“They say it’s the only way to memorise the track layout and braking markers — the points where you must start killing the speed to take an upcoming corner.”

However, the highest praise came from four time World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb. Recalling his build-up to the Le Mans 23 hours (where Loeb spent a day using GT5 to learn the famous Le Sarth circuit), the French ace said, “It's more than a game now,” adding, “It’s so precise that this 'game' has become a full-blown driving simulator, and just about every driver I know uses it for practice these days.”

so have you raced pac man yet?

and once you put the wii controller in the plastic wheel cutout which button is the gas and which is the brake (you do still have to "MASH BUTTONS" yes?)

maybe someday when real race car drivers need to prepare to race pac man or king koopa on the rainbow planet they will get wii

and which HD DVD format does wiii play HD DVD or BLU RAY? oh right neither...

[Nowhere Man]

Two of my favorites from back in the C64 days were LOADRUNNER (make and save your own boards, after you complete all 100 or whatever that came with it? Copy them onto another disk and share them with your friends? Awesome)and Jumpman.

I have LodeRunner for the Apple ][ here and in my 94 in 1 game joystick. That 94 in 1 has some games I loved to play like "Spy vs Spy" (you look for plans while setting traps for the other spy), "Paperboy," "Karateka" (you're a karate guy out to save the princess), Macross (based on the TV show "Robotech"), and many others.

I remember making LodeRunner mazes and so on. We had a computer club in high school, we Apple ][ people were dominant although we had some C-64's and Atari 400/800's as well. Basically it was nothing more than a pirate's den for copying games amongst ourselves. We used to carry discs around, one set of discs had copying and kracking programs that I often referred to as "my thief's tools." B-) I also carried a razor blade too, for making double sided discs (5.25 inch floppies), even the teachers and principal knew about it and didn't care. Today, that would be serious trouble. Unless I needed to make a double sided disc by cutting a notch, my blade stayed in my case.

Other games I liked were the Ultima and Wizardry series.

[HamiltonJay]

[HamiltonJay]

Again,

You fail to make any point. Are you trying to suggest Mario Kart is not as fun as GT5? Because fun has nothing to do with graphical HP.

You continue to try to compare games that are not remotely the same intended audience or concept, and pretend that’s some justification for this or that.

I’ll be the first to admit, if you want pretend you are driving a true race car, you aren’t going to be playing Mario Kart... however, I’m not aware of anyone confusing a racing simulator, with Mario Kart either.

Quality? You are defining quality as pixels on the screen, I am defining quality as most fun for the most people for the dollar spent. High quality doesn’t mean most graphical horsepower.

Quality is defined as: character with respect to fineness, or grade of excellence. And your definition of fineness and excellence seems to be centered primarily around graphical horsepower. Mine doesn’t, my idea of quality is entertainment and fun.

As to being a movie player, if you’ve got to bring up that argument into a discussion regarding gameplay being what makes games great, then you certainly have lost the argument going that far out of the discussion to try to make a point.

[Nowhere Man]

Well, I'm not in any financial position to buy a PS2 let alone a PS3, X-Box 360 or Wii although I like to keep up with what's going on. I just have the old PS1 and Atari VCS/2600.

Still, hearing the battles between the PS3 vs. Wii vs X-Box 360 reminds me of my junior high (circa 1979-1982)days where we all got into fights over which is better, Atari or Intellevision? When we had a huge donnybrook going, some other guy chimed in Odyssey 2 and later Colecovision (from 1983 on).

When personal computers came along, in high school (1982-1985), the battles were, Apple vs. Commodore vs. Atari vs. TRS-80. Usually the fight would start Apple vs. Commodore, then the Atari people would jump in along with a couple TRS-80 folks and perhaps one or two IBM-PC/PCjrs and you'd really have a Battle Royale that would rival a WWF fight.

I just see the parallels here. I know myself, I tend to favor the Playstation series, but then again, I'm a Final Fantasy junky. I tend to follow my grade school buddy as well, if he buys a Wii, I might follow if I had the money. I just use my PS1 for enjoyment and to blow off steam.

BTW, one time I only had black and white set so there was a time I hooked the PS1 to it. Playstation in black and white is a real hoot. B-)

[edzo4]

you made my point, video games are about fantasy and pretending

an escape from reality

as for your value arguement I spent $300 bucks and got the BEST gaming platform around and an HD DVD blu ray DVD player FREE!

you spent $300 to pretend to balance a $5 broom

wheeeeeeeeeeeeee I mean Wii

[HamiltonJay]

I know the discussion rarely changes with fanboys Nowhere man.. 64 v Apple just never ended....just the age of the opponents gets younger and younger.

[Nowhere Man]

I know the discussion rarely changes with fanboys Nowhere man.. 64 v Apple just never ended....just the age of the opponents gets younger and younger.

I like to say "same song, different jukebox." I think the Apple was good to where it was popular in schools and software variety whereas the Commodore was more advanced with sprites and graphics (along with sounds) along with a variety of software once it caught up to the Apple. The Commodore disc drive was slow although to be fair, there were third party hardware and software to speed it up. If I could find amateur radio software, I'd love to have a C-64. BTW, remember the VIC-20 that came out just before the C-64?

Too bad someone can't pull a "Colecovision" where they modified their consoles to accept other system's games, IIRC, I think they had an adapter for Atari games and Intellevision. Would be cool to have a "Wii-X-Station" for all three systems. B-D

[Publius Valerius]

On an unrelated question to this thread, I hope that you can help me.

I’ve been thinking of installing a home theatre pc, but I’ve come to realize that by the time I install a blue ray drive and graphics card and everything I’d like, the price of the machine is more than a PS3. But one of the reasons that I’d like the HTPC is because I’d like to be able to stream Netflix movies and watch them on my tv set. I know that the PS3 has a web browser, but is it compatible with streaming, like Netflix?

[edzo4]

i have not tried streaming anything in HD but i have seen you tube type videos

i am not that tech savy

[LanPB01]

I’ve never tried to stream Netflix videos through the PS3 browser, but from what I understand, you can’t at this time. The browser on the system is total garbage, and on top of the fact that it offers lousy features, the user interface is a pain to use.

Sony is planning on offering a PS3 movie download feature soon, however, similar to what the XBox has been offering for years.

[Publius Valerius]

Hmm. Thanks for the heads up. I’m intrigued by the concept of streaming movies to my TV, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the money or the hassle.

By the way, can’t you use a USB keyboard/mouse on the thing?

[LanPB01]

You can use a keyboard and mouse, but the browser requires the buttons on the controller for a lot of things, so even if you have a wireless keyboard, you’ll need the controller by your side as well.

In March, Netflix sent out a poll asking customers if they were interested in streaming videos on the XBox.

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/03/25/netflix-confirms-xbox-360-surveys/

They’ve also indicated they want to offer the streaming service on the PS3, but I don’t know how far along they are on either service. Next week is the E3 expo where the big three (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) show off their new features, so there could be an announcement then.

[SoftballMominVA]

I discovered FF when I played a game on the PSP. My daughter, who is really into it, was shocked I liked it. Now I’m hooked, trying to find FF games to play. I wish they had more on portable games. My kind of game - dungeon crawlers, good killing, missions, etc.

[Publius Valerius]

You can use a keyboard and mouse, but the browser requires the buttons on the controller for a lot of things, so even if you have a wireless keyboard, you’ll need the controller by your side as well.

Well that's stupid. You're right.

[Nowhere Man]

I discovered FF when I played a game on the PSP. My daughter, who is really into it, was shocked I liked it. Now I’m hooked, trying to find FF games to play. I wish they had more on portable games. My kind of game - dungeon crawlers, good killing, missions, etc.

Which FF's do you play. So far, I have VII and VIII. I'm trying to collect all FF's from FF1 through FF9 since I only have the first Playstation. Another good game, made by Square-Enix (they made the FF series, used to by known as "Squaresoft") I'm looking for is "Xenogears." "Parasite Eve" is another good one, takes place in 1997 New York City. "Legend of the Dragoon" is a good game of a similar theme although it is made by Sony.

I like a lot of diving and motorcycle games. "Road Rash Jailbreak" is fun, it is finny when you wreck, although in real life, you'd be dead. I like the two player mode with a sidecar, even as passenger, you have to lean to help the driver turn. Sometimes you have to fight the other motorcycles, one time, I accidently knocked my driver off the bike with my nightstick. B-) "Gran Turismo" is fun too where you race cars, I do quite well with a 1983 Toyota Corolla but I want to upgrade to Mazda RX-7. "Test Drive 5" is much the same thing but you can just go around and drive in various locations, it is fun to go cruising in Amman, Jordan in a 1967 Pontiac GTO. B-)

If I ever get a PS2, I'd like to get "Shadowhearts" and "Kingdomhearts." "Shadowhearts take place, you have a couple of games, from the late 1890's to World War I, but it is an "alternate history" where you have some magic working. One of the characters uses a frozen tunafish as a club. B-) "Kingdomhearts" is with Disney characters fighting alongside Final Fantasy characters, would be a hoot seeing Donald Duck fighting alongside Cloud Strife or Seifer Almasy. B-)

[SoftballMominVA]

FF I and III on PSP were AWESOME! I have it for Nintendo DS, but haven't gotten into it much yet. There is also something called FF Tactics, but my daughter told me it was nothing like what I've been playing

My problem is that the PS2 is my older daughter's, the XBox is the younger, and I have the Wii and the other two systems are going back to college. As far as I know there are no FF for Wii. I'm thinking about asking for a used PS2 for Christmas so I can buy the FF's.

A friend of mine got some Japanese FF's from when she was in Tokyo. She knows enough of the language to play them, she said they are so much more violent than the American versions

We have Kingdom Hearts and though I don't play it, I've seen it played and it seems to have an incredible re-playability.

My favorite games are dungeon crawlers, or god games. I especially like to be able to kill my enemies up close. Loving God Of War.