In the pursuit of science, I spent a while today getting to know the latest PS3 firmware update. Some of the biggest criticisms have been addressed, while a few others still remain. If you don’t know what this firmware brings, shame on you. But I’ll tell you anyway.
First off, in-game XMB works as you would expect. Checking and sending messages, viewing what friends are up to, changing some settings, it all works great. There are some features that don’t work, such as changing your video settings, which is understandable. Two areas I hoped would make it, but should be slated for a future release are cross-game invites and private voice-chat in-game. Another minor feature is the addition of the date and time in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Good idea, bad placement. You see, whenever you hit the PS button to bring up the XMB, the clock is covered up by the controller battery status. When in the XMB with a dark wallpaper, it’s tough to see either. Hopefully Sony includes an option to disable the clock or move it in a future firmware update. Custom soundtracks are there, but currently no games support this feature through the XMB just yet (some games support it in-game, like PAIN).
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If you haven’t picked up Super Stardust HD yet, it’s a one hell of a good shooter. It flew under the radar and is one of the better PSN games out there. Sony announced that Super Stardust HD will be the first game to receive Trophy support, literally within hours of the firmware v2.4 release. With gamers clamoring to be the first to get their Trophies, will sales of the game spike this week?
I have a feeling this is the case. We don’t know the full sales total, but I’d expect Super Stardust HD to rocket up to the top of the charts on the PSN (as of mid-February, it was #7 on the PSN Top Sellers List). Just like with Achievement Whores on the Xbox 360, I fully expect Trophy Whores to be in full effect in the early morning hours of July 2nd once the firmware hits. Have to get started with building your Level, and why not spend $10 on a good game to get it going?
The real question is, did Sony plan this as a marketing move for the game? Being a critical success but not in the top sellers currently, why not make a big push with Super Stardust HD to garner attention? If this is the case, I think it was pretty smart move on Sony’s part. If not, they stepped into something good. Either way, I have a feeling we’ll be hearing about some high sales data at the end of the week or next week.
