The v.2.40 PS3 firmware update previously disclosed by Sony Compu...
The v.2.40 PS3 firmware update previously disclosed by Sony Computer Entertainment America (CED June 23 p8) will also add Google-powered Internet search functionality on the console’s XrossMediaBar (XMB) graphical user interface, SCEA said Monday. The new feature will enable…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
PS3 users to input search terms and be directed to a search results page without having to first open the PS3 Internet browser, SCEA said. The company also disclosed that the update will be available Wednesday. Previously, SCEA had said on its PlayStation blog only that the update would add XMB Access In-Game, the ability for gamers to access the console’s system menu without having to pause or exit a game, as well as a new trophies feature for online gaming. The addition of Google search functionality hardly came as a shock: Sony added that to PSP through a recent firmware update (CED June 17 p5). Providing details on the trophies feature for PS3, SCEA said the new integrated system “enables gamers to tout their accomplishments via profiles, which also allow users to compare their skills to other members of the community.” PS3 users can earn virtual trophies, which will be viewable on the XMB’s Game category under a new Trophy Collection icon, and will also be touted through individual profiles, SCEA said. The profiles will serve as virtual representations of PS3 users, letting them personalize their identities and display their gaming accomplishments within the PlayStation community, the company said. Gamers will be ranked on a level-basis, depending on the bronze, silver, gold, and platinum trophies they earn across all games. They also will be able to see how much progress they have made toward the next level, as well as compare their Trophies to friends’. Super Stardust HD, a PlayStation Network-exclusive released in June 2007, will be the first game to leverage the Trophies system and will offer a variety of trophies, SCEA said. Also slated to offer Trophy support are the first-party games Buzz! Quiz TV, LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm Pacific Rift, NBA 09, Pain, PixelJunk Eden, Resistance 2, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation and Warhawk. There will be “additional first and third-party games bringing Trophy support to their feature sets through 2008 and beyond,” SCEA said, saying it was “actively working with developers to ensure that Trophies are incorporated into new titles in the future.”