Don't get me wrong, I am excited for the 2.4 update, but will voice chat or cross game invites be supported?

I certainly hope so, but from the bullet points I have been reading I get the impression that PS3 owners are still going to have a subpar online experience.

It will be nice to be able to send and receive messages while in game, but it still feels like online PS3 gaming is lagging behind services such as Steam and Xbox live.

So no cross game chat then? Shit. What about being able to chat with someone who is in game while I am not playing a game? Can I do that in 2.4?

You can send text messages to others while they are in a game, or while you are in a game, but thats all. And you can't use Voice chat unless the normal chat means. Which is both of you opening the chat program out of game. and you cant send messages at all while watching a bluy-ray movie or playing a PS2 game. Check out Kotaku.com they had a feature of what you can and cant do with 2.4

The playstation blog listed a FAQ which answers alot of these questions. Just keep in mind this is just laying the tracks. This is not the end.

I meant to quote him mr. angry beaver.

At least it's a start. Part of 2.4 is just to lay the groundwork. They'll likely improve it's functionality over the coming months. About bloody time they get a clock. I mean really how hard is it to add a clock? It's no Live but it's sure making me reconsider putting out $50 next year.

A lot of people seem to have a permanent "glass is half empty" mentality towards the PS3. Maybe its the gaming fad of the day, but its getting pretty old.

Im not directing this at anyone in particular but whenever people reference consoles it seems it follows he pattern:

PS3: Yes, but does it have this?
360: Yes, but we also have this
Wii: Wtf is this?

Im not directing this at anyone in particular but whenever people reference consoles it seems it follows he pattern:

PS3: Yes, but does it have this?
360: Yes, but we also have this
Wii: Wtf is this?

:lol: that is so true. Every Xbot I have a conversation about the PS3 with always brings up the shortcomings of PSN, then goes on about how Halo 3 is so perfect that it makes god weep, and then concludes that the RRODs are over publicized anyway. It is so irritating.

The playstation blog listed a FAQ which answers alot of these questions. Just keep in mind this is just laying the tracks. This is not the end.

Not to be a downer, but why the hell has it taken so long to lay the tracks? How long do will we have to continue to wait for functionality equivalent to that of Steam or Xbox live?

I bought a PS3 based on my satisfaction with the PS2. Between the large number of inferior multiplatform games and the PS3's mediocre online support I am starting to strongly regret that decision.

Why Isn't Sony doing anything about this? They are a huge corporation that has more than adequate resources to solve these problems in a timely manner.

I have looked into selling/trading in my PS3 and getting a 360, but the financial hit I will take in this process is not acceptable. I have pondered keeping the PS3 and also purchasing a 360 but I cannot justify spending over $800 on game consoles that will become obsolete within the next 2 years.

Deadlift, as much as I agree with you on the subject of Sony's online and firmware support, it has to be noted that nothing can be conjured out of the air by magic. Granted, Microsoft knew what they were doing when they launched XBL and Sony don't, so it's baby steps for the PLAYSTATION Network until it takes off properly.

As for the firmware, it can be pretty hard to develop this sort of software, especially when it comes to the PS3. Many a devloper would tell you that the Cell processor iis quite different to a lot of other processors and is hence a little hard to develop for at first, and I'd bet that Sony are still getting to grips with it. When you consider the fact that the PS3 has only 256MB of RAM available and that a fair chunk of that is needed for games, you might want to cut Sony a little slack when it comes to developing features such as the in-game XMB - this will probably take up a sizeable amount of system resources and Sony will need to work out how to divide these up efficiently.

I am sure it is difficult to write software for this machine. Too bad the ps3 is not upgradable or I would certainly load it up with ram. Hopefully, they will learn how to properly take advantage of that processor before the ps3 is obsolete.

Deadlift, as much as I agree with you on the subject of Sony's online and firmware support, it has to be noted that nothing can be conjured out of the air by magic. Granted, Microsoft knew what they were doing when they launched XBL and Sony don't, so it's baby steps for the PLAYSTATION Network until it takes off properly.

As for the firmware, it can be pretty hard to develop this sort of software, especially when it comes to the PS3. Many a devloper would tell you that the Cell processor iis quite different to a lot of other processors and is hence a little hard to develop for at first, and I'd bet that Sony are still getting to grips with it. When you consider the fact that the PS3 has only 256MB of RAM available and that a fair chunk of that is needed for games, you might want to cut Sony a little slack when it comes to developing features such as the in-game XMB - this will probably take up a sizeable amount of system resources and Sony will need to work out how to divide these up efficiently.

The PS3 actually has 512MB of Ram total like the 360. However the RAM is split, 256 for the cell and 256 for the graphics card.

Exactly. I didn't bother mentioning the graphics RAM because it's useless when it comes to storing processes such as the in-game XMB. Graphics RAM is only useful for what the name implies, so I didn't feel it was worth mentioning in my post above.

Still, Would be cool to be able to upgrade the ram in the ps3

Deadlift, as much as I agree with you on the subject of Sony's online and firmware support, it has to be noted that nothing can be conjured out of the air by magic. Granted, Microsoft knew what they were doing when they launched XBL and Sony don't, so it's baby steps for the PLAYSTATION Network until it takes off properly.

As for the firmware, it can be pretty hard to develop this sort of software, especially when it comes to the PS3. Many a devloper would tell you that the Cell processor iis quite different to a lot of other processors and is hence a little hard to develop for at first, and I'd bet that Sony are still getting to grips with it. When you consider the fact that the PS3 has only 256MB of RAM available and that a fair chunk of that is needed for games, you might want to cut Sony a little slack when it comes to developing features such as the in-game XMB - this will probably take up a sizeable amount of system resources and Sony will need to work out how to divide these up efficiently.

I understand that sony can't simply "magic" a functional piece of complex software. However they are a massive corporation and can afford to develop such technology in a timely manor. I feel that the cell processor should be able to handle some of these comparatively (to high poly models, high res textures and various maps) simple functions. Would it be possible to take advantage of the hard drive and create some virtual memory for this purpose?

The cell processor is a great technological achievement (especially for the price) but at the moment it is the equivalent of a 12 cylinder engine with a shitty transmission. With the exception of MGS4 and Uncharted I have yet to see any titles surpass their xbox counterparts. It doesn't matter if your have 500 horsepower under the hood and only half of that ever gets to the wheels.

can someone explain to me how cross game invites work and the reason they are so important. I dont own a 360 and have never played around with one enought to undersatnd what this feature means.
This is how I invite a friend at the moment if they are playing a different game to me.
> open friends list see friend online
> sent message asking if they wanna play some multiplayer(ie warhawk)
> they exit their game load up warhawk
> they see where i am in the community menu and jump into my game.
How would cross game invites improve this process?

can someone explain to me how cross game invites work and the reason they are so important. I dont own a 360 and have never played around with one enought to undersatnd what this feature means.
This is how I invite a friend at the moment if they are playing a different game to me.
> open friends list see friend online
> sent message asking if they wanna play some multiplayer(ie warhawk)
> they exit their game load up warhawk
> they see where i am in the community menu and jump into my game.
How would cross game invites improve this process?

I am also trying to understand why people are upset about this. When you see the little note that you have received a message, simply pause your game, press ps button and read the message and respond accordingly. I guess people want something simpler but IMO, this is pretty simple.

I am also trying to understand why people are upset about this. When you see the little note that you have received a message, simply pause your game, press ps button and read the message and respond accordingly. I guess people want something simpler but IMO, this is pretty simple.
Its not just about being simple, its about being hassle free. Having to send text messages back in forth just to get a friend, who is playing another game, in your game is a hassle especially if your trying to get a large number of people in a game. At least compared to Xbox Live. You dont even need invites in Xbox Live since it tells you if someone is joinable in a game and lets you join them without invites at any time. That is something I want for PS3 as well as private chat in games.

Sinful, I totally agree.

I have to agree with sinfulhate. I was really dissapointed with the 2.4 update. It doesn't seem to make it that much easier. I think that they could and should have done more with this. I have heard that it is something to do with the processor, but I don't know anything about that stuff so don't quote me.

P.S. I'm really tired of all the PS3 bots who jump all over anyone who says even the slightest negative thing about the PS3. I love my PS3, but can see the flaws. We must keep complaining otherwise they will not make things better.