Background downloading coming to a PS3 near you!
by Ed Stasick 
{ Feb 11th 2007 at 10:15AM }
One of the biggest PS3 requests since launch has been background downloading. It's certainly no fun waiting around to play your console while while it takes its sweet time with a lengthy download. The upcoming 1.6 update promises to put an end to the issue and make your PS3 the multi-tasking monster that you've demanded.
The 1.6 update release date is not yet known, but we feel confident that it will hit within the next 45 days. If background downloading doesn't excite you, Sony is also promising some additional goodies. According to Phil Harrison, "The only thing I can talk about is that background downloading will be part of the 1.6 upgrade. There's a bunch of other stuff, but Kawanishi-san would kill me if I was to reveal all of the details."
Any guesses as to what the other features might be?
[Via GamingBits]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stef Geiger @ Feb 11th 2007 11:11AM
I'd like to think that they'd maybe fix the scaling issues so I can actually play 720p games in HD instead of 480p, but I'm not holding my breath.
Eric @ Feb 11th 2007 11:54AM
Thank god. It's about time. Would be REAL nice if they would release tekken 5 along with the update. I've heard you have to download the ending videos seperately (not sure if that true or not), but if so, that would be a severe pain without bg downloading. A PS1 emulator for the downloadable games would be nice too, but not holding my breath. Besides, they've not released anything that great yet anyway.
gilbert @ Feb 11th 2007 12:22PM
wallpaper!
humpty @ Feb 11th 2007 11:59AM
I want DVD upscaling.
The weird thing is that the game trailers on the PS Store are encoded in 720p, but, playback in 1080p just fine... so the video scaling is already there.
DLB10000 @ Feb 11th 2007 12:03PM
Everything on the PS3 will eventually be fixed. But, the most important fixes are..
1. Multi Tasking...
Listinging to your own tunes while downloading as your playing a game. And they need to do it now.
2. Changing the color/ your own picture as your backround. (Wallpaper)
3. Demos and downloads on PSM need to improve
A. Faster downloading
B. Demos (They need a demo for every game a month before release, with out exception)
4. I don't care about Backward compatability really. The only PS2 game that will ever touch the PS3 will be God Of War 2. They need to either have all PS2 issue resolved by the time it drops. Or be designing the game to run on both systems flawlessly.
I love my PS3 and I hate Microsoft and the 360...But Sony needs to get off their Asses and fix all the above things NOW. Most of which should be easy to resolve outside of playing your own tunes in a game...That could prove tricky.
bootsielon @ Feb 11th 2007 12:09PM
Wishlist:
Resolution scalability fixed. Downloadable PS1 and PS2 games being actually playable on PS3. Upscaling for PS1 and PS2 games, and for videos and movies on the HDD or DVDs. Fixing one day for PS1 and/or PS2 game releases. More online content. Downloadable music, videos and movies (in both standard and high definition). More community features. Support for home-made games (the new Net-Yaroze). Support all the popular video and audio codecs.
That would put them near Xbox Live in most aspects, and better than Xbox Live in other aspects.
bobeotm @ Feb 11th 2007 12:20PM
I think custom wallpapers will be part of this update, and perhaps some minor multitasking, like playing music during most non game/video functions.
jigzat @ Feb 11th 2007 12:25PM
If they have plans to remove the EE chip they must have ready the PS1 PS2 software emulation, plus that may facilitate the upscaling isue and maybe improve textures. If they release it soon the early adopters wont feel they have been left behind when sony announce the 65nm-no-emotion-engine-cheaper-PS3. On the other hand i wish they include firmware patch to enable vibration on future controllers and games
tom479 @ Feb 11th 2007 12:31PM
This is meant to be brought out to coincide with the European release (23rd March).
Josh @ Feb 11th 2007 2:00PM
Yes I guess I can wait for multitasking, its should be no probs for the Cell processor to be dl and letting me play games at the same time.
Would like to see more PS3 Content on the PSstore. I like the above post about a demo a week or something.
As for the OS upgrade, give more functionality to the PSP. It should be able to snyc to the PS3 without me having to leave the PS3 in remote mode, It should be able to simultaneously access the PS3 HDD while the PS3 is being used. There should also be an tested Linix OS that we can use.
But with all the updates which have worked great there is always the danger that this could wreak havoc with the systems out there if there is something overlooked. So I hope they put these updates through some real world tests before actully realeasing them to us.
Josh @ Feb 11th 2007 1:18PM
Yes I guess I can wait for multitasking, its should be no probs for the Cell processor to be dl and letting me play games at the same time.
Would like to see more PS3 Content on the PSstore. I like the above post about a demo a week or something.
As for the OS upgrade, give more functionality to the PSP. It should be able to snyc to the PS3 without me having to leave the PS3 in remote mode, It should be able to simultaneously access the PS3 HDD while the PS3 is being used. There should also be an tested Linix OS that we can use.
But with all the updates which have worked great there is always the danger that this could wreak havoc with the systems out there if there is something overlooked. So I hope they put these updates through some real world tests before actully realeasing them to us.
Ken @ Feb 11th 2007 2:22PM
I'd also like to be able to set my own background images.
More importantly, they need to make downloads resumable.
I'd also like to see an option, much like the PSP recently aquired, in which you have the option to auto-load a disk that is currently in the console.
I_OWN_YOU @ Feb 11th 2007 3:52PM
"I love my PS3 and I hate Microsoft and the 360..."
And that's relevent how exactly?
God there's one in every crowd.
jay @ Feb 11th 2007 4:34PM
God of War II will run fine cuz it'll be running progressive scan. Progressive Scan PS2 games look great on the PS3
Thomas @ Feb 11th 2007 7:20PM
I really hope that they get that upscaler working for the ps2 games... that would definitely be a treat.
Kevin @ Feb 11th 2007 7:41PM
Am I the only one that wants the ability to have single friends list that will travel with you to all the games and the addition of voice messaging instead of using text messages? The whole writing a text message (even if there is predictive text) is time consuming compared to the ease that XBOX has with their voice messaging system I mean that makes perfect sense. Also having different friends list for every game is not practical especially if I want to send a request to play a game to a friend if he is online but not playing the same game I am. All the other stuff that you guys mentioned is great like the Upscaling of both games and DVD's and the multitasking of downloads and music playback I believe are essential needs to this gaming platform.
nick ferrante @ Feb 12th 2007 12:05AM
i JUST BOUGHT THE PS3 A WEEK AGO AND i HAD MY DOUBTS WHEN IT JUST CAME OUT AND I ACTUALLY DIDNT LIKE IT I WAS WHAT U CALL A XBOX FANBOY. BUT WHEN I HAD THE SUDDEN URGE TO BUY THE PS3 AND HAD FINALLY GOT IT. iT WAS GREAT. i FEEL AS IF THIS SYSTEM WAS WORTH THE MONEY AND U KNOW WHAT I THINK THAT MOST PEOPLE WHO BASH THE PRICE OF THE SYSTEMS ARE JUST NOT THINKING CLEARLY. YOU GET A BLURAY PLAYER AND FROM WHAT I HEARD A REALLY GOOD ONE AND I WAS USE TO REGUALR DVDS ONCE U WATCH A MOVIE IN BLURAY YOU WONT WANT TO WATCH A REGULAR DVD AGAIN. YOU GET A GAME SYSTEM, YOU GET SOMETHING THAT HOLDS AND PLAYS MEDIA MOVIES MUSIC. THATS WORTH $600 IF NOT WAY MORE. PLUS HAPPY ABOUT THE NEW UPDATE BACKGROUND DOWNLOADING NICE.......
cool dude @ Feb 11th 2007 9:03PM
i think they should make the multi tasking so that you can be playing and tap the ps button and go back to the OS and look at your downloads or web browser or anything and then tap the ps button and be back in your game instead of exiting the game to use the OS. kinda like the 360 but better. lol.
Strike Man @ Feb 12th 2007 12:22AM
"The weird thing is that the game trailers on the PS Store are encoded in 720p, but, playback in 1080p just fine... so the video scaling is already there."
Any videos played from the hard drive or other device (memory stick, USB HDD, etc.) seem to be upscaled to the resolution of the XMB, even uber-low-resolution PSP-compatible MP4s.
Personally, here's a short wishlist I have for the PS3 (assuming background downloading is being added shortly):
1) Upscaling PS3 games to the resolution the XMB is set at. Seriously, this is one of my biggest gripes with the system. I KNOW Resistance can look a lot better than it does on my TV, as I have played it on many other 720p sets, but seeing it run at 480p doesn't exactly give me much to show off. "So this is what a PS3 game looks like? I mean, it's good...I guess..." Upscaling a 720 image to 1080 looks a heck of a lot better than downscaling it to 480.
2) Upscaling DVDs. I already have a DVD player that upscales movies, but it would be a great addition for the PS3 (something the 360 won't allow over component plugs). It's not a big want for me, but it's a nice feature to have.
3) Downloaded PSX games from the PS Store working on the PS3 AND PSP. Yes, I know they said it will eventually do it. Yes, I know that the current selection for the US mostly sucks. But I'd still prefer to see it in the "fixed" column instead of the "to be fixed" one.
4) Upscaling PSX and PS2 titles to the XMB's resolution. Yes, I realize that it won't make games look anything like their "next gen" counterparts, but jaggies have always been a visual problem on the first two Playstations, and it will make already beautiful games (such as Final Fantasy XII) look that much better.
5) Completely fixing the PS2 back-compat issues to remove that slight blur. Yes, I realize it's probably 95% fixed, and it's FAR better than it was at launch, but that blur that some games have are still a (small) step down from the image quality of the PS2. It's very slight, but it's there.
6) Allow two-way transfer of PSX/PS2 save data through the memory card adapter. I'm glad Sony made transferring saves to the PS3 a hell of a lot easier than Microsoft did with the 360, but having the data go one way is a slight bummer when if I wanted to take a particular save to a friend's PS2.
7) Support for more media formats from an external device. That should be simple enough.
Beyond those mentioned above, I don't have much else to complain about.
headmanice @ Feb 12th 2007 12:24AM
dont have a wish list like some but FREAK'N YES!!
BACKGROUND DOWNLOADING!! YEA!! tired of watching TV while i download... or doing anything else while i download in PSN
Roofus @ Feb 12th 2007 12:58AM
-support for iPod attachment
-central buddy list for all games
-being able to message a buddy in game or receive messages without leaving your game
-voice messaging (release an official headset already!)
-game invites from within a game
wait...essentially I want all the cool features of XBL...
gullum @ Feb 12th 2007 11:08AM
Ipod attachment? nigga please! Get yourself a Sony Walkman and you can enjoy the PS3's music functions via USB.
John @ Feb 12th 2007 1:04PM
they need to just mimic the xbox 360 (which rocks btw lmao) and then make the web browser better, add more video codecs, add open office, make it possible to play music while do other things and release a special keyboard containing a mouse button (like on a laptop) and buttons for changing the music. so for example u can sit on the web at your tv and change the music just by pressing a button on your keyboard. thatd rock lmao!
phipscube @ Feb 12th 2007 3:32PM
All the above plus the ability to use remote play over the internet. I'd love it if I could take my PSP to work and stream video and music stored on my PS3 at home. BUT as long as they allow multi tasking. At the moment going into remote play is almost useless if the PS3 cannot be used whilst the PSP is connected.
Shon @ Feb 12th 2007 3:43PM
Thank god for background DL!!!
I would like a few other minor things: Wallpaper, downloadable audio visualizations(heck, a more interactive visualisation would be rad too!), fetching of album artwork, ability to listen to my own music in-game, ability to eject a disc from the controller.
Major items (bigger dreams): DVD and ps1&2 upscaling, internet browser zoom.. thats all for now.. :)
dex @ Feb 12th 2007 9:41PM
i think as an update they should charge us $50 a year to play online. oh wait nevermind, thats really crappy.
bootsielon @ Feb 13th 2007 12:47AM
Why do 360 fanboys come and ask for stuff they already have? Retards, go away. You're not even buying a PS3, so go home and play Crapdown or whatever GTA or Doom clone you always play.
Chyld989 @ Feb 13th 2007 1:16AM
"Why do 360 fanboys come and ask for stuff they already have? Retards, go away. You're not even buying a PS3, so go home and play Crapdown or whatever GTA or Doom clone you always play."
Wow, bootsielon! That was really well done! I really liked how you took the name of a game on the Xbox 360, Crackdown, and changed it slightly to Crapdown. You were insulting their game by changing the name a little. That's so original! I've...I've never seen anyone do that before!
Man, I just can't get over how well you insulted that other game on that other system. Really. I'm really quite impressed. CRAPDOWN! It's just genius.
You should probably just go and start your own website where you just insult things all day by slightly changing their names like you did here. Because it's so original. I've really never seen it done before. So original.
As for the background downloading, woot. I don't have a PS3 (although I'll get one probably mid 2008), but that's definitely something that needs to be there.
Macca @ Feb 13th 2007 6:11AM
I would love to see a function that allows you to choose whether or not you want the game in the drive to auto-load upon turning the machine on. It's a pain in the arse having to wait 'til the game loads, only to have to quit it to get back to the main menu. Also, custom wallpapers would be cool, as would being able to play MP3's from the HDD while playing a game. But I am REALLY stoked about the background downloads...that's awesome!