Firmware 2.40 fully revealed in second video; available on July 2nd

by Jem Alexander { Jun 30th 2008 at 8:30AM }

You've probably read our Firmware 2.40 post (if not, do!), where we go in depth with the new in-game XMB and Trophies system, but there's nothing quite like seeing it in motion. Thankfully, the second Firmware 2.40 video is up now on the PlayStation.Blog and, this time, Eric Lempel guides you through the wonderful world of Trophies.

In our opinion, Trophies look pretty hot. From the overall premise, to the way the comparing of Trophies with friends is implemented so that you can see what games you and your friends own. Not only that, but the "You got a Trophy" message is exactly how we would want it to be. The only thing we have to wonder is, will there be some satisfying sound effect to accompany the message?

So there you have it. Firmware 2.40 has been fully revealed and will be available to download on July 2nd. Yeah, that's the day after tomorrow. There's no word on when older games will be patched to incorporate Trophies, but believe us when we say we'll be hounding publishers until they tell us. Most future games will support Trophies out of the box, including PSN downloads. So, what do you think?

Tags: 2.40, firmware, firmware-2.40, trophies

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

tonyt3rry @ Jun 30th 2008 8:35AM

lol gave you guys a email before when it was posted, good to see that 2.40 finally has a date set

JSkube @ Jun 30th 2008 8:37AM

Let me be first to say, fark yeah!

Archon @ Jun 30th 2008 8:43AM

Hope they'll patch it into DMC4, so I can finally finish it (got bored). All the already available accomplishments just need a small patch to include them in the XMB...

Shader @ Jun 30th 2008 8:44AM

Although I've never been into achievement points, the trophy system looks awesome, can't wait.

lord_of_valhalla @ Jun 30th 2008 8:45AM

looks awesome, can the trophies be viewed through the in game XMB, or do you have to back out??? he probably said in the first vid but i can't remember.

biggrapp @ Jun 30th 2008 8:50AM

finally a DATE!!! I was really only concerned with the ingame music feature. the rest is just a bonus. a very welcome bonus, however.

tonyt3rry @ Jun 30th 2008 9:05AM

in game music is what ive wanted for ages gran turismos sound track is crap really good to jus listen away while driving :D

CLupula @ Jun 30th 2008 8:51AM

The only thing I hope about this is that games that previously had achievements, like Clive Barker's Jericho, Devil May Cry 4, and the Darkness are patched to translate those into trophies. That would make me very happy.

Eric E @ Jun 30th 2008 9:53AM

Uncharted for Me. it has trophies already. I hope it gets patched. even if i have to beat it again (i wanted to anyway now i'll just wait).
I hope once its patched you can't just download a save file from someone who has got all the trophies and steal them. I can see them forgetting about that and a lot of people stealing trophies until they patch it.

biggrapp @ Jun 30th 2008 8:54AM

my only concern was the in-game music feature. everything else is a bonus. a very welcome bonus, however.

Nachkebia @ Jun 30th 2008 8:58AM

I say it is a major fail, most important feature is to be able to join friends in online games or to be asked to join, to invite and to get invited, to open up the list of gamers you met and then join them again! WTF!!!

Zack @ Jun 30th 2008 10:32AM

Uh, that's what Home is for? lmao

skin.bintin @ Jun 30th 2008 1:33PM

Oh nice call genius. And when is this amazing Home going to be available to Mr Joe Blogs public? And on a second point, I don't want to have to QUIT the game I'm playing, load up home, find my online friends, and THEN invite them. They tried to copy Microsoft with these 'trophies', so why not copy the one thing that truly sets Xbox Live apart from the PSN and let us finally be able to invite a friend into a game, from WITHIN THE GAME!

Come on Sony, sort it out. PLEASE!?!

Nachkebia @ Jun 30th 2008 3:18PM

Indeed, well said, I love turning on my xbox360, checking my friends list or the gamers I played with yesterday and join them while they are playing! with just one click!

Dave C @ Jun 30th 2008 9:02AM

So, then 2.40 will update to do everything that XBox Live has been doing since 360 launch? I'm not hating, I own both systems. But, I hear haters for Live that MAY be making an attempt to copy Miis with Avatars and some version of Home (unlikely rumor). So, now 2.40 will copy achievements=trophies, in-game chat/messaging, etc.

Arnon @ Jun 30th 2008 9:21AM

In a nutshell.. yeah.

Eggy @ Jun 30th 2008 11:16AM

Yes except it won't cost you a dime.

Personally I couldn't cares less about trophies. Ingame XMB acces is convenient though.

HektikLyfe @ Jun 30th 2008 12:41PM

XBox Live Silver with all those features, won't cost you a dime either.

Not that I'm not glad the PS3 is finally doing them. I am glad. It will make choosing between multi-platform titles much harder.

But to claim the copy is better than the original, I wouldn't support that statement. It is a vast improvement, but not yet a success.

KingOfGods @ Jun 30th 2008 1:31PM

From Joystiq.com

You can, for example, message a friend and tell them you are currently playing Resistance, and would like them to join you, but there's no option to send any sort of game invite. That functionality will instead be up to developers to build into their games

There's no private voice chat across games, custom soundtracks are not available in all games

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/30/ps3-firmware-2-40-the-good-the-bad-and-the-belated/

Dave @ Jun 30th 2008 5:21PM

And how does the system shut down work with the new 2.40? Prior to the update, we press the PS button and it gives us an option to shut down the system, controller, etc. With 2.40, will it work like the XBox button; hold in the PS button until it bypasses the XMB screen to the shut down option?

True_Darknight @ Jun 30th 2008 9:12AM

OK so now give us the emails of all the UT3s, CoD4s, GTA4s developers... so we may get to hmmm asking nicely!!

Hashbrown Hunter @ Jun 30th 2008 9:23AM

Why not have trophies for the PSP? PLEASE ADD SOMETHING--ANYTHING TO THE PSP!!

Morgon @ Jun 30th 2008 9:33AM

I'm sad that they're not introducing an off-console component to this.

I really think Sony could use a boost from the viral aspect of being able to share your Trophies and the games you play with friends who aren't on their console - it brings new people to the platform and keeps existing players playing.

Hopefully we'll see something like this at some point; if it's anything Sony needs to take from Microsoft's playbook, it's this. The console is not just played from the TV anymore.

r3m1x @ Jun 30th 2008 9:37AM

I might have to get Warhawk just to liven up my new PS3 Gamer Card.

el sworodo @ Jun 30th 2008 9:41AM

sounds too complicated

Livi70590 @ Jun 30th 2008 9:43AM

Playstation 3 Trophy Junkies are on the Horizon...

Shooter McGavin @ Jun 30th 2008 10:20AM

all iv done is watched the video and im a junkie

Edge @ Jun 30th 2008 9:51AM

For my Playstationian bretheren, welcome to the end of your social life. Embrace the obsession of achievements/trophies.

Riley Freeman @ Jun 30th 2008 9:57AM

i predicted it. i said it would be some kind of independence day thing. close enough. I guess they put it in the middle since its canada day tomorrow

StPaddy @ Jun 30th 2008 11:07AM

Silly wabbit. We all know that nobody cares about Canada!

Kspraydad @ Jun 30th 2008 12:37PM

Nor do we care about the Irish.

drdre74 @ Jun 30th 2008 10:12AM

I'm just pissed that you have to replay your games to get this to work. It doesn't read saved files. So if you already beat a game you got to start all over. So all that stuff i did in uncharted and Heavenly sword and Metal Gear and COD4 isnt going to show up. This sucks.

Riley Freeman @ Jun 30th 2008 11:48AM

i agree it not reading game saved data sucks big time

skin.bintin @ Jun 30th 2008 1:33PM

You'd have far bigger problems if it did read save game data though, as people could just download completed game saves and instantly have all the trophies.

Popfrogs @ Jun 30th 2008 3:02PM

@skin: Very good point.

drdre74 @ Jun 30th 2008 3:21PM

I see both sides but still thats alot of work to do with so many new games coming out. lol! I know Uncharted is suppose to work with Home, but they haven't said anything about having to start your game over. Super Stardust I dont mind so much since i haven't done much with that yet and Bowling also. Lets just hope they can figure out a way to mark your save file with your PSN log in or something so people cant do the save file transfer.

Mo @ Jun 30th 2008 10:12AM

FINALLY!!!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

ITS HERE... (isH)

Mo @ Jun 30th 2008 10:12AM

Now, I just cant wait for 2.5!!! Let the impatience begin!

Shooter McGavin @ Jun 30th 2008 10:12AM

i think i sh!t myself

RangerPrimeX @ Jun 30th 2008 10:16AM

Meh

I have both systems. I have over 10,000 gamerscore but ithe score itself doesn't matter to me as much as the in-game experience of getting the achievement unlocked. I would like to know how they plan on that as well as in-game chatting and inviting. Nice to know in-game personal music tracks is coming.
Good start though!
It would be funny if MS gets this rumored Avatar thing up before Home launches to the public.

Eggy @ Jun 30th 2008 11:17AM

Nothing against the avatar system but you can't compare it to something like home.

Matt D @ Jun 30th 2008 10:56AM

Is there a list of games that currently support the trophy system when the update is released on July 2nd?

maxpontiac @ Jun 30th 2008 11:01AM

My one and only disappointment?

The lack of private chat.

Hopefully they will address this at a later date...

gamingeek @ Jun 30th 2008 11:17AM

The PS3 has recently been confirmed as selling 14 million units. If the numbers are true then it would mean that the PS3 has sold more units then the 360 in it's concurrent lifecycle. With the release of in-game XMB, trophies, and video downloads coming soon the PS3 will finally be on parity with the 360. Home is also on the horizon which is an added bonus and something to look forward to.

The future is looking bright for the PS3 indeed!

Shaun @ Jun 30th 2008 12:20PM

"To further emphasize the community aspects of this system software update, the amount of people you can add to your PSN friends list has been doubled, to 100."

I thought it was already 100 according to PS3Fanboy.

The1stMJC @ Jun 30th 2008 12:25PM

So when these game patches for trophy support come out I have to replay the game? I don't mind for certain games, but is it possible for the patch to read saved data or is that just a pipe dream? Damn i hate to be questioning a good update already, but does anyone have helpful information?

HektikLyfe @ Jun 30th 2008 12:50PM

"...will there be some satisfying sound effect to accompany the message?"

Might as well use the Achievement Unlocked sound effect from XBox Live that we've all grown to know and love...

Or a slightly tweaked one like the trophy icon. ;)

I'm just teasing you fanboys. I am incredibly excited that trophies are coming. This is one thing I have been asking for since I bought the PS3 on launch. Microsoft had a great idea and I for one am glad that Sony is stealing it. Achievement/Trophy recording features should become standard across all gaming platforms.

If only Nintendo would implement that and the easier friend request and communication features of these more advanced consoles.