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Gadgets New PS3 Firmware Adds DualShock 3 Support
Marcus Yam (Blog) - October 26, 2007 12:59 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 55 comment(s) - last by Locutus465.. on Oct 30 at 12:27 AM
Rumbling controller support returns with "Ratchet" PlayStation 3 game

The latest PlayStation 3 firmware is out and about, but users won’t find it available yet on the PlayStation Network. Rather, the most up-to-date system software for Sony’s console is included in the recently released Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, according to Shacknews.

Version 1.94 firmware adds support for rumbling force feedback controllers – a feature that many PlayStation fans and developers have been clamouring for even before the release of the PS3.

While the new force feedback DualShock 3 controllers won’t be available to western gamers until spring 2008, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction along with a v1.94 PS3 are already capable of sending a vibrating signal.

After months of rumors following Sony’s settlement with Immersion, gamers waited for the announcement of a new PlayStation 3 controller that would bring vibration back into their hands. Sony eventually revealed the new DualShock 3 controller at the Tokyo Game Show 2007.

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction won’t be the only game to ship with DualShock 3 support before the release of the actual hardware itself. This year’s other anticipated PlayStation 3 titles, such as Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Assassin’s Creed, will ship with rumble code. Current market games, like Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm, will eventually see downloadable patches that add force feedback.

Gamers unwilling to go through the holiday season without directly feeling their games might want to explore importing a DualShock 3 from the land of the rising sun. Japanese gamers will receive their rumbling controllers in November in both black and white colors.

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Install
By Murst on 10/26/2007 1:41:30 PM , Rating: 2
I got the newest firmware when I installed R&C.

Completely unreleated: There seems to be a problem with the R&C install. When I was installing, it told me that I didn't have enough space on the HDD to install the game. I deleted some files, and the install went through just fine, but later I saw on some other sites that other people had the same problem. It appears that some people who have installed the demo before installing the game were getting an error stating that there's not enough room on the HDD. Errors like this should never happen on consoles.

Fortunately, R&C is an extremely fun game (I think its actually better than MP3:Corruption - and that game was excellent).

Anyways... hopefully the DS3 controller will be available soon so we can take advantage of the rumble.




RE: Install
By FITCamaro on 10/26/07, Rating: -1
RE: Install
By Murst on 10/26/2007 1:58:01 PM , Rating: 3
That's actually one of the advantages of the PS3. You can install the game (it doesn't install everything, just the commonly used files) so the load times are virtually non-existent. The only time there's a load time in R&C if when you load a saved game, or when you travel between planets, and that's usually like 3-4 seconds.


RE: Install
By Locutus465 on 10/26/2007 2:11:25 PM , Rating: 2
Does this work anything like the 360 where you just pop in the disc and it will in the background automatically cache whatever it needs to? Or do you actually see an installer screen and wait? I hope it's not the former, that would be very sad on a console.


RE: Install
By SirLucius on 10/26/2007 2:20:32 PM , Rating: 2
The first time you load a game there's an install screen, and the wait time I've found maxes out at around 5-6 minutes, depending on the amount of info being installed. Some games, like Resistance, only install ~130MB worth of data, while others, like skate., install ~2.5GB worth of data.

After that initial install time there's never a need to install data again (unless downloading extra content) and I've found the only real load times are upon the initial launch of a saved game and the occasional load screen between levels. But for some games, like skate, you can roam around the entire world without once encountering a load screen. The only exceptions are when you enter a building or warp to a different location, but that's like a 3-4 second load screen, and really only noticeable because of the pause in music.


RE: Install
By Locutus465 on 10/26/2007 2:28:03 PM , Rating: 2
Eh... I guess that is not horrid, but personally my preference is for no install screens what so ever... Halo 3 handles this by copying data down when you go into the lobby... If you set it up for a level you haven't played before you get a little bit longer of a wait while it caches, subsequently the wait time is reduced to a minimun. Load screens in halo 3 (and 360 games in general in my experinece) are near zero.

For my money I would have been sad to drop the kind of dough you need to spend to get a PS3 and encounger installation screens :( I do realize others won't be as bothered by it as me, but for consoles I want the game to load up immediatly the first time I put in the game disc... Otherwise I'd be playing games on my PC (which I rarely do now, my 19" LCD just doesn't compare to my 50" toshiba HD).


RE: Install
By Murst on 10/26/2007 2:44:59 PM , Rating: 2
I don't mind the install screen for a game, as usually its pretty quick and you only need to do it once.

The thing I hate doing is installing the firmware updates. Those take significantly longer. And games won't play on older firmware if they're packaged in with newer firmware, so you have to install it.

This isn't a problem with just the PS3, though. The same applies to the Wii. I don't own an XBox, so I'm not sure if firmware upgrades are required there as well.


RE: Install
By Locutus465 on 10/26/2007 2:49:42 PM , Rating: 2
You get firmware updates with the 360... I don't think I've done a full system update yet, but I have done application specific updates which are context activated (i.e. while launching the application which requires an update). I have found these to generally be very quick, the biggest update thus far being an update to HD-DVD playback which took approx 2min to download and install and required a reboot of the 360 before playback could resume (automatic).

My experience with the wii was similar to yours... *slooow* to download, but at least it didn't download then tack on install time as far as I could see, seemed to almost stream the update.


RE: Install
By Murst on 10/26/2007 2:54:13 PM , Rating: 2
From what I can remmeber (I haven't updated the Wii in a long time), it seems like the PS3 firmware installs take much longer than the Wii.

Downloads, on the other hand, take forever on the Wii, and the PS3 is very fast.

However, my previous posts were referring to installs only, as I was talking about games which come with the firmware update on the disc, so there is no need to download.


RE: Install
By Locutus465 on 10/26/2007 4:23:50 PM , Rating: 2
Well, most vista updates may be downloaded on to a PC and burnt to CD then installed, or a CD may be ordered... But if you're hooked into XBL the best option is to just use the auto-updater... I guess Sony takes the extra step of having updates installed on game disks so you get it when you run the game, with MS everything is done via XBL which works very well as far as I'm conserned (and makes sense because patches realeased after the game disc is already in stores will have to be distributed via internet anyway).


RE: Install
By Murst on 10/26/2007 5:00:21 PM , Rating: 3
So what do you do if a game requires an update to the firmware but you don't have your XBox hooked up to the internet? Is internet hookup a requirement for the 360?

Or do the XBox games not require a firmware update like the PS3 and Wii games do?


RE: Install
By Locutus465 on 10/30/2007 12:27:24 AM , Rating: 2
Late response, was on vacation... However to belatedly answer your questions... Microsoft offers to mail you an update CD for free (if you can wait), or the .ISO's are available only for you to download and burn to CD, the image will automatically launch the update app. Both of these options are less convinent than having the x-box hooked up online (like mine is), but you can get the updates off of XBL if you absolutly don't want (or can't have) your x-box online.


RE: Install
By Bioniccrackmonk on 10/26/2007 2:52:33 PM , Rating: 2
Whenever a new version is available it is usually required to download it and install it. The one thing all the companies got right with this is that it only downloads the update you need instead of the whole file which is nice IMO.


RE: Install
By Murst on 10/26/2007 2:55:40 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, Sony messed up something here I think... every time I update the firmware, I get the feeling that its installing it from scratch. Of course, I have nothing to back that up except for long install times.


RE: Install
By Bioniccrackmonk on 10/26/2007 2:54:53 PM , Rating: 3
I own a PS3 and my roommate owns a 360, we play both a lot and I have not noticed a load/install screen on the PS3 that was out of line w/ what the 360 does. Both seem to be pretty fair in regards to putting in a disk the first time and then playing it at random intervals.


RE: Install
By SirLucius on 10/26/2007 2:57:25 PM , Rating: 2
I agree with Murst, it's really not that bad. The longest initial install time I've experienced was with either Ghost Recon 2 or Heavenly Sword (can't remember right now), but I know it took no longer than 6 minutes for me to be playing. But for most games the install screen was done and the game was loading before I even realized that there was an install screen. It's not really fair to compare PS3 install times to PC install times though. The PS3 takes a fraction of the amount of time it takes to install a PC game, and after that, it loads faster than most PC games IMO.

I guess it evens out in the end. With the 360 you experience slightly longer load times the first time you play a level. With the PS3, it just gets rid of those extra bits of time right up front so you can dive right into the game.


RE: Install
By BZDTemp on 10/27/2007 4:53:27 PM , Rating: 2
360 load times near zero - are you kidding!

Try a game like PGR3 or PGR4 or Forza2 and you will find yourself waiting for loading all the time. When starting a race you wait for the tracks and stuff to be loaded which is sort of expected but crash in the first corner and select to restart the race and you wait for loading again. You will even find yourself waiting due to loading while moving around in the game menues!

I have both the 360 and the PS3 and if you find 360 load times near zero you will find the PS3 is actually a time machine in comparison :-)


RE: Install
By SavagePotato on 10/26/2007 3:14:48 PM , Rating: 3
It's absolutely amazing the things people will bitch about. If it was the 360 that had a small hard drive install per game people would think it was revolutionary. Just because it's the ps3 the fanboys have to come out and make out like it's the work of the antichrist or something.

Grow up for god's sake kiddies.