PS3 System Software Update (v3.72): To Break or To Fix?

Again we were forced to accept a new TOS and download a new firmware update for our PS3 in order to use PSN.

I absolutely detest these firmware updates because for the loyal PS3 costumer like me, they're completely worthless for the most part. I don't see much differences between the older and new firmware, at least I don't see anything very useful for me. People always thought they are aimed on thwarting hackers on installing CFW in PS3s, but these firmware updates proved to be pointless for the most part. A video featuring downgrading firmware 3.72 to 3.55 has been released on the the SAME DAY that the firmware update was released by Sony. The only unhackable PS3s as of the moment are the newly released hardware. Also, the shady changing of the Terms Of Service is very dubious. I mean c'mon, why the hell do Sony need to change that TOS every time a firmware update is released? The very vague description of the update in the Playstation blog doesn't really help. It's always described as "fixing security and stability issues." Come on, Sony. Can't you at least give us a description that is not this obscure? Please give us some clear details on what the hell you're actually doing with our PS3s.


The real reason why I wrote this is that I found some really annoying issues with my PS3 after installing the latest firmware update. Sony is saying they are fixing stability issues of the PS3 but it seems the other way around.


PS3 Internet Browser
I always wished that Sony would realize that the PS3 browser needs a serious overhaul and fix it in future updates. There's a Facebook selection from the homepage but you can't really view the site properly with the PS3 browser. I can't believe that this issue hasn't been addressed by Sony for years. If it can't match the versatility of the more popular browsers out there like Firefox or whatever, at least do something to address the more common issues. However, it seems like it gets worse on every update.


I thought it was my PS3 but Riped (from LGG) confirmed that the PS3 is slowing down every time an update is installed. It's very noticeable in the browser especially when you're typing something like in Google for example when you're doing search. Also I can't watch Youtube videos that are embedded on blog sites, my PS3 hangs every time! This is probably the worst issue that I've encountered so far and it's very annoying. I don't encounter this issue when watching videos through Youtube XL though, so this might have something to do with Youtube HD videos, because the videos at Youtube XL are poorly scaled down.


Video Playback
I'm not sure if this is intentional but this is rather good fix. Recently, I'm having problems playing MKV videos converted by mkv2vob in my PS3. At first, my videos seem to run ok but after a few minutes, the voice over and subtitles start to lag behind until they become completely out of sync. It was pretty annoying because my other video converters can't do the job very well as mkv2vob. Then I was like, "ok whatever, I guess I can live with it." Then when I watched one of my videos last night. I was so surprised that the synching issue was gone! The video played smoothly all throughout and the voice over and subs never lagged at all. I'll try to convert my other MKV videos and test this further to confirm.


Other Wanted Changes

If the video playback issue fix was really intentional then I gotta say that Sony did a good job on that one. I also heard that auto-syncing trophies has been fixed (thanks to Riped for that info). However, the Youtube issue is still a very annoying one, especially since I need to restart my PS3 everytime it hangs. I hope that the future updates will include fixes and enhancements that are very useful for us and not just the fixing of security holes that adds no additional value whatsoever to us loyal customers. Another change I want for the PS3 is the browser's flash so I can at least enjoy some flash-operated sites like Facebook. Making the browser much more stable would help a lot since it just hangs whenever I visit some sites especially those that have a lot of ads. Of course each of us has his own preferences but these are the only things that come to mind right now. Also, please Sony, stop with the shady changing of Terms of Service. It gets annoying after a while.


If you have noticed other changes on your PS3 after installing firmware 3.72, whether good or bad, please post it in the comments section. Do you want some fixes/enhancements that you want to be included in further firmware updates? Feel free to post them as well here.


If you like this post, don't forget to subscribe to my RSS feed.

Posted in: video games