The sorta-official Sony weblog Three Speech has announced that the next firmware update for the Playstation 3, version 1.90, is set to be released in Europe tomorrow (July 24th). This follows very soon after the news that the update had hit PS3s in Japan recently. Unfortunately there’s no word yet on a release date for North America, but considering how quickly the update seems to be spreading, it should be happening very soon. Until then, here’s a quick list of what you can expect to see when it does arrive:

• Ability to rearrange games on the XMB
• Option menu now includes “eject disk”
• Press triangle to eject games/CDs/movies in the XMB
• XMB backgrounds
• Change the folder classification
• Emoticons
• Change CD output to 44.1/88.2/176.4kHz
• Force 24Hz output for Blu-ray over HDMI
• Change PS3 video settings in-game
• “Bit Mapping” in the “Music Setting”
• Save AVCHD type animations from a Memory Stick
• Change settings like upscaling while playing PS and PS2 games
• Add bookmarks
• Web browser security function in the browser’s tool section
• Avatar moves during audio visual chat

When we first heard about the PlayStation Network Platform prior to the PS3 launch, we heard it would be the best thing since sliced bread.  So far, there isn’t a whole lot to cheer about though.    I decided to break down what’s happening right now with it and where things stand.

The Good 

•  The service is free.  There’s no need to mess around with converting real money into points, etc.  When you purchase something, you simply pay for it.
• Online gameplay is fast and reliable.
• You can surf the web.

The Bad

• Voice chat doesn’t work with all games.
•  Web surfing with Opera is surprisingly slow.
• There’s no international multiplayer going on yet.
• You must exit games completely to read messages.

That’s basically the good and the bad highlights as of today.  Things could easily change in the future, but for now it’s a little on the depressing side.  I’ve said that we have to give Sony more time and I’ll say it when it comes to PSN.  The PlayStation Network has the potential to be  great, but right now they can’t come close to offering what Microsoft and Nintendo do.

It took Sony long enough, but finally they have launched an official blog where gamers can get official information straight from the horse’s mouth (even though we do a damn good job already at reporting the news as it happens). The blog is going to encourage it’s readers to talk directly with the folks who work at SCEA about what they want to read on any upcoming Playstation news.

At the moment, we’re thinking about sharing all sorts of things here, ranging from product news and title announcements to developer updates and industry opinion posts – all of which will come straight from the people here inside SCEA who are working, thinking and playing with this stuff everyday.

One thing Microsoft has done a great job at with their Xbox 360 has been Major Nelson’s blog. The Major’s blog always gives updates on demos, trailers, and picture packs that have been released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and I hope Sony’s blog takes a page out of Major’s blog since there really is no central place yet to get information on what’s been released on the Playstation Network.

Man, the Wii has it good. As if it weren’t cool enough that game developers are apologizing to Nintendo’s system and business magazines are saying it’s already won the console war, now it looks like the entire nation of Japan is showing the machine some serious love.

Bloomberg is reporting that the Wii outsold the Playstation 3 in Japan five to one this past May. Nintendo sold 251,794 units in that month. That’s up from April when it was outselling Sony’s machine four to one. To add insult to injury, the Nintendo DS also outsold Sony’s PSP five to one in the same timespan. So after the underdog, Nintendo, beat the crap out of the schoolyard bully, Sony, it then proceeded to drop-kick a nearby chihuahua, Microsoft. Only 11,082 Xbox 360’s were sold in Japan in May; meaning that the Wii outsold it almost 22 to 1. Ouch, that’s gotta sting.

Without a doubt in my mind, the greatest game of all time is Final Fantasy VII which was released in 1997 for the PlayStation. FFVII gave turn-based gameplay new meaning and pushed the boundaries of console RPG games. 10 years later, it’s still fun to play and was an obvious influence on numerous games over the years. Extremeley fun gameplay combined with an awesome story, Final Fantasy 7 will always remain a top favorite of many gamers including myself. Feel free to debate my list in the comments. My top 20 follows the break.

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Reuters has the scoop on the new “Jackass” video game. The popular MTV series that has spawned two movies is now moving into new territory with their first video game. Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O and the crew have all signed on to lend their likeness and voices to the project.

“We’re excited as all hell about it,” Knoxville said. “It is kind of odd that people will take on our personas and depressing that they’re going to have to do that. We’ve never really worked on anything like this before. This is our first video game. We just hope that our video game is as crappy as our movies.”

Players will create their own “Jackass”episodes by combining stunts. Most of these aren’t from the tv show and are extreme.

Henry Price, senior director sales and marketing at Red Mile says, “We have the luxury of throwing characters off a 50-story building into a pile of elephant dung without worrying about our insurance rates.”

The game is scheduled to hit the shelves September 24 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS platforms.

Bad news for the Playstation Museum, but good news for someone with $30,000 to blow: they’re liquidating their goods and selling it all in one massive eBay auction. They’ve got pretty much everything you can imagine for Sony’s old system, including hardware, accessories, Japanese games, and developer kits.

The one thing that bugs me though: they’ve got all this stuff and they don’t have one measly copy of Silent Bomber? That’s it, I’m putting away my money. You just lost a sale Playstation Museum.

Sony’s got the big guns out now, unveiling over 30 titles across the PlayStation Family. On top of the list are new first-party titles, including Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, SOCOM: Confrontation, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, The Eye of Judgement and Folklore.

Sony CEO Jack Tretton said, “As you would expect from the market leader, we are seeing a huge influx of games coming to all our PlayStation platforms in the remainder of our fiscal year. Users can expect more than 15 exclusive games and services for PS3, and another nine for PSP.”

Besides PlayStation 3 titles, Sony has a raft of new PSP titles as well, including Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow and God of War: Chains of Olympus. On top of that, Tretton promises there is more to come. “We still have a few surprises up our sleeves for this fiscal. The games and services demonstrate the gameplay, community and entertainment possibilities you can have on PlayStation products,” he said.

With all the negative Sony news floating around the last week or two, it’s good to see that their management isn’t buying into it. Sounds like they have a pile of stuff on the way worth checking out.

Coming this fall to a gaming console near you, are THE SIMPSONS (working title). Granted there are many Simpsons titles out there, specifically the twisted and hilarious Hit and Run, but this one promises to be a bit different than any of the other installments to date. The look and feel of the game will be as close to the animation of the show, with some cell shading thrown in with it. No console will be left behind either, as it will be available for: PSP, PS2 & PS3, the 360, the Wii, and the DS. Read the full article »

I’m thinking I should rename the column “Sony Today.” They just seem to supply an endless stream of oddities. Every move is stranger than the next and now the double talk continues. Only 3 days after Sony exec Phil Harrison exclaimed that Rumble was like so last generation, we get word that Sony is now in bed with Immersion for a partnership that will bring force-feedback tech to upcoming Playstation products. The patent infringement suit between the two parties is now officially dead, imagine that.