Make a joke about how State of the Station is like the PSP: hot for a while, then it goes cold, then hot again. But that wouldn't work.
Make a plug here for the podcast that I've been planning to do to replace this column. Instead, I may supplement the column with a podcast, depending on the feedback I get. Some of you prefer podcasts, since it makes it easier to listen at work. Others just want the damn column back.
Instead, I find myself sitting at my desk with a PS3 that, fortunately, didn't brick when I updated it yesterday morning (nor did my home console). It actually sounds like there are a lot of you out there who didn't have problems. Even so, I'm glad that Sony yanked the update before it could cause any other issues. In case you haven't heard, the highly anticipated 2.4 update didn't quite work out as well as expected for everyone, and a few unlucky console owners' systems got bricked. I had a mild panic last night when I accidentally ejected a DVD in the middle of a climactic scene and I thought that 2.4 broke a few movie playback elements, but thankfully it was fine.
The demand for firmware 2.4 might've hurt more than it helped.
To those of you who updated your consoles successfully (and judging by my buddy list, are very actively playing Super Stardust HD), I pose these questions: Now that trophies are available, does it make Home more or less desirable? Is a rewards system the main thing you want from this service? I've spent the last year or so sensing that most PS3 owners don't really care about a 3D virtual world for socializing. Instead, they want a few other things: a rewards system, an easier way to communicate with buddies, and a simplified means of setting up multiplayer games.
Could Home fulfill these needs? I think so. Could some engineering from the PSN team accomplish something just as effective? I'm beginning to believe that it could. Don't get me wrong; I'm pretty excited to see what Sony does with its virtual spaces, but I'm honestly just as ready to have a uniform setup for hosting multiplayer games.
There's also been a lot of grumbling about the lack of retroactive trophies. I expected Sony to hit a magical "light switch" that would activate existing accolades, but I also understand the PSN engineers' desire to prevent gamers from cheating their way up to higher trophy counts. It looks like, just like so many endeavors on this console, that the ball is in the developers' court to implement these features. Given Criterion's commitment to Burnout Paradise, I'm not surprised to see that it's implemented a system to work around the lack of retroactive trophies. Capcom, on the other hand, I don't expect to get onboard so quickly for Devil May Cry 4. I cite both of these titles, since both have awards that are locked into your PSN ID. (I'm personally excited to go back through Uncharted again for more rewards.)
Beyond the trophy issue, this snafu with 2.4 begs another question: How will this issue affect the rollout of future updates? I scan the PlayStation Blog every day at work, and it seems that the engineers are walking over coals (arguably, coals lit by Sony) as they navigate swarms of both happy and grumpy gamers. The cries for 2.4 were deafening, even to the point that when SCEA announced the PSP 4.00 update, many effectively said "that's cute. Where in the hell is PS3 2.4?" Not to defend SCEA, or to join the angry chorus, but there's little denying that Sony will be hesitant to tease new updates in the wake of this fallout. I suspect that you'll see attention-grabbers like online betas teased a bit less.
