I have always been a firm believer from the get go, although the Blu-Ray franchise is sheer technical brilliance in both entertainment and the evolution of software, there is little point in purchasing any hardware other than the Playstation 3. Part of me does not understand how people who purchased stand-alone Blu-Ray DVD players simply could not see the flurry of updates and patches that were going to be needed to not only upgrade and push the franchise forward, but to tweak newly formed software that was bound to have minor errors and quirks that needed resolving.

Only a week ago, SONY announced the latest update to the Playstation 3’s internal system software. Not only did the patch concentrate on bonding the Playstation Portable to its big brother further, firmware version 2.20 is also designed to upgrade the PS3’s Blu-Ray player to 2.0. This update will make the Playstation 3 the first and only Blu-Ray player which can access the internet for additional content, a feature which is likely to be built in to new stand-alone models.

Interestingly enough, this update is also going to be the first to start a new design of Blu-Ray DVDs for the market, which will come available with support for the BD – Live feature. Unknowing to the majority of the public, 2 Lionsgate movies, SAW IV and WAR came prepared to exploit this feature, even though it is not scheduled to be released until the 8th of April. Further movies will be introduced into the market that will incorporate BD-Live such as 6th Day and others will follow suit.

The problem I see here is the unfortunate position this puts those who have purchased Stand-Alone Blu-Ray players. Now even though I initially disagree whole heartedly with the purchase of anything other than the PS3 for a Blu-Ray experience, you still cannot help but feel sorry for the customers who now will essentially have a Blu-Ray player that is severely missing content. SONY have not said if there will be any means of upgrading existing Blu-Ray players, perhaps through the use of updating content in a Blu-Ray movie itself could be the way to solve the issue. I am sure many can relate to this feeling, with both the Nintendo DS and SONY PSP upgrading themselves to sleeker and cooler looking models, and there you are, left with the old first generation brick. The same scenario is shaping here and it certainly does not bode well. What will SONY do, only the future holds the answer.

PS3 owners, be ready to download early April.

I.K.
CeX Towers

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