by Lynette Alice

Created on: April 01, 2010

The PS3 update 3.21 is not Sony’s attempt at an April Fool’s joke, this is a real update that is going to impact every PS3 owner. There has been a significant amount of confusion caused by the PS3 update 3.21 already, so rather worry or guess what is in store, it is easiest to get the facts out in the open right away and then see how it is going to impact your PS3 experience as for some users this will be a bigger deal than it is for others.

For starters the PS3 firmware update has gone lie at this time meaning the wait is over. What the update is going to do when you log in is automatically remove any “install other OS” option you have on your PS3. In simple terms this means if you have allowed anyone access by dual-booting the platform that is gone and it isn’t coming back. Basically this is going to primarily be a problem that have built tripped out custom PS3 systems, and along the way if you installed Linux support that is going out the window too.

So far there is no way to circumvent the update or patch it. If you for whatever reason refuse to log on to the play station network thinking that you can wait it out it is your loss. Any user that does not have the update will be shut out of the Playstation system. With that in mind you have two options to perform the update - you can download to a USB stick from play station.com, or allow a system update from the XMB which is easier.

What else can you expect from the PS3 3.21 update? The following are the penalties that Playstation is imposing on users that do not log in to accept the update:

* You will not be able to use nay improvements or new features that are released after the PS3 3.21 is launched which is right now.
* You will not be able to play Blu-ray or disc videos that require the PS3 3.21 update.
* There will be no available playback for copyright-protected videos that require the PS3 3.21 update.
* You will not be able to sign into PS3 chat in addition to PS3 GAMES

Sony has made this aggressive update necessary because they claim that piracy and hackers have gotten so out of control that they had no option but impose restrictions. As anyone that is a regular gamer can tell you, that is pretty accurate and it is killing the profit margin for Sony on all the games they produce for the PS3 platform. It is unfortunate, but the bad eggs spoiled it for everyone.

As a final note, people that have updated already suggest that you back up all the data you have on your PS3 hard drives because the update will eat about 100mb of space, and you will no longer be able to access what you saved after the PS3 3.21 firmware update is completed. Some have reported they did have access, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Learn more about this author, Lynette Alice.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.