The latest update for Sony’s PlayStation 3 has gone live. Firmware 3.50 brings the promised support for 3D Blu-ray movies. The PS3 now supports both 3D movies and games. Along with the update, the PS3 has jumped on the social network bandwagon, with Facebook integration being put in place for supported games and a “grief reporting function”.

• Facebook Integration: Developers will be able to create PS3 games that have more interaction with Facebook. Once compatible PS3 titles are available, PS3 users can choose to access public information on Facebook – including user name, profile, uploaded photos and friends list – to enhance their gameplay experience.
• Grief Reporting Function: Users can send claim reports directly from the XMB for any inappropriate messages they receive from other PlayStation Network users. This feature is accessible from the option menu of the messages list in the FRIENDS category.

While games on the PS3 have supported 3D for a little while now, Sony hadn’t added 3D support for Blu-ray movies. This is set to change on the 21st of September though, when Sony will release a new firmware update for the PlayStation 3. Firmware 3.50 will allow all PS3s worldwide (38 million of them) to play Blu-ray movies in 3D, as long as you have a 3D TV of course. Other features should be included in the update as well but, we’ll have to wait until the update is released to find out what.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Sony have revealed that the 3D Blu-ray update, allowing playback of 3D Blu-ray movies, for the PlayStation 3 console should be available at some point in September. The release was originally dated as available “in the fall” of this year. There will also be a further update to come after that to add compatibility for 3D photographs on the PS3.

SCEE are keen to add 3D gaming to the PlayStation format as soon as they can because they see the gaming side of 3D as the front runner in the 3D revolution. As SCEE director Mick Hocking announced “We think games are going to be the killer content for 3D. In general, we find that 3D enhances all types of games. There are no types that it doesn’t bring a benefit to. We think the games this year are going to do the same [as Avatar did for movies] for the gaming community”.

Four gaming titles have been released already on the PSN that support the upcoming 3D technology – Wipeout, Motorstorm (demo), Super Stardust and PAIN and there are more to come including top titles such as Killzone 3 and Gran Turismo 5.

The full interview with CVG shows that Sony are taking 3D technology very seriously and the future of 3D in their hands is very exciting indeed!

In a sneeky swipe at gaming rivals Nintendo, Kaz Hirai the president of Sony computer Entertainment has branded the glasses-free 3D technology that Nintendo have used in their 3DS handheld console as ‘imprecise’ and limited.

“In in-house research, naked eye 3D for portable machines is not high and there are presently limits for it.”

Although Mr Hirai hasn’t actually had his hands on a Nintendo 3DS yet, it looks as though Sony are setting out to undermine the 3DS before it gets close to release and perhaps with good reason as Sony are sure to have invested time and money into researching the technology themselves.

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If you missed the E3 live stream, or haven’t gotten round to watching it yet, read our round up guide to see what you missed and what you should see.  The post includes details on: Killzone 3, 3D games, the PlayStation Move, Gran Turismo 5, InFamous 2, Twisted Metal, Upcoming PS3 games, Upcoming PSP games, Premium PSN, as well as the transcript logs, courtesy of GameSpot.