PlayStation 3: Firmware 3.21 is not April Fool Prank

PlayStation 3 had been trying from day-1 to keep piracy at bay. But finally, people had found a way to run non-original copies of games on their PS3 consoles.

Sony usually tends to launch new firmware releases only for the purpose of adding features to their consoles. However, this time Sony released the 3.21 firmware specifically for the purpose of combating piracy.

Hackers had found a way to use “Install Other OS” feature to install an OS other than the PS3’s and use that to run pirated games.

So, Sony came up with a simple solution – disable the Other OS feature altogether !! What a cheap and easy fix :p

This is a really bad news for the Other OS feature users but a delight for software and game vendors of PS3. The users of this feature might choose not to install the 100MB firmware upgrade, but then, they will be missing out on the following features.

1. Ability to sign in to PlayStation Network (PSN). This will eventually lead to the non-availability of  network features that require the PSN, like online features of PS3 games and chat.
2. Playback of PS3 software titles or Blu-ray Disc videos that require PS3 system software version 3.21 or later.
3. Playback of copyright-protected videos that are stored on a media server (when DTCP-IP is enabled under Settings)
4. Use of new features and improvements that are available on PS3 system software 3.21 or later.

PS: If you want to upgrade to PS3 firmware 3.21, make sure that you backup all your previous data on the PS3 because after upgrading, this data will not be accessible to you.