While Sony has been doing a good job of keeping the PS3 up-to-date with new firmware updates and features, today’s announcement of Firmware v3.21 is a backwards move by Sony. The 3.21 firmware update will remove the OtherOS feature from the older PS3 models over “security concerns,” mainly due to the recent exploit discovered by hacker George Hotz. However, this isn’t the first time Sony has removed functionality from the PS3.
Remember PS2 backwards compatibility? The original launch models supported PS2 games but was later removed in newer models. Sony also removed playback of Super-Audio CDs in the past too. While I haven’t used Linux on my PS3 in over a year, I like to know that the functionality exists in case I ever need it.
The PS3 Slim never included OtherOS support from day one, but the older models still had the functionality, and still will until this Thursday. If you choose not to upgrade your console, you sacrifice future playback of games and Blu-ray titles, not to mention any new functionality added in future firmware updates.
Poor move Sony.