PS3 firmware 3.41 adds recommendations and…nothing else

The most recent PS3 firmware update that Sony released, v3.40, was a major one — it added PlayStation Plus support, Facebook features, and a video editor, among other things. The next one is much less significant, and accordingly, it’s numbered v3.41. The update will bring (drum roll, please)… game and video recommendations to the PlayStation Store!

That’s right: Sony’s making you update your PS3 just so they can sell you more stuff. (This smacks of the “What’s New” section that they added to the XMB in the v3.00 update last September.)

You’ll notice a “You May Like” section on the right side of the PlayStation Store when you’re looking at a piece of content. If you click on it, you’ll be treated to an Amazon-like list of items: it’ll all be stuff purchased by other PSN users who bought the item you’re looking at. To be fair, this is certainly some useful functionality, but couldn’t it have been rolled into a more feature-rich firmware update?

The update will be available “shortly,” but the actual recommendations won’t start showing up until the end of the month. Also on the way: a minor PSP firmware update (v6.31) that improves system stability during the use of PSP games (and likely tries to thwart piracy, too).

Next PS3 Firmware Update Adds PlayStation Store Recommendations [PlayStation Blog]