Just as I was going to a have quick go on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on my PlayStation 3 I couldn't. Before I could go online I had to update to the latest firmware update, firmware 3.0. So I download this and here's what I found.

The first thing you might notice is the start up screen and the background. The start up screen now says PS3 in the new style logo instead of "Sony Computer Entertainment" and the default background (the wavey lines that changes colour depending on the time) now has these nice sparkles floating around. Not really important but does look nice. I've heard that new features have been made available for developers to make interactive backgrounds. I'm looking forward to seeing some nice creative backgrounds. Maybe the man on the desert island I used to love.

Next thing is the clock and date display in the top right. This now shows your avatar, number of friends online, number of unread messages, date, time and a little clock. This is an improvement as before you wouldn't know about new messages unless you saw it arrive. They've also moved the battery level indicator left so not to cover the time. This is a great tweak as you easily see if you've got messages and see the time in game faster. Before when in the heat of battle you had to wait for the battery level to disappear often causing you to die. Also the list of friends has been updated to have a background behind each friend, probably to make them easier to read when using the XMB in game.

The main big update is the What's New application that come up by default. What this does is show you the last 2 or 3 games you've played, 2 when you've got a disc. Also above this it shows you some features from the PSN store and below it shows links to websites about new pages. I've heard that this will link to things like videos and other media in the future. Again a nice looking update and some use. It's clearly a way to promote the store and up coming games but they why it has been done is more to be informative and so isn't intruding. You can change this from being the default screen in the settings. Sony have also added the PSN store icon to the Games menu on the XMB be. Again I think they are trying to push more traffic to the store to get more sales.

The last change I've noticed I believe is a UK only update. Under the new TV menu (not new if you've got PlayTV) is a short cut to BBC's Bigscreen version of the iPlayer. As iPlayer is only available to residents of the UK then I imagine it'll only be there for UK users. It's really good to have iPlayer so accessible and it shows the BBC has added the compatibility for PS3 users. For me it'll solve the problem that I get watching iPlayer full screen my my Mac Mini that's hooked up to my TV. The problem I had was that it would freeze after about 10mins or so interrupting what I was watching.

Over all the firmware 3.0 update is very good one. The addition of iPlayer is great! The message and clock update is the best feature in my eyes. It shows that Sony are listening to users, if not a bit slowly and just in time for the new PS3 slim that's. As for future updates I would love to see some type of universal friend invite system but as a hugely requested feature it should have been added by now.

Having got my PlayStation 3 back after 2 months being without I was geared up for a mega gaming session this weekend and that's what I did. I had ordered Red Faction Guerilla and it came on Saturday morning. I started playing it early afternoon on Saturday and I didn't stop until the early hours of Sunday. This game is so much fun! I love it!

It's a free-roaming/action/shooter game and all three areas have been executed awesomely. The map size is pretty big, although some areas of the map look like you can go there but can't, it's still big. The two main things I love about this game are the sledgehammer and the destruction. The sledgehammer is your basic tool/weapon and it can be use to kill or destroy. Running up to EDF troops and whacking them with the sledgehammer is priceless. Destruction: all the buildings and structures in Red Faction Guerilla can be leveled. I've never actually seen destruction in a game like this, it's beautiful. You can level a massive building within minutes or even seconds using any combination of vehicles, walkers, guns, explosives and your trusty sledgehammer. After charging through a building with a walker, my favourite method of destruction is setting a few remote charges and trying to destroy the building in one push of a button.

The single player has been so addictive that I've only been online with it for a couple of rounds. In those rounds I can see multiplayer is going to keep me entertained long after the single player game is over. I'll probably post more about the multiplayer mode when I've had a good play on it.

First thing that came today was my box of 10 Montecristo No. 4 cigars. Woohoo. They'll be nice at Download.

Then a few hours later a currier came to take my broken PlayStation 3 and replace it with a refurbished one. Bring on the mega gaming session this weekend!

There's a little story behind the PS3. It had been broke for 2 months, it was 2 years old so out of warrenty. Sony wanted charge me £145 to replace it. Being a little broke I couldn't pay that so I had a look in the Sales of Goods Act and found out the retailer (GAME) should repair or replace it. So fast forward 1 & 1/2 months and 3 letters to GAME. Game took it to be repaired, came back last Friday and stopped working on the Sunday . So I rang them up on Tuesday (2 days ago). They wanted me to send it back again, get a gift card and go out and buy a preowned one. I didn't want that because mines an original 60GB model. So I convinced them to pay for the £145 for Sony to replace it. Within 48 hours I they took mine away and replaced it.

It's a great service by Sony really. GAME on that other hand tried to convince me the Sales of Goods Act was not what it was to try and get out of paying. But in the end they have agreed to refund me the £145 and it's cost me a few letters sent recorded delivery. I will be putting the letters i sent to GAME online soon so someone else might be helped.