A Californian man is to sue Sony over its recent 3.21 firmware update for the PS3 that removed the ability to install alternative operating systems such as Linux.
The suit, filed by Anthony Ventura, claims “Sony's decision to force users to disable the OtherOS function was based on its own interest and was made at the expense of its customers”, Kotaku reports.
If the complaint is upheld it could have potential ramifications for, as the suit outlines, “a nationwide class of all persons who purchased a PS3 during the period November 17th 2006 and March 27th 2010 who did not resell their PS3”.
Earlier this month it was reported that a US Amazon customer had successfully claimed a partial refund from the retailer after it was argued that his PS3 “was no longer fit for purpose” as it didn’t include previously advertised functionality.
As a result, Sony has insisted that it will not be refunding any PS3 owners as its T&Cs state that it is free to alter its system software at any time.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/38761/Sony-sued-over-OtherOS-removal

Superhero film Kick-Ass has been turned into a beat-'em-up videogame for PS3, which will be released this Thursday on PSN for $14.99 in the US.

The game was made by Frozen Codebase - a studio that boasts former Naughty Dog, Raven and Treyarch staff. Work only began on an adaptation in September 2009, which meant Frozen Codebase bypassing visual flourishes for "gameplay, gameplay and more gameplay", according to president Ben Geisler.

That gameplay is beat-'em-up sprinkled with co-op and RPG elements. The story follows what happens in the film and the comic, but also goes into more detail about the drug trade.

There's an Arena mode for wave-based enemy slaying, and multiplayer is on the way as post-release DLC.

There's a video of the Kick-Ass game on the US PlayStation blog.

Sony offered "no comment" on a European release.

The Kick-Ass film opened in UK cinemas in late March.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/kick-ass-game-on-psn-this-week

BioWare is working with Sony to discover why Dragon Age: Origins struggles to run on PS3.

The problems started after Sony released firmware update 3.30 for the console last week. BioWare's community forums are clogged with reports of game crashes.

Though aware of the issue, BioWare cannot recreate the problems on dev kits and so quickly analyse and isolate the error. Because of this, the community is being called on to submit feedback. "We have to do this a little old school, and keep narrowing the cases down," said BioWare poster Fernando Melo.

His comments suggest the issue relates to games saved before the firmware release conflicting with games saved afterwards. Some users have 'repaired' their game by deleting saved games, but Melo is loathe to recommend this method.

If you're experiencing problems, head over to the BioWare forums to contribute.

"Thanks again for your patience," said Melo. "It is pretty clear that despite this affecting other titles, that it has impacted on DA substantially. We're hopeful there is something we can do from our end to work around whatever was introduced in 3.3.

"In the meantime, please continue to send us information that will help us narrow this down," he added.

Dragon Age: Origins expansion Awakening was released in March, raising the level cap and giving voice to the darkspawn. Awakening was awarded 9/10 on Eurogamer.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bioware-working-on-ps3-dao-fix

Sony's most recent fun-postponing mandatory system update for PS3 also paved the way for VAIO PCs to take remote control of your console.

That's according to the official release notes (thanks Kotaku), which state: "You can now select [PC] as an option under [Remote Play Settings] > [Register Device].

"When you select this option, you will be able to use the remote play feature to operate your PS3 system from future models of the VAIO PC.

"Details of this feature will be announced on the official VAIO website at vaio.eu/playstation in May 2010."

It not being May yet, all that you can find on the VAIO website is some lifestyle photography and a few notices of intent.

PS3's 3.30 firmware also introduced new ways of sorting Trophies and updated the console to prepare it for the launch of 3D stereoscopic games this summer.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/vaio-remote-play-in-ps3-firmware