PlayStation Network update 3.70 is live and with it comes
two big features exclusive to Plus subscribers: instant trophy syncing and cloud saved game data. But sadly for us regular users of PSN, they may as well have
not been included. I personally would love to have cloud saves, especially for
my aging PS3 with its oh-so tiny and thus near-useless hard drive, but alas I
have too many expenses already right now, especially at this point in the year
with a ton of big games I have to
buy. Nonetheless, this is great news for anyone who does have Plus; it's because of additions like these that really do make the upgraded service compelling.
As far as the universal updates go with 3.70, every PS3 owner can look forward
to an improved Cross Media Bar with a new TV and Video category aimed at the
use of services like Netflix, Hulu and VUDU. Blu-ray disc playback is also
being improved with complete support for lossless audio and 3D-specific movie
features.
While I'm all for Sony giving Plus extra components to be more compelling, like making instant trophy updates and cloud saves (one a user
convenience and the other a very useful feature for anyone who ever worries
about their saved game data or needs to do a backup and transfer at some point),
exclusives for those who shell out $50 dollars a month (more in my country) just isn't
cool at all.