The latest PS3 firmware update release notes did not really reveal what the update brought to the table. Being one of the few optional updates it seemed to come and go without much fanfare and a great deal of speculation.
Some small things were discovered since it’s release like the the chat feature receiving some flexibility and compatibility for VidZone. Most of the features of firmware 2.80 seems to have been a closely guarded secret.
Sam Thompson, producer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has revealed an interesting tid bit that was previously unknown. Firmware 2.80 provides a higher availability of memory for applications. It seems the XMB OS memory footprint has been reduced.
“Naughty Dog is constantly working to improve every aspect of the gameplay; be it animation, lighting, sound, texture fidelity. You know if you look at the game itself with the 2.80 engine update, you know we’re adding more memory, so we get a lot more utilization of the SPUs, so we increase our optimization of the Cell processor as well. So we’ve got from the engineering side all the way up to texture fidelity, artists adding in even more…I mean there’s really not a singular aspect that’s not been improved in the game,”
– Sam Thompson, Producer Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
[Source]
