The PS3 launched in the US on November 20th, 2006.  Prior to that launch, we were shown videos by Phil Harrison that showed in-game access to the XMB.  Fast forward almost two years later, to July 2nd, 2008 and the Firmware 2.40 update when we actually got that functionality.

Finally.

The PS Blog had run user polls for months asking readers what their most requested new feature for the PS3 was and by a landslide in-game XMB was the most requested feature.  If you purchased a PS3 after the 2.40 update then you don’t know the beauty of seeing a notification that you just received a message from your friend and having to quit your current game to go read it, or wondering if your friend was even online and not being able to tell if he was or coordinate getting into the same game together. Yeah, by beauty, I meant frustration.  It was beyond ridiculous.

Sony even teased us at trade shows giving out In-Shirt XMB shirts.  I’m pretty sure Sony’s the only one that thought that was funny.  It’s like giving a starving man a T-shirt with a juicy steak on it and promising you’ll give him some food someday.  While they still have a long way to go before they’ve matched most people’s requests, finally releasing In-Game XMB was absolutely one of Sarcastic Gamer’s Top Gaming Moments of 2008.

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