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Sony PS3 3D update problematic on old consoles?

Users of the original, non-Slim PlayStation 3 may be unable to watch 3D movies despite an update to the console allowing 3D Blu-ray playback.

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Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
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updated Sony has responded that both versions of the console should have no problems watching most 3D movies, and after returning to the consoles and retesting we can now confirm this. The Monsters Vs Aliens disk does not work, however.

Users of the original, non-Slim PlayStation 3 may be unable to watch 3D movies despite an update to the console allowing 3D Blu-ray playback released yesterday.

PS3 and Monster House 3D Blu-ray disc
Users may have some issues with disks such as Sony Pictures' Monster House

Initial tests by CNET Australia seemed to confirm that the two retail 3D discs Monster House and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — ironically released by Sony pictures — won't work in the 40GB or 60GB versions of the console. Meanwhile, a non-retail, Panasonic-exclusive disc Coraline has been confirmed to work.

One problem users will encounter is that the PS3 is unable to handle both BD-Java titles and 3D at the same time. While testing by CNET US confirms this simply means the picture menus revert to 2D, in our testing in Australia most titles weren't recognised at first. Users may find as CNET Australia did that the PS3 takes a long time, of a minute or more, to recognise some disks.

Title PS3 "phat" playback PS3 Slim playback
Coraline 3D Yes Yes*
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Yes Yes*
Monster House Yes Yes
Monsters vs. Aliens No Yes*

*Based on CNET US tests

Have you applied the 3.5 update? Are you having problems, or has everything worked fine? Let us know below.