As usual with Sony’s PS3 patches, yesterday saw the quiet release of PS3 firmware update 1.5 with minimal detail from Sony regarding what all exactly the update added and/or patched. On the update’s official announcement page a few of the fixes/additions are listed, such as a new key tone sound setting, a delete backup data option in the backup utility, new PlayStation Network log-in options and other fairly mundane and unexciting features.
Following the patch, however, many PS3 owners have reported that the infamous (and thoroughly overblown if you ask me) backward-compatibility scaling problem that caused PS2 games to look all jaggy when played on the PS3 has been fixed by this firmware update as well (along with other unlisted fixes like faster web browser performance), even though Sony doesn’t make any mention of this fact (which you think they would considering it’s been such a hot topic around the web). So far I have tested this theory with Final Fantasy X and God of War, as they have been two of the major games that have been pointed out as examples of the scaling issue, and both look exactly the same playing on my PS2 and PS3, without any degradation of quality whatsoever. And in playing some FFXII, it looks even a little bit better now on the PS3. So at this point it does appear true that firmare update 1.5 has corrected the PS3’s minor backward-compatibility problems, but with no official word from Sony I guess we can’t say for certain. If you have any before-and-after accounts regarding whether the problem was indeed fixed for you, we’d love to hear your comments.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
So I have continued testing PS2 games on my PS3 and it’s clear that the BC bug has been corrected by the new patch, so good job Sony getting that fixed quickly. BLACK in particular looks incredible now, nice resolution boost over playing it on the PS2. The gun models almost look like they’re next-gen!