Sony has said that PlayStation Portable owners who plan to use the handheld as a remote media player for PlayStation 3, or to use it to play games downloaded from the PS3's online network, will need to download the version 3.0 firmware due out later this month.
In theory that means that Japanese and US gamers won't be able to use this element of the PS3's functionality at launch, but Sony aims to tidy things up pretty quickly judging by reports from the US.
PS3 owners who want to access the PlayStation Network will also be expected to download the version 1.10 firmware for the console as soon as they get it home and plug it in for the first time, with the patch available by visiting the "System Update" area of the system menu in the cross media bar.
Based on our experience with the debug console, that won't be hard to figure out, and reflects Sony's longer term strategy of - much like the PSP - treating the operating system as a work in progress, with a greater range of functionality likely to be introduced in the weeks and months beyond launch.