Sony PS3 firmware 2.16 found on PAL GT 5 Prologue?

Many have guessed that the official Sony PlayStation 3 firmware version 2.17 actually came out in preparation for Polyphony Digital‘s Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, but little did anyone know that the PAL versions of Sony’s flagship racer actually carried PS3 firmware 2.16 inside. Members of the PlayStation 3 underground, lead by the team at PS3Hax, managed to extract it and install it on their own console. More details at the full story.

The latest update from the underground Sony PlayStation 3 scene puts a mysteriously unreleased PS3 firmware into the spotlight. Firmware version 2.16, just one minor spot shy from the latest version of Sony’s next generation console software, was allegedly found to exist in PAL versions of Polyphony Digital‘s Gran Turismo 5: Prologue.

This development came after the fact that many have pondered over the significance of firmware 2.17. It was said that 2.17 came with complementary network code for GT 5 Prologue, though tangible evidence wasn’t provided at the time.

Previously, members of the underground have believed that the latest firmware version should have been version 2.15 after they had probed a debug leak of that firmware much earlier.

Speculation that version 2.16 may have been the prototype firmware to be best for GT 5 Prologue have risen, but then claim that Sony discovered holes that could be exploited and decided to update the software to 2.17.

In order to best analyze the code, the team at PS3Hax has released the full firmware package of version 2.16 and 2.17, which are targeted at budding and experienced PS3 hacking teams to experiment with. More updates as we get them.