Due to lack of memory, "background downloads" will stop as soon as you start playing a game.
Details of the upcoming 1.6 update have been revealed, and many PS3 users aren't happy. It seems that Sony allows game developers to use all of the console's memory for their games, whereas Microsoft has intelligently reserved 50MB for system use. And this is where the problem lies. Since the PS3 uses all the system's memory for games, background downloading while a game is running is impossible. When you download the 1.6 update for your PS3, background downloads will pause while you play games.
The Xbox 360 has a smarter system which will only pause downloads if an online game begins. This is to allow all your internet bandwidth to be used for the online game, which is a good idea.
Hopefully Sony will figure out a way to allow for background downloads on the same level as the Xbox 360. But until then, those wishing to download content on their PS3 and play games at the same time will be left wanting.
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