Yesterday was supposed to be a banner day for Sony, the date when firmware 2.40 hit and the PS3 was finally able to really show its stuff. The inclusion of the in-game XMB was a huge hit with fans, but even bigger was the news that with this update, the PS3 would finally get Trophy support and begin directly competing with the Xbox 360 and its Achievements. Problem is, with any major system update there are almost always hitches, and this time its a big one.

Many users who tried to install the update said that their PS3 would simply hang or freeze at the startup menu, not allowing them to access any content or start any games. So far, the only fix offered has been a drastic one: removing the hard drive, reformatting it, re-inserting it into the PS3, and then reformatting again. Of course, the major drawback to this action is that it wipes any game saves or downloaded content off your drive, forcing you to basically start over from zero in all your games and DLC.

In light of this major issue, Sony has decided to pull the 2.40 update, leaving any users who sat back and waited to continue using firmware 2.36 instead. The company is promising to continue to appraise the situation, and put the update back just as soon as they find out what the problem is. A Sony rep also told the larger gaming public not to worry, as they believe that the problems are fairly isolated, and that the bug in the firmware is in no way crashing the systems of every single person who installs it.

So as it stands right now, if you haven’t already upgraded to 2.40, you’ll have to hang tight for a while longer, while if you already have the new version, you can get a nice head start on your friends collecting trophies. That is, assuming your PS3 doesn’t break in the process.