Sony has taken a liking to naming its system software updates in rather interesting ways. 2.00 and 2.50 were named respectively "Masamune" and "Yukimura" inspired by the Sengoku Era warlords Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura, who incidentally are traditionally seen as rivals.

It might come to no surprise for many that 3.00 is named after another famous general of the Sengoku Era: Kenshin, in fact, refers to Uesugi Kenshin, one of the most powerful among the warlords, remembered both for his battle prowess and for his skill as an administrator.

Kenshin was the lord of the northern province of Echigo, in today's Niigata prefecture, and had all sorts of fearsome nicknames like "god of war," or "tiger of Echigo."

The "god of war" nickname was actually not random, as he took the vows of a Buddhist monk, devoted to the warrior deity, Bishamonten. This gave him one of his images in popular culture, that sees him dressed as a warrior monk.

Interestingly, his skills as an administrator also had him depicted in several instances as a highly intellectual figure, while many anime and games give him a feminine or even female appearance. There are even some rather widespread theories floating around alleging that Kenshin was. in fact, female. I wouldn't be surprised is Sony selected the name for this reason.

Interestingly, this also gives us a possible hint about the name of the next system software update. After Masamune, Yukimura and Kenshin, the next logical step would be Shingen, after Takeda Shingen, lord of Kai and Uesugi Kenshin's arch-rival.