Tag: PlayStation Home
News Jim Ryan Praises PlayStation Home for Being '10-15 Years Ahead of Its Time'
Other "game-type metaverse" projects in the works
PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has shared praise for Sony's PS3 project PlayStation Home in newly revealed documents part of the court case concerning Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. While talk surrounding the Metaverse has somewhat died down as of late, Ryan believes PlayStation Home was...
News PlayStation Home Trademark Renewal Has Fans Dreaming
But don't get your hopes up
It's now been more than six years since PlayStation Home shut its doors, an online PS3 experience where you could meet other real-life players, take part in activities together, and just sort of hang out. Think of it as a knock-off Second Life and you're along the right tracks, but the whole thing certainly had a unique...
Feature There Was No Place Quite Like PlayStation Home
Memories of Sony's madcap virtual world
There's a big 'To Let' sign in the Home Plaza today, and the remnants of makeshift toilet paper streamers scattered about its tufts of unkempt grass. Hours earlier, avatars congregated to wish the virtual world farewell, with one last cabbage patch dance under silky blue skies. Now, the weather is moody, and...
News Shed a Tear for the Shuttered PlayStation Home
Moved out
Like that final episode of Brookside where Jimmy Corkhill departs the boarded up Merseyside estate for his new life as the lord of a stately home, PlayStation Home has closed its doors for the last time. The service shut down officially at 08:02AM BST this morning according to Eurogamer.net. The servers were packed as congregations...
News Sony Shutting the Door on PlayStation Home Next Year
Eviction notice
Sony is locking the front door on PlayStation Home — and swallowing the key. The divisive virtual world, which has been in beta since the hazy days of 2008, will officially close on 31st March, 2015 in Europe. At the time of typing, there's no official word on the future of the platform in North America, but given that this was a...
News You Won't Earn a Platinum for Returning to PlayStation Home
May still be worth the trip, though
Some may argue that you deserve a Platinum Trophy for sitting through PlayStation Home’s protracted patching procedure, but the virtual world will sadly lack the most prestigious of pots. As previously teased, a brand new update for Sony’s online service has deployed today, and it includes 13 tasty trinkets...
News PlayStation Home Isn't Coming Out of Beta, But It's Totally Getting Trophies
No impressive cabinets, though
When former PlayStation executive Phil Harrison revealed PlayStation Home at GDC many moons ago, one of the big features announced was a virtual Trophy cabinet that would allow you to inspect your dusty digital trinkets in a three-dimensional hallway. Much like many of the platform holder’s promises at the time, it...
News PlayStation Home Started Life As a Multiplayer Mode for The Getaway: Black Monday
Swigging a pretend pint on PS2
Love it or loathe it, PlayStation Home is one of the most ambitious products that Sony has ever produced. The online virtual world launched in late 2008, after being revealed by former Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison at GDC 2007. But its roots date back much further than that, as the basis of the idea was...
News Sony Stopping PlayStation Home Content Deliveries in Japan
Ceasing support in September
If you’re a proponent of digital avatar dancing you may want to apply a moody expression to your PlayStation Home protagonist, as Sony has announced that it’s to stop updating the virtual world in Japan from September. While you’ll still be able to access the online application for the time being, there’ll be no...
E3 2013 PlayStation Home Offers Early Access to Killzone: Mercenary's Beta
Tons of other cool goodies up for grabs
Not everyone’s lucky enough to attend E3 in Los Angeles – but PlayStation Home annually offers the next best thing. Sure, the real convention may not be filled with shirtless avatars performing the running man in front of favourably proportioned polygonal ladies, but you’re going to want to visit this...
Talking Point Will PlayStation Home Survive the Transition to PS4?
Dancing into the next generation
The word ‘social’ cropped up a lot during Sony’s big PlayStation 4 coming out party late last month, but we’re still yet to learn how PlayStation Home will be integrated into the next generation platform – if, indeed, it will be incorporated at all. The virtual world was Sony’s big bet on casual gaming...
News Insert Coins into the PlayStation Home Arcade App This Week
Retro games on the go
As spotted late last year, a new application is heading to the PlayStation Vita that will allow you to take your PlayStation Home arcade cabinets out and about with you. The free download – set to release in both Europe and North America this week – features full cross-buy compatibility, meaning that any titles you’ve...
News PlayStation Home Arcade Brings More Mini-Games to Vita
Spare change
A new application that allows you to play PlayStation Home mini-games on the PlayStation Vita has been spotted in the European PlayStation Store. The free download – discovered by PS Vita Round Up – features playable versions of WipEout 2D, Ice Breaker, and Scribble Shooter. The latter is represented in demo form, but the full...
News Dyad Developer Bringing a Game About Bouncing to PlayStation Home
Boing, boing
West Bromwich Albion fans will be eager to learn a little more about PlayStation Home's latest arcade cabinet. The release – simplistically entitled A Game About Bouncing – is the brainchild of Dyad developer Shawn McGrath. There's no price attached to the premium mini-game just yet, but we doubt it'll break the bank. Purchasing...
News Fight Until Blood and Ruin in New PlayStation Home Game
Tower defence
PlayStation Home is on a bit of a winning streak at the moment. Within the span of just four weeks the virtual world has seen the arrival of management simulator Home Tycoon and third-person shooter Uproar. This week sees yet another full game added to the social platform, in the form of tower defence title Fight Until Blood and Ruin...
News Uproar Brings Gang Warfare to PlayStation Home
Choose wisely
PlayStation Home just keeps getting better. Hot on the heels of Hellfire’s impressive business management simulation Home Tycoon, developer Lockwood has released Uproar – a fully-featured free-to-play third-person shooter with a gang theme. Upon loading the game for the first time, you’ll need to choose between two opposing...
Feature Hellfire on Constructing the Most Ambitious PlayStation Home Game to Date
Bricks and mortar
If you haven’t set foot in PlayStation Home since the virtual world’s initial roll-out, you may be surprised by the current state of the social platform. The free-to-play destination has erupted with activity over the past 12 months, prompting a location that’s both bursting with content and brimming with life. The catalyst...
News Hellfire: There's Still Plenty of Potential for PlayStation Home
No place quite like Home
PlayStation Home has grown exponentially over the past six months with the release of innovative free-to-play experiences like Mercia: Fractured Realms and Bootleggers ’29 – but Home Tycoon developer Hellfire Games believes there’s still plenty of potential for the social platform to expand. “You only need to glance...
News Hellfire Games Concludes Construction on Home Tycoon
Hardhats at the ready
Hellfire Games has finished building its tantalising free-to-play construction simulator Home Tycoon. According to a newsletter from the developer, the game is set to launch in Europe and North America this week. You’ll be able to access it through PlayStation Home from 3rd October. For those out of the loop, Home Tycoon...
News Intellivision Reinvents Classics for PlayStation Home
Time warp
Chances are the majority of you weren’t born when the original Intellivision released – but games such as Astrosmash and Shark! Shark! have left an indelible impression on the modern games industry. Now, courtesy of PlayStation Home, you’ll be able to play a handful of these classics lovingly re-mastered in HD. “We kept the basic...
News Dig Out Your Hard Hat in Preparation for Home Tycoon
Constructicons
PlayStation Home has had its fair share of ambitious content lately – but Home Tycoon looks like a real step above. The free-to-play city building game promises a strategic business simulation with a twist. Indeed, in addition to growing and nurturing your own hometown from a top-down perspective, you’ll also be able to explore...
News Mercia: Fractured Realms Stumbles into PlayStation Home
Level up
Mercia: Fractured Realms is set to travel into PlayStation Home this week in North America. The ambitious endeavour aims to deliver a full-scale free-to-play role playing game within the virtual world. We’ve heard some pretty great things about this, so you might want to go and check it out. The game can be played in single-player or...
News GamesCom 2012 Takes Over PlayStation Home
Social discovery
If you’re not lucky enough to be soaking up the festive atmosphere in Cologne this week, Sony has concocted a novel solution. The platform holder has announced that it is bringing the excitement of GamesCom to PlayStation Home – and everyone’s invited. In addition to live streaming the PlayStation press conference in the Home...
News Blueprint Lets You Design Your Own Home Apartment
Fit for a king
We’ve all dreamed of living in an enormous penthouse kitted out with tennis courts and swimming pools – trouble is, few of us will ever come close to affording one. Thankfully, things aren't quite as expensive in the digital world. Sony has announced a new application for PlayStation Home named Blueprint that will allow you to...
News No Man's Land Brings Third-Person Action to PS Home
Out this week
PlayStation Home may have been an empty shell of potential when it launched all the way back in 2008, but it’s gone from strength to strength in the years since. No Man’s Land is a perfect example of that evolution – it’s a fully featured third-person shooter set within Sony’s virtual world. The multiplayer title –...
News Home Tycoon Brings Sim City to PlayStation Home
Big business, big fun
Tucked away in the upstairs section of the PlayStation Home E3 booth is an area dedicated to the spaces coming soon to Sony’s virtual world. One of the new activities featured is Home Tycoon, a simulation title in development at Hellfire Games. The preview doesn’t reveal much about the game, but it does hint at some...
News PlayStation Home Upgrades to Version 1.65
Splash of paint
Sony’s divisive virtual world PlayStation Home is set to get a few upgrades this week. Version 1.65 brings with it a new user interface and speed improvements – making it even easier to stalk avatars wearing nothing but swimwear. Tweaks include a new menu screen, personal voice chat and more intelligent use of furniture slots...
News Sony Announces Trio of New Titles for PlayStation Home
Home from home
PlayStation Home really has come a long way since it launched back in 2008. What originally started life as an overhyped chatroom has blossomed into a social gaming network, and that transition is emphasised by today’s trio of new announcements. Starting today, Sony is plotting the release of three new exclusives in PlayStation's...
News Street Fighter X Tekken Takes the Fight to PlayStation Home
Total game integration
In order to promote the impending release of Street Fighter X Tekken on PlayStation 3, Sony’s announced a new tie-in event for PlayStation Home which will allow you to duke it out beat ‘em up style as your own custom avatars. If you complete 10 challenges in the Home exclusive space, you’ll unlock special Ryu and Kazuya...
News PlayStation Network Maintenance Scheduled For Thursday
Be known, valued reader, that some facets of the PlayStation Store will be unavailable this coming Thursday, February 2nd
As usual, the whole "scheduled maintenance" notice seems a bit overboard — as we've never had a problem connecting and playing games online during these periods of "supposed downtime". But it's still worth...
News Watch Full Movies In PlayStation Home For Free
Fancy watching some free movies and TV shows with your buddies in PlayStation Home? Sony's got you covered
A new partnership with Crackle will allow you to stream movies such as Resident Evil and Starship Troopers directly into the virtual world. Sadly, the feature's only available for North American residents. Don't purchase any popcorn just yet,...
News Heads Up: The New PlayStation Home Is Out Now
If you're one of those people that tried PlayStation Home back in the hazy days of 2008, danced around in the main plaza and then decided to devote the next three years of your life to ragging on the social world in forums and blog comments -- then you're about to get a shock
PlayStation Home has been going through a subtle transformation for a good...
News Oh Right: PlayStation Home Relaunches Tomorrow
Blimey, PlayStation Home director Jack Buser wasn't messing about when he said the virtual world's relaunch was coming soon
It's coming tomorrow. "We are launching a new experience for PlayStation Home that will feature a revamped Home Square and a new 'districts' design that will help you find games, people and places that fit your favourite...
News Take A Tour Of The New PlayStation Home
We've always seen the potential in PlayStation Home as a gaming platform, and its great to see Sony finally deliver on that
In a new video posted on the PlayStation Blog, excitable director Jack Buser has offered a tour of the new features we can expect in the rebooted virtual world. Buser's really keen to emphasise Home's new focus on games,...
News PlayStation Home Gets Caught Up In Hallowe'en Fever
We'd just like to spend a few moments to thank James Gallagher of the PlayStation Blog
Sarcastically, of course. His latest PlayStation Home update, entitled "What Goes Bump In The Night", has totally got us listening to the AllStars on loop. So thanks for that. Thanks a lot. Anyway. Lots of bits-and-bobs in PlayStation Home this week. New...
News Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Drops Into PlayStation Home
Sony's really starting to pack PlayStation Home with promotional mini-games
Already this year we've had supplementary experiences for Resistance 3 and Dead Island, and now Naughty Dog's Uncharted 3 is about to receive its own space in Sony's social world. A new mini-game set in the "sun-baked streets of Yemen" challenges you to step into...
News PlayStation Home Is The 'Easiest Point Of Entry' For PlayStation Network Developers
As PlayStation Home continues its transition into a gaming platform, director Jack Buser has stated that he believes the social network is the "easiest point of entry" for budding PlayStation Network developers
Speaking with Shacknews, Buser commented that a "lot of developers" start in PlayStation Home. Home is all scripting (LUA), and...
Feature Variety Is The Spice Of Life -- 'Twiggy' The Push Square Opinionator
Earlier in the week Deep Silver announced a PlayStation Move enabled sports mini-game compilation called Winter Stars
The news was met with little fanfare, but I couldn't help but feel a flutter of anticipation. Thing is, I adore games packed with variety. I love the idea of being able to play around with different mechanics, jumping from one...
News PlayStation Home Gets Major Client Update Tomorrow
No, the much publicised PlayStation Home reboot is not launching tomorrow
But the platform's still getting a major update as it jumps to version 1.55. New features include updates to the Wardrobe function, as well as a new Furniture browser that makes sifting through digital goods as straight-forward as an Ikea catalogue. Hit the jump for the full...
News It Was Inevitable: PlayStation Home Gets Free-To-Play First-Person Shooter
We've been mulling over the possibility of a free-to-play PlayStation Home first-person shooter in our heads for months now
We concluded that some kind of paintball game would make the most sense. But Sony's gone further, announcing Bootleggers, a full-on free-to-play first-person shooter set within the PlayStation Home universe. Woah. Bootleggers...
News Sony Aiming To Transform PlayStation Home Into A Social Gaming Network
Sony intends to transform PlayStation Home into "the biggest and best social gaming service on any console", the platform holder has said in a new post on the European arm of the PlayStation Blog
We already know that Sony's got a full reboot for the series in the works, but SCEE's Darren Cairns has given a little more indication as to what we can...
News Sodium 2 Nets Nemesis Update In PlayStation Home
Lockwood's announced that it's adding a new track to its popular PlayStation Home free-to-play racer, Sodium 2
The Nemesis update includes a new track entitled Wasteland Spires, which is set within an "ethically questionable and borderline illegal mining operation on the exoplanet Iridos". A reverse version of the track will also be made...
News Here's Your First Look At The Next Evolution Of PlayStation Home
Earlier today we reported that Sony is looking to completely redefine PlayStation Home as a social gaming platform in the Fall
New genre specific districts will be complimented by a new 'Hub' system — the entrance into PlayStation Home's new world. The aim is to make Sony's digital platform less of a sophisticated chat-room, and more of a...
News Sony Looking To Reboot PlayStation Home As A Social Games Platform
We've been saying it for years
In fact, we feel like we were one of the few publications that even noticed. PlayStation Home has transitioned. It is less about interaction — though that's still a key component — and more about gaming. And that's absolutely the right direction for the service. But we've seen nothing yet. According to a series of...
News Sony Confirms Live Stream Of GamesCom Press Conference In PlayStation Home
GamesCom is usually an odd event
Despite housing announcements on par with E3 — the PlayStation 3 Slim for example — SCEE's never quite got round to setting up a reasonable live stream for the event. Perhaps finally realising that its fans do genuinely care about press conferences, the company has announced that its GamesCom presser will be...
News Scribble Shooter Launches In PlayStation Home
As PlayStation Home continues to push into a more gaming oriented direction, Sony's announced that it's launching Scribble Shooter this week
Scribble Shooter is a retro sh'mup with hand drawn artwork and tons of unlockable items and rewards. In addition to Scribble Shooter, GAME's launching top-down arcade shooter Savage Cosmos in the Moonbase...
News Evo 2011 To Be Streamed Directly In PlayStation Home
Fighting games are serious business, with many of the top competitors duking it out later this week in the annual Evo 2011 championships
Those unable to make the event in Las Vegas, will be able to watch the entire thing live via PlayStation Home. Players will be competing across a variety of fighting games, including Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Mortal...
News Sony Continues To Apologise About The PSN Outage, Offers Tons Of PlayStation Home Stuff
What PlayStation Network outage? Seriously, perhaps it's just our blase reaction to the whole scenario, but do people still feel wronged by Sony's alleged inability to protect its data centre? Either way, SCEE is continuing its welcome back process by bunging you an approximated £65 worth of PlayStation Home gubbins
All the stuff is available from...
Feature What's The Sodium 2 Space In PlayStation Home About?
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that Sony's tweaked the splash-image for PlayStation Home
Previously touted as a virtual world for PlayStation 3 owners, Sony now refers to the service as a "social gaming network". It's a transformation we've witnessed take place over the past several months, and it concludes with the implementation of...
News Sony's PlayStation Home E3 Booth Pulled In A Whopping 500,000 Visitors
The virtual E3 booth in PlayStation Home was a stroke of marketing genius
It directed you to watch eight of Sony's E3 trailers in order to receive virtual items and access the space's VIP area. Given the casual nature of PlayStation Home, we imagine there were people learning about Twisted Metal and Resistance 3 for the first time in the virtual...
