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Shuhei Yoshida on China and why PlayStation can never go Home again
One does not simply get enough of Shuhei Yoshida, the head of Sony PlayStation's Worldwide Studios. So following our nice, long chat with him at E3 (seriously, go read it), we managed to get hold of him again in Hong Kong and picked his brain with more questions about Project Morpheus. These include the VR headset's final form (you're looking at it), its compatibility with other devices and whether it'll revive the now-defunct PlayStation Home. We also took the opportunity to ask about the challenges of bringing PlayStation games into China.
There's no longer a place like PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home, Sony's answer to the Second Life question no one asked, was never where the company's heart lived. Maybe its greasy, suppurating id lived in those gleaming neon halls, somewhere between the bowling alley full of dead-eyed polygon people and the virtual shopping mall. You know the PlayStation Home shopping mall I'm talking about. It's the one where you could spend very real money on an entirely fake golden statue of a robot lady with impossibly proportioned breasts.After seven years, the majority of which were spent in beta testing, Sony closed Home's doors this week. The PlayStation heart is secure elsewhere, for sure, but the shuttering of Home does mark the conclusion of an experiment true to the PlayStation soul, as well as the end of the brand's darkest era.
PSN going offline for maintenance October 13
Do you have next Monday, October 13 off work? Are you planning ahead to call in sick for school that day? Do you have that date circled on your calendar with the note "gaming marathon" written on it? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, be aware that Sony has PlayStation Network maintenance scheduled for that day. The routine maintenance is planned to begin at 1:00 p.m. EST (10:00 a.m. PST) and will last until 8:00 p.m. EST (5:00 p.m. PST). PlayStation's support team noted that those that log in to PSN at any point from yesterday on will retain online play and app access during the maintenance period. However, the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home and account management services will not be available during that time. [Image: Sony]
PlayStation Home closes its doors worldwide in March 2015
PlayStation Home, the PS3's social space where users hang out and play games via avatars, will shutter up worldwide on March 31, 2015, according to a post from PlayStation Network Senior Community Manager "Tempest_Fire". March 31 was previously shared as Japan's date to vacate Home's premises, but yesterday's announcement makes it clear that the entire community will soon need to find a new home away from Home. Though the publishing of new content will cease on November 12, 2014, Home residents can stock up on downloads until December 3, 2014. As a thank you to fans, PlayStation will also offer a "series of free content" before March 31's global sign-off date. We can only hope Home's final moments bring everyone together for a rendition of Semisonic's "Closing Time," where a melody garbled by voice chat gives avatars a chance for one last dance. [Image: PlayStation]
PlayStation Home turns off the lights in Japan this March
After closing its doors to new content last August, Sony has decided to turn off the lights on PlayStation Home in Japan entirely. The PlayStation Home social network will end in March 2015 in Japan, Sony announced on the Japanese Home website. A translation of the message indicates that the Home service maintained by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment America is exempt from the shut down. Sony's PlayStation Home service, a 3D-environment social network for the PlayStation 3, first launched its beta test in Japan in August 2008. The service was powered by advertisements, tricking other users, and dancing with hamsters. [Image: PlayStation]
PlayStation Home getting trophies in update this week
Time to chuck out the PlayStation 4 and drop the Xbox One like a titan – PlayStation Home is getting trophies! The PS3-only social app will soon be updated to support PlayStation's brand of achievements, PlayStation Europe Community Manager Chris Owen said on Twitter. Trophies for the hamster-loving, secret identity-laden platform will arrive in the 1.86 update, set to launch worldwide on March 12. Details on the retroactive trophies will be revealed on launch day. Despite continued updates to Sony's social hub world in North America and Europe, Owen says there's no news of PlayStation Home moving to new platforms like PS4. PlayStation Home is a free virtual 3D social gaming platform that first launched in 2008. It features mini-games, microtransactions and ad space. It's a little like the MMO Second Life, but with fewer flying phalluses. [Image: Sony Computer Entertainment]
Get three PSOne games free via PlayStation Home scavenger hunt
PlayStation Home has been updated with a virtual PlayStation 4 area, where users can embark upon a most mighty and epic quest. A "Quest For Greatness" as Home calls it. Okay, so maybe it's less "epic" and more "find 13 hidden cards," but PSOne games Twisted Metal, Warhawk, and Destruction Derby are yours for the taking should you complete the hunt, along with lots of PS4-branded virtual swag. The Quest For Greatness can be accessed via the Experience PlayStation 4 area, which is connected to the Home main hub. Inside the Experience PS4 area is a giant PlayStation Vita, and it is here your quest begins. Reddit posters have claimed that the ordeal shouldn't take more than roughly 10 minutes, so if that amount of time for three PSOne games playable on your PS3 and Vita sounds worth it, log onto PlayStation Home and get to collecting.
PlayStation Home closing doors to new content in Japan
PlayStation Home won't receive new content in Japan starting next month, while other regions in Asia will stop seeing Home updates starting March 2014. But don't fret just yet, Home users in North America and Europe: According to Sony Computer Entertainment's announcement, the PS3 avatarium will continue to be updated weekly in your regions. While maybe not the focal point it once seemed it might be, Home has been going strong for nearly five years, featuring content updates that have included new areas, games, gear, and other goodies. It's even been a hub to watch Sony events from, like the PS4 reveal. Whether or not today's news signals the beginning of the end for Home remains to be seen. Back in 2011, Sony said PlayStation Home had been visited by 23 million users worldwide, a fair deal of those happy to stump up cash in the virtual world.
Free for All: So about that PlayStation Home
My birthday is this week, so I thought it was time to grab a PlayStation 3 bundle, something I have been wanting for a while. Not only have the prices dropped for the consoles, but with the next generation coming out soon, I knew that many of the games that I wanted to get for it would be even cheaper. On top of that, the PS3 is the best console for MMOs. It currently hosts several, one of them being PlayStation Home. My curiosity for Home has been fired up since I heard about it, but I've never before looked into it and have rarely heard anything more from it other than the occasional news story. Most of the time when I ask a PlayStation user about the virtual world, he'll just sort of shrug. It was about time I saw it for myself!
Accio Harry Potter fans: Pottermore lives on in PlayStation Home
Pottermore, the official online, social universe for Harry Potter lore, is now a part of PlayStation Home. Pottermore in PS Home expands upon features in the browser version – including dueling, collecting trading cards and exploring Diagon Alley – and adds new activities, such as trivia, riding the Hogwarts Express, and a four-player mini-game called Book Herding.Pottermore in Home can link with online Pottermore accounts via the Navigator App, allowing players to trade cards. PS3 players already got a taste of Pottermore in Wonderbook: Book of Spells, which we found to be a moderately thrilling experience, even for someone who isn't techically a "young adult" anymore.
You can watch tonight's PlayStation event in PS Home if you want to
If you'd rather not watch the PlayStation event here on Joystiq, you can gather with a small group of what is almost certain to be the craziest, most dedicated PlayStation enthusiasts anywhere.You can watch it in PlayStation Home. You can also watch via the PlayStation Blog or in the "What's New" area of your PS3 XMB, though if you aren't opting for the possibly social experience of seeing the best and brightest of the PlayStation brand from within its weirdest, scariest creation, we'd rather have you join us here.
PlayStation Home Arcade drags classic cabinet games to Vita
If you're looking for a convenient arcade experience, put those quarters away, wash your hands and sit right down. PlayStation Home Arcade is now on Vita, offering classic arcade games alongside Icebreaker and Wipeout 2D, both of which are free during the initial games lineup.Also free is a demo of Scribble Shooter. The following games are $1.50 each, all playable via PSN on the Vita and PS3: Frogger, Time Pilot, Asteroids, Centipede, Astrosmash Gen2, Shark! Shark! and Mad Blocker. Download the Home Arcade app for free in the Vita's PlayStation Store.
'A Game About Bouncing' from Dyad dev coming to PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home is getting a new arcade game this Wednesday, and this one has some indie chops. From the minds of Dyad, studio ][ and Shawn McGrath, comes A Game About Bouncing, which McGrath briefly discussed in an interview with Joystiq earlier this year. Originally developed as a prototype sketch at a quick game jam, Bouncing is now featured as a premium arcade cabinet in PlayStation Home.Purchasing the cabinet gives players access to the game along with a full avatar skin, some themed glasses to wear, and even a Shawn McGrath-inspired outfit, complete with cowboy hat and beard.There's also a bevy of other new avatar items available for purchase, and some tweaks and additions to the Avalon Keep area in Home (including a new crystal-collecting minigame you can play with friends). Sony says the update, including that new arcade cabinet, should be out and available on PlayStation Home on this Wednesday, November 7; however, no price was revealed.
PlayStation Home updated to version 1.7
PlayStation Home has earned itself another global platform update, bringing Sony's virtual environment to version 1.7. This update adds the Camera to the Emotes menu, so you can pull it out at any time and take some pictures of your bad virtual self. There are also improvements to the in-game item store, new animated items to buy and find, and some new features on the ignore and block system, as well as some general stability improvements.You can download and install the update on PlayStation Home right now. There are also some new deals and sales going on for Home's various virtual areas (like the x7 nightclub, above), but we'll let you find those for yourself. After all, exploration is what really draws players into Home, right? There is something that draws players into Home, right? We're pretty sure there must be something.
Mercia, PlayStation Home's first RPG, arrives this week
Mercia: Fractured Realms arrives on PlayStation Home this Thursday. It's Home's first free-to-play role-playing game, and follows the recent release of freemium shooter No Man's Land on the platform.Like No Man's Land, Mercia apparently isn't straying too far from its genre's blueprints. Players can choose between Ranger, Fighter, and Defender classes, and these brave avatars can fight alone or co-operatively across "visually dazzling landscapes inhabited by supernatural creatures and full of spellbinding sorcery." There's also the incentive of exclusive Home rewards in the RPG, if that's your kind of thing.
Freemium shooter No Man's Land enters PS Home today
Sony launched No Man's Land today, a freemium shooter for PlayStation Home ... yes, you read that last part correctly. The premise? Shoot other people in a post-apocalyptic America. Beyond that, it's a 4v4 cover-based shooter with team deathmatch and scavenger modes, the latter requiring players to collect salvage and bring it back to base (capture the flag with multiple flags).No Man's Land makes of use your Home avatar, strapping guns and armor over your virtual likeness. The armor can also be worn outside of the game in the Home space. No Man's Land is available now through PlayStation Home, and you can learn more about it by visiting the PlayStation Blog.
PSN scheduled maintenance tomorrow, some apps to be down
The following is a PSA for all the PSN users out there, calibrated in PSI and utilizing linguistic psychology: The PlayStation Network is undergoing scheduled maintenance on Thursday, May 24, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. PDT.The PlayStation Store and PlayStation Home may not be accessible during this time, but online play and other apps such as Netflix and Amazon Instant will run as normal, provided you've signed into the network at least five days prior to Thursday. This means do it now if you have big PSN plans tomorrow.
PSA: 13-hour PSN maintenance begins tomorrow morning
It's time once again for the PlayStation Network to be poked, prodded and generally fiddled around with by Sony's countless technicians and maintenance cyborgs. As per usual, 13 hours chock full of network rejiggering are scheduled to begin tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. EST, during which time the PSN Store, PlayStation Home, Account Management services and online play will be unavailable.PlayStation websites hosted on PSN servers, like the Official PlayStation Blog, will also be offline during maintenance. The official PlayStation Twitter account, however, will continue to function properly, since it's on Twitter and everything. Updates regarding maintenance can be found there, though extended periods of downtime are usually situations where no news is good news.
Pirate ships lead charge of new PlayStation Home games
PlayStation Home continues to be the, well, home of exclusive games, to the surprise of those of us who just remember it as a hangout for terrifying mannequins. Sony just announced three new Home-exclusive games, including one that is available now, and has pirates in it.Cutthroats: Battle for Black Powder Cove is a "persistent and perpetual game of maritime combat" in which players fight as a captain or gunner of a pirate ship, blasting enemy ships and collecting the booty from their wreckage.Coming later this spring, No Man's Land is a third-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ... in Home. Naturally, it's freemium, with the ability to buy weapon and armor upgrades. Mercia, due this summer, is a multiplayer fantasy RPG. You can read all about the new content on the PlayStation Blog, and then consider updating your avatar with a more recent version of your haircut.
The Daily Grind: Would you buy a system for one game?
At noon EDT I'll be logging into PlayStation Home to see what CCP has in store for its DUST 514 faithful. I'm not expecting much beyond the free t-shirt for my Home avatar, since game devs are a notoriously tight-lipped lot when it comes to pre-release info that we actually want to hear. Nonetheless, a couple of my EVE Online bros will be joining me, one of whom is a long-time PlayStation connoisseur and the other of whom went out and bought a PS3 this week specifically for DUST. And that brings us to today's early-morning question. Would you buy (or have you bought) a console or a PC system primarily for one game? Which one? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
