 | |
| Developer | London Studio Loot Interactive(products) Outso(content) Heavy Water(content) Virtuos(content) |
|---|---|
| Type | Online community service Virtual world[1] |
| Launch date | 11 December 2008 |
| Current version | 1.87 |
| Last updated | 1 April 2015 (last update) |
| Platform | PlayStation 3 |
| Status | Closed (31 March 2015) |
| Members | 41 million (at time of closure) |
PlayStation Home was a virtual 3Dsocial gaming platform developed bySony Computer Entertainment'sLondon Studio for thePlayStation 3 (PS3) on thePlayStation Network (PSN). It was accessible from the PS3'sXrossMediaBar (XMB). Membership was free but required a PSN account. Upon installation, users could choose how muchhard disk space they wished to reserve for Home. Development of the service began in early 2005 and it launched as an openbeta on 11 December 2008. Home remained as aperpetual beta until its closure on 31 March 2015.
Home allowed users to create a customavatar, which could be groomed realistically. Each avatar was given a personal apartment that users could decorate with free, bought, or won items. Users could travel throughout the Home world, which was frequently updated by Sony and its partners. Public spaces were made for display, entertainment, advertising, and networking. Home's primary forms of advertising included spaces themselves, video screens, posters, and mini-games. Home also featured many single and multiplayer mini-games, and hosted a variety of special events, some of which provided prizes to players. Users could use items won to further customise their avatar or apartments.
PlayStation Home[2] was originally named "Hub",[3] and started as a 2D online lobby for thePlayStation 2 gameThe Getaway: Black Monday. However, theonline userbase for the PlayStation 2 was too narrow and the project was soon ported to the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3.Phil Harrison, then president ofSCE Worldwide Studios at the time, liked the idea of having a virtual 3D community hub for PlayStation gamers, and transferred the project to what would become PlayStation Home.[4] In a 2007 keynote speech, Phil Harrison used the term "Game 3.0" to describe the service.[5]
Home had been speculated since the launch of PSN, when Sony expressed interest in such a service, specificallytrophies (known at the time as "entitlements") for first-party titles.[6] PlayStation Home, as a feature, was first publicly mentioned in an interview withNG-Gamer.[7] This was later detailed byKotaku[8] and finally confirmed by NG-Gamer.[9] It was officially announced byPhil Harrison on 7 March 2007, during his keynote speech at the 2007Game Developers Conference[10] where it was originally scheduled for a global public release in October 2007.[11]
Home was delayed and expanded[12] multiple times before initially releasing.[13][14] Invitations to the closed beta were offered to winners of a weeklyWarhawk online gaming event.[15] In August 2008, Sony sent additional invitations to select users who downloaded a new HomeXMB theme in Japan and North America.[16][17]Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) andSony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong (SCEHK) also sent out invitations to select users for a closed beta.[18] Users who purchased more thanHK$60 orSG$12 worth of content in a single transaction over thePlayStation Store from 29 August – 12 September 2008, were also invited.[19]In November 2008,Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) invited annualQore subscribers.[20]After major version 1.0, invitations were sent worldwide.[21][22]
Home's open beta test began on 11 December 2008. In March 2009, analternate reality game involving puzzle and intrigue calledXi proved popular after it was released bynDreams for Home. In June 2009, Peter Edwards, Director of Home for SCEE, reported that the number of users exceeded 7 million and that 80% of users were male, aged 18 to 35.[23] AtTGS 2009, Kaz Hirai announced that Home had been downloaded by 8 million users.[24] Jack Buser, Director of Home for SCEA, stated that "beta" would not be removed from the name.[25] In aEurogamer interview with Peter Edwards on 24 July 2009, Edwards commented that the service would no longer be beta when it "[represented] a kind of final quality."[26] On 14 October 2009, Jack Buser commented that "the vision of Home [had] evolved." He said that originally, they built Home as a "social network for gamers", but it developed into a "game platform, first and foremost."[27] On 17 December 2009, SCEA released its firstmassively multiplayer online game, produced specifically for Home, calledSodium, a planned four-part series of games, but only two parts were released by the time of Home's closure. The first part wasSodium One.[28]
In February 2010, emails were sent out to a select few PlayStation Home members inviting them to participate in a private beta test for the service. This beta test was for feedback on certain changes suggested by the Home community.[29]
The first global "public space" was released on 10 June 2010, allowing all users from the Asian, European, Japanese, and North American Homes to converge in one space. This space was called the FevaArena Global Pitch Area, which was dedicated to the2010 FIFA World Cup. The Arena allowed all of Home's users to participate in events and mini-games to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[30]
In June 2010, Sony released a virtual replica of theirE3 2010 booth in all versions of Home.[31] The virtual E3 booth, slightly modified, returned the following year with previews of seven different games and thePlayStation Vita, with virtual rewards for watching the videos as well as a demo of a new PlayStation Home game, "Scribble Shooter". In addition, Sony's E3 press conference was streamed live in PlayStation Home in a special virtual theatre, as well as other live interviews that occurred during the week ofE3 2011.[32] The E3 virtual booth returned again forE3 2012, this time featuring previews of 12 games as well as a virtual avatar of Christina Lee (host of PSN'sPulse) hosting a special E3 Quest for all 12 games with rewards. Finishing the quest granted access to the VIP section previewing upcoming PlayStation Home games and content, including the upcomingmassively multiplayer online racing gameMercia, as well as Hell Fire Games' upcomingHome Tycoon.[33] The E3 virtual booth returned the following year forE3 2013, once again featuring previews of multiple games, and a quest where players could earn a number of rewards. PlayStation Home did not feature a virtual E3 booth in 2014.
On 20 April 2011, Home released version 1.50, which dramatically improved the physics and graphics engines.[34][35][36]Sodium 2: Project Velocity was also released; the second and final part ofSodium to be released.[34]
In November 2011, a new area known as the "Hub" was released, featuring a variety of games, includingCogs from Lazy 8 Studios. The Hub also featured an "Activity Board" and a "User Generated Content" events system. Surrounding the Hub were districts based on game genres to suit users' moods.[37][38] Users could also watch full-length movies for free as an effort by online video distributorCrackle viaLoot Interactive. The movies were available on all Loot Entertainment on Demand (EOD) screens throughout PlayStation Home.[39][40][41]
In August 2014, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan announced that it was shutting down the service in Japan and other Asian territories.[42] After September, users in these regions could no longer purchase content.[42] In September, Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced the final closure of Home in their respective regions. New content ceased to be published after 12 November, and users were given until 3 December to purchase content, after which, users could no longer purchase content. The official closure of Home occurred on 31 March 2015, worldwide.[43][44]
PlayStation Home's logo was featured as a collectible 'artifact' in the 2020 video gameAstro's Playroom, a 3D platformer developed byJapan Studio'sTeam Asobi which was pre-installed on everyPlayStation 5 console.[citation needed]
PlayStation Home's point of view was from athird-person perspective. Upon entering Home, users were greeted with the "Message of the Day" containing Home news. During loading screens, users were presented with help tips on how to use Home.[citation needed]
PlayStation Home had no on-screen interface during exploration; however, all of Home's features were available from the controller. Options included "Quick Chat", a gestures menu, the "Menu" and "Safe" screens, and an in-gameXMB. Sony originally planned to allow users to play videos and music stored on their hard drives on virtual screens and stereos. However, these features were never implemented, as Sony was not able to resolve potential licensing issues.[45]
The "Menu Screen" (formerly referred to as the Menu Pad, and before that, a virtual PSP during the pre-open beta) was laid out similar to the PS3's XMB. There were seven categories on the menu, which were Navigator, Personal, Social, Wardrobe, Redecorate, Options, and Help. The Personal category featured an inventory, which contained a user's portable objects, as well as any companions that could follow the user around (such as a pet dog). The Personal category also let users see their purchased items, rewards, downloads, and their PSN profile. The Social category let users see their friends' locations, group activities, game launching events, the message of the day, and news.
Users could take screenshots of Home in either first- or third-person view and save them to their PS3's hard drive. With the use of Loot's Active Duty Camera (a premium item), users could also record videos in Home while in personal spaces or clubs.[46]
The "Safe Screen" was used for reporting, changing communication settings, and quick access to the user's personal space and XMB friends list. The Navigator (formerly known as the World Map) was also laid out like the XMB, and sorted locations into categories based on the space's purpose.[citation needed]
Users could communicate in a variety of ways in Home. Along with the existing PSN messaging system, users were able to write text messages to each other using either a physical oron-screen keyboard. These messages appeared inspeech bubbles over the avatar's head and in a chat log. Users could switch between text chat and voice chat from within the chat log. Voice chat, with the use of a headset, was available within personal spaces and clubs, or on private voice chat channels with groups of up to eight users. The user could also perform visible gestures (or "e-motes") such as waving, nodding, or dancing.[47] A "quick chat" feature, with predetermined phrases, was also available. Users could also indicate the emotional status of their avatar, which was displayed below their name. Some avatar costumes also had additional e-motes.[citation needed]
Although the service itself could be used free of charge, premium content was available to purchase from various stores in the shopping complex and in certain spaces. Users could browse and pay for items, such as virtual clothing and furniture, by accessing a shop and using itsPlayStation Store interface. Items were paid for with real currency using funds from the user'sPlayStation Network Wallet.[48][49] Alongside content designed bySony Computer Entertainment, other companies were also able to sell virtual goods through their own stores in Home. For example,Diesel,Ligne Roset, andGame were represented in Home with their own stores where users could purchase virtual items based on each company's own clothing and furniture designs.[50]
Advertising was prominent in Home's public spaces. The majority of advertisements were focused on PlayStation-related content, although other video gaming-related brands were also represented. Most advertising was targeted to specific regional audiences.[11]
To advertise games in the North American Home, Sony released pre-order bonuses for PS3 games, mainly fromAmazon.com. The first Home pre-order bonus was for the PS3-exclusiveKillzone 2. Users in the North American Home who pre-orderedKillzone 2 from Amazon.com received free additional costumes for their avatar.[51] On 16 February 2009, if users located a Helghast soldier in the North American Home, they were granted access to theKillzone 2 demo.[52] Other Amazon.com pre-orders bonuses were given forinFamous ("Reaper" costume[53]),Darksiders ("Ruin Head Mask" and "War Armor"[54]),MAG ("S.V.E.R. Barracks" personal space), andBioShock 2 ("Big Daddy" costume[55]).
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time also received a pre-order bonus fromGame Crazy. Users who pre-ordered the "Space Package" for the game received a PlayStation Home Avatar Skin.[56]
Total Game Integration (TGI) began in 2011 and became Home's unique way of promoting upcoming PS3 games that included Home pre-order bonuses from Amazon.com. Instead of pre-ordering directly from Amazon.com, users could pre-order the promoted game from within PlayStation Home to receive Home and/or in-game bonuses. The first game to utilize the Total Game Integration wasKillzone 3, with the bonus being the "Helghast Jetpack". The Central Plaza was redesigned as an ISA base of operations for the event.[57] The second TGI pre-order that redesigned the Central Plaza was the "Exploding Zombie Outfit" forDead Island.[58] The next TGI pre-order, a "Nathan Drake" costume, was forUncharted 3: Drake's Deception. This TGI pre-order featured a Game Space called "Fortune Hunter", specifically designed for the Total Game Integration. The mini-game utilised the entire space which was a partial recreation of the Yemen level fromUncharted 3's multiplayer.[59] The last TGI pre-order bonus, "Boost Gem Trial Pack 1", was forStreet Fighter X Tekken. For the first time in Home history, users were able to brawl using their Home avatars and could unlockRyu andKazuya costumes (which allowed users to throw fireballs and perform custom jump kick attacks) by completing all 10SFxTK challenges. A portion of The Hub was redesigned for this TGI.[60]
The vouchers for the Amazon.com pre-order bonuses were sent out within ten days after the games' release and expired 90 days after the games' release. The European and Japanese versions of Home also had chances to get these pre-order bonuses as well, but through different pre-order promotions and events.[citation needed]
On 23 December 2009, SCEE launched PlayStation Home TV to the European Home, with news and event information. If users had a community event that they thought should have been featured on Home TV, or any other news, they could email Home TV. New episodes of Home TV were released monthly and were featured in the Home Theatre.[61]
Users were given an avatar and an apartment which they could personalize with their own choice of decor and furnishings. The user's avatar was the means of travel and communication, while personal spaces and clubs were means of expressing themselves and meeting new people and friends.[citation needed]
Users could create their own avatar or use one of several preset avatars available.[62] Users could customise a variety of their avatar's features, which included gender, skin tone, hair, body shape, and facial structure. They could also customise their avatar's clothing and accessories using a set of standard items that could be obtained from a variety of places, including the clothing shops in Home's shopping complex, items won from Home's mini-games, or PS3 games that supported Home rewards.[citation needed]
Users could access their wardrobe from the Menu Screen at any time and location, except when in another user's personal apartment. The wardrobe contained two sections: one was the main wardrobe for frequently used items (capacity of 500), and the other was a storage section for less frequently used items. New items were marked accordingly. Users could also filter the wardrobe view to only display favourite, purchased, rewards, or recently acquired items.[citation needed]
Each user had a personal space which they could modify and change suitably. The initial basic apartment, the Harbour Studio, was free and offered users limited options for customization and personalization. Users could invite any other Home user (even cross-region, unless space was region locked) to their personal space.[63] Some personal spaces, such as the PlayStation Home Mansion, had a built-in TV that played content from PlayStation (such asPlayStation.Blog).Loot Interactive's personal spaces had a variety of content that could be played on their Entertainment on Demand (EOD) screens.[39][64] Users could also place their own digital photographs in picture frames to display on the walls of their apartment.[65] While the Harbour Studio and basic furniture was provided to all users free of charge, premium personal spaces and furniture could be bought from stores. Other ways to obtain furniture, decorative ornaments, or even entire personal spaces included winning mini-games in Home and from playing certain PS3 games that supported Home rewards.
Premium personal spaces were available from the Home Estates store in Home's shopping complex. Sony released many premium personal spaces for Home, from both first party and third-party developers. Various premium apartments were available to all of the regions; however, some were region exclusive. The first premium personal space released was the Summer House. Loot's Sunset Yacht (formerly Amaterasu Yacht) personal space was the first personal space to allow users to set the mood of the setting (e.g. sunrise, sunset, day, night). In addition to the standard features of personal spaces, Loot's Space Apartment also allowed users to viewTwitter feeds from a ticker, and search for photos from theirFlickr account and display them on photo screens.[66]
PS3 games could also have premium spaces dedicated to them. For example, the Visari Throne Room was based on Visari's Throne Room from the last level ofKillzone 2.[67] Sony also provided the opportunity to receive free apartments. The Chamber Apartment was the first and was only available in May 2009 in the North American Home.[68][69] The PlayStation Home Mansion (North America and Europe) was Home's first expandable personal space; multiple rooms required purchasing in order to own the whole mansion (e.g. first floor, second floor, garage, and swimming pool).[70]
Blueprint: Home was a personal space designer tool which allowed users to create, build, and save up to five of their own personalized apartments. With a variety of different style packs, users could craft their own personalized apartment, ranging from 60 square metres to 25 rooms. Users could move their apartment to various places, ranging from a country field to the top of a skyscraper. Users could also add rooms, doors, windows, wallpaper, flooring, ceilings, feature objects, exteriors, skies, and environments.[71] Blueprint: Home was developed by nDreams and released on 1 August 2012, in Europe and North America.[72]
Users were able to purchase and form clubs. There were four clubhouse designs available to purchase – the Basic Clubhouse, the Desert Haven,[66] nDream's War Room Clubhouse,[60] and the Crystal Seashores Clubhouse.[73] Each club had a leader, who was the user that purchased the club. The leader could elect up to 4 sub-leaders and could have up to 32 members in total, including the owner. A user could only be a member of up to five clubs, including the club that the user may have been the leader of. Though the user could own multiple clubhouse designs, they could only be the leader of one club and decided which clubhouse design would be used as the meeting place for their club. In a similar way to personal spaces, the club's owner was able to set up and decorate a private clubhouse as a meeting point for club members, and the club members could enter the clubhouse at any time. The clubhouses also featured a notice board where the leader or sub-leaders could post messages and announcements to other members. Japan's Basic Clubhouse's video screen had the option to access a Home member's page after they had entered their PSN information.[74] Users could block other users from being a member of their club. In addition to all the standard features of the clubhouses, the War Room Clubhouse helped club owners or sub-leaders get their message across during club meetings or discussions. It also included a special access point allowing users to teleport from the War Room to other set locations.
On 2 December 2010, a free exclusive club released forPlayStation Plus subscribers in Europe. The PlayStation Plus Private Members Club[75] was a bar area with several tables and a two-to-four player card game with special rewards. The space also had Plus news, accessed by reviewing a cocktail menu or watching the trailers running on an in-game video screen. On 11 April 2012, a new club called the "x7 Club" was released in North America, and could only be accessed by Plus subscribers, or users who had purchased one of the select Home exclusive items. All x7 members received special discounts, free items, and early access to select content before it got released to the public. The club featured a dance floor and a mini-game calledFLIRT.[76]
Stage Sets were premium personal spaces where users who had a video capture system could make their ownmachinimas.[77][78] Loot released four different Stage Sets for users to create and film their own machinimas with, and provided various tools within the Stage Sets (e.g. lighting and props) to help the users create their own machinimas. Loot also had an array of items available at their Loot store in the shopping complex.[79]
Home consisted of various locations for players to interact and participate in activities, which were produced by both Sony Computer Entertainment and various third parties. Spaces on the Navigator were broken up into categories based on each space's publisher and/or purpose. Spaces' names and availability varied based on the user's location.[citation needed]
There were four different versions of Home, which were based on four regions: Asia, Europe, Japan, and North America. Countries joined whicheverSony Computer Entertainment division they were under. Japan was the only country with its own version of Home.SCEHK operated the Asian Home,SCEE operated the European Home,SCEJ operated the Japanese Home, andSCEA operated the North American Home. The different regions' Home environments had similar and different features between each other.[citation needed]
The Core Spaces were the spaces made by Sony Computer Entertainment specifically for the Home environment, and served as the central meeting point for users. These were the main spaces of Home and were updated the most. They were also where most events occur. These spaces included a central meeting point; a bowling alley and gaming arcade; a shopping complex; a café; various game, developer, and company spaces; the PlayStation Events spaces; and the districts.
The Home Square (Europe,[80] Asia,[81] and Japan) or "The Hub" (North America[38]) was Home's central meeting point where users commonly met and chat. It connected all of the Core Spaces together, and was where much of the advertising occurred. There were five distinct districts for specific game genres. Europe's Home Square and The Hub featured a "districts design" to access the districts. They also featured an "Activity Board" allowing users to access reward giving quests, which sometimes included users having to visit various places and/or play various mini-games.
The PlayStation Events Space[93] opened to the public during special events. It consisted of six spaces – Events Landing, The Gallery, the Presentation Podium, The Backstage Pass, The Observatory, and the PlayStation Network Sphere – and was a venue for special events, announcements, and parties.[citation needed]
Sony Computer Entertainment and various third parties could create dedicated "Game Spaces" for specific games. These spaces generally depicted a level of the game itself and had mini-games or interactions related to the game. There were over forty Game Spaces that were released for Home. These Game Spaces varied depending on the region the user was in.
Video game developers were able to create "Developer Spaces" for their developing company to showcase their products in Home.[94] These spaces acted similarly to Game Spaces except they were not for a specific game. These spaces generally had mini-games related to their company or games and offered a wide range of content for purchase based on their company. There were twelve Game Developer Spaces for Home.[citation needed]
Non-gaming-related companies could also create sponsored "Company Spaces" for Home.[95] These also acted similarly to Game Spaces but were specifically made to sponsor the company's products.
The first company to do this wasRed Bull with their Red Bull Space, which released on 8 January 2009, for Europe and North America and featured theRed Bull Air Race mini-game.[96] The Air Race was a virtual version ofthe real-life event. On 26 November 2009, Red Bull released two new spaces for Europe and North America, one for theRed Bull Illume and the other for theRed Bull Flugtag. The Illume space had an exhibition of action and adventure sports photographs from Red Bull Illume. The winning photograph from each of the competition's ten categories were displayed on large illuminate cubes, imitating the real-life exhibit. The Red Bull Beach space had theRed Bull Flugtag mini-game where users could compete against one another by launching one of five flying machines off of a 30-foot high deck to try to achieve flight. It also featured a Red Bull Jukebox with ten different tunes from Red Bull.[97] All three of the Red Bull spaces were released to the Asian Home on 17 June 2010. On 5 January 2012, Red Bull released their first personal space for Home, the Red Bull House of Skate, which featured an indoor skate park.[98]
Phil Harrison stated that locations built around famous coffee, drinks, clothing, and record companies, along with major retailers and other such companies could feature content depending on the company's desire to create Home content.[citation needed]
Game launching was a feature in Home which allowed users to launch PS3 games while in Home. There were two types of game launching: full and simplified. Full game launching support allowed users to organize and start multi-player games with other Home users, who may or may not be on their friends lists. Users could set up a full game launching session by going into their menu screen, selecting "Game Launching", and setting up a session with advanced options. They could also join an existing session. When users had set up a game that was ready to launch, the name of the game and how many players had joined the session was shown under the users' names above their avatar's head. By using the game launching feature, users were entered directly into the game, bypassing the normal title screen. After the match ended, users could either quit the game and be returned to their XMB, or they could quit the game and be returned to Home.[citation needed]
Simplified game launching, also known as universal game launching, was implemented with Core Client update v1.30 and allowed any PS3 game to be launched from Home. With simplified game launching, users could insert a game into their PS3 while in Home and follow the on-screen directions. Users had a limited number of options to select with simplified game launching. For instance, they could not choose what map or level they wanted, nor could they choose what settings for the map or level within Home. Users had to do that after the game had been launched. The name of the game and how many users had joined the session was also shown under the users' names above the avatars' heads.[citation needed]
Picture frames were the first feature to support user-generated content with photo sharing. TheinFamous Game Space also supported user-generated content by allowing users to create their own unique graffiti designs in the graffiti mini-game and save it to their PS3s HDD to display for their friends. Users were also able to create their own apartments with nDreams' Blueprint: Home.[72] On 16 October 2009,Rockstar Games began having "Beaterator Parties" at the Listen@Home station in North America's former Central Plaza.Beaterator is a PSP game that allows users to mix their own music and produce their own loops. DuringBeaterator sessions, Rockstar Games playedBeaterator tracks that users had uploaded to theRockstar Games Social Club.[99]
PlayStation Home was a host for several games, exclusive to PlayStation Home. In October 2009, Jack Buser announced that PlayStation Home had developed into a "game platform, first and foremost." From then, several PlayStation Home exclusives were released. The first game wasXi, which was released before the change in development to a gaming platform. The more prominent PlayStation Home exclusive games included:
Xi (UK:/ˈsaɪ/ orUS:/ˈzaɪ/) was the world's first console-based and virtual world-basedalternate reality game. The game was an adventure that took place in a series of secret areas in Home that changed frequently. The goal of the game was to help find "Jess" and the meaning of the letterXi by collecting fragments and butterflies.[100] The game also involved the users to search for clues in the real world.[101] This game was created bynDreams who released several spaces forXi.
TheXi Museum featured an updatedXi Alumni Hub, the three Alpha Zone 1 spaces (Game Test Area, Maximum-Tilt Lobby, and Adventure Lobby), and four Alpha Zone 3. In addition, theXi Museum featured aXi Museum Shop, with items such as a Maximum-Tilt bike and the robot Stapler for users’ personal spaces. Users could also purchase the public space "Party at Jess's Apartment" that was featured duringXi.[102] A sequel calledXi: Continuum released in December 2012. It took place over a period of 47 days, though users could complete it at their own pace. Over the 47 days, it featured new content each day, either in Home, on external websites, or via community tasks. The objective was to stop a character named EatFlamingDeath and prevent a bomb from destroying the Continuum, and in turn, Home.[103]
Sodium[104] was the first Home basedmassively multiplayer online game released on 17 December 2009, to the European and North American versions of Home[28] and on 17 June 2010, to the Japanese version. This game was developed by Outso and published by Lockwoood Publishing, and was the first part of a planned four-part series of games for Home (only two were released by the time of Home's closure). Like inXi, there was a space for the game that could be accessed through the Navigator. The space was called the "Sodium Hub" and featured theSalt Shooter Game. The first five levels were entirely free, while additional levels and experiences could be unlocked with the purchase of virtual items. New games, virtual items, and community events were added.
Sodium 2: Project Velocity was released on 16 June 2011. Unlike its predecessor,Sodium 2 was completely free to play. The game involved high-speed racing, similar to theWipeout series of games.Sodium 2 featured a single player mode that allowed users to hone their skills and progress through theSodium 2 XP system. Users could complete objectives, earn Sodium Credits, and compete on the worldwide leader board. In addition to single player,Sodium 2 featured real-time multiplayer, where users could race against friends or strangers.
The Midway was a series of three games developed byMass Media Inc.
Along with the release ofThe Midway 3, Mass Media released a central hub for theMidways called the Hot Zone. The Hot Zone featured an air hockey mini-game, a "Redemption Centre" (where users could redeem their Hot Zone points), a Ticket Booth to purchase more tickets forMidways mini-games, access to the threeMidways, Darla's Den personal space, and a registration for The Midway Cash Carnival Sweepstakes. Users that played any of theMidways mini-games were entered into the Cash Carnival sweepstakes (was open to US citizens only), where users could win weekly prizes from Sony Electronics with a grand prize of US$15,000 (May 2012 – November 2012).[106]
Novus Prime was a free-to-play multiplayer game in PlayStation Home developed by Hellfire Games.[107] The game allowed users to play missions in either single player or multiplayer cooperative format. Users could form teams of up to four players and embark on missions where they employed weaponry in battles against fleets of enemies.[108] In addition to the Navigator, users could accessNovus Prime from the Action District.Novus Prime received two expansions –Escalation on 31 March 2011[109] andVindication on 11 January 2012[110] – each adding new missions, weapons, enemies, races, rewards, as well as a personal space.
Aurora was a game world with challenges and secrets to uncover that evolved over time with new features, characters, games, and narrative.Aurora featured the mini-game "OrbRunner" where users could gain XP and unlock special rewards by defending the isles from enemies. It also featured the mini-game "Sky Fishing" where users could sky fish for various items to add to their collection journal. There were also various information points with information aboutAurora. Users could also complete the 12 tasks of "Collect-O-Rama", which upon completing granted the users the "Collect-O-Rama Pack". Another mini-game wasAurora Defense where users defended the isles of Aurora.Aurora was made by nDreams and was released on 17 March 2011[111]
No Man's Land[112] was a multiplayer third-person tactical shooter, featuring a cover-based movement system and 4v4 team battles. The game was developed by VEEMEE and released in North America on 20 June 2012, and in Europe on 25 July 2012.[113] Following the completion of a tutorial session, players were given an introductory loadout that allowed access to the game. Armour and weapon upgrades could be purchased from in-game Commerce Points in a variety of combinations, which VEEMEE planned to evolve in time. The game featured two modes: Scavengers and Team Deathmatch. Team Deathmatch was a time-limited game mode that involved killing as many enemy players as possible. In the Scavengers game mode, teams had to collect salvage packs from the depleted cityscape. These resources were all that were left of the old world. Each team had to bring all the salvage to their "salvage dump" before the other team did. Players earned points for placing salvage on their team's salvage dump, for stealing enemy salvage, and for simply killing the enemy.[citation needed]
Mercia: Fractured Realms was PlayStation Home's first free-to-playrole-playing game (RPG). The game "[opened] up the possibility for huge worlds and a depth of narrative that [had] yet to be explored on the platform." It had a detailed XP system and rewards. Players could explore the world and dungeons, fight beasts, collect items, and complete quests. Players could also discover the Guardians who guided them on their journey. The game was developed by Lockwood Publishing and released on 30 August 2012, in Europe and North America.[114][115]
Home Tycoon was Home's first 3D city-building game developed by Hellfire Games.Home Tycoon, similar to theRollerCoaster Tycoon andZoo Tycoon games, allowed users to create their own city from the ground up, explore it at street level as their own avatar, and share it with friends. The game also featured a large variety of story-driven missions and activities, vehicle driving, and over 50 avatar rewards to unlock. Users assumed the role as the newly elected mayor, in which they gathered resources and brokered strategic business deals to kick-start their town's economy. There were over 60 unlockable buildings throughout the game, and users could craft and personalize their city with apartment buildings, luxury homes, public parks, power plants, research hospitals, police stations, and other structures.[116]
Intellivision Productions, Inc. announced on 14 September 2012, that it would be bringing three "classic games" from theIntellivision game console to PlayStation Home as Intellivision Gen2, released in fall 2012.[117] The games featured wereAstrosmash,Shark! Shark!, andNight Stalker, which had been upgraded while staying true to the originals' looks and game play. The development team stated they were "enhanced yet completely faithful conversions." The developers also stated that they added some features that they would have liked to have added in the original versions.Astrosmash Gen2 featured more types of UFOs, more pronounced difficulty level progressions, and base weapon power-ups in comparison to the original. WithShark! Shark! Gen2, in addition to players being a fish eating other fish trying try to take down the shark, their food and foes both swam in a wide variety of new patterns.Night Stalker Gen2 was still filled with bats and spiders, but it had a greater variety of killer robots, each more challenging to confront, along with a variety of maze structures.[citation needed]
Other, less prominent PlayStation Home exclusive games includeDragon's Green, fantasy mini-golf game;[118]Conspiracy, Home's firstthird-person shooter game;[119]Slap Happy Sam;[119]PlayStation Home Hold 'em;Sports Trivia;RC Rally;Bootleggers '29;Cutthroats: Battle for Black Powder Cove;Clusterpuck;[120] and many more.[citation needed]
Home hosted many types of events organised by Home and its affiliated content providers. Live events such as developer interviews,E3, sports, and concerts were broadcast.[121] Special events were generally held at one (or multiple) of the PlayStation Events Spaces in-game.
The first events in Home required the users to either answer questions or suggest ideas on the Official PlayStation Home Forums for a chance to win a prize. The prize was generally a US$10 product voucher for virtual items in the shopping complex. These events were organised by the PlayStation Home Managers.
Some events were used to promote and advertise upcoming films. In 2009 in Europe, there was a treasure hunt occurring in Home to promote the filmTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen.[122]
There were some events in Home where users could win PS3 games. US users in the North American Home had the chance to win theUncharted 2: Among Thieves – Fortune Hunter Edition by entering theUncharted 2 space between the event times and playing the "Mask Mayhem" mini-game. The user who placed first on the leader board in theUncharted 2 space received the Fortune Hunter Edition.[123] Users also had three chances during November 2009 to win theUncharted 2: Among Thieves – Fortune Hunter Edition.
The first live-streaming event for PlayStation Home wasNASA's final launch ofSpace Shuttle Discovery. This event occurred on 24 February 2011, at 4:50 pm EST. Users could watch the live stream from their (or their friends) Sunset Yacht (formerly Amaterasu Yacht) personal space.[124]
From 29 July through 31, 2011, theEVO World Finals were streamed live in North America's theatre. This stream was also used to test a new streaming method for Home. Rewards were given each day with the final reward, a virtual replica trophy of the EVO Championship Trophy.[125]
In the European and North American Home, the Home management teams set up days for users to meet up and launch the featured game of the night. For example, in the North American Home, there was aResistance 2: SRPA Siege Night, which occurred every Friday from 6 pmPT to 10 pm PT.[126] The North American Home had a Featured Game Night where online multi-player games had been pre-selected in advance to be featured every night of the month for users to meet up in Home and launch into the featured game of the night.[citation needed]
A variety of potentially offensive words and word combinations were automatically censored in messages that were typed in any chat channel, be it public, private, group, or club chat. Users were able to report inappropriate or offensive behavior of other users to moderators by accessing thePlayStation Home Safe Screen.[127] Moderators reviewed these reports periodically, and took action against a user's account based on the type and severity of the offense. A limited number of live moderators also patrolled PlayStation Home, who had the ability to take action against users immediately. These moderators were often invisible to other users, and typically would not type in public chat. Suspensions and bans were made against a user's PSN account, and restricted their ability not only to use PlayStation Home, but any other online service on PSN. Users were also able to change their communication settings to block or mute messages from users who were not on their friends list.[128]
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PlayStation Home underwent weekly maintenance on Wednesdays (formerly Thursdays), which came with weekly content updates that included new spaces, games, or items. The core updates provided bug fixes and expanded the social and gameplay aspects of Home. The beta received several updates that included giving the users the ability to access the patio of their Harbour Studio,[129] to access the 'Menu Pad', and to access the shopping complex. After location-affecting updates, the location had to be re-downloaded. Content updates did not affect the version number, while core client updates affected the version number.
Room for PSP, a cancelled service that was to be similar to PlayStation Home, was in development for thePlayStation Portable.[136] Officially spelled asR∞M, it was being beta-tested in Japan. It was to be added to the PSP in an update and could have been launched directly from the PlayStation Network section of the XMB. Just like in Home, PSP owners would have been able to invite other PSP owners into their rooms to "enjoy real time communication."[137] A closed beta test began in Q4 2009 in Japan.[138] Development of Room halted on 15 April 2010.[139]
PlayStation Home Arcade is an application for thePlayStation Vita featuring games that were previously only available as arcade cabinets inside PS Home. Once purchased, games can be used on either platform at no additional cost.Icebreaker,WipEout 2D, and a demo ofScribble Shooter are included with the application for free.[140]
| Title | Release date |
|---|---|
| Icebreaker | 5 February 2013 |
| WipEout 2D | 5 February 2013 |
| Scribble Shooter | 5 February 2013 |
| Frogger | 5 February 2013 |
| Time Pilot | 5 February 2013 |
| Asteroids | 5 February 2013 |
| Centipede | 5 February 2013 |
| Astrosmash Gen2 | 5 February 2013 |
| Shark! Shark! Gen2 | 5 February 2013 |
| Mad Blocker | 5 February 2013 |
Following the closure of PlayStation Home back in 2015,[141] fans began the preservation project of reverse engineering old home data in an effort to bring the closed platform back online with full functionality. On 28 March 2021 IGN released an article about one such project, "Destination Home", and then a follow up two years later.[142][143]
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