Sony is revamping PlayStation Home, with a new emphasis on social games. The virtual world will still allow for socializing in virtual spaces, but it will replace the central meeting space with a new area called "The Hub" -- the home for a Home meta-game and the starting point for various activities like games and quests.

Read more: 'A giant leap in the evolution of the platform' »

PlayStation Home, Sony's virtual world for gamers accessible through the PS3, turns two years old today. To mark the occasion, Sony shared the following graphic (you can see it in full after the jump) that highlights the evolution of the service over that time. By their accounting, Home now sees 17 million users worldwide who have access to 236 ready-to-play games and 7,000 virtual items. As for other things to do in Home, over 600 community events have been held over the two year span.

Home's director, Jack Buser, said of the changes, "The experience of PlayStation Home itself has radically improved over the years, with faster load times, zero-wait game access, intuitive navigation, and the addition of features such as group-based voice chat and robust inventory management. We are seeing incredible momentum and can't wait to deliver even more games and content to PlayStation Home's 17 million worldwide users."

Tuesday's PlayStation Store update brought with it a horde of undead and a one wacky rodent. Developer Housemarque's shoot-em-up Dead Nation is now available, priced at $14.99 (or $11.99 for PlayStation Plus Members). The Move-enabled puzzle title, Funky Lab Rat from developer Hydravision is also available, at a cost of $9.99 for all PSN users.

PlayStation Plus members can grab the PSone classic Twisted Metal 2 and the not-so-classic Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation for 50% this month, along with a few other specialty priced items. The only available free game for Plus users this month is the PS Mini, Vector TD. Read more »

This week's PlayStation Store Update is heavy on the discounted items, which shouldn't surprise you since some of those deals were revealed earlier this week. A number of other games have also dropped in price.

Atlus is permanently slashing prices on a select number of its titles, including standouts like Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days for $19.99 and Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? for $9.99. Other than the previously announced "Stock Up For Winter Sale," a number of other PlayStation Minis and PSN titles are on sale, including Gold Fever for $2.99 and Bomberman Ultra for $4.99. Read more »

Tuesday's PlayStation Store update added the (just announced) HD-revamp of Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for $14.99. Also new to the store is the Dreamcast favorite Crazy Taxi for a limited-discounted price of $7.99 (reg. $9.99), along with 3D Ultra Mini Golf Adventures 2 and SkyFighter for $9.99 each.

PlayStation Plus users can grab free copies of Shatter (grab it if only to listen to the game's amazing soundtrack), the PSone Classic Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, and the PSP Mini Dynogems. Read more »

Tuesday's PlayStation Store update was an all-out Kratos love-fest. Alongside the new PSP-exclusive Kratos title, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, the store now offers the God of War Collection for sale. PSN+ users can download each game in the collection for $14.99, while Non-PSN+ users can purchase the complete package for $29.99. When purchased separately, each game includes a special bonus Kratos "skin" for God of War 3.

The store also added a handful of new, premium skins for Kratos' latest PS3 adventure--including the bonus skins available to PSN+ users--for $0.99 each or in a bundle for $2.99. There is also the Challenge of Exile Arena available, for those who have completed God of War 3 and need something new to beat into a bloody pulp. Read more »

Tuesday's PlayStation Store update added the prequel "game" Dead Space Ignition, the first episode in Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and a slew of discounts for select downloadable titles and add-on content, including Resident Evil 5 DLC.

Dead Space Ignition is part motion comic, part mini-game collection. The bulk of the experience will be based on watching the prequel to Dead Space 2 unfold with a few mini-games thrown in for good measure. Although the game is priced at $4.99, it is available for free to those who pre-order Dead Space 2. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode One is available for $14.99 and attempts to bring Sega's, once powerful, mascot back to his glory days. Demos for both titles are available for download. Read more »

The Castlevania: Lords of Shadow demo will undoubtedly be the highlight of this week's PlayStation Store update for many, which also brings assorted sales, trials, downloadable content and themes, plus more imported Japanese PS One titles.

You might also want to note the 50% sale on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DLC map packs that brings them down to $7.49 apiece, following similar sales on Xbox 360 and PC. The full listing for this week's update follows below. Read more »

A round of "regular scheduled maintenance" will bring the PlayStation Network down tomorrow from "just after" 8am PST through to around 5pm PST, Sony has announced on its PlayStation.Blog.

"Users won't be able to access the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home or Account Management, and may encounter difficulty while signing in to PSN," Sony explains. Read more »

Another batch of screenshots from LucasArts' enhanced remake of Monkey Island 2 have arrived, once again comparing the newly redrawn visuals with the pixelated original.

As with the Special Edition of the original Monkey Island--already available on PC, Xbox 360 and iPhone, due on PlayStation 3 and Mac soon--Monkey Island 2 SE will allow players to switch between the revamped and original visuals at any time. This time around, players will be able to hear voice-overs regardless of their graphical choice. Read more »

What is touted as "the next evolution of PlayStation Home" arrived today in the form of free "multiplayer online game space" Sodium One, launched with a vehicular shooter.

Masquerading as a futuristic sci-fi world with AI gamesmistresses and other such gubbins, Sodium One is a hub world for multiplayer games as well as the usual PS Home socialising, shopping and dress-up fun, all supported by microtransactions. Read more »

Sony had a big month in September, with the PlayStation 3 claiming the top spot in console hardware sales for the first time, according to NPD's US sales data.

"Compared to last September, the PS3 was the big winner, more than doubling last year's sales," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "This portrays a very strong consumer reaction to the price decrease as August and September both realized a lift of more than 70% over the prior month." Read more »

Sony's patching up PlayStation Home on Thursday, adding a few features that will elate the teeming masses populating the virtual playscape.

Universal game launching, a feature that allows you launch a game inside PlayStation Home, is the headline feature of version 1.3. The rest of the bullets consist of in-store item previewing, new emotes, more item types and "other."

For the full patch notes, click through: Read more »

Update: Co-publishers Eidos and Warner Bros. have just announced that The Joker is "an exclusive playable character" for the PlayStation 3 edition. Playable in Challenge Maps, The Joker will arrive as free downloadable content "upon release."

Original: The PS3 version of Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Asylym will let you "play as The Joker in the exclusive Joker challenge maps," going by a PlayStation Home ad. Read more »

EA announced today that it would be opening an "EA Sports Complex" inside the virtual world of PlayStation Home, and now we have video of the thing.

The complex is slated to arrive this spring, bringing poker, racing, and other games to the service--along with a giant EA Sports video ad.