One somewhat overlooked aspect of PlayStation Home is the ability to play various games in its Arcade. Vita owners won't have to stiffly walk through Sony's virtual world to play these games, however. A new standalone app will let you download some of these games, with two being offered for free.
Sony has trademarked a service called "BigFest," sparking speculation that the company is working on another social network akin to PlayStation Home. The trademark references Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), which developed the original PlayStation Home.
Read more: BigFest includes 'introducing players to each other' »
Now that we're in an age where the prevalence and reach of social media platforms and smart phones is inescapable, it seems as though Sony is now openly discussing the possibility of using some of those platforms as catapults to introduce or supplement new intellectual properties. The idea--less of a revelation and more so a blinding flash of the obvious--continues to be shunned by Nintendo, however, which is determined to keep all of its IPs relegated to its own platforms.
PlayStation Home is becoming an increasingly violent place to be. You can shoot each other in a multiplayer FPS--and soon, you will be able to pummel each other in a fighting game.
Starting tomorrow, PlayStation Home will introduce "Total Game Integration" for Street Fighter x Tekken. By visiting the special area in Home, you'll be able to pre-order the game and receive a special gem DLC pack.
Now that PlayStation Home has gotten a reboot with more emphasis on social play, you might be wandering around with your avatar wondering what to do. Well, if you live in North America, you can watch entire feature-length movies from the comfort of your virtual couch, while sitting in your actual couch. How meta.
Read more: Hundreds of movies, over a thousand TV episodes »
The promised redesign of PlayStation Home will be online starting tomorrow, Sony has announced. The revamped online platform adds new genre-based districts, and promises to focus more on what PlayStation fans expect from the service: games.
Launching with the redesign are a number of free-to-play games, including Bootleggers '29, a "100% free-to-play game" that pits avatar against avatar in an online FPS environment.
Still not convinced that Uncharted 3 is going to be your bag of tea? Do you need a gameplay demo before spending your hard-earned $60? Well, if you don't want to buy a $5 footlong from Subway, here's another way of getting a demo, of sorts, of Naughty Dog's upcoming shooter.
PlayStation Home will play host to a "Fortune Hunter" game that pits your avatar in a level ripped straight out of Uncharted. Interestingly, it also adopts the franchise's cover-based third-person shooting gameplay for Sony's social network.
PlayStation Network has a lot more indie games than you might expect. For example, Steam/iOS darling Cogs is available as a completely free-to-play multiplayer game on your PS3. The only thing is, it's hidden within the confines of PlayStation Home.
Gaming is a big push for Home, especially with its upcoming redesign. However, I had to ask Jack Buser, director of Sony's PS3 social network, why developers would even want to make content for Home in the first place. Wouldn't chasing PSN and the Pub Fund be the wiser choice? Buser told me that "A lot of developers start at Home" because "Home tends to be one of the easiest points of entry for content creation on PlayStation."
Read more: The low cost of entry; Sony buying Home exclusives »
Have you ever wanted to unload a clip of bullets into a PlayStation Home avatar? With the upcoming PlayStation Home redesign, you'll be able to. Sony's online community is getting a significant overhaul in the coming months, with a strict focus on games.
Jack Buser, Sony's incredibly energetic director of Home, had a lot to tell us about the redesign--and his enthusiasm is contagious. While Buser wouldn't give me an exact figure to share, he promises that Home will launch with many free games, of which I saw two in action.
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' »
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