PlayStation Network

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PlayStation Network (PSN, registered trademark PLAYSTATION®Network) is Sony's free online service provided for use with their PlayStation 3 video game console.^[1]

Icons of the various PSN features

It was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) Europe with the Sony Online Entertainment. Parts of PSN incorporate the Central Station (already working in Europe) and a possible integration with Sony's Connect marketplace.

1 User Registration
2 Services
3 Features
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
- 6.1 Fan Sites
- 6.2 Videos

[edit] User Registration

Registration is performed via the PS3 console. Two types of accounts can be created, master accounts and sub accounts. The master account, as the name suggests, allows full access to all settings including parental control. Sub accounts can subsequently be created with desired restrictions set and monitored by the master account holder.^[2].

The console has already launched in Japan and the US. As the European system launch is not until March 2007, some sites have speculated that potential PS3 customers from outside of Japan and the US will be able to pre-register their favorite usernames online at the PlayStation Store.^[3] This has turned out to be true, as European gamers are now able to register using their PC, giving the added benefit of being able to quickly pre-register your details and more importantly, your username. ^[4]

This was supposed to tie in with the US launch on November 17, 2006, but has never been officially confirmed.^[5]

[edit] Services

On March 15, 2006 at the PlayStation Business Briefing, Sony confirmed that they are preparing for an Xbox Live-like online service tentatively named PlayStation Network Platform with free online play. Sony also announced some new features at their TGS 2006 conference. The full list of planned services for the PlayStation Network Platform is as follows.^[1]

Communication/Community:

Account created through user registration
Lobbies/Matchmaking
Scores/Ranking
Game data upload/download
Presence/Friend List/Avatar (Games may also choose to use their own individual friends list)
Voice/Video Chat
Messaging

Commerce

Shops (can be accessed from inside games)
Content Download
Game boot from HDD
Subscription
Selling item by item
Micropayment
Entitlement Management

Account

User Registration
Single Login ID/Handlename issue

[edit] Features

All of the online services, from sign-up right through to voice and video chat, are free, as is normal multiplayer gaming. The only things that won't be free are paid-for downloadable content and subscriptions to premium services, such as massively multiplayer online games.

The PlayStation Network Platform doesn't use a point system for purchases. Instead of purchasing intermediary points, all prices are in local currency, so European players will see a Euro price, British people will see prices in Pounds Sterling, and so on.

PS3 will not have a cumulative Gamerscore.^[6]

The PS3 has a fully functional web browser, which supports a wide variety of standards so any site on the Internet can be accessed through the browser. Much like the PSP browser, the PS3 browser will also support bookmarks and most other standard features found in modern web browsers. According to Harrison, the PlayStation 3 browser will be "Web 2.0" compliant. However, it is not fully compatible with many Google Products that make heavy use of AJAX. The "Google Homepage" for example will only show "Loading..." for the Google Calendar and GMail sections. This is likely caused by not fully supporting JAVA.