| Developer | SCE London Studio Sony Pictures Loot (Products) Outso (Content) Heavy Water (Content) Virtuos (Content) |
|---|---|
| Type | Online community service Virtual world[1] |
| Launch date | December 11, 2008 (Open Beta) |
| Current Version | 1.61 |
| Last Updated | December 15, 2011 |
| Platform | PlayStation 3 |
| Members | 23 million (as of August 2011) [2] |
| Website | Asian website European website Japanese website North American website |
PlayStation Home (also marketed and referred to as Home) is a virtual 3D social gaming platform developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network (PSN). It is available directly from the PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar under PlayStation Network. Membership is free, and only requires a PSN account. Home has been in development since early 2005 and started an open public beta test on December 11, 2008. Home allows users to create a custom avatar, which can be groomed realistically. Users can decorate their avatar's personal apartment with default, bought, or won items.
Users can travel throughout the Home world and Home constantly updated by Sony and partners. Each part of the world is known as a space. Public spaces are made for display, entertainment, advertising, or for meeting people. Home features many single and multi-player mini-games. Users can shop for or win new items to further customise their avatar or apartments. Home's primary forms of advertising include spaces themselves, video screens, posters and mini-games. Home hosts a variety of special events which range from prize-giving events to entertaining events. Users can also use Home to connect with friends and meet new people. Upon installation, users can choose how much hard disk space they wish to reserve for Home (3, 5, 8, or 12 GB).
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PlayStation Home (or Home[3]), originally named 'Hub',[4] started as a 2D online lobby for the PlayStation 2 game, The Getaway: Black Monday. However, the online userbase for the PlayStation 2 was too small and the project was never completed before the release of the PlayStation 3, at which point the developers began porting code to the new platform. Phil Harrison, then president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, liked the idea of having a virtual 3D community hub for PlayStation gamers, and transferred the project to become PlayStation Home.[5] In a 2007 keynote speech, Phil Harrison used the term "Game 3.0" to describe the service.[6]
An online-based service had been the subject of speculation since the launch of the PlayStation Network. Sony had expressed interest in such a service, specifically trophies (known at the time as "entitlements") for first-party titles.[7] PlayStation Home, as a feature, was first publicly mentioned in an interview with NG-Gamer.[8] This was later detailed by Kotaku[9] and finally confirmed by NG-Gamer.[10] It was officially announced by Phil Harrison on March 7, 2007, during his keynote speech at the 2007 Game Developers Conference[11] and was originally scheduled for a global public release in October 2007.[12]
Home was delayed and expanded[13] several times before initially releasing.[14][15] Invitations to the closed beta were offered to winners of a weekly Warhawk online gaming event.[16] Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., stated that "Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition". In July 2008, further invitations were sent to some Home XMB theme downloaders in Japan and North America.[17][18] SCEE and SCEHK did the same, but without releasing a Home XMB theme.[19] Users who purchased more than HK$60 or SG$12 worth of content in a single transaction over the PlayStation Store from August 29 to September 12, 2008 were also invited.[20] In November 2008, SCEA invited annual Qore subscribers.[21] After major version 1.0, invitations were sent worldwide.[22][23]
The Open Beta test began on December 11, 2008. In March 2009, the world's first console-based and virtual world-based ARG was released called Xi, made by nDreams, that involved users to find clues in Home and in the real world. In June 2009, Peter Edwards, Director of Home for SCEE, reported that the number of users exceeded 7 million and that 80% of users are male aged 18–35.[24] At TGS 2009, Kaz Hirai announced that Home has been downloaded by 8 million users.[25] Jack Buser, Director of Home for SCEA, stated that, "we quite like the name 'open beta,' so you can expect us to stay in open beta for some time."[26] In a Eurogamer interview with Peter Edwards on July 24, 2009, Edwards commented that the service will no longer be beta when it "represents a kind of final quality."[27] On October 14, 2009, Jack Buser announced that "the vision of Home has evolved." He said that originally, they were building Home as a "social network for gamers", but it has now developed into a "game platform, first and foremost."[28] December 11, 2009 marked the one year anniversary of the Open Beta, with events to correspond.
On December 17, 2009, SCEA released its first in-Home Massively multiplayer online game, produced specifically for Home. The game is called Sodium and is a series of games, the first being Sodium One.[29] This makes the second game produced specifically for Home, the first being the ARG Xi.
In February 2010, it was reported that emails were sent out to a select few PlayStation Home members inviting them to participate in a new private beta test for the service. This beta is to "test and obtain feedback on changes that have been made based on suggestions by PS Home Community."[30] On
The first global public space was released on June 10, 2010 allowing all users from the Asian, European, Japanese, and North American Homes to converge in one space. In terms of numbers, it was 14 million users (at the time) from the 32 countries that have access to Home. This space was the "FevaArena Global Pitch Area" which was dedicated to the 2010 FIFA World Cup supported by Sony. This space allowed all of Home's users to participate in events, mini-games, and celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[31]
From June 15 to June 24, 2010, for the first time in the Home Open Beta, Sony released a virtual replica of their E3 2010 booth in all versions of Home. At this "E3 2010 Virtual Booth", users could watch videos of seven different games previewed at E3. In addition, if users gained access to the VIP area by watching all seven videos, they got the chance to look at a behind-the-scenes video of a new PlayStation Home space ("The Playground"). Virtual rewards were also rewarded for watching all seven videos as well as for visiting the space on June 15, 16, and 17.[32] The virtual E3 booth (slightly modified for 2011) returned the following year with previews of seven different games and the PlayStation Vita (with virtual rewards for watching the videos as well as a demo of a new PlayStation Home game, "Scribble Shooter"). In addition, for the first time in Home, Sony's E3 press conference was streamed live in PlayStation Home in a special virtual theater, as well as other live interviews that occurred during the week of E3 2011.[33]
December 11, 2010 marked the two year anniversary of the PlayStation Home Open Beta. Since Home's release on December 11, 2008, the amount of users has went from 0.2 million to 17 million, originally nine games to 236 games, originally 114 virtual items to 7,000 virtual items, and originally 25 events to 600 events.[34]
First announced at GDC 2011, PlayStation Home core client update version 1.50, released on April 20, 2011,[35] includes tools and features that enables developers to expand the types of games possible on the platform.[36] Version 1.50 introduces real-time multiplayer, improved physics and graphics, greater control over collision detection and much more as part of a suite of new technology that developers can use to create connected gaming experiences.[37] The first utilization of these new tools and features is with Lockwood Publishing's follow up to Sodium One, Sodium 2: Project Velocity.
First announced in August 2011 and released on November 3, 2011, a new core experience for PlayStation Home was released featuring a “hub and districts” design that will help users find games, people and places that fit their favorite game genres. The design features a new Hub (replacing the Central Plaza for North America; and a revamped Home Square for Europe) that integrates games, quests, community events, and user-generated content, while providing users with additional navigation, shopping, socialization and entertainment options. The new Hub brings a variety of games right to the center of Home, including Cogs from Lazy 8 Studios. The Hub also features a new Activity Board filled with games to play, rewards to be won, a new User Generated Content events system, and other stuff. Powering the Activity Board is a new questing system that transforms Home itself into a game if the user so chooses. From frequently updated community activities to narrative adventures, this questing system will provide game play options delivered to users in new ways not seen in Home. Additionally, surrounding the Hub are districts based on game genres to suit the users mood.[38][39]
On November 18, 2011, for the first time in PlayStation Home, users can now watch full length movies for free with their friends thanks to Crackle via Loot. The movies are available on all Loot Entertainment On Demand (EOD) screens, which are featured in the "LOOT EOD Theater" of the Loot Space Station public space, and Loot's "Sunset Yacht", "Hollywood Hills House", and "Space Apartment" personal spaces.[40]
Home is in third person, users walk or jog in that way. Upon entering Home, users are greeted with the "Message of the Day" and the [Navigator] menu. It contains administrative information such as upcoming updates, events, and event winners.
PlayStation Home has no HUD, however, all of Home’s features are available from the controller. The options are: Quick Chat, a Gestures menu, the Menu Pad, the Safe Screen, and in-game XMB. In time, users will be able to play music on their PlayStation 3 hard drive. Whether this will be private or can be heard by others will be determined by licensing issues that Sony is attempting to resolve.[41]
The "Menu Pad" (formerly a virtual PSP; pre-Open Beta) has three main categories – "Go to Wardrobe" (allowing users to change their avatars appearance), the "Navigator", and "Options". A fourth category, "Add Furniture", is available when users are in their Personal Space. The Options category has eleven options including a Help menu for beginners. The Menu Pad, under Options, features an inventory, which has portable objects such as the “Bubble machine” as well as companions that follow the users around (e.g. a pet dog). Users can take screenshots of Home in either first or third person view with the camera and save them to their PS3's HDD. With the use of Loot's active camera, users can record videos in Home while in Personal Spaces, which are saved to their PS3s HDD. In time, items will be released as limited quantity items, such as a shrinking potion. Users can only use these items a limited number of times before having to repurchase.[42][43] The "Safe Screen" is used for reporting, changing communication settings, and quick access to the user’s Personal Space and XMB friends list.
The "Navigator", presented like the XMB, features the former world map. It sorts locations into categories based on the space's purpose. For example, North America's Navigator sorts the spaces into seven categories: Core Spaces, New and Recommended, Featured Games, My Home, Theaters, Shop, and Explore.
Users can communicate in a variety of ways in Home. Along with the existing PSN messaging system, users are able to write text messages to each other using either a physical or on-screen keyboard. These messages appear in speech bubbles over the avatar's head and in the 'chat log'. Users can switch between text chat and voice chat in the chat log. Voice chat, with the use of a headset, is available within personal spaces and/or clubs, by making a 'Phone call' to a specific user, or on a private voice chat channel with groups of up to 8 users.[44] The user can also perform visible gestures (or "e-motes") such as waving, nodding or dancing.[45] A 'Quick chat' feature, which has predetermined phrases, is also available. Users can also indicate the status of their avatar, which is displayed below their name (e.g. Normal, Happy, Sad, etc.).[44] Some avatar costumes also have additional e-motes, such as the rolling gun fire action of the pre-order exclusive "Nathan Drake" costume for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.
Although the service itself can be used free of charge, premium content is available to purchase from various stores in the shopping complex and in certain spaces. Users browse and pay for items, such as virtual clothing and furniture, by accessing a shop and using its PlayStation Store interface. Items are paid for in real currency using funds from the user's PlayStation Network Wallet.[46][47] Alongside content designed by SCE, actual companies are also able to sell virtual goods through their own stores in Home. For example, Diesel, Ligne Roset, and Game are represented in Home with their own stores where users can purchase virtual items based on their companies’ own clothing and furniture designs respectively.[48]
Advertising is prominent in Home’s public spaces. Currently, this is primarily PlayStation focused although other video gaming-related brands are also represented. Most advertising is targeted to specific regional audiences.[12]
Demonstrated at the CESA Developers Conference 2009 by Masami Kando, "a future update will allow users to load up the PlayStation Store directly from Home." "This", he said, "will allow you to do such things as download demos from PlayStation Home via PlayStation Store and play online with friends".[49] The presentation also offered a look at a variety of Home technology demos including synchronized playback of multimedia content; the player was able to access a virtual media player whose menu contained listings for real net radio and pod casts. Additionally, the player's virtual Bravia set was made to show commercials. In both instances, users were able to enjoy the content with their friends. The second demonstration showed a pet robot walking about a player's personal space. The player could do actions that the pet would respond to. Kando pointed out that "this system allows for single players to enjoy themselves and does not require a keyboard." Additionally, the robot could be used to offer pertinent information to the user.
One of the ways Sony has used advertising in the North American Home is with pre-order bonuses for PS3 games, mainly from Amazon.com. The first Home pre-order bonus was for the PS3 exclusive Killzone 2. Users in the North American Home who pre-ordered Killzone 2 from Amazon.com received free I.S.A. and Helghast costumes for their avatar.[50] Also, on February 16, 2009, if users located a Helghast soldier in the North American Home, they were granted access to the Killzone 2 demo.[51] Other Amazon.com pre-orders bonuses include inFamous ("Reaper" costume[52]), Darksiders ("Ruin Head Mask" and "War Armor"[53]), MAG ("S.V.E.R. Barracks" personal space[54]), and BioShock 2 ("Big Daddy" costume[55]).
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time also received a pre-order bonus, however, its bonus was from Game Crazy. If users pre-ordered the "Space Package" for the game, users received a PlayStation Home Avatar Skin (t-shirt).[56]
Total Game Integration:
"Total Game Integration" (TGI) is Home's new way of promoting upcoming PS3 games that include a Home pre-order bonus from Amazon.com. Instead of pre-ordering directly from Amazon.com, users can pre-order the promoted game from within PlayStation Home (pre-order must be made within PlayStation Home to receive the pre-order bonus). Before the removal of the Central Plaza, it was redesigned for the promoted game and included a mini-game, with Home rewards, which upon 100% completion granted the users an in-game bonus (e.g. 3 Unlock Points for Killzone 3's multiplayer). Now, the promoted game gets its own limited time Game Space with a mini-game with Home rewards and in-game rewards.
The first game to utilize the Total Game Integration was for the PS3 exclusive Killzone 3 ("Helghast Jetpack" with flying action).[57] The second and last TGI pre-order that redesigned the Central Plaza was for Dead Island ("Exploding Zombie Outfit" with exploding action).[58] The next TGI pre-order was for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception ("Nathan Drake" costume with rolling gun firing action). This TGI pre-order featured a game space, called "Fortune Hunter", specifically designed for the Total Game Integration. The mini-game utilized the entire space which was a partial recreation of the Yemen level from the Uncharted 3 multiplayer.[59]
As of November 3, 2011, the two previous TGI redesigned Central Plaza's for Killzone 3 and Dead Island (with their mini-games and rewards) can be accessed via the Action District and the Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception TGI can be accessed via the Adventure District.
The vouchers for the Amazon.com pre-order bonuses are sent out within ten days after the games release and expire 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.
On December 23, 2009, SCEE launched PlayStation Home TV to the European Home. Home TV features the latest news about forthcoming Home releases and events. If users have a community event they think should be featured in Home TV, or any other news, they can email Home TV. New episodes of Home TV will be released monthly. Episodes of Home TV are featured in Europe's Home Theatre.[60]
Users are given an avatar and an invitation-only apartment which they can personalise with their own choice of decor and furnishings. The user's avatar is the means of travel and communication. The user's personal spaces and clubs are means of expressing their selves and meeting new people and friends alike.
Users can create their own avatar or use one of several preset avatars available in Home.[61] Users can access the Wardrobe from the Menu Pad at any time and location except when in another user's personal apartment. They may customise a variety of the characters features including gender, skin tone, hair, body shape and facial structure. They may also customise their avatar's clothing and accessories using a set of standard items, items bought from one of the clothing shops in Home's shopping complex, or won items from Home's mini-games or PS3 games that support Home rewards. Users also have the ability to save up to twenty-four versions of their avatar for quick access at any time. In addition, users have two sections in their wardrobe. One is the main wardrobe for frequently used items (capacity of 500 items), and the other is a storage section for less frequently used items. New items are marked accordingly and users can also filter the wardrobe view to only display favourite items, purchased items, rewards or recently acquired items.[44]
Each user has a Personal Space, which they can modify and change any time they are in it. The initial basic apartment, the Harbour Studio (a studio overlooking a harbour), is free and offers users limited options, such as a 100 item limit, for customisation and personalisation. Users may invite any other Home user (even cross-region, unless space is region locked) to their Personal Space.[62] Some personal spaces, such as the PlayStation Home Mansion personal spaces, have a built in TV that plays content from PlayStation (such as PlayStation.Blog). Loot's personal spaces have a variety of content that can be played on their Entertainment On Demand (EOD) screens. Home users can watch a variety of full length movies for free with their friends on all Loot EOD screens which are featured in the Sunset Yacht, Hollywood Hills House, and Space Apartment personal spaces, as well as the "Loot EOD Theater" in the Loot Space Station pubic space, thanks to Crackle.[40] More audio and video options may be enabled in the future.[63] Users can also place their own digital photographs in picture frames to display on the wall of their apartment.[64] While the Harbour Studio and basic furniture is provided to all users free of charge, premium Personal Spaces, dedicated furniture for the premium Personal Spaces, and other furniture is available to purchase from shopping stores. Some furniture and decorative ornaments (or even entire personal spaces) can be won from the mini-games in Home and PS3 games that support Home rewards.
Premium personal spaces are available from the Home Estates store in Home's shopping complex. The first premium personal space was the Summer House. Various premium apartments are available to all of the regions, however, some are region exclusive. For example, the Post Apocalypse Apartment is exclusive to North America. There are also a few that are only available to some regions, but not all. The Neptune Suite, exclusive to Europe and North America, was the first premium personal space to feature a mini-game, be underwater, and feature an interactive pet. Sony has released many premium personal spaces for Home, from both first party and third party developers, with more to come. Loot's Sunset Yacht (formerly Amaterasu Yacht) personal space is the first personal space to allow users to set the mood of the personal space (e.g. sunrise, sunset, day, night). In addition to the standard features of Personal Spaces, Loot's Space Apartment also allows users to view up to five Twitter feeds from a ticker, search for photos from their Flickr account and display them on the fifteen photo screens available (as well as setting up a slideshow for each screen), includes eight EOD screens, and they can control their Space Apartment’s retractable ceiling, automated blinds and dynamic lighting options.[65]
Games can also have premium spaces based on them. The Visari Throne Room is based on Visari's Throne Room from the last level of Killzone 2. Users who own Batman: Arkham Asylum can unlock a special Batman: Arkham Asylum Batcave Outpost personal space.[66] Users who pre-ordered MAG from Amazon.com received an S.V.E.R. PlayStation Home Personal Space, called the S.V.E.R. Barracks[54] (two more personal spaces have also been released for MAG). Other games with game-based Premium Personal spaces include: MotorStorm, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Warhawk, LocoRoco, Final Fantasy XIII, The Secret of Monkey Island, Assassin's Creed II, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, LittleBigPlanet, Bioshock 2, Toy Story 3: The Video Game, Sodium, Tron: Evolution, Xi, and Def Jam Rapstar.
Sony has given users the chance to get free apartments. The Chamber Apartment was the first and was only available from May 14, 2009 to May 21, 2009 in the North American Home.[67] The Tree House Personal Apartment[68] was for the celebration of the first anniversary of the PlayStation Home Open Beta (December 11, 2009) and was available for free from December 10, 2009 to December 23, 2009 in the European Home. Users now have to purchase the space from Home Estates. The Final Fantasy XIII personal space, the "Eden - Primarch's Vigilarium", was avaialble for free in celebration of the launch of Final Fantasy XIII in Japan from December 17, 2009 until January 13, 2010. Now users must purchase this space from Home Estates.
Heavy Water is responsible for making the Chamber Apartment, the Post-Apocalypse Apartment, and the Wizard's Den. They have released the most content for Home to date than any other development studio.[69]
The PlayStation Home Mansion (North America)[70] is Home's first expandable personal space. There are a total of four spaces for the mansion (First Floor, Infinity Pool, Second Floor, and Garage) that come with exclusive furniture items as well as a gift machine that lets the owner give guests one of the exclusive furniture items. Two of these spaces also come with exclusive clothing items. The First Floor also features a pet tiger (named Markus) and the Second Floor features a billiards pool table (American Pool).
Users are able to purchase and form a club. There are currently two clubhouses available to purchase - the Basic Clubhouse and the Desert Haven[65]. Another Clubhouse will soon be released from nDreams called the War Room Clubhouse[71] Each club has a leader (the user who purchased the club) who can elect up to 4 sub-leaders and can have up to 32 members in total (including the owner). A user can only be a member of up to five clubs and if the user owns a club, they can only be a member of up to four clubs. Though the user can own multiple clubhouse designs (e.g. Basic Clubhouse and Desert Haven), they can only be the leader of one club and can decide which clubhouse design will be used as the meeting place for their club. In a similar way to Personal Spaces, the club's owner is able to set up and decorate a private clubhouse as a meeting point for club members, and the club members can enter the clubhouse at any time. The clubhouses also feature a notice board where the leader or sub-leaders can post messages and announcements to other members. There is also a video screen in the Basic Clubhouse that has currently only played two interviews from the directors and actors of the films Watchmen and Star Trek. Japan's Basic Clubhouse's video screen has the option to access a Home members page after they've entered their PSN info.[72] Users can also blacklist other users from being a member of their club.[43] In addition to all the standard features of the clubhouses, the War Room Clubhouse has a very unique social feature that helps club owners or sub-leaders get their message across during club meetings or discussions. It also includes a special access point allowing users to teleport from the War Room to other set locations
On December 2, 2010, a new, non-purchasable club was released in Europe exclusively for PlayStation Plus subscribers; users must be PlayStation Plus subscribers to access the space. The PlayStation Plus Private Members Club[73] is a stylish bar area décored in black and gold, with alcoves for socialising. The space offers several tables of "Shed", a two to four player card game with special rewards. The space also offers ways for Plus subscribers to stay updated on all the latest PS Plus news, either by reviewing a cocktail menu or watching the trailers running on the big screen.
Stage Sets are premium personal spaces where users, if they have a video capture system, can make their own machinimas in Home.[74] The Stage Sets are created by Loot, a group of developers from Sony Pictures Entertainment that creates experiences and products for Home.[75] Loot had originally only made the Stage Sets available to the North American version until April 15, 2010 when the Ghostbusters Firehouse was released to the European version. Loot also has an array of items available at their Loot store in the shopping complex. Loot currently has three stage sets available: the Living Room Stage Set from Loot released on May 7, 2009.,[74] the Ghostbusters Firehouse (originally named "Ghostbusters Firehouse: On Location") released on June 18, 2009 in North America and on April 15, 2010 in Europe[76] in joint with Atari and Terminal Reality, and the Modular Stage Set 3 released on November 25, 2010 in Europe and North America.[77] All three can be purchased in the "Ultimate Machinima" bundle (along with the "Talk Show" bundle – a collection of props that allows users to dress their personal space like a talk show)
There are four different versions of Home: Asia, Europe, Japan, and North America. Countries join whichever SCE division they are under. Japan is the only country with its own version of Home. Each region has different features as well as some similar ones. SCEHK operates the Asian Home, SCEE operates the European Home, SCEJ operates the Japanese Home, and SCEA operates the North American Home.
"Spaces" on the Navigator are broken-up into categories based on the Spaces' publisher, purpose, or personal spaces. Home consists of locations from Sony Computer Entertainment and various third-parties. These include a central meeting point; a bowling alley and gaming arcade; a shopping complex; a café; and various game, developer, and company spaces.
The spaces' names and availability vary based on the user's location. For example, the shopping complex is called the "Shopping Mall" in Asia and Japan, "Mall 1st Floor/2nd Floor" in North America, and the "Shopping Centre" in Europe.
The Core Spaces are the spaces made by Sony Computer Entertainment, specifically for the Home environment. These are the main spaces of Home and are updated the most. They are also where most events occur. The Core Spaces from SCE are the central meeting point, the theatre, the bowling alley and gaming arcade, the shopping complex, the café, the PlayStation Events spaces and the Districts.
The Home Square (Europe,[78] Asia,[79] and Japan) or The Hub (North America[39]) is Home's central meeting point where users commonly meet and chat. It is where much of the advertising occurs, and it connects all of the core Home spaces together.
On November 3, 2011, North America's Central Plaza (former central meeting point) was replaced with The Hub and Europe's Home Square was also revamped. Both now feature a districts design that will help users find games, people, and places that fit their favorite game genre. The Hub features a 3D demo version of Lazy 8 Studios award-winning steampunk puzzle game, Cogs (a full version can be accessed in a Game Space dedicated to Cogs; the "Cogs Sky Platform"). It also features an Activity Board that includes a questing and events system, and stores with games, personal spaces, and avatar enhancements. From there, players can navigate to genre-based Districts that include exclusive games and content served up according to each player’s interests, style, and game preference.
Districts:
Other Core Spaces:
The PlayStation Events Space[90] opens to the public in the occurrence of special events. This space consists of five known spaces - Events Landing, The Gallery, the Presentation Podium, The Backstage Pass, The Observatory, and the PlayStation Network Sphere - and is a venue for special events, announcements, and parties.
The first event for the PlayStation Home Open Beta was the PSP-3000 Treasure Hunt (January 2009) which featured the "Events Landing" and "The Gallery" spaces. When first entering the space, users received a PSP 3000 hat for their avatar, featuring a design based on their "Whole World in Your Hands" adverts at the time. In this event, users had to search for eight codes in the events spaces and enter them into the "Touchpad" for a chance to win a PSP-3000. During this first event, the space was only used by Europe.[91] The "Presentation Podium" was first used for the E3 2009 event in Europe and North America (May 2009). It featured Sony's E3 press conference during and after E3 with exclusive virtual shirts during this event for the users to obtain by finding voucher codes spread throughout Home's core spaces in North America.[92] "The Backstage Pass" was first used during the Heavy Rain: Evidence Analysis event in Europe (January 2010). This event required users to enter into the doors behind the jumbo screen of the Presentation Podium, which lead to The Backstage Pass, which lead to another security door that, if users could get through, let the users access the "Evidence Analysis" mini-game with a special reward.[93] "The Observatory" was first used for the Minis event (Europe, May 2010; North America, July 2010). In this event, users challenged each other to a duel of memory for a special reward.[94] The "PlayStation Network Sphere" was introduced on December 16, 2010 in Europe and lets users access current and past events and has its own mini-game.[95]
Other events that have utilized the PlayStation Events Space include Fat Princess: Quest for Cake using Events Landing and The Gallery,[96] gamescom 2009 using the Presentation Podium,[97] Buzz! Tomato Challenge using Events Landing,[98] PSPgo: Team Trial using the Presentation Podium,[99] an event celebrating the launch of Groove Armada's album Black Light, which was in association with VidZone, using the Presentation Podium,[100] Gravity Crash: Maze to the Mothership! using the Presentation Podium,[101] the White Knight Chronicles Photo Challenge! using The Gallery,[102] the Hustle Kings Ball Dodge Challenge! using Events Landing,[103] the Mod Spot Challenge using The Backstage Pass,[104] an event for the PlayStation Move using the Presentation Podium,[105] gamescom 2010 using The Gallery,[106] and gamescom 2011 using The Gallery.[107]
Sony Computer Entertainment and various third parties can create dedicated "Game Spaces" for specific games. These spaces generally depict a level of the game itself and have mini-games or interactions related to the game. There are over forty Game Spaces that have been released for Home. These Game Spaces vary depending on the region the user is in.
The first five Game Spaces released for the Home Open Beta were Uncharted: Sully's Bar,[108] Far Cry 2: Reuben's Office, Far Cry 2: Train Station, Minna no Golf Lounge, and Siren Lounge. The first three were released in the North American Home and the last two for the Japanese Home at the launch of the Open Beta. The Resident Evil 5 Studio Lot (or Biohazard 5 Film Studio) is the first space to offer an in-lounge shop. The inFamous: Abandoned Docks of Empire City space is the first space to broadcast exclusive media from the games developer, which in this case is Sucker Punch Productions. The Dizzee Rascal VIP Room for The SingStar Rooms: VIP space was the first space to have a performance by a musical artist.[109] The Uncharted series is the first series to have a Game Space for each main game of its series. R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate is the first PSP title to receive a Game Space. The SOCOM: Opposing Force Game Space is the first space to award items for use in the game itself. Users can win a Golden AK-47 for use in SOCOM: Confrontation.
Some games, such as Namco Museum.comm/Essentials, Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5/Biohazard 5, SingStar (Europe), Makai Senki Disgaea 3 (Japan),[110] Minna de Spelunker (Japan), Catan (Japan), Batman: Arkham Asylum, Tekken 6, Buzz!: Quiz World, White Knight Chronicles, Mega Man 10, and Red Dead Redemption support Home rewards. The users receive the rewards by earning certain trophies in the game itself or by simply launching the game in their PS3. The inFamous demo and the Namco Museum.comm/Essentials demo also support Home rewards.
The PSP has support for Home rewards as well.[111] In Japan, the first and currently only game with Home rewards support is The Idolmaster SP.
In a discussion at GDC 2009 on March 25, 2009, Jack Buser stated, "You'll see about three new spaces launched a month...I'll be shocked if we ever go under that number, we have so much in the pipeline."[112]
Outso is a developing company that develops some of the Game Spaces for Home. Outso is responsible for making the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, inFAMOUS, Resistance 2, and Warhawk spaces for the respective games developer. They have also made the mini-games in those spaces as well as the "SOCOM Telestrator" in the SOCOM space, Saucer Pop in the Central Plaza, ranking leaderboards in spaces, high quality interactive mini-games, animated furniture and clothing, and user generated content, more specifically the "inFAMOUS Graffiti" in the inFAMOUS space.[113] They also developed the MMO Sodium for Home.
Video game developers are able to create "Developer Spaces" for their developing company to showcase their products in Home.[114] These spaces act similarly to Game Spaces except they are not for a specific game like the Game Spaces are. These spaces generally have mini-games related to their company or games and offer a wide range of content for purchase based on their company. Currently, twelve game developers have made Game Developer Spaces for Home; Namco Bandai, EA Sports, Irem, Q-Games, GAME., Hudson Entertainment, Konami, LucasArts, Psygnosis/SCE Studio Liverpool, Loot, Lockwood, and Granzella.
Namco Bandai was the first to do this with their "Namco Bandai" space in Japan on December 11, 2008. It has also been released in Asia on March 26, 2009 and North America on July 16, 2009.[115] It is unconfirmed for Europe. Their Namco arcade features all of the Namco Museum collection that can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store in those regions.
EA Sports (currently unavailable for updating reasons and unknown when it will return) is the biggest third-party supporter for Home having released a total of five spaces, many virtual items, and are still developing more content for Home. They released the long awaited "EA Sports Complex" on April 23, 2009 for Europe and North America. The EA Sports Complex was developed by Heavy Water for EA Sports.[116] EA Sports updated the Complex frequently and it featured five rooms; the EA Sports Racing Complex, the EA Sports Golf Complex, the EA Sports Complex Green Poker Room, the EA Sports Complex Red Poker Room, and Club Fight Night, which is the game space for Fight Night Round 4.[117] The EA Sports Complex was released to Japan on October 9, 2009. Each room featured a mini-game, each with different rewards. EA has also released sports jerseys for the NFL, and NCAA college football and basketball jerseys. From October to November 2009, EA Sports teamed up with the Home team to produce and distribute exclusive virtual items (black jerseys with a the number 9 and Brees both colored pink) that served to support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 100% of proceeds from these items went toward the Brees Dream Foundation in support of breast cancer research and awareness programs.[118] On November 25, 2009, Fight Night Round 4 producers Mike Mahar and Brian Hayes were in Home between the hours of 4:00pm and 5:00pm PT (7:00pm and 8:00pm EST), for a live chat with the PlayStation Home community in one instance of the Club Fight Night space.[119]
SCEJ have also announced that Sony have given licenses to 24 companies to produce content for Home. As well as independent Japanese developers (such as Irem and Koei) the list also includes international companies such as Activision, Capcom, Tecmo, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, Konami, Namco Bandai, Sega, and Ubisoft.[120]
Non-gaming-related companies can also create sponsored "Company Spaces" for Home.[121] These also act similarly to Game Spaces but are specifically made to sponsor the companies products.
The first company to do this was Red Bull with their "Red Bull Space" released on January 8, 2009 for Europe and North America which features the Red Bull Air Race mini-game.[122] The "Air Race" is a virtual version of the real-life event. On November 26, 2009, Red Bull released two new spaces for Europe and North America, one for the Red Bull Illume and the other for the Red Bull Flugtag. The "Illume" space has an exhibition of action and adventure sports photographs from Red Bull Illume. The winning photograph from each of the competition’s ten categories is displayed on large illuminate cubes, imitating the real-life exhibit. The "Red Bull Beach" space has the Red Bull Flugtag mini-game where users can compete against one another by launching one of five flying machines off of a 30-foot high deck to try and achieve flight. It also features a Red Bull Jukebox with ten different tunes from Red Bull.[119] All three of the Red Bull spaces were released to the Asian Home on June 17, 2010.
In the Japanese Home, Coca-Cola had placed a vending machine in Home Square that took users to a space called the "Georgia Break Station". The vending machines also distributed original avatar items and presents, along with "C-pons", digital coupons that could be used to get real drinks from real vending machines. This was to promote Coca-Cola's Georgia series of canned coffee. The space was a lounge that functioned similarly to The Gamer's Lounge in North America. It had two in-lounge avatars that spoke to the users regarding the Georgia coffee with exclusive limited time items and was available from September 7, 2009 to December 17, 2009.[123]
At Gamescom 2009, SCEE president Andrew House announced that Audi would be supporting Home starting off with content in Home's theatre and then later, a dedicated Home space.[124] Audi is the first carmaker to develop a space for Home. The Audi Space features two spaces: the "Audi Home Terminal", and the "Audi Vertical Run" which accesses the mini-game. The Audi Space was released on December 17, 2009 to the European Home.[101] The Home Terminal features an Audi TV channel delivering video content as well as an internet portal where users can get information off of the internet from Audi. The mini-game Vertical Run is a futuristic mini-game featuring Audi's e-tron concept. Players collect energy and race for the highest possible speeds and the fastest players can earn their very own "Audi Apartment". Audi has stated that additional content will be added in 2010.[125]
Sony have also released spaces dedicated to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Liar Game. The Liar Game space is on available in Japan. On June 3, 2010, the 2010 FIFA World Cup space, called the FevaArena, was released in the Asian, European, and North American Homes. On June 10, 2010, the FevaArena Global Pitch Area of the FevaArena opened allowing 14 million users from 32 countries across the globe to converge in one space making this the first global public space in the Home Open Beta.[31] It was removed on July 11, 2010.
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.
Game Launching is a feature in Home which allows users to launch PS3 games while in Home. There are two types of Game Launching: full and simplified. "Full Game Launching" support allows users to organize and start multi-player games with other Home users, who may or may not be on their friends lists. Users can set up a full game launching session by going into their Menu Pads, selecting "Game Launching", and setting up a session with advanced options, like how many players and the map or level and settings, for the game they want to launch. They can also join an existing session. When users have set up a game that is ready to launch, the name of the game and how many players have joined the session is shown under the users' names above their avatar's head. By using the Game Launching feature, users are entered directly into the game, bypassing the normal title screen. After the match ends, users can either quit the game and be returned to their XMB, or they can quit the game and be returned back to Home.
Currently, games that fully support game launching are Warhawk, Resident Evil 5/Biohazard 5, Everybody's Golf: World Tour/Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds/Minna no Golf 5, Namco Museum.comm/Essentials (Asia & Japan), Minna de Spelunker (Asia & Japan), Catan (Japan), Street Fighter IV, Resistance 2, Crash Commando, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Far Cry 2, Buzz!: Quiz TV, Buzz!: Quiz World, the Lost Planet 2 Co-op demo, Tekken 6, LittleBigPlanet, and Hustle Kings.
"Simplified Game Launching", also known as Universal Game Launching, was implemented with Core Client update v1.30. With simplified game launching, users simply insert a game into their PS3 while in Home and follow the on screen directions. Users have a limited number of options to select with simplified game launching. For instance, they cannot choose what map or level they want and what settings for the map or level within Home, they must do that after the game has been launched. The name of the game and how many users have joined the session is also shown under the users' names above their avatar's head. This allows any PS3 game to be launched from Home.[43]
User-generated content for Home is slowly being implemented. In time, Home may have a greater ability for user-generated content, but under strict moderation.[126] Picture frames are the first feature to support user-generated content with photo sharing. The inFamous Game Space also supports 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.
On October 16, 2009, Rockstar Games began having "Beaterator Parties" at the Listen@Home station in North America's Central Plaza. Beaterator is a PSP game that allows users to mix their own music and produce their own loops. Rockstar Games will be playing users uploaded Beaterator tracks at Listen@Home during the Beaterator Sessions.[127]
Xi (UK /ˈsaɪ/ or English pronunciation: /us/) was the world's first console-based and virtual world-based Alternate Reality Game. The game was an adventure to help find "Jess" and the meaning of Xi by collecting fragments and butterflies that took place in a series of secret areas in Home that changed frequently.[128] The game also involved the users to search for clues in the real world.[129] This game was created by nDreams who released several spaces for Xi including, "The Hub" and another space called "Home Maintenance" as well as "Alpha Zones 1", "2", and "3" within The Hub and "Party at Jess's Apartment" within Home Maintenance. When users completed Xi, they were no longer able to access The Hub, but could access the "Xi Alumni Hub" in its place. Xi was advertised via clues and hints during the month prior to its release on March 23, 2009. The clues were hidden in the Menu Pad and videos in the central meeting point. Xi and all of the corresponding spaces were exclusive to Europe and North America. After Xi's conclusion, the only spaces users could access were the Xi Alumni Hub and Alpha Zone 1 - Game Test Area, Maximum-Tilt Lobby, and Adventure Lobby; the Alpha Zone 1 spaces were accessed through the teleport in the Xi Alumni Hub. These spaces were removed in mid-2010 so they could be updated to accommodate with recent core updates of Home.
In September 2009, it was reported that since Xi's release, the number of visits to the spaces, including the then remaining spaces, had exceeded 5 million visits.[130]
On December 23, 2010, the "Xi Museum" launched featuring an updated Xi Alumni Hub (now called Xi Museum), the three Alpha Zone 1 spaces (Game Test Area, Maximum-Tilt Lobby, and Adventure Lobby), and the four Alpha Zone 3 mazes (new items can be unlocked from these spaces). In addition, the Xi Museum now features a Xi Museum Shop, with items such as a Maximum-Tilt bike and the robot Stapler for users personal spaces. The public space "Party at Jess's Apartment" that was featured during Xi can now be purchased as a personal space for the users.[131]
Sodium[132] is the first Home based Massively multiplayer online game released on December 17, 2009 to the European and North American versions of Home[29] and on June 17, 2010 to the Japanese version. This game was developed by Outso and published by Lockwoood Publishing. This new MMO will continue to grow and expand as Home does. Like in Xi, there is a space for the game that can be accessed through the Navigator. The space is called the "Sodium Hub" and is a futuristic setting where "interstellar travel, rapid colonization of the galaxy, inexhaustible energy, advanced Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and the power of travel between quantum realities" all feels very real. Users start somewhere in the Nevada desert. An in-lounge avatar named "VICKIE" assigns the objectives that puts the users into individual or multiplayer combat, which allows users to earn credits and rewards that can be redeemed later. Sodium boasts several different types of games, including "meta-games, full arcade-style games and community events." The first section of the game is called Sodium One featuring the "Salt Shooter Game," which is where users must hunt "self-replacing robots with tanks in order to control their population." Salt Shooter is accessed through the free personal space called the "Salt Shooter Game" which is accessed through a teleporter in the Sodium Hub or in the users Menu Pad (a public space version is also available, the "Salt Shooter - Public Game Space"). The first five levels are entirely free; after which, users can unlock additional levels and new experiences with the purchase of virtual items. New games, virtual items, and community events will continually be added. Sodium One is the first part of a four series game for Home.
Sodium 2: Project Velocity was released on June 16, 2011. Sodium 2 is the first game for Home to utilize the new tools and features introduced with core client v1.50. Sodium 2: Project Velocity is a completely free to play (unlike Sodium One) high-speed extreme racing game, similar to the WipEout series of games. Sodium 2 features a single player mode that allows users to hone their skills and progress through the Sodium 2 XP system. Users can build XP, complete objectives, earn Sodium Credits or compete on the world-wide leader board. In addition to single player, Sodium 2 features real-time multiplayer, the first time in PlayStation Home, where users can race against friends or strangers through a growing selection of courses.
The Midway[133] is a carnival-style space that features ten mini-games with ten rewards for each mini-game in addition to a free personal space (Darla's Den). Users can purchase a "Gold Ticket" (50 tickets) to have access to all of the games until they're out of tickets. The space also features a random "free-to-play" mini-game that occurs every fifteen minutes in addition to one specific mini-game (Miz Fortune) that is free every five minutes. The Midway was released on July 1, 2010 in Europe and North America.
The Midway 2 was released on December 9, 2010 in Europe and North America and expands on from The Midway. Just like The Midway, it is a carnival-style space and adds ten more mini-games.[34] The space also features the random "free-to-play" mini-game (occurring every 15 minutes) and the one specific free-to-play mini-game (Miz Fortune every 5 minutes).
Both The Midway and The Midway 2 were developed by Mass Media Inc..
Dragon's Green[134] is a mini-golf game with nine holes of fantasy mini-golf and four difficulty gauntlets. In the Dragon’s Green, users can challenge up to three friends at a time and test their skills against dozens of enemy obstacles while uncovering secret challenges and unlocking special rewards. Jeffrey Gullett, the Producer responsible for bringing Dragon’s Green to PlayStation Home, says that "there are lots of different mini-golf games out there. But what we wanted to do is to offer our community a new take on this classic game." Dragon's Green was released worldwide on September 16, 2010.
Novus Prime is a free-to-play multiplayer game in PlayStation Home developed by Hellfire Games.[135] The game allows users to play missions in either single player or multiplayer cooperative format. Users can form teams of up to four players and embark on missions where they employ weaponry in intense battles against massive fleets of foes. Users can purchase new ships, weapons, and upgrades from the workshop, customizing their fighters’ styling and gear. In addition, users can take their avatars out into zero-G, floating freely while shooting the parasitic crawlers that drill into the station’s hull. Users with the highest scores can earn an exclusive animated officer’s jacket. Novus Prime was released on December 2, 2010 in the European and North American versions of Home. Upon its release, it was accessible via the Saucer Pop pond in North America's Central Plaza.
On March 31, 2011, Novus Prime received the expansion, Novus Prime: Escalation, which features all-new missions, new weapons, a new personal space, and new companions, plus new enemies, clothing, leaderboards, etc.[136]
Conspiracy[137] is PlayStation Home's first third-person shooter game released on January 20, 2011 in North America. Created by Jet Set Games, Conspiracy has players form alliances and raid enemy facilities, engaging in firefights with guards while subverting high-tech security systems and stealing bits of intelligence that have been locked in hidden and well-guarded locations. Players can unlock bonus items and abilities through in-game rewards and purchasable upgrades while earning points for their faction and increasing their standing on the leaderboards.
Slap Happy Sam[137] is a multiplayer slap-a-thon from the critically acclaimed development team known as The Odd Gentlemen released on January 20, 2011 in North America. It was available for free during its opening week in the Central Plaza. Users must now purchase the "Phonograph Music Box" (that plays music) which will let users access the full game.
Aurora is a unique game world full of challenges and secrets to uncover that will evolve over time with new features, characters, games, and narrative. Aurora features the mini-game "OrbRunner" where users can gain XP and unlock special rewards by defending the isles from enemies. It also features the mini-game "Sky Fishing" where users can sky fish for various items to add to their collection journal. There are also various information points with information about Aurora. Users can also complete the 12 tasks of "Collect-O-Rama" which upon completing will grant the users the "Collect-O-Rama Pack". Another upcoming mini-game is Aurora Defense where users defend the isles of Aurora. Aurora was made by nDreams and was released on March 17, 2011[138] There has been three updates: v1.2 on October 6, 2011, v1.3 on October 27, 2011, and v1.4 on December 22, 2011.
PlayStation Home Hold 'em features a series of backroom poker tables hosted in the Sportswalk District. PlayStation Home Hold ‘em squares players off in a no-holds-barred, winner-take-all battle of the bluffs. Only the best of the best will progress to the high stakes tables and collect all the prizes in this free version of the wildly-popular Texas Hold ‘Em card game. It was released on November 3, 2011 and has a space of its own.[39]
PlayStation Home Sports Trivia allows users to test their sports expertise against the PlayStation Home community and unlock a series of themed rewards in this massive sports trivia game, found in the Sportswalk District. Packed with over 10,000 trivia questions, this game will challenge the memories of even the most die-hard sports fans. It was released on November 3, 2011 and is free-to-play.[39]
RC Rally lets users build and customize their own remote controlled car and race against friends over multiple courses, performing stunts and tricks and unlocking numerous upgrades along the way. This fast-paced, free-to-play PlayStation Home original game can be found in the Pier Park District. It was released on November 3, 2011 and also has its own space.[39]
Bootleggers '29 is an epic gun battle between the Mob and the Feds. Set in the seedy underbelly of the Roaring Twenties, this PlayStation Home exclusive first-person shooter found in the Action District pits cops vs. criminals in a Prohibition-era game of Capture the Cask. Boasting real-time multiplayer action, a variety of vintage weapons and unlockable rewards, and the unique ability to play as your PlayStation Home avatar, Bootleggers ’29 is a 100% free-to-play game that introduces a classic narrative to the modern shooter genre. It was released on November 3, 2011 and also has a space of its own.[39]
Home hosts many types of events, such as developer interviews. They are organised by Home and its affiliated content providers. Live events such as E3, sports and concerts may also be broadcast within Home.[139] Special events are generally held at the 'PlayStation Events Space'.
In July 2011 (the 29th through the 31st), the EVO World Finals were streamed live in North America's theater. 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.[140]
The first live-streaming event for PlayStation Home was with NASA's final lift off of Space Shuttle Discovery. This event occurred on February 24, 2011 at 4:50pm EST. Users could watch the live stream from their (or their friends) Sunset Yacht (formerly Amaterasu Yacht) personal space.[141]
December 11, 2009 marked the one year anniversary of the Open Beta. During this time, the European and North American Home's treated the PlayStation Home Community for the anniversary. In the European Home, the Home team gave away a free personal apartment, the Tree House Personal Apartment, for two weeks as well as having a winter event in a redesigned Events Landing space. It was renamed the "Winter Wonderland" and featured daily activities for the users to gain rewards.[68] In the North American Home, the Home team placed a Festive Tree in the Central Plaza that had different puzzles daily for different rewards. The first reward was a commemorative Open Beta Anniversary T-shirt. Each days riddle commemorated an event from the first year of the Open Beta.[142] On December 26, 2009, the Festive Tree poofed into smoke to become the PlayStation Home ball which dropped on New Year's Eve counting down the new year. Asia also celebrated the one year anniversary with a Treasure Hunt game from December 10 to December 27, 2009. Users who found the secret code and messaged it to the specified moderator had the chance to win a HK$100 PSN voucher or a PSP go Virtual Tee.[143]
There are some events in Home where users can win PS3 games. Between the hours of 8 am PT November 5, 2009 and 12 pm PT November 6, 2009, users in the North American Home (only U.S. citizens) had the chance to win the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had to go to the Uncharted 2 space between those times and play the "Mask Mayhem" mini-game. The user who placed first on the leader board in the Uncharted 2 space received the Fortune Hunter Edition.[144] Users had two other chances over the next month to win the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Fortune Hunter Edition.
Some events are used to promote and advertise upcoming films. In Europe, there was a treasure hunt occurring in Home to promote the film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In this event, the users had to go to a poster in one of the Home spaces that was advertising the film and click the link option to open the Web Browser which took them to a web page where the users played a game. If they beat the game, they were rewarded a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen themed t-shirt for their avatar and then could proceed to the next game when it was released. When the next game was released, it was in a different Home space from the previous game. There were a total of six games over the course of June 6, 2009 to June 24, 2009; the last game required the users to solve the previous five games again and rewarded a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trophy for users personal spaces.[145]
In the European and North American Home, the Home management team have set up days for game launching events for some games that fully support game launching. For example, in the North American Home, there is a "Resistance 2: SRPA Siege Night" which is every Friday from 6 pm PT to 10 pm PT.[146] The North American Home now has a "Featured Game Night" where online multi-player games have 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.
The first several 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. A couple of these events were the "12 Games of Christmas",[147] a question and answer event for the 12 Days of Christmas, and "Name the New Home Space", which determined the name of the North American Home Space known as the 'Home Café' in Asia and Japan.[148] The prize was generally a $10 USD product voucher for virtual items in the shopping complex. These events were organised by the PlayStation Home Managers.
Sony is strict on the behaviour of users in Home.[149] A variety of potentially offensive words and word combinations are automatically censored in messages that users write to each other, and administrators are able to block a users' console and IP address from accessing the service if a user behaves illegally, inappropriately or against the terms of use of the service. Video, audio and text are archived in the case of grief reports.
Users are able to report the inappropriate or offensive behaviour of other users to moderators by accessing the PlayStation Home Safe Screen.[150] Users are also able to change their communication settings to block or mute messages from users who are not on their friends list.
PlayStation Home undergoes a weekly maintenance, which comes with weekly content updates. The core updates provide bug fixes and expand the social and gameplay aspects of Home. The beta has received several updates such as giving the users the ability to access the patio of their Harbour Studio,[151] to access the 'Menu Pad'; and to access the shopping complex. Other features such as Home Trophies, weather, and seasons have yet to be released. After location-affecting updates, the location must be re-downloaded. Content updates do not affect the version number; only the core client updates affect the version number.
Key version updates:
The current version of Home is v1.61 released on December 15, 2011.
Room for PSP, a cancelled service, similar to PlayStation Home was being developed for the PlayStation Portable.[160] Named R∞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".[161] A closed beta test began in Q4 2009 in Japan.[162] Development of Room halted on April 15, 2010.[163]
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