This week Sony announced an overhaul for PlayStation Home, an avatar-based gathering place for the PS3 gaming community. The new Home experience revolves around the following new “genre-based districts”: Action District (a gathering place for hardcore gamers), Sportswalk (for sports fanatics), Adventure District (for Uncharted 3 fans), Pier Park (for arcade gameplay), PlayStation Home Theater (features videos tailored specifically for PlayStation gamers), and PlayStation Home Mall (sells avatar items and other downloadable content). Along with a new futuristic Hub and an integrated Activity Board, the upgraded Home will offer up a slew of free-to-play game titles “based
upon a freemium business model” including a FPS called Bootleggers ’29, a racer RC Rally, and a puzzler Cogs. For a quick preview, jump after the break to watch a video tour of the revamped virtual hangout; the full PR is pasted directly below it. After that, fire up your PS3 and roam free!
[Via PlayStationBlog]
PLAYSTATION®HOME REDESIGN FUELS NEW ERA FOR THE SOCIAL GAME PLATFORM
New Core Experience Features a Rich and Diverse Selection of Games Making it the Most Robust Gamified Social Experience on Consoles
FOSTER CITY, Calif., November 2, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment America
(SCEA) today announced that the redesigned PlayStation®Home will be available beginning
tomorrow, November 3, 2011, exclusively on PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®3
(PS3™) system for users throughout the US and Canada. The PlayStation Home redesign
includes a new core experience that features genre-based districts as well as a wide variety of
exclusive games that cater to each player’s interests, style and game preference.
The PlayStation Home redesign will launch with a number of free-to-play game titles, based
upon a freemium business model, including:
Bootleggers ’29: 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.
PlayStation Home Hold ‘Em: A series of backroom poker tables hosted in the
brand new 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.
PlayStation Home Sports Trivia: Test your sports expertise against the PlayStation
Home community and unlock a series of themed rewards in this massive sports trivia
game, found in the Sportswalk. Packed with over 10,000 trivia questions, this game
will challenge the memories of even the most die-hard sports fans.
RC Rally: Build and customize your 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 PlayStation Home original game can be
found in the new Pier Park.
Cogs: A 3D version of Lazy 8 Studios award-winning Steampunk puzzle game, Cogs
can be found front-and-center in PlayStation Home’s new Hub. Build a variety of
machines from sliding tiles and unlock exclusive PlayStation Home rewards in this
highly-addictive puzzler.
“This is a major milestone for PlayStation Network, and we are thrilled to bring a new core
experience to PlayStation Home where games are front and center,” said Jack Buser, director
of PlayStation Home, SCEA. “Home’s community is made up of some of the most passionate
gamers on PS3, and we’ve listened to their feedback since Home launched in 2008, finally
transforming Home itself into a game. This redesign marks a new beginning for PlayStation
Home, and players can expect much more to come.”
Key features that were unveiled at the announcement of the redesign included an all-
new futuristic Hub that brings games directly to players with a featured game front-and-
center upon login and integrates an Activity Board that features a robust questing system,
community events and user-generated content. The Hub will also offer additional navigation,
shopping, socializing and entertainment options. From the Hub, players can teleport to
different genre-based districts and spaces including:
Action District: A gathering place for hardcore gamers, the Action District has a
gritty, urban feel reminiscent of a first-person shooter level and provides a direct
travel point to action and horror games.
Sportswalk: The Sportswalk has an exciting outside-the-stadium feel with instant
major league sports scores, headlines and highlights and sports-themed games.
Adventure District: At the launch of the PlayStation Home redesign, the Adventure
District will present the UNCHARTED™ 3: Fortune Hunter total game integration
event, providing a third-person adventure experience including a partial recreation
of the Yemen level from UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception™ multiplayer mode
and a cover-based shooting system complete with weapons and gameplay inspired
by the hit series. Players can unlock content that can be used in the UNCHARTED
3: Drake’s Deception Blu-Ray Disc™ game as well as additional PlayStation Home
rewards.
Pier Park: A waterfront boardwalk leads players to carnival, puzzle, outdoor and
arcade games. Take a ride on the Pier Park Ferris wheel or visit the arcade for more
games.
PlayStation Home Theater: The PlayStation Home Theater features an ultra-modern
architectural design and hosts a wide range of videos programmed specifically for
PlayStation gamers, including episodes of Pulse and Qore, trailers and interviews
from the PlayStation Blog, and exclusive user-generated videos in the popular
Community Theater.
PlayStation Home Mall: The PlayStation Home Mall is loaded with thousands of
pieces of content from some of the most popular games and entertainment in the
world. Shop for PlayStation Home games, extravagant personal spaces, costumes,
clothing items and other avatar enhancements, and tons more in the redesigned Mall.
PlayStation Home has evolved beyond a social network into a true social game platform:
• PlayStation Home has been a destination for over 24 million users worldwide. (WW)
• The average time spent in the Home platform is 70 minutes per session (SCEA)
• Over 230 games ready-to-play (SCEA)
• Over 10,000 virtual items (SCEA)
• Over 70 spaces (SCEA)
• Over 800 community events (SCEA)
• Over 35 partners (SCEA)
For additional information about PlayStation Home’s new core experience, please visit: http:/
/us.playstation.com/psn/playstation-home/.