14 DAY TRIAL // Sony has backed up its PlayStation Home online service for quite some time and this fall, the company has announced that it will turn it from its current social network status into a full-pledged social games platform, allowing users to engage in an easier way with others through all sorts of activities.
PlayStation Home was released back in December 2008 and, since then, has seen over 23 million PlayStation 3 users pass through its virtual doors. Now, the Japanese company wants to completely overhaul the service, turning Home into a social games platform.
"Today we are excited to announce a complete redesign of the heart of PlayStation Home to reinforce our evolution into the ultimate social game platform on consoles today," said Sony's Home Director Jack Buser. "This redesign will connect you with the world of hundreds of games in Home faster and better than ever before."
Now, the core Home experience will feature a central hub and a variety of districts, which help users find games, other users or certain themed locations focused on special games.
"Coming in Fall 2011, this new core experience for PlayStation Home features a “hub and districts” design that will help you find games, people and places that fit your favorite game genres. The design features a new Hub that integrates games, quests, community events, and user-generated content, while providing you with additional navigation, shopping, socialization and entertainment options."
Check out a list of the new hub and districts that will appear in PlayStation Home below.
-The Hub: The new, futuristic Hub brings games directly to players with a featured game front-and-center upon login, the Activity Board where players can engage in quests and community activities, and a direct path to free games via the teleporter. -Action District: A gathering place for the hardcore demographic, 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, ample space for sports-themed games and provides direct travel points to sports-related games. -Adventure District The Adventure District drops you in a lush island jungle with an air of mystery, hidden treasure and discovery, where players will be able to launch directly into adventure-themed games. -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 some bright entertainment. Besides this radical overhaul, Sony is also going to debut a core update for Home, taking it to version 1.55, and changing lots of systems used by the service.
"On top of all this great news, I’m excited to announce that we are going to upgrade Home’s core client to provide a streamlined initial user experience, getting you in and playing games faster than ever before. This upgrade will be deployed as a separate release from the redesign, and together they will underscore PlayStation Home’s evolution into a world filled with hundreds of games ready for you to play, making Home the ultimate social game platform on consoles."
What are your feelings on PlayStation Home? Will this new update make any difference regarding your feelings of the service?
