December 10, 2008
PlayStation Home Beta Service
Will Become Available to All PS3 Users on December 11
Highly Anticipated Service Open
For All PLAYSTATION 3 Users
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE)
today announced that its highly anticipated PlayStation Home Beta service for
PLAYSTATION 3 will become available for all PS3 users around the world on
December 11, 2008. Following the successful completion of the closed beta
service, PlayStation Home’s open beta service will continue to evolve with new
features and functionality.
PlayStation Home is a
ground-breaking 3D social gaming community available on PS3 that allows users to
interact, communicate and share gaming experiences. By leveraging the power of
PS3, PlayStation Home delivers overwhelming visual graphics and rich gaming
social experiences only possible on the PS3 platform. Within PlayStation Home,
users can create and customize their own unique avatars and explore virtual
community in real time where they can communicate freely through text or voice
chat. PlayStation Home users will not only be able to enjoy variety of
entertainment content such as mini-games, videos and special events along with
their friends, but will also be able to create their own community by using the
“Club(*2)” feature to create clubs with other PlayStation Home users who share
the same interests.
PlayStation Home, available as a
free download(*3) starting December 11, will launch directly from the
PlayStation Home icon on the PlayStation®Network column of XMB™ (XrossMediaBar)
on PS3. Users will be able to experience basic features and services of
PlayStation Home, free of charge(*4). PlayStation Home will allow open
interaction among users, business partners and SCE, and will evolve with
additional features including dedicated game spaces, special events and
exclusive themed items, to further enrich the entertainment experience on the
PS3 platform.
“PlayStation Home is truly a
promising network community service on the PlayStation platform, made possible
with the powerful combination of PS3’s overwhelming computational power and
PlayStation Network that covers many countries around the globe,” said Kazuo
Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCE. “We are committed to providing PS3 users
with exciting gaming experiences with PlayStation Home and together with our
partners and users, expand the new world of interactive entertainment as we move
forward.”
For users in North America, Sony
Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) will launch game themed high-definition
virtual environments including the Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune™ and Far Cry 2
spaces and the soon to be released Warhawk™, Resistance, Guitar Hero® and SOCOM
spaces. In these environments, users will discuss specific games, plan
strategies and access content and clues that will enhance their gaming
experience. Through these virtual environments, publishers will be able to
increase and extend consumer interest in their game titles via new mediums of
game play. SCEA is partnering with Activision, Disney Eidos, Electronic Arts,
Lucas Arts, THQ and UBISOFT, to develop virtual environments among other content
for PlayStation Home.
“PlayStation Home is a social gaming
service unlike anything else on the market and we are excited to be partnering
with gaming and non-gaming partners to develop content that connects and
entertains today’s PS3 users like never before,” said Susan Panico, Senior
Director of PlayStation Network, SCEA. “PlayStation Home is a tremendous
addition to the growing suite of entertainment services available only through
PlayStation Network.”
SCEA is announcing partnerships with
some of the world’s most respected lifestyle brands during open beta including
Ligne Roset, a contemporary furniture designer, and Diesel, an international
fashion design company. These partnerships will allow users to purchase
customizable furniture for their personal apartments and designer clothes for
their avatars, respectively.
A variety of studio partners
including Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Paramount Pictures will bring the
PlayStation® community original intellectual property through dedicated spaces,
sponsorship of in-world events, virtual items and exclusive media viewings in
the PlayStation Home Theater. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will use
PlayStation Home to promote its latest films, offering exclusive video content,
interviews and appearances from film talent. Paramount Digital Entertainment
will bring to PlayStation Home virtual goods and video content based on its most
relevant and popular franchises.
As the very first consumer brand
space, Red Bull has created the Red Bull Island featuring an airplane racing
game modeled after the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. The space is
designed to facilitate interaction among the PlayStation community, creating
opportunities to interact and take part in various Red Bull events and
experiences. Expansion and completion of the island will follow in early 2009.
PlayStation Home is exclusive to
PS3, free to download and easy to join. It’s the ultimate online community – a
place to meet friends, play the latest games together, dance to new music, watch
videos in a social setting, and host parties in their personal apartments. With
more spaces being created and partners like Diesel, Electronic Arts, and Red
Bull coming on board, the PlayStation Home experience is just getting started.
SCE will vigorously promote the
expansion of the world of PS3 by introducing new services that will open up new
possibilities and enjoyment in interactive entertainment.
-
1 PlayStation Home will not be
available in some regions. -
2 To be a “Clubhouse” owner, user
will need to buy the -
entitlement to run the club.
-
3 When the service is available,
PlayStation Home icon will -
appear after booting/ re-booting
the PS3 system. To enjoy -
PlayStation Home, users will need
broadband network -
connection and PlayStation Network
account in addition to -
the PS3 system.
-
4 Some content and services are
charged.
About PlayStation®Network
The PlayStation®Network is an
emergent entertainment network aimed at digitally delivering innovative content
and fostering community for a worldwide audience. In addition to offering new
and original forms of entertainment, the PlayStation Network supports free and
community-centric online gameplay, communications tools, and PSP®
(PlayStation®Portable) and PLAYSTATION®3 connectivity. As of December 2008, the
PlayStation Network has more than 15 million registered accounts worldwide.
