Months ago, Sony promised its virtual marketplace/cyber world Home would see a major redesign this fall. The renovations are now complete.
Not unlike carpenters taking saws and hammers to expand a rustic house, programmers knocked down a few walls here, added some new areas there - the end result designed to be a place more gamers would spend their time and money.
Sony's new PlayStation Home launched on Thursday. But will people move in?
The biggest change to the Home formula is the addition of four new districts players can explore with their personalized avatars. Attached to a larger central hub, each district features a distinct look with direct ties to specific game genres.
"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," Sony explained. Meanwhile, Pier Park boasts "a waterfront boardwalk [which] leads players to carnival, puzzle, outdoor and arcade games."
Rounding out the new areas are Sportswalk and the Adventure District, which boast breaking sports updates and a shooter mini-game based within the world of Sony's "Uncharted" franchise, respectively.
Sony's crafted a new mall where players can buy games, furniture for their virtual apartments and new duds for avatars that look nothing like the real McCoy. The company also unveiled several free-to-play games accessed directly through Home, including an RC car racer and Texas Hold 'em poker. Hopefully the latter won't devolve into the real money or strip variety.
"With more than 230 ready-to-play games, upwards of 10,000 virtual items, and new community events happening every day of the week, PlayStation Home is the place that the PlayStation community gathers to play a wide range of games with their friends," said Sony. "Whether you are a seasoned member of the community or someone that hasn't visited PlayStation Home in a while, never has there been a better time to come into PlayStation Home join up with our community of millions of passionate PlayStation gamers."
The PlayStation 3 celebrates its fifth birthday this month. (via Official U.S. PlayStation Blog)
