PlayStation Store
| File:Ps store logo.png | |
| Developer | Sony Computer Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Type | Online market |
| Launch date | November 2006 (PS3), September 2007 (PC), October 2008 (PSP)[1] |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, PC, PlayStation Portable, TV, Mobile |
| Website | Official Website |
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) and PlayStation Portable (PSP) game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games, add-on content, playable demos, themes and game and movie trailers. The service is accessible through an icon on the XMB on the PS3 and PSP. The PS3 store can also be accessed on the PSP via a Remote Play connection to the PS3. The PSP store is also available via the PC application, Media Go. As of September 24, 2009, there have been over 600 million downloads from the PlayStation Store worldwide.[2]
The PlayStation Store is updated with new content each Tuesday in North America, and each Wednesday in PAL regions.[3] In May 2010 this was changed from Thursdays to allow PSP games to be released digitally, closer to the time they are released on UMD.[4]
Access
PSN Master Account
A "master" PlayStation Network account is required to access the PlayStation Store. A log of all previously purchased items, known as "Download List", records each PlayStation Store account's full game, trial demo, and add-on download activity. A guest user can use his master account Download List to download free content or to purchase content on another console however, a single account can only be used on up to five consoles. The most recent firmware must be installed on the console in order to access the PlayStation Store.
Each master account is associated with an online virtual "wallet" to which funds can be added. This wallet is then debited when a purchase is made from the Store. Money can be added to the wallet through different systems of payment, although some of these are not available in all countries.
Currency
Unlike Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace and Nintendo's Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop, which each use their own specific currencies (Microsoft Points and Nintendo Points, respectively), all purchases (with the exception of alternatives in some countries; see following sections) are made using the actual real-world currency of the users' home country (for example in the United States, purchases are made using USD).
Edy viewer
Edy is an e-money system which is only available in Japan. The viewer is accessible from an "extra option" setting in the XMB[5]. An additional USB IC card reader/writer called PaSoRi is required to add e-money to the wallet by operating with the Edy Center. Edy associated options are "Edy Gift", "Checking online balance" and "Reader/Writer Self-Diagnosis".
Credit and debit cards
The most common method to add money to the "wallet" is to use a credit card or debit card. This payment system is not available in all areas with PlayStation Store support. Visa and American Express gift cards can also be used to add funds to the wallet. Although select areas require that you use a credit card with a billing address from that specific country.
PlayStation Network Card/Ticket
PlayStation Network Cards and Tickets are a form of payment available in South East Asian countries including Japan and Singapore, available in other territories[6]. The PlayStation Network Card (PSN Card) is a form of electronic money that can be used with the PlayStation Stores for PS3 and PSP. This system is similar to Microsoft's Xbox Live Subscription Cards, Microsoft Point Cards, and Nintendo's Wii Points for their respective e-stores. PSN Tickets of various value can be purchased at convenience stores in North America and PSN Cards are for sale in PlayStation Shop Partners in the rest of South East Asia. Each card or ticket contains a unique 12 alphanumeric code which can be input to a PSN master account to fund the associated wallet.
The Japanese ticket system is a bit different from the card system used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, or even the one used by Microsoft and Nintendo for their virtual shops. Unlike tickets, the cards are available for purchase at retail stores.[clarification needed]
PSN cards and tickets are region-specific. For example, if a PS3 is registered in the US, the cards can't be used in the Japanese PSN store. However, users have been able to work their way around this by creating "dummy" accounts. Sony Computer Entertainment is well aware of the practice, which was when the demo for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune became available on the North American Store and was only playable on consoles from that region. Following many emails from disgruntled customers in other territories, Sony and the game's developer, Naughty Dog released an updated version of the demo which could be played on any PS3 console stating that the initial restriction was not intentional and that they were, until that point, unaware of this practice.
PlayStation Store for PS3
The PlayStation Store was launched on the PlayStation 3 on November 11, 2006 and is accessible via an icon under the PlayStation Network category of the XMB. There are five different versions of the PlayStation Store: Asia, Europe, Japan, North America, and Oceania.
Content
Available content includes:
Picture:
- Free or for sale HD/SD XMB themes, wallpapers and avatars.
Music:
- Free (WAV/MP3) audio tracks based on PS3 games original soundtrack. (North America and Europe only)
Video:
- SD/HD movies for sale or rental (North America, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom[7], Australia , Italy)
- SD/HD TV shows for sale or rental (North America and Japan only.)
- Free HD/SD trailers for upcoming theatrical releases and movie or musical Blu-ray Disc.
- Free HD/SD game videos (trailers, behind the scenes, interviews, commercials or promotional videos).
- Free HD/SD music videos from Sony Music affiliates artists (Australia and Hong Kong only).[8]
Game:
- Free PlayStation 3 game demos.
- Free or for sale PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network) full games.
- Free or for sale PlayStation 3 games add-on and system patches.
- Free PlayStation 3 (PSN) public beta software.
- Free PSP game demos.
- For sale PSP games.
- Free PlayStation emulated game demos (Japan and Hong Kong only).
- For sale PlayStation emulated games.
- For sale Arcade emulated game demos (Australia only).
- For sale Arcade emulated games.
- For sale PC Engine emulated games (currently Japan only, other regions at a later date).
Miscellaneous:
- Free PlayStation 3 software.
- Free PULSE espisodes.
- Free Dew Tour episodes.
- Qore subscriptions and downloads (North America only)
- FirstPlay (UK and Ireland in March, then it will be expanded to Europe during the rest of 2010)
Qore and FirstPlay
Qore (Template:Pron-en "core"), presented by the PlayStation Network, announced on June 3, 2008 by SCEA, is a subscription-based interactive online magazine for the PlayStation Network,[9] which launched on the PlayStation Store in North America on June 5, 2008.
FirstPlay (previously known as Official PlayStation Magazine HD or OPMHD) is an electronic magazine similar to Qore, produced by Future Publishing. Released in April 2010, it is available to PlayStation 3 users via the PlayStation Store in the UK. Like Qore, FirstPlay offers exclusive videos, demos and downloads.[10][11] but is released released weekly instead of monthly.[12]
Multitasking
As of March 22, 2007, background downloading became possible while watching a video stored on the HDD, listening to music, looking at photos, using the web browser and playing PS1, or offline PS3 games[13]. Officially 16 downloads can be queued up at a time. The status of the downloads can only be checked on the XMB under the "Network" category. If the messaging service is activated a pop-up message will appear in the top right corner of the screen to notify the user that a download is finished.
PSP Connectivity
Some cross-platform store content such as emulated PlayStation games and demos can be transferred from the PlayStation 3 HDD to the PSP Memory Stick using a USB connection.
PSP games and demos need a USB linked PSP in order to start the download from the store to the PSP through the PlayStation 3 internet connection.
Download from the PlayStation Store to the PSP can be performed later using the "Download List" log available in both the PS3 and PC PlayStation Stores.
Since April 15, 2008 the PlayStation Store can be accessed on PSP handheld console through Remote Play function.
After the installation of firmware version 5.00 released on October 15, 2008, the PlayStation Store can be accessed directly from the PSP without the need to use a PC or PS3 as an intermediary[14]. It will be accessible under the PlayStation Network category on the Portable's XMB. However users who do not have any method for connecting wirelessly can still use the Playstation Store on the PC using a downloadable program from Sony called Media Manager for PSP 3.0. As long as you have a working Store account you can use the program to download the software from the Store using the PC whilst connected to the PSP via a USB Cable.
PlayStation Store revamp
Following feedback from a large number of PlayStation Network users, a redesigned version of the PlayStation Store was launched on April 15, 2008 via a firmware update[15]. The new design is OS based rather than the previous Store's web based design enabling the Store to process information more quickly.
A minor update to the Store was released during the Sony E3 2009 Press Conference. This update makes the top page change pictures (with their links) regularly, and changes the navigation sounds.
PlayStation Store for PSP
At the PlayStation Store's initial launch, PSP owners could only access the PSP section of the store by means of a PS3 connection. This meant that only PSP owners who also had a PS3 could access PSOne games and other content available exclusively on the PlayStation Network. However, the PSP-oriented PlayStation Store (PC) launched in Asia on September 20, 2007 at the Tokyo Games Show and was accessible through supported internet browsers on Windows PCs. The PC store became available for the U.S. and Europe on November 20, 2007.
A year later on October 15, 2008, System Software 5.00 was released for the PSP. For the first time PSP owners could also access the store directly on their PSP consoles.[16] Two weeks later on October 28, 2008, the PC store was relaunched, this time being able to be accessed via PSP Media Manager 3. Like with the PS3, PSP and PSOne games downloaded from the PlayStation Store can only be used on up to 5 separate PSPs activated on the account the content was purchased by.
Media Go
During E3 2009, Sony announced the release of Media Go, a Windows application used to access, download and install games and software to a connected PSP, as well as Sony Walkman devices and Sony Ericsson cell phones. The software can also be used to manage and transfer other media such as music, videos and photos stored on the PSP and other compatible devices. Files are transferred to the PSP via a USB connection and saved onto a flash memory card (or internal flash storage on the PSPgo). The software was initially offered as an alternative to the already-existing PSP Media Manager (and the various other Media Manager applications for Sony devices) and can also be used to manage and transfer other media such as music, videos and photos stored on the PSP and other compatible devices. However, Sony soon completely replaced the Media Manager family of software with Media Go.[16] Media Go is now the only way to access PSN content from a PC. It is only compatible with 32-bit versions of Windows XP and both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Playstation Network Downloader
A DRM tool called the PlayStation Network Downloader is also required to download content from the Playstation Store onto a PC. When downloading store content, an *.xpd file is first downloaded onto the user's computer and then opened by the Playstation Network Downloader, which downloads the content directly to a PSP connected via a USB cable. This 'DRM' tool prevents the user from directly saving store contents onto their PC and illegally distributing the content. Currently, this software is also only compatible with certain Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Content
Available content for the PSP includes:
Video:
- SD/HD movies for sale or rental (North America, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom[7] Ireland and Australia )
- SD/HD TV shows for sale or rental (North America and Japan only).
- Free SD/HD game trailers (upcoming PSP games and emulated PlayStation games).
Game:
- Free PSP game demos
- For sale PlayStation emulated games
- For sale PSP games available solely through the PlayStation Store
- For sale PSP games also available on UMD
- For sale PSP Minis - small downloadable games under 100MB
- Free and for sale PSP add-on content
Comics:
- Free and for sale digital comics for use with the PSP digital reader (selected countries only)[17]
Other:
- Free XMB wallpapers
- Free XMB themes
- Free MP3 music tracks from PSP games
See also
Notes
- ^ PSP gets direct access to PlayStation Network Store
- ^ "TGS 2009: Keynote Address". IGN.
- ^ "PSN Thursday no more: say hello to PSN Tuesday and Wednesday".
- ^ "PSN Store Day Move Not Due To 360".
- ^ Sony Computer Entertainment (2008-06-07). "PLAYSTATION3 System Software 2.30 User's Guide". Sony Computer Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ Sony Computer Entertainment (2008-06-07). "Playstation Store: PS Store Cards *Finally* Heading To Retail". Sony Computer Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ a b "PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service for Europe Now Available on PlayStation 3 and PSP (PlayStation Portable)". Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
- ^ Sony Computer Entertainment (2008-06-07). "PLAYSTATIONStore Music Videos". Sony Computer Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ Introducing Qore: Taking you behind the curtain with PlayStation
- ^ "Sony Announces FirstPlay". TheSixthAxis.
- ^ "PlayStation Official Magazine HD". Future Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
- ^ "Europe's Version Of Qore: The Details".
- ^ Sony Computer Entertainment. "PlayStation 3 Support — Managing content on PS3 — Download while performing other operations". Sony Computer Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
A background download will be temporarily stopped when […] playing PlayStation®2 format software
- ^ http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jp.playstation.com%2Finfo%2Frelease%2Fnr_20081009_pspstore.html&sl=ja&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
- ^ Sony Computer Entertainment (2008-04-14). "PlayStation.Blog » PlayStation Store Update". Sony Computer Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ a b "PSP Firmware 5.00 Demo".
- ^ PlayStation Comics country selector
External links
- Media Go download page
- US PlayStation Store information page on PlayStation.com
- UK PlayStation Store information page on PlayStation.com
- Japan PlayStation Store information page on PlayStation.com
- European PlayStation Store updates
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