To say we have a pretty massive update coming for all of you this Thursday, June 18th would be the understatement of the week. To start, well be unleashing the long-awaited SOCOM Tactical Operations Center space. This space is the first installment of a two-part SOCOM Home hub (the second highly interactive space OPFOR will follow the TOC shortly) that is the ideal 3D locale for the huge SOCOM community to meet up and socialize. At this new SOCOM strategy post, you will be able to plot the next course of action with your friends by gathering around the Telestrator tool and coordinating your next assault. Chock full of maps and modes from SOCOM: Confrontation, the Telestrator is a powerful tool that the Home community can use to collaborate, strategize, and enhance their gameplay experience. On top of this, the TOC boasts a regional leaderboard that pulls data from the SOCOM site and updates Career stats (such as all-time ranking, kills, deaths, and kills/deaths ratio) in real-time. And in an imminent refresh of the TOC youll also be able to purchase a slew of related virtual items to decorate your avatar with. So if you like to sport the Military chic look youll have to make a point to stop on by and load up on bandoliers, balaclavas, and other assorted tactical outerwear.
Also coming to the world of PlayStation Home this week is our first foray into movie and game-themed personal spaces. All of you virtual Egons will be overjoyed to find a Ghostbusters Firehouse personal space available for purchase. This 3-floor space comes jam-packed with tons of furniture and assorted decorations at no additional charge (including your very own Ecto-1). We hear that the basements ghost containment unit might have accidentally leaked a poltergeist or two, so youll have to keep an eye open for supernatural activity. Lucky for you, the Ghostbusters Firehouse comes with full Loot Stage Set functionality (including move props and portable blue screens) so you can stage your own Ghostbusters machinima. And as a token of our infatuation with the Ghostbusters franchise, were giving away free t-shirts that commemorate the 25th anniversary of Slimer hitting the silver screen. So be sure to log in and load up on all the goodies while the gettin is there to be gotten.
Electronic Arts is also freshening up their hugely-popular EA SPORTS Complex with additional Racing tracks, a leaderboards, Racing Boost Shop, and Poker updates (including bracelets for the ladies). The as-of-yet-unopened Golf Pro Shop space will temporarily disappear but will reappear and launch within a short time, so have no worries. All in all, this is a pretty significant update to the Complex, so if you havent been over for a while, this Thursday would be a dang fine time to drop on by.
Were also bringing you some more game-related virtual items (did somebody say Street Fighter IV?!?!), including the free inFAMOUS Cole Costume for all of you that downloaded the demo and played it through to completion. Keep your eye on the official PlayStation Twitter page for more info regarding the awesome updates we have in store for you (terrible pun, I know).
To top this all off we have two events running this weekend in addition to the regularly-scheduled Resistance: SRPA Siege and Saturday Night Street Fightin game launching events (check the Clubs and Events subforums on the official PlayStation Home messageboard for more details). The first event starts Friday morning and ends Friday night and has something to do with you and your friends going on a scavenger hunt for parts of a secret code scattered throughout Home and the first 100 winners receiving a free download of Bomberman Ultra from the PlayStation Network. The other is scheduled for Saturday night and also involves free stuff, but youll have to keep your eyes on the video screens throughout Home between now and then for more details, because my memory is getting a little furry in my old age
Oh, and by the way, the Killzone 2 Visaris Throne and the Namco Bandai Museum are indeed coming to SCEAs version of PlayStation Home. But not this week. Youll have to keep an eye on the official Blog, forums, and Twitter accounts to stay up to date as to the progress of these spaces. But dont despair; you can always spend the time between now and then launching into games of Crash Commando with your friends in Home. Dont believe me? Give it a try