Get Voting!

Alphazone4 is ending 2009 with the Alphazone4 Playstation Home Awards. The site has been influential in drumming up support in the UK for Playstation Home and it is great to see them recognise and reward the people behind the scenes.

We are thrilled to be shortlisted in the Best Home Developer category so if you have a spare few minutes, get over to Alphazone4 and log a quick vote for us!.

Cheers all!

'Walking in a Virtual Wonderland...'

Hot on the tails of the Halloween event we have been working with Sony to bring a spot of Christmas cheer to Playstation Home. Winter Wonderland launched last Friday and below are the details that were announced at the end of last month on the Playstation EU Blog.

"December and the winter season of festivities is just around the corner. What else is just around the corner? The opening of our Winter Wonderland festival space! From the 10th of December you’ll be invited to a snowy location filled with elves, presents, Santa’s grotto and more! Wait, presents? Yes – that means free stuff!

Final preparations are underway, however some of Santa’s helpers seem a bit … well, less than useful. Santa and his elves will need your help to complete the preparations and make sure this festival is one to remember. Never fear, though, these preparations involve fun and frivolity, as well as some great rewards for your hard work. With your help the Wonderland will evolve over time into a magical space to visit this festive season.

There will be plenty to do, so make sure you keep coming back frequently to find out what Santa and his elves need next. You wouldn’t want to miss out on opening a present, or taking part in one of the task mini-games, now would you? While you’re there make sure to browse the winter market, and don’t forget to get your picture taken by the photo elf. He’ll even throw in a special festive border!"

There is also a special competition over at Alphazone4 where any of you Home residents could be in with the chance of winning a PSPgo so make sure you stop by and take a look!

Halloween Storyboard Comp - The Shortlist

A big thank you to everyone who popped by the Halloween party and a bigger thank you to all who submitted storyboards and entered our competition.

They all made us laugh and we have narrowed them down to a shortlist of five.

Congratulations to (in no particular order) DanTheMan121, Mattiebo123, mango1234, ratbag69 and xjonny84x.

We have a PSPGo for one lucky winner and the rest of you will each receive a very special virtual t-shirt.

Now the fun part. YOU decide who wins.

Posters are now up around Home Square and in Home Theatre where anyone can see the shortlist and vote for their favourite. Please beware you can only vote for each entry once.

Good luck to everyone. Voting will last for 7 days and we will be announcing the winner at the end of next week.

Halloween isn't quite over yet

Don't forget to get your entries for the Halloween in PlayStation Home Storyboard Competition uploaded to the Flickr group to be in with a chance of winning a PSPgo! You all have until 6pm (GMT) on Friday. Voting will then begin in Home from Thursday!

Thanks to everyone who showed up and made the event really memorable. There are plenty of photos over on the PSN EU Forum, these are some of our favourites.

Source images here

Halloween Comes to Playstation Home

We are going to be working with Sony on a few events over the coming months in PlayStation Home, the first of which is kicking off this Saturday. Yup, you guessed it. It's Halloween!

All details have been released over on the PlayStation EU Blog but for convenience, they are all below too...

First up, you’re all cordially invited to PS Home’s very own Halloween party! Taking place from 6-8pm (GMT) on 31st October 2009 within the Burn Zombie Burn space, all appropriately dressed attendees will get a (trick or) treat upon arrival. There are five exclusive new costumes available in Threads especially for this event – including a werewolf, Frankenstein, a witch, a ghost and his and her skeleton suits. Check out the screenshots of these delightful outfits below:

If you’re wearing one the above costumes when you enter the space you’ll net yourself a very special (ghoulish) Reward. If you’re not, just pull on the costumes when you’re in the space and jump on the enormous red button to receive your prize.

And if that wasn’t enough, we’re running Home’s first official storyboard competition alongside the event. Using the Home camera (available through the Menu Pad) we’re asking you to supply five images with captions and upload them to our Flickr group. The wittiest five storyboards will go on display in Home Square and then you will decide who wins!

The lucky winner will receive a brand spanking new PSPgo

Full entry details can be found here.

Oh, and be sure to check out the commerce point in the Burn Zombie Burn space, something very special may be lurking in there….

Wolverine Unleashes The Fury In Playstation Home

Following on from AVATAR day, on Friday we launched our second campaign Fox in PlayStation Home, replacing the futuristic Pandora with good old mutant Earth to promote X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. It was one of this summer's biggest blockbusters and is now set to hit Blu-Ray and DVD this month.

Official blurb....

From today, visitors to Home Theatre will get a sneak peek of content featured on the Blu-Ray Disc. PlayStation Home residents will also be able to download a set of Wolverine claws and trademark white vest for free, exclusively from the Threads Store. The vest, the first of its kind, will be animated with slashes healing themselves to mirror Wolverine’s special ability in the movie.

Heavily experienced in film promotion and marketing within virtual worlds and across the wider social web, PPC Group is working with both Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to deliver this campaign.

Home is a 3D social gaming community that allows PlayStation®3 users to meet, chat, plan, and launch into games together. They can create their own custom avatar, decorate their personal apartment, play mini-games, shop, watch videos and attend special events.

About X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine Blu-ray Disc is loaded with bonus material offering fans the opportunity to explore more of the Wolverine legend through commentary by director Hood and producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter, a conversation with Wolverine creators Stan Lee and Len Wein, deleted and alternate scenes, the most comprehensive documentary on the character to date, as well as being the studio’s first ever release featuring “Live Lookup, an interactive BD-Live technology giving fans access to up-to-date filmographies and information related to the film via IMDb. Additionally, with Ultimate X-Mode featuring four distinct viewing experiences, viewers can watch the film in a multitude of ways including Picture-in-Picture commentary from the Director’s chair; pre-visualization storyboards and other thrilling design and trivia features.

Avatar Day in Playstation Home

James Cameron’s AVATAR is set to be one of 2009’s biggest films and we have the first trailer from the movie live now in Home Cinema. 

Audiences around the world have today been shown the first trailer for the movie on the net as well as in 3D cinemas across the globe and we wanted to make sure that Home residents got a piece of the action too.

Over 10 years in the making, AVATAR takes you to a spectacular new world beyond your imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love, as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realise his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

The trailer will be playing in the lobby and in selected screens throughout the weekend and a free limited edition t-shirt is available through one of the many merchandise posters around the cinema.

Hope you enjoy it and (fingers-crossed) we can bring Home more AVATAR related goodies very soon.

GI JOE Arrives in Playstation Home

Paramount Pictures International is today launching its latest summer blockbuster, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, in PS3 Home and once again PPC Interactive is at the helm.

Starting today, PlayStation Home residents will be able to download four G.I. JOE costumes for free, exclusively from Threads Store. Available for a limited time only, Home residents will be able to download the iconic costumes worn by stars Channing Tatum (Duke) and Sienna Miller (The Baroness), or become rival G.I. JOE or COBRA ninjas, Snake Eyes or Storm Shadow.

From tomorrow, visitors to Home Theatre will get to see an exclusive video welcome from stars Sienna Miller and Rachel Nichols, as well as a trailer introduction from director Stephen Sommers. For two weeks, residents will also be able to watch a number of clips, trailers and featurettes from the new movie during a G.I JOE cinema takeover.

For those who fancy becoming a G.I. JOE themselves, visit Home Theatre and walk up to one of the ‘JOIN G.I. JOE’ posters and follow the link to play a training game to see if you have what it takes. Successful recruits will also win a couple of pieces of exclusive merchandise along the way. Simply use your analogue stick to set your target and press ‘X’ to shoot and the DOWN ARROW to re-load your gun. Don’t forget to redeem your voucher codes in the PlayStation Store.

Read the full announcement here on the Playstation blog.

I See Symbols

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is now smashing box offices around the world and the film did equally well in PlayStation Home.

The three-week ‘Transformers Quest’ treasure hunt is now over and thousands of Home residents are running around in their limited edition t-shirts or sitting in their apartments admiring their Autobot statues.

For anyone who did not take part, the treasure hunt was based on five flash games, playable through the PS Home browser, which were launched through clues on poster points that went up and down around Home over the three weeks.

A limited edition Transformers T-Shirt was given away as a reward after completion of each game and those who played all five were rewarded with a gigantic Autobots plinth statue for their apartments.

Following the success of the Star Trek Party in Home, a treasure hunt felt the logical next step for our adventures in PlayStation Home. We were amazed by the reception it got in Home and online. According to SCEE the Transformers treasure hunt thread is the longest ever on the Sony EU Home Forum.

For anyone who missed out, the games will still be available in Home cinema until the end of the week so grab that free merch while you can. Or take a look at the below video...

NOW SHOWING in Home Cinema - 12th June 2009

New to Home this week!

BRUNO

Bruno on IMDB

Ahead of the release of the live action Blood: The Last Vampire, we are proud to show the first 7 minutes of the original anime version as a little teaser for Home residents.

Transforming PlayStation Home

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the latest film to enter PlayStation Home. Once again we are giving away a load of merchandise, only this time you have to earn it :)

Official blurb is below....

June 5th, 2009: To promote the release of TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, Paramount Pictures International (PPI) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the release of a selection of Transformers merchandise, available exclusively through a virtual treasure hunt in Home.  

A variety of T-Shirts and a unique ‘Autobot Trophy’ will be rewarded to residents who embark on the ‘Transformers Quest’.  This activity continues PPI’s commitment to take innovative film marketing within online virtual communities to the next level. TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, directed by Michael Bay, is due to release internationally on June 24th this year.

Starting today, Home residents can begin the quest by finding the Transformers theatrical poster, placed at a few points throughout the public spaces in Home. Another will succeed this poster and targeting it will launch the first in a series of games that will be released over the coming days and weeks. The completion of each game will deliver a unique voucher code, which can be redeemed for an exclusive piece of Transformers merchandise.  More information about the game can be found on the PlayStation EU Forum.

Home residents can already watch the TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN trailer in the Home Cinema and this treasure hunt will take Transformers to all corners of PlayStation Home.

Both companies are again working with marketing agency, The Picture Production Company (PPC), heavily experienced in film promotion and marketing within virtual worlds and across the wider social web, on strategic direction, original content production and promotion.

Home is a 3D social gaming community that allows PLAYSTATION®3 users to meet, chat, plan, and launch into games together. They can create their own custom avatar, decorate their personal apartment, play mini-games, shop, watch videos and attend special events.

More Than Meets The Eye? 05.06.09

They came, they saw, they partied.

So opening weekend is over and the marketing campaign has come to a close. But that didn't stop us giving the residents of Home one final party to celebrate Star Trek's release. Last night between 7-9pm (BST) we threw our first virtual party in Home Square. Anyone could come along and we gave away two exclusive uniforms, one male one female, to those that popped by.

As with most events in Home, it turned into one giant dance party. Multiple instances of Home Square ran at capacity and all appeared to be in full spirit. Special thanks to Home users Milnerant and Wip3outs for some great footage on Flickr and Youtube and a big thank you to all who came along. 

Star Trek has already generated a very respectable $112 million at the box office and it will be interesting to see how it fairs this weekend. Nonetheless, this figure pretty much guarantees this won't be the end of the rebooted franchise.

As we continue to find our feet in Home and another campaign draws to a close, our eyes have already turned to the next one. And there is definitely more than meets the eye this time.

Star Trek Avatar Contest: And the winner is....

A big thank you to everyone who entered the contest, we saw some great entries but as with all competitions there can only be one, actually three, winners :)

KIRK

Congratulations to chandlerPSX for a great likeness of Chris Pine as Jim Kirk. Other standout entries came from dosh401 and Alarzy.

UHURA

dreamfreemd wins the best likeness of Uhura with wolvyant and the_chaos_curse also providing great entries but were sadly pipped at the post.

SULU

And our final winner is TakMC8 for his likeness of John Cho as Sulu. Nutronic and argenthawke were the other closest entries in this category.

The winners will each be receiving an Enterprise trophy for their Home apartments and we will be in touch directly with further details.

All the entries can be seen here and thank you again to everyone who took part!

Live long, and prosper :)

Star Trek Party in Home this Sunday

To celebrate the release of STAR TREK in cinemas around  the  globe, the residents of Home Europe are invited to attend the first PlayStation Home Star Trek Party. 

Grab your free Starfleet uniform from the Threads Store and head to Home Square between 7-9pm BST on Sunday May 10th to meet fellow trekkers and watch some great Star Trek footage on the big screens. As a special thank you, keep your eyes peeled for the special poster points in Home Square for your chance to grab one of two exclusive Starfleet uniforms, not available anywhere else. 

But be warned, these will only be available between 7 and 9pm BST! If you are in Home Square before 7pm, remember you will need to leave and re-enter in order to see the special poster points. 

Star Trek Takeover in Home Cinema

Visitors to Home Cinema will see a wealth of Star Trek related goodness this week, to celebrate this Thursday's release of JJ Abrams' new film.

Trailers, TV Spots and a series of clips from the film will run until the end of the weekend alongside a variety of posters and artwork from the film throughout the cinema lobby and staircases.

Highlights from the Star Trek Q&A in Home

As promised, here is a short edit of the highlights from the session on Monday, available to embed or download from vimeo.

Star Trek Avatar Contest in PlayStation Home

Following the success of competitions run in Second Life, we are today launching the first avatar competition in PlayStation Home, to celebrate the release of Star Trek and our shiny new Starfleet uniforms, available now in the Threads Store.

See below for all the details....

Paramount Pictures International announces a unique in-world competition in Sony PlayStation Home (SCEE only). In the run up to the highly anticipated worldwide release of STAR TREK on May 8th 2009, Home users are invited to create look-alike avatars for leading characters Kirk, Uhura, and Sulu using the character customization tools and the official Starfleet uniforms now available for free in the Threads Store in PlayStation Home.

Three competition winners, one per best avatar likeness of each character (Kirk, Uhura, and Sulu), will be announced on Friday May 8th 2009 on the Silverscreen blog and the SCEE PlayStation Home forum. Each winner will receive an exclusive Star Trek trophy to display in their virtual apartments in PlayStation Home. On Sunday 10th [UPDATED], there will be a celebration at the STAR TREK Party in Home where all attendees wearing the Starfleet uniforms will have a chance to grab some exclusive STAR TREK gifts.

HOW TO ENTER

1. Collect the STAR TREK Starfleet uniforms now available for free in the Threads Store in PlayStation Home.

2. Create a look-alike avatar for only one of the STAR TREK leading characters Kirk, Uhura, or Sulu using the character customization tools in PlayStation Home. Reference images can be downloaded here

3. Using a digital camera, take three pictures of your avatar on screen: one close-up headshot, one side-on headshot and one full length body shot.

4. Upload your three images to Flickr, tag them "Star Trek Avatar Contest", make sure to fill out the picture descriptions with your PSN ID, and submit them to the following Flickr group. Once approved, they will appear in the group pool and you are officially entered into the competition.

5. Entrants are asked to submit one entry (Kirk, Uhura, or Sulu) by the deadline of 7pm GMT, Friday. May 1st 2009. A winner will be chosen for each character and announced on Friday May 8th 2009 on the Silverscreen blog and the SCEE PlayStation Home forum.

Terms and Conditions

MORE INFORMATION

Email – silvercreen [at] theppc.com

Web – www.theppc.com/silverscreen

Pictures from the virtual Q&A

So we are just putting the final touches to the video edit of the Star Trek Q&A but in the meantime we thought we would share some images from the event and also close ups of the avatars we created for JJ, Chris and Zach. We again worked with Annie Ok on this project, who provided the grabs from the Q&A and worked creating the talent avatars. A selection of screen grabs are available on Flickr.

Don't forget the entire event is still available to watch through the embedded video on uStream.

NOW SHOWING in Home Cinema - 17th April 2009

New to Home Cinema this week......

WOLVERINE

More Info

International Site

TERMINATOR: SALVATION

More Info

UK Site

MAX PAYNE (DVD / BLU-RAY RELEASE)

More Info

International Site

Star Trek boldly goes into PlayStation Home

Following our successful campaign for Watchmen, we are back in Home today promoting JJ Abrams' re-working of Star Trek. A franchise close to many hearts in here in the studio, we are thrilled to be exploring new worlds ways to market movies in virtual worlds.

At 4pm (BST / GMT+1) on April 20th, director J.J. Abrams and stars Chris 'Kirk' Pine and Zachary 'Spock' Quinto will visit Home for an exclusive Q&A with selected press and bloggers from around the world. Following the Q&A, the invited guests will be able to take part in a virtual roundtable within Home, to discuss the movie and answer questions put forward by fans and fellow bloggers through Twitter, uStream and CoverItLive. Both events will be streamed live across the web through an embeddable video player available at http://www.startrekfankit.com/playstationhome/.

The Q&A is part of a number of unique opportunities in Home (SCEE only) ahead of the global release of STAR TREK on May 8th.  From today, Home residents will be able to view an exclusive video greeting from Abrams alongside the latest STAR TREK trailer in the Home Theatre. A selection of virtual STAR TREK merchandise e.g. Starfleet Uniforms and T-Shirts, will be available for free in the Threads Store from April 23rd, alongside details of a unique ‘Star Trek in Home Avatar competition’ and the ‘Star Trek Party (in Home)’ where attendees will have the chance to grab some exclusive merchandise and prizes. 

We will have more info on both these events next week here on Silverscreen.

WATCHMEN machinima round-up

In the aftermath of last week's WATCHMEN Q&A, and the subsequent launch of the Rorschach and Nite Owl costumes in the PlayStation store, we've produced these two machinima promos to provide an easy overview of what we've been up to.

The first was put together in-house, and is a longer piece featuring some of the highlights of the half-hour film-maker Q&A we ran with Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons on Monday February 23rd. This was the first film-maker Q&A to take place in Home, and involved bloggers, journalists and fans from all over the world:



The second piece is a punchier look at the characters costumes we released last Thursday, which are already proving to be a huge hit with Home residents. This was produced for PPC by Annie Ok, turning her hand to some of the first creative machinima to come out of Home after collaborating with us extensively on this campaign:

Rorschach and Nite Owl take up residency in PlayStation Home

Walk, run, dance or bowl as Rorschach or Nite Owl II!!

The first wave of our Watchmen merchandise has been live for a few days now and we expect the apartment furniture to appear in the next week or two. It's all available from the Threads Store for a limited period, and it's free. 

From today, Watchmen will also be taking over the Home cinema. Expect trailers, interviews, webisodes and video footage from The New Frontiersman playing out in 5 screens over the next couple of weeks.

Coverage update

So the event is over but the coverage continues. Here are a few great pieces that have surfaced from a few of the journalists who attended the Q&A on Monday.

Quint from Ain't It Cool has updated his story a number of times and included the live stream and the post event audio stream

YouTube blogger Blunty3000 was our guest from Down Under and News.com.au covered his attendance.

Screenweek from Italy was one of six outlets from Europe.

FHM from Spain was also there to pose questions about a certain actress playing Silk Spectre.

Audio and Screenshots from WATCHMEN Q&A in PlayStation Home

So it was a success and we have the audio and screenshots to prove it. Expect video footage within the next 24 hours. Thanks to all those who took part and all those who watched!

Audio Stream

Audio Download

Screenshots Download

Webcast from the WATCHMEN Q&A in PlayStation Home

As promised, we will be delivering a live stream from the exclusive filmmaker Q&A for WATCHMEN, taking place in PlayStation Home on Monday. From 4pm GMT (11am EST) sharp, Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons will be taking questions from 10 journalists from around the world on all things WATCHMEN. There is also a chat window where anyone can submit questions they would like to ask the filmmakers, and if we have time we will try our best to put one forward to Zack and Dave.

The live stream is available here to view, alternatively grab the embed code to place on your own website, blog or social network profile. There will also be an edited version of the event available on Tuesday.

Groundbreaking Virtual World Q&A In PlayStation Home For WATCHMEN

So, we hinted at it back in December but today we can now announce our involvement in the first virtual world filmmaker Q&A in PlayStation Home. And it will be happening a week today to promote WATCHMEN. Here is the official release and there will be more information on the live stream coming very soon.

PARAMOUNT ANNOUNCES GROUNDBREAKING VIRTUAL WORLD Q&A IN PLAYSTATION HOME FOR WATCHMEN

 

London, 16 February 2009

At 4pm GMT on 23rd February, Paramount Pictures International (PPI) will be staging the first ever filmmaker Q&A to take place in the groundbreaking new virtual world PlayStation Home, promoting the international release of WATCHMEN on March 6th 2009.

 

An audience of ten guests – made up of journalists, bloggers and fans from around the world – will be given a unique opportunity to put questions to WATCHMEN director Zack Snyder and the graphic novel’s artist Dave Gibbons as part of this ambitious invitation-only event.

 

The event will be streamed live across the Internet, commencing a comprehensive WATCHMEN webcast which will include integrated film footage and a post event edit with coverage of the red carpet at the UK premiere in London’s Leicester Square.

 

The Q&A forms part of a broader initiative promoting WATCHMEN within PlayStation Home.  This comprises opportunities to watch exclusive footage in Home’s cinema, and, from February 27th, to choose from a variety of WATCHMEN virtual merchandise including character costumes, t-shirts and even your very own Doomsday clock, from the Home store.

 

As a first of its kind in PlayStation Home this activity signals PPI’s continuing commitment to innovative and experimental film marketing.  It is being co-ordinated by specialist film marketing agency Picture Production Company and Deluxe Corporation, who previously worked with PPI to give films including IRON MAN and TRANSFORMERS an extra dimension in virtual world Second Life.

 

Heath Tyldesley, Director, Interactive Marketing, Paramount Pictures International, commented: “WATCHMEN’s presence in PlayStation Home is a continuation of our commitment to using cutting edge platforms as media to bring fans and film-makers closer together and create a deeper engagement with movie audiences”.

Download the press release and images here.

Who's watching the Watchmen in PlayStation Home?

So, this morning SCEE announced that all those PS3 owners eager to get their virtual feet into Home can do so from tomorrow.

Within the announcement are a few of the initiatives we have had up our sleeve for Watchmen in Home. We have been busy building T-shirts, avatars and even apartment Doomsday clocks, which will be available from January ahead of a very special event taking place in February.

Here's the official blurb:

Starting with the release of the highly anticipated film, Watchmen, Paramount Pictures International will use PlayStation®Home to promote its latest films. Initially, PlayStation®Home residents will be able to view an exclusive video greeting from Watchmen Director Zack Snyder as well as the latest Watchmen trailer. A selection of virtual Watchmen merchandise e.g. T-Shirts with the smiley face logo, Doomsday clocks and character statues, will also be available in the New Year, ahead of an exclusive Q & A event where cast and filmmakers will meet selected press and competition winners fans within the Watchmen themed environment.

In the meantime, we have added a nice little exclusive introduction from Zack Snyder to the full length trailer already showing in Home. Here is a little video sneak peek of how it looks.