Games and Art Converge as ‘The Studio’ Opens in the Americas

89 6
Games and Art Converge as ‘The Studio’ Opens in the Americas

After much success in Europe, we are excited to launch PlayStation’s digital art platform – ‘The Studio’ – across the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil in the PlayStation Store tomorrow. Games and art converge on PSN with The Studio’s unique collection of dynamic and static themes, which give PSN users access to affordable and cool art in their homes and on the go.

Thanks to our partner Studio Output, PSN users across the Americas will be able to further personalize their experience on PSN with the finest offerings in everything from urban street art to illustrations that have been uniquely digitized into new static and dynamic downloadable themes from PSN.

Anthony Burrill - The StudioHydro74 - The Studio

Jasper Goodall - The StudioMaharishi - The Studio

In a first for the platform, Studio Output will bring in a series of guest designers from the music and fashion worlds alongside renowned artists. Headlining the new contributors are global stars Kasabian, who have just released their fourth album ‘Velociraptor’, as well as no. 1 UK urban artist and producer Labrinth, with more high profile acts soon to be announced. Also signed up from the fashion world are urban designer Maharishi, streetwear brand ADDICT Clothing and set designer and illustrator Gary Card. Joining them are famed Iron Maiden illustrator Derek Riggs, visionary music photographer and director Timothy Saccenti, the artist who defined Britpop, Michael Gillette, and the world’s premier paper sculptor, Jeff Nishinaka.

The Studio XMB (XrossMediaBar) themes for PS3 will cost $2.99 each, with 20% off for PlayStation Plus subscribers and can be found in the PlayStation Store under The Studio icon in the Themes & Avatars category after the PlayStation Store publishes tomorrow.

Studio Output Play - The StudioEboy - The Studio

mcAttee - The StudioJagovsMcAttee - The Studio

Take an “artwalk” and check out all the offerings in The Studio at http://www.studio-output.com/the-studio-month-1.

Comments are closed.

89 Comments

6 Author Replies

  • Seriously would someone tell the web designers to drop the x-repeat on the background of the BLOG. It looks like crap and not very professional after 2 years of seeing the the damn things plastered across my screen like a mural created by pre-schoolers with the imagination of a sea turtle.

  • wow these look amazing, great job studio output.

  • It looks great.

  • I seen about 4 I really want, that city one looks awesome! Also great being a plus member since we get a discount and @1, its call a opinion.

  • Looks coll but you can make your own theme for Free not to mention all the web sites that offer them for Free any way. been on PS3 since 06 and I have never bought a Theme. Sorry nice try though(;

  • That is a cool creative art, AWESOME SONY!!!

  • I got the Studio Output Advent Calendar from the EU store yesterday and it’s amazing. Really beautiful. I turned on my PS3 today and it’s completely different from yesterdays (I guess that’s the ‘Advent Calendar’ part).
    If this is what we can expect from the new ‘The Studio’ program, then I think we’re in for some amazing themes. I may even have to permanently retire my ‘Sackboy on the Run’ theme.

  • @1

    I believe xbox has a home waiting for you, they designed a horrible new dashboard just for your specific tastes

  • As an Art Student, this has me excited. I see about 10 themes I’d purchase, most of which are Dynamic themes.

    I look forward to more colorful and exciting themes in the future for “The Studio”, any plans to allow us PSN Users a chance to create our own themes?

  • sweet for sure checking this out!!

  • Microsoft gives us a sleeker, faster, more efficient dashboard. They give us a nice YouTube app so we can watch videos on our TV with relative ease and no awful browser getting in the way.

    Nintendo gives us sleep mode downloads, system transfer, eShop demos, and redeemable codes (although, to be fair, they were really only playing catch-up to what we should have had at launch, so they shouldn’t get too much praise. some, but not a lot).

    Sony gives us one PSN account per PS vita, a bunch of lag and freezing issues with the 4.0 update and some artsy fartsy wallpapers that we’ll spend a very small amount of time looking at in between booting up the console and navigating to the game or app we want to use on our PS3.

    ….. yay? -_-

  • some of those themes are really neat looking but I doubt that I will every spend any money on any theme download

  • the blog should have a section in which we can preview the themes. Also it would be nice if those artists make some themes about FIRST PARTY GAMES (OWNED BY SONY).

  • might just get the play theme.

  • btw sony where can i get that winter theme with the two penguins that’s on the store?

  • Sony, you guys really need to start getting your head in the game… ever since the incident back in April you have just been digging yourselves a deeper and deeper hole…

    everything you do now is ticking people off. 2 PS3’s per game now? fine, whatever. one account per PS Vita? that’s really pushing it, you will lose sales. memory card required? REALLY!? nowadays most systems use internal memory. and PS Vita games are on cartridges, why can’t you just save game data to the cartridge like Nintendo games?

    so the Vita can handle Xross Game Chat when the PS3 can’t, but for some reason it can’t do internal memory? yeah ok.

    and the freezing and glitch issues you guys caused with the 4.0 update is just beyond unacceptable. Firmware updates should fix crap, not break it further.

  • and don’t get me started on PS+…. STOP REPEATING CONTENT!!!!!!!!!!

    I don’t pay you $50 a year to have you release Spyro for free 3 times in 6 months. NOT COOL.

    I swear to God Sony, you guys better have something HUGE in store for us for Christmas or something, and not some stupid movie rental for a movie that came out 20 years ago.

    You need to redeem yourselves, and badly, and it’s gonna take a lot for that too happen. Right now you’re losing the Console War, and you only have yourselves to blame, it’s your fault for doing stupid crap like removing features and implementing stuff like “PSN Pass” (seriously, I mean… SERIOUSLY?!?!?)

    If you want to save yourselves you better do a complete 180, and fast.

  • I really hate to be honest but I feel like there are a bunch of awesome wallpapers we can get for free.

    Will the Vita be able to have themes as well?

  • Can we PLEASE get the ability to change the overall font color of the XMB??

    There are a lot of themes that use bright backgrounds and it would be nice to change the font from white to black at least.

    Is it really that hard to do? I mean seriously. I don’t care if you can’t do colors, but at least an option for black or white text.

    PLEASE!!!

    This has bothered me since themes became available, does nobody else see how lame that is.

    Getting the FREE dynamic clock theme through Plus with its bright whiteness was like a joke.

  • Very cool themes, very artsy. I’d buy about 2-3 of those dynamic themes if I had the spare cash, but paying 2.99 for a static theme is just…a rip off imo. I don’t care if Picasso made a static theme, 2.99 is a bit much. Price them at 1.99 and then we’ll talk.

    But agree with KidCommando, make an option to change the font color of the xmb. I almost always have to use a dark theme/wallpaper/background to even see what I’m doing.

  • Man that PSN logo just makes every theme look ugly… The only theme I like is the PSN THEME! lol, because that’s the only one that actually fits with the logo. Themes with different ranging main XMB logo’s with different styles and designs for each one are nice, but the logos always seem much bigger than the PSN logo and it stands out again! lol. I only wish it could be edited.

  • Some of those themes are AWESOME!!!!!!!

  • Come on Sony, it is time to up your game a little bit! It is time to update the boring and outdated XMB to something more modern that actually uses the Playstation Move to its advantage (but controller should be supported too).

    Let’s face it, XMB is extremely bland and unimaginative compared to the constant updates coming from MS on 360.

    But I am afraid, having people buying premium themes, makes the XMB redesign impossible since they spend money on something that they will expect to use for the life of the PS3 cycle.

  • I agree with KidCommando, please update the theme options to allow us to change the font colors.

    As someone who does not think the XMB interface needs an update, I am pleased to see this. These are some great themes by great artists (but themes are somewhat pricey). The XMB is simple and effective, with no need to receive a flashy update. It does the job, and allows for backgrounds such as these. The PSN Profiles could stand to receive an update, though. How about getting these great artists to spruce up the profile backgrounds?

    Now, clean up some of these additional PS Store icons, and allow us to create one sub-folder in the Games tab. I’d like to separate my games by “Move/SIXAXIS Games” “Retro/Remix Games”, et cetera.

  • Also, in a future update:

    – could you allow for an option to either use the theme’s sounds, use the default PS3 sounds, or go with no sounds? Some themes are great but have annoying sound effects.

    – please make sure these all have some template design to use so a newly released icon doesn’t look completely different. There’s older themes that don’t have this feature, and new icons don’t match.

  • @11 – We’ll have to agree to disagree on the “sleeker, faster, more efficient dashboard” comment, because I find the new Xbox 360 dashboard to be a gigantic, chaotic, confused mess. The XMB runs circles around it in terms of simplicity, speed, efficiency, and getting to what you want.

    In terms of these new themes, however, just in the preview video I’m already seeing more than a few that make XMB menu readability near impossible. I quite enjoy the idea of customizing the experience with a bit of style, but not the expect of actually being able to use the PS3’s UI properly.

    I wish more theme creators would consider that—I swear, many of these people don’t seem to actually use the themes they make—and/or that the XMB would allows users to tweak certain things to head in readability.

  • @23 – The problem with UI design is that people who have never done it themselves make statements like this. The XMB may seem “bland and unimaginative”, but a user interface isn’t just supposed to be pretty—it’s supposed to provide the most efficient and friendly means through which a user interacts with a device.

    Changing the XMB just because it’s “old” or “boring” aren’t legitimate reasons. Having done a lot of UI design myself, doing things that are flashy, fun, or exciting are great for, say, websites where you’re showing off a gallery of your design work, photos, or something like that. For most other types of websites, they become an utter mess.

    I’m not saying Sony couldn’t (or shouldn’t) do a better job, but the XMB is great at what it does already (with some exceptions). Microsoft has gotten people into the habit of thinking that game console UI needs to serious change every few years, but they’re doing that because (a) their priorities keep changing, and what they want the Xbox 360 to be changes along with that, and (b) they seem to have a problem coming up with one interface that works well for all of their needs.

  • nice ;)

  • Wow, those themes look great!

  • @27 – I am not saying they should change whatever works but rather make it look fresh. I understand that the XMB is functional, but they can introduce better, more modern design and still use the XMB as a template.

    I would rather see large icons or rectangle pictures with some fancy shaders on them for the options instead of seeing plain text. That would help to fix the unreadable text mess on busy backgrounds and still make it look fun and relative to today’s standards.

  • Please. Why is it we always have these idiots taking about Microsoft on this site? This a PlayStation Site. Spare us the Xbox Live dash board comparisons. It is an interface. It doesn’t HAVE to be sleek it doesn’t have to be shiny. The XMB functions the way its supposed to. Just because Microsoft wants to make shiny things to distract you every second with their interface who gives a $hit? I don’t remember any rule saying your interface has to look like a shiny art gallery.

    They made Youtube look bright and shiny. So What? I have been watching Youtube on my PS3 for years thanks to the web browser Sony put on the PS3 that the 360 does not have. Who cares? Does the shiny Youtube show different shows or show better? No. Microsoft is good at making things shiny so they can distract you from crap they do to screw you over. Too bad they only thought of making Xbox Live instead of making a reliable system that didn’t break 50% of the time or making some decent games or trying to keep their studios open. Just shut up already

  • I just buy the hot babes theme, especially if its dynamic :P

  • @31 – Because there will always be idiots who like flashy, shinny interfaces, me included. You should always try to innovate. You stagnate and you lose the game.

  • The two ways I wish the XMB could be updated would be:

    Make the XMB more Move-Friendly
    – when using a Move controller, and the Move button is pressed, all of the tab icons would rearrange to a more pointer-friendly layout. The tab icons would be laid out all over the screen, and once pointed at with the Move, would go into the next layer of whatever is contained within that tab. Push the PS button on a standard Dualshock controller to return to the normal XMB layout.

    Let me control that ribbon!
    – when moving the Dualshock with the SIXAXIS controls, let me move the ribbon on the default XMB background. When using the Move, let me do a lot more with it, possibly adding wind, sand, water, and fire elements with a push of each of the four buttons.

  • I’m harsh picking up that “Play” theme. Looks so sick.

  • @ 27, pikoeri- the UI is simple & functional. Exactly! IMO, the XBOX UI is better suited for touchscreen w/ each section have multiple boxes (portals). Sometimes I don’t even know if my cursor is on that box when using the controller… again. each UI is not perfect. I’m hoping a Sony update can add:

    1. Multiple file selection (copy, pasting, & deletion)
    2. Ability to copy files as a “background process”
    3. Improved internet browser
    4. Improved Move control as FORMIK mentioned
    5. Obliviously plenty more…

    @ 31, cosmis_chaos- Yep, let’s stay on topic! I can’t wait to see these themes on my PS3!

    Nice job guys!

  • When I can get better themes for free that aren`t a chaotic mess and which doesn`t cost a ridiculous 2.99, I won`t be wasting my money on this. None appeal to me, and I`m an artist. Sony needs to stop with the ridiculously high prices and be more user friendly, they should be more considerate to those of us who aren`t Plus Users yet still give them money. Instead we just get slapped in the face.

    PS Plus is also a joke and I feel sad for those who got it. You say you get free stuff but you don`t, you have to keep paying every month to keep them. I had a 30 day free membership to Plus and I hated it. Sony isn`t going to improve if people keep sucking up to them. It`s good to see people standing up to them for better service.

  • Oh, some of those are really nice.

  • A lot of those look great, but I’m not spending $3 on something as simple as a theme for my PS3. I could buy DLC for that price, and that would be something I actually can play with, not just something to look at.

  • A lot of these look awesome! I tell you now Sony, that I will buy anything by Olly Moss. Make it happen!

  • That is some beautiful eye candy.

    Now get them to make me an avatar!!!

  • FINALLY!

    I have to come out and say it…I’m seriously sick of all the objectified “T&A” themes that litter the store. I love the form of a women, but it’s an atrociously abundant ratio of the themes available to us on both PSP and PS3.

    These are classy, refreshing, and fun…

    …now just up the limit on how many Themes I can store on my PS3 and you have more than a few purchases from me, guaranteed!

  • How about “The Studio” as a move program that we can make our own themes and share them with friends and vote on them and blah blah blah. That’s what I thought this was when I first saw it. I don’t think I’ll buy any of these but only because I don’t buy themes ever. I spend my money on games, not virtual wallpaper. But they do look cool.

    @jgrizzle
    Nobody will listen to you when you present your case like a brat and post nitpick items ad nauseum. If Sony products are so bad you have the right as a consumer to go elsewhere. Please do so. Or stay and offer solutions.

  • @FORMIK you can assign album names to your games based on whether they fit those categories by going to the games’ information (triangle button for options when hovering on game) and selecting album. then you can sort by album on the games tab to have the games grouped into those subfolders. this cleans up your games tab if you have a lot of content and usually makes it easier to find content quickly.

  • @texas_ride, thanks for the comment, and I am aware of that option. But rather than a bunch of folders, I’d rather one for games, one for demos, and one for other stuff (e.g. Qore). Within the “games” folder, you could sort how you like.

  • @43 the only solution that will save them is to stop taking stuff away from us and start listening to our feedback more.

    That is Sony’s biggest issue, they don’t care about their customers. not one bit. All they care about is money.

  • It’ll cost ya.

  • Looks pretty awesome.Cant wait to see it.

  • @46 “the only solution that will save them is to stop taking stuff away from us and start listening to our feedback more.”

    Welcome to the corporate world. Same could said for any company. Microsoft and Nintendo aren’t exactly Mother Teresa’s either. Nintendo fans have been asking for more hardcore Wii support, and what do they do? Release 1 Zelda game, and announce a new system. Microsoft fans have been kind of the same, wanting good 360 support but instead get gimmicky Kinect games out the back end.

    No company cares what you want. It’s a business, and this is nothing new. No matter what console, PC, smartphone, TV, waffle maker, etc. you buy, you’re gonna find something to nit pick about. You’re just gonna have to deal with it.

  • I am actually starting to feel like a PlayStation Citizen now. Home gets the PS Plus icons to wear above our heads.Now we get all these artsy dynamic themes in our NA Store..THAT’S the way you do it PlayStation!!.Make me proud to stand up and announce:”Hey,why don’t you join plus, it’s killer or hey buddy, you should check out the PSN store and deck out your XMB with some fine art from a dynamic theme”.

    Proof below how much I believe in Sony PlayStation.Thank You!
    [DELETED]

Please enter your date of birth.

Date of birth fields