PlayStation.Blog » playstation community http://blog.us.playstation.com The official PlayStation Blog for news and video updates on PS3, PS4, PSN, PS Vita, PSP Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:22:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Go Behind-the-Scenes at E3 with PlayStation on Instagram http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/06/06/go-behind-the-scenes-at-e3-with-playstation-on-instagram/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/06/06/go-behind-the-scenes-at-e3-with-playstation-on-instagram/#comments Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:00:40 +0000 Roberto Kusabbi http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=107896 Fred has kindly let me come on here, say hi, and tell you about something we’re working on for E3. Thanks Fred!]]> PlayStation on Instagram

Hi PlayStation Blog readers – my name is Roberto and I’m new here. You may see me a bit more in the future as I manage PlayStation EU’s social spaces, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and any others we may add in future. Fred has kindly let me come on here, say hi, and tell you about something we’re working on for E3. Thanks Fred!

First of all, I wanted to let you all know that we have some big plans for our social spaces, so do stick with us. And if you currently follow us on Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else, please keep letting us know what you like and what you don’t like – it really helps us improve. We want to make our social spaces as engaging, fun and visual as possible, and we’ll be testing all sorts of things in the future to ensure we pull that off.

With the annual E3 show just around the corner, we’ve been thinking about how we can best tell the story of the week to our fans. With it being such a visual event, we thought that one of the best ways we could do that is with Instagram.

Our American colleagues have an account up-and-running right now, and in future we’ll be sharing the management of the feed, meaning you’ll get a really wide view of all things PlayStation. You can check out the PlayStation Instagram page now.

We’ll be kicking it off properly at E3, so give us a follow to get a real inside track. We’ll be sharing lots of behind-the-scenes photos, live updates and anything else we can take photos of (and are allowed to)! And not always with filters, so don’t worry – we’re not going to become *too* hipster.

We’ll also be using our other channels, especially Twitter and Facebook, to not only communicate all the breaking news from this year’s show, but also to give you an insider’s glimpse into the biggest gaming show on earth. Of course, the time difference between Europe and Los Angeles might make it tricky for some of you to follow us live, but we’ll be using Storify and PlayStation Blog to wrap up all the day’s activities at a more EU-friendly time of day.

For those of you who aren’t on Instagram, you can find out more on their website, but in a nutshell it’s a fantastic (IMO) mobile-first photo sharing community that’s really easy to use. We’re looking forward to testing it out and engaging with you all on the platform! See you there.

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/06/06/go-behind-the-scenes-at-e3-with-playstation-on-instagram/feed/ 18 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/06/instagram.jpg 4.6Social Media and Community Manager, SCEE 18 2 PlayStation Community Update: Level Up Game Center http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/22/playstation-community-update-level-up-game-center/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/22/playstation-community-update-level-up-game-center/#comments Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:15:58 +0000 Paul Sullivan http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=102557 Community Forums to get some feedback on his unique position. He was “presented with a business opportunity with unlimited possibilities,” and as should anyone with such an opportunity, Robert turned to his peers for advice. ]]> In April of 2010, Robert Steele (PSN ID: rsteele), reached out to the PlayStation community through the Community Forums to get some feedback on his unique position. He was “presented with a business opportunity with unlimited possibilities,” and as should anyone with such an opportunity, Robert turned to his peers for advice.

The plea was simple; if I’m going to make a game lounge, what would other gamers want to see in such a creation? Gamers of all types hopped in the discussion and gave Robert some much needed guidance. In a few months, Robert had his lounge up and running. After a year he was hosting BBQs, gaming marathons and LAN tournaments. Now, almost three years since that first post, Level Up Gaming Center is as strong as ever.

PlayStation Community Update 3-22-2013PlayStation Community Update 3-22-2013

If you’re ever in the Augusta, GA area, be sure to drop by Robert’s lounge. If you can’t make it to Georgia, be sure to support your local game center. If you want to start your own, don’t forget to keep your gaming community in mind! Robert didn’t, and his dream is now a reality.

PlayStation Community Update 3-22-2013

Level Up Game Center is a brick-and-mortar gamer’s lounge in Augusta, GA. Founder Rick Steele turned to the PlayStation Community Forums back in 2010 to gather feedback on what would make a great lounge.

I set aside some time to talk to Robert now that his Lounge and gaming repair shop is a well-established business. Aside from being a great guy, he was also able to share some pretty cool insight. Here’s what he had to say:

Paul: What led you to choose a gaming lounge when you had the opportunity to launch a business?

Robert: Some family members wanted another family owned business to place at a location they owned that had a recent vacancy. We talked about several different business ideas including equipment rental and even a tanning salon. After several weeks of brainstorming and research a gaming lounge or LAN center was the one idea that everyone seemed to be interested in. I am very happy that we did not choose to put in a tanning salon. July of this year will be our 3rd anniversary.

Paul: Why did you choose to create a thread in the PlayStation forums looking for feedback, what did you gain from it?

Robert: I had never been to a LAN center or gaming lounge before and I had been a member of the PlayStation forums for a long time. I knew it was one place that we could get a response from gamers who would also be our target customer base. It helped in several ways, there were posts about similar existing businesses, which meant other people were doing what we wanted to do, and they were able to tell me directly what they liked or disliked about those places. Posting there helped us create a space and atmosphere that we knew gamers would love.

Paul: What was the greatest challenge you faced when launching this business, how did you overcome it?

Robert: The biggest challenge was and still is getting the word out that our business is here. Television, radio, and billboard advertising is very expensive so we went the route of social media and word of mouth advertising. I have worked with other video game stores in the area, pizza delivery places, and even larger retailer’s electronic departments helped spread the word about our business. Cross promotional deals with other businesses in the area are a great ways to advertise for very little cost.

Paul: What’s the typical demographic for your customer base (age, etc.)?

Robert: Our average customer is male between the ages of 18 and 24. Although I have had customers as old as 76 and as young as 5. The video game audience is much more diverse than most people realize. Ideally Level Up is a place where the whole family: mom, dad, brother, and sister can come and enjoy some aspect of what we have to offer and we do have several families that are frequent visitors.

Paul: About how many visitors do you have in a given month?

Robert: After almost 3 years in business I still see 80 to 100 new customers per month. I’ve had thousands of individuals come through and many of them hold tournaments, have their birthday parties, or attend other special events we hold on a regular basis.

Paul: What are the most popular games at your lounge, how has that evolved over the past couple years?

Robert: The Call of Duty series has always had an enormous following. We’ve held tournaments for Modern Warfare 2 as well as the first Black Ops. PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale has developed a really solid following and is a part of the regular tournaments we hold at our all night events. I have had customers that play through the entire story line of games like Uncharted 3 and God of War 3 in one sitting. Then others play Rock Band or Guitar Hero for hours at a time.

Games are becoming more cinematic with larger worlds, more detailed character development, and more engaging story lines. I believe anyone can look at the differences between games like Borderlands 1 and Borderlands 2 and see that developers are going further and further with what they can offer the players in terms of entertainment and game play.

Paul: What’s YOUR favorite game and why?

Robert: It’s very difficult to pick just one game. Warhawk was my favorite and one of the first games I had on the PS3 and I played an absurd amount of time on that game. I also made a lot of lasting friendships and still have a lot of those people on my friends list today. So many games are just point and shoot, Warhawk allowed players to be effective that might not have been the best “shooters” but used communication, the map, strategy, and teamwork to compete against others with more “skill”.

Lately I’ve been playing Borderlands 2 and Tomb Raider. I also really enjoy PSN games like PAIN, Trash Panic, Dungeon Defenders, and Battle Tanks, I like these because they provide hours of quality enjoyment and are relatively cheap.

Paul: Do you plan on expanding the business, if so where?

Robert: I would love to expand and have a laser tag arena attached to the existing lounge. There is a chance that it could be in the same building or some property that is close by. The only issue with that is that I am the only full time employee at Level Up for the time being. I am constantly adding in more stations to keep up with the crowds that show up for our all night events. Currently we reach capacity (50-60 people depending on what they are playing) in about 20-30 minutes after opening the doors. I want to have enough space and as many stations as it takes to let everyone play here during those times!

Paul: What’s your greatest experience you’ve had while running the lounge?

Robert: Any time I can repair a system or console for a customer that is a great feeling. Taking something that’s dead and bringing it back to life is cool even if it’s just a video game console, for some people that might be their only form of entertainment. I also really enjoy introducing customers to games they have never played before, especially if they like the game I suggest.

We’ve done charity events, worked with the local military base, and other community organizations all of which were great experiences. I would have to say creating a community and a location where there are all different people can enjoy one common bond, video games, is by far the coolest thing we’ve done at Level Up.

Paul: What advice would you give to other gamer entrepreneurs?

Robert: Be creative. If you have an idea for a business there are plenty of ways you can make it happen. Chances are there is someone out there that’s willing to talk to you, give you a contact, or a resource that will help you more than you can imagine. The most important person in your plans will be you. You will be the one driving the idea. If you attempt something and it doesn’t work learn from it and try something different. Also networking with the right people will make everything easier. I’m in constant contact with other LAN/lounge owners who are currently operating or are looking to open something similar in their area via http://startalancenter.com.

If you’ve got an amazing story about how gamers and our communities have helped you, or how you’ve helped them, let us know. Post in the comments below, or reach out to me on the PlayStation Forums.

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Next week we have a very special #WinItWed prize. We can’t tell you exactly what it is right now, but lets just say the possibilities are Infinite! Stay tuned to @HeyPlayStation on Twitter to find out!

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/22/playstation-community-update-level-up-game-center/feed/ 18 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/bloghome_levelup_032213.jpg 4.49Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms 18 1 PlayStation Community Update: Ascendant Edition http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/15/playstation-community-update-ascendant-edition/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/15/playstation-community-update-ascendant-edition/#comments Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:33:32 +0000 Aaron Kaufman http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=101971 God of War: Ascension has descended upon the world. The Blades of Chaos are back in full force -- maybe you've already taken them for a brutal swing this week. Either way, we're back, and this time, here to support our Champions, the God of War community, in what we hope to be a growing post-launch success - particularly with our new multiplayer.]]> Champions, God of War: Ascension has descended upon the world. The Blades of Chaos are back in full force — maybe you’ve already taken them for a brutal swing this week. Either way, we’re back, and this time, here to support our Champions, the God of War community, in what we hope to be a growing post-launch success – particularly with our new multiplayer. Our team is excited and passionate to provide our multiplayer community with post-launch – balance updates, upcoming weapon & armor DLC packs, and more as the community thrives.

Here are a few links to help prepare you for a long weekend of God of War: Ascension:

And be sure to stay checked-in to our official site, as we are planning an adrenaline-packed “Game w/ Dev” weekend.

PlayStation Community Update 3-15-2013

While we are just kicking off the Ascension era, we wanted to encourage everyone to visit our Multiplayer General Forum to engage in upcoming community events, learn and share strategies with fellow Champions, and get the direct word from The Gods, our developers. Perhaps even The Boat Captain himself (he makes special appearances). You can also visit our Community Portal for a direct link to all of our social channels here at Sony Santa Monica.

To celebrate the launch of Ascension, we partnered up with Geek & Sundry (run by the lovely Felicia Day), to establish the Blades of Chaos as the focal point in their new video game weapon series, Arcade Arms. This pilot episode takes an in-depth look at the creation of the blades and the original Spartan weapons that influenced its design. It also features a legit weaponsmith who has to be seen to be believed. Geek & Sundry is also running an Ascension giveaway contest that’s super easy to enter. After you watch the video hit this link to enter.


Additionally, YouTube sensation “Tobuscus” took our live action “From Ashes” trailer and gave it a very literal makeover. Prepare for a “sad moment, happy moment, sad moment, happy moment, angry moment, sad moment, angry moment, happy moment,” and the beat goes on…


God of War Community Happenings

PlayStation Community Spotlight 3-15-2013

Community legend Spider-Jew has created an Ascension Community Game Night. Beginning this Saturday (and continuing weekly), he will be streaming Multiplayer matches to create an atmosphere of epic moments and a fun time for everyone getting into the craziness. The events will be on his Twitch channel. If you are interested in being on the stream, you can sign up in this thread.

PlayStation Community Update 3-15-2013

Looking for multiplayer comrades or frenemies? Add your tag to this thread to join others in random bouts.

In need of a guide for those extra pesky areas? Site Gameranx has started a series of complete game video walkthroughs for your viewing pleasure.

Finally, in the lead up to the launch of Ascension, we have seen some of the most incredible fan-art we could ever imagine. Our art team has the highest respect for each of these skilled artists. We recently launched a Fandom section on our official website. If you feel you have something worthy of the gods’ selection, please drop us a line.

One of our personal favorites.

Do well Champions — Ascend!

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products Wednesdays on Twitter! Follow @HeyPlayStation on Twitter for more details.

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/15/playstation-community-update-ascendant-edition/feed/ 52 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/bloghome_gowa_031513.jpg 4.27Community Strategist, Santa Monica Studio 52 4 PSN Community Update: A Chat with PSNStores.com http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/08/psn-community-update-a-chat-with-psnstores-com/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/08/psn-community-update-a-chat-with-psnstores-com/#comments Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:22:23 +0000 Morgan Haro http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=101574 PSNStores.com. We did a quick chat online that I hope you guys find illuminating. Who knows? Maybe one of you will find an opportunity to carve out a niche for covering the PlayStation universe!]]> Being a part of the PlayStation Community can mean a number of different things. By and large, most people keep it pretty simple: they game, check out news, game reviews and maybe engage in some heated competition online. Others find it satisfying to flesh out FAQs, or walkthroughs, or contribute to other online references. Then there some who become a go-to source of information about a certain area of PlayStation gaming.

With that in mind, I figured it might be interesting to hear about what it’s like to run your own dedicated PlayStation website. I reached out to Chris Kuspis, editor-in-chief of the community-run website PSNStores.com. We did a quick chat online that I hope you guys find illuminating. Who knows? Maybe one of you will find an opportunity to carve out a niche for covering the PlayStation universe!

PSNStores

PSNStores.com is a PlayStation enthusiast website, started by members of the PlayStation Community. They are not affiliated with SCEA or SNEA.

Morgan: For the uninitiated, tell us a bit about PSNStores.com; maybe in a sentence or three.

Chris: PSNStores.com is a place for smaller digital only games to get coverage. When it started it was basically just a place where I posted all the new releases for every PlayStation Store across multiple regions. So if you wanted to know what was out on the Japanese PlayStation Store for the week, we would have it. Now while we still do that, we are now more focused on providing overall coverage of content found on any PlayStation Store.

Morgan: It’s interesting, with a focus on smaller titles, I’m sure back when you first started, you wouldn’t see many disc-based titles, if any, released digitally. It was mainly just bite sized (yet awesome) PSN Games. Nowadays, it’s bit different with things like Day 1 Digital being fairly commonplace on PlayStation. Has this shift changed how you guys cover content on PlayStation Store?

Chris: Not really. Sure big titles like Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception are popping up on the store, and that’s great, but we really want to keep the spotlight on smaller budget games. Most of the time it is just a few people working on them and PSNStores.com gives them an outlet that is always willing to talk about their title.

Morgan: I can see that. So, what inspired you to put a lot of your energy towards building this site? What was the moment where you realized ‘I need to do this’?

Chris: I had been doing (and still do) a weekly PlayStation Store post on a popular internet message board to keep those guys updated and stimulate discussion on PSN content. At the top I would post news about upcoming releases some recent reviews, things like that. I noticed that for some games it was really hard to find information; keep in mind this was back when PlayStation Blog just started. So a few days later I got the idea to make a website and boom PSNStores was born.

Morgan: So, ok, you started your site, things are off and running; but any special challenges or things you didn’t see coming that proved to be a hurdle in the beginning days, or maybe even more recently?

Chris: It is always the things you don’t think of. Like the cost of webhosting, how do you make money on a small site, things like that. It should be noted that most of us have full-time jobs outside of working on the site. It really is something we do because we love talking about games.

Morgan: I can imagine most people in the community, if they chose to take seriously starting up their own site, or being some sort of source for news/opinion on gaming would be in the same shoes where they might need to maintain a full time job. So in this business where news and stories can break at any time, how does PSNStores.com stay on top of this stuff?

Chris: Social media sites are a big help. Most of the time, smaller companies and devs will post news out to their Twitter feed or Facebook page before sending out information to the press. If something pops up, I can post it right away, even if it’s at 3 AM.

Morgan: Well, obviously, social media is going to continue to play a big part in how we all get our gaming news, and of course how we watch our friends play games. How do you see your site, and the content and coverage you guys work on, evolving as we march into a new generation of gaming?

Chris: I think video coverage is going to be the next big thing, especially with what we’ve seen from some of the features discussed on the PlayStation 4. Right now only a few people here at the site have ways to capture video to use when we do a weekly live new release show. But with the social features on the PS4, it seems like we could make videos showing off interesting parts of games rather quickly.

Morgan: Yeah, I’ve been a big fan of events like EVO which really captures the excitement of fighting games so that anyone can have a blast watching it. But it’ll be really interesting to see how this continues to be a part of gaming culture. To close it out; any words of advice you want to give to any aspiring game writers / bloggers who want to make a name for themselves in the field of community-based gaming destinations?

Chris: Go to events, like PAX, and talk to developers. This industry is all about networking. Also just start writing, even if you don’t have a website. There are plenty for-free services out there where you can get your thoughts out online. If anyone has any specific questions I will be hanging around the comments and try to answer them the best I can.

Morgan: Appreciate the insight, thanks Chris.

That’s all for now. Check out PSNStores.com and feel free to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for another lens on PlayStation coverage that you can get in addition to the PlayStation Blog. They also run a regular podcast you can tune in to.

Do you run your own community destination that covers PlayStation content? Or maybe you’ve got a completely different way of interacting with the PlayStation Community that you think we should cover. Reach out to me on the PS Forums (Username: mochuuu) and let’s chat!

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products Wednesdays on Twitter! Next week we are giving away five God of War: Ascension Collector’s Editions. Follow @HeyPlayStation on Twitter for more details.

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/08/psn-community-update-a-chat-with-psnstores-com/feed/ 39 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/bloghome_psnstores2_0308131.jpg 4.28Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms 39 0 PlayStation Community Update: Venture Into Uncharted Territory http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/01/playstation-community-update-venture-into-uncharted-territory/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/01/playstation-community-update-venture-into-uncharted-territory/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:02:08 +0000 Eric Monacelli http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=101056 PlayStation Community forums have become a fertile, creative home for the discussion of the various Naughty Dog franchises but our UNCHARTED community has been truly remarkable. It’s a great place to meet some new friends and offer up your ideas about what you like to see and do in game.]]> The PlayStation Community forums have become a fertile, creative home for the discussion of the various Naughty Dog franchises but our UNCHARTED community has been truly remarkable. It’s a great place to meet some new friends and offer up your ideas about what you like to see and do in game.

PlayStation Community Update 3-1-2013

Visit the UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer General Forum in the PlayStation Community forums to learn about exciting community events, find new party members, talk with the developers and discuss the latest news.

We just launched our Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Free-To-Play and the community has never been more active. We’re looking forward to the new players from the Free-To-Play joining in the community and our forums. We are constantly looking for ways to make our multiplayer game even deeper and grow our community even larger. Our community is an active force and has helped influence some great, intelligent tweaks to our game.

Around the launch of the retail game Luxis launched a campaign to get more colors into the multiplayer on the forums. There was overwhelming support from the community as the months rolled along so, after some internal deliberation and feasibility testing, we did it. There are now more colors for multiplayer characters in the game as of the patch we pushed this Monday. We took the opportunity to celebrate our longtime supporters via our Colorful theme this month. In our Uncharted 3 Tournament you can earn Rainbow Guns and the Rainbow Shirt. More importantly you can giggle at our Nyan Drake er, game, in your favorite browser.

The community has been very active in creating their own tournaments and events. One of the most unique ideas to seed itself into our game has been the B2K Summer Olympics, which lead to DrakeShepard and his Winter Olympics. Now the Community World Championship will be held in March. We are providing some very cool prizing that only the Top 5 winners of this championship will receive and be able to use in-game:

PlayStation Community Update 3-1-2013

PlayStation Community Update 3-1-2013PlayStation Community Update 3-1-2013

Pretty cool, right? We’ll be offering these same prizes to community for other championships, events, and competitions that the community runs and organizes in the future. So check our forums and stay active to learn what those events are if you want to earn these very rare in-game items.

One of the most unwavering and awesome events in our community is the Naughty Paws event. Naughty Paws are Community Game Nights that are run by Naughty Dog community member SweetPoison13. They are typically held every Saturday or at least one Saturday a month. They are very fun and very well run. Please visit Naughty Paws event thread to learn more.

PlayStation Community Update 3-1-2013

We’re excited to see what cool ideas you have brewing and look forward to continuing to make the UNCHARTED community grow and thrive. See you online!

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products Wednesdays on Twitter! Next week we are giving away MLB 13 THE SHOW. As a special bonus, we will also be celebrating PS Vita’s one year birthday this weekend by giving one away, as well as a bunch of games! Follow @HeyPlayStation on Twitter for more details.

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/03/01/playstation-community-update-venture-into-uncharted-territory/feed/ 19 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/bloghome_uc3ftp_030113.jpg 3.97Community Strategist, Naughty Dog 19 3 PlayStation Community Update http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/22/playstation-community-update-2/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/22/playstation-community-update-2/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:53:14 +0000 Paul Sullivan http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=100389 PlayStation Network Gamers’ Choice Awards (which you can still vote on until Monday, February 25th). In honor of this illustrious event, and of the sale next week, we’ve decided to dedicate this Community Update post some of the great fan art that PlayStation fans created in 2012. It was really tough to pick which examples to display in this post --there were so many great creations out there that you, the fans, have put together. The time, effort and love put into these pieces shines through, and there was no way to put all of the cool content into one blog post. We did our best, though, and limited it to games in the running for a Gamers’ Choice Award. Here are a few that we think show the passion of gamers, and the variety of ways to express that passion.]]> On Tuesday, we announced this year’s edition of the PlayStation Network Gamers’ Choice Awards (which you can still vote on until Monday, February 25th). In honor of this illustrious event, and of the sale next week, we’ve decided to dedicate this Community Update post some of the great fan art that PlayStation fans created in 2012.

It was really tough to pick which examples to display in this post — there were so many great creations out there that you, the fans, have put together. The time, effort and love put into these pieces shines through, and there was no way to put all of the cool content into one blog post.

We did our best, though, and limited it to games in the running for a Gamers’ Choice Award. Here are a few that we think show the passion of gamers, and the variety of ways to express that passion.

Artist: VengefulTorture
Game: Sound Shapes
Nominated For: Best PSN Game, Best Indie Game
Piece: Moon Escape (A Community Level)

PlayStation Community Update 2-22-2013

Photographer: Cynthia Veekens
Costumes and Connor: Rick Boer, Aveline: Dominique Boer
Game: Assassin’s Creed III
Nominated For: Best PS3 Full Game
Piece: AC III – Connor and Aveline, final

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Artist: Monkey Buonarroti
Game: Gravity Rush
Nominated For: Best PS Vita Game
Piece: Gravity Daze

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Artist: Memoski
Game: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Nominated For: Best PS3 Full Game
Piece: God of Rap

Journey_01

Artist: Amy Clarke
Game: Journey
Nominated For: Best PSN Exclusive, Best PSN Game, Best Indie Game
Piece: The Journeyer

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Artist: Unknown Dane Grannon
Game: Borderlands 2
Nominated For: Best PS3 Full Game
Piece: Unknown

There’s plenty more out there, too! If you’ve created some cool fan art, or just know someone who has, reply in the comments below and share a link to the work. We’d love to see what else the PlayStation community has to offer.

As always, check the links below for what’s going on in the world of PlayStation. See you next Friday!

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products Wednesdays on Twitter! Follow @HeyPlayStation to be eligible to win.

This week, we’ve got Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Next week, we’ll have Mass Effect prizes to celebrate the Mass Effect Paragon Lost animated movie. Stay tuned for @HeyPlayStation‘s PS Vita birthday celebration!

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/22/playstation-community-update-2/feed/ 58 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/community.jpg 3.99Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms 58 4 PlayStation Community: Dungeon Defenders XP Event http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/15/playstation-community-update/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/15/playstation-community-update/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:02:25 +0000 Josh Isom http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=99726 Dungeon Defenders community, we do things a little differently. If you need a refresher, Dungeon Defenders blends the looting and leveling of action-RPGs with the strategy and objectives of tower defense. You and up to three of your friends can team up to protect the precious Eternia Crystals from an ancient evil. Haven’t played Dungeon Defenders before? Now is a great time to start! It’s currently free for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and next week, we’re hosting another fantastic Community XP Event for our PS3 community. Click here to register, or read on to learn more. ]]> In the Dungeon Defenders community, we do things a little differently. If you need a refresher, Dungeon Defenders blends the looting and leveling of action-RPGs with the strategy and objectives of tower defense. You and up to three of your friends can team up to protect the precious Eternia Crystals from an ancient evil.

Haven’t played Dungeon Defenders before? Now is a great time to start! It’s currently free for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and next week, we’re hosting another fantastic Community XP Event for our PS3 community. Click here to register, or read on to learn more.

Our community team has one primary goal: to give Dungeon Defenders fans new and old the tools to make our game their own. From hosting their own events, to dictating the rules of ours, our fans know the game is just the beginning of the experience.

PlayStation Community Update 2-15-2013

Click here to learn more about the PS3 Dungeon Defenders Community XP Event!

This is your event. You choose the map. You choose the modifier. We provide the possibilities. Team up with the community team and your fellow defenders to earn a staggering 50 million XP on a game mode you won’t find anywhere else. Want to turn off the gravity and fly away into the sunset? Then Low Gravity is the choice for you. Want enemy Ogres to rain from the sky, Kazaam-style? Vote for Raining Ogres. You can also ramp up the game speed, beef up the enemies or try your luck with a one-hit-kill crystal. The choice is up to you.

The event takes place next Thursday, February 21st from 12:00pm to 8:00pm EST. You must sign up for the event to participate. To sign up, post on this thread with your PSN ID and the time of day you’ll be available to join us. Sign-ups end February 19th at 11:59am EST. We’ll post a final list of participants in our Console Event Google Doc. We can’t guarantee that we’ll get to everyone, but we’ll try our hardest.

If you’re new to the game, our forum community is always willing to help new players learn the ropes. While you’re there, stop by the Trading section to barter gear, pets and weapons. If you need help with a map, our Guides section has a wide variety of map builds to choose from.

I take great pride in our community team’s effort to cultivate a positive community atmosphere. Since our launch in October 2011, people have made new friends, discovered significant others and opened their minds to new experiences, all within the realm of Dungeon Defenders. But a community team is nothing without great community members. If you’ve been a fan for a day or a year, thank you for making this job easy. If you’re thinking about joining the family, stop on by our forums and introduce yourself. Oh and because we love you so much, click the images below to grab some ultra sweet Dungeon Defenders wallpapers. See you in the dungeons!

PlayStation Community Update 2-15-2013PlayStation Community Update 2-15-2013

Click on the images above to grab these Dungeon Defenders wallpaper for your Desktop

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products every Wednesday on Twitter!

Follow @HeyPlayStation on Twitter to be eligible to win tons of great prizes from PlayStation.

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/15/playstation-community-update/feed/ 34 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/dungeon.jpg 3.78Community Manager, Trendy Entertainment 34 7 PlayStation Community Update: The Amazing Community of Gran Turismo 5 http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/08/playstation-community-update-the-amazing-community-of-gran-turismo-5/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/08/playstation-community-update-the-amazing-community-of-gran-turismo-5/#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:01:47 +0000 Morgan Haro http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=99142 Battle Bowl, a massive Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 tournament between 2 competitive communities: FraggedNation and Urgent Fury. This tournament is going on all month so you can still sign up today! This week, we’re shining the spotlight on the legendary Gran Turismo series and some marquee community events that any racer might want to get involved in.]]> Welcome to this week’s PlayStation Community Update, where we shine the light on some of the most interesting content that is inherently owned and provided by you, the gamers. Last week, you may have checked out the Battle Bowl, a massive Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 tournament between 2 competitive communities: FraggedNation and Urgent Fury. This tournament is going on all month so you can still sign up today!

This week, we’re shining the spotlight on the legendary Gran Turismo series and some marquee community events that any racer might want to get involved in. We reached out to Gran Turismo 5 fanatic MasterGT to give us a breakdown of Gran Turismo 5 community events. If you love the series as much as millions of other gamers do, read on. Whether you’re a newcomer to Gran Turismo 5, or a racing vet, don’t hesitate to jump into some of these fantastic community races.

PlayStation Community Update

Don’t forget to download the 2014 Corvette Stingray Final Prototype, the latest DLC for Gran Turismo 5! Click here to add it to your cart from the SEN Online PlayStation Store.

PlayStation Community Update

Visit the Gran Turismo Events space in the PlayStation Community forums to join in the events, find new friends, and compete in an incredibly welcoming community.

Hey everyone, MastrGT here from the Gran Turismo PlayStation Community. The PlayStation Community forums are home to a lot of different things, but within the Gran Turismo 5 community, we’ve made a nice little home here by being able to meet racers new and old through a multitude of different events. So to start with, make sure you book mark it!

So that’s step 1; swing in and get to know the Gran Turismo community, filled with amazing players (some of which have been finalists in the GT Academy reality series), great Photo Mode artists, or racers who are generally knowledgeable of GT or cars and racing. In fact, for the past two years, this community has been using Gran Turismo to bring players of all abilities together on-line, no matter what type of racing interests them. Rally racing, NASCAR, F1, drifting, pick-up type racing, GT, Touring Car and just about any other type of high speed fun has been available here. Gran Turismo has the variety of cars, and the millions of drivers, to make this possible. Because of the depth of the GT community the GT Events forum always has something new going on, including the fresh Sunday Cup series of races!

And that brings us to Step 2; the races! Here’s how you can get in on the action with us. Two weekly events are specifically designed to attract racing fans from the broader forum membership and have had support from the PlayStation Community Management team, dedicated PlayStation Community forum members, and other special guests.

PlayStation Community Update

The Saturday Afternoon Events are run by GT community member, cr0wlft0fdmurder. Click here to visit the event page.

The Saturday afternoon races normally are longer races, taking up to about one hour to finish. That gives everyone a chance to settle in for a more measured and natural race, and we feel it captures the essence of racing cars. You can join in as soon as tomorrow, 2/9! Click here to check out the events page on the Saturday Afternoon Events.

PlayStation Community Update

The Monday Night Events are run by me, MastrGT. Click here to visit the event page.

The shorter Monday Night races have also been quite popular because they allow many players to race whenever they can during a weekday evening. The race program allows using virtually any and all of the 1,100 cars in GT, depending on each night’s race details: small street cars, then small race cars; bigger street cars, then bigger race cars. Anything is possible, no matter which car or track we use. The cars are usually very easy to find and down time between races is meant to be short, so the tempo is kept high. The open lobby can be very popular, but we can race over two, sometimes three, hours, making it very easy for you to join in on the fun.

Thanks MastrGT, representing the Gran Turismo community! There are a lot more racing events to be found, and you can find out about all of them by visiting the Events page in the PlayStation Community forums. If you’re a racing fan who’s looking for a great community with some heated competition, hop in to these areas and feel the GT Community love.

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Home

PS Trophy Leaderboard

Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products every Wednesday on Twitter! Next week we’re giving away voucher codes for the PS3 and PS Vita versions of Urban Trial Freestyle. Winners will also get a signed tshirt from French motorbike rider Julien Dupont, who is featured in the game.

Follow @HeyPlayStation on Twitter to be eligible to win this, and other prizes from PlayStation.

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/08/playstation-community-update-the-amazing-community-of-gran-turismo-5/feed/ 18 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/gt5.jpg 3.75Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms 18 2 This Week in the PlayStation Community http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/01/this-week-in-the-playstation-community-2/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/01/this-week-in-the-playstation-community-2/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:00:56 +0000 Paul Sullivan http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=96405 Cade introduced our new twist on the Community Spotlight. Now it’s my turn to highlight something going on in the PlayStation Community. Last week we showcased the creative and talented moemarston, but not all weeks will be related to creative fans. Sometimes we’ll get a chance to focus on those of us with a nice, healthy competitive streak. And this is one of those weeks! Starting today, and running all through the month of February, is the inaugural Battle Bowl. Two of PlayStation’s biggest community-driven tournament sites have teamed up to bring us an epic series of tournaments called Battle Bowls.]]> Last Friday, Cade introduced our new twist on the Community Spotlight. Now it’s my turn to highlight something going on in the PlayStation Community. Last week we showcased the creative and talented moemarston, but not all weeks will be related to creative fans. Sometimes we’ll get a chance to focus on those of us with a nice, healthy competitive streak. And this is one of those weeks!

Battle Bowl

Starting today, and running all through the month of February, is the inaugural Battle Bowl. Two of PlayStation’s biggest community-driven tournament sites have teamed up to bring us an epic series of tournaments called Battle Bowls. In each of these Bowls, FraggedNation and Urgent Fury will host massive, month-long 4v4 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer ladders. The top eight teams from each site will compete in an intense bracket tournament during the first weekend of March.

The winners will walk away with huge bragging rights (and momentum into Battle Bowl II). But for those of you that like your prizes to be a bit more impressive, each member of the winning team will receive an Elgato Game Capture HD device. So, if you’ve been telling everyone on your friends list that you’re the one to beat in BO2, now’s the time to prove it!

Grab three of your toughest friends, and sign up now at either FraggedNation or Urgent Fury to compete for the Battle Bowl I title.

As will be the norm in our weekly PlayStation Community posts, we’ll have a few modules to get connected, find cool events and maybe even win some really cool swag. Check back weekly for more info, and continue your PlayStation community connection with us.

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products every Wednesday on Twitter! This week we gave away Madden NFL 13 for predicting which team would win the big game over the weekend; next week you can win Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time! Follow @HeyPlayStation to learn how to enter.

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/02/01/this-week-in-the-playstation-community-2/feed/ 21 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/01/community1.jpg 3.23Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms 21 3 This Week in the PlayStation Community http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/01/25/this-week-in-the-playstation-community/ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/01/25/this-week-in-the-playstation-community/#comments Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:25:15 +0000 Cade Peterson http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=95273 former Community Spotlight ended earlier this month, it’s back this week in a new form. Welcome to the evolution of the weekly Community Spotlight. We’re transforming it and providing you more of a weekly go-to source for what’s hot and what’s happening. Join us, the PlayStation Community team, as we share what’s going on, new events, give mad props to some fantastic gamer creations, and more. There’s so much going on in the PlayStation universe, and we’re here to lead you on that journey. I’m your host this week, though you’ll see my buddies Morgan, Kristine, Paul, and maybe even Matt, take turns at the helm. Let’s go!]]> Although the former Community Spotlight ended earlier this month, it’s back this week in a new form. Welcome to the evolution of the weekly Community Spotlight. We’re transforming it and providing you more of a weekly go-to source for what’s hot and what’s happening. Join us, the PlayStation Community team, as we share what’s going on, new events, give mad props to some fantastic gamer creations, and more. There’s so much going on in the PlayStation universe, and we’re here to lead you on that journey.

I’m your host this week, though you’ll see my buddies Morgan, Kristine, Paul, and maybe even Matt, take turns at the helm. Let’s go!

Anyone who knows me knows I am hyper creative and really love seeing the creative spark in others. We would be seriously missing out without a spotlight on relevant gaming culture via awesome things like fan art, cool cosplay, and other fan-made content. To start out, I’m sharing some very amazing cosplay from one of our own, a PlayStation co-worker of ours named Melissa who goes by PSN ID moemarston. In her spare time, she’s always designing and crafting new outfits of her favorite PlayStation characters. She’s internally famous for her Nathan Drake (a female version, and quite well-done, I might add), and new this month, she’s made a Chloe Frazer, both from the Uncharted series. Doesn’t this inspire you to make your own awesome outfit so you can strut your geekiness with pride?

Meli - Nathan Drake Cosplay

Meli - Nathan Drake CosplayMeli - Chloe Frazer Cosplay

Now if only I could sew…

If you’d like to share your PlayStation-inspired creative sparks and possibly get it showcased here in the Blog, share them here in this forum thread. Don’t be shy. You might even see one of us dressed up in a future post! But no promises… (I still have to learn how to sew).

At the bottom of each of these weekly posts, we’ll have a few modules to get connected, find cool events and maybe even win some really cool swag. Check back weekly for more info and continue your PlayStation community connection with us.

Forums

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Home
PS Trophy Leaderboard
Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win It Wednesday

Win PlayStation games and products every Wednesday on Twitter! Last week we gave away the Ni No Kuni Wizard Edition; next week you can win Madden NFL 13 and a Madden shirt. Follow @HeyPlayStation to learn how to enter!

]]> http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/01/25/this-week-in-the-playstation-community/feed/ 24 http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/01/bloghome_communityspotlight2.jpg 4.24Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms 24 9