We’ve been very busy with E3 and stuff, but “Yay!”

PlayStation.Blog launched 2 years ago today to a pretty huge reception. In that time, I think we’ve gone from a “good first step” to a full-fledged social media program, with a robust Facebook community, fun community meetups, and enough Twitter followers to make Jamie Kennedy jealous. Watch out, Shaq, we’re coming for ya.

But in all seriousness, the time does fly, and I think it’s because of our very involved readership (this means YOU) that keeps us motivated and busy. In the last year, we’ve redesigned and added features, spawned a new European brother, survived a 20,000 comment onslaught, and adopted our very own Chris Morell (seriously, he sleeps here at night). And we’re working on some new features and integrations that, a year from now, should make today’s blog look very… 2007.

So, yes, thank you for reading, commenting, @replying, attending, subscribing, and, in general, doing what you’ve been doing to make this site what it is.

OK, that’s enough back-patting, now we’d like to go back to sleep. Er, work.

-Jeff

You’ve probably got some questions. We’ve got answers:

What changes are being made?
Starting on Tuesday of next week in order to comment on the PlayStation.Blog you will need to use a PlayStation Network ID.

Will my PS.Blog login still work?
No, starting Tuesday you will be asked to use your PSN ID to comment on the blog. If you have a PSN ID, then you’re ready. If you don’t have a PSN ID you should grab one now.

What happens to my old comments?
They’re still there, and in fact, when you log in for the first time using your PSN you will have the option to merge your PS.Blog account with your PSN so you retain your old comments.

What about my screenname?
When you merge your PS.Blog account and your PSN ID, all your past comments will now appear under your PSN ID.

What will happen to my avatar?
As much as we loved Gravatars, we’ll now be using the PSN avatar which can be selected through your PLAYSTATION 3.

What is this merge you speak of?
Starting Tuesday if you have an existing PS.Blog login you will be asked to merge that with your PSN ID. Once linked you’ll use your PSN ID for all comments.

What if I’ve never commented and don’t have an existing PS.Blog account?
What? You’ve never commented? Say something! Seriously though, go grab a PSN ID and you’ll be ready to go Tuesday.

Where can I get a PSN ID?
You can get one here.

What if I forgot my password for my PS.Blog account?
No worries, you can retrieve it when you’re merging it with your PSN account.

How long do I have to merge accounts?
We haven’t determined how long it will be available, but at least a month or two. If/when we determine to take down that function, we’ll let you know.

We’re very excited about these changes, and we hope the migration experience quick and painless – like death by ninja. The changes will be rolled out Tuesday morning (early or late, depending on when and where you wake up), so please try it out, grab a PSN ID if you haven’t already, and let us know you made it through unscathed!

Oh, and how do you like the comment-reply counter? Seems that nearly every post has some red replies these days, which is a good thing.

The latter will be activated tomorrow morning (Pacific time). Whenever one of our authors replies to one of your comments, it’ll be indicated below the post. Clicking on this link will take you to the first reply in the comments list. This feature has been asked for by many of you over the last year or so, and I’m glad that our dev team was able to accommodate.

The other feature, PSN sign-in, is a significant and important step in the evolution of the PlayStation.Blog. Because we want all of you to continue to communicate via comments, we’re not launching the feature quite yet, but consider this your metaphorical 2-minute Warning. If you don’t already have a PSN ID – now’s the time. It’s free, it’s useful, and it not only will work here, but across PS.com, as well as on the PLAYSTATION 3 and PSP.

If, and we know this applies to the vast majority of you, you’ve already got a PSN ID, the migration process is super easy. When the time comes (we’ll let you know), you’ll you’ll be prompted to merge your blog account with your existing PSN ID. It’s just that easy, and you’ll only have to do it once.

We believe this will contribute to a better community experience, and better, more targeted discussion here on the Blog. It also lays the groundwork for further enhancement to your user experience. When we’re ready to roll-out the PSN sign-on we’ll post a mini-FAQ to cover any questions you might have.

We hope you enjoy these new features – please let us know what you think!

Over the new few hours/days we’ll be working on sorting/organizing some of the categories, so keep that in mind.

So now it’s time for us to kick back (feet on the desk) and rest on our laurels until the end of the yea- oh wait. We’ve got more good things planned (stuff you’ve been specifically asking for) to come, and rather soon. We’ll keep you posted.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled posting.

Well it’s not *that* radical (internally we’re calling it “PSB 1.5″), but it’s definitely the biggest set of changes we’ve made since the blog rolled out in summer of ‘07. Take a look:

As I see it, the main problem with blogs in general is that if it’s not at the top – nobody’s going to read it. With a worldwide reader base, a post that lives at the top of the page California-time might be buried at the bottom when our European friends wake up. That’s not good.

So the aim of PSB 1.5 is to get as much info at the top of the page as possible. At a glance, you’ll see our top story of the day, the most recent 4 posts (about 24 hours’ worth, typically), and a persistent link to the most consistently heavily-trafficked post of the week – the most recent PlayStation Store Update.

Recent Twitter updates will scroll along the very top of the page, and we’ll be updating it more often in the coming months. And in the upper right, you’ll have handy links to all the places PlayStation.Blog lives, such as Facebook, Flickr, Viddler, and our full list of links. We’ve also reorganized the categories to make them a bit clearer, and put them into handy drop down menu for easy sorting of past posts.

Finally, we took some of your comments into account with some smaller features such as an “older posts” button at the bottom of the front page.

In order to deploy the new design, it’ll be necessary for us to take the blog down for a few hours on Monday morning; everything should be up and running by 9am Pacific. We hope you enjoy the “new” PlayStation.Blog, and we’ll want your feedback on what else we can do to make your experience better. I can tell you that we’re currently working on a *lot* more features, and you should be hearing about them pretty soon.

Thanks for your continued support and involvement.
Jeff

June 11th 2007 – the birth of the PlayStation.Blog

We knew from the very first post (600+ comments) that this was something you wanted – a direct-line between the people that create the games you love and those of you that play them. Hearing directly from industry decision-makers like Jack Tretton, Shuhei Yoshida, and Peter Dille was pretty unlikely a couple of years back, but we’ve done our best to make sure that is more the rule than the exception.

In just a year, we’d like to think we’ve become an important resource for both consumers and media seeking exclusive news, screens, videos, viewpoints, and tips from the world of PlayStation. For some of you, we’ve gathered that coming here to read up has become part of your daily ritual, and for that we thank you.

In speaking with bloggers in other disciplines – tech, travel, entertainment, dining – we’ve found that nobody is as engaged with the inner workings of their hobby than gamers like you. 300 comments on a post has quickly become common place here on PlayStation.Blog. 300,000 views of a video? You did it. In fact, the stats are pretty mind boggling – take a look:

Total number of posts: 437
Total number of photos: 1,200
Total number of videos: 80
Total number of links to the blog: 10,222
Total number of comments: 63,060
First commenter ever: Chris Grant of Joystiq!

Clearly, we wouldn’t be anywhere without such a passionate audience. And to give a little something back, we’d like to salute our top commenters – many of whom appear to have spent more time on the blog than any of us!

1. 40cal
2. gamesblow
3. Loucifer
4. blizzard182
5. Jeigh
6. joel
7. aaquib
8. Stoffinator
9. frito
10. Solace

The rest of the Top 50 can be found after the jump. Oh, and if you see your “name” here, keep an eye on your inbox – we’ll be tracking you down to send you a t-shirt in honor of your dedication. Wear it with pride.

Well that’s where we’ve been – here’s where we’re going in Year 2. We’re going to continue refining the look and feel of the blog, making it easier for you to find more stories with less effort. We’ve seen a surge recently in writer comment replies, and we’re committed to keeping those numbers up – and increasing. Third-party producers of PlayStation titles have recognized that *this* is the place to reach gamers – so expect more series of the Metal Gear Monday variety. And we’re speaking with our counterparts in Europe to bring more PlayStation news to you from that part of the world. We know you’re reading us from across the Atlantic, and we haven’t forgotten about you.

Once again, a sincere “thank you” to all of the readers and subscribers, the editors of other gaming websites who link to us, and everyone who’s taken the time to craft a post for the PlayStation.Blog.

Back to work.

Top 50 PlayStation.Blog Commenters

1. 40cal
2. gamesblow
3. Loucifer
4. blizzard182
5. Jeigh
6. joel
7. aaquib
8. Stoffinator
9. frito
10. Solace
11. deadxbabiesxinc
12. Ghostm
13. thechosenfew88
14. Kratos_ate_Snake
15. xplosneer
16. KnaveX
17. lakaihigh
18. Kedaro
19. darkiewonder
20. scorpio
21. Gregero
22. chase
23. zapruder
24. cmargary
25. gardea
26. nmc75
27. HanSolo
28. Lp47
29. scott
30. reson8er
31. stennex
32. Neil
33. MrCamo
34. foolio_67
35. saunderswan
36. Darkendless
37. Gunwing
38. CitizenInsane27
39. C-h-a-o-s
40. XxBigP123xX
41. thingg
42. Herby
43. NewYork214
44. EvoAnubis
45. leetfoo
46. Cagalli
47. OrganicShadow
48. WHAT
49. zookey
50. Violater

If you’re an existing user, you can click here to change your password. You’ll need to enter your current username and password, then select a new password.

New users will still receive an auto-generated password, but you can update it upon first login.

We hope this feature helps enhance your PlayStation.Blog experience, something we’ll continue to strive for in the months ahead.