The
PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of
Sonyis a video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a full subsidiary of Sony. The company was established on November 16, 1987 in Tokyo, Japan prior to the launch of the original PlayStation video game system...
's
PlayStation 3The PlayStation 3 is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment, and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series...
and
PlayStation PortableThe PlayStation Portable is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
game consolesA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or electronic device that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of
downloadable contentDownloadable content is a form of digital media distributed through the Internet. The phrase is used to refer specifically to content created for video games that is released separately from the main video game release...
both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games, add-on content,
playable demosA game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released computer or video game.Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version.-Distribution:In the early 1990s,...
,
themeIn computing, a theme is a preset package containing graphical appearance details, used to customize the look and feel of an operating system, widget set or window manager....
s and game and movie
trailersTrailers or previews are film advertisements for feature films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a film program. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to...
. The service is accessible through an icon on the XMB on the PS3 and PSP. The PS3 store can also be accessed on the PSP via a
Remote PlayRemote Play is a feature on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable which allows a PlayStation Portable user to interact with their PlayStation 3's Xross Media Bar...
connection to the PS3. A PC application for the PSP is also available via Sony's
Media GoMedia Go is a video and audio player developed by Sony Creative Software, announced at E3 2009, for Microsoft Windows. Media Go manages content on Sony family products such as Sony Ericsson phones and the PlayStation Portable , and it is able to play multimedia content, serving a similar function...
. As of September 24, 2009, there have been over 600 million downloads from the PlayStation Store worldwide.
PSN Master Account
A "master" PlayStation Network account is required to access the PlayStation Store. A log of all previously purchased items, known as "Download List", records each PlayStation Store account's full game, trial demo, and add-on download activity. A guest user can use his master account Download List to download free content or to purchase content on another console however, a single account can only be used on up to five consoles. The most recent firmware must be installed on the console in order to access the PlayStation Store.
Wallet
Each master account is associated with an online virtual "wallet" to which funds can be added. This wallet is then debited when a purchase is made from the Store. Money can be added to the wallet through different systems of payment, although some of these are not available in all countries.
Currency
Unlike
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices...
's
Xbox Live MarketplaceThe Xbox Live Marketplace is a virtual market designed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console that allows Xbox Live members to download purchased or promotional content...
and
Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel...
's
Wii Shop ChannelThe Wii Shop Channel is an online shop for the Wii video game console that allows users to download Virtual Console and WiiWare games, and new channels. Downloading may require redeeming Wii Points. The channel launched with Wii on November 19, 2006...
, which each use their own specific currencies (
Microsoft PointsMicrosoft Points are the currency of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Games for Windows - Live Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery and Zune online stores. The points allow users to purchase content without a credit card, and reduce the number of small credit card transaction fees which Microsoft would...
and Nintendo Points, respectively), all purchases (with the exception of alternatives in some countries; see following sections) are made using the actual real-world currency of the users' home country (for example in the United States, purchases are made using
USDThe United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
).
Edy viewer
EdyEdy provided by bitWallet, Inc. in Japan is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card. It uses Sony's FeliCa technology, also used by the competing Suica/Pasmo cards by JR East. While both cards can be used at participating stores, vending machines, and websites, Suica is the only contactless...
is an e-money system which is only available in Japan. The viewer is accessible from an "extra option" setting in the XMB. An additional USB IC card reader/writer called PaSoRi is required to add e-money to the wallet by operating with the Edy Center. Edy associated options are "Edy Gift", "Checking online balance" and "Reader/Writer Self-Diagnosis".
Credit and debit cards
The most common method to add money to the "wallet" is to use a
credit cardA credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
or
debit cardA debit card is a plastic card that provides an alternative payment method to cash when making purchases. Functionally, it can be called an electronic cheque, as the funds are withdrawn directly from either the bank account, or from the remaining balance on the card...
. This payment system is not available in all areas with PlayStation Store support. Visa and
American ExpressAmerican Express Company , sometimes known as "AmEx", is a diversified global financial services company that is headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card, and...
gift cardA gift card is a restricted monetary equivalent or scrip that is issued byretailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a non-monetary gift....
s can also be used to add funds to the wallet. Although select areas require that you use a credit card with a billing address from that specific country.
PlayStation Network Card/Ticket
PlayStation Network Cards and Tickets are a form of payment available in South East Asian countries including Japan and Singapore, available in other territories. The PlayStation Network Card (PSN Card) is a form of electronic money that can be used with the PlayStation Stores for PS3 and PSP. This system is similar to Microsoft's Xbox Live Subscription Cards, Microsoft Point Cards, and Nintendo's Wii Points for their respective e-stores. PSN Tickets of various value can be purchased at
convenience storeA convenience store is a small store or shop that sells items such as candy, ice-cream, soft drinks, lottery tickets, newspapers and magazines, along with a selection of processed food and perhaps some groceries. Stores that are part of gas stations may also sell motor oil, windshield washer fluid,...
s in North America and PSN Cards are for sale in PlayStation Shop Partners in the rest of South East Asia. Each card or ticket contains a unique 12
alphanumericAlphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric , and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits used by much of western society. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters...
code which can be input to a PSN master account to fund the associated wallet.
The Japanese ticket system is a bit different from the card system used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, or even the one used by Microsoft and Nintendo for their virtual shops. Unlike tickets, the cards are available for purchase at retail stores.
PSN cards and tickets are region-specific. For example, if a PS3 is registered in the US, the cards can't be used in the Japanese PSN store. However, users have been able to work their way around this by creating "dummy" accounts. Sony Computer Entertainment is well aware of the practice, which was when the demo for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune became available on the North American Store and was only playable on consoles from that region. Following many emails from disgruntled customers in other territories, Sony and the game's developer,
Naughty DogNaughty Dog is an American video game company founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986, and based in Santa Monica, California. It was acquired by Sony in 2001....
released an updated version of the demo which could be played on any PS3 console stating that the initial restriction was not intentional and that they were, until that point, unaware of this practice.
PlayStation Store for PS3
The PlayStation Store was launched on the PlayStation 3 on November 11, 2006 and is accessible via an icon under the PlayStation Network category of the XMB. There are five different versions of the PlayStation Store: Asia, Europe, Japan, North America, and Oceania.
Content
Due to
DRMDigital rights management is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to try to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices...
restrictions, most items can only be downloaded and installed on up to five different consoles using a guest user account's Download List. Previously, the games
WarhawkA War Hawk is a person who actively supports a war. It can also refer to:*Warhawk , a vertically-scrolling video game, released by Firebird software*Warhawk , a Sony PlayStation game...
and
Gran Turismo 5 PrologueGran Turismo 5 Prologue is the latest installment in the Gran Turismo series and a PlayStation 3 exclusive title which was announced at the E3 2007. This short version title is a precursor and sampling of Polyphony Digital's planned Gran Turismo 5 and replaces Gran Turismo HD Concept...
could only be downloaded to one console, but since firmware 2.40, they are similar to other games, but require the account which downloaded the game, along with the
passwordA password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password must be kept secret from those not allowed access....
to be stored on the
HDDHDD may refer to:*Heating degree day, quantitative indices designed to reflect the demand for energy*Horizontal Directional Drilling, a steerable trenchless method of installing underground pipesTechnology and computing...
.
Downloadable content includes:
Picture:
- Free or for sale HD/SD XMB themes and wallpapers.
Music:
- Free (WAV
WAV , short for Waveform audio format, also known as Audio for Windows, is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is an application of the RIFF bitstream format method for storing data in “chunks”, and thus is also close to the 8SVX and the AIFF...
/MP3MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on...
) audio tracks based on PS3 games original soundtrack. (North America and Europe only)
Video:
- SD/HD
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels...
movies for sale for rental (United States and Japan only. United Kingdom,Ireland, Spain, Germany, France from November 2009)
- SD/HD
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels...
TV shows for sale or rental (United States and Japan only. United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany from November 2009)
- Free HD/SD trailers for upcoming theatrical releases and movie or musical Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the standard DVD format. Its main uses are for storing high-definition video, PlayStation 3 games, and other data, with up to 25 GB per single layered, and 50 GB per dual layered disc...
.
- Free HD/SD game videos (trailers, behind the scenes, interviews, commercials or promotional videos).
- Free HD/SD music videos from Sony Music affiliates artists (Australia and Hong Kong only).
Game:
- Free PlayStation 3 game demos.
- Free or for sale PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network) full games.
- Free or for sale PlayStation 3 games add-on and system patches.
- Free PlayStation 3 (PSN) public beta software.
- Free PlayStation Portable game demos.
- For sale PlayStation Portable games.
- Free PlayStation emulated
Not to be confused with Terminal emulatorA video game console emulator is a program that allows a computer or modern console to emulate a different video game console's behavior...
game demos (Japan and Hong Kong only).
- For sale PlayStation emulated games.
- For sale Arcade
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, typically installed in businesses such as restaurants, public houses, video arcades, and Family Entertainment Centers...
emulated game demos (Australia only).
- For sale Arcade emulated games.
- For sale TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine emulated games (Currently Japan only, other regions at a later date)
Miscellaneous:
- Free PlayStation 3 software.
- Qore
Qore is a subscription-based interactive online magazine for the PlayStation Network and replaces the Jampack series of disks offered by Playstation Underground. Currently only available in North America, the service offers high definition videos, interviews and behind the scenes footage...
subscriptions and downloads (North America only)
- PlayStation Official Magazine HD (UK and Ireland only)
Qore
On June 3, 2008 SCEA announced a new service,
QoreQore is a subscription-based interactive online magazine for the PlayStation Network and replaces the Jampack series of disks offered by Playstation Underground. Currently only available in North America, the service offers high definition videos, interviews and behind the scenes footage...
, which launched on the PlayStation Store in North America on 5 June 2008. In a press release published on the Official PlayStation Blog,
Qore: Presented by the PlayStation Network is described as "a highly interactive, monthly lifestyle gaming program covering the world inside PlayStation is on its way to PS3.". The program, hosted by
Veronica BelmontVeronica Ann Belmont is the co-host of the Revision3 show Tekzilla alongside Patrick Norton, and host of the monthly PlayStation 3-based video on demand program Qore. Formerly she was the host for the Mahalo Daily podcast and a producer and associate editor for CNET Networks, Inc...
and presented in
high definitionHigh-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels...
, gives users advanced access to exclusive news, in-game footage and behind-the-scenes previews of PlayStation games. Users are also given "special access" to game demos, add-on content and beta trial invitations.
Multitasking
As of March 22, 2007, background downloading became possible while watching a video stored on the HDD, listening to music, looking at photos, using the
web browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
and playing
PS1The PlayStation is a 32-bit fifth generation video game console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in December ....
, or offline PS3 games. Officially 16 downloads can be queued up at a time. The status of the downloads can only be checked on the XMB under the "Network" category. If the messaging service is activated a pop-up message will appear in the top right corner of the screen to notify the user that a download is finished.
PSP Connectivity
Some crossplatform store content such as emulated PlayStation games and demos can be transferred from the PlayStation 3 HDD to the
PlayStation PortableThe PlayStation Portable is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
Memory StickMemory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, launched by Sony in October 1998, and is also used in general to describe the whole family of Memory Sticks...
using a USB connection.
PlayStation Portable games and demos need a USB linked PSP in order to start the download from the store to the PlayStation Portable through the PlayStation 3 internet connection.
Download from the PlayStation Store to the PlayStation Portable can be performed later using the "Download List" log available in both the PS3 and PC PlayStation Stores.
Since April 15, 2008 the PlayStation Store can be accessed on PlayStation Portable handheld console through
Remote PlayRemote Play is a feature on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable which allows a PlayStation Portable user to interact with their PlayStation 3's Xross Media Bar...
function.
After the installation of firmware version 5.00 released on October 15, 2008, the PlayStation Store can be accessed directly from the PlayStation Portable without the need to use a PC or PS3 as an intermediary. It will be accessible under the
PlayStation Network category on the portable's XMB. However users who do not have any method for connecting wirelessly can still use the Playstation Store on the PC using a downloadable program from Sony called Media Manager for PSP 3.0. As long as you have a working Store account you can use the program to download the software from the Store using the PC whilst connected to the PSP via a USB Cable.
PlayStation Store revamp
Following feedback from a large number of PlayStation Network users, a redesigned version of the PlayStation Store was launched on April 15, 2008 via a firmware update. The new design is OS based rather than the previous Store's web based design enabling the Store to process information more quickly.
A minor update to the Store was released during the Sony E3 2009
Press ConferenceA news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
. This update makes the top page change pictures (with their links) regularly, and changes the navigation sounds.
PlayStation Store for PSP
The PSP version of the PlayStation Store, accessible directly from the console, was launched on 15 October, 2008 in firmware update 5.00. It features the same look and feel as the PS3 version and features content specific to the PSP such as themes and demos.
Content
Downloadable content includes:
Photo:
Video:
- SD/HD
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels...
movies for sale or rental (United States and Japan only. United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France from November 2009)
- SD/HD
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels...
TV shows for sale or rental (United States and Japan only).
- Free SD/HD
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels...
game trailers (upcoming PSP games and emulated PlayStation games).
Game:
- Free PSP game demos
- For sale PlayStation emulated games
- For sale PSP games available solely through the PlayStation Store
- For sale PSP games also available on UMD
- For sale PSP Minis - small downloadable games under 100MB
- For sale PSP add-on content
Other:
- Free XMB themes
- Free MP3 music tracks from PSP games
- For sale digital comics for use with the PSP digital reader
Media Go
Media Go is a Sony application for
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
PCsA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
, used to access, download and install games and software to a connected PSP. The software can also be used to manage and transfer other media such as music, videos and photos stored on the PSP and other compatible devices. Files are tranferred to the PSP via a USB connection and are stored on a Memory Stick Duo storage card.
Prior to the release of Media Go, the PlayStation Store was accessible from an internet browser on a
PCA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
and later, through an application relased by Sony called the
PSP Media ManagerMedia Manager for PSP is a commercial application from Sony Creative Software that managed content on the PlayStation Portable, serving a similar function to that of iTunes for a personal computer...
. Currently, Media Go is the only way to access the PlayStation Store from a PC. A
DRMDigital rights management is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to try to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices...
tool called the PlayStation Network Downloader is also required to install software and games downloaded from the store.
PSP to PS3 connectivity
Some
cross-platformIn computing, cross-platform is a term used to refer to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms...
store content such as emulated PlayStation games can be transferred from the PlayStation Portable Memory Stick to the PlayStation 3 HDD using a USB link. Users can also download demos and full PSP games for transfer to the PSP.
See also
- Xbox Live Marketplace
The Xbox Live Marketplace is a virtual market designed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console that allows Xbox Live members to download purchased or promotional content...
- Wii Shop Channel
The Wii Shop Channel is an online shop for the Wii video game console that allows users to download Virtual Console and WiiWare games, and new channels. Downloading may require redeeming Wii Points. The channel launched with Wii on November 19, 2006...
External links