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Clients

Clients

PlayStation Home officially died with version 1.87, but there were many more preceding it.

Flavors

There are three main types of PlayStation Home clients:

  • Retail
  • QA (Quality Assurance)
  • Development

Retail

Retail clients are stripped Release builds of the game, delivered to the players. Their NPID is usually NPIA00005.

Known versions

  • (all of the previous releases)
  • 0.98
  • 1.00: The first stable version of PlayStation Home in Closed Beta. ARCADEBOUNCER.BAR, ARCADECSTOCKCAR.BAR, ARCADEEVAC.BAR, and NPBOOT.BAR are removed. CHESS_DRAUGHTS.BAR, POOL_BOWLING.BAR, and SPURIOUS.BAR are added.
  • 1.01
  • 1.02
  • 1.03: The first public release of PlayStation Home
  • 1.05
  • 1.10
  • 1.11
  • 1.17
  • 1.21
  • 1.22: Removes OBJECTS_DEFAULT_AVATAR.BAR
  • 1.23
  • 1.30: Modifies the title screen, and removes SCENE_CINEMA_AUDITORIUM.BAR, ARCADEPUZZLE.BAR, CHESS_DRAUGHTS.BAR, and JAVA.BAR.
  • 1.32
  • 1.35: Overhauls title screen to load in right away instead of pressing the Start button, to play a local Intro video after successful loading. Now records the version last run in LASTRUN.TXT.
  • 1.36
  • 1.40
  • 1.41
  • 1.45
  • 1.50
  • 1.51
  • 1.52
  • 1.55: Completely revamps the loading screen for the rest of Home’s lifespan. Removes DYNFILES.BAR and SPURIOUS.BAR.
  • 1.61
  • 1.62
  • 1.65: Removes POOL_BOWLING.BAR, replacing the mini-game with a LUA equivalent. Replaces the Telephone Call system with Personal Voice Chat.
  • 1.70
  • 1.75: Introduces a Save Data Transfer for bringing old save data to PS Home servers, as part of a transition from using local save data. Replaces the old menu pad with the Menu Screen that would be used until the end of service.
  • 1.80
  • 1.81
  • 1.82: Introduces the SHARC format as replacement for the BAR format. Replaces all local BAR files with their SHARC equivalents. CDN SHARCs would start deployment late October 2013, but scenes not updated before then would remain in BAR format until around January-February 2014 when Sony switched SDAT directory from prod/live to prod2/live2.
  • 1.83: A QA build accidentally released to the public by Sony themselves
  • 1.85
  • 1.86: The last fully working release of PlayStation Home. Adds trophies and an option to “mute sounds made by other players’ portables”.
  • 1.87: End-of-service update for PlayStation Home. Removes SCENE_APARTMENT.SHARC.
Important

It is believed that version 1.87 would, upon launch, delete all cache data belonging to the game’s installation.

This is, however, false. Reverse-engineering the game’s binary executable shows no sign of intentional cache data deletion.

Version Differences

The title screen underwent multiple changes between versions.

Title Screen from 0.98 and prior, replacing the GDC icon. This is slowly zoomed in by the game.

Title Screen from 1.05 to 1.23. This is slowly zoomed in by the game.

Title Screen from 1.30 to 1.32. Similar to 1.05/1.23, minus the background and the zoom-in.

Title Screen from 1.35 to 1.52. The title screen is replaced with a loading screen. Once finished loading, it’ll play a local Intro video before taking you to the navigator.

Title Screen from 1.55 to 1.86. The last iteration of the title screen that would be used until the end of service.

Title Screen from 1.83. This is a QA build accidentally leaked to the public by Sony themselves.

End-of-Service Screen from 1.87. (Converted from DDS)

The XMB icons underwent a couple changes in Closed Beta.

This icon is presumably the first to have debuted at GDC 2007.

This icon is presumed to have debuted in Closed Beta at an unknown date, replacing the GDC icon.

The XMB Icons changed once more in 1.00, leading up to the release of Open Beta.

This icon debuted in 1.00 and was kept intact in the JP region all the way up until the end of service.

This icon debuted in 1.65, replacing the old one in all regions except Japan, which kept the old one until the end of service.

It’s worth noting that the Save Icon is near identical to the Closed Beta icon from 0.98 and prior, and remains unchanged even in latest versions.

The save icon. It is virtually identical to the Closed Beta icon from 0.98 and prior.

The XMB Backgrounds changed a few times. Some would stick for certain regions until the end of service.

This background debuted in 1.00 and was the first one introduced in Home.

This background debuted in 1.30 and was used until 1.50.

This background debuted in 1.50. This would be the last background replacement in the JP region.

This background debuted in 1.65, replacing the previous one in all regions except JP.

This background debuted in 1.70, replacing the 1.65 one in the US region.

Features

  • Console commands are extremely limited
  • No debug symbols
  • Full online connectivity

QA

QA clients are the most powerful of the three; they allow full online access to any of the 20 official QA environments, as well as the ability to switch between regions.

Known versions

  • 1.82: this one contains full DWARF debugging information!
  • 1.83
  • 1.86

Features

  • Full console command support
    • Switch between scenes
    • Enable / disable post processing effects
    • Add / remove any Object from your inventory
    • Moderation commands
  • Custom overrides specified by hubstartup.txt or devconfig.txt files
  • 20 different QA environments ([q]cprod, [q]cqa-<a/b>, [q]cpreprod, …)
  • Region switching
  • QA profiler

Developer

The Developer client is usually bundled with the HDK (Home Development Kit).

Being the most unrestricted of all clients, they contain an Offline Mode meant for testing out various features locally in the Scenes and Objects.

Their NPID is usually NPIA00010, but they’ve also originally gone by NPEA00013.

Known versions

  • 0.1.0 (0.41): This version is most similar to the one demonstrated at GDC 2007
  • 1.00.17
  • 1.01
  • 1.10
  • 1.22.3
  • 1.30.26
  • 1.86

Version Differences

Like retail, the title screen is different between versions.

Similar to the GDC 2007 demo.

An early version of the title screen pre-1.0.

An old title screen from 01.00.17 to 01.22.3. The Company Environment varied for each Developer build. In this case, it is SCEA.

This was found on a PS3 dev kit alongside other development data for LittleBigPlanet.

This was found on a PS3 dev kit containing SingStar content.

An early Developer menu for Home 1.35. The next versions quickly replace it.

A Developer menu for Home 1.41. The menu would remain largely identical up to 1.86.

An early title screen from the 1.55.07 of PS Home Beta.

The PS Home logo is removed from the Developer menu. This remains until 1.70.32.

The first known version to add a background to the Developer menu. The PS Home logo is reinstated and realigned.

The last version of the HDK.

This icon is presumably the first to have debuted at GDC 2007.

Appearing in Developer 1.00, this icon was used until at least sometime before Developer 1.22.

This Developer would be used until at least sometime before Developer 1.30, where that version and onwards would start using the same icons as the retail counterparts.

Features

  • Features carried over from QA clients.
    • Full console command support
      • Switch between scenes
      • Enable / disable post processing effects
      • Add / remove any Object from your inventory
      • Moderation commands
    • Custom overrides specified by hubstartup.txt or devconfig.txt files
    • 20 different QA environments ([q]cprod, [q]cqa-<a/b>, [q]cpreprod, …)
    • Region switching
    • QA profiler
  • Offline-only environment (HDK only)
  • Entire CDN loaded locally in the game’s root folder
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