by Phoenix, HSM team writer

If asked to name a developing group in Home, how many would say Lockwood, Juggernaut, Digital Leisure, or even now JAM Games, or Game Mechanics? These are names we hear and see just about every week when new content floods Homes markets. But what about some of the older, less visible developers? Can you name any with out thinking, ummm; then, oh yeah.

For the last year it’s been the same top developers that have raced the tide of content to be the best and the most sought after when it comes to our spendable cash here in Home. They have created and given such a tsunami of content in the last year that, at 100 item slots per personal space, we would need to own a few of the seventy-plus available personal spaces to store the swag they’ve released.

Before these leaders in content came to the forefront, however, there were developers that have and are still quietly plodding along in the background of Home. One such developer is Mass Media.

An independent game developer, Mass Media is located in Moorpark, California. The current focus of the company is as an original material developer for Sony platforms. Mass Media began in 1980. In 1991 they were part of a production unit called the Phillips P.V.O. Entertainment Group. The Mass Media part left Phillips in 1995, to become an exclusive developer for Time Warner Interactive. After Time Warner halted their interactive division, Mass Media briefly became an independent developer. They found themselves a part of  THQ in February, 2007, but that group closed its doors in November 2008. Mass Media reopened its doors immediately afterwards, and has been making content for Sony platforms ever since. On the PS3, they have developed spaces, some of you may be familiar with in a little place called Home: The Midway, The Midway 2, and the Midway 3, as well as the Hot Zone, a place where, recently, contests were held for real world prizes .

The Midway series has the distinct honor of having one of Home’s consistently highest rated, best selling items — The Green Ticket! This is a bundle of tickets used to play the games in each part of the Midway series. The green ticket is a discounted item, making it cheaper to play the ten mini-games that each Midway contains.

Once you enter the Midway for the first time, you will receive a gifted space called Darla’s Den. This space has active areas that are unlocked as you play and win the mini-games on the various Midways. Each Midway game also reaps a series of rewards for the winner. With ten levels per game, that’s 300 rewards that can be earned, from clothing items to stuffed elephants and other furniture type items, plus the unlocks in Darla’s Den. Don’t worry if you don’t want to buy the Green Ticket — every game on the Midway will be free at some time or other. Every four minutes, one is listed at the bottom of your screen, free to play for one minute.

But that’s not all Mass Media has developed for the PS3 or for Home. There are furniture items found in their store, and they have some of the only framed artwork in Home.

Their furniture is for some, odd and screwball-ish, but there’s a little of that from every developer in Home. Mass Media has clothing items too, like the baby outfits complete with pacifier and nappy. Then there are the infamous Brimstone Dancers of Home. These dancers are fantasy objects for every prepubescent male in Home, even some over that age. The dancers have never lost their popularity since they swayed and gyrated their way into Home history. Another round of kudos for Mass Media — there are now four dancers, named Dusty, Lilith, Layla and Bridgette. Each of these astounding ladies (dare I say ladies?) has one drawback, of course. Being active items that predate the current furniture slot downsizing, I believe they still use quite few slots. This could keep you from displaying them all at once, if you wished to do so.

Mass Media’s development for Sony doesn’t stop there. They continue to create game technology for PS3 and other platforms. This includes one of the first not-for-PS3 SPU-based GPU rendering command generation, which significantly reduces rendering overhead on the main CPU, and was used in such titles as Saints Row 2, and some other PS3 titles.

Among the over forty game titles Mass Media has have developed, some classic titles stand out: Tetris CD-i 1985, Bass Masters 2000, for the Nintendo 64 in 1999, Namco Museum 2002 for Game Boy Advance, Jax and Daxters Collection 2012 for PS3. They also helped Virgil Games produce Darksiders in 2010, for the PS3. All these titles were developed using a developing tool set called BOLT. Mass Media has to their credit over fourteen years of experience in the gaming industry. They are a fixture of Home’s original core of content developers.

Though they have not recently released much content into the steady weekly stream, Mass Media still sees new and old visitors to the Midway every day. The popularity of the Green Ticket is proof that their distinctive content is as desirable ever. If you’re new to PS3, or you just like the Midway games and atmosphere, head over to Mass Media’s Midways and have some fun.

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