How much of a difference DOES gender have in determining a user’s ability to make friends and interact with fellow citizens in Home? Gideon, Burbie, Keara and Orion collaborated on a series of gender-bending activities to find out!

(Editor’s note: this article is a must-read. Kudos to the HSM writers involved in putting this together.)

Home is a social network for gamers. Yet what are the guidelines we all need to play by in a world where identity itself is fluid? And while the social aspects of Home may be its glue, what about the *gamers* who came into Home simply for some escapism?

(Editor’s note: this article raises some outstanding questions.)

In order for Home to be a viable gaming platform in the future, Sony ought to re-embrace the concepts of social networking to reinvigorate the Home community and enable its developers to generate community building games, which — time and time again — keep its users coming back for more.

It’s one of Home’s oldest debates: while Home has grown and improved considerably, it is markedly different from some of the concepts discussed during Home’s inception (which, perhaps, may yet occur down the road). Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

(Editor’s note: Aside from this article being an outstanding contest entry, Gideon did a remarkable job covering a topic which is often fraught with intense emotion.)

HairBrained Ideas offers up a wonderful video tribute to the return of PlayStation Home!

Let’s talk about our return to Home. It’s been a week since the PSN (mostly) returned to service. How’s everyone doing?

The Great PSN Outage cost Sony untold sums of money. Many customers are upset. Yet we must remember that Sony has also provided many, many years of outstanding gaming experiences, and it is our revenue that drives this. How can we best move forward, together, from here?

(Editor’s note: this is a genuinely *outstanding* article.)

Home has given birth to many different clubs and groups, several of which have survived and even thrived during the Great PSN Outage of 2011. What tools have they used to maintain communication and cohesiveness during this time, and could some of those features be implemented into Home down the road?

Our virtual lives will always be with us. But we must not forget the value of our real lives as well, and the importance of being balanced.

The Aurora War has begun!

(Editor’s note: please join me in welcoming Gideon, from HairBrained Ideas, to HomeStation Magazine.)