Minecraft – On Minecraft PS3 can I set up a game that either of the daughters can access without split screen

Your Playstation Network (PSN) account can be simultaneously associated with five PS3 machines. So to answer the questions:

• Can we create profiles for the people that will play and have them exist on all the 3 PS3's?
• Can I take my home profile and use it on those 3 PS3?

Yes, each person could have a user profile associated with their PSN account on each of the 3 PS3s. You would be able to use your existing home profile.

• Would I need to keep it on a USB stick (assuming that is even possible)?
• Can I "download" it onto the machines?

Information kept on the PSN servers (trophies, list of your purchases) is automatically kept in sync between PS3s using the same PSN ID (note - you would need to ensure that trophies are synced to the server by visiting the Trophies menu item in the XMB). However information kept locally (save games, downloaded files) would not be synced. I think you can transfer most saved games using a USB stick as long as you only play them with the same account.

• What about ranks in games such as Call of Duty Black Ops, would that follow my profile or be locked to one of the machines?

Rankings are stored on servers and associated with your PSN ID, so should work fine, although you may need to copy your save games across in order to use the same character profile.

According to the online user guide, there is an apparent way to circumvent the PS3's shutdown:

Even when [On] is selected, this feature (HDMI Control) may not be available in the following cases:

• When using certain features of the PS3™ system, such as gameplay or video playback.
• When the PS3™ system is not selected as the input source for the TV.

So it would seem that changing the TV's input before shutting it down should leave your Playstation running.