Related Sections: Playstation 3
Playstation Home throws open its doors and you're invited
Console systems need to have a social networking front end with virtual characters that people can get attached to. All the cool console systems are doing it. First the Miis, then the Xbox New Experience avatars, and finally (leave it to Sony to bring up the rear) Playstation Home. Sony's whatever-you-want-to-call-it goes public today, throwing the doors open for its first open beta.
To get it, simply fire up your Playstation 3 and go to the Playstation Network entry on your media bar. There should be an option to download the beta. Look for a shaky rollout considering how well Sony dealt with the Little Big Planet servers, which lagged behind the actual game's release by several days.
If you're not sure what Home is, then join the club. There are lots of us. I think we can form our own social group inside Playstation Home. We can call it the "Just What Is This Thing Anyway?" group. But if strip away the veneer of people chatting and dressing their avatars and decking out their HomeSpaces with game related trophies and branded advertising, the bottom line is that Home is a way to sell you stuff, much like Microsoft's New Xbox Live Experience. Anytime you hear a major publisher talking about communities, just plug in phrases like "marketing" or "demographics" or "eyeballs that we can sell to advertisers". One of the upcoming offers for Playstation home is a cool looking air racing game. That happens to have ginormous Red Bull logos splashed across the wings of the airplanes.
I'll post more on the actual mechanics of Home tomorrow, assuming I actually get it working. In the mean time, enjoy these carefully staged images of Sony's idea of Playstation Home.
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By Greg at 1:30 PM ON 12/11/08
So does this mean I can finally start talking about my experience with the closed Beta that Sony was nice enough to include me in?
Let me see. Something nice to say. It's priced right! Ok, maybe it has potential.
Some of the things I heard about, that it might include, just weren't there when I was, and when my PS3 was fired up, frankly, I was more interested in shooting something or at least hurting something a little bit.
Maybe if I could punch people. Jump would also be nice. The video arcade, pool tables, and bowling alley are cool. But then I realized that if someone was playing I had to stand in line because a new instance wouldn't fire up. I could go to my local video arcade, pool hall, or bowling alley and get that kind of experience.
All the stores in the mall were closed during the two times I visited. So maybe something cool is going to be in there. I didn't see any of my trophies anywhere. I moved my couch back and forth.
So far it's a bit like The Sims, but without much (i.e., anything) to do. More like a fancy chat tool, but I'm not much into chatting.
Home has endless potential, but I wonder if any of it will ever get actualized. I once heard of a rumored deal with Namco for their video arcade which would be a big draw assuming I don't have to stand in virtual lines. That's a bit like drinking virtual beer.
Give me a button I can use to punch people and I'm all in. Or at least allow me to stick "Dork" signs on people's backs. Or catapult myself into crowds ala Pain. Or maybe the mall can be occasionally attacked by Godzilla (or the latest marketing plug movie monster) and everyone has to kill it.
No, wait. Trophies in games (the hard to get trophies) can be used to unlock weapons from those games to be used in Home. Why else did you give me a nice balcony overlooking the commons if you didn't plan on letting me have a chance to unlock a sniper rifle? Don’t worry you can carry a light-saber to deflect my shots.
And for all those male gamers who like to use female avatars, make sure you give their avatars Adam’s apples.
By obonicus at 6:37 AM ON 12/12/08
Wow, right on the money. What's it like blogging from the future, Tom?
obonicus:
Wow, right on the money. What's it like blogging from the future, Tom?...More »