My efforts to pin down an exact source for this have met with little success, but it’s worth noting that many PS3 forums are alive with persons who claim to have received an email invitation to participate in the OPEN beta for Playstation Home on the PS3. This final phase of the roll out for this highly-anticipated Second Life-ish time suck is reported to be set for April 18th.For those a little late to the game, Home represents a social experience that allows players to customize their own online habitat by creating a home for their virtual selves. The experience will be tied to several currently menu-driven interfaces within PSN, but also offers some really interesting possibilities for gamers.
Overall, the concept is to give PSN users a living and breathing community that delivers a social experience that rivals, or exceeds the popular (though rather plain-looking) Xbox Live.
I’d like to hear some feedback from both the folks who have participated in the closed beta, and those on the outside looking in at Home.
Please share your thoughts on these questions.
- Does Home, as a concept interest you, and why?
- Do you think something like Home would hold your interest beyond the initial roll out?
- Would you be willing to PAY for Home (monthly)? What about for add-ons and accessories to pimp out your virtual crib?
- Is it fair to call Home a Second-life knockoff?
- What challenges do you think Sony is facing or will face as Home goes public?
On Episode 29 of the Sarcastic Gamer Podcast, we gave Playstation Home a bit of a hard time about it’s choice of name. If you caught that episode, did you agree or disagree with what we were joking about? (Missed it? You can grab the show here, and catch up.)
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((outside looking in))
1. It does interest me on console basis. But as for a new tool for playing video games, not at all really.
2. Nope, I would only like to see the intial setup of how they decided to do make the interface and then probaly lose interest.
3. Not at all. I already pay for so many things why pay for something I can only use on my PS3?
4. Not really, Second Life is a game on its own. PS Home is a interface to extend the world of gaming rather than just having list of menu’s to go througfh on a daily basis to play your game’s.
5. Keeping it free, And also keeping the interest of the general public.
1. The methodology of home doesn’t interest me, (a 3d avatar in a virtual space) but the concept of expanding the gaming community does.
2. Depends, what does sony plan for the long term?
3. Nope, unless it integrates and integrates WELL certain features such as the theater. maybe for exclusive tidbits i’d pay, but as a whole no.
4. Look at LJ’s response.
5. Server stability, integrating home with games, continuously rolling out new content to keep people interested.
Wheres my invite
1. Its a new way to enjoy my PS3, gaming, and socializing.
2. Yes as long as they keep rolling out new updates and features.
3. No but i would for extra stuff as long as they are worth the expense and they aren’t too much.
4. Its more than that! Its better in every way and it can interact with your games.
5. The bugs, pleasing everyone, and stopping annoying soles who spoil the experience for everyone else.
Does Home, as a concept interest you, and why?
I love the concept, but then again I was always a big fan of “The Sims.” It is pretty hard to connect to others in the community through the ps3, so this is promising!
Do you think something like Home would hold your interest beyond the initial roll out?
Seems like the game is just a meeting point, so you get in, meet people, and get out and have fun. They seem to be adding new things with each game, so there will always be a new experience. People stay in chatrooms and and forums, so I don’t see why not.
Would you be willing to PAY for Home (monthly)?
Even though the graphics are up to par with a NextGen Game, why pay when u can get it for free?
What about for add-ons and accessories to pimp out your virtual crib?
As a designer, I am excited about this aspect.
Is it fair to call Home a Second-life knockoff?
I see why, but Im sure it would be totally different.
What challenges do you think Sony is facing or will face as Home goes public?
Most obvious would be the ability to keep people online, but Im sure they can work that out. I think the ability to police might be a challenge. I can see a sex scandal waiting to happen!
1. Yes, if there is interesting things to do on it. Nobody wants to walk around a cg environment if thats all there is to it.
2. Refer to #1
3. I wouldn’t pay a penny for it. Maybe if there is a very interesting game, I may pay for that.
4. We don’t really know too much about HOME to say its a second life rip-off. I highly doubt that Sony would allow users the freedom to do/create whatever that Second Life does.
5. Bugs/Pricing/Fun Factor
Im sorry but im going to have to say those dates you got and everything are FAKE!!!
How?? Cause the person sending those emails about Home and that lot is also asking for people Passwords and Account infomation(dont belive me? here have a link where this all started from http://community.eu.playstation.com/showthread.php?t=236201)
any way to the questions!
1. Yes it does interest me cause this type of thing hasnt been done before on consoles, and it will be able to bring the PS3 community together
2.Proberly not, unless they add new areas and features to Home regularly (and not like a new chair for your home….
3. To be honest… Yes but only when they start giving all the features that XBL has as well but thats the thing, if sony want to beat the 360 they need to not charge for the online service.
4.Yes it is fair cause they more or less look exactly the same (its only a matter of time before the nukes!!)
5.Server stress, i dont belive sony are up to it cause when Warhawk was released they wont even prepared with the amount of people wont downloaded it and such, and Home this is going to be free, everyone has heard about it and such and everyone will want to see it all first thing
I think that Home doesn’t look like it adds anything that I haven’t already tried. I never played Second Life, but this looks like a cross between that and the XBL system. I think it’s going to be a novelty unless it really has something special that XBL doesn’t have. A novelty I would NOT pay for.
Sony has a lot of ground to cover to catch up to Microsoft’s XBL, especially with getting gamers to focus more on the multiplayer/social experience than the solo campaigns in games.
I’ll probably end up playing around with it a little, but not for long.
I think Lono had it right, if it is more of a lobby area for pre and post game BSing, it would be a good thing, but certainly not a major selling point for the system. Minor at best.
Still not interested….
Its one of those things you either love it or hate it. Your interested or not interested
This rumor (which was clearly explained as such) may turn out to be nothing more…. but for a good laugh, look at the rabid raving foaming fanboys at N4G acting like I’ve committed sacrilege or something. There were LOTS of forums discussing this. It’s a RUMOR. Dear god get a life that doesn’t end in “3″.
yes i have played the beta(closed). and its cool, like i read eairlier ur going to like it or not. anyways its not comin in april, the beta doesnt end till may, besides its way to glitchy right now they have some work still to do, give them time to produce something worth while and find something else to do than keep lookin for anything to grab onto about home..when u get on and its there then then thats when were getting it..as far as the open beta goes, i dont know anything so, good luck with getting home in april….
Home does not have the level to create user content that second life has.
You cant freely build 3d model and code second life has it’s own script that you can code your very own object with an AI ora tennis court that is on the intel area that plays replay data from wimbleton.
So in home all you can do is upload a photo at best or own something premade by sony and throw it in your house so it’s not to fair to compare it to secound life since with out being to make your own content in detail it gets boring fast.
Oh yes and home is censored by sony yet another reason you can not make any content you want.
i dont care enough 2 reply 4 all of these but no 1 is going 2 pay 4 home
[...] Quelle! [...]
That date is definately fake.
And the SL question…
I think you’re missing the big picture,
just because SL is the most popular virtual world does not mean it’s the only virtual world. How do you know Second Life isn’t a rip-off of There? And from what I’ve heard Second Life isn’t even that great, and the graphics are bad.
The graphics in secound life are bad because nobody makes anythng that looks good.
Seriously all you get in secound life if nobody bult anything is Your human, the ground FLAT and the “SKY”.
You go to a new server when you get one that is all they give you to look at you have to make everything that goes in it your self.
and the “game is 3 years old.
1.home seemed to start off as what the playstation network should always have been, but since then many things have been said and so i am very intereted in the concept.
2. of course! home is the perfect place to meet people, to have fun, and i definitely know that i will be inviting my friends over to my virtual apartment regularly so we can chat about things or watch a movie or something.
3. it depends, if the price was low (i am thinking maybe £5 a month) then yes but if it was free then it would get a lot more users and generally be a better place. it would also be the ps3’s killer application.
4. having played second life for a while i say no, second life was supposed to be a life simulation but it has completely messed up and is now basically a giant pr0n area. also, second life was supposed to be a game in itself whereas home is designed to be a “control game” that can give you access to everything else you own and can let you have fun in an environment free from the corruption that happened in second life.
5. keeping it free, having a huge strain on their servers, and storing all the apartments unless they let you store thethings on your ps3.
1. Does Home, as a concept interest you, and why?
Yes i got me intrested bcuz i love sims and this is kinda like that i mean dam plus i get the dh def that’s the only reson got me intrested
2. Do you think something like Home would hold your interest beyond the initial roll out?
Uffff idk i would be there everyday it would get me addidecte like myspace
3. Would you be willing to PAY for Home (monthly)? What about for add-ons and accessories to pimp out your virtual crib?
That would be hell no bcuz i alredy pay for the dam games why should i pay for other stuff plus if u wanna beat 360 u gatta make it free
4. Is it fair to call Home a Second-life knockoff?
second life maybe since i ma gonna be on there everyday and talk to my friends there
5. What challenges do you think Sony is facing or will face as Home goes public?
hmm hackers glitches updates but mainly hacks
all i have to say for home at the moment is: if people around the world get so addicted to profile networks such as myspace, facebook and such where you are able to express yourself on a page, and easily communicate with ‘friends only’, how much more will PS3 Home do as it does all of this and more..
instead of customizing your page with a fancy background you’re able to pimp out your personal house with fancy wallpaper, instead of pictures people can actually meet your created avatar in person.
Home just puts these profiling networks into motion and in doing this provides fun games like pool and bowling you can play with your friends making it easy to communicate and meet people in general intertwining this free service into the gaming industry so before you rule out Playstation Home, why wouldn’t you like it?
sounds interesting.