Next Generation’s got an interview with Eric Lempel, the director of PlayStation Network operations, up on their site about future features of the online service including virtual world Home and the movie download service to be launched in the summer.
A few details and some speculation after the jump.
Let’s put it out there right away: Home’s coming in the autumn. Fall. Automne. Autunno. Whatever language you speak, Home’s definitely slated for a release between the ninth and eleventh months of 2008. However, much like Gmail’s release, as Lempel remarks, the initial release will be an open beta. In the same way that Gmail is fully operational yet still officially in public beta, Home is promised to be released in a similar manner, with updates constantly improving the experience based on user feedback.
However, we’re promised that this open beta will be a fairly good representation of what will eventually be Home v1.0. Rather than be some screwy “0.5 release, it will be a fully robust service”. I suppose good things come to those who wait, so maybe after all this time all the kinks will be ironed out and the wait will be worth it for when Home finally makes its appearance on everyone’s console across the globe.
Aside from Home, Lempel also commented on the movie download service, scheduled for a US release sometime later this summer. Well, when I say “commented”, I mean “repeated details”, simply saying the service will be launched in summer and avoiding mentioning a solid release date or any solid details about what the service will offer, instead saying that “it will offer everything [gamers] expect from us and probably a little bit more.” And of course, Sony being Sony, Europe was left completely out of the equation when it came to details of the movie download service but surprisingly so was Asia. Details on a similar service for PSP were also non-existent.
Oh well; minor disappointment at the end aside, this interview was pretty intriguing. Hopefully Sony will keep to their word this time and we’ll finally get our grubby mitts on a (somewhat) finished version of Home before the year is out. Then again, Sony will be Sony…
Source: “Fully Robust” Home Coming This Fall - Next Generation
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Tweepe // Jul 7, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Anyone know how many GB’s this install is going to require? Beta testers maybe? Thanks guys.
2 JakubK666 // Jul 7, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Xbox 720 and Pee are doomed!
3 Slashlen // Jul 7, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I’m not trying to bash the PS3 or anything, but what exactly is the point of Home? I’ve seen pictures, but I haven’t gotten a clear picture of why the thing exists.
As far as I can tell from the fanboys on the internet, it either cures cancer or causes cancer.
4 Yamster // Jul 7, 2008 at 7:59 pm
@Slashlen: Nonono, Folding@Home is the PS3 app that cures cancer
(Although it’s on PC, Mac and Unix too…)
Home is simply a sort of 3D hub where you can chat to other PS3 users; a little bit like Second Life meets your Xross Media Bar PS3 menu. You can play music and watch videos and the like from your own personal ‘apartment’ and invite friends round to do so with you. You can also play some bowling minigames and the like if you’re that bored, watch movies from the application’s own (literal) movie theatre and display 3D versions of your achievement Trophies.
All in all, it’s a huge gimmick but it still looks pretty cool.
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