Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Home is less functional and user friendly than any of the other social applications out there like myspace IMO. I don't think it will affect console sales all that much, if at all.
EA Q3 2008 Financials (Platform Sales & SKUs)
- Thread starter AlNom
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Yeah, the controller suggests a 3D interface which will be a lot more cumbersome and slow than clicking around with a mouse on a PC or Mac. The console belongs in the living room, and its main role is to play games. Home will be a nice addition but it's ridiculous to believe that it will give the PS3 a significant sales advantage.
Less functional? They're aimed at different kinds of functionality..specifically the sharing of PS3 functionalities among a group, seamlessly. It's hard to compare!
I'm not sure if you've seen vids of it or not, but the interface is simple..if you can use the xmb, you can use home, since the predominant interface is basically the same.
Anyway, this is OT really. Let's not get caught up in a discussion purely about Home. I think we can all agree it adds to the package, but it's the package that sells..let's just leave it at that.
Yeah Johnny Awesome and Laa-Yosh highlighted my main concerns with Home today:
(1) Whether it'd have sufficient content at launch since the closed beta seems relatively empty with little user participation
(2) Whether it'd be responsive and fast enough due to the added virtual world overhead. Sony's response was the virtual PSP and the minimalist XMB UI, but I have not tried it personally.
(3) Wherther the controller and the living room context is a place to fudge around with the Home world.
However, at the same time I reserved judgement because:
(1) Home is a platform. Its draw will depend on the exclusive collection of third party applications and their integration into a seamless experience/world (e.g., Dress, free public games, PS3 game lobbies, IGN home spaces, etc.).
(2) It is probably an evolving animal. So when one thing doesn't work, they will phase it out. If something sticks, it will grow. The only thing we are aware is it will be a multi-client (including PC web browser) network.
(3) Very likely, it is only part of a larger strategy. Some hints about consumer-to-consumer commerce has been dropped (perhaps tie in with user generated content and pre-owned gigs).
It also seems very compatible/interoperable with the Blu-ray platform (Think Java games on Home and BD-J in Blu-ray; Home space vs MySpace integration to Fox's Blu-ray titles highlighted in CES 2008).
If Sony extends Home to its major products (cellphones, movies, HD TVs, laptops, etc.) in an inspiring and attractive way, they can probably gain some marketing mileage out of it. Marketing means it will help to draw people and potentially sell stuff. Too early to tell, but we should just wait and see.
I am sure Microsoft has a similar strategy too.
(1) Whether it'd have sufficient content at launch since the closed beta seems relatively empty with little user participation
(2) Whether it'd be responsive and fast enough due to the added virtual world overhead. Sony's response was the virtual PSP and the minimalist XMB UI, but I have not tried it personally.
(3) Wherther the controller and the living room context is a place to fudge around with the Home world.
However, at the same time I reserved judgement because:
(1) Home is a platform. Its draw will depend on the exclusive collection of third party applications and their integration into a seamless experience/world (e.g., Dress, free public games, PS3 game lobbies, IGN home spaces, etc.).
(2) It is probably an evolving animal. So when one thing doesn't work, they will phase it out. If something sticks, it will grow. The only thing we are aware is it will be a multi-client (including PC web browser) network.
(3) Very likely, it is only part of a larger strategy. Some hints about consumer-to-consumer commerce has been dropped (perhaps tie in with user generated content and pre-owned gigs).
It also seems very compatible/interoperable with the Blu-ray platform (Think Java games on Home and BD-J in Blu-ray; Home space vs MySpace integration to Fox's Blu-ray titles highlighted in CES 2008).
If Sony extends Home to its major products (cellphones, movies, HD TVs, laptops, etc.) in an inspiring and attractive way, they can probably gain some marketing mileage out of it. Marketing means it will help to draw people and potentially sell stuff. Too early to tell, but we should just wait and see.
I am sure Microsoft has a similar strategy too.
Here is a analyst comparing to EA.
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/n...trong-performance-in-08--analyst/19310/?biz=1
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/n...trong-performance-in-08--analyst/19310/?biz=1
If people are so into social networking on a PC, why would said people buy a game console to do it
Well this is exactly the problem the networking part of home faces. People who are on facebook, are on facebook they aren't looking to jump to a new much smaller community.
I'm sure home will get some use in terms of networking, but to suggest its some big selling point to millions is another thing entirely.
No it won't be another facebook or myspace. If Home were to be successful, it needs to have its inherent value and its own killer apps (or deals).
For social networking, it's an organic effect (which can be encouraged/cultivated by community management and marketing). It would be a mistake to think that Home's main draw is social networking (only).
Therein lies the fourth unaddressed item in Home: Lack of girl power. Hopefully the Dress service is strong enough to draw some in.
For social networking, it's an organic effect (which can be encouraged/cultivated by community management and marketing). It would be a mistake to think that Home's main draw is social networking (only).
Therein lies the fourth unaddressed item in Home: Lack of girl power. Hopefully the Dress service is strong enough to draw some in.
Some really good points have been made (and not just by patsu). I've found myself re-evaluating Home's impact to me.
People do wonder what the next "internet craze" will be (I know I sound totally out of the loop...). Home will not be that next big thing, but I don't think most reasonable people would claim that it would be. At least I hope they wouldn't.
For Home to have any sort of presence in the mainstream consciousness it'll have to transcend the PS3 and, as hinted, move to mobiles and PCs. But I don't think that is Sony's main aim. First and foremost it will be as a commerce vehicle. And as that it does really have a lot of potential.
For now, I'm going to carry on waiting patiently. I swear the internet has made waiting so much harder.
For home to matter it needs to be the next big consumer fad. It won't be.
It's like saying Live Arcade or Video services on Xbox live are selling consoles or a PS3 for Folding. Sure you might get a few but that number is a rounding error at best.
For people, Home would be a feature that they might adopt once they got a PS3 for GAMES and/or BluRay first. For Sony, their hope is eventually a way to sell virtual content.
It's like saying Live Arcade or Video services on Xbox live are selling consoles or a PS3 for Folding. Sure you might get a few but that number is a rounding error at best.
For people, Home would be a feature that they might adopt once they got a PS3 for GAMES and/or BluRay first. For Sony, their hope is eventually a way to sell virtual content.
The uniqueness of Home is that it's optimized to a game controller and other settings common in games. So it's not just another Second-Life wanabee.
Why not use voice chat?
Voice chat fails to be useful for general conversation beyond a threshold of participants. You can communicate with 40 people in a guild chat channel without issue, but you try to do the same in a voice chat and chaos ensues. Also many people aren't nearly as comfortable with it, especially when you start introducing language barriers.
Voice chat isn't really conducive for forum like conversation either(where people are communicating with people who aren't online), scrolling through a forum of replies you can pick, choose, browse and search, but I don't really see any way you could do that with a voice mail system.
Then it just shows how Home is optimized, it's not an MMO guild channel but a casual conversation space which is more like a real meeting of people. IIRC a shared Home space can host 64 or so people and they are run by regional servers so language barriers are not supposed to be there.
Because they are sitting in front of a TV and they like it a lot
Didn't you already write kb/m is cumbersome for a living room? Someone prefers console games to PC games, it's no different I guess.Are you asking why Home will appeal to non-gamers ?
Home initially will be targeted for Playstation owners only (e.g., game lobbies, trophies, media sharing, gamer events). For Home to draw in casuals, Sony will need to deliver some unique and compelling Home applications for them. For example, they can mimick the iTunes + Music Store effect. i.e., when you buy a Sony product (e.g., cellphone, TV, player, laptop, mylo, digital paper, ...), they give you an account on Home to manage your freebies (e.g., free ringtones, free movies, free ebooks, free games) and buy more content.
Over time, Sony should be able to build a base.
I don't think we should compare Home to MySpace or FaceBook "as is". They were highlighted as examples, not necessary the model for Home to follow.
As for comments on voice chat/message board. My old company used to run one. It was actually not too bad. Our larger VoIP network had (has ?) over 4 million users (worldwide) and growing. The voice forum were pretty heavily populated. In fact, many netizens even video chat with strangers on something like QQ in China.
Ultimately, it depends on how Sony package and market it. I don't think we have any conclusion yet. e.g., It is also possible for PC and cellphone users to contribute content on Home. PS3 guys may end up lurking there. Might be better to discuss Home after more is known.
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This part of its 'coming attractions' preview series is apt to this discussion, I think.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=92121
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=92121
Or bedroom, where multifunctionality is normally even more useful.
Very few single games or hardware choices give a console significant sales advantage. You get the rare GTA or Halo, and the rest never amounts to that. Taken in isolation you can fob off any advantage any system has as not making a huge difference overall. It's the sum of the extras that swing the sales.
Image/design counts for a lot, so anything that adds to a feeling of a classy system has to be good, not in creating direct sales, but in increasing brand value. XB360 isn't selling well in the EU despite having the price advantage, because the brand hasn't got momentum. Having the right image is part of being a successful product. In a 'console <> rival' balance you need as many things on your side as possible. If you can drop a hefty Halo or Wiimote on your side, that's a huge boost to shifting the balance. When you can't, it's all the little things that add up. giving people as many reasons as possible to think about and like your product helps to increase sales. If in adding functionality Sony also add a bigger experience and execute it very smoothly, that has to be a plus to add to whatever other plusses they can produce.
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