Phil Harrison's GDC keynote - Home, LittleBigPlanet & more

I know details are very slim right now but my first impression of Home is that it needs to be a 'game' in and of itself or at least have some gameplay aspects. Otherwise i cant see myself spending time walking around a little virtual town to see a friends achievements little virtual trophies, or to chat, etc. If thats the case, after the novelty has worn off i'm certain i would be looking for 'the button that just gives me a list of friends' (TM). If theres no other incentive to explore the town anyway, itll be a waste imo.

Id also like ot get more of an idea on how theyll manage what will eventually be millions of people on here. Probably only your 'friends' will show up in your town? (Along with the requisite places to spend money of course.)

 

Yes. I think so too. I understood it as some sort of meta-game (e.g., comparing and competing for achievements/trophies) and non-games (e.g., personal expressions). As someone pointed out, usability, simplicity and load time will be critical.

My guess is we have the minimalist XMB for quick access. Someone (me2 ?) pointed out that there are hidden features in the network profile of a PS3 user.

Agree ! This is where the beef is. I would like to know more too (especially LittleBigPlanet).

 

In theory, based on all the discussions on the Cell, distributed computing, and so on - I'd assume that your PS3 acts as a host and everything is some kind of peer-to-peer thing. But of course it shouldn't be too hard to host a fraction of the data online on central servers somewhere. Will be interesting to see how they implement it.

 

With all of the mention of improving the PS3's image and justifying its worth, has there been mention of, or already a remedy for the problem of lack-of background downloading?

 

Supposed to be in the coming firmware update. It's more akin to "auto-resume download" since people were told the download pauses while in-game, which is fine by me.

 

In an online game or any game? IIRC, the 360 only pauses downloads when you go play online. Any word on queueing a few downloads?

 

No idea but I think it will pause for all games. You know as much as I do regarding this feature now

 

I can't see myself doing that either. However, perhaps this isn't intended as an 'appeals to all' feature, but an 'appeals to a specific and necessary niche'? Like SIMS. I don't play SIMS as it has no interest for me, but millions of people do. There's also social MMOs where people just be sociable. You won't catch me on them, but you will find plenty of others on them. Offering such a service, especially if in ways unique and tailored to the desires of those who really like this things, is another string to PS3's bow.

As for creating a game within the community, I'm...skeptical. The idea of ordinary Joe's potentially messing up my gaming experience does not fill me with relish. It'll have to be something utterly amazing and unique if it's to work, IMO. And for PS3's sake, preferable it has huge EyeToy involvement too to promote that device!

 

not that your post nor my comment even belong in this thread but....

that's rather overly-dramatic and a bit ridiculous IMO.

 

To Will Wright's credit...

You should try Sims (coz I'm curious ). I thought, and still think, Sims is weaksauce, girlie and mundane.

A couple of years ago, I was evaluating marketing channels and wanted to see if I can sneak some product placement into the Sims world. So I decided to get a feel at about 4:00pm that day. I left work in the morning because I couldn't stop playing. That weirded me out. I have stayed away from Will Wright's games since then.

As for PS Home, I think it has different goals. The draw will not be the features but the community *if* it gather enough crazy creators. Just like youtube, I find myself visiting it a couple of times a week not because I want to, but people forward links to me. The community is the draw.

 

Killzone in Phil's Keynote confirmed?


And Eurogamer's live coverage.

 

Perhaps just a date for a trailer or release. The former seems especially likely. Seeing Killzone given what we've heard so far doesn't seem very plausible, and all...

 

Playstation Home(TM) - trailer

http://www.gametrailers.com/

http://www.gametrailers.com/downloadnew.php?id=17559

This looks absolutely sweet!!

Great stuff coming for PS3.

Speng.

 

Ladies and gentlemans, the keynote will start in few minutes!

But gametrailers have already posted videos of Playstation HOME and Little Big Planet!!!

 

Pic



Looks

 

Hey, is there some site live-blogging the keynote?

We should zero in on this thing, it being 7 minutes away.

 

Little Big Planet

 

Suddenly live doesn't seem all that great.

 

Liveblogs:
1UP - http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=7934778&publicUserId=5844217
Eurogamer - http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=73821

 

Trailer is amazing for what they have planned. If this is more than 80% complete, unless MS has been hiding something this is a big Bomb!

http://www.gametrailers.com/downloadnew.php?id=17559

I can already see my Clan trophy for Socom: 4

Speng.