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

Considering how much flak Sony got for "copying" Microsoft with everything they did when it came to their current online model i wouldn´t worry. Sony just took a giant step over Microsoft and took it to the next level. Impressive and unexpected, i mean, that must have taken some time, moneyz and effort to get it working.

 

I have similar concerns for Sony (MS may react by partnering/buying someone like what they did in web browser), but closed beta is starting in Spring '07. And calling for developer support/participation starts today. So it's not so bad (Let them sort it out between themselves).

 

huh?

 

this is cool stuff for the PS3


edit

 

Well that just speaks to the whole issue of Sony's secrecy vs openness. Sometimes secrecy isn't a bad thing, and even very much needed to retain areas of competetive advantage.

Anyway, they'll have a worthwhile first mover advantage from this. Obviously the only real threat is from MS anyway, since the hardware requirements to replicate this are probably too steep to be expected of the Wii (although perhaps a 2D platformer based on the LBW concept could be executed).

 

Made some correction in my OP

Good things take time to happen and nourish. Besides usability issues, the key to Home is developer support. Would prefer developers to work hard with Sony on this. In the end, I as a PS3 consumer can benefit... rather than some half-baked effort from dilution (at this point).

I'm not moving on. I'm staying.

 

It´s almost criminal to post anything that can be calles a VS argument here. Even if this is blatently worth discussing.

 

good answer.

 

I didnt mean it THAT way

 

Excellent! This is the kind of presentation I have been hoping from Sony. GREAT STUFF! Love the Home but I love the LittleBigPlanet quite alot, endless possibilities! My interest towards PS3 just went up alot, and thats an understatement.

The music and the characters made me laugh a bit, just because it looked so much fun. And the music fit it perfectly!

 

Compeitition is so awesome. Let's see how Nintendo and MS responds. LBP looks great as well.

 

Although kinda neat, the announcements today mean little to nothing to me....I'm far more interested in hearing about a new firmware update that fixes any number of the several issues people are having or some of the enhancements we've been begging for now for months...

DVD upscaling, BD over 720p, new (ie: more than 1) visualizations for the media player, etc...)

 

I don't think they took a leap at all. It's not better, it's just different. Personally I'm not so keen, i mean I can see the appeal, but that sort of thing just isn't for me.

 

These are expected anyways. Why hear about something we know we will get than something different and new?

 

LBP looks cool, Home is very 'meh'

I mean what are the practical uses here?
- walk around and meet random people in a lobby, maybe enter games with them. A virtual lobby...
- show people multimedia housed on your PS3
- show off your interior design skills??
- dress up your character

The only thing that is really cool is the sharing of media, which is a pretty neat little feature, the rest seems pretty useless and boring to me. Then again, I'm not realy the online socializing type...

 

These were my exact thoughts!

 

LBW/LBP is simply amazing. Honestly, this is the most clean real-time graphics/animation I have ever seen on any platform. About "home", I have mixed feelings. If I am going to sit and chat with my friends, I would prefer video chat rather than having some online world/avatars. Achievement in my view is just for self satisfaction.. It just gives you the feel of "achieving" something jsut for a moment, and then, makes you forget about it afterwards. The only place I use is to see if someone I met has a similar gaming interests, but I am not sure I want to visit his virtual home to find about that. The coolest thing I see is audio/video streaming. I hope it gives MS a push to implement this at least into video chat application. As many put out, it is nice to have this competition and competition is good for consumers.

Anyway, Sony come up with something really interesting. However, I still have my doubts that this would turn into a killer application, especially before they solve the price issue to make PS3 more appealing to causal users.

 

If people love Sims. I don't see why they wouldn't love Home.

 

Well done Sony, got the feeling Home is going to be very important in PS3 future.
LBP is also amazing, saw it a few months ago for the first time..and it's so much better now, Alex Evans and all the other ppl at MM are extremely talented.

 

LBP is something I would definitely be interested in if it were an XBLA game, so that's a win for Sony. The game's graphics are really, really well done. I'm not convinced the game has any longevity, though. Building and uploading game levels sounds really interesting though (MS? Hello? You should have had this months ago).

Home is one of those things that I don't care about at all but lots of people will. It certainly seems well done and as fully-featured as you could hope for. The only remaining question is when exactly will all these things be released. When is the initial rollout? And which of the features will it include? If Home delivers on the potential shown in the trailer, it will be the top dog. Now we wait for the delivery.

Unless Sony trips themselves up with implementation, MS clearly has their work cut out for them. Home features user content, customization and cohesiveness the likes of which the 360 and Live cannot comprehend. It's like a whole 'nother dimension that Live is unaware of (4D jokers need not respond). Frankly I don't think MS will ever get there.

And, to put things into perspective, I don't think Home is a system seller. Games are still the selling point, though Home has certainly blurred the boundaries more than ever.