Sony Home - The official thread*

[patsu]

Yes, they should have capitalized on PS2's base and start the network then. According to Phil, they played with it and delayed the project for PS3 because PS2 is too weak. However I see PS2's weakness as a strong point. They don't need good graphics to build a community. Had they used the limited resource to create a workable PSN... it would be a piece of cake to optimize it for PS3. The system should also run very fast on PS3.

Till today, while I love the entire PS Home concept, I am wary about the resources consumed by the sophisticated look. A Hotshot Golf, Mii, or any stylized character design (even like Echochrome's) should work.

Nonetheless, in my view, there is a hidden advantage for launching the platform on PS3. I am not sure if Sony sees it that way.

Even at the current pace, the platform should be working on PS3. I don't think you need to wait until PS4.

 

[Cornsnake]

I like to set my expectations low for all things concerning Sony. Especially release dates. They have been working on this for years now, and until they get something in players hands its basically worth nothing. It would be nice to have something in the meantime. The potential for Home is definitely there, but right now its far to ambitious. They could end up with Mircosoft or Nintendo releasing a similar product before them.

 

[Arwin]

I've been thinking that the revised open date has less to do with the state of Home, and more with game support - the Home SDK 1.0 was released only a little while ago, and it will take publishers some time to develop support for it (or even convince most of them to do so, including perhaps patches for the most recent / popular games). Right now only 2 games are in the beta, but by the time the open beta starts they may want to have something more comparable to the list of games that supported DS3 when it was launched in Japan.

 

[patsu]

The potential for Home is definitely there, but right now its far to ambitious. They could end up with Mircosoft or Nintendo releasing a similar product before them.

This may very well be true for some aspects, especially if someone focused on a smaller but more relevant scope. In the best case, if someone is convinced about Home's value, the gap can also be shortened via acquisition of the right companies/technologies. The only sure way for Sony to break out and is to go back to the basics: Stay focused, make fewer mistakes, continue to innovate and leverage on its other divisions. The last few miles usually takes up most of the time and effort.

Sony can be all over the place where software and services are concerned. Sometimes they end up focusing on the fluff instead of the meat. So I can understand your feelings.

Given that the beta is well underway, I think PS Home should be far along. However because of its high profile nature, I am concerned that some glaring issues could remain untackled because people are afraid to change their public position.

I hope the project manager(s) involved are as bold as the Warhawk and GT5P teams. Basically, these people were willing to cut the fat out and delivered quality products incrementally. The worst thing they can do is to not change when they think/realize something is wrong along the way (see Lair).

I've been thinking that the revised open date has less to do with the state of Home, and more with game support - the Home SDK 1.0 was released only a little while ago, and it will take publishers some time to develop support for it (or even convince most of them to do so, including perhaps patches for the most recent / popular games). Right now only 2 games are in the beta, but by the time the open beta starts they may want to have something more comparable to the list of games that supported DS3 when it was launched in Japan.

I believe they are working on two things besides the technical platform:
* The game integration as per your comments
* Marketing tie-up

Not sure how well the basic technical platform will perform in real life.

 

[patsu]

Gartner article about Virtual World status:
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/05/gartner-90-of-c.html

"The challenge that generic projects inside Second Life face is that they do not know who their audience is and therefore do not know what their needs are. Organisations can not effectively market a product for the whole world. They need to be focused and targeted,"

Phew ~! PS3 Gamers, you are in luck.

"Companies need to start thinking what their virtual world strategy is, incorporate it into their internet strategy and merge their two-dimensional web pages to support a '3D web place.' Virtual world presence is not to replace the '2D world' but to supplement it,"

In-game web page integration within Home. Checked (?).

"They need to realise that virtual worlds mark the transition from web pages to web places and a successful virtual presence starts with people, not physics. Realistic graphics and physical behaviour count for little unless the presence is valued by and engaging to a large audience."

I agree. This is the part I think Home has not shown much progress yet (beyond realistic graphics and physics). It's the users and their content that will make a difference. The game launching service will make people's presence valued. But if Sony allows the current beta users to start creating their own content and share their media now/soon, we should be able get a better grasp of the dynamics. Without which, they are no different from regular beta testers.

 

[slider]

Just found this at another forum...

http://talkplaystation.com/home-beta-update-reveals-new-area/

...revealing a "Media and Events Space" apparently. The original source has had to remove the pics so if I've breached any rules here I'm sorry and will edit out.

But this does surprise me after Kaz's recent comments about the focus being on games. I guess games can (and will) have something to do with this space (if it is legit) but the layman's interpretation would be other media activities. Hmm.

But I must say something strikes me as a little fake about them - not sure what and it's too late here to investigate further. Sorry again!

 

[patsu]

Kewl ! I have seen v0.8.6 video as early as April 9th on YouTube. Are we sure this is not a later version ?

But this does surprise me after Kaz's recent comments about the focus being on games. I guess games can (and will) have something to do with this space (if it is legit) but the layman's interpretation would be other media activities. Hmm.

Think E3, Gamer Days, and introduction to gaming (or Playstation). There is no conflict. Playstation Home is not restricted to gamers only. They will start with gamer specific content and activities, but the Home platform can extend to other areas as well.

But I must say something strikes me as a little fake about them - not sure what and it's too late here to investigate further. Sorry again!

May be. But they look nice. What's the load time ?

 

[slider]

Kewl ! I have seen v0.8.6 video as early as April 9th on YouTube. Are we sure this is not a later version ?

No idea - the original source speaks of "anonymous tipster" providing the screens and, of course, only mentions 0.8.6 - a newer version would've leaked elsewhere surely? I'm guessing we won't get any confirmation or denial from B3D Home testers. Here's what else the source had to say...

The new space is called the Media and Events Space and it seems to be a harness for all PLAYSTATION related events.

The update also came with a new survey asking questions such as your thoughts on the new space, it's presentation area, your opinion on the photos and video in the gallery, and what not. They want to know if you would like to see more events similar to PlayStation Day, what kind of content you want to see in the Media & Events Space to make your next visit more compelling, etc. View the off-screen shots below.

Get that feedback in guys and gals!

Think E3, Gamer Days, and introduction to gaming (or Playstation). There is no conflict. Playstation Home is not restricted to gamers only. They will start with gamer specific content and activities, but the Home platform can extend to other areas as well.

Well that quote above puts me in my place (ref survey etc.). I think we'd all envisioned Sony reaching for the (media?) stars when Home was originally announced. I just thought with the infrastructure in place (i.e. this Space) it wouldn't take a giant leap to spread the use of the Media and Events Space to areas other than games. But Sony hasn't really set the world alight in negotiating wth other media companies (I'm looking at you video/TV DL service).

Maybe we will get that E3 at Home after all!

 

[Cornsnake]

Finally some good news about Home. Something I could actually used while waiting for my friends to get online. Now they just need to provide better content. Unlike the PSN Store which is low on content and late compared to gametrailers ect.

 

[patsu]

The Evolution of Games and Social Networks: Virtual Worlds Everywhere

Bumped into this article accidentally. I think it's a panel in Virtual Worlds Expo 2008

http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/04/virtual-world-3.html

Panico: Home is exactly the convergence of those two things. It’s creating the avatar in the Home universe but bringing that together with social tools that bind us together like chatting or your gamer profile.

Q: Is it a [virtual world] or social network?

Panico: We’ve been struggling with this internally. It’s a gaming community that has functionality in a virtual world space.

Q: Will there be a Web- viewable profile or only within the Home universe on the PS3?

Panico: Our initial goal is focusing on the community in the console space. It’s definitely on the product roadmap to extend that to the Web.

There is also a brief mention of a partnership between "Million of Us" and Sony:
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/04/millions-of-us.html

According to their website...

Millions of Us is an agency specializing in virtual worlds. We design, activate and measure marketing programs for our clients across multiple virtual world and social media platforms.

Since launching in May 2006 we've experienced rapid growth in our client portfolio, service offerings, and staff. Our team includes several of the world's leading authorities on the business, culture, and technology of virtual worlds. Our clients include Warner Bros., Toyota Scion, Microsoft, and Intel.

We manage global campaigns from our headquarters in San Francisco; our team is drawn from all over the globe and we're well-equipped to work with clients anywhere.

 

[slider]

God, I'm quick today.

Blimblim's just posted some new shots (mirroring the ones above) in a GAF thread. Don't think he has them on Gamersyde just yet so if you're eager to see them go here.

I don't know why but I'd got into the habit of expecting Spaces to be fairly straightforward and, dare I say it, a little boring architecturally. These show a little bit of adventurism I think.

EDIT: Here they on Gamersyde.

EDIT 2: And a video from ThreeSpeech. Doesn't show us anything unexpected but I think it's ever so cheeky to do a virtual re-run of the PS day in Home (after the event no less!). I guess it is a sign of capability and awareness that something like this would be looked on favourably.

 

[patsu]

Heh heh...

Okay, here's a follow up:
http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/...-first-publisher-event-broadcast-inside-home/

Dear Home testers,

The Home team and Ubisoft would like to invite you to the first ever Publisher Event in Home. Its a pretty exclusive event too as we’re still in closed beta so please try and make time to be a part of a real first.

We’ll be in Home in the new Media & Events space on the evening of Wednesday the 28th of May between 7pm BST and 8pm BST time and Ubisoft will be showcasing their new titles for you all.

Regards,

TedTheDog
Home Community Manager

We have 2 pieces of new information:
* Ubisoft will be the first publisher to host event in Home
* The host in Playstation Home is a talking dog.


EDIT: Here's something interesting from ISO MPEG group:
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/05/mpeg-issues-cal.html#more

There's been an active push from within the industry to establish standards for virtual worlds that would promote interoperability. Jean H.A. Gelissen from Philips, which is a part of the interoperability group, is also working with the ISO MPEG working group on the Information Exchange with Virtual Worlds project, or MPEG-V. The group recently issued an extended call for requirements, now looking to create a standard for architecture, interfaces between virtual worlds, and interfaces between the virtual world and the physical world.

The summary of the call looks at three example use cases that would be improved with interoperability, virtual travel (ranging between worlds), interaction and rich communication with the physical world through a variety of systems and interfaces, and developing avatars that better show human emotion.

 

[Cornsnake]

We cant walk around as non-humans in Home but the host is a talking dog. Can we at least pet him?

Its good see big 3rd party developers taking an interest in Home. If this go's well maybe more will follow.

Edit. An Aibo would be cool though.

 

[deepbrown]

Heh heh...

Okay, here's a follow up:
http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/...-first-publisher-event-broadcast-inside-home/



We have 2 pieces of new information:
* Ubisoft will be the first publisher to host event in Home
* The host in Playstation Home is a talking dog.


EDIT: Here's something interesting from ISO MPEG group:
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/05/mpeg-issues-cal.html#more

Wait...the host is a dog? How do we know this..?

 

[patsu]

>_< It's just my bad joke on TedTheDog's nick.

 

[slider]

Thanks for posting Patsu. I had seen that but, frankly, it was getting embarrassing with my continual edits to that post of mine.

Plus of course real life gets in the way!

Good to see the news about Ubisoft. Coinciding with Ubidays itself; minute by minute if I have my timings right (is Paris an hour ahead of GMT??). Bit of a shame that they don't have anything upcoming (that I know of) that'd really interest me. For now I'm getting off on the evolution of the tech/nature of Home. This is what a lot of us had wanted when the media sharing aspects were revealed.

Better still, not long to go.

 

[Gradthrawn]

Here's a video. Very interesting. I think Shifty and I were just talking about this. Recreating a trade show in Home. The video shows PSDay 08.

The online Media & Events Space can be re-dressed and re-branded just like a real-life venue. Following the test event’s success, Home will now start scheduling more elaborate and exciting productions for the Space, which will be available for use by both first and third parties.

EDIT

Never mind. Missed slider's edit about the Threespeech video.

 

[Jaeyden]

This is really exciting. Certainly some of the best news about Home in recent weeks. Y'all will have to keep us updated on how it goes.

 

[patsu]

They still have quite some way to go. Imagine live Gran Turismo racing event coverage (http://kotaku.com/5011256/gran-turismo-academy-kicks-off) in Playstation Home, racing celebrity attendees, race queens, cheering for teams, "instant win" lucky draws for gamers, followed by direct game launching to GT5 with friends after the event.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

They still have quite some way to go. Imagine live Gran Turismo racing event coverage.

Imagine PS3 owners actually being able to use Home!