Sony Home - The official thread*

[betan]

People who expect Home to be a 3d interface for the tasks they are used to doing in 2d, are going to be disappointed no doubt. Home can not succeed as a Second Life clone either. I said it before, I'm in favor of a Home release when ready, with lots of content and finalized dev tools.

The reason I said that was because I thought Home needs to attract people from day one. After spending a couple of hours last night with a buddy, and seeing how newly met people interact and chat, I have to say the socializing aspect of the virtual world seems to work already, to my surprise. Surely the new blood made a difference, but now I'm of the opinion that it's easy for Sony to make Home popular. The challenge for them is to make it profitable or even feasible.

 

[patsu]

Edit: Initial impressions are somewhat what I expected during the announcement. I haven't been able to do anything like join a game from inside Home yet.

Hmm... you can definitely launch a game from Home. I have been doing it since invited.

Press > and then select "Create a Game Session". You'll be prompted to choose a game (or set up a game). Once you have done that, a "Playstation Controller" icon will appear over your head. People can then join you in the party (if supported). For unsupported games, you can still launch into them (as if launching from XMB). When you quit the game, you'll return Home.

I believe Warhawk is the only one that supports Game Launching in Home right now.

I didn't see anything that showed me how and I didn't spend too much time on it, it shouldn't take too much effort to find out how to do it... So, to me, this looks like a better looking version of Second Life, which I loathed.

I believe the Game Launching instructions are in the Virtual PSP/Menu Pad (That's how I learned it). You probably did not make an effort to look for it ?

So far I'm with Asher. I really so no advantage to a mass audience to this. Much like he said, I am more then willing to hold of for any real conclusion.

Right now, the current implementation is missing the most important part of Home, and that is content. These silly avatars in this game are just as silly as the ones in the new NXE.

I beg to differ. I have shown Home to a few non-gamers. It intrigues some of them *a lot*. They seem more willing to try stuff online when they see Home. People like my wife (who hates gaming) are immune though

I dont see myself spending nothing but bored exploratory time in Home, but I will be looking forward to seeing this end the close beta, move to open, and add some content. At this point, they need to to do what ever it takes to get as much content in any format on the interface, as soon as it goes public. If not it's going to be another much touted, short to deliver experience.

Potential is a vague word. I see opportunities in Home. Opportunities for doing something unique and fun. Opportunities for making some money.

EDIT: I have already posted all my complains on the Home beta forum. Hopefully they get around to fix them.

 

[2real4tv]

I also got an invite and I think the potential is enormous I had a lot of fun exploring and even played a game of pool with some random person. There was a group of us(non-friends) sitting Indian style talking about random stuff like football and games.

 

[2real4tv]

How do people chat in Home ?

(Errr... no, that's not me in the middle).

It can get crazy when enough fun people come on board.

How do you play your own music?

 

[patsu]

They played the music through their mics.

For "real" music streaming, go to the Listen @ Home corner.

Through text chat or headset.

I hope they add back the Uncharted and Far Cry spaces as well as the game list for game launching.

Both. You can talk while your friends type their responses. That's how I think it should be (Thumbs up).

The old game spaces are too lacking for my taste. Not much to do (except for the Warhawk space). They should definitely revamp the old game spaces to make them more interesting.

Home is best enjoyed if you have an existing group of friends (e.g., GAF) joining you. For people who are friendless in PSN and are not interested to make new friends, I don't think you need to be bothered with Home (and vice versa). It won't work. Relationship is a two-way thing. Use XMB and in-game lobbies instead. \O/

EDIT:
I do agree the Mall is useless if they have the new PS Store interface. They could have inserted the PS Store into the Menu Pad. Even some RPGs have in-menu stores.

If they are selling Home goods, the products can be wored/used right away in Home without a physical Mall. If they want a group shopping experience, the PS Store interface would appear and "separate" the group (unless your friends have voice chat ?). I see them evolve the UI more. At the end of the day, if Sony wants to encourage commerce, they should make it easy and fun to shop (e.g., click on someone else's T-shirt and choose "Order from Store").

 

[Asher]

Hmm... you can definitely launch a game from Home. I have been doing it since invited.

Press > and then select "Create a Game Session". You'll be prompted to choose a game (or set up a game). Once you have done that, a "Playstation Controller" icon will appear over your head. People can then join you in the party (if supported). For unsupported games, you can still launch into them (as if launching from XMB). When you quit the game, you'll return Home.

I believe Warhawk is the only one that supports Game Launching in Home right now.



I believe the Game Launching instructions are in the Virtual PSP/Menu Pad (That's how I learned it). You probably did not make an effort to look for it ?

It really should not be buried. This should be front and centre with Home. So far, the app seems like a whole mess of mixed up priorities. I do not understand why this has taken years to do, it must've been tremendously mismanaged.

I'm coming from an HCI/UX background and I'm more or less incredibly frustrated from what I see in Home. Maybe the a less-discerning casual player won't be as frustrated, but I was. FWIW, I don't have Warhawk so that's maybe why I didn't see anything. I also didn't see right away how to customize my home...

This looks like an "empty shell" of a real world and if you want to know how to do things, you have to dig. The problem with this is I am asking -- and most users will ask -- what am I digging for? What does this app do, and why do I need it? They're not going to spend the time digging around to find it out, it needs to be front and centre. There's a lot of overhead (additional downloads, then additional loading times, then additional frequent downloads for new zones) that act as roadblocks for usability. At my firm, this kind of app would never have been green-lit from a UX perspective. And we're all about the social computing aspect (albeit mostly focusing on MS Surface, facebook, and distributed apps), so we've done all kinds of usability studies on how long users will be willing to play with a "sandbox" like environment without clear direction before getting bored and moving on. Of course, the more roadblocks you have the less users you have as well, and the shorter their patience.

While you can "run" in Home (it's really a very light jog) it's incredibly slow. For instance, the characters in Left 4 Dead and Fable II (games I've played most recently), you can run easily twice as fast. It feels like the app is doing nothing but holding me back, rather than enabling me to do more. Especially considering the only functionality/content in the game right now are an awful movie theatre experience, an awful mall/shopping experience, and a clumsy chat experience (unless you have a keyboard hooked up, and then why not use an IM client that doesn't take a minute to load?). And a bowling game I didn't play.

How many years did this take?

 

[patsu]

It really should not be buried. This should be front and centre with Home. So far, the app seems like a whole mess of mixed up priorities. I do not understand why this has taken years to do, it must've been tremendously mismanaged.

This I agree. In fact, Sony admitted that Home fell through the organization crack sometime ago.

I'm coming from an HCI/UX background and I'm more or less incredibly frustrated from what I see in Home. Maybe the a less-discerning casual player won't be as frustrated, but I was. FWIW, I don't have Warhawk so that's maybe why I didn't see anything. I also didn't see right away how to customize my home...

My new HDD also does not have any trace of WarHawk
You should be able to find the help instructions in the Menu Pad. it was pretty prominent in the Virtual PSP help. Not sure where it is now in the Menu Pad. I am away from the PS3 now.

This looks like an "empty shell" of a real world and if you want to know how to do things, you have to dig. The problem with this is I am asking -- and most users will ask -- what am I digging for? What does this app do, and why do I need it? They're not going to spend the time digging around to find it out, it needs to be front and centre. There's a lot of overhead (additional downloads, then additional loading times, then additional frequent downloads for new zones) that act as roadblocks for usability. At my firm, this kind of app would never have been green-lit from a UX perspective. And we're all about the social computing aspect (albeit mostly focusing on MS Surface, facebook, and distributed apps), so we've done all kinds of usability studies on how long users will be willing to play with a "sandbox" like environment without clear direction before getting bored and moving on. Of course, the more roadblocks you have the less users you have as well, and the shorter their patience.

For a total newbie, I agree. Home needs at least a "welcome letter", "daily news" (a la Mainichi Issho), and a more self explanatory directory (to replace the current World Map).

For a gamer, I don't think it's a big issue at this moment. Most gamers are used to exploration. When in doubt, you can always ask the people around you. This is the beauty of Home. And this is what I did on several occasions too: Asking for instructions, and asking for opinion on certain games, etc.

While you can "run" in Home (it's really a very light jog) it's incredibly slow. For instance, the characters in Left 4 Dead and Fable II (games I've played most recently), you can run easily twice as fast. It feels like the app is doing nothing but holding me back, rather than enabling me to do more.

Yes, I feel that the 3D UI is holding me back for some simple tasks too. But the fix is not to run twice as fast. Stuff should come to the users on-demand. And users should be able to teleport/fly immediately to any location within the current space (Forget the law of physics !).

Especially considering the only functionality/content in the game right now are an awful movie theatre experience, an awful mall/shopping experience, and a clumsy chat experience (unless you have a keyboard hooked up, and then why not use an IM client that doesn't take a minute to load?).

They would disagree...

From my personal experiences, chatting in Home is richer than IM, hands down. There are "pre-built" responses you can chain together via menu selection. If you're after efficiency, there is always the XMB video chat... if you can find new/old friends on PSN.

I bet you have no desire to go to a clubhouse too. OTOH, I have been trying to get into the (shared) GAF clubhouses for days.

I don't think the movie experience is awful (You didn't go into full screen mode as prompted at the bottom of the screen). The movie is awful
One doesn't have to go to the theater to watch a movie. There are screens in multiple locations. You can teleport to the theater from the World Map if you want to watch a video there. The theater might be a good place to show private or invitation-only movies.

And a bowling game I didn't play.

Hmmm... not a Home problem. There are also other LUA-based games in the Bowling Alley too.
It's still in closed beta. In fact, interested parties are going out of their way to find more Home content.

See the GAF thread on Namco Museum here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342918

It sounds to me like you're not the kind of people for Home. Great UI feedback but you should be happier sticking with XMB.
There is no point forcing yourself to like Home.

How many years did this take?

4-5 years ? Look under the hood. Home is more stable, secure and scalable than SecondLife. Despite the mismanagement, Home does offer a sophisticated platform for streaming multiple media, running LUA scripts, multicasting voice + text chat, managing P2P parties and launching games in an open way, all at the same time. The 3D interface is robust but I'd much prefer a simpler UI.

I am pretty sure Sony is not showing us everything in Home. Dress and the 20+ Japanese game spaces are not available here (yet). They seem to be most concerned with scalability at this moment. Since you're in the beta, you would have seen the call-for-load-test email.

One thing is loud and clear though. Home UI still need more scrutiny + improvement for casual and indifferent parties (e.g., Guides/hints to tell users what to do here/next).

 

[one]

IMO when it's fused with MMOG it'll be huge (think WoW with most of PSN users)

 

[Refreshment]

Constructive criticism is important for this kind of software but i think some of us are a bit too harsh with Home.

I find it amazing that Sony (so far and to some extent) is willing to give this software away for free. When for example Nintendo is charging 50 dollars for the latest Animal Crossing, speculating, I'll say budget for the Wii version of the game should be a fraction of what Home is costing Sony. So lets give them some props at least.

This is just Sony's way to build some kind of identity for its online community, like someone pointed out, Home is not for everybody and there's always the option to use the XMB. Plus this project made MS react with the NXE and its avatars, it counts for something i guess.

I also link the Home experience to what happened to PSO in the DreamCast days. When people got tired of the game it sort of became an interactive chat room, i remember people still had a good time with this use. Lets just say that instead of chating about games in a message board you invest that time doing so in home. After all taking about games is part of the entertainment they provide.

 

[patsu]

Asher's feedbacks are very valid from the point of view of a person who don't like 3D world to begin with. The 3D presentation may be attractive to some people, but it also turns many users away.

We all know where most run-of-the-mill 3D worlds end up. I also share many of Asher's concerns. The only difference is I am more motivated to explore the Playstation community. The basic usability issues are definitely there.

The underlying concept of Home is more than the virtual world. Sony should try its best to address the UI issues, or present them in other ways so that the experience doesn't feel like a chore.

EDIT:

IMO when it's fused with MMOG it'll be huge (think WoW with most of PSN users)

In a way, I feel that collectables and community highlights are missing from Home.

In my opinion, there are only 3 things:
* The gamers and their participation/activities (Playstation Home + Gamer Profiles)
* The products Sony wants to sell (Playstation Store)
* Information (Channels in Life with Playstation, Qore, Websites, XMB Info Bar)

I am very happy that they got rid of proprietary Home stores and reuse PS Store instead. They should continue to cut the fat, focus on the highlights and streamline the essentials only. Then allow the above 3 concepts to weave among each other seamlessly. e.g., Allow people to order by clicking on other avatars, or from different information sources.

I don't like the way Life with Playstation is positioned now because I think it is missing the point (although with some nice ideas). The meat should be the information channels, not the globe. The Folding@Home channel is not relevant to most people. The first channel should be a gamers' channel that talks about Playstation Home happenings, Qore highlights (don't they want to promote it ?), Playstation Blog, Playstation developer website updates or even Blu-ray movie news. LwP should be able to piece these sources together into something more logical (They should all be viewable from the web/HTML).

Life with Playstation is also a screen saver. Highlighting game-related news when the screen saver kicks in is definitely more relevant to most PS3 owners (compared to Folding and Google news). And then from within PS Home, just present the relevant details based on the time, venue and gamer profile.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

I find it amazing that Sony (so far and to some extent) is willing to give this software away for free.

Um, second life etc is also "free", home would never have worked if youd have to pay for it. Aspecially not when all similar "games" are free.

 

[Refreshment]

Um, second life etc is also "free", home would never have worked if youd have to pay for it. Aspecially not when all similar "games" are free.

There's a bit of a misunderstanding here. Not suggesting Sony could/should charge for Home basic functions or what could be the viability of such a business model.

The point i was trying to make is that a heavy effort of time and economic investment has been dedicated to the Home project, a project that will be available to users for "free". The Nintendo comparison was made in a good spirited way. Since it was kind of ironic or funny (take your pick) that the Animal Crossing development costs probably aren't comparable to Home, yet a good sum of cash is asked for that Wii game.

Moving to other things, I don't think the parallel you are tracing with Second Life is an equivalent one for a variety of reasons, specially in the case of the hosting platforms for each project, that is an open one and a closed one. In this case im talking about the viability you introduced and not the qualities of the software which are indeed similar.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

There's a bit of a misunderstanding here. Not suggesting Sony could/should charge for Home basic functions or what could be the viability of such a business model.

The point i was trying to make is that a heavy effort of time and economic investment has been dedicated to the Home project, a project that will be available to users for "free". The Nintendo comparison was made in a good spirited way. Since it was kind of ironic or funny (take your pick) that the Animal Crossing development costs probably aren't comparable to Home, yet a good sum of cash is asked for that Wii game.

I didn't misunderstand you, what your trying to say is something wierd.

Yes, nintendo charges for animal crossing. Thats because animal crossing is a game. And you know, game consoles make their money by selling games.

What you where pointing out, is bla bla bla give sony credit because we are not paying for home, while nintendo charges you for animal crossing.

Home would never work if you had to pay for it. (You probably will have to pay for some stuff, just like second life etc.). I dont think its funny, and no i dont think they should get any credit like you wanted to give them in your earlier post for making this thing free. Of course its free, thats the only way Home can ever have the potential of reaching any significant mass.

It makes perfect sense that nintendo charges for animal crossing, while it probably cheap to develop, its an actual game.

Home is nothing, its some second life clone that lets you do stuff you allready can on your PS3, but with a 3d interface. charging for an interface upgrade would be rather wierd. Sony hopes that this new interface thingy will sell some consoles, and thats why they are making it without a cost to us.

I dont think Sony are entitled to any extra credit or anything for spending money on Home.

 

[one]

Sony hopes that this new interface thingy will sell some consoles, and thats why they are making it without a cost to us.

That's a too optimistic point of view, I've thought Home is here to better represent what Sony and other third parties want to show consumers, be it their vision or their advertisements. On a radio we hear sound, on a TV we watch movies, on a PC with an Intel VGA we watch 2D Flash banners, on an online game console we interact with 3D world representation. It's dictated by natural traits of each media device.

Home itself is a medium and a platform hosted in Sony servers, not only an interface in each PS3. Can you do what Dress does with XMB? Not really. As for credit to Sony, you won't pay advertisements but you may thank what a non-pay TV can do for free.

 

[goonergaz]

Home would never work if you had to pay for it.

Why not? People pay for Live and this will arguably be better...or certainly make it a better service than we currently get. I for one was expecting a charge - even if it's for the initial package - I'm thinking like LBP an initial one-off (altho not full price) and then chargable bits in the world.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Live is different. You have to pay for live in order to get multiplayer access. Without it, no multiplayer.

I dont think that people are going to pay in order to be able to watch a movie clip, in a 3d theatre instead of just downloading the same thing in the PSN store?

I bet they will charge for some things like all console manufacterer do these days, but home by itself will be free. (I reckon that you will be able to pay $$$ for some special clothing, or places etc. like second life and all other virtual world things)

 

[Nesh]

There is something that I saw in Home and dont have to pay for. Matchmaking and invitations

 

[patsu]

That's a too optimistic point of view, I've thought Home is here to better represent what Sony and other third parties want to show consumers, be it their vision or their advertisements. On a radio we hear sound, on a TV we watch movies, on a PC with an Intel VGA we watch 2D Flash banners, on an online game console we interact with 3D world representation. It's dictated by natural traits of each media device.

A Sony exec mentioned in an interview that he thinks Home will help improve the online penetration of PS3 (especially for casuals). It also gives PS3 a unique online identity and provides a shared platform for everyone (Sony, developers and users) to come together, visually and functionally-speaking. I guess that's why Phil Harrison lumped Home as a Game 3.0 project.

Home itself is a medium and a platform hosted in Sony servers, not only an interface in each PS3. Can you do what Dress does with XMB? Not really. As for credit to Sony, you won't pay advertisements but you may thank what a non-pay TV can do for free.

Yes. As a platform, there are a few end-user features in Home that are not in XMB even though basic functionalities will be in both. Home does concurrent media streaming because you can visit Listen @ Home and still watch the movie trailers in Central Plaza (whereas XMB queues media download). Home supports LUA scripting but XMB does not. The 3D interface may be clumsy sometimes, but it is a big-plus in helping to visualize the community, etc.

As a medium, Home provides a seamless media experience while XMB is utility-based (a sleek but minimalist one).

Ultimately, Home should become a community/ecosystem/economy to drive its own growth. Some of the Home features may make it to XMB, but the latter will remain an efficient tool for zipping through day-to-day, game-to-game chores.

Home is nothing, its some second life clone that lets you do stuff you allready can on your PS3, but with a 3d interface. charging for an interface upgrade would be rather wierd.

Home is a platform (not nothing ), but it only appeals to some users in its current form.

 

[Nesh]

This thing is dangerous. I spent hours on it without noticing.

I got addicted to the arcade and bowling games. Then the Plaza was filled with tons of people and was wondering around to eavesdrop some conversations.

Then I saw something I havent noticed in the area before. There was something that looked like a large jukebox and people gathered there and "danced" to the music. Probably for hours!

The socialization aspect of home is way too large. Some female avatars started appearing too, and women were talking from their microphones. Then things started to get funny.

Wherever there was a woman avatar there were probably around 4 men avatars around "her" trying to chat.

 

[patsu]

This thing is dangerous. I spent hours on it without noticing.

I got addicted to the arcade and bowling games. Then the Plaza was filled with tons of people and was wandering around to eavesdrop some conversations.

That's one of my favorite activities @ Home. Listening to the latest chatter and buzz.

Then I saw something I havent noticed in the area before. There was something that looked like a large jukebox and people gathered there and "danced" to the music. Probably for hours!

That would be the Listen @ Home experiment.

The socialization aspect of home is way too large. Some female avatars started appearing too, and women were talking from their microphones. Then things started to get funny.
Wherever there was a woman avatar there were probably around 4 men avatars around "her" trying to chat.

You should fend for the gals. They are being harassed constantly.

I might change my avatar into a gal and turn on my voice chat just to scare some *boys* off.

EDIT:
I think they should clarify the user policies. Let everyone know that once they have harassed a gal, they will never see a real gal in Home forever.