You are a brave man. I like to eavesdrop @ Home, and have listened to a few advances like this:.
brave or stupid!?
I was 'on hand' just in case and they didn't get the headset!
BTW patch to 1.01 @ 26mb is up
Sony Home - The official thread*
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brave or stupid!?
I was 'on hand' just in case and they didn't get the headset!
BTW patch to 1.01 @ 26mb is up
Doesn't mean anything if they are just beta testing the barebone service as you repeatedly highlighted. I am not sure what you're trying to get at. It *is* a good thing if 95% of the Home servers are not used now. It would be problematic if 90% of Home servers are used up when there's "nothing" to do ! We are still under closed beta, with no organized activities, and the developers' home spaces are not online yet. If you are interested in its popularity, I'm afraid you have to wait for the service to roll out publicly.
But a podcast also represents someone's personal opinion. None of us have the full picture to comment extensively other than our own limited exposure. It's like saying someone should close down The Sims Online when they themselves don't play the game. Home appeals to some people. If these users and Sony think that the dynamics can be expanded to more people, I don't see why it's a bad thing.
In a way, I am happy that these negative views are out there to keep Sony working. It also helps to keep the expectation low. There are indeed issues with the current design and implementation, but at the same time, as I repeatedly highlighted, there are values within too.
You are missing the point altogether. It's a beta. In fact, not all services in the previous betas are available in 1.0 even. The basic Home services we see now form the foundation of Home, but it's not the entire experience. e.g., Party game launching is only available for Warhawk right now.
Secondly, a community evolves around its users. The early days Flickr was very different from the final Flickr. For now, if you don't see the value in talking to people, you won't enjoy Home. Along this social dimension, I think Home will be helpful in building relationships with other gamers, and pruning out gamers with bad behaviour.
Beyond that, only Sony and the developers know what they are planning for the service. If they launch Home "as is", then yes many people won't find Home appealing. As long as they have *usable* stuff with broader appeal in the pipeline, it should be fine. Unlike other Sony initiatives, Playstation Home is "stackable", they can keep improving the environment to have multiplier effect (The whole is more than the sum of its parts).
I'd say brave. Stupid is if you leave her unattended @ Home. ^_^
Yap, with the existing infrastructure. I think the developers should be able to throw some personal tools or proprietary group activities together. For open/standardized group activities, I think they need to work out some sort of party system throughout Home --- like the XML Game Launching service.
I keep hearing that Home has a lot more to offer that's not in this "barebone" version that is being tested. If that is the case, what is missing that provides significant substance to Home? As it is now, it supports game launching, media sharing/playing, chatting, parties, and the mall (just with null stores, not that it makes any difference since it's just a PS Store interface that pops up).
You only get one chance to make a first impression. Sony chose to make THIS most people's first impression. That's epicly stupid if this is just a tiny subset of what the "full Home" can do if it is ever released.
I'm truly interested in a detailed list of what Sony has implemented that is NOT part of this public beta, then a rationale for why they'd remove that from being exposed to users as they're trying to discover what Home is and form their first impression?
I'm getting at Nesh's comment that with "large numbers wandering in Home, it must have significant appeal" -- you can't tell how many people in total are connecting to (and most importantly, sticking with) a service by judging how many people are wandering around in one instance of Home.
That would be something we all know, I'd hope. The fact is, all we're ever going to get is a personal opinion. I cannot underscore how important positive impressions are from the media , in addition to positive first impressions with players. Again, to go back to the MMO example...many MMOs have increasingly-populated closed betas, then open betas, then finally they get released -- just like Home. And history will show you the games that were hyped for a while before release (like Vanguard, Age of Conan, etc) and then had dismal first impressions in the beta completely sank these games. Even as they have dramatically improved (Vanguard today is a MASSIVE improvement over what it was a year ago), people don't care anymore...they were burned by the first impression, and they move on.
So it is extremely important for Sony to court the personal opinion of its beta testers and the media covering it. This period will be tremendously influential and important for Home's future success, and right now Sony is failing miserably. There is a core set of Sony users that will never be disappointed with what Sony does, so it doesn't matter if "a few people like it" either. I keep hearing the "but it's beta" and "but it's just a barebones edition" excuses, but I cannot emphasize enough how much this does not matter. People form their opinions from it regardless of the excuses, and the bottom line is Sony should not have launched Home in this state. It's a hollow shell of a virtual world with virtually no upside, it needs a lot of work...and for many people, it's just too late now. They're not interested anymore.
Hey guys I noticed that some areas are different in Home if you access it through a EU account. It seems to be more complete and have a different looks.
Content like videos and ads also differs according to your continent to appeal better to the EU culture.
My sister (EU account) when she accessed the Theater there were many screens to choose from and there was a huge hall to wonder around and it also had a huge screen in there with a Wipeout HD trailer. In the screens there were various trailers ranging from a Eurogamer brief program to a movie trailer such as The Watchment.
Since I am using a US account when I entered the Theater there was just the basic room with the Socom trailer.
Content like videos and ads also differs according to your continent to appeal better to the EU culture.
My sister (EU account) when she accessed the Theater there were many screens to choose from and there was a huge hall to wonder around and it also had a huge screen in there with a Wipeout HD trailer. In the screens there were various trailers ranging from a Eurogamer brief program to a movie trailer such as The Watchment.
Since I am using a US account when I entered the Theater there was just the basic room with the Socom trailer.
Oninotsume
Newcomer
US Beta Invite Up for Grabs
Hi,
I just received a US Beta invite, but I'm already in the Japanese one.
PM me if you are interested in a US Beta code.
Oninotsume
*Beta code has been sent out to first response. (2008/11/29)
Hi,
I just received a US Beta invite, but I'm already in the Japanese one.
PM me if you are interested in a US Beta code.
Oninotsume
*Beta code has been sent out to first response. (2008/11/29)
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Media sharing is not supported in the beta. Media "streaming" is.
Content-wise... item library is extremely limited. Plus they are not linked to games yet (None of the games give you any Home items now; unlike Mainichi Isshyo which at least has game-related decorative items). The bubble machine doesn't really give you anything except generating more "particle" load for PS3. As you noted, the Mall has no stores and the theater has no good movies playing. Listen @ Home is an experiment with elevator music. Only 1 game supports Game Launching. The new Clubhouse is rather basic. Finally, there is zero third party developer content in 1.0.
What is more developed are voice + text chat and the arcades (even so, the LUA ones are available first time in 1.0).
I agree. If they release Home 1.0 "as is", I think many will be disappointed. I have said this a few pages up. The open beta probably will have more content but the basic functionality may not be far off. Then again, they added Clubhouse in 1.0, so there may be more surprises. I have no clue.
Probably still under development with developers. Sony is very new to community play (They admitted so in a Virtual World interview). I wouldn't be surprised if they wasted time while experimenting on their own. At this juncture, Sony has a robust, secure and scalable virtual world platform on the PS3 (How much memory does SecondLife take ?). If I were running the show, I'd stylize Home further to speed up the loading.
I agree. Well... if you read the beta forum, you'll see some numbers thrown around for the last second stress test.
Home is free. Whoever gets it for the first time will give it a spin. As long as Home has real value, any PS3 owner can revisit it at no $$ cost. In that sense, it's not as critical as normal games. But it does tarnish Sony's reputation for mis-stepping in Home.
The Japan Home has more stuff and is totally different. You can create a Japanese account to visit there.
I got my invite last night. Looking good so far.
That's the nature of an open beta, though.
It's bare bones as they are testing the core functionality with increased numbers (e.g. actual access to Home, creating an avatar, chatting to people, media streaming, playing minigames in Home, launching a "real" game from Home and returning to Home afterwards, unlocking Home objects from minigames and separate games).
As the numbers increase, so will the functionality. They've got pretty much all the furniture (including interactive stuff), clothing and items to add. Game and retail spaces (e.g. Nike). Shop contents and actual purchases. Trophy integration and rewards.
I take your point about first impressions, though. Having said that it remains available to only a small number of people, it's clear from the MotD that it will expand over time, it sits on the XMB and is free to enter. Also (and I think an often overlooked point by us more hardcore gamers), it remains largely a social experience - there are already quite a few people I've met in Home who seem to be on it all the time, just chatting away and presumably enjoying themselves.
Had a go on the bowling last night (finally!) I can see why it's hard to get in, because technically I could have stayed all night...I need to check what happens now if I join in on a game in progress, I think if there's one player you can join in and there's a small window for others to join in.
Again it was nice to socialise whislt playing, I was 'chatting' to someone from Italy and Machester this time
I like it, but I'm not sure I'd use it that much...it's cool to chill in tho and can imagine it'd be nice to play chess/bowling etc with a friend you might not see often
Again it was nice to socialise whislt playing, I was 'chatting' to someone from Italy and Machester this time
I like it, but I'm not sure I'd use it that much...it's cool to chill in tho and can imagine it'd be nice to play chess/bowling etc with a friend you might not see often
How do you visit alternate regions' Home? Don't you need an invitation? Or if I just use the Home icon with my JP account will it go there?
It's got to be account regionalised IMO...I will log on with my US and JP accounts tonite to check.
Just load up Home under a JP account. You'll have to "redownload" the spaces as they are different.
While you're there, check out the office and the TGS 2008 remake.
I've been trying this, and had my wife have a go at it too, and she really likes it. She's tried Second Life and liked this much more, mainly because the character creation is so much better I guess ... character creation is universally liked. When we were in there as her, she played a game of chess that I played for her and I kicked someone's arse. I also joined someone on my friend's list in Germany which worked fine. I played pinguin brakeout and apparently won something though I'm not sure what - is the bubble machine available by default?
My wife is still in there chatting and dancing, and I can hear her laugh out loud from the livingroom. Good signs.
I think Home will be great. It just needs the content now. I tried creating and starting a game of Warhawk and returning from it to Home - if you bring up the XMB it says return to Home instead of Quit, pretty decent. It all seems to work pretty well - now it's just a matter of adding more games that support Home and such.
My wife is still in there chatting and dancing, and I can hear her laugh out loud from the livingroom. Good signs.
I think Home will be great. It just needs the content now. I tried creating and starting a game of Warhawk and returning from it to Home - if you bring up the XMB it says return to Home instead of Quit, pretty decent. It all seems to work pretty well - now it's just a matter of adding more games that support Home and such.
Hello, I am sorry for not using PM, but I do not have that option (not enough postings?).
Would you please be so kind and send it to me via e-mail to mirebic (at) inet (dot) hr .
Thank you in advance and in case you already gave it to someone, thanks for offering it to us!
Cheers...
(I will try to delete/edit this posting when I receive a notice/e-mail, so that this thread stays readable)
Yes for the beta.
Yeah, it can be amusing when chilling out.
Yes. At the same time I agree with Asher wholeheartedly about usability issues. A straight 3D world UI can be clumsy even though it may feel intuitive. At times, it is just plain clumsy. Period.
Sony needs to innovate in this area to take Home mainstream. It's not the first time for Sony to create cool stuff that never takes off. They usually fell (fall) flat in usability and/or get stucked with a niche audience. I think Home is heading that way if things stay status quo.
It is not relevant to many people, and it does not go "far enough". e.g., Even if making friends is a basic human need and is relatively easy @ Home, Sony does not provide the incentives, the motivation and optimized experience to follow through. Where is my friend finder (How do I find like-minded people in the 3D world) ? How do I locate Asher easily in Home so that I can "help him out" ? How do we stick together in Home ? These are all macro and SERIOUS usability issues.
I don't care about many of the shallow things done @ Home (Bubble machine, static 3rd party game spaces). Even for apartments, it is very difficult to position furniture and items properly (because of parallax problems). I hate it when I can't align them against the wall, or w.r.t. each other. If it's such a hassle, why not just give me a polished 2D items interface ?
I hope Sony throws enough resources and brain power at the project to make a major difference. It is not good enough to try or have it. They must make it fun to use for everyone, even skeptics. People should want to try more (not less) after they enter Home. People should not wait for features to come. There is good potential in Home, but Sony has not fleshed it out fully yet. I don't know if they ever will.
MyPSN launched for EU
Just when I was b*tching...
Now EU people are on par with us.playstation.com for the Portable PSN Id feature: http://www.community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board/message?board.id=138&thread.id=15419
I actually like it better than the all-black US one.
Quick, integrate a gamer friend search with Home.
Just when I was b*tching...
Now EU people are on par with us.playstation.com for the Portable PSN Id feature: http://www.community.eu.playstation.com/playstationeu/board/message?board.id=138&thread.id=15419
I actually like it better than the all-black US one.
Quick, integrate a gamer friend search with Home.
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