Sony Home - The official thread*

[rabidrabbit]

They going to open up the beta on that thing at some point? 8-P

Apparently, it will at first be an "invite only" affair, like G-Mail public beta was.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=28608

I'm open to any invitations

 

[Titanio]

The beta has been updated, apparently. It now features the Home Square as seen at E3. Pictures taken from here:

http://www.console-exploits.com/forums/showthread.php?p=88660

More at the link..the last picture has sparked some speculation, but it may mean nothing..

 

[patsu]

Neat ! The world can be expanded dynamically after launch.

For example if you didn't desire to visit the theater you didn't have to download it. It make for a much smaller core download and allows users to define their own experiences.

The downloading screen looks in-game (so we don't have to quit out to PSN to get a new space).
There seems to be some basic integration with XMB too.

 

[patsu]

Game Industry interview

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=28598

When do you intend to release Home to the public?

Well that's the interesting thing. One of the challenges that we have is to get over the mentality of Home being your typical product launch. In the past we'd make a game, put it on a disc and launch it in the shops. But this is so different. It's already out there in a closed beta and we're going to an open beta in the next couple of months and then it will be available on the Cross Media Bar soon after. But it's a constantly evolving thing. Week by week and month by month it evolves. There isn't going to be this big bang launch. That's how you do it in the Web 2.0 world, if you're familiar with the launch of Gmail or something like that.

Well emm.... hurry up before I grow old.

If you want web 2.0, do the Toshiba make-up and hairdo app, and have Homies comment on your new look.

 

[one]

A video from the beta
http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=105400

 

[slider]

A video from the beta
http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=105400

@one, was it the video dated August 6th you linked to? The link above takes me to the frontpage... with no Home vid there.

I did a search and the newest thing I found was the "Japanese Trailer" (from the 6th August).

Also, if you do see this... I guess there wasn't anything in the voiceover that was new?

 

[one]

@one, was it the video dated August 6th you linked to? The link above takes me to the frontpage... with no Home vid there.

I did a search and the newest thing I found was the "Japanese Trailer" (from the 6th August).

Also, if you do see this... I guess there wasn't anything in the voiceover that was new?

No, it was a user movie that shows the Home square that appears in the above screenshots... it showed billiard and bowling too. Seems deleted rather quick.

 

[slider]

Seems deleted rather quick.

I thought as much.

Cheers for the clarification though.

 

[J_Saint]

Not sure where that Divx screen came from but I didn't see a way to do any media sharing with the new update.

 

[patsu]

Yap... media sharing is not in the current beta release from what I heard. The Theater area is closed off too (regressed from the last beta).

 

[J_Saint]

The Theatre area is there, it's just downloadable now.

 

[ban25]

I am wondering how the network will hold up to be honest with you.

I have a 20 mbit connection but anything from PSN chuggs along barely reaching more than 100~200kb/s

Taking into account that Home is probably going to be huge, it's slightly worrying.

I'm sure Home will have dedicated servers. As far as the PSN Store goes, I've not have any difficulty downloading. I'm on Comcast in NorCal.

 

[-tkf-]

I'm sure Home will have dedicated servers. As far as the PSN Store goes, I've not have any difficulty downloading. I'm on Comcast in NorCal.

Usually i queue all new demoes and get them down quite fast as well. 20 mbit Europe

 

[patsu]

This article caught my eyes:
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/09/26/sony-still-looking-for-home-producers/

Sony is hiring a Content Producer for Playstation Home (Should be pretty high profile in the industry):

The Home Content Producer will be responsible for:
* Developing content strategies for Home to achieve Home business objectives.
* Coordinate development efforts of Home content.
* Act as a liaison between first and third party game publishers/advertisers and external developers of Home content.

Good to see Sony readying the business and operational side of Home. I have read that the beta is supposed to be around November/December 2007, with a Spring 2008 launch.

Needless to say, the content, member services and community management will define the personality of the Home world.

 

[patsu]

Home Beta 0.7.7 released

I noticed some people on my friends list going into Home lately and thought something's up. And so it is...

The newest build of online communication hub Home has been released.

According to members of our forum, several new options are now available in build 0.7.7:

-There's a new building in the world, although it's currently not able to be entered
-You are finally able to enter your Home Space's patio
-You can now use your own pictures in your Home Space
-A game launching option has been added, though it is not functioning completely at the present time
-The cinema's movie theatres have transferred from the second floor to the first floor
-America, Japan, and Europe each have their own server now

http://www.psu.com/Home-Beta-build-077-out-now-News--a0002007-p0.php

There will probably be leaks soon.

 

[XeRo]

Some info about the trophies.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8731495&postcount=24

 

[patsu]

This article caught my eyes:
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/09/26/sony-still-looking-for-home-producers/

Sony is hiring a Content Producer for Playstation Home (Should be pretty high profile in the industry):



Good to see Sony readying the business and operational side of Home. I have read that the beta is supposed to be around November/December 2007, with a Spring 2008 launch.

Needless to say, the content, member services and community management will define the personality of the Home world.

They seem to have a counterpart for the official Playstation Blog now. So we finally have someone on Sony side to talk to.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/11/27/ever-wonder-whos-reading-all-those-comments/

Hey gamers! Response to this here PlayStation.Blog has been so impressive, that SCEA decided that someone needed to be brought in to help keep an eye on it full time. I’m that person. Really, I’ve been lurking behind the scenes here for over a month, but it’s time to come out and say hello.

Among other things, it’s my job to help connect those who create software, hardware, and peripherals for PlayStation systems, and those of you who play them. And I can’t do it without you, the faithful and passionate readers.
So keep those comments coming – we’re reading them! Also, please feel free to utilize the Contact Us section (on the right side of the blog) if what you wanna say is off-topic. We read that too, even if we don’t necessarily have enough hours in the day to write back to each of you.

EDIT: Heh, you can already find his responses in the comments section.

This is big news for a PS3 owner.

 

[one]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16404

Firstly, Rein talked about Unreal Tournanent 3's planned integration with Sony's Home online world space. UT3 is now confirmed to launch for PlayStation 3 in December, with Home due out in early 2008, but the VP indicated that Epic already has concrete plans for use of the service:

"We're planning that you'll be able to get a party together in Home and then file into the game from an Unreal space. Home's pretty cool, so we're planning to do that. That'll make it easy for... what I like about that is that you'll be able to form without us having to build a party system. It won't be as detailed as a real party system, but the idea is that we could all meet up in a room and go together in the game.

I think it's really smart that eventually if everybody does that, each company doesn't have to develop its own way to all meet up somewhere and all go into a game. I think that's a very smart way to do it, and I kind of wish Xbox 360 would do that, and I'm hoping that they will at some point.

In other words, all these games have these different systems for getting together and then traveling into the games together or playing as teams or whatever. I expect that to be a dashboard functionality at some point in the future for the Xbox 360, and I think Sony's already thinking that way with Home."

 

[Arwin]

That's a huge interview!

 

[one]

Clips from the 0.7.7 beta
http://www.veoh.com/userVideos.html?username=PlayStationHome

Let's hope they are not removed like the last time in this thread