Sony Home - The official thread*

[patsu]

You can adjust the in-game camera to zoom into different view and angle but you need a real camera to record the footage. T_T

It seems to be for prosumers who has the equipment and software to cut/edit the footage. If Youtube recording is enabled, I think the user will need to pause the recording to skip some takes, or to avoid some of the behind the scene footage. Then all the takes may need to be put together in post-production ?

May be time to brush up that EyeCreate app to combine all the takes together and add effects.


EDIT: A good way to get around all these complexity is just use a simple set up (Only one scene, fixed angle). With something like Youtube recording, the users can make multiple takes and have the free EyeCreate PS3 app stitch all of them together. Something like this:

For a lot of casuals, the goal is to get a message out. The actual set is not as important. The dialog, expression and "acting" may be more important.

 

[tuna]

I went to the US home (I usually play on a european PSN) and was quite baffled with all the contnent. The US has Uncharted, Warhawk, the Godfather 2 and Siren spaces that are not available in the EU home. How come Sony can't get their act together when companies like Capcom can have worldwide spaces (like the Biohazard/RE space)? Pretty epic fail for Sony I would say.

 

[patsu]

Is the Capcom space ported to all the EU languages ?

The US Home has more spaces because the users pushed Sony to do it. During the early months, people have complained (repeatedly) about lack of content, and lamented that Japan Home and the original closed beta have the best spaces. Unfortunately, Sony got flamed when they first brought one of the spaces from Japan too. While we expressed interest in the Japan spaces, we wanted them to focus on the essentials first, rather than giving us random spaces.

In the end, they got thrashed by Americans and Europeans for the same action, but totally different reasons. The platform discrepency and confusion get them into trouble because everyone just want things done differently. They should have communicated concrete worldwide deliverables (instead of just high level, fluffy statements like "We're focused on gaming"). In my view, something may have been lost when that high level mission statement gets translated into real middle management actions. Those worldwide deliverables may be too big for the middle management to commit to (while the top execs are busy with something else [starting new projects ? balancing the numbers and counting beans ?], and the tech teams are swarmed with work).

The Home team expressed that many good things will come, but they (all) take time to happen. IMHO, they should just focus on one or two features/benefits that most people want (e.g., game launching). And make it happen *now* by committing resources to help all early developers.

Then let the users help them localize and extend Home to provide the daily content (a la LittleBigPlanet). Something like StageSet can be interesting if they let users create tools and content on top of it. People will also be less frustrated if it does not have a full feature set yet. Strangely, Sony seems to favor committing resources to yet another new but underdeveloped project (See United Village).

To be fair to them, SCEA works very hard to create frequent content update (with partners). I just don't know if the effort is worthwhile when the spaces are disconnected/one-off, and the community features are getting neglected (e.g., No new enhancement to basic clubhouse yet, text chat separate from XMB chat room, voice chat limited to private spaces, party management not hooked up to games pervasively). The most requested feature (game launching) is also not done yet.

By end of the year, people may get tired of the spaces and move on, just like people moving on from one BR game to the next. It's "just" content afterall.

 

[Phil]

I have to say, Sony blew it with home. I was highly anticipating its release back when it was first unrevealed, but it just took home. When I first downloaded the beta, I was willing to give it a go, but had my PS3 crash on every single attempt of starting it. Now, ever since, it's just an icon that's *there* and annoyingly forces me to jump one more app to get to PSN Store.

I just can't see myself using it. Ever.

 

[Arwin]

Well, I like it anyway, and so does my wife. I think if in about a year or so game-launching from Home will be commonplace, then it will probably become a pretty commonly used application. I think Game Launching could very well be done now, but it takes a while to implement. We'll probably hear more around E3.

And content is ramping up pretty fast now. I think in a year time we'll have 100-200 spaces, and tonnes of items (it's going pretty fast now already). Probably we'll see a few upgrades in user interface to accommodate them.

As for the camera bit in the movies space, I'm sure we'll get the SDK support for youtube into Home at some point.

In the meantime, they should really really push for Game Launching. If I could walk around there and chat with people before I go into a Guitar Hero session with them for instance, that would be awesome.

 

[inefficient]

I've said it before and I will say it again. They should build Ad Hoc Party directly into Home!

Then I will use it very frequently. I think that kind of activity is perfect for home. It will be like playing your PSP with your friends around. Except your friends are all virtual avatars in Home using voice chat to coordinate the game.

Another idea is that they should award you virtual cash every day you login and do some activity. For example Mainichi Issho does that for when you read news. And if you read the news the same day it comes out you get bonus points. The virtual cash could be used to buy more Home items.

 

[patsu]

Well, I like it anyway, and so does my wife. I think if in about a year or so game-launching from Home will be commonplace, then it will probably become a pretty commonly used application. I think Game Launching could very well be done now, but it takes a while to implement. We'll probably hear more around E3.

And content is ramping up pretty fast now. I think in a year time we'll have 100-200 spaces, and tonnes of items (it's going pretty fast now already). Probably we'll see a few upgrades in user interface to accommodate them.

As for the camera bit in the movies space, I'm sure we'll get the SDK support for youtube into Home at some point.

In the meantime, they should really really push for Game Launching. If I could walk around there and chat with people before I go into a Guitar Hero session with them for instance, that would be awesome.

Don't get me wrong. I like Home too and use it occasionally to fool around with other PS3 users. I also like to check out the cool new concepts (Xi and StageSet).

The Home team will never realize Home's full potential by chasing after every new ideas and opportunities. They will only realize Home's full potential by zeroing on one or two existing opportunities/needs and make them work now, even if they sound impossible/very difficult under current organization structure and market conditions. There is no real need to hunt for new opportunities. They are here already, ripe for the picking if Sony wants to address them as one entity.

I've said it before and I will say it again. They should build Ad Hoc Party directly into Home!

Yeah, this is one of those things I have been waiting for Sony to consolidate (plus 2D Home !).

Another idea is that they should award you virtual cash every day you login and do some activity. For example Mainichi Issho does that for when you read news. And if you read the news the same day it comes out you get bonus points. The virtual cash could be used to buy more Home items.

Cool, or just bring Mainichi Issho to US. I'll take it !


EDIT:

I have to say, Sony blew it with home. I was highly anticipating its release back when it was first unrevealed, but it just took home. When I first downloaded the beta, I was willing to give it a go, but had my PS3 crash on every single attempt of starting it.

That's weird. I remember Asher complained about a network error too. I seldom encounter network issues with Home (even during special events). Are you in Canada (same as Asher) ?

 

[Phil]

That's weird. I remember Asher complained about a network error too. I seldom encounter network issues with Home (even during special events). Are you in Canada (same as Asher) ?

Nope, central Europe. When the beta got out, my PS3 crashed every single time upon attempting to login. The annoying thing was, it wasn't even a mear crash, but a hard one, meaning I would have to get up and force a power off. Suffice to say, I at least attempted it a few times on various days, but it always resulted in the identical result.

The thing that bugs me most though is - they [Sony] reveal this really promising community application (home). Then it gets delayed multiple times. Then, about over a year late, they finally get a beta out and the best thing is, it doesn't even work (for many). I know bugs go hand in hand with software nowdays, but to have an application crash even before it got passed a startup screen that forces the user to hardreset his console is just a no-go.

The attractiveness of home also took a step back IMO with the app being to big and overly complicated. I'm not hot on starting up a community tool if it takes as long to load like a game. It should be simple and seamingless, integrated directly into the XMB of the PS3. It isn't and now it's just an app more that needs to be loaded when you want to use it. If you want to use it with your friends, you have to get them first into home as well - which isn't easy, since most will probably be either watching a movie with their PS3 or playing games.

Lots of potential, but IMO, Sony got tangled up in their own ambitious goals to create something over the top extraordinary and are left with a promising tool that's next to useless for most of its owners (or they simply can't be bothered to load it up each time, given PS3 text/chat gets the job done 99% of the time).

 

[patsu]

I vote for 2D Home !

Anyway, someone used StageSet's green screen to do this:

I can see the potential if the users could record the show and export the movie without additional hardware.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Is the COD footage composited in StageSet or an external program? If in StageSet, how is the COD footage imported?

 

[patsu]

I have no idea. The original post is here: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3home&message.id=657326#M657326

Should have included the link in the OP.



TedTheDog from SCEE updates the community about the team's plans here:
http://community.eu.playstation.com...ssage?board.id=b_EN_PS3_Home&thread.id=174245

In the spirit of openess being requested of us, and that we've committed to, we're going to say what we're going to do about this and in short, we're going to switch our priorities to the production of Spaces for the forseeable future. We will continue to support our partners in the Shopping Centre but our primary focus will be to improve our output and range of Spaces.

The transition from one to the other will take some time but we acknowledge that trying to do both lines (Spaces and Content) at the same time is something we do not have the resources to do currently here in the SCEE team. We have just recruited a new Production Assistant to help tackle this and once this person starts and is up to speed you should start to see improvements.

I should also mention that the SCEE Home team is entirely seperate from that of the Core Home team, the guys who build and develop the engine. They sit in World Wide Studios rather than SCEE. Each region has its own team and the Core Home team delivers the base service and client to the regional teams, who then bring their own content to the service.

Our first task is to get up to date on some of the older content that we've been missing for a while now. For example, Uncharted and Warhawk and the update to the Resident Evil 5 space. Then bring you some of the more recent spaces like Guitar Hero and then finally ensure we're able to release new Spaces at the same time as the other regions whenever possible, and theres a few of those coming your way.

The SCEE Home Producer is currently investigating 17 spaces in all but I dont believe all would be suitable and therefore not all would be published here. The timeline for this is probably about the next 2 to 4 months and there is likely to be a drop in output before it starts to really pick up and improve.

 

[DUALDISASTER]

How could Home be tied into the XMB? Also, how would a 2d home work out like?

 

[-tkf-]

I have no idea. The original post is here: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3home&message.id=657326#M657326

Should have included the link in the OP.



TedTheDog from SCEE updates the community about the team's plans here:
http://community.eu.playstation.com...ssage?board.id=b_EN_PS3_Home&thread.id=174245

They have different teams spread across the world and some of them do the same work, for example in regards to spaces?

And the free "House"* didn´t show up for me, maybe it wasn´t released in Europe/Denmark, because my team is behind schedule....

*http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/get-a-free-house-in-playstation-home

 

[tha_con]

Just a heads up, the R2 space should hit NA and some EU regions tomorrow, I believe.

 

[patsu]

Nice !

Btw, the US Home manager is trying to communicate/emphasize the autonomy between regions here: http://boardsus.playstation.com/pla...hread.id=662361&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

We will get Picture Frames around E3 instead of this Thursday's update.

Ok, let me clear up some rumors and erroneous information being spread:

-YES, we are also getting the 1.21 update this Thursday. We have not yet announced this in the forums or posted our notes because it was previously agreed upon with other regions to coordinate this sort of information sharing to avoid situations exactly like this one. Tedthedog is great at communicating with the EU community, but also needs to make sure he lets us know he's doing it. We've all discussed this and we're cool. But this kind of thing won't be happening again if we can help it.

-NO, picture frames won't be available yet with the 1.21 update, but YES, we are getting them. You will hear more about them very soon, we promise (hint: it's a good idea to hang out in Home during E3!)

-YES, it's true that SCEJ and SCEE will release things that we don't, and vice versa. Every region has its own business deals, developers, etc and it can be extremely difficult to get legal agreement for cross-regional deals. So if you are an SCEA Home user, it's not the best idea to be going to SCEE or SCEJ forums for your information about Home

-NO we don't condone global travel or wearing items in SCEA that users obtained through creating accounts in EU or Japan. The fact that many people have figured out how to go around this is not something that we plan to either condone or punish. That said, I can tell you that all regions agree that this needs to stop.

The bottom line is that SCEA Home is SCEA Home. You should think of it as its own entity and not be focusing on what other regions have. The same goes for SCEE and SCEJ Home. I know we gamers love our rewards and trophies and exclusive items, but you shouldn't be focusing on what other regions have and you don't to the point where you're blind to all the awesome stuff you ARE getting. Like picture frames!!!

Let's not overlook the positive here: you ARE getting the 1.21 patch on Thursday and you ARE getting picture frames. These are good things!

 

[deathindustrial]

Bleh. . .the last thing Sony needs is to waste resources on regional duplication. Especially considering how it alienates customers (developers too?) and slows innovation down.

Um. . .Sony. . .there is thing called the "Internet". I know you kind of wish it was 1990 again where information took ages to spread and it was way easier to convince customers that whatever you were selling was the the only option but the cat gets out the bag now near instantly and you need to be smarter about these things, OK?

=)

I would really like to know specifically why a Resistance 2 room would need to be regionally limited. Do SCEE and SCEJ fight or something?

Every region has its own business deals, developers...

The first part of that sentence is confusing in this scenario, is Sony charging game developers to add a room to Home? Is that what the issue is here? If so, WTF are they thinking? Are they really wanting to limit options for their users that a) sell games (which Sony makes money from) and b) makes Home worth users logging into (and buying stuff which again makes Sony money)? If it is not a case of SCEE getting money from the Resistance devs and SCEJ getting pissy about it, then what business deal would be the problem here?

The second argument about developers is a problem with Sony's organization and not a feature. There should be no region specific developers, there should be a standard access permission system which regions can use to block objects if they want but otherwise a single unified codebase. It should be considered a design blunder (or bug) if this is not how things are set up. There should be one Home codebase period.

I really hope that Stringer has enough of a hold on reigns to get this sort of stuff fixed SOON.

IMHO of course.

Cheers

 

[patsu]

I think there are at least 3 layers:
(i) Sony services (e.g., photo frames, game launching, etc.): These should be across regions
(ii) Game developer content: These should follow the game distribution (e.g., Afrika Home Space would be relevant in Asia only -- for now)
(iii) Non-game developers (e.g., Go!, VidZone, music/movie, etc.): These will depend on the content rights.

From Sony's perspective, all 3 are regional (e.g., "Ad hoc Party" is only available in Japan). As a result, people get confused over what exactly is (or should be in) Home and PSN. Their effort will appear stagnant even if Sony roll out more "non-core" services throughout the years.

 

[-tkf-]

Nice !

Btw, the US Home manager is trying to communicate/emphasize the autonomy between regions here: http://boardsus.playstation.com/pla...hread.id=662361&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

We will get Picture Frames around E3 instead of this Thursday's update.

Well thats all fair and square, but as the death points out this is the interweb, everybody knows whats going on with the other homes, so "we" know what others are getting and what "we" are missing.
I have a summer house on my US beta for free, 8$ @ Home EU, why?

Negiotiating special deals with developers? how can a developer not be interested in getting his space promoted in every Home?

The only thing that kind a makes sense is regional special promo stuff.

I consider anything that comes from Sonys hand and isnt shared equally among all "Homes" a complete and utter failure on Sonys part. They should really start working together instead of this clusterfuck of lost opportunities.

 

[patsu]

I have a summer house on my US beta for free, 8$ @ Home EU, why?

Good point ! Simple price discrimination won't work on the net. I prefer uniform pricing and service features across all regions myself.

Negiotiating special deals with developers? how can a developer not be interested in getting his space promoted in every Home?

Depends on whether the devs want to localize its Home app to European languages. Otherwise, people will get English-only spaces. I guess that's better than nothing at all. Better yet, they should allow users to localize Home apps.

The only thing that kind a makes sense is regional special promo stuff.

Not just special deals. Content distribution rights are also regional today, plus additional localization effort for each country.


EDIT: Patch 1.21 release notes: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3home&message.id=664632#M664632

Patch Notes Global Changes

Improvements

The chat log has been updated with a number of new enhancements:
By clicking the left stick you can toggle the chat log between three modes: normal, expanded and minimised.
It is also possible to switch the chat log directly into expanded mode by pressing up or down on the controller d-pad.
While minimised the chat log is reduced to a small icon in the corner of the screen. This icon will still fade in and out to indicate whether new chat is being received.
While expanded you can scroll through individual lines of text in the chat log. By pressing [CROSS] with a line highlighted they are able to open an options menu for the user who spoke.
Lines of text are coloured in the chat log to reflect the colour choice of the user who typed them.
Your friends will now have an icon placed beside their ID in the chat log
Emotes are now available when text communication has been disabled.
It is possible to target things while sat on the floor.
The process of moving between spaces has been streamlined which should make relocating a bit faster.
The loading time for smaller images, such as thumbnails, posters and map chips, has been reduced.
Before entering a space or playing a mini game, you will now see content descriptor icons alongside the age rating icons, where this information has been specified.
The interface for displaying age rating and content descriptor information has been unified so that it will look the same regardless of the context it is shown in.

Changes

We have reduced loading times when using the virtual stores to browse and purchase items.
We have changed the way furniture is saved in a Club house so that it is saved immediately if a save hasn’t happened in a while. This should stop furniture going missing if the player placing the furniture exits Home immediately after changing the layout.
When you log in to Home, if there is a problem retrieving your commerce information then you will be returned to the welcome screen with an error message.
When you attempt to telephone a friend that has voice chat disabled you will now see the warning in an alert message instead of a pop-up.
If you choose not to download an update patch for Home and then attempt to log on you will be returned to the welcome screen with an appropriate error message.
Japanese Age Rating textures have been changed.
We’ve swapped the dark grey and dark blue pop-up colours for magenta and turquoise to make text easier to read in the chat log.
Club ownership is now indicated by a crown icon instead of a star.
We’ve slowed down the speed at which you can rotate furniture.

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug that was causing text chat to disappear from the chat log when relocating between spaces.
Fixed a bug that could cause items of furniture placed in the Club house to go missing (this is separate from the change to make saving the layout more robust).
Fixed a problem that could cause Home rewards to be lost after a network error.
Fixed a bug that would cause a crash when the user is signed out of the PSN while logging on to Home.
Fixed a bug that would send users to the wrong place if they accepted an invitation to a Personal Space just as its owner relocated elsewhere.
The option to make cross regional telephone calls from public spaces is no longer greyed out.
Fixed a bug where spawning inside the trigger radius of certain mini-games would result in the user automatically joining them.
Resolved a problem with lots of extra line breaks in Japanese help text.
Fixed a bug that would result in a “typing” chat bubble being displayed permanently if the user muted someone while they were typing.
Changed Game Launching error messages so that line breaks show up correctly in them now.
Fixed a bug that would cause alert messages to remain on screen after being disconnected.
Fixed a bug that could cause a crash if the user was disconnected while making a purchase in Home.
The furniture placement camera will now respect the control inversion settings specified in the Menu Pad.
Fixed a bug that would cause certain parts of some animations to “stick” if the character stood up while playing them (for example if the user stood up while yawning, their mouth would be stuck open).
Fixed a bug that would allow the character to run or slide while performing spot idle animations.

 

[-tkf-]

Depends on whether the devs want to localize its Home app to European languages. Otherwise, people will get English-only spaces. I guess that's better than nothing at all. Better yet, they should allow users to localize Home apps.

I live in a English home, there isn´t any danish going on where i am nor any special Danish stuff like trailers.

And Sony should be 100% aware of the regional differences when they started to work on Home. They have done this stuff for a long time. Somehow i think they didn´t think about alot of stuff when they started this adventure

In the world of today it would make more sense to have one Home where the technical details of regional differences were handled behind the scenes and in a natural manner. For example by having areas/spaces/trailers not shown or not be accesible for some regions. Having each regional team producing the "regional" stuff and letting the system handle how and to whom it's accesible.

The worst mistake of all this is the amount of wasted resources.