Sony Home - The official thread*

Rumor: Home beta starting real soon

http://lusoplay.sapo.pt/en/index.php?page=new&id=29

Lusoplay has returned with safe information about this year's Games Developers Conference. Sony will show the much awaited in-game XMB feature as well as the LittleBigPlanet-Home interaction.

Furthermore, a big announcement of Home, the public Beta is here. Details to follow at this year's GDC.
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EDIT: Debunked.
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008...ay-1-highlights/comment-page-1/#comment-45734

Jeff Rubenstein replied on February 19, 2008 at 6:15 pm

It’s a developer’s conference, not hardware or firmware, so no announcements on that front this week.
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patsu said:
EDIT: Debunked.
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008...ay-1-highlights/comment-page-1/#comment-45734
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Not really debunked. That comment says they're not announcing hardware or firmware, and a later comment says 'if by real son you mean this week'. Are Sony going to be showing Home? You betcha! It's a developers conference and they want the developers on board. They'll also be showing how the achievements and whatever functions work, as devs will need to operate with them. A deadline for Home's release will just remain up in the air.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
Not really debunked. That comment says they're not announcing hardware or firmware, and a later comment says 'if by real son you mean this week'. Are Sony going to be showing Home? You betcha! It's a developers conference and they want the developers on board. They'll also be showing how the achievements and whatever functions work, as devs will need to operate with them. A deadline for Home's release will just remain up in the air.
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This rumor here describes sort of what I am expecting from Home@GDC:

http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3home&thread.id=121386

The following is from a Private Message with someone to remain nameless. I am not gonna name names and throw this person under the bus.

"Do you know what PSedge tools are?

Basically, it's a development environment filled with code libraries that allow developers to have an easier time integrating their game code to work with the PS3.

Anyways, very exciting stuff happened on Monday (The one that just past). The PSedge dev kits, recieved an update. So whatever, we take a look, and the major addition, was that the TRC's were updated, and the new HOME libraries were brought in.

What does this mean? A TRC is a checklist of things a game must have for Sony to approve, in order for them to give the "Go-Ahead" on releasing the game on their console. This checklist has things like: Can't crash, Load times under 10 seconds, and things like that.

Two new ones were added: A game must be able to integrate into Home, a game must support "Accomplishments". Right there, two important things, the PS3 system for achievements is called "Accomplishments", and Home is coming out VERY VERY VERY Soon.

Then, we got a changelog, and in-game XMB is almost worked out. Every game that's coming out now, supports in-game XMB, every game that already came out, has to get patched. (Naturally, only first party games will get a patch, I doubt Ubisoft is going to patch Assassin's Creed).

So yeah, it boils down to, Sony got everything figured out. I don't know what's the hold up, but from a developers perspective, HOME is set up and completed, and In-Game XMB is on the verge of being completed and released."
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Shifty Geezer said:
Not really debunked. That comment says they're not announcing hardware or firmware, and a later comment says 'if by real son you mean this week'. Are Sony going to be showing Home? You betcha! It's a developers conference and they want the developers on board. They'll also be showing how the achievements and whatever functions work, as devs will need to operate with them. A deadline for Home's release will just remain up in the air.
Click to expand...

Next month...you'll see.
 
I can't wait for them to add the achievements! Thats a fun value add to gaming! If they are to make it a requirement that games support it, will that be from all future releases after Home is launched? Is that something being instituted already? I am sure they can't expect released games to retro-fit?
 
Has anyone heard any rumours about a "Home" wireless keyboard, that would actually interest me.

Entering words with the controller is a right pain in the arse. I know it would be at a premium over a normal wireless keyboard, but if they added buttons to jump straight to certain locations I'd buy one.
 
DJ12 said:
Has anyone heard any rumours about a "Home" wireless keyboard, that would actually interest me.

Entering words with the controller is a right pain in the arse. I know it would be at a premium over a normal wireless keyboard, but if they added buttons to jump straight to certain locations I'd buy one.
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Is there a "PS3" centric keyboard with the controller buttons at all yet?

I am waiting for this to happen before getting a bluetooth keyboard, but maybe my wait is in vain.
 
The full notes:

New user interface

The UI has undergone a major change (our graphical artist calls the new interface "Home CS" [Home Chip System]) and it's not just there to look good; we also believe it improves the logical flow of your interactions.

Other UI changes include a new vector based font system that improves text clarity and improvements to a range of different icons (for example the loading icon under your character's feet now gives a sense of something happening).

Another nice addition is that people on your friends list in the virtual PSP are sorted by three different states: "Offline", "Online" and "Online in Home" - these are colour coded too.

The Virtual PSP has undergone considerable changes. We have changed the structure of the menus to try and make it easier and more logical to navigate. There are also new icons for all of the options and new backgrounds available to customise the look. In the past an option that was unavailable to you was simply invisible; but now the option will remain visible but be greyed out instead.

Finally when people on your friends list send text chat their name will appear in green in the chat log.

Major graphics engine changes

We now use an HDR approach to lighting and bloom so the glowing halos around bright objects have been toned down and things should look sharper overall. We've also improved the water shader so all of the water should look noticeably better. The new engine also provides more stable frame rates in very crowded areas.

Support for 1080p is also back.

The wardrobe

Character customisation has been unified under a new wardrobe system where both clothing and physical characteristics can be modified from the same place. Some of the key changes in this area include:

- The wardrobe is accessible from any location, not just your Home Space.
- A selection of pre-set characters is available with more coming.
- Jewellery is now available for both sexes.
- Improved the look of skin on all characters.
- Your avatar is well lit and has a mirror behind to make customisation much easier.
- The standard list of clothing has been reduced to our intended starting pack.
- More clothing is available from the new Marketplace (see below!).
- Save & Load! You can now save your character in 9 different setups.
- Extra clothing will be added soon to test our update system.

The Marketplace

The mystery building in Home Square can now be revealed and it's not a Flamingo Factory as US tester NO FEAR!! recently guessed.

In the Marketplace you'll find stores with all sorts of things for you to add to your character and Home Space such as clothing, furniture and even... well, why not explore it yourself.

Home Space

Not only have we improved the view from your balcony but we have also added a whole new Home Space for you to test - it is available from the Marketplace. Welcome to your very own summer house.

Another change is that our intended starting pack of furniture is now available for your Home Space. This is quite different from what you had available before. More furniture is available from the Marketplace and extra furniture will added in the coming weeks to test our update system.

Both the lamps available as furniture for your Home Spaces now have working light switches. These dynamically light your space and guests in your space can also turn your lights on and off.

Finally we've moved the entry point to your Home Space in Home Square back inside the building in front of the lifts so you have access to the seating areas either side.

Game Launching

Many of the problems that stopped Game Launching from working properly have been fixed; however there are still some temporary issues that you need to know about before you try it:

- Groups formed in PLAYSTATION® Home for Game Launching are not currently preserved into the game. This means that you can all get together and form a group but when you launch the game you will not arrive in a session together. It will not stay like this - we are working with game developers to integrate full support for Game Launching into a range of games. However as stated before, we really wanted to get an early version of Game Launching out so that you could test the menu functionality and see how it works for you within PLAYSTATION® Home.

- Game Launching currently only supports grouping up if you have identical versions of the same game. For example the EU and US versions of Motorstorm may not work together at the moment and there may be problems between the installed and disc version of Warhawk. Again it will not stay like this and eventually all versions of the same game will work together properly.

New streaming video system

Previously to watch a video you would have to download the whole thing before it would start to play. We've now changed to a streaming video system which allows you to start watching almost straight away. Additionally the Home Theatre has some new streaming video channels in it courtesy of Crackle. Once inside an auditorium here you can get more information on what you are watching and control playback by pressing the SQUARE button.

Regional support

Whilst the legalities, policies and practicalities of regional travel are addressed we have temporarily disabled the ability to switch between the European, US and Japanese regions via your virtual PSP.

Support for more languages has been added bringing our complete list up to: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, traditional Chinese and Korean.

Home items

We needed a way to test our new Home items system and therefore we are proud to present our first one... (Drum roll)... the bubble machine! You can find it in your virtual PSP under Personal> My Inventory￾. Place it down anywhere you like and blow some bubbles.

Sound system update

A lot of new sound effects have been added throughout PLAYSTATION® Home and we have also made some changes to voice communication so that it should be more stable with large groups of people.

Bug fixes

- Fixed the problem where you could appear in a location and some other characters there would be invisible.
- Fixed the floating pool balls.
- Fixed the levitating avatars.
- Fixed the issue that led to C967 errors.
- Fixed the inconsistencies between the view inside and outside different locations.
- Fixed the positioning of the PSP in your character's hands.
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The major additions being Game Launching, Home Items and the marketplace..

Home Items sounds very interesting. I'm guessing these are the interactive items referenced in the GDC session - it'll be really interesting to have interactive unlockables rather than just static things. I'd be very curious to see how much freedom devs have with this, how they can script object behaviour and stuff. The first one is a machine for blowing bubbles :p
 
Titanio said:
The full notes:



The major additions being Game Launching, Home Items and the marketplace..

Home Items sounds very interesting. I'm guessing these are the interactive items referenced in the GDC session - it'll be really interesting to have interactive unlockables rather than just static things. I'd be very curious to see how much freedom devs have with this, how they can script object behaviour and stuff. The first one is a machine for blowing bubbles :p
Click to expand...

Nice. All it needs now is a front lawn for your Home Space...

....GET OFF MY LAWN!!!! :D
 
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What the heck is a Home Chip System for UI ? Levitating avatar sounds interesting and Ninja-ish/Devil-ish, why fix it ? :devilish:

It might be fun to watch silly videos with bunch of naughty people. I am surprised they use Crackle instead of Grouper or YouTube. What's up with that ?

Can you input other languages beside English today ?

And Gradthrawn, GET OFF MY THREAD !!!





Just practising. Sorry. :p
 
Argh ! They renamed Grouper to Crackle. I see.
http://venturebeat.com/2007/07/16/sonys-grouper-becomes-crackle-a-pathway-to-hollywood/

If Crackle goes according to plan — if production quality starts to drive more traffic — it could turn into an online version of TV contest shows like American Idol, where stars are born out of a combination of judges’ decisions and popular vote. Its site is live as of Monday morning. Check out Handshake, a somewhat disturbing video on the front-page, for example (screenshot below).
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So.... we can participate in a game show together in Home ?

Crackle has been evolving steadily over the last three and a half years. Now, it will keep its existing features, such as sharing and viewing video clips online. Helped with Sony backing, Crackle will also fund production, sign deals with promising artists, and market videos across the web.

For example, Sony’s Imageworks studio will work with animators creating videos for Crackle. Every three months, the best animated video — as selected by users and Crackle editors — will receive a cash prize and fly to LA to pitch Sony executives on a theatrical release. Under Sony’s umbrella, the best animations will also be eligible for an academy award in the category (among thousands of others, of course).

Crackle editors and selected “cultural tastemakers” will also help decide what videos get featured most prominently. Still, a “people’s choice” award will also help new videos get featured — but based on how many times the video gets emailed, streamed, favored on user profiles, not just on pageviews on the site.

As part of the re-launch, Crackle is introducing 12 branded channels with unique foci; four, including the one for animation, will be “pathways.” Every channel will be open for user submissions. Another question: Will more top Hollywood stars move into open, online video distribution, like what Will Ferrell is already doing? Will they want to work with Sony/Crackle, or go their own way?

Besides funneling talent to other Sony (and Hollywood) properties, the channels are also open for sponsorship by advertisers.
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