Sony Home - The official thread*

[Arwin]

May be a bit late to announce this now, but it's still a good thing - launch event with prizes and game setup and launching from Home, available pretty much day one:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009...n-warfare-2-launch-event-in-playstation-home/

 

[Cornsnake]

So this monumental failure still hasn't got universal game launching.

I really don't care for Home anymore. Just give me the ability to party up in the XMB, universal game launching, and let me switch off the Home icon in the XMB.

 

[patsu]

I'd like to keep XML game launching for XMB though. I think it's a great "invention" by the Home team.

 

[patsu]

This week's additions in US Home:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009...tasy-xiii-fullmetal-alchemist-and-aes-lawman/

(A) The new theater will be showing:

* Free anime: Fullmetal Alchemist Season 2 Ep 1 (Screening from November 12th to the 19th). Not sure if the Naruto one is going to stay.

* New, unseen before, FF13 video (November 13th)

* Advanced screening of “Steven Seagal Lawman” + Free Home item (a Lawman vest)


(B) Virtual Items:

* Lawman vest (see above)

* Assassin's Creed costume

 

[Arwin]

So this monumental failure still hasn't got universal game launching.

I really don't care for Home anymore. Just give me the ability to party up in the XMB, universal game launching, and let me switch off the Home icon in the XMB.

It does have universal game launching! It's just that not all games support multi-player match setup from Home yet. But you can launch any game from BluRay or HDD from within Home and return to Home automatically afterwards. However games like MW2, Resistance 2, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter 4, Warhawk etc. allow you to set-up a multi-player match from within Home, allocating an x amount of slots for friends, choosing maps, options, launch straight into a party, etc., depending on the game.

I think it's great that MW2 supports this, and I think it's a big shame that some of the bigger Sony games don't support this yet, like Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2. I personally think that Home is a really good place to launch your games from, especially multi-player.

 

[Asher]

It does have universal game launching! It's just that not all games support multi-player match setup from Home yet. But you can launch any game from BluRay or HDD from within Home and return to Home automatically afterwards. However games like MW2, Resistance 2, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter 4, Warhawk etc. allow you to set-up a multi-player match from within Home, allocating an x amount of slots for friends, choosing maps, options, launch straight into a party, etc., depending on the game.

I think it's great that MW2 supports this, and I think it's a big shame that some of the bigger Sony games don't support this yet, like Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2. I personally think that Home is a really good place to launch your games from, especially multi-player.

Why, though?

It takes an inordinate amount of time to sign in, and the service itself is flakey. I don't sign in very much but about 30% of the time I try there's an error relating to the service and it won't let me in. Then you get into the service and then what? You need to go into the same area? So navigate several arrays of menus to get to the area and wait while one of your friends downloads that area since he didn't have it or it was updated since he was last there. Then now that you're looking at everyone's virtual avatar you choose to start a game and all of that disappears?

I see zero incentive for using Home. It makes it much more painful to get into the games, does it not? The only possible use case is you see a bunch of people hanging out in the Uncharted space, for instance, that you don't know. And you decide to start up a game. But this is ridiculous from what I've seen because the average maturity of the person in such spaces seems to be that of a 13-year old, and it's effectively no different than random matchmaking -- but with significantly more time investment required?

If there's no actual tie-ins between Home and the game itself, there's no point.

 

[Cornsnake]

It does have universal game launching! It's just that not all games support multi-player match setup from Home yet.

Does that even matter in the slightest. The fact remains, we can't launch into every game from Home.

Right now Home is nothing more than a place for Sony run some ads, and sell virtual shirts, furniture, and other nonsense. It has very little to do with actual gaming.

What you get is a kind of chicken and the egg situation. You can't launch into your games from Home, so your not going to Home for game launching. If nobody is using Home for game launching, developers have no reason to add it to their games. And that includes Sony's own first parties. From the looks of it Sony doesn't even seem to be doing anything to change that situation since Home has been in the same miserable state for a long time now.

I have no reason to believe things will get better anytime soon.

 

[patsu]

Agreed !

That's why it's used by people who are into virtual party first, and gaming second. In Home, the game launching feature is a social activity first, utility second.

After staying away from Home, I went back recently again just to check things out. People are still hanging out "everywhere". The theater gets better content but is still $^#&$^# tedious to use.

Personally, I still think Home's growth is stunted by Sony because of the usability issues, plus lack of focused/anchor features. But some people seem to be bored with their lives, and don't mind freebies.

EDIT: Now if they bring the same XML game launching feature to XMB, then it'd gain more utility.

 

[tha_con]

Does that even matter in the slightest. The fact remains, we can't launch into every game from Home.

Right now Home is nothing more than a place for Sony run some ads, and sell virtual shirts, furniture, and other nonsense. It has very little to do with actual gaming.

What you get is a kind of chicken and the egg situation. You can't launch into your games from Home, so your not going to Home for game launching. If nobody is using Home for game launching, developers have no reason to add it to their games. And that includes Sony's own first parties. From the looks of it Sony doesn't even seem to be doing anything to change that situation since Home has been in the same miserable state for a long time now.

I have no reason to believe things will get better anytime soon.

It has it's application for gaming and as a social hub.

I have a Club House for my Clan, and we often hop into Home, BS for a little while in the Club House, and then decide who is going to play what, and launch into the game from there.

The new idea of Arcade Cabinets are pretty cool as well. Like Tekken 6, we can decide to play it in Home, via Voice Chat, then both launch into Tekken 6 and set up a few matches.

Basically, it's a (bloated) party system. Sure, it's not for everyone, but writing it off is silly just because you don't use it. It has plenty of application for gamers. While launching into a game just to end up in the main menu certainly isn't ideal, it's better than nothing.

 

[patsu]

On my recent trip back to Home, I decorated my personal apartment together with family. Needless to say, I plastered my son's and wife's pictures in all the photo frames. They loved the end result.

It does create a unique feeling, and a virtual hang-on for myself. The problem is: Sony stopped right there, instead of expanding the concept further (due to moderation and copyright issues ?).

And yes, I do think clubhouses are great. I visit yours sometimes too.

There are great (and useful) ideas in Home. But Sony is not pushing it far enough.

 

[patsu]

Facebook coming to PS3

Speaking of social/community for gaming...

Following yesterday's leaked shots of Facebook integration on the PlayStation 3, the company has confirmed the rumors through a few different venues. An inside source told Eurogamer that the shots were legitimate, and Scrawl noted the shots came directly from the U.K. PlayStation site. As if that weren't enough, CVG reports that Sony commented they'll "have more info on this very shortly." None of the confirmations included a time window, however, so we're not yet sure when Sony would be prepared to release such an update.

Source: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3176893


It could be nice, but I don't think a straight port will be as useful. Hopefully Sony spend more time thinking about use cases and integration into parties.

 

[wco81]

It does have universal game launching! It's just that not all games support multi-player match setup from Home yet. But you can launch any game from BluRay or HDD from within Home and return to Home automatically afterwards. However games like MW2, Resistance 2, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter 4, Warhawk etc. allow you to set-up a multi-player match from within Home, allocating an x amount of slots for friends, choosing maps, options, launch straight into a party, etc., depending on the game.

I think it's great that MW2 supports this, and I think it's a big shame that some of the bigger Sony games don't support this yet, like Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2. I personally think that Home is a really good place to launch your games from, especially multi-player.

Do those games support the multiplayer party system in the XMB too?

Or is it that some games support it in Home, others in XMB and others not at all?

They need to have some consistency. It would be ridiculous if you have to log into home in some games and just use XMB in others, just to get into a multiplayer game with just the people you want.

 

[patsu]

Compatible games use their own party system regardless of Home or XMB. However the XML game launching feature forces the games to expose a consistent "public API" for integration purposes. Therefore, on paper, it should be possible for Sony to launch into a party from XMB too.

May be it's also possible to launch into a game party from another game/app (e.g., "Life with Playstation" to rope in people in the same geographical area).

 

[Cornsnake]

It has it's application for gaming and as a social hub.

I have a Club House for my Clan, and we often hop into Home, BS for a little while in the Club House, and then decide who is going to play what, and launch into the game from there.

The new idea of Arcade Cabinets are pretty cool as well. Like Tekken 6, we can decide to play it in Home, via Voice Chat, then both launch into Tekken 6 and set up a few matches.

Basically, it's a (bloated) party system. Sure, it's not for everyone, but writing it off is silly just because you don't use it. It has plenty of application for gamers. While launching into a game just to end up in the main menu certainly isn't ideal, it's better than nothing.

Better than nothing is the perfect description for Home right now.

I'm not against the idea Home being a social hub. It's just that the gaming aspects of it need to be there before I participate in any other social activities it might offer.

When Home was first announced everyone in the clan I'm in thought it was a great idea. Instead for waiting in the lobby, we could meet up in Home and have something to do before and in between games. And if we could get something like a map of the next match to make strategies on for the next clanwar, that would be even better.

But so far not a single game has supported game launching while we were playing. MW2 might actually be the first. Though no-one has shown any interest in doing that yet. Most of them, just like me, stopped caring about Home a long time ago.

 

[patsu]

But so far not a single game has supported game launching while we were playing. MW2 might actually be the first. Though no-one has shown any interest in doing that yet.

What do you mean by "game launching while we were playing" ?

How is MW2 different from the other games that support Home game launching ?

Most of them, just like me, stopped caring about Home a long time ago.

Touche ! I believe some of the "constipation" has to do with Sony's corporate policies, team size and focus. I have no proof though.

 

[Cornsnake]

What do you mean by "game launching while we were playing" ?

How is MW2 different from the other games that support Home game launching ?

We (The KillerZ clan) never used game launching from Home simply because the games we were playing didn't support it. We stopped playing R2 before it had game launching. And games like KZ2 never supported it.

MW2 has game launching, so we might end up using it for the first time.

 

[patsu]

I thought you were talking about a new feature in MW2 + Home. Oh well... have fun then.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Has anyone here seen Joss Whedon's 'Dollhouse' TV programme? Reminds me of Home...

 

[patsu]

Nope. Will check it out. I vaguely remember seeing it on PS Store.

 

[holsty101]

Shame it (Dollhouse) has just been cancelled tho ... Fox screws Whedon once again