Sony Home - The official thread*

[Asher]

Walk? You can warp to locations via the virtual PSP.

I seem to be missing the point completely, then.

What is the point of Home if all it is can be encompassed by a "virtual PSP" you use? Is there no purpose to the massive environments and walking around in them, since that's almost all the screenshots ever depict.

Your post also doesn't refer to the party management functionality of Home, which if widely implemented, would be useful to anyone who plays online with friends.

Party management, a la Halo 2/3? Why is this not a game-level feature?

If that also doesn't appeal in addition to the other core functionalities (the trophy system, community aspects, the media sharing you mentioned etc.), then perhaps indeed Home won't be for you. But the good thing is, it's free, there's no harm trying it and seeing for yourself.

I know it's free, and there's no harm in it, but I think there is some harm in it. I think way too many development cycles are being spent on the Second Life-aspect of Home that I would never use, and feel most people would treat it the same way. The only people I seem to meet that are genuinely excited about Home and what it brings are on the hardcore PS3 sites or in threads like this. Most people don't seem to understand what it's all about (myself included).

The trophies and all are a great example. XBL Achievements are practical in that they can be accessed in-game, you can compare it with friends in-game, you can view them online, etc. The Home trophy system sounds like the implementation we've seen in many games like PGR before, where you have a room that has 3D objects you've unlocked/won. I don't know of anyone who actually uses and likes those features, but they still pop up in games from time to time. There was all kinds of excitement about Lord of the Rings Online adding community housing and wardrobe. You can win trophies, chat with friends, dress up in costumes, decorate/remodel your house, etc...the problem is, except for in the days this was added into the game, no one seems to care about that anymore. It's one of those "nice in theory, boring in practice" aspects.

I have a laundry list of problems with the PS3 firmware and software, and I can't help but think a lot of the fundamental problems (XMB in game, anyone?) if they weren't spending so much development time refactoring the lighting model for some half-baked Second Life clone?

 

[patsu]

What is the point of Home if all it is can be encompassed by a "virtual PSP" you use? Is there no purpose to the massive environments and walking around in them, since that's almost all the screenshots ever depict.

I think you mean "What is the point of a virtual world metaphor ?" in the above question. Home encompasses the Virtual PSP, standardizes clan room and other online gaming concepts. Some of these services are useful, but the 3D metaphor is what many don't feel comfortable about. Personally, my interest is piqued but I am waiting to see the final implementation.

Party management, a la Halo 2/3? Why is this not a game-level feature?

Save third party development resources ? In some cases, it may be convenient to form a party and then hop from game to game, especially when they are downloadable games (now and in the future).

I know it's free, and there's no harm in it, but I think there is some harm in it. I think way too many development cycles are being spent on the Second Life-aspect of Home that I would never use, and feel most people would treat it the same way. The only people I seem to meet that are genuinely excited about Home and what it brings are on the hardcore PS3 sites or in threads like this. Most people don't seem to understand what it's all about (myself included).

Actually, I'd say most people don't know what Home is; let alone understand it. It is only natural that hardcore PS3 sites and forumites try to demystify Home. The features we know now are:
* It includes a game launching service and may be some sort of clan management features
* It includes an extensive gamer profile and personalization features
* It allows media sharing (in between game sessions ?)
* It will bring services like Crackle to Playstation users
* It integrates a virtual world metaphor with XMB's communication features

The trophies and all are a great example. XBL Achievements are practical in that they can be accessed in-game, you can compare it with friends in-game, you can view them online, etc. The Home trophy system sounds like the implementation we've seen in many games like PGR before, where you have a room that has 3D objects you've unlocked/won. I don't know of anyone who actually uses and likes those features, but they still pop up in games from time to time. There was all kinds of excitement about Lord of the Rings Online adding community housing and wardrobe. You can win trophies, chat with friends, dress up in costumes, decorate/remodel your house, etc...the problem is, except for in the days this was added into the game, no one seems to care about that anymore. It's one of those "nice in theory, boring in practice" aspects.

I have a laundry list of problems with the PS3 firmware and software, and I can't help but think a lot of the fundamental problems (XMB in game, anyone?) if they weren't spending so much development time refactoring the lighting model for some half-baked Second Life clone?

I think the virtual world metaphor is about exploration and leisure, rather than utility and practicality (Those will be achieved by XMB and other aspects of Home). Whether the virtual world metaphor will make a difference, I think Sony needs to make a good start and evolve from there. Second Life is not the only story. There are more successful ones on the net.

PS3 firmware issues are addressed by a different group of gurus. A 3D world guy may not be able to solve these system problems. The other way to look at it is:
In-game XMB is already under development with some difficulty. Home adds more value on top and is developed in parallel (so we can get the advanced features earlier). Remember the virtual world metaphor is only one aspect of Home.

EDIT: Incidentally, Titanio posted this link in GAF:
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=125318

The maker of the PlayStation3 system will offer an open platform, meaning in-game-ad-serving companies Double Fusion, IGA and Google-owned AdScape all will be able to sell ads in games that run on PS3, according to people familiar with Sony's plans

Besides Pain, Playstation Home will also support in-game advertisements.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So I'll admit, I have little interest in home and don't really get the appeal.

My interest has grown from zero to some, which surprises me as I'm not into online.

...But aside from that, are they expecting companies like Ubisoft, etc, to start selling Assasins Creed statues for peoples homes? Splinter Cell carpeting? Aside from dlc, what revenue streams are their to encourage companies to support home?

Okay, this to me is where I'm seeing things differently from others. You're associating it with games, and games only. I'm viewing it as an extension of commercial society with the same attractors. So it won't just be game stuff that. If it is, Sony have lost their audience. There's 100 million gamers out there say, and a couple of billion non gamers. It's the latter that Home is in part trying to reach. So content should come from areas that these people are interested in. There should be content coming from Nike and Addidas and Warner and Paramount and record labels and car manufacturers. It should be operating the same as a town centre in a tourist town, trying to get the visitors tied into with brand. In that respect it's cheaper than throwing a real party that 2 million people can attend and more flexible. As a company, I'd be interested in getting together with Sony and organising a Nike Day, with free avatar clothes, a new Nike game or two in the arcades, getting a live stream of a band going, throwing in some balloons and nonsense. The costs relative to real-life campaigns should be minimal, unless Sony are charging the earth.

The very existing of Dress shows people outside the gaming industry are looking at Home (which can be extended outside of the PS3 of course) as a novel way to extend their market. Seriously, how many gaming consoles would go out of their way to provide a fashion centre and perhaps the chance to design and buy your own clothes?! Games have always been a portion of PS3's identity, not its entirety, so looking at every function from a purely games-centric POV is going to miss Sony's grand schemes.

 

[Titanio]

I seem to be missing the point completely, then.

What is the point of Home if all it is can be encompassed by a "virtual PSP" you use? Is there no purpose to the massive environments and walking around in them, since that's almost all the screenshots ever depict.

Representation and interface are hugely important.

It's much easier to represent a lot of group social dynamics and interactions when your representation draws parallels from the real world. And it should be a lot more appealing to a wider group of people.

Your question is almost like asking what the point of lush 3D RPGs is when their gameplay mechanics can be encompassed by command line MUDs or something

If you took Home, and 'flattened' it out to a menu system, a lot would be lost in translation.

Party management, a la Halo 2/3? Why is this not a game-level feature?

Well, clearly it isn't!

A game could implement that if they want, but exporting it to a common 'lobby', has a number of advantages. Chiefly, for the user, making it simple and easy to manage a group of friends across multiple different games, not just in one game, whereafter when you exit the game, all your friends are back to the XMB, 'disconnected' and have to go through all the same initial effort of regrouping in subsequent games.

I know it's free, and there's no harm in it, but I think there is some harm in it. I think way too many development cycles are being spent on the Second Life-aspect of Home that I would never use, and feel most people would treat it the same way.

Well, the latter is a large assumption on your part, but even if this were true, it's no different than a dev team making a game you're not interested in. So what? It happens all the time, I'm sure.

The trophies and all are a great example. XBL Achievements are practical in that they can be accessed in-game, you can compare it with friends in-game, you can view them online, etc. The Home trophy system sounds like the implementation we've seen in many games like PGR before, where you have a room that has 3D objects you've unlocked/won.

Trophy info will be viewable outside of Home. There is a Home community site on the net, where presumably you'll be able to see trophy info on a player's profile. There'll be a XMB 'view' of trophies without having to go into Home.

 

[Smak]

Is this real?

http://www.colorize.net/home/

 

[deepbrown]

I'd just like to talk to my friends "in person" rather than having to send little messages to them, and invite them to my apartment, show off my trophies, share some content, and then launch into warhawk together. Come out...go to the store together and maybe buy a new song for guitar hero after seeing a demonstration by a guitar hero avatar.

Might try some bowling with my buddies, then ask if Phil Harrison wants to join in, get talking, forward my CV and then get a job

OK...maybe I'll just get Phil's job instead since he's quit.

 

[Arwin]

He might still want you at Atari.

 

[patsu]

Is this real?

http://www.colorize.net/home/

Probably not.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It's not affiliated with Sony going by Whois.

 

[Arwin]

All that needs to be real is the date at which the closed beta ends. But I don't know what that date is, though I did hear rumors that an end date had been announced.

 

[Cornsnake]

I think home replacing ingame party systems is great. Even popular games like CoD4 have very poor party systems. Resistance has a good party system but if im meeting up with friends online I basically have to wait until they get online or are done playing. Home may offer me something to do in the meantime. We could even make a clanroom and make a battle plan before starting a clanwar.

 

[Xalion]

All that needs to be real is the date at which the closed beta ends. But I don't know what that date is, though I did hear rumors that an end date had been announced.

There has been no officially announced end date and no end date announced to the beta testers if that is what you mean. There have been rumors, but the only credible recent one was the release of a new beta build.

Keep in mind that Sony is tight lipped even with the beta testers. There have been leaks in the past and they are unlikely to release any major information to the beta community again in my opinion.

 

[one]

There's 100 million gamers out there say, and a couple of billion non gamers. It's the latter that Home is in part trying to reach. So content should come from areas that these people are interested in. There should be content coming from Nike and Addidas and Warner and Paramount and record labels and car manufacturers. It should be operating the same as a town centre in a tourist town, trying to get the visitors tied into with brand. In that respect it's cheaper than throwing a real party that 2 million people can attend and more flexible. As a company, I'd be interested in getting together with Sony and organising a Nike Day, with free avatar clothes, a new Nike game or two in the arcades, getting a live stream of a band going, throwing in some balloons and nonsense. The costs relative to real-life campaigns should be minimal, unless Sony are charging the earth.

The very existing of Dress shows people outside the gaming industry are looking at Home (which can be extended outside of the PS3 of course) as a novel way to extend their market. Seriously, how many gaming consoles would go out of their way to provide a fashion centre and perhaps the chance to design and buy your own clothes?! Games have always been a portion of PS3's identity, not its entirety, so looking at every function from a purely games-centric POV is going to miss Sony's grand schemes.

Gran Turismo is reaching there too, GT5P is essentially Nissan's vehicle (pun intended) to promote the new GT-R. If it works well game sales may become the secondary target in the future since industries such as car manufacturers pay game development cost. Enticing non-game industries is as important as enticing non-gamers. They need PS3's expressive strength to represent real products in a virtual world. There was a discussion about the difference between PC MMO and PS3 Home, it's a big plus for Home that PS3 has better graphical/physical representation capability than most of current PCs.

For existing game companies, Home is a nice SDK to create their virtual communities. It's not only about another revenue source, it saves money. While EA and other bigwigs may prefer their own ventures, it's more beneficial to smaller developers to please their fans by building something at Home.

 

[Arwin]

Quite a lot of info here:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9898879#post9898879

 

[patsu]

The Playstation Store will undergo a revamp too according to Kotaku:
http://kotaku.com/360944/playstation-store-getting-overhauled-in-april

According to sources there, the PlayStation Store is finally getting a graphical user interface overhaul, one planned to arrive alongside Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on April 15. The revamp of the PlayStation Store is said to give it a look more in tune with the SingStore.

Destination Playstation seems to be some Sony partner/reseller event. I wonder if the Home marketplace is tied to the new Playstation Store.

 

[wco81]

Forget the GUI.

Speed up the loading of the different screens and the speed of the downloads!

 

[rabidrabbit]

The Playstation Store will undergo a revamp too according to Kotaku:
http://kotaku.com/360944/playstation-store-getting-overhauled-in-april

The revamp of the PlayStation Store is said to give it a look more in tune with the SingStore..

The SingStore look would be a big step backwards, at least if they mean the current SingStore.
SingStore today is just some simple grid 3 x 4 or something, having "Pop" "Rock", "Dance" "Genre" etc categories, giving access to sub-page which is similar simple grid.
Here's what it looks like: http://www.wonderwallweb.com/story-800-Latest-singstore-songs-announced.html

I think the current PS Store is more convenient, better looking and informative.

Or do they mean the look will be more like the main song selection screen in SingStar, which is very reminiscent to Apple's "Cover Flow".
Looks good, but I don't think it would be comfortable to use with lots of content and different categories.

Likely though, it will be tailored to suit the PS Store, with the general style of "SingStar"

 

[Arwin]

The Playstation Store will undergo a revamp too according to Kotaku:
http://kotaku.com/360944/playstation-store-getting-overhauled-in-april



Destination Playstation seems to be some Sony partner/reseller event. I wonder if the Home marketplace is tied to the new Playstation Store.

That sounds like a good idea ... The SingStar interface is beautiful. (I'm assuming they're not referring to the actual purchase bit because that obviously looks like the current Playstation Store, because that is exactly what it is

 

[Titanio]

Kotaku has some really interesting reports on Home integration in various games, if true. Sounds actually way beyond what I was expecting..so I hope it is true.

Warhawk:

http://kotaku.com/361562/how-warhawk-makes-home-really-really-cool

According to our sources, the Home lobby for the Incognito dogfighter will serve as a "war room" where up to eight players can meet to discuss their strategy for an upcoming match. Sure, you could do that with text or voice chat, but it sounds like the developers have gone the extra mile to make planning your battles even cooler.

Using a three-dimensional "sand table" replication of the level, Warhawk players are said to be able to lay out their strategies in a properly scaled space. They'll even be able to place little army men avatars around the map to envision their formations, something we hope they can also do with teeny tiny Warhawk planes, tanks and Jeeps.

Uncharted:

http://kotaku.com/361563/how-uncharted-drakes-fortune-makes-home-really-really-cool

e hear that the Home portal for Naughty Dog's PlayStation 3 adventure will follow in Resistance's footsteps, allowing Home avatars to explore the game's levels without the threat of being shot at, a nice feature.

But it's the Uncharted mini-game that has us far more pumped.

According to our sources, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune comes to Home armed with a side-scrolling 2D arcade game, described to us as reminiscent of both Contra and Out Of This World. Sounds kind of like Capcom's 2D remake of Bionic Commando in its execution, full of enemies and exploding barrels to shoot.

Resistance:

http://kotaku.com/361560/how-resistance-fall-of-man-makes-home-really-really-cool

One of the first games expected to shine in one of Home's series of game portals is Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man. Resistance is said to provide Home visitors with an interesting room to explore, one that will let PlayStation 3 owners visit unseen areas of the game and tap into bonus content in the form of "intercepted" radio communications between European and U.S. forces.

 

[Nesh]

It sounds fucking awesome!