August 19, 2008 – 7:00 pm
Don’t get excited. There won’t be any asian massage parlors or strip clubs or gladiator fights. That’s not their idea of adult themed. They think its like a random casino or something lame like that. Here is what Sony said:
The Home Platform Group director then suggested that while nothing sinister (read: pornographic or illegal) is likely to appear in Sony’s world, it is possible that the odd casino could pop up or perhaps movie theatres where users could go to watch mature-rated videogame trailers.
Acknowledging that many other adult-only themed areas could conceivably come into play, Edward reinforced Sony’s ultimate control by saying that “we have the ability to age-protect areas, and I think that’s something that we will inevitably make use of.
At least they are moving in the right direction. No timetable set for any possible Hot Karls in the near future.
via gamerchip
August 10, 2008 – 12:00 pm
Many people have been patiently waiting to get into the PlayStation Home Beta. Some haven’t been so patient. Sony knows you want your hands on it and is going to expand the closed Beta with a bunch of new people. If you download the new PlayStation Home Theme on the PlayStation Store, you’ll be entered.
By downloading the theme, users are submitting an application to join the PlayStation Home Beta test community. We will be using a variety of criteria including activity on the PLAYSTATION Network to determine eligibility for the Beta community. Existing beta testers have automatically qualified to be part of the expanded beta.
Not everyone who downloads the theme is getting in, but this is a way to play around with the new PS3 feature before it goes public. Good stuff.
Looks like Sony is going to take a similar approach as Gmail with the release of Home. It’s still on track for release in 2008, but only as an open beta. Wired had this to say:
While talking to senior director of PlayStation Network Susan Panico yesterday about Sony’s new online PS3 magazine Qore, we got very briefly onto the subject of Home. Saying that the software is still due for release at the end of the year, Panico noted that the “rollout will be similar to Gmail,” describing what will launch this year as an “open, working beta.”
Home is starting to feel like Duke Nuken Forever. So much talk, so much hype. Hopefully there aren’t any more delays and everyone can get their hands on with the PS3’s big networking hit as soon as possible.
We have been waiting and waiting to get a glimpse of what Home can be and what it can do. Ubisoft will broadcast is Ubidays 2008 via PSN’s Home. This is a huge step ahead for the much anticipated online gaming service and it could mean that the Beta for Home is all but ready. Here is the official word from Ubisoft:
Dear Home testers,
The Home team and Ubisoft would like to invite you to the first ever Publisher Event in Home. Its a pretty exclusive event too as we’re still in closed beta so please try and make time to be a part of a real first.
We’ll be in Home in the new Media & Events space on the evening of Wednesday the 28th of May between 7pm BST and 8pm BST time and Ubisoft will be showcasing their new titles for you all.
Regards,
TedTheDog
Sony fanboys are creaming their pants as we speak now that Home will finally have some functionality. Expect XBL to make some huge changes once Home gets up to keep its lead on the market.
[via videogaming24/7]
February 28, 2008 – 11:00 am
Sony is bringing their pimp hand strong with the Home spaces for some of their first party titles, most notably Uncharted, Resistance, and Warhawk.
With Resistance, you’ll be able to walk around unseen parts of the game, presumably with your Home avatar. Not sure if you’ll be able to brings friends with you or not at this point. Another cool feature in the Resistance space is the ability to listen “intercepted” radio communications between European and U.S. forces that are designed to give you a better idea of what’s going on in the Resistance story.
In the Uncharted space, you’ll be able to explore virtually all of the Uncharted levels with your Home avatar with no enemies. Again, no confirmation of being able to do this with friends. Uncharted’s space also brings a 2D side-scrolling shooter with Nathan Drake that’s being described as a cross between Contra and Out of This World. Sign me up!
Finally, and what I think is the absolute coolest, is the Warhawk space. The space will serve as a virtual war room for up to 8 players to strategize before entering the game. Yeah, discussing battle plans. Big deal, you say. Well get this… you’ll be using a virtual “sand table” of the level to plan our your attacks and defenses. Sony’s going as far as to let you place army men avatars on the sand table to better visualize your plan of attack. Holy dookers people.
This takes my hopes for Home and raises them way up. Sony is said to be pitching this to third party developers as a way to extend the life of their games and bolster community around them. I’m pretty sure it’ll work. Can’t wait for this to launch and most games to take advantage of this technology.
February 20, 2008 – 4:00 pm
Sony has confirmed that we will not be seeing any announcements for in-game XMB or Home at GDC. A comment on PlayStation.Blog asked: “Please either confirm or debunk the ingame XMB/HOME/Achievements coming VERY soon rumours !!” Jeff Rubenstein, Social Media Manager at Sony, had this to say in response:
If by “VERY soon” you mean this week - debunked.
I see the same rumors, and they’re just that - rumors. Literally 95% of what I’ve read this week is just groundless speculation. But hey, that’s the game biz.
There you have it. We’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to pull up that elusive XMB during gameplay. And Home is just around the corner, but isn’t ready for the prime time just yet. Patience friends, patience.
January 13, 2008 – 4:00 pm
According to Sony, they’re working on an achievement system that will “go well beyond a single score.” Eric Lempel, PlayStation Network director of operations, let the cat out of the bag in an interview with Next-Gen.
I know that an achievement system is very important to our consumers. With Home, and in addition to Home, we have some very exciting programs planned to recognize our consumers gaming skills and loyalty in new ways that go well beyond a single score.
We all knew about how Home will integrate a Trophy Room, which will allow users to show off trophies they earn in games. But now we’re talking outside of Home as well? Could be pretty cool. Does this mean we’ll be seeing PS3 GamerCards online sometime soon? Only time will tell. Maybe we’ll learn more at GDC.
[via Next-Gen]
September 21, 2007 – 10:03 pm
Yeah, Home has been delayed. But that doesn’t mean the open beta period is canceled. In an interview with Gamespot, Phil Harrison confirmed that the Home beta is still coming in 2007.
We will still be opening in late November/early December for general beta testing. So, the commercial start of Home will be pushed out later, but you will still get the experience this year.
If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on Sony’s new online community, you’ll just have to wait a couple more months. It’ll be here before the Holidays, which is a good thing for Sony.
September 20, 2007 – 9:32 am
Kaz Hirai announced during Sony’s press event at TGS that Home has been delayed until Spring 2008.
Apparantly, the developers wanted to further fine tune everything before unleashing the online meeting place on the world. Hopefully Sony will further extend the Beta before the final release next year.
For the Sony press conference, I sat down with fierce Scuba to watch and critique all things PlayStation. We recorded our chat session and present that to you now for your reading pleasure.
Overall, we both think Sony had the best showing of the three console makers by far. They had the most to prove, and they stepped up big with some great games and enhancements for the PlayStation Network.
All the trailers shown today are now available on the PlayStation Store, so go fire up your PS3 and check them out in beautiful High Definition.
No announcements of a rumble SIXAXIS or details on the video download service for the PSN. I guess we have to wait for the Tokyo Game Show in a few weeks for those details.
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