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Shuhei Yoshida on China and why PlayStation can never go Home again
One does not simply get enough of Shuhei Yoshida, the head of Sony PlayStation's Worldwide Studios. So following our nice, long chat with him at E3 (seriously, go read it), we managed to get hold of him again in Hong Kong and picked his brain with more questions about Project Morpheus. These include the VR headset's final form (you're looking at it), its compatibility with other devices and whether it'll revive the now-defunct PlayStation Home. We also took the opportunity to ask about the challenges of bringing PlayStation games into China.
There's no longer a place like PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home, Sony's answer to the Second Life question no one asked, was never where the company's heart lived. Maybe its greasy, suppurating id lived in those gleaming neon halls, somewhere between the bowling alley full of dead-eyed polygon people and the virtual shopping mall. You know the PlayStation Home shopping mall I'm talking about. It's the one where you could spend very real money on an entirely fake golden statue of a robot lady with impossibly proportioned breasts.After seven years, the majority of which were spent in beta testing, Sony closed Home's doors this week. The PlayStation heart is secure elsewhere, for sure, but the shuttering of Home does mark the conclusion of an experiment true to the PlayStation soul, as well as the end of the brand's darkest era.
Sony is shutting down PlayStation Home in North America, too
It was only a matter of time. When word came down that Sony was shuttering the PlayStation 3 virtual space, PlayStation Home, in Japan earlier this year, the service's domestic days were likely numbered as well. Citing a "shifting landscape" as the cause (and likely no public outcry that the oft-laggy environment was missing from the PlayStation 4), senior community manager Paul Sullivan writes on the PS Blog that the last day to run around the hub will be March 31st of next year. Don't start fretting just yet, however, as the electronics giant plans to release new downloadable content for the quasi-Second-Life experience ahead of that. Perhaps it's time to do a mournful diva dance in your virtual domicile to commemorate this event. A bit rusty with the proper moves? Check the video after the jump for some inspiration, then.
PlayStation Home lets friends watch free movies together now, UStream and radio next month
Sony's recently redesigned PlayStation Home project has always been about bringing online social experiences to the PS3 that mirror their real-world counterparts: hanging out in your apartment with friends, window shopping at the mall, Quincying. Now it can add one more notch to its virtual world experience belt by offering the ability to view full length movies for free, streamed by Sony's Crackle network. If you're a frequent user of Xbox Live's Netflix Movie Parties this may sound like old hat (were we the only ones using that feature?), but now all PS Home users -- in North America -- can do social viewing with up to 60 users or private parties with up to 11 at a time. Crackle's selection of movies and TV shows are available today, while live broadcast UStream events (Engadget podcast party anyone?) and musical stations provided by RadioIO are scheduled to debut in December. Press play on the video above for a quick preview or check after the break for a celebratory press release.
PlayStation Home full of immature jokers, unlike other virtual communities
It's not been a good month for Sony. Layoffs, poor holiday sales for the PS3 and a wee bit of hacking over at PlayStation Home surely have the electronics giant hungry for some good press, which has made the newest PR kerfuffle over at the nascent online service quite unfortunate. According to Ars Technica, Home has become something akin to the nightmare futurescape of The Warriors, a service "incredibly unwelcoming to women, with female players quickly mobbed as players dance around them or type sexual come-ons... a disturbing look at the worst part of human nature." This is heady stuff, but as the company is quick to point out, the thing is still in Beta, and it's still evolving -- hopefully, as it becomes more popular the free service will move itself out of the adolescent ghetto. In the mean time, they've been rocking a bit of good old fashioned censorship, banning words like "gay," "Jew," and "Hell" -- perfectly understandishable if you've ever spent a minute on any online gaming service, but highly uncool if you're trying to build any sort of inclusive social network. In the meantime, what's a homosexual Jewish Satanist to do? There's always Second Life...
PlayStation Home already hacked?
Well, that was fast. A poster by the name of StreetskaterFU has outlined what he claims is a method of hacking into PlayStation Home's servers for download, uploading and deleting files. We're not able to verify his directions, but if true it would be a potentially calamitous oversight on Sony's part. Additionally, a PS3hax forum poster claims to have used StreeskaterFU's method and changed the movie posters and trailers (looks like it only affects what he sees locally; video embedded after the break). We haven't seen any signs of hacker malfeasance during our time with Home, but let us know if your virtual moviegoing experience has been drastically altered.Read - HOME vulnerabilities disclosureRead - How to mod Home with your own posters and movies
Virtual World ad agency already at home on Home
According to a recent report from the Virtual Worlds 2008 conference, Millions of Us, an advertising agency specializing in the production of marketing campaigns in virtual worlds, is already hard at work developing projects for Sony's Playstation 3-based Home. According to Millions of Us president and co-founder Christian Lassonde, "Certainly I think in the future, console manufacturers will get into user-generated content." We weren't aware that advertising for Pontiac was considered user-generated content these days, but we'll give them a free pass because we're probably taking that quote out of context.In any case, it may be telling that advertisers are getting early access to Sony's anticipated new virtual world while the would-be customers and fanboys are still waiting outside the gate trying to sneak a peak where we can, in the cold. It may also be raining, it's hard to tell. Home is seeming more and more like a transparently corporate tool for selling us on the next big product and less like the free-wheeling virtual wild west we're used to seeing from this category. We're OK with that, at least for now, just let us play the damn thing already!
A progress report on PlayStation Home beta
Information regarding the closed beta for PlayStation Home has been hard to come by, but thankfully IGN has managed to get a status update from an anonymous tester.First off, let's talk about what's missing from the beta. "None of the new features or areas outlined at E3 have made it into the beta. None," said the tester. That includes transition from Home into other games (e.g. Resistance), no trophy room and no new lobby. "Sony also had a monthly roadmap of improvements/features/places they were going to implement but have not followed it," said the tester. "Home has had one update since launch."On the positive side of things, voice chat is said to work very well, as do the game's physics and the variety of facial customization. "The features that are in home do work well. All the games are fun to play and promote communication," said the tester.We don't know how indicative the report is, if at all, on Home's ability to launch this year, or if there is even another, even more exclusive beta with the new features included. What we saw at E3 looked good, but unfortunately we were unable to see it with multiple people in the same space.%Gallery-1950%
Cosplaying not welcome in PS3's Home
Speaking to the Official PlayStation Magazine, Home executive producer Peter Edwards, has decided to limit the choices of costumes avatars are allowed to wear, so as to reportedly retain mass appeal for the virtual world."If everyone's walking around dressed as Orcs or Stormtroopers or whatever, then you lose that welcoming, accessible element that means Mum, Dad and your sister might get involved as well," he said. "The idea is to keep it as accessible, mainstream and friendly as possible."Edward's stance puts Home in a position much more controlled than the cosplayer-driven Second Life, where looking human is more of an anomaly than a standard. And as for the other mega-popular MMO World of Warcraft, the option to be an Orc is inherent to the game. Looks like we won't be getting any in-game Ratchet suits anytime soon.%Gallery-1950%[Via PS3 Fanboy]
How about a video of your favorite Home?
If you weren't one of the lucky few to have been selected for PlayStation Home's closed beta testing, we've got a shaky hand-cam surprise for you today! A user-made video over at GameTrailers details a lot of what's going on in PS Home, from what it looks like in general to what you can accomplish. The man's character walks over and watches the trailer for Gran Turismo (HD, we're about 110% certain). It's neat.We chose this video because it was the longest -- it details the mini-games available for now, the movie theater, even a little announcement for the October 2007 public launch. However, the man is speaking Spanish. It's a different dialect than what I had been taught, so it might even be Italian. Don't worry, his narrative isn't necessary. Feel free to mute the video, but let us know what you think!
Miyamoto talks user-generated content, critical of PS Home [update 1]
Speaking to The Mercury News' Dean Takahashi, designer Shigeru Miyamoto gave a slight jab to the PlayStation Home for its familiarity. "What they're doing already exists in one form on the PC," he said. "Our focus [with Miis] is always to be different and do something that's different." Miyamoto furthers his opinion by expressing how the Mii system embraces but isn't focused on the internet, while noting that the character system took 20 years to "come to fruition." We assume much of that time was just Miyamoto circling the idea in his head, as his GDC keynote places the Mii conception alongside the Nintendo 64 era."We are trying to do something that is different and create something that hasn't been there before," he said. A caricature creation system may not have been done explicitly on consoles before, but we still wouldn't call it an entirely new concept. Nor would we give the same honor to Home, but their integration is indeed a first for game consoles.Miyamoto went on to address the idea the user-generated content, citing it as an inevitability. "It's not simply the question of whether there is a game editor," he said. "It is what form does that editor take." We have some idea.Also of note, Miyamoto gave the obvious revelation that a Wii fitness game, tentatively titled health pack or Wii Fit, is underway to ride the wave of success of Wii minigame collections Wii Play and Wii Sports.[Update 1: There was some confusion as to what Miyamoto said in the third line and what we added following the quote. The editorial has been given its own paragraph so as to alleviate some confusion.]
Phil Harrison reveals new Home details, including privacy and safety features
MTV News' Stephen Totilo has managed to glean new details from Sony's Phil Harrison on their megaton PlayStation 3 announcement, Home, in a video interview (after the break) and accompanying Multiplayer post (scroll down to yesterday's entry).The initial plan with Home is to start with apartments for users, then go on to outdoors, houses, gardens, neighborhoods. Currently, 16 people will be allowed in one apartment at any given time, although that limit is being tweaked. As for lobbies, which will be "infinitely spawned by the number of users online," 64 will be the limit. A search function will be included to help users find their friends online.As to concerns whether the social aspect of Home will take away from time spent gaming, Harrison sees that as a non-issue. "I think that you shouldn't lose sight that home is all about games and creating social interaction between gamers ... [Home is] a springboard to a deeper gaming experience," he said.Also mentioned was that no collision detection would be implemented, so users will likely just walk through one another. While that should eliminate problems associated with crowds, it also reduces the options for those who wish to use their avatars for naughtier means.%Gallery-1950%
Readers pick best webcomic, how ironic
It takes guts to admit something good about a company who you've lost faith in so long ago. That's just what the Penny Arcade crew tackled in their strip relating to the recent PlayStation 3 announcements, winning best game-related webcomic of the week. Special thanks to Jerry "Tycho" Holkins, who was kind enough to stop for a quick chat at GDC last week. Second place goes to the comic we were most tipped off to, the Perry Bible Fellowship, and third place was claimed by Extra Life. A note about Tip of the Sword. While we thought the MMO joke was funny, we really loved the Halo gag more. Unfortunately, we were of the mindset that we picked that strip last week -- blame it on the jet lag from GDC. Apologies to Auker for not using the comic he submitted. Still, we thought the MMO one was funny.Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any gaming comics you stumble upon this week!
PlayStation Home revealed
Good news for the PlayStation camp, full details of Sony's PlayStation Home have been revealed, and it ain't no slacker. Alongside those avatars and achievements we heard about earlier, the "service" seems to be a new-gen Second Life killer, with public hangouts, personal apartments (to show off those fancy prizes you've been racking up in recent frag fests) and voice chat. The seeming-MMO even includes casual games such as pool, bowling and arcade machines embedded into the world, but at any time you can invite a fellow resident to join in on any PlayStation Network-capable game. As for user-generated content, PS Home allows you to hang your own pictures on your apartment walls and share videos with friends. You can of course dress up your avatar in assorted virtual clothings -- for a price -- all while enjoying "dynamic advertising" of some sort. A large scale beta goes live in April, with the full product to be launched this fall. Make sure to hit up the read link for a gallery of the beautiful scenery and idiotic conversations you too can be enjoying in a few months.Update: Added a video after the break with more info on the service. PlayStation Home will be a free download, and will eventually include a virtual cinema for watching movie downloads. You can also share videos and music directly out of your media library. Peep the vid for more info.
