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Home regains voice chat
The PlayStation Blog notes that the December 22 (i.e. today) PlayStation Home update will restore voice chat to the service. The feature was "temporarily" suspended with the 1.04 patch, but now the oral racism and sexism can flow freely again in personal spaces and clubhouses with 1.05.To update the lifestyle program, just click on the PlayStation Home icon on the XMB. For those reading this while immersed in the virtual confines embrace of Home, you'll have to log off and return to cruel reality first in order to download the patch.
Sony 'temporarily' suspends voice chat in Home
As part of today's PlayStation Home 1.04 patch (13 MB), the PlayStation Blog notes that voice chat will be temporarily disabled in the virtual lifestyle program. "This is a step towards ensuring greater connectivity for all users," explains Home's Message of the Day. Unfortunately, the door to "greater connectivity" appears to be one giant step backwards.Sony recommends using the wireless keypad or a USB/Bluetooth keyboard to text chat in the program. But who really needs voice communication in Home? Just find a "Running Man" dance line and let the days effortlessly pass by.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Home connection fix coming Dec. 18
Ah, Error C-931. You're like a Wal-Mart greeter gone mad with power, picking and choosing who gets into the store. Well, buddy, your days are numbered. According to a post on SCEE's official Home support forum, you'll be out of a job soon. Happy Holidays.Tomorrow's patch is "the first step in tackling the connection issues that you'll know as C-931 errors," according to the post. Wait – first step? "Its just a first step and we'll bring you more information this latter (sic) this week." Evidently, C-931 is legion and has one goal: keeping you from connecting to Home. Hopefully, thwarting you won't distract the Home team from its other tasks ... like giving people more to do once they get in.[Thanks, stargateheaven]
Sony Europe: Home will become a system seller
With PlayStation 3 being dubbed a "sinking ship" on these shores, it could definitely use a system seller. Sony Europe sees PlayStation Home – not a game, but a social platform – becoming something that people will buy PS3 for across the pond. Speaking with CVG, Home's European service manager, Dan Hill, remarked that, "In time I would say that Home will definitely become a reason to purchase [PS3]." Hill sees Home as a determining factor in future console purchases because, in his opinion, "no-one else is doing anything of this scale or ambition," and promises that, "If you buy a PS3 and you grow with us, as Home evolves, you are going to become part of something very special, something unlike you can experience anywhere else." Something like ... Quincying.
Rumor: PlayStation Home hacked
Less than a week after Home's official unveiling, a hacker by the name of StreetskaterFU claims to have totally hacked into Sony's Home servers and is providing instructions on how to do it yourself – downloading, uploading, and deleting files. Want to see Mr. FU's purported hack in action? (Hacktion?) A poster on the PS3hax forums claims to have used the aforementioned method to change the posters and trailers in the Home theater (at least what he's seeing locally). The fact that we're not seeing widespread mischief in the Land of Home is preventing us from believing this one hook, line, and sinker. [Via Engadget]Source – HOME vulnerabilities disclosureSource – How to mod Home with your own posters and movies
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
How to perform Quincying in PlayStation Home
HOW TO QUINCY: var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/The_World_s_Greatest_PS3_Home_Grief'; Co-workers, esteemed colleagues, The time grows near when the Joystiq staff must choose the games which should be honored in our annual Top 10 list. I'm sure that you, like me, have had no small amount of difficulty separating the wheat from the chaff in what has proven to be a wheat-filled year. A Microsoft Word document currently sits minimized on my taskbar, where I attempted earlier this week to choose the greatest title which dropped in the past 365 days. I say "attempted," as I was unsuccessful in choosing just one game to hold this honor. However, when I compiled this list, I hadn't yet entered the Home beta -- nor had I been introduced to the gameplay experience that would sweep me off my feet faster and harder than anything in any other 2008 title has before. What started out as a minor distraction in a fairly distraction-free virtual world has become an obsession. A calling. I speak, of course, of the timeless art of Quincying. Rather than write out a length of wordy prose, I want to share with you the step-by-step instructions on how you can start Quincying the next time you log into Home. Prep Work Create an attractive female avatar. This should not be very difficult. Create a "Quincy" -- the most unappealing, disfigured Elephantine man as you can possibly craft using the avatar creation tools. Again, this should not be difficult. My Quincy looks a bit like an alternate-universe version of Perez Hilton, but with a curly mustache and clear side-effects of methamphetamine abuse. Setting the Trap As your attractive female avatar (AFA), go to a crowded area. The central hub is a great place to learn how to Quincy, as it is full of lonely suitors and needless dancing. Approach a lonely suitor. Don't just run up and start dancing. Strike up a conversation, ask where they're from. Get them interested. After cordial introductions, begin dancing with a suitor. Should other suitors begin to dance with and/or cat-call you, all the better -- but keep your focus on the original suitor. When you're positive you've got all the suitors' attention, and you're in the middle of a provacative dance, you're ready to go. Springing the Trap The Art of Quincying is not just the action itself, but the build-up. If you've followed directions so far, you've probably got a nice following. Your Quincy can't just appear, you need to say something in the chat to hint at the fact that things are about to get very, very weird for any and all nearby suitors. Suggestions: Simply shout "IT'S A TRAP" or, when asked where you're from, answer "Your nightmares." As SOON as said message is transmitted, open up your wardrobe menu, and switch to your Quincy. Exit the menu as quickly as possible. If done correctly, your avatar will have continued its provocative dance, albeit with a new, horrifying appearance. Aftershocks The typical male reaction to a well-executed quincying is an immediate ceasing of dancing, and a hasty retreat from the newly transformed Quincy. Occasionally, a suitor will stick around, laughing the experience off. This behaviour should be discouraged. Deliver said discouragement by changing back to your AFA, and resume dancing with the suitor. The loneliest suitors will continue their dance, though perhaps with a healthy amount of trepidation. Punish their persistence with a swift revert back to the Quincy. Repeat as needed. Video Demonstration
Welcome Home: PlayStation Home Beta is live!
The PlayStation Home Beta is now live and public for all world regions. Fire up your PS3, navigate to the PSN icon and scroll down to PlayStation Home -- yup it's there! One 77 MB download later and you're ... almost Home! (You need to install the software* and agree to the necessary legalese first.) So, how's your first day of your new second life treatin' you?4:25PM ET – The PlayStation Home "Message of the Day" invites everyone to a "huge dance party" in the Central Plaza at 6 pm tonight. "This party just might last throughout the night, so come on in and meet your new friends." (We'll bring the stuff to spike the punch!) You gonna be there?4:30PM ET – Doh! "Network Error: The connection to the server was lost (C-991)." (Twice.)4:40PM ET – We're still unable to connect (from NYC, San Fran and Oklahoma), but PS3 Fanboy's Jem Alexander reports Home is up and running "flawlessly" in the UK. Anyone else have a status update? Please post in the comments.4:55PM ET – New error! "Request timed out: /HUBPS3_SVML/unity/start.jsp" -- we'll keep trying ...10:25PM ET – We're Home! Finally. *Note: "To use PlayStation Home, 3077 MB of HDD space will need to be reserved."
PlayStation Home hits some snags [update]
As you may have already noticed, PlayStation Home is still nowhere to be seen, despite Dec. 11 being the designated launch day. Our friends at PS3 Fanboy have been watching as things appeared to deteriorate, from work "progressing nicely" to a complete, hour-long shutdown of the PlayStation Network. Last we heard, things are moving forward again, though there's no ETA.We'll let you know when something changes. Will you be religiously pressing the F5 key in the meantime, or just going about your business?Update: It's live!
PSA: Scoop up Home closed beta items while you can
PlayStation Home will finally open to the masses tomorrow, and so will its revamped shops, featuring clothing, furniture, and decor from various real-world partners. But what about all the stuff that's available now to closed beta participants? We suggest you grab it while you can.We have it on good word that some (if not all) of the items currently available to "purchase" – and thus outfit your avatar and personal space with – will not be available in the Home Open Beta. They will still appear and be accessible tomorrow to those who grabbed them in time. So, buy now ... or pay (with regret) later.
Video shows Zack Snyder's in-Home Watchmen intro
Watchmen is coming Home tomorrow. We've reported on the trailer being shown in the European movie theater in the closed beta and this will be expanding out to the open beta when it's released tomorrow. Marketing firm PPC have a video on their website showing the movie theater kitted out with Watchmen posters, along with the central TV screen being taken up by an exclusive introduction by Zack Snyder. Check out the video above. While this Watchmen content was revealed in the SCEE Home open beta press release, it hasn't been mentioned even in passing by those on the other side of the pond. Clearly this, along with the upcoming Doomsday Clocks and statues for your apartment, not to mention the cast and filmmaker Q&A, will be only available for European Homers. Don't forget to check out our media day report for more info on upcoming Home content.
Upcoming Home content shown at London media day
Click for a bigger Home var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/Joystiq_reveals_upcoming_PlayStation_Home_content'; "Home will live or die on the strength of its content." It was good to hear these words coming from Daniel Hill, Sony Europe's Director of Home, at a media day event in London. While Home's initial vision seemed ambitious and groundbreaking, what we've seen so far in the closed beta has been comparatively underwhelming. What was shown at the event, however, was some upcoming first- and third-party content that showed significant progress and potential.Seeing as the media day event was hosted by SCEE, there could be some info regarding Home spaces that only correlates to the European experience. The majority of info should, however, be universal for all regions.The MotorStorm apartment, a premium customizable living space, is very different from the Harbor Studio and the Summer House that closed beta users have already seen. Based around the MotorStorm franchise, it's set on a cliff shelf, overlooking the MotorStorm festival, complete with an animated race taking place below. The Home developers we spoke to hadn't yet decided how it would be distributed, but suggested it might be a contest prize or event-based item.%Gallery-38984%
PlayStation Home beta launching Dec. 11 [update]
At last, the future has arrived. Threatening to thrust our flabby, pitifully organic bodies into a virtual playground and significantly dull the allure of boring ol' reality, PlayStation Home is set to deliver the online utopia we thought we wanted after reading Snow Crash all those years ago. Sony has confirmed that Home's public online beta -- sans samurai haxorz -- will launch tomorrow, December 11th. (Update: Announced by SCEA, too.) With some minor caveats. As the press release dutifully notes, the service will become available for "all PS3 users around the world," except for those who find themselves in "some regions." You'll find the service nestled under the PlayStation Network bar of the XMB. The beta will include all the basic services and features, save for some content (like designer pants) which will, in fact, be charged for. Partially among those is the "Club," a social umbrella you can set up for your like-minded friends. Of course, it's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the Home, so you'll be asked to buy an "entitlement" if you want also want a "clubhouse."According to SCEE, several activities in Home will hinge on the content provided by Diesel (clothes!), Ligne Roset (furniture!), Red Bull (wings!), Hexus TV (video!), Eurogamer (witticisms!) and Paramount Pictures (trailers and movie merchandise!). Perhaps we should plan our day around all this stuff -- we should totally hang out tomorrow (virtually!).
PlayStation Home launching globally tomorrow, December 11th
We knew it was coming this month, now we have the day: tomorrow. Yup, PlayStation Home will launch globally on December 11th. The 3D virtual on-line community is like Second Life, only with the risk of rootkit. Hot. All kidding aside, the new service gives PS3 owners a customizable place to chat (voice or text) and play games with other PlayStation Home users through personalized avatars. Just like real life except without acne and all your social shortcomings. Home will be available to download and "experience basic features" for free -- some services (like creating a "club") will require cash though, so be prepared.Update: Added video of Red Bull's PlayStation Home Air Race game after the break. It's also worth noting that the US is positioning this as an "open beta" whereas the Japanese announcement seems to position this as full production launch.%Gallery-38983%
SCEA confirms: PlayStation Home launch coming this month in US
We know you aren't going to believe it 'til you see it, but SCEA has confirmed to our brethren at Joystiq that PlayStation Home will hit the US market before 2009 dawns. In the words of PS Home director Jack Buser: "We've been saying it will launch by the end of calendar year 2008, and that's getting very, very close." He continued by affirming that "launch is imminent," but stopped short of giving us a date to mark down in our calendars. Tick, tock.
Sony: Home launch 'imminent,' will arrive this month in the US
Amid rumors of a December launch for PlayStation Home, SCEA has confirmed to Joystiq that the social platform's public, open beta phase will arrive before the end of calendar year 2008, as we've been hearing for some time. "We've been saying it will launch by the end of calendar year 2008," PlayStation Home director, Jack Buser, responded when asked about a December release. "And that's getting very, very close," he concluded, laughing."Launch is imminent," Buser confirmed – although neither he nor an SCEA rep were willing to divulge an exact day of the month or method of delivery. When asked how, exactly, Home will get onto user's consoles, Buser responded with nothing but a wide grin that gave us the feeling it isn't going to be via a mere firmware update or PlayStation Store download.
Rumor: PS Home for the holidays, in next 10 days apparently
Do not attempt to degauss your monitor, you read that correctly: According to UK's Times Online, PlayStation Home is "slated for release in the next 10 days." Color (or colour, rather) us mighty skeptical of the report, but after waiting so long for its public unveiling, we're hoping this isn't another false report. It should be noted that just recently, Red Bull has begun advertising inside Home.Our present from Sony this year? With any luck, it's front-row tickets to the Great Collective Sigh™, whereby gamers worldwide all at once let out a drawn-out breath and say, "it's about fracking time." We've gone ahead and Facebook-poked our Sony contacts for more information.
Homesick: Phil praises PS Home
Though PlayStation Home seems forever out of reach, this hasn't stopped Atari's Phil Harrison, one of the original architects of Sony's much-anticipated virtual landscape, from singing its praises. The former Sony exec was one of Home's chief evangelists, and, according to Eurogamer, believes Sony has "brilliantly realised their ambitions."While also "quite impressed" with Microsoft's efforts around the social networking buzzword, Harrison noted that he feels his former employer "will have a very successful platform." We just hope that when he gives Home a congratulatory slap on the back, he does so with enough gusto to actually push it out the door.
Red Bull charges into PS Home as first major sponsor
Puzzling through Sony's reasons for throwing money at PlayStation Home is not a task for weak of heart, but for long, sleepless hours spent burning the midnight oil. Thankfully we now have Red Bull, the online service's first major third-party partner, on tap to help energize our search for enlightenment.Details remain scant, though UK site Brand Republic notes that the energy drink company will have its own caffeinated island space in Home featuring "an aeroplane racing game based on Red Bull's real world Red Bull Air Race series." As Home does anything but race to release, we can't help but wonder if someday we'll take in Sony's advertisement-laden virtual landscape from the air, rather than while wandering aimlessly on the ground.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Linden Lab doubles-back on approved skins
Linden Lab's governance team has started removing vendors for Second Life skins (that is, avatar textures) that are intended to portray teens and juveniles. It is not exactly clear why the action is suddenly being taken, as Linden Lab themselves approved the skins which have underwear 'baked in' to avoid any licentiousness. All in all, the affected skins are less lewd than a K-Mart kidswear catalog. However, since the vendors depicted the skins 'as is' (that is not completely clothed, so that you would be unable to see what you were trying to purchase), Linden Lab has unexpectedly reneged on previously granted approval and is now acting to remove them. The removals that we are aware of have been appealed, and those appeals have been rejected.
