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Expanding choices in social gaming and Flash MMOs
There seems be an endless tide of online games and virtual worlds being made available to us, with more always on the way. Some of them are well-known and need little introduction, such as Second Life, Playstation Home, and Facebook games, to name just a few. But there's plenty more out there, some of which falls into the standard 'MMO' category, although it's a label that we find is steadily blurring as time goes on. Darren Gladstone, Senior Writer at PC World, has put together "The Social Gaming Guide" for his Casual Friday column. In it he explores some of the mainstays of social gaming like the options found within Second Life and Facebook, but also sheds light on some lesser known alternatives. Gladstone discusses some of the choices gamers have with The Casual Collective, which he describes as "a cool casual-gaming waterhole created by the minds behind DTD," or Desktop Tower Defense. He looks at Whirled, an open-source gaming community which is home to Flash MMOs. "For players, Whirled is an awesome collection of hundreds of games, broken out by category and just waiting for you to jump in," Gladstone writes. Forthcoming Facebook integration will also add more dimensions to gameplay at Whirled.
PlayStation Home gets own home on the web
Those who continue to experience PlayStation Home from the outside-looking-in have another outlet to fuel their desire to traipse about in Sony's social bowling experiment. The oft-delayed service has been given its own home on the official PlayStation website, though like Home itself at present the site is sparse in both content and purpose.Currently visitors can wow themselves by reading a description of Home, as well as watch a video tour, look at a handful of screenshots ... and that's about it. Even so, pressing your face up against the screen is nearly as much fun as wandering aimlessly though the virtual world's vapid halls. Nearly.
Who watches the Watchmen? You do - in Home
Home version 1.00 is a great improvement, as we've now said several times since its release yesterday, but there's still a distinct problem regarding a lack of content. For example, the European movie theater has ten screens, but only three are actually showing anything. Despite that, it's still worth visiting if only to check out the latest Watchmen trailer. Film marketing company PPC (Picture Production Company) has been the first to jump on the Home bandwagon with this early closed beta trailer release. We're promised that this isn't the last we'll hear from Watchmen in Home, and that there will be an announcement about "some very exciting movie related activity next month." Home has a broad scope for marketing potential, what with costumes, interactive objects and full environments all being possible. Hopefully we'll see Watchmen related content in all of these categories. We're very much looking forward to hearing what PPC have in store for Home.
Home beta welcoming another 100,000 testers
We would tell you all about PlayStation Home version 1.0, but then we'd have to kill ... ourselves. (Wow, that was dark.) Fortunately, no harm will likely befall us, since you might just find out everything for yourself soon enough. Sony has announced that 100,000 more invites to the beta are now going out (although an impish email server may delay them for European readers).Sony itself has officially revealed some features of the new client. Like the fact that the in-Home navigation tool is no longer a virtual PSP – it's been replaced by a PDA-like "Menu Pad." Oh, and it has added Clubs, which allow for up to 32 members to gather in a private Clubhouse space, complete with an editable bulletin board. Plans call for the open beta – the one everyone can get into – to feature "premium" for-pay Clubhouses. Perhaps they'll be specially themed? We'd put down a few for Kratos' throne room from God of War.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Home in 'internal testing,' out 'this year'
While the original date for moving into Home was "autumn 2008," it looks like the digital living space isn't ready to occupy just yet. Home community manager "TedtheDog" tagged the service with a "this year" release frame, responding to posters in the official European PlayStation forums.Ted said Home v1.0 is currently in "internal testing and will hit the closed beta in the coming weeks." This means, freshly-invited Qore readers will probably get a taste of v1.0. "1.0 is a major milestone on our journey but it is not the destination," continued Ted. The closed beta will continue into early November and sometime later an open beta will occur. Hopefully Sony can roll out Home before Christmas; otherwise, a lot of PlayStation fans will have to deal without shelter during the cold winter -- a very cold winter.[Via CVG]
PlayStation Home hacked, the search for backup exploits begins
Hackers, like life, will find a way. Sony knows that all too well thanks to the PSP, but so far the PlayStation 3 has stood strong in the face of legions of nerds trying to find a way to exploit it. A potentially major breakthrough may have been made, though, as well-known PS3 hacker StreetskaterFU (we've no idea what he's going for with that name -- really) has managed to decrypt the beta client for Sony's PlayStation Home service. Curious devs can now poke around in the files looking for a way to exploit the newish in-game XMB functionality, potentially allowing homebrew apps and game backups without hard drive swapping. There's no guarantee it will lead anywhere in the end, but you don't care either way, right? Our upstanding readership would never participate in such heinously illegal activities.[Thanks, James]
Sony claims PlayStation Home will connect gamers like arcades did in the 80s
MTV Multiplayer blog contributor Stephen Totilo took a second look at Sony's Home -- a virtual world community for PlayStation 3 users. He had previously previewed the service at Kotaku and given it low marks. This time, though, he seemed a little more impressed. We're not really sure why he flipped, though. He wasn't very clear about it.Home features several instanced locations where PS3 users may converse and play minigames such as bowling. There are game specific rooms, like, say, for Warhawk, where users can get tips and such. It's a virtual world, not an MMORPG, but there's something interesting stuff in that preview. Obviously, it's most pertinent if you're a PS3 owner.During the demo, director Jack Buser suggested that the developers might eventually add non-human character models if the community demands it (but it's not part of the plan at the moment). Most of the preview is about how Home differs from its non-virtual-world competitor: Xbox Live. Buser said he hopes that Home will give users a place to meet other gamers in an environment that's more social than the games themselves. According to him, there hasn't been a good way to do that since the arcades of the 80s.
PlayStation Home Manager: PS3 firmware 2.5, Home 1.0 in October
click for full-size screenshot A PlayStation Home beta participant with access to a restricted PlayStation Forums thread has passed along a potential release month -- October -- for the next major PlayStation 3 firmware update (v2.50), PS3 Fanboy reports. The date was suggested by Home manager "TedTheDog" who clarified, "late October is my guess." The update will supposedly include a bug fix for freezing and network errors currently affecting Home users.Ted (just "Ted" is okay, right?) also hints that Home v1.00 could coincide with firmware v2.50's release -- Home is currently at v0.98. Common sense, while not always a part of Sony's repertoire, tells us that Home 1.0 is the version that goes public -- we'll see. We should note that the Home beta was further expanded today, supporting the possibility of a public release next month.
Get a look at Home's 'extended closed beta'
click to enlarge As we mentioned in yesterday's guided tour of PlayStation Home, most of the game's virtual world's "spaces" have undergone some significant visual re-tooling since it was announced at GDC '07. Today we can illustrate the point with fresh screens from the latest extended closed beta client for PS3's answer to Second Life.The apartment space itself hasn't really been tweaked that much, but the view off the balcony has (it's quite gorgeous in person, really). Check out both our original and updated galleries below to see how many changes you can spot.%Gallery-32218%%Gallery-1950%
Sony's PlayStation Home gets seriously previewed
We've been intrigued by Sony's PlayStation Home concept for, like, ever now, but considering just how long the thing has been delayed, we're trying to avoid any contact with pre-launch fodder in order to keep our hopes low. That being the case, we realize not all of you care to safeguard your hearts in the way we have ours, so we felt it prudent -- nay, necessary -- to pass along PS3 Fanboy's in-depth walkthrough of the service. SCEA's Jack Buser recently took the time to sit down and open up for a marvelous preview of the Plaza, Game Space and lots of other nooks and crannies we're sure you're interested in venturing into. To the read link, we send you. Try not to get lost, okay?
PS3 Fanboy preview: PlayStation Home
It's Friday night, and if you don't mind us saying so, you're looking rather snazzy: spiked hair, blue jeans, black hoodie, and brand new sneakers. Your cell phone rings. You pick it up, greet your friend, and tell him that you'll be there in a few and to meet up by the pool table in the back corner. You disconnect and slip your phone into a jacket pocket, but instead of grabbing your keys and heading out the door, you hop into your favorite chair, grab your DualShock controller and power up the PS3.A couple of button presses and analog stick flicks later finds you in the local Game Space of PlayStation Home. An avatar waves as he notices you approaching the pool table. "What's up?" appears above his head. "Not much, Jeff. Where are the others?" you reply, just as the rest of your gang -- Mike from across the country in Ohio, and Andrew who's currently teaching in Japan -- run over to the table. Greetings and the prerequisite smack talk are exchanged before you finally pick up a stick, challenge Jeff to a game, and catch up with Andrew as Jeff breaks -- quite poorly, too.The camaraderie between gamers, the ability to meet up with friends for some evening fun despite all of you being dozens, hundreds, or thousands of miles apart... that, according to SCEA's Jack Buser, is what PlayStation Home is all about. With hundreds of free and purchasable customization options, meeting areas, and activities, Home promises to be both a social network where people can hang, and a way to exponentially expand your PS3 gaming experience. We recently met up with Home director Jack Buser and received a guided tour of Home's more notable features. Join us, won't you?
A guided tour of the PlayStation Home beta
Home's Central Plaza now looks altogether different from this early, mall-like setting. Since its impressive unveiling at GDC '07, the virtual community of PlayStation Home has gone from being Sony's most ambitious software undertaking as a console manufacturer to something just shy of vaporware. We hear that more members of the gaming populace are being cherry-picked to test it, but despite this – and a spattering of showings at industry events – it nevertheless seems no closer to realization. With the expanded closed beta underway and Sony still talking about a public "open beta" release by year's end, we met with PlayStation Home director, Jack Buser, to get a look at what those under NDA are experiencing right now.%Gallery-1950%
Home features shown in new video
Sony's PlayStation Home has gone through some changes since we first heard about it in 1988 2007 (really, that's all?). A new video from the company reveals some of the game spaces for various titles and gives a better idea of the general interface for those of us not in the beta. It also shows off some of the in-Home games like chess, billiards and some colored triangle-sphere game. If you're liking the features shown, don't worry. You apparently won't have to wait too long. Home is 100% guaranteed to release at some point this year.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Video goes through all of Home's features
Download to PSP It's been a while since we've heard about PlayStation Home. This new video goes through all the things you can do in the online community. For example, you can play a game of chess with an online stranger. You can customize your character, your apartment. You can walk through Game Spaces for various titles, like Warhawk. For those of you not in the beta right now, this is a rare opportunity to see everything that's happening in Home right now. [Via NeoGAF] There's a place where Home info lives. Check out our Home page for all our coverage!
Just say 'no' to Home Beta Injector scam
Defender of the PS3 nation, PS3 Fanboy, has put the kibosh on a nasty little scam capitalizing on PS3 fans desire to get into the latest wave of the PlayStation Home beta. Sony's ninja-like lawyers are already stealthily shutting down the "PlayStation Home Beta Injector Blog," which promised visitors access to the beta ... if they'd turn over their PSN account names and passwords.Sound shady? Oh yeah. Since doing so would, oh, give the site's proprietors complete access to your PSN account, including your credit card. If you ran across the scam and happened to fall for it, Sony suggests contacting its customer support for help with reclaiming your account.
Check your email: Home beta invites sent
You may have downloaded the PlayStation Home theme from the PSN Store thinking, "How can this possibly work? How will I know I've ... won?" The answer to that question arrived today for the Selected Ones, the latest batch of Home beta recruits who were informed via email that they'd won out over the presumably thousands of others who'd downloaded the theme. That's right: Sony knows where you live your email address.Sony isn't saying how many invites are going out, but has confirmed that it's happening in waves over the next 24 hours, so keep checking your email if you haven't received one yet – you might still get lucky. We're told by Sony that another "beta wave" will hit in the next few weeks, so look for more news on that as we get it. Did you land an invite? Lets us know in comments, and have fun Home-ing.
PlayStation Home 100% guaranteed for 2008 release
... by Martijn Van der Meulen. To be fair, Van der Meulen is a producer on the Home project, who apparently assured IGN during Games Convention that the service would launch sometime this year. "Van der Meulen told me (without hesitation) that it is a 100 percent guarantee that Home will be released by the end of this calendar year. He has absolutely no doubt that this will be the case," IGN's Ryan Clements reports. Well, there you have it, just blame Van der Meulen when Sony rushes to get you all moved in later this year and, with the first step you take into your new Home, you fall right through the ... map.
PlayStation Home tied to console region
With the next phase of PlayStation Home construction getting underway, we now have a clear picture of the region restrictions placed on the virtual world, at least those being implemented for the expanded beta. Users are apparently being matched to servers based on their consoles' native regions (which are not configurable), PS3 Fanboy reports. While this peculiar restriction will only affect the small percentage of PlayStation 3 owners whose consoles were imported from other regions, it counters the open access granted to PlayStation Store users, who can shop in any Store region from anywhere by setting up PSN accounts based in different regions. The Home region restrictions also mean that make-believers won't be mingling internationally nor will they be able to sign into their Japanese PSN IDs from an American console, for example, and hop onto a Japanese server.PS3 Fanboy points out that the obvious explanation for the lockdown is optimized advertising. There's no sense in pushing American products on a UK gamer who is bird watching on a US server. Still, we're holding onto hope for some cross-regional opportunities, like tournaments or maybe exchange programs. Who's up for a semester in the Caribbean Home?%Gallery-1950%
Home access is based on console region, not PSN account
With the release of the new Home beta, we now have a much clearer idea of how these region restrictions, that we discovered at E3, are being implemented. It seems that the client reacts to your console's native region, locking you out of any Home servers that don't match it. That means that if you're a UK gamer who imported from the US, you'll be spending all of your time with Americans inside Home. If you imported from Japan ... well, you can guess where that's headed. What we find bizarre is that it's such a strict lock-out, and that you're not given any degree of choice in the matter. It seems so weird that anyone can access any region's PSN Store, but not the online social networking hub. We can only assume that similar restrictions as on the store will be made for purchasing within Home. That is to say, if you're a UK credit card owner you won't be able to spend anything in the US Home without some jiggery pokery. Obviously, this all makes sense to Sony. Home is meant to be a big income generator for them; mostly through advertising. They want the most appropriate eyes to see these adverts in order to maximise the "click through" rate. There's no point advertising Mountain Dew to a UK citizen, for example. But console-specific region locking is not the answer. At the very least, set up an IP location check or, god forbid, give people a choice.
How to apply for the US and European PlayStation Home betas
Simple, really. In the US (and yes, Canada), download the PlayStation Home theme from the PlayStation Store and you're essentially submitting your application to be an early tester for PlayStation Home's closed beta set to kick off at the end of the month. In Europe, the PlayStation Home beta selects you. Er, we mean that there's nothing extra for you to do since you've done it already -- SCEE will be selecting (check your eMail) its most active users on the PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
