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PlayStation Home beta accepting applications
No previous job experience necessary. No references or extracurriculars. Heck, you don't even need a first grade diploma. All you need to do is download the PlayStation Home PS3 theme released today on the PS Store and you'll have applied for access to the expanded Home beta test (a mundane magical world brimming with "stuff" -- just like real life ... only avoidable). Of course, there's one thing you can do to make sure your application rises to the top of the heap: Play. "We will be using a variety of criteria including activity on the PlayStation Network to determine eligibility for the Beta community," Home director Jack Buser explains on PlayStation.Blog.If you do make the cut, please remember to wear your hard hat. This Home is still very much under construction.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Japanese Home beta opens, adds Namco classics
Sony has begun accepting applications for the next beta phase of Home ... in Japan. PS3 users can put their names in the hat (from which 10,000 will be chosen) directly from a new option in the Japanese PlayStation Store. Successful applicants will be notified via email before the beta officially kicks off at the end of August.In related news, classic arcade games from Namco are showing up as virtual coin-ops in the Japanese Home client. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Xevious have been rolled out so far, with three "secret" titles still on the way. It's interesting to note that Home users – at least in the beta – can play these games for free, whereas they are paid downloads on Xbox Live Arcade. We'll have to wait and see if this holds true for Home games from Namco and other publishers in the open beta (which is supposed to hit by year's end).Source – EngadgetSource – Siliconera
Sony begins accepting PlayStation Home beta applications
After a long long delay from that March 2007 announcement, Sony Japan just opened its doors to applications for the closed beta testing of PlayStation Home. Sony expects to drop 10,000 gamers (18 years old and up) into the virtual world when it launches in beta sometime in late August. Closed beta tests are due in other markets (er hem, the US) at about the same time with an open beta coming sometime later in the year. Lucky beta testers will be able to explore the 3D world and play games like PacMan in the Namco Museum, both of which are pictured after the break.[Via Impress]
Kingdon feels the fear
Linden Lab's newly-minted CEO, Mark Kingdon, has posted another communique to Second Life users, and it isn't hard to see a certain fear in the phrasing and timing. 'The possibilities of Virtual Worlds have attracted a slew of entrepreneurs and even some Internet giants,' writes Kingdon in his second paragraph, 'Some are offering a simple, visually appealing chat solution. Others are more ambitious. Second Life offers something no ones else does - an astoundingly rich array of user-created content and a large, diverse and ever-expanding virtual economy.' And it isn't hard to see which Internet giant and what visually appealing chat solution he might be referring to, especially considering the timing of the statement.
Ubisoft holding first third-party media event in PlayStation Home
There are a number of negative traits associated with video game press events and conventions, the most obvious of which being the time and expense required to haul one's widely dispersed blogging crew to the west coast (or in some cases, overseas). However, not many know about a phenomenon known widely in our circle as "Blogger Stench", a condition brought on by packing a convention hall with tired, sweaty, uncomfortably close gaming writers. Luckily, Ubisoft is taking measures to avoid this putrid odor -- simply by bringing one of their events into an odorless space.Okay, they're still holding their Ubidays press event in Paris today -- but for the next five days, the PlayStation Home's Media and Events space will be dedicated to previewing new Ubisoft titles, such as Prince of Persia, Tom Clancy's HAWX, and Soul Calibur IV. Those blessed with a closed beta account can check out these new titles from the comfort of their own homes -- those who attended the brick-and-mortar Ubidays event will likely spend the next five days replacing their overseas wardrobe and attempting to remove their outermost layer of skin with a Brillo pad.
PlayStation Home beta adding more users this Fall -- in other words, delayed
After hitting delays already, we can't say that this was the PlayStation Home press release we've been expecting. Nevertheless, Sony just announced that it is expanding the closed PlayStation Home beta to more users in "Fall 2008." Kazuo Hirai, prez and ringmaster of Sony Computer Entertainment, said, "We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service." Come on Mr Hirai, you can say it, PlayStation Home is delayed. See, that's wasn't so hard.
Home gets delayed again, open beta scheduled for Fall
You're going to have to wait a little bit longer for Home. Sony's much-discussed online service debuted at GDC over a year ago, but it's still been restricted to a number of closed beta participants. According to a new press release by both SCEA and SCEE, the closed beta testing will continue through Summer, with an open beta finally available in the Fall."We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PLAYSTATION Home. Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition."It appears that more people will be invited into the closed beta. However, this recent delay of Home is continuing a disturbing trend of promises that are delivered late or not at all, such as in-game XMB and game invites -- these features are far more valuable than an online world to walk through. We're sure everyone will echo the same sentiment: it's been taking Sony much too long to deliver on these promises. Stay tuned for any new developments regarding the Home beta.%Gallery-15141%
Steinberg hints at a few upcoming PS3 features
Scott Steinberg seems to be in a PR overhaul lately, popping up in several interviews. This latest installment has what some would call a challenge to the competition, but we won't focus on that flamebait comment. He talks about how Sony hasn't had a big keynote speech this year yet -- he feels the Blu-ray victory is good enough for now. We're personally expecting a big one at E3. He hints also that movie and music download services may be coming soon -- perhaps also to be covered at our expected E3 speech?Big name titles, he says, will keep momentum going for the PS3 this year, but he also mentions the possibility of more downloadable PS-One and PS2 games on the PlayStation Store. Steinberg says there are "on-going sessions" to get more third-party titles up on the store, so who knows, before the end of the year we might have a much more impressive library than we do now. Maybe it'll almost rival the insane selection available on the Japanese store. Speaking of games, there's no open Home beta now because Sony has set the bar so very high, they don't want any more people to see it until it meets their standards to get into the public eye. We'd like to see more PS-One and PS2 games on the store, and an open beta for Home would be nice. We'll see what happens this year!
Sony reveals Home integration for Resistance, Uncharted, Warhawk
Worried that game integration with Playstation Home will just be trophies, trailers and t-shirts? Well, so were we, actually. Luckily, Kotaku's learned some interesting details about the Home integration of Warhawk, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and Resistance: Fall of Man. Turns out its way cooler than we thought. Warhawk will reportedly allow up to eight players to meet in a "war room" prior to a match, mapping out strategies on "sand table" replicas of each level. Once they're ready to go, players can jump right into an online Warhawk match from the Home interface. A nice touch, indeed. Resistance and Uncharted, meanwhile, will give Home users access to full unpopulated levels from the games, allowing players to casually walk through battlefields with their Home avatars. In addition to this killer feature, Resistance will allow players to explore unseen portions of the game, and locate radio transmissions that further explain the storyline. Uncharted will feature a Contra-style 2D shooter that launches from Home. Consider us floored. We can't wait to see these features in action. Read - How Resistance makes Home really, really cool [Kotaku] Read - How Uncharted makes Home really, really cool [Kotaku] Read - How Warhawk makes Home really, really cool [Kotaku] [Via PS3 Fanboy]
The war of words for Sony's PlayStation Home and Second Life users begins
Ron Festejo is hardly an unbiased observer, being the creative director of the Sony project that is bringing PlayStation Home out next week, but in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz he explains that, in his opinion Home is the best looking and most user-friendly multiplayer experience he's seen so far.Apparently Second Life is "too garish" and the rest of the MMOs are "too hardcore." Second Life users (we're not players after all) are also too geeky, and Mr. Festejo doesn't think there will be much to interest Second Lifers. Of course I'm happy to be called a geek, and not owning a playstation I won't be checking out PlayStation Home, but what do you think? Do you need to be a geek to cope with Second Life, or is he just aiming at a "cool kids" market? He probably does need to go and read the minimum specs for Second Life page mind: whilst Second Life runs on a much greater range of engines than just PlayStations, he is exaggerating saying it has to support people on Pentium II's.
Devil May Cry 4 PS3 'accomplishments' may hint at Home integration
Our BFFs over at PS3 Fanboy have noticed something interesting about the "Accomplishments" received while playing the PS3 version of Devil May Cry 4. Though it's not the first game to copy and paste the in-game achievements from the 360 version, DMC4 is the first title to recognize the accomplishments with a PS3 system screen, rather than an in-game notice.This could possibly mean nothing, but it's equally possible that Devil May Cry 4 may be one of the first games to send accomplishment information to the PS3 system, for integration with services like the upcoming Playstation Home. We've already seen that Home will feature trophies collected from various accomplishments in games. Perhaps this could be the key to that feature.As drab as the accomplishments notice is, it'll be interesting to see what it portends, if anything.
Playstation Home gets a pre-launch makeover
Sony's Playstation Home virtual world has undergone a few cosmetic changes since we last took a look at it. At the IMAGINA 08 event in Monaco, a session led by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe introduced the changes, which were largely the result of user feedback culled from the beta version.Rather than entering the world via an enclosed lobby, the Playstation Home experience will now begin in a large outdoor space. Entrances to areas like the Theatre and Bowling Alley have been redesigned to be more easily spotted, and the Theatre's screening rooms have been moved closer together, as testers were complaining about the long walks (lazy gamers).The talk also revealed the inclusion of balconies in players' in-game apartments, and a choice of around eight different apartment styles at launch. Swanky premium apartments will also be made available, though of course not without a cost. Playstation Home is scheduled to launch on the PS3 in Spring 2008. %Gallery-1950%
Square-Enix's creatively-named Virtual World
The acerbic lads at Kotaku bring the snark once again with their announcement of an announcement over Square-Enix's upcoming virtual world called Virtual World ... virtual world. There, I couldn't resist.The post's comparison to Second Life, however, is slightly off-the-mark, as SL doesn't run on ad revenues, while Sony's Home certainly will. Similarly, Virtual World will feature ads for Square-Enix games, and given that Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon will be a Wii title, there could be other Wii titles on display as well. Besides the ability to have tea with a Chocobo, will there be any reason for people to want to enter Virtual World? And besides, everybody knows Chocobos like Gysahl Greens anyway -- I mean, duh.
PlayStation Store heads to your PC -- Home delayed until 2008
We could get used to this new effort on Sony's part at "openness," and even if this one's just a new way to access Sony's closed ecosystem of PlayStation Store content, it's a start at least. You can now use your humdrum, maybe-not-even-Sony-built PC to purchase and download PlayStation Store content -- including PSOne games -- and transfer it to your PSP, instead of relying on a 'spensive PS3 to do the trick. Sony has been promising this function for a few months now, but they've finally delivered, and apparently you can get in on the action today, at least in Japan. Also announced at TGS07 is future PSP Remote Play functionality (pictured) that allows you to turn on and off your PS3, and the ability to use your PS3 as a hub while PSPs act as a second screen, extra controllers and offer other networked functionality. No word on when these fanboy dreams will see light as a true-life firmware update. Oh, and before you get to thinking that the PSP is getting all the love here, Sony also announced a new function for Home called "dress," with "everybody's fashion entertainment" for a tag line. Whatever that means, Sony's going to be delaying the launch of Home into 2008, so we can't say we're exactly stoked about the new feature.Read - PSP Remote Play
SGD '07: Joystiq hands-on with PlayStation Home
Click for larger version. One of the things we were most eager to do at Sony's Gamers Day was to transport ourselves inside of the PlayStation Home world, and see what was going on. We finally got our chance after the crowds dissipated on the last day. We swooped in, grabbed the Sixaxis, and tried to find our bearings.While the PlayStation Home beta is going on right now, there weren't too many people wandering around, which is probably a good thing. For first timers, it sure would be hard to figure out what was happening with crowds walking through you, talking to you, and ... dancing. Yes, right now dancing is the most popular feature for groups to participate in, continuing the World of Warcraft phenomenon of cutting a rug when you encounter other players.%Gallery-1950%
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!
PlayStation Home footage is beta-than Second Life
If we weren't excited enough about PlayStation Home before, we certainly are now. It's a week of leaked beta footage, and although you might not think it was possible ... this is even cooler looking than Bungie's baby (please don't kill us).The graphics in this look pretty sweet, and make us believe that something like Snow Crash might actually be possible one day. The in-game PSP interface is pretty swanky as well, and we were able to glean a few things off of the tiny text, which required much squinting and gave us some Dead Rising flashbacks.Besides the Evac arcade game seen being played in this footage (which looks new ... and reminiscent of Choplifter), we also noticed the following pieces of information on the in-game PSP: In-game phone calls will be featured Open Beta: July 2007 Launch: October 2007 There is possibly a chess game coming, if we're reading some of the text right Eagle-eyed viewers are invited to try and glean other information from that text. Watch it quick before it gets yanked.
40 delicious PlayStation Home screenshots
If you are like us and weren't lucky enough to be chosen for the closed beta of Sony's ambitious Home project, you're probably looking around for some great screenshots to at least imagine what's going on in there right now. We've found 40 screenshots. We don't have that much to say unless you're expecting us to describe what's happening in every screen.You can get a pretty good glimpse of what the characters will look like -- it's not final, but it's a pretty good estimation of the final product. There are pictures of the games you can waste your time on (bowling, pool, etc), pictures of your personal space with bits of furniture, n' other stuff. Seems like some people were crowded around a big screen to watch a trailer for Spider-Man 3. Full movies upon release, perhaps? One dollar admission? That'd be pretty swanky. Watch out for the open beta, coming in July!
Welcome to Home, where play-people meet up
We're pretty excited about PlayStation Home, sure. In fact, boredom set in so heavily on this day that we stumbled across this spoof on the PlayStation Home trailer available on the PS Store. Complete with that female British accent, everything's the same except the words you hear. What do you hear instead? Exactly what that immature part of your mind was thinking the first time you watched the trailer. Check it out -- it's humor, but the jabs at Sony at the end kind of disrupt the tone the previous two minutes set up. They aren't untrue accusations, but they seem out of place. Let us know if you agree.
Sony now signing up PlayStation Home beta testers
PlayStation Network users, were you lucky enough to get in on the PlayStation Home Beta test invite yet? Apparently not everyone who applies will be accepted (shocker, right?), but it's good to know at least there's some movement in PS3rd Life Home process. Let us know if you get an invite, and definitely let us know if you get accepted.P.S. -Sorry, we don't have a link to share at this time, the invites seem to be per-user.[Thanks, Dustin]
