Sony Brings the PS3 "Home"
Sony gave a look at a funky virtual world they've got in development for PlayStation 3 owners today.
Called "Home," it's an online world designed to work as a meeting place for PS3 owners, complete with customizable virtual apartments. The idea is that gamers will meet, hang out and socialize in this virtual space, before firing up a game and playing together.
And it's not just about games, Sony says. If a PS3 owner has photos, music or movies stashed on his (or her) console, they'll be able to share that content with their other PS3-owning friends online. The virtual world will also have movie theaters and a "hall of fame" section, where people who are really, really good at some game or other will get to see their names up in (virtual) lights.
For PS3 owners, the service-- or whatever you call it-- will be a free download. A beta test for "Home" is scheduled to start in April and the real thing is scheduled for a fall release.
Sony game studio head Phil Harrison unveiled the virtual world during a keynote speech at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco today, saying that the company was inspired by sites that are made up of user-driven content, like YouTube and MySpace.
The PS3's multiplayer options aren't too slick at the moment, and PS3 owners don't generally seem to be suffering from an excess of great PS3-only games. But this Home thing looks like something that could make the console wars a lot more interesting. Watch the promotional video below that Sony produced.
By Mike Musgrove |
March 7, 2007; 3:52 PM ET
| Category:
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Posted by: Matthew U. | March 7, 2007 04:26 PM
Finally something cool! This alone does not make me want a ps3, but it's a start.
Posted by: Sniper | March 7, 2007 05:29 PM
baudrillard died today, huh?
Posted by: sigh | March 7, 2007 05:48 PM
It sounds cool. And may bring the fun of Second Life to the comfort of the sofa and the big screen TV.
But will people be able to make money online like in SL?
Posted by: Stefan C, Brixton | March 7, 2007 05:48 PM
@ sigh
well done. to save everbody the wiki visit: Baudrillard was a french philosopher and social critic who wrote about the advent of consumerism and the disappearance of reality. He also had a weak point that could be attacked for massive damage.
Posted by: Hizzy | March 7, 2007 06:12 PM
i love sony gear but i think their consoles sux.I woulnt buy another one.igot burnt by ps2 buying on the pretense itwas gonna be able to connect to the net.which was crap or scraped.
Posted by: yates | March 7, 2007 06:53 PM
ps3 just started and it looks nice,right now ps3 is using 20-25% of its power on the games that just came out,xbox 360 is alredy using 80-85%....so yea,just whait till PS3 pushes the pedal to the metal.
Posted by: El burrito | March 7, 2007 06:57 PM
Just copying Wii, 360, and PSP.
Looks bad
Posted by: Geniuz | March 7, 2007 07:26 PM
Just copying Wii, 360, and PSP.
Looks bad
Posted by: Geniuz | March 7, 2007 07:26 PM
psp is a sony product. And no not even close to wii or 360.
Posted by: | March 7, 2007 08:24 PM
I think this is pretty awesome news, it's far ahead of what Xbox360's achievements and Nintendo's Mii is.
It may be slightly copied but they have turned it into their own thing, which looks, atm, brilliant.
Posted by: Hero | March 7, 2007 08:36 PM
ITS THE BEST THING SONY HAS COME WITH
SONY IS GOING to OWN THE CONSOLE WARS
great jobs guys
Posted by: PS3 Xmas Fan | March 7, 2007 08:51 PM
"HOME" will be somthing that even if a ps3 owner has only 1 ps3 game( they cost to much sony) will still have fun with his ps3. just what sony needed, somthing that ps3 owners can do besides play greay ps3 games( still thgey cost to much) great job
sony don't mess up with "home". take as long as you need to creat it. we can wait.
Posted by: THIS HOME IDEA IS GREAT | March 7, 2007 08:54 PM
HOME WILL OWN
Posted by: SONY MAN | March 7, 2007 08:55 PM
i was at the demo and it was truly impressive. i'm not at all a sony fan, but i have to admit that this was innovative and really well-done. it took the next steps beyond second life and brought it to the console. granted, it was a semi-staged demo, but the usability and graphics were the best i've ever seen.
Posted by: j | March 7, 2007 08:55 PM
IM GOING TO SPEND ALL MY TIME ON "HOME" WHEN IT COMES OUT. PS3 OWNES. YOU KNOW ITS TRUE. DEEP INSIDE YOU KNOW ITS TRUE>
X BOX 360 keeps coming out wiith the same type games and wii only comes out with mini game type games.
PS3 will OWN once "HOME" COMES OUT
Posted by: HOME | March 7, 2007 08:57 PM
go to this link all you kiwi and aussy fans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10427028
Posted by: yates | March 7, 2007 09:03 PM
looks like those of in New Zealand and australia are gonna only get ps2.5 instead the real thing.not very good sony scrap.
Posted by: yates | March 7, 2007 09:09 PM
Sony talked about everything but the games. Virtual worlds? Please. They're looking to staunch the flow of bad news. The fact that Sony won't talk about games speaks volumes.
The best thing they can do now is work hard to get some decent games out and drop the prices on both units by $200.
Posted by: Tom | March 7, 2007 09:33 PM
"Baudrillard wept."
Posted by: mykljonzun | March 7, 2007 09:58 PM
As long as Death City Stories is still an exclusive, I'm in.
Posted by: Bart | March 7, 2007 11:33 PM
Being a big fan of Sega's development teams & games, it's nice to see Sony graphics finally succeed Dreamcast. The "Home" program will be a shoe in for the PS3, which has earned my respect as I'm typing on it listening to Art of Noise.
Posted by: Lee | March 8, 2007 01:37 AM
Bah! the "Home" is gonna rock the Wii and 360 they cant compare keep up the good work sony show Bill Gates whats up!
Posted by: PS3 ShreDDer | March 9, 2007 07:05 PM
to "this home idea is great"
anyone who says that games cost too much really knows nothing about the game industy. if you want companies to continue to put out quality products, you have to help them make back the millions of dollars in developement costs. less grip, more support. I'm sure you pirate games, and software and probably are one of the reasons why game prices are what they are.
Posted by: JOe | March 10, 2007 01:59 AM
everyone who think that te ps3 costs to mutch you're wrong even with a price of 600 they still lose money per console and its wurth its money.
all you ps3 haters why always only name the bad things while there are so mutch more good things.
i love sony but i'm not dissin the xbox and the wii i think there good because they cost less but you have 2 addmid that the ps3 is better it just costs more
Posted by: sAm | March 24, 2007 12:57 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
I'm not a huge Sony console fan, more a "Wii60" guy, but it's about time SOny put out some good news. Three strong consoles can only be good for gamers and the quality of games.