GDC: Three spaces a month for Home

By Oli Welsh Published 25 March, 2009

"Our competition struggles with community".

In a talk at the Game Developers Conference today, Jack Buser, director of PlayStation Home in the US, revealed that the social network will be launching three promotional spaces a month from here on in.

"You'll see about three new spaces launched a month - I'll be shocked if we ever go under that number, we have so much in the pipeline," Buser said.

He mentioned that a recent "good space" (we're guessing Resident Evil 5) had a quarter of a million visits a week in the US, with 75 per cent of visitors spending more than 10 minutes there - something that far exceeds consumer's usual involvement with advertising, he argued.

Space devlopment takes four to six months, and Sony has new technology that can't be seen in any space currently in Home, Buser said.

Buser's talk, "Developer opportunities in PlayStation Home", amounted to a sales pitch aimed at developers and publishers.

"Online games consoles have had the concept of the friends list for some time," he said, splitting online friends into two groups - those you meet online, and those you know in real life.

"We noticed at Sony a problem with the friends list with the first group - you don't really know them. We wanted a place, a neutral environment, where players could go and really get to know each other outside of the context of a particular game," said Buser.

"If you look at some of our competition, they really struggle with the idea of community, how to foster a community on their platform. Home is the true community for PlayStation 3," Buser said.

To back it up, he revealed some figures: Home has crossed the 5 million user mark worldwide (it was 4 million last we heard), of which North America accounts for 2.2 million. Average session duration is around 40 minutes. He declined to publicly state unique users per month or week, or concurrent users, however.

He strongly encouraged developers to consider supporting Home game-launching, which he said he expected to take off as quickly, and become as essential to gamers, as Trophy support. "Going forward, it's going to seem like something's missing if you don't have it. I can't stress how important game-launching is." Support for this feature is, currently, very limited.

He also talked about the brisk trade in virtual items in Home, and asked marketeers to consider them as a way to advertise and make money while they do it.

Free items were possible, Buser said, but "we always encourage people to do paid items. Why not make the money?" Buser asked.

"What else can you buy for 49 cents? You can't even get a cup of coffee. It's great value for the gamers."

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Hobo #1 3 years ago

    EU Home needs the Siren space! Sounds amazing from the little feedback i've read.

  • Stiggy #2 3 years ago

    The whaft of Sony PR is strong in this one.....

  • Thunderbolt #3 3 years ago

    Free items were possible, Buser said, but "we always encourage people to do paid items. Why not make the money?" Buser asked.

    "What else can you buy for 49 cents? You can't even get a cup of coffee. It's great value for the gamers."

    Ha ha. I'll add that to the long list of Sony gaffes

    Why spend money on real things like coffee when you can have a virtual sofa on Home ;)

  • kangarootoo #4 3 years ago

    "Why spend money on real things like coffee when you can have a virtual sofa on Home ;) "

    Are we seriously, on a discussion thread on a VIDEO GAME website, going to start suggesting that spending money on "virtual things" is a gaffe? Really?

    Hands up who buys video games for the virtual content. And hands up who buys them for the shiny round disc that comes in the box. Yeah, thought so.

  • BlackANUS #5 3 years ago

    How can Home possibly be "Beta" when money is required to obtain specific items?

  • Monkey_Puncher #6 3 years ago

    Yes, Home is a wonderful community.... *face palm*

  • Gnort #7 3 years ago

    Are we seriously, on a discussion thread on a VIDEO GAME website, going to start suggesting that spending money on "virtual things" is a gaffe? Really?

    That's a bit of a strawman, we all happily spend money on "virtual content", but buying a branded t-shirt for your avatar in a weird non-game like Home is hardly like buying a whole game or even a level pack. It's more like paying for a background for your desktop, and who would do that, even if it was cheaper than a cup of coffee?

    I agree that it's a bit of a PR gaffe, he's basically used the "lol are you poor" argument on the whole Sony customer base.

    Also, I, for one, love shiny round things, I hoard them in a corner like a magpie.

  • bad09 #8 3 years ago

    "He mentioned that a recent "good space" (we're guessing Resident Evil 5) had a quarter of a million visits a week in the US, with 75 per cent of visitors spending more than 10 minutes there - something that far exceeds consumer's usual involvement with advertising"

    Say what you will about profit etc, but this thinking is killing gaming's soul if you ask me GAMES CONSOLES ARE FOR GAMING NOT ADVERTISING PLATFORMS NUMB NUTS!

    It will only get worse just look at the current mess that is the 360 dash, horrid mess of BUY ME! I'm beginning to thank the death of HD DVD, I couldn't deal with my media on that mess too! Still Home is at least (for now) optional so good luck to 'em as long as they don't force it down our necks like a certain MS. (although why people actually like dicking around on Home is beyond me - REALLY)


    "If you look at some of our competition, they really struggle with the idea of community, how to foster a community on their platform",

    Did he REALLY say that? REALLY? MS and the guys at Live must be laughing their arses off...


    "What else can you buy for 49 cents? You can't even get a cup of coffee. It's great value for the gamers."

    Because instead of decorating virtual homes I save all that money to buy ...you know ....games for my....you know...PLAYstation 3? Maybe?

    Mind you with the shite you put put on PSN Sony this guy is right, I might as well buy a virtual sofa dick all but the odd PS1 game 90% of the time on it....

    Sony PR (and SCEE while we're at it) needs a reboot I think, someone call Capcom.

  • stampax #9 3 years ago

    oh dear, i know pr guys are supposed to talk up their product and down the rivals, but surely they gotta be semi realistic?

  • AOFanboi #10 3 years ago

    90% of non-paid content in Home is in effect ads - for the PSP, for games, for Sony Pictures output etc. Why should I fill 3 GB of my hard drive space to see strangers with crap PSN ids curse in Spanish?

  • Doctor_What #11 3 years ago

    I think that everyone who says 'Going forward' should be gagged until they agree to stop working in PR or middle-management. They'd have to nod, but I would accept that as legally binding in the circumstances.

  • Gaol #12 3 years ago

    Fuck sake they need to purge Sony of all the arrogant idiot tossers at the top. Almost everything they say is utterly condescending.

    Fact: I wouldn't be enjoying trophys if MS hadn't pushed out gamerscore. Fact: In game XMB and cross game messaging wouldn't have existed if Live! hadn't pushed them. Fact: There's a recession on, better to talk about real world benefits to the consumer than how you are profiteering on virtual items and online advertising.

    I think he started off trying to talk about end user value but it just comes out horribly wrong.

  • kangarootoo #13 3 years ago

    @Gnort

    "That's a bit of a strawman"

    I've never been so insulted in all my life. I brought that bloody phrase to these pages you cheeky whippersnapper ;)

    Anyway, the things you are citing as examples (such as level packs) are exactly the same as any other virtual object (such as a single chair). The key difference is that your examples contain more obvious value. My point had nothing to do with the actual value of any given virtual object, rather I was simply pointing out that a chair in PS Home and a level pack are BOTH virtual objects (or collection of objects).

    My entire point was a bit of a picky one I admit, but it was a response to a clear suggestion that virtual objects are implicitly worth less than "real" objects (such as the cup of coffee). Given the very nature of video games, that seemed like an extreme oversight to me.


    "It's more like paying for a background for your desktop, and who would do that?"

    Again, the implication here is that the desktop pattern has insufficient value tpo be worth buying. That simply isn't the point I was making. In that particular case however, I bet Microsoft shift loads of their chargeable XB360 themes, and Sony have sold shedloads of 79p bit of furniture for Home, so perhaps it is just a matter of priorities?

    I should point out that I've never bought a 360 theme, or a desktop pattern, or anything in PS Home. I am not saying the deal is or isn't worth, I am simply saying that we all spend money on virtual objects every time we buy a video game, so it seems a little rich to state that doing do is ridiculous just 'cos you (the impersonal "you";) don't like the deal that is currently on the table.

  • Gnort #14 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    I can't fault your logic, but I find your argument to be so focused on the semantics of the post that it completely ignores what the poster was trying to get across. I don't think the point was that no virtual content has comparable value to real world items, I think, if viewed in the context of the widespread derision of Home, it was that buying items for Home is a waste of money at any price, so noting that it is cheaper than a real world item that most people acknowledge does have value is a stupid thing to say.

    You do admit that your point was picky, though, perhaps you just felt like an argument? ;)

  • dominalien #15 3 years ago

    We wanted a place, a neutral environment, where players could go and really get to know each other outside of the context of a particular game

    Of course, when you're meeting the super-thin hot chick with long hair you are meeting the real me.

  • shotgun44 #16 3 years ago

    If people wanna buy that shit, let them. Sony is a business, not a charity after all...

  • Ryze #17 3 years ago

    If done proberly from the ground up, on hardware with enough RAM, then this could be excellent. As it is, it would have to be well engineered and well managed to provide a satifying experience.

    There's much potential - it's only that it'll take the 3rd party devs to realise it, and to push Sony in the directions that it should take. On their own, Sony will only make a mess of it... oh, too late!

    /waits...

  • greekgoddj #18 3 years ago

    Please bring the Warhawk space to EU Home!!!

  • Rash' #19 3 years ago

    More pompous, self righteous derision. When will gamers see beyond their noses and think about what's being said instead of jumping on to the tired old arguments?

    Personally, I think he makes a valid distinction in the definition of friends list. I have next to no friends who are into games so my list consists of family members who I know, while the rest are guys from gaming sites and most likely 16 year old boys who have requested me... None of whom I technically know. In the context of fashioning a gaming community to engage with I value the Japanese giant's endeavours with home. Still unconvinced with the Second Life interface, certainly Facebook has demonstrated how to foster and sustain a community with a much simpler set up. Though it pains me to admit it I think the company can learn a lot from Facebook. Still a long way to go yet.
    Edited by 4 at 26/03/09 @ 03:49

  • Dizzy #20 3 years ago

    Looks like they consider Home just a big advertising "space".

  • Sunyavadin #21 3 years ago

    Looks like they consider Home just a big advertising "space".

    Well yes, this is a developer conference, for the platform owners it's a chance to pimp out why their console is the best one to develop on. And money's at the heart of that.

  • kangarootoo #22 3 years ago

    @Gnort

    I was thinking about this on the way in this morning. It was a bit of a strawman, which is why I was outraged at being called out on it :D


    "You do admit that your point was picky, though, perhaps you just felt like an argument"

    Shit, you are getting too good at this. I need better camoflage.

    Sorry Thunderbolt!, I was just being a bit of a dick about it. I get the point you were trying to make.


    I've been thinking recently about the way I conduct myself on here, and I think I would like to change it. I am far too dismissive with my opening posts. Whining about the quality of some of the discussions is no excuse, as nobody else is pressing the keys on my keyboard. So if anyone sees me acting like a massive pedant or being patronising (which I realise is like saying "if anyone notices that the sky is blue) then call me out on it. I promise to try and be gracious in response (or attack you with large words, depending on my mood).

  • Rodafowa #23 3 years ago

    Wow. Is that the sweet unfamiliar smell of reasoned and civil disagreement blowing through an EG comments thread?

    kangarootoo:

    Posts like that are why you're one of my favourite commenters on EG. Which might feel a bit like being named Britain's tallest dwarf, but y'know. Keep on keeping on, man.

  • Thunderbolt #24 3 years ago

    kangarootoo,

    No need to apologise I was being a bit of a dick too.

    Normally I'm quite rational but sometimes I can't help being a bit of wind-up merchant. The bile that comes from the PR of all 3 companies sometimes brings out the worst in me.

  • BigE0n #25 3 years ago

    kangarootoo SMASH!!!! :-)


    oh now you have turned back into mild mannered Bruce kangarootoo ;-)

  • kangarootoo #26 3 years ago

    If I was a super hero I'd probably end up with shit powers, like being to see through windows or something.

  • BigE0n #27 3 years ago

    If I was a super hero I would be....




    DUN DUN DUNNNNNN


    Sloth man!!!

    Able to climb small trees in about a week.
    Sleep for 18 hours a day.
    Leap small blades of grass, with at least a 24hr run up.
    And Hold my Poo in for over 14 days

    :-)
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/09 @ 11:09

  • kestral #28 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo Yeah we got street view now for that