PlayStation Home

By Oli Welsh Published 12 December, 2008

Where the heart is?

One of the stranger things about PlayStation Home - and there are a great many strange things about PlayStation Home - is the experience of being in a virtual world without the slightest hint of fantasy about it.

It's hardly real life, of course. We don't live in a permanently sunny West Coast d'Azur lesiure complex, spend our days jogging between the bowling alley and the mall, or stand around in cinema lobbies doing the funky chicken in slouch pants. But this a purely contemporary, commercial, aspirational kind of escapism; a marketing fantasy.

So everyone looks like a 20-something male in bland, high street casual fashion, because that's who everyone actually is. You can only do things you might do in real life - chat, watch film trailers, play a frame of pool, or maybe a videogame. Conceptually this makes sense. It's not alienating, it's easy to identify with, and the socialising and advertising are entirely in context. But you're left pondering the inevitable question: why would you want to spend any time here?

This dislocation combines with one of the other strange things about Home. It's a virtual world populated by console gamers, many of whom are familiar with the interactions and social etiquette of massively-multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft, or even tweenie hangouts like Habbo Hotel.

At the moment - and we must remember that Home's beta only went open to all today - it's an unruly melee of greasy flirting, spammed greetings and aimless A/S/L enquiries. Female avatars get attention everywhere, but in Home, they're absolutely mobbed, relentlessly shadowed, danced at and messaged. It doesn't help that most people don't have keyboards plugged in and aren't brave enough to use voice.

'PlayStation Home' Screenshot 1

Ligne Roset is providing a line of designer furniture. Its shop isn't in Home yet.

Communication was always going to be one of the biggest problems for a console virtual world. Sony's done a half-decent job in some respects. The preset phrases available on L1 are useful, although a few new additions are needed. Most conversations go something like this: "Hello." "Yes." "I have no keyboard."

The emotes and dances on L2 are animated a little cheesily and without conviction, but they pass a funny few minutes between mute friends and there are plenty of them. ("Good job they included a whole move set under the banner of "Disappointment"," said Eurogamer's head of cynical barbs, Ellie Gibson.)

Voice chat quality is poor, and chat functionality all-round is far distant from what any MMO player or Second Lifer might be used to. A particularly glaring omission is the ability to "whisper" - or send an instant, private text message without everyone in the vicinity seeing what you're saying. You either have to "phone" someone for a private voice conversation via the headset, or use the PSN account messaging system - which may only be a few extra clicks on paper, but in reality, takes you out of world and makes conversations far more clumsy than they need to be.

It gets worse. There doesn't seem to be a way to form a party in Home unless you're actually launching a game together. Permanent and flexible parties that persist across any situation were one of the best features of last month's Xbox interface redesign - not to mention being the most basic requirement for any MMO or virtual world. That means you can only chat with several friends if you're near each other in the world, and only privately if you all go together to a private space.

'PlayStation Home' Screenshot 2

Looks like Red Bull's made an Air Race mini-game. It's not in Home yet.

You can forget about common chat channels for wider circles of friends - Clubs, in Home's world - too. You can probably forget about Clubs to be honest, since Sony is charging GBP 3.99 for the privilege of forming one. Not only that, but in the future - some time after 31st March 2009, according to the blurb - you'll be charged a monthly fee to keep your Club running. That's before you even consider the costs of setting up a club house and furnishing it with cool stuff.

We appreciate that Home is a completely free release, and that Sony needs to make money from it somehow. But charging for social features - especially charging fees on top of one-off payments - is a schoolboy error. In its search for revenue streams, Sony has put a premium, set a high barrier to entry, on the social organisation that should be the lifeblood, the glue of any MMO or virtual world. At a stroke, it's drastically reduced the number of potential attractions in Home, and the reasons players will have for hanging out there.

Sony's also seeking revenue from the sale of virtual items and accessories. A piece of clothing will set you back 59 pence, while an object of furniture costs 79 pence (walking into shops in the mall takes you straight to custom PlayStation Store pages).

We're really not convinced Sony's micro-transaction drive is going to work. Home's muted, realistic visual style - although it's certainly easy on the eye, with warm soft-focus lighting offsetting all those clean modernist lines - counts against it here. The cartoonish exuberance that compels people to spend money in MapleStory, PangYa and the like on rabbit ears or pet dragons can't be applied to this lifestyle utopia. The result is you're faced with spending a Euro on a new neckline or a Scandinavian light-fitting in a cheap simulacrum of real-life retail therapy. Where's the escapist reward - or to put it bluntly, the fun - in that?

All it means in the long run is that, with the default wardrobe items severely restricted in order to encourage item sales (not that the clothes available to buy were all that different in style), everyone's going to look the same. The avatar creator is partly at fault here, too.

In fact, it's quite powerful and flexible, and with some work you can achieve remarkably convincing results. But rather than opt for the Mr. Potato Head-style pick-and-mix of features approach, Home requires you to patiently sculpt your face and frame by tweaking the parameters on a number of preset (and not very appealing) archetypes. Most people understandably don't have the patience; it's so much easier, not to mention more fun, to capture someone's essence with the plug-and-play cartoons of Miis or Xbox Avatars.

A problem with assessing Home at the moment is that, in its current beta state, its defining feature - how it feeds into and connects with PlayStation gaming as a whole - is missing. Even the themed showrooms for Sony games like Resistance - showrooms that will, Sony hopes, convince other publishers to buy floor space in Home - aren't in yet, although they're expected soon. You can't display trophies yet (it's even rather slow to retrieve trophy information from player profiles). Game-launching integration is far from complete.

'PlayStation Home' Screenshot 3

Diesel's doing threads to go alongside PlayStation Store's own brand, but the shop's not in Home yet.

You're left with Home's own distractions. There's the bowling alley, where you can play very basic and frustrating games of pool and bowling, if you can be bothered to queue for a slot (these really should have been instanced), or simple Flash-style arcade games. The theatre, where you can watch movie and game trailers (not in full-screen) is cumbersome but as a 3D, browsable advertising hoarding, it does work. The shopping centre allows you to buy clothes and furniture or even a new "personal space" (house or flat) for GBP 3.99. Home Square connects them all, and offers a simple but pleasant chance to sit in the sun and play draughts.

It's not a seamless world by any means, but the areas load quickly after an initial download and, sensibly, you can teleport between them, or to a friend's location, at any point. Given how much utility there is in Home (even if there isn't much to do with it at present), the start-button interface is clean, clear and fast and has all the options you could want instantly available. To some extent, this makes up for communication and physical navigation being slow and unwieldy.

Home was never meant to be judged in a bubble, but unfortunately, that's how it is right now. In isolation, it doesn't have a lot of content - but, again, this is a beta, and like any virtual world it will grow organically over time. We're not going to criticise it for being small, or for not being fully plugged in to the rest of PlayStation's world yet.

'PlayStation Home' Screenshot 4

MotorStorm's entry in the themed game showrooms, none of which are in Home yet.

But - although it's stable and polished enough - Home shows Sony up to be the amateur entrant in virtual worlds that it is. A little consultation from MMO arm Sony Online Entertainment could surely have avoided some of the many simple pitfalls Home tumbles into. There's the lack of basic customer services like an indication of if and when servers are up, for example, or the constricted communication, or the frankly absurd monetisation of socialising.

Then there's the stiff, airless lack of character to it. You can tell Home is the sort of place where pressing Select brings up a "Go to Personal Space" option. It's as glossy, whitewashed and empty as an episode of Laguna Beach, a non-place where non-people have non-conversations. In its anxiousness to offend no one, Sony has made Home appealing to no one. Until it connects with the outside world it's a just a very expensive snow-globe. Home is a nice enough place to visit, but right now, you wouldn't want to live there.

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 (238) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Sir_TimAlot #1 3 years ago

    Home is dumb.
    Discuss.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 15:57

  • Retroid #2 3 years ago

    Javelin.

  • Weezer #3 3 years ago

    Well, that anti-climax took a long time to arrive.

  • MaxiSleep #4 3 years ago

    Lord god but this sounds dreadfull

    As I had kinda feared its a non gamers view of what a virtual world is about.

    A dreadful waste of resources by sony who should have spent the cash on optimizing graphics libraries for, you know, games.

  • Dizzy #5 3 years ago

    Sounds like a trainwreck from what you guys have written.

    I expect a lot of "but the potential!", "but it is free!" and "it is a beta!" posts here.
    Edited by 2 at 12/12/08 @ 16:07

  • Lexx87 #6 3 years ago

    Heh so a long long wait for fuck all then.

  • Vistrix #7 3 years ago

    I thought it was incredible.I was completely blown away by how good Home looks. I didnt have high expectations though so I had a laugh.

    It seems that it is lacking alot of content though and hopefully, updates come thick and fast.

    Home is only going to get better. and I cant wait for full game integration.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 16:03

  • onezeonx #8 3 years ago

    it will get better ffs

    and i have a 360 :D

  • Vanmunt #9 3 years ago

    Well, I like Home... fair play to Sony for doing it. Whilst Xbox live's connectivity surpasses sony at every turn (although matchmaking on Gears has been a bit hit and miss), home is something revolutionary and should not be so pettily criticised especially as it is still the beta.

  • PearOfAnguish #10 3 years ago

    Hahaha oh wow, it sounds like Second Life without the flying penises and ability to shoot people and send them flying into the air.

  • rudedudejude #11 3 years ago

    chatwithoutkeyboardlol

  • the_dudefather #12 3 years ago

    @Adam_T

    You can plug in a usb keyboard and use that

  • zombies #13 3 years ago

    Oh dear! Why did they even bother? And prices for 'content' are ridiculous. Someone should have canned this!

  • Anasui #14 3 years ago

    but it is free!

  • Dave797 #15 3 years ago

    Ouch! Tough review! It would seem the long wait has in fact been for nothing! Oh well it is only a beta so we'll just have to hope the updates come thick and fast!

  • Sir_TimAlot #16 3 years ago

    "home is something revolutionary"

    Oh god....classic.....can't stop giggling, thats made my entire week.

  • Zelos #17 3 years ago

    I bet the monthly fee for clubs will never arrive. The upfront fee is pretty dumb as well: if you're going to be stupid enough to charge for clubs, at least make it so each member has to pay ~20p, instead of one poor sap having to pay the whole fee.

    Are there really people dumb enough to spend £3.99 on a virtual house?

    Who are they trying to appeal to? I can't see the Sims crowd being interested with the poor selection of objects to choose from and expensive downloadable content.

  • PearOfAnguish #18 3 years ago

    "home is something revolutionary and should not be so pettily criticised"

    Yeah it's revolutionary if you ignore the existence of Second Life, Habbo Hotel, There, Entropia and all the other virtual worlds. And pointing out that it is bland, soulless and ultimately pointless isn't petty.

    "Are there really people dumb enough to spend £3.99 on a virtual house?"

    Sadly, yes. There are people in SL who pay hundreds, sometimes thousands, on virtual houses and virtual land.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 16:15

  • Anasui #19 3 years ago

    well this is Sony's answer to Live and Animal Crossing. Poor chaps are trying to get casual

  • HiddenPooh #20 3 years ago

    Lots of silly comments from people who obviously have not tried what is actually a really fun application for the early stage its at. "Tough Review" ?!?! - did I miss a review somewhere?
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 16:16

  • insincere_dave #21 3 years ago

    Man, I totally need a PS3.*




    *When it's under £150 and there are 10 exclusive gamers worth playing on it, xmas 2010 then.

  • andywilkie35 #22 3 years ago

    oh dear

  • phatb0y #23 3 years ago

    Soulless marketing device that uses the 'death of a thousand cuts' (read: micropayments) to shaft its users.

    'But its free!'

    So is cholera.

  • mcbi4kh2 #24 3 years ago

    Arent Sony confusing beta with alpha?

    I thought Beta was all features + bugs and Alpha was missing features + bugs. Home sounds like alpha to me.

  • BOFH_UK #25 3 years ago

    Finally got into home this morning and was massivley disapointed.

    First, while it CAN look great there are a lot of rough edges on fairly basic things. Just as a quick example, go to the theatre, zoom in to a movie and look at the graphics quality of the 'theatre' itself... just terrible.

    Actually, the theatre is a good example of what's wrong. It's a neat idea BUT the content is lacking and it take FAR too long to get to see any of the videos that are there from the point you decide you want to do so. The quality of the video is prety poor and, just to cap it off, you can't even view the stuff full-screen.

    The thing is, I just can't see the point of releasing Home in its current state. There's very little content, there's huge swathes of functionality that's just flat-out missing, the underlying infrastructure seems to be suffering under the load and even the basic community features are lacking and badly thought out. Sony have been building the expectations for Home for almost two years now and what they've released is just a huge anti-climax with micro-payments for virtually everything that'll suck the life out of the eco-system if Sony persist with that approach.

    I'd guess at this point that they've released earlier than they wanted to to try and compete with the 360's price drop and NXE but it just feels like they've blown a major opportunity to jump ahead with something really innovative, well integrated to the PSN and the first community environment built to the needs of console gaming. Instead we've got a bare shell full of potential but delivering nothing like what was initialy promised. Say, that sounds familliar for some reason...
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 16:24

  • HuggyAtHome #26 3 years ago

    shocker - I fail to see why anybody would want to use it, even if/when it contains more stuff? Pointless. And I DO own a PS3 and an Xbox. Online is about playing games with friends or otehrs, not wandering around aimlessly. Home sounds like the lobby in Everybody's Golf.

  • GamerG #27 3 years ago

    Home optimises Sony this gen

    They just don't know what they are doing, they thought they could dictate what people want to them, thats what 100m ps2 units does to you I guess.

  • Skooch #28 3 years ago

    As expected, a complete pile of shite. Pointless, monotonous and poorly executed. And to think all those PS3 lovers waited so long for this....

  • DanWhitehead #29 3 years ago

    I'm really surprised that they haven't dumped a bunch of new content into the thing for the Open Beta stage. There are maybe four or five clothing options, a couple of moustaches. I'm also saddened to learn that the movie trailers still aren't full screen or HD. It takes Quicktime a few seconds to start streaming HD trailers online, so I can't understand the decision to go lo-res with these.

    Of course, I haven't actually been able to get past the avatar creation screen yet, thanks to the ongoing connection problems...

  • Zappa #30 3 years ago

    Home is awesome an will no doubt get better and better:)

    360 avatars are complete trash compared that do NOTHING and your forced to use them!!

  • iokthemonkey #31 3 years ago

    The thing is, people keep going on about Second Life, but look at the latest Animal Crossing ads and the "social" potential there. People pay £30 quid for that and it appears less advanced than Home...

  • anomagnus #32 3 years ago

    3.99 JUST for a chat channel with my mates??!??!?

    FUCK

    AND

    OFF

  • miiiguel #33 3 years ago

    The "free PSN" is a burden that is hurting not only Sony but its users as well, imo. Money don't grow on trees and it has to come from somewhere. A steady income via a sub would be preferable, I think.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #34 3 years ago

    Having spent some time on it today, and approaching it with an open mind, without expecting it to behave in a similar way to MMOs (because I don't play them), I have to say that I found it somewhat sterile and also claustrophobic.

    There isn't that much to do, and what there is seems to be slow and somewhat cumbersome. The lengthy downloads for most things are irritating to say the least.

    All that being said, I rather enjoyed my hour or so in Home. Creating my avatar was by far the most exciting bit, the rest of it was a bit of a let down. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this.

    It is a beta however, so there is plenty of scope for improvement by Sony.

  • JediMasterMalik #35 3 years ago

    People seem to be utterly confused by just what Home is, it's not launched in the best condition, no, but for what it is, it doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as people are making out.

    I can't get on because my Uni blocks ports for it, but reading other people's impressions it doesn't seem so bad.

  • ps3owner #36 3 years ago

    haven't managed to look at it yet, but from this read through I might not run home just yet... maybe when I have nothing else to do. But honestly, this home thing seems to be a project dreamed up by some internship guy/student.

    one student started it off as a pet project for uni, while doing his intern at sony... he then ran out of time. so the next intern took over... he ran out of time... the next one has managed to get it to the beta stage. so, 3 years later and the beta is out. Makes perfect sense.

    give it another 10 years (10 students) and maybe Sony will be broke.

  • captainrentboy #37 3 years ago

    Sounds pretty darned poor at the moment, then again it has never sounded particularly appealing to me anyway. Online chatrooms and all that jazz stopped being of any interest when I was around 16, I couldn't be bothered with all that random A/S/L? crud nowadays :) And the fact that it sounds like most of Home's inhabitants wont bother using a mic makes it even more uninteresting.
    But I can see how it could all become pretty groovy (If you're into that type of thing) once they get around to putting a lot more content on there.
    Just give me the basic chatroom setup of Live anyday, ''You wanna play so and so?'', ''Yes'', ''Let's go''.

  • Moonprince #38 3 years ago

    Oli - In your excitement to bitch and moan you forgot to run a spell / grammar check. Might want to fix that buddy ;)

  • sifujames #39 3 years ago

    Sorry, can someone please explain to me what the f**k the point of Home is? Seriously, I cannot for the life of me see what the aim of Home is. It just seems like....nothing frankly. Is that the point of Home? That it is just a big giant nothing?

  • markypants #40 3 years ago

    Home is horrible horrible horrible. Seriously. Second Life could be horrible, but at least there was always the option to do something interesting and outside the norm. This seemingly has no point at al and everything you can do here, you have been able to do online for years... and... nobody bothers. This could possibly be the biggest flop since curry flavoured condoms.

  • elephant_stone #41 3 years ago

    I think the article was overly harsh. It might be because I don't play MMO's so I probably don't "get" what the problem is.

  • Fodder #42 3 years ago

    "Sorry, can someone please explain to me what the f**k the point of Home is?"

    I was in the closed beta, and I never worked that out. It seems to be a really inconvenient way to launch games and videos while pretending to live in a nightmare vision of the future where eugenics has made everybody look the same and corporations are placing adverts on every available surface. It's a sort of cross between Gattaca, Logan's Run and Bladerunner.

  • brappbrap #43 3 years ago

    No one seems to have mentioned that you have to QUEUE TO PLAY THE GAMES

    And it would have made everything so much easier if they'd just stuck a generous 4/10 at the end.

  • iokthemonkey #44 3 years ago

    Sorry, can someone please explain to me what the f**k the point of Home is? Seriously, I cannot for the life of me see what the aim of Home is. It just seems like....nothing frankly. Is that the point of Home? That it is just a big giant nothing?

    ---

    I'm reminded of Bruce Lee pointing at the moon...

    Yeah, it's "nothing" because you're not seeing what it is to you. It probably is nothing to you if you're not the sort of person who digs this kind of thing. But you know, you could look at the Internet and say it's just a load of nothing. Don't think of it in terms of winning or point - it's a social space. Think of it as a 3D myspace or facebook. It'll be what the community make it or don't make it.

  • PearOfAnguish #45 3 years ago

    "Hey Oli... OPEN BETA!!!
    Do you know what that means?"

    It doesn't mean 'immune from criticism'. If you just want to read puff pieces you should stop visiting gaming web sites and download press releases instead.

  • Carlo #46 3 years ago

    "not in Home yet". Yeah, like mos tof us lot trying to log into it.

  • markypants #47 3 years ago

    Home brings to mind the line in Jurrassic Park "Your scientists were so pre-occupied with whether or not they could they didn't stop to think if they should".

  • martynmac #48 3 years ago

    Reads like a 5/10 to me

  • Byzanite #49 3 years ago

    "Home is awesome an will no doubt get better and better:)

    360 avatars are complete trash compared that do NOTHING and your forced to use them!! "

    What you mean choose between accepting a default and then forgetting about it or sculpting one of your own and playing games using it?

    Home sounds like a stinking pile of cow waste :)

  • Nithron #50 3 years ago

    Wow. Didn't see this one coming...

  • markypants #51 3 years ago

    @Evilfoxhound I know what you're saying... But Home 'beta' IS crap. It's not like I'm making it up to be cool. It is rubbish. The fact that is now an open beta means that Sony are satisfied that they be judged on this, and as it stands it's a mess. I genuinely couldn't believe that this was what all the fuss has been about for the last few months/year.

  • ps3owner #52 3 years ago

    @evilfoxhound

    I have no mates online, or offline. what can I do now? use home to check out the advertisement?

  • paulf #53 3 years ago

    the thing with home is that regardless of it's flaws and the silly microtransitions if it was a nice place to inhabit then it would work.

    Unfortunately its not a nice place to inhabit and falls flat on it's face, it's like one of those websites that has a 5 minute intro just to prove that they can do flash.

    Home looks like it's there to prove that sony can do a 3d world, unfortunately it has no idea why or what for

  • brappbrap #54 3 years ago

    YOU HAVE TO QUEUE TO PLAY THE GAMES

    it's like putting a disc in then being told to wait 15 minutes before you can play, which is, quite frankly... oh.... it's like a number of other playstation games actually.

  • Weezer #55 3 years ago

    It reeks of being designed for 'young people' by 'slightly older people' who think they know what young people want based on what young people are currently enjoying (texting, talking incessantly and pointlessly on mobiles, community web stuff).

    I think it's awfully well done, but I just know I'll never spend any time with it. So that's 3GB of HD space well used....

  • iokthemonkey #56 3 years ago

    Unfortunately its not a nice place to inhabit and falls flat on it's face

    ----

    How much of that would you say is down to design and how much is the community/other users?

  • BigJonno #57 3 years ago

    It sounds like Second Life with the good bits (the fact that, with a bit of technical know-how, you can do just about anything and if you can't, you can buy it from someone who can) stripped out.

    It's like the internet. You have to put up with the porn and the gambling and the people trying to rip you off because they're byproducts of the freedom that allows you to do the good stuff. Without that freedom, you just get bland, consumerised tosh.

    Second Life almost got it right. If someone can make SL, but newbie-friendly, stable and relatively bug-free they'll be on to a winner.

  • ps3owner #58 3 years ago

    so really. a female avatar is the way to go. not into razorblades and all ;)


  • Goodfella #59 3 years ago

    Whoever mentioned Logans Run was spot on. That's the vibe I got from my few brief visits in the closed beta.

    It's some nightmarish, sterile, futuristic place where everone looks similar and are all in their 20's. If you can't be bothered to queue (which I found ridiculous) for one of the games then there's nothing else to do there, as it stands.

    Lets see what pans out in the future because currently it's pretty useless. I think it has potential but potential isn't good enough. Mostly though I just don't like the way it looks and the load times for each area, oh dear, that was something I didn't expect.

  • Cataferal #60 3 years ago

    The mood in Home is way off the mark. From my hour's play, it strikes me as a very cold, clinical consumerist experience, and encourages all the wrong sensibilities in people.

    If it's always been your dream to stock up on designer clothes/furniture, play tacky arcade and pub games, and dance to cheesy corporate advert vids/posters, then Home is for you. I'm off to actually play some games.
    Edited by 2 at 12/12/08 @ 17:15

  • brappbrap #61 3 years ago

    @ Goodfella

    "I think it has potential but potential isn't good enough."

    Story of the PS3.
    But don't forget the 10 year plan, my friend.

  • andromeda #62 3 years ago

    PS3 LOL!

  • B0MBJ4CK #63 3 years ago

    "Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!!!"

  • brappbrap #64 3 years ago

    Can we add Home to the "games that will save PS3 but were actually terrible" list now?

  • Petulant_Radish #65 3 years ago

    Virtual queuing is not fun. Nor is virtual rape.

  • loop7 #66 3 years ago

    The dancing is pretty cool tho

  • stepneg #67 3 years ago

    Charging people a monthly sub just for group chat, this really is living...

  • Rich72 #68 3 years ago

    it's pony

  • paulf #69 3 years ago

    @iokthemonkey - that's a good question

    I'd say a bit of both, the environments and characters just don't have any wow or fun factor about them, the view across the harbour in your starting pad is ok but nothing great. And as others have said the characters are a stale in comparison to miis or xbox avatars

    as for the interaction - its no different to any other chat room I've encountered ie loads of people saying alot about not much

    This opinion is based on two visits both lasting around 5-10 minutes before I got bored if you were wondering

  • Weezer #70 3 years ago

    [link url=http://gizmodo.com/ 5107634/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-playstation-home?sk yline=true&s=i
    ]http://gi zmodo.com/5107634/10-things-you...[/link]

    Some funny stuff in here

  • NorUraeus #71 3 years ago

    Personally I liked what I saw in Home yesterday. Apart from the log in snafus, once you where inside it seemed solid and stable and more importantly, it did not try to be second life or World of Warcraft. Instead it was clear it was designed to be a 3D console gaming portal. Home will be phased in just like Trohpy's have been and in about 6-9 Months from now we should see Home living up to its potential.

    Once you can start filling your online house with your 3d trophies and you gaming clan can met up at someone's house before jumping into your game of choice I think it will be clear to people that Home is a cool and well working idea.

    But of course, just like Trophy support wasn't very interesting as long as only one game had trophies, Home will not be interesting before you give Sony and the 3rd party publishers time to start supporting it with their games.

    Sony has showed one thing very clearly since the PS3 launch, that they will release frequent and major feature improvements on a regular basis for the core PS3 system. The same will be true of Home.

  • Halo.Jones #72 3 years ago

    I changed my avatar to a female toon and it didn't take long before the boys gathered round like I was some whore offering to open up her legs and perform some cyborsex..

    Now, I can't even log on to tease all the school boys.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 17:36

  • septimus #73 3 years ago

    Try it before you comment. It's free, and to other users on there, grow some fucking balls and use a headset.

  • 200k #74 3 years ago

    Seems to me like they rush-released this to an open beta stage just so they could get Home out in 2008. Don't think they could afford another PR disaster of another "killer app" slipping to next year.

    Reality is, an "Open Beta" is pretty much the same as a full public release albeit with a disclaimer attached ("sorry if this is shit but it is still beta after all!";)

    They should have just had their closed beta, taken care of the full content, then done a full public release. Why have an open beta for a half finished product other than for PR reasons?

    Any SDF defending this article with "but it's just a beta!" should note that Sony chose to release it to the world in this state. They could have easily just extended the closed beta but they chose to make it public, meaning they must have been happy about the quality of the version you can download now.

  • rob76 #75 3 years ago

    Home is free but you have to pay to have a private chat with mates. Good news for losers who need a second life. a/s/l?

  • Chufty #76 3 years ago

    What a completely shit article. It's missed almost everything that Home is supposed to be, as well as the fact that it's not yet what it's supposed to be.

  • paulf #77 3 years ago

    logans run did have Jenny Agutter though !

    this thing about it bit a beta is a moot point, the problems with it are more fundamental then the state of it's tech build - i don't know whether 'having no soul' can be fixed from a bug list

  • Bitkari #78 3 years ago

    Do not want.

  • Collymilad #79 3 years ago

    @ Chufty

    What is home supposed to be?

    Sony released another turd.

  • 200k #80 3 years ago

    @Chufty - can you enlighten us as to what Home is supposed to be in your opinion and also why you personally dont think it has achieved that yet?
    Bearing in mind Sony themselves must think it is pretty close to how it's supposed to be or they wouldn't have done a public release.

  • sifujames #81 3 years ago

    @ iokthemonkey

    I get the fact that it's not a "game", and that it's sort of a form of social networking, I guess I just don't get why I (or anyone) would use Home (or even Second Life for that matter) for the purpose of social networking. It just seems like a really longwinded way to do the same basic things that can be achieved via MySpace/Facebook (sharing things with friends etc). And this is coming from a long time gamer and shamefully heavy user of Facebook (though I don't update my status everytime I've had a new thought unlike some people do).

    On a basic level I guess I'm trying to say that I fail to see how being a part of Home would enhance my gaming/entertainment/social life. I just can't see what it offers.

  • HiddenPooh #82 3 years ago

    A terrible article which totally misses the point AND it's attracted a whoile crowd of tossers to the comments thread who love to bash stuff they've never tried. Idiots.

  • RedPanda #83 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • J.C #84 3 years ago

    PS3lol.

  • paulf #85 3 years ago

    @HiddenPooh

    if the article misses the point I would like you or someone else to enlighten me to what 'the point' of it is

    and yes I have done time in Home

  • Chufty #86 3 years ago

    Home is a virtual environment that has the MASSIVE benefit that anyone with a PS3 has access to it. Currently it doesn't really do anything because it's not supposed to do anything. It's a platform for commercial endeavours and these will come with time. In years to come it will be taken for granted and will have a strong commercial presence.

    Think long term.

  • Chufty #87 3 years ago

    Oh yea, and I guess they'll sort the censorship issues out. Currently typing 'Hello' results in '****o'.

  • themorganator #88 3 years ago

    "Home will be phased in just like Trohpy's have been and in about 6-9 Months from now we should see Home living up to its potential."

    BUT, what about all the people who've been waiting for this in the first place? what about all the people who've shelled out the big bucks for something that's completely unnecessary? All people need is to get online, party up (with cross channel voice support), and get playing games. Why do gamers need this from a console?

    I feel sorry for PS3 owners who've been shouting about this for years (yes, years you deluded monkeys) as the savior of the system, and once again, Sony has completely fallen on its arse. This 'beta' is still a fairly accurate representation of the final product!

    PS3 out of 10.

  • seedaripper #89 3 years ago

    360 fans who've never 'used' the application,but instead form their own judgements via FUD; Could you please bugger off!

    here's a quickie..ITS BEEN OUT FOR ONE DAY! yep, just one day, isn't it blatantly obvious that they (Sony) are still stress testing the servers? Alot of the content is coming next week, and I'm sure that (as somebody helpfully pointed out before) with Sony's track record of updates, it will indeed grow...there's nothing wrong with a bot of cynicism, but this hatred (of a BETA) is downright stupid.
    Granted there are micro-transactions, but it is possible to win alot of stuff (play the arcade games) and I'm sure in the future this will expand (if you play namco arcade beta from japan, you can win an arcade cabinet, as well as pacman caps etc), from what i hear, from time to time the whole layout will have special themes (there was talk of a chimerean invasion (R2) on the home square, with pods stuck in the middle and everything being a bit more post apocalyptic, or maybe snow and decorations for Xmas...there's a lot to think about there, and as i pointed out before,its been out a day.
    But hey if its hyperbole and FUD that you crave and not imagination, keep reading cynical, sceptical 'pieces' from sites such as this...
    seedaripper1973

  • stampax #90 3 years ago

    pay to set up a club? has the internet gone back 15 years?

  • wewillselfdestruct #91 3 years ago

    "What a completely shit article. It's missed almost everything that Home is supposed to be, as well as the fact that it's not yet what it's supposed to be."

    If it's not yet what it's supposed to be, then why is it here at all? Perhaps they'll release Uncharted 2 early as well; you'll be able to wander around the game world but they haven't got around to including the missions yet.

    And despite reading numerous articles about Home over the last couple of years, I still don't know what it's actually supposed to be anyway. To all intents and purposes it appears to serve no purpose. I hope that changes but I think it's a long road Sony have to walk.

  • TravisTouchdown #92 3 years ago

    Vanmunt ... Vistrix .... Sony employees, perchance?

  • Ryze #93 3 years ago

    5/10

  • mclovin69 #94 3 years ago

    in the movies >>>>> home

  • TravisTouchdown #95 3 years ago

    Steady on McLovin; I don't know that this is that bad, Christ...

  • mclovin69 #96 3 years ago

    apologie: sony does it again-best piece of software ever,i told you it would be amazing

  • BOFH_UK #97 3 years ago

    @Chufty: Home is a virtual environment that has the MASSIVE benefit that anyone with a PS3 has access to it. Currently it doesn't really do anything because it's not supposed to do anything. It's a platform for commercial endeavours and these will come with time. In years to come it will be taken for granted and will have a strong commercial presence.

    Uh, there's a problem with this logic. Yes, everyone with a PS3 (and a network connection) has access to home but that doesn't mean that everyone will use it... If all it is is a platform for commercial endevaours (i.e. advertising and promotional materials) then why would anyone go there? There's gotta be some point, some hook and let's be honest here, if the first impression of the majority comes from this build most will immediately be dismissing it and either deleting home or just not bothering with it. If the user base stays away then why are companies going to pay Sony to advertise their products within Home? Why would developers invest time and resources into building areas for specific games if the majority of customers just launch everything from the XMB?

    Let's be honest here, Home has been hyped to the nth degree by Sony since they announced it last year. They've released it in its current state and the response is negative mainly because they haven't got it right. Do you REALLY think that the majority of gamers - a bunch not naturally inclined towards patience at the best of times - are going to wait another six months, a year, two years or more for Sony to get it right? Or will they just head off for the next big thing? For that matter, Home was being positioned as the PS3's answer to NXE... if you're an on-line gamer looking at a console who wants a rich clan / friend experience Home has failed to deliver on an epic scale and the 360 is suddenly a long way ahead with the PS3 looking like it's struggling to catch up after blowing its best shot.

  • iokthemonkey #98 3 years ago

    @sifujames

    It just seems like a really longwinded way to do the same basic things that can be achieved via MySpace/Facebook (sharing things with friends etc).

    ----

    One could say the same about email and text vs phone calls though.

    And if/when Home really gets going, it'll be able to do a lot more. Imagine creating your own appartment and furnishing it with cool stuff you've won via various games, or having a trophy room with video re-runs of your best lap times in a racing game or a compliation of your best headshots in an FPS. It's that sort of stuff you can't do yet in any medium that they're looking at here.

    I appreciate what you're saying and I'm sure it needs work, but remember how online used to be before embedded videos? Or even images? Isn't Home the same kind of thing?

    I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it. I'm not saying IT'S TEH FUTARE OF TEH INTARNET but it's certainly an interesting experiment and I wouldn't pooh-pooh it just yet.

  • Apostle #99 3 years ago

    Totally agree with the article except for one thing, voice comm's. I heard an Aussie bloke chatting away earlier clear as a whistle. I guess it just depends on each persons individual connection, server load etc.

  • mclovin69 #100 3 years ago

    "And if/when Home really gets going, it'll be able to do a lot more. Imagine creating your own appartment and furnishing it with cool stuff you've won via various games, or having a trophy room with video re-runs of your best lap times in a racing game or a compliation of your best headshots in an FPS. It's that sort of stuff you can't do yet in any medium that they're looking at here."

    Cant see the attraction of having fancy virtual appartments myself,wreaks of SAD imo. To me its a novelty that will wear off before even this weekend is over-im sure if you sit and think about it you'll maybe agree. Scandalous to think of what kind of money was spent on this thing as basically a fancy of way of getting revenue out of people as psn is 'free'.

    Be interesting to see how some game developers react to the lets face it poor reception it has received after only its first day-sony really should have got it in better shape in order for it to be taken seriously for companies to pour money into advertising on there.Dangerous move by sony,very dangerous imo.

  • Teddii #101 3 years ago

    If I'm being honest, and without jumping on a bandwagon - Home is terrible.

    I spent several hours on it last night, and at every turn I just couldn't believe what Sony have done;

    - There is minimal clothing and customisation for it. The facial detail is great (although admittedly I got bored and skipped most of it), but there is nothing to make your character 'unique'. And if Sony think I'm paying to do that, good luck.

    - You have to queue for all of the games, and not via a noticeboard or anything - you must physically queue and it becomes a 'first to mash the 'X' button' competition. Rubbish.

    - The film trailers take ages to load (even though I have a fast connection), and when they eventually do the quality is terrible.

    - I have to pay for pretty much everything in my house. Again, no thanks. Just like I'm not going to pay £3.99 for a LBP day one T-shirt. A 'mug' is something I'm not.

    - It's a sausage fest. Obvious, really, but everywhere you look is another male. Although if there is a big crowd of men, 10 times out of 10 there will be a female in the middle! Spending time in an online gay bar really isn't my thing, but thanks.

    The fact of the matter is, Home is not 'Beta'. Beta is when a title is feature complete with only bugs left to fix, and with Home, this simply isn't the case. It is obvious that the 'Beta' tag has just been thrown on there to just get the "damn thing" out the door, it is very clear that Sony have simply had enough of it. If Home really is feature complete then Sony should be worried. Very worried.

    I hope that in 2009, Sony will finally make some great titles - give meaning to my £300 dust collector. To think of the amount of money that has been thrown into 'Home', it just seems like such a waste. All of those finances and resources could have created something truly great, truly next-gen. Instead, they've released a broken waste of space, and if my real home was like that, I wouldn't want to live there.

    Team Ico - the creators of the title to save the PS3? I hope so. Home certainly isn't.

  • seedaripper #102 3 years ago

    @mclovin69

    My what an original screen name...Where did you think that up from?

  • mr_ruberfon #103 3 years ago

    "Imagine creating your own appartment and furnishing it with cool stuff you've won via various games, or having a trophy room with video re-runs of your best lap times in a racing game or a compliation of your best headshots in an FPS."

    Why would anyone ever want to do that? Come over to mine and see my collection of headshots.... Really scary!

  • Apostle #104 3 years ago

    "Home optimises Sony this gen

    They just don't know what they are doing, they thought they could dictate what people want to them, thats what 100m ps2 units does to you I guess."

    Agree totally.

  • seedaripper #105 3 years ago

    nowt wrong with a bit of repetition (especially as were talking thick skulls here)...
    360 fans who've never 'used' the application,but instead form their own judgements via FUD; Could you please bugger off!

    here's a quickie..ITS BEEN OUT FOR ONE DAY! yep, just one day, isn't it blatantly obvious that they (Sony) are still stress testing the servers? Alot of the content is coming next week, and I'm sure that (as somebody helpfully pointed out before) with Sony's track record of updates, it will indeed grow...there's nothing wrong with a bot of cynicism, but this hatred (of a BETA) is downright stupid.
    Granted there are micro-transactions, but it is possible to win alot of stuff (play the arcade games) and I'm sure in the future this will expand (if you play namco arcade beta from japan, you can win an arcade cabinet, as well as pacman caps etc), from what i hear, from time to time the whole layout will have special themes (there was talk of a chimerean invasion (R2) on the home square, with pods stuck in the middle and everything being a bit more post apocalyptic, or maybe snow and decorations for Xmas...there's a lot to think about there, and as i pointed out before,its been out a day.
    But hey if its hyperbole and FUD that you crave and not imagination, keep reading cynical, sceptical 'pieces' from sites such as this...
    seedaripper1973

  • mclovin69 #106 3 years ago

    why do i care what my username is on a message board?-surely theres much more important things in the world to think about harder eg cheerios or crunchy nut cornflakes this morning for breakfast
    much more thought required than a feking username on the internet you weirdo ;-)

  • seedaripper #107 3 years ago

    @mclovin69

    Cheerios?? ah, so you are 14 then...bless, maybe one day you'll live up to your screen name.

    (so theres not an ounce of originality/personality in you then) ;)
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 19:08

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #108 3 years ago

    360 fans who've never 'used' the application,but instead form their own judgements via FUD; Could you please bugger off!

    Could YOU please bugger off? Your witless comment was shit the first time you posted it, we definitely didn't need it cut and pasted.

  • mclovin69 #109 3 years ago

    calling someone 14 on a gaming forum,and you have the cheek to call me unoriginal LOL

    Im sorry i made fun of Home,i wasnt aware of the type of person it was marketed at.now i do ;-)

    back in your cage you bad tempered little git :-)

  • seedaripper #110 3 years ago

    @ Rev. Stuart Campbell

    hit a nerve did i??? (i assume my point was geared towards yourself then)

  • zebedee #111 3 years ago

    'anxiousness'? tut

  • Chufty #112 3 years ago

    Have you ever been to a building site, seen a few holes in the ground with some iron and concrete foundations thrown in for good measure, and said "LOL this building is shit, what a flop!!1"?

    Some of you should also learn the meaning of 'alpha' and 'beta'. The backend is feature-complete for its first release, because it works as intended (on a technical level), therefore it is not an alpha. Obviously more end-user features will be added but that doesn't mean it's not a beta. It's a piece of software with open-ended development, so it will never be 'end-user feature complete' until the day it closes down for good.

  • sifujames #113 3 years ago

    @ iokthemonkey

    Good points, and the idea of being able to seamlessly share clips from games like you've mentioned is pretty cool. But why the need to have an avatar that you control and have to walk over to people's houses to go and see their stuff? Isn't it quicker to just go to that person's page/site with one click? That's what puzzles me. Sure the avatar allows for personalisation etc, but I don't understand the appeal of having to make your character walk over to a location to see something or do something that could just as easily be shared through a more conventional web style interface (or does Home offer public transport or teleportation to make getting around quicker?). I know in games we run around doing stuff, but Home isn't a game in of itself, it's social networking/interaction using the now familiar interface of 3rd person games

    I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I guess fundamentally it's something that I'll never have interest in, whereas some people will lap it up.

  • Santino #114 3 years ago

    hold up, hold up, HOLD UP!

    did somebody just slag off the consumption of CHEERIOS, the greatest breakfast serial of our time? WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU???

    erm, on topic, i tried to get onto home last night but couldnt for errors, gave up after a couple of times, tried this morning, couldnt get on and gave up after one try. tried this afternoon and got on and made a character, home square or whatever it is called wouldnt download so i turned it off. after reading about all of the advertisements and charges etc, i don't think i can be arsed with this. from the word go i don't think i have been so instantly turned off by a piece of software since the last time i saw a ubisoft logo.

  • DanWhitehead #115 3 years ago

    "Have you ever been to a building site, seen a few holes in the ground with some iron and concrete foundations thrown in for good measure, and said "LOL this building is shit, what a flop!!1"? "

    People don't generally move into buildings until they're finished though.

  • drumbaby #116 3 years ago

    So this is the definitive, never-to-be-added-to-or-revised Eurogamer review of Home then?

    Must be true....

  • Lemming81 #117 3 years ago

    It's Home's 'realistic muted style' that's exactly what is so off-putting about it.

    It SHOULD have been Little Big Planet. I'd rather be a Sack person than some ugly Second-Life/Sims looking thing.

    When will games companies learn? That kind of artwork has ALWAYS looked waxy and horrible.

  • bdgr #118 3 years ago

    i'd say whether i like it or not - but i can;t connect to it :(. Doesn't sound like i'm missing much tho!!!!

  • Les #119 3 years ago

    Hmm, EG doesn't like it. I'm starting to doubt my own disinterest...

  • TriggerHippie #120 3 years ago

    I always wanted to shuffle around controlling some horror spawned from the uncanny valley. Its great fun taking said homunculus and then parking it next to the first female avatar you see, along with 1300 other zombie rejects and then spammin "WER R U? R U GRLZ??>" along with the rest of the brain dead. Ah relaxing.

  • Teddii #121 3 years ago

    I hate being drawn into forum debates, but oh well;

    @ seedaripper

    First impressions are everything. If an application like 'Home' doesn't grab you within the first 10 minutes, there's a problem. If it doesn't grab you with in the first hour, there is some serious trouble.

    My first impressions of Home where, if you read my post, terrible. Granted, it's just my opinion, but i'm still a consumer that is now put-off from spending time and money on Home. As a result, anything they do to it from now on will immediately remind me of my first experience. Those thoughts are hard to shake off. Yes, I will give it another chance, but it's going to take a LOT of work to make 'Home' a success. Sony seem like they are in it for the long run though, so for those that like 'Home' already - "Great!", but for those off us that would rather have real games from Sony as a developer, especially if you've had a Sony console since the birth of the PlayStation, it's gutting to see something like 'Home' that has obviously taken a lot of Sony's development money, money which could have been pumped into real 'next-generation' software - and most crucially, system sellers.

    And for those that think that this is a 'Beta' - if it really is a Beta then that's very bad news, for us the consumer and Sony. The LBP beta was a real beta. It had all the functionality of the final game, just with a fair amount of bugs. That is what being at Beta is. Creating something, and then sticking a Beta tag on it does not make it a beta. End of.

    Sony should have left this bun in the oven untl it was ready to wow us, instead they've given off some very bad first impressions which *could* damage Home and Sony's reputation in the long-term.

  • beastmaster #122 3 years ago

    Showrooms? Publishers buying space there for games? What are Sony trying to do here?

    It seems as though they have this vision from something out of Buck Rogers. You jack into some virtual environment, where you can walk around and chat, and do all sorts of other things.

    It may not be Buck Rogers where I this but we've all seen it somewhere. And it looks shit even with some hollywood mega-budget. I'd rather send someone I got on with an invite, rather than have people forced upon you.

    Edit : When is this due to go Live by the way. Soon? Much as I hate to say it but if it's not too far off, the quality of the beta is usually not THAT much better than final product.

    I guess most games would like

    a) easy access to their games (and not have to walk around to get to it)
    b) see what their mates are up to and what they are playing. And if they want to...Jump In (sorry, but it's quite catchy).
    c) hot coffee

    it seems as though a) and b) are becoming more difficult. If someone hacked it so you could do c) the servers would come crashing down.

    I've not tried this. But the people who have - help or hinderance? And more importantly, was there any screen tearing ;-)


    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 21:22

  • RedPanda #123 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Goodfella #124 3 years ago

    Sony should have left this bun in the oven untl it was ready to wow us, instead they've given off some very bad first impressions which *could* damage Home and Sony's reputation in the long-term.

    That's pretty much how I see it.

  • seedaripper #125 3 years ago

    @Teddii
    I respect your opinion, mainly due to the fact that at least you've tried it...fair shout it isn't 'TEH GREATIZZT EVAA!1' , but as i pointed out it is new, again your right first impressions do make a difference (how many times have we been wrong on judging a book via its cover though) but it must of had some effect as your willing to give it another try..also sony arnt 'wasting' money on this project, (they're counting on getting a bit of lost monies back via advertising/microtransactions, thus in turn keeping the network free) when it could be spent elsewhere, the PlayStation brand pumps shed loads of money/expertise/help into its 1st and second party devs (more than any other console manufacturer) so, should they just give up on home (a means of funding the network) in favour of even MORE devs?

  • deathdealer619 #126 3 years ago

    Some of these posts are so funny! When will people realise that home and the new xbox experience are not the same thing. One is an online gaming virtual area where gamers have the choice to pay for things and chat etc. The other is a basic front end system for gamers to do much the same, all these opinions are subjective. Home is free and i think a brave step which is trying to build an online community and despite the fact that it is not without flaws it is free and has some nice touches. To all the fanboys for whatever colours you fly get all 3 machines and then Judge. As it stands up till now the xbox is the better gaming platform and the ps3 is a great media centre, but come feb with killzone 2, heavy rain white knight story who knows??.

  • BOFH_UK #127 3 years ago

    @Chufty - Have you ever been to a building site, seen a few holes in the ground with some iron and concrete foundations thrown in for good measure, and said "LOL this building is shit, what a flop!!1"?

    But that's not what Sony are doing here is it? We've had the artists rendering of the finished product and it got us interested. We know people that live close enough to view the show house and they've been fairly positive - all the fixtures and fittings seem to work and the build quality was decent. They've declared the site open, we've come to move in and from the outside it looks like the picture in the brochure. Sadly when we get through the front door we're finding that behind the front wall there's just a building site with a few holes in the ground and exposed foundations....

    @seedaripper - here's a quickie..ITS BEEN OUT FOR ONE DAY!

    No, it hasn't. It's been in closed beta for over a year. It was originally supposed to be out over a year ago. They've had time to get functionality in that was promised back in 2007. They've had time to get the basics right. They've utterly failed on both of these counts. The fact is, regardless of all this BS about it being a Beta product, they're releasing a piece of software to the entire user base and it IS going to be treated as a finished product, at least with regards to functionality. They've made a decision to cripple the number of items avilable at launch to try and get more money from the service (which is another point, if it's Beta software, and the ONLY difference between this and the closed Beta is that this is available to everyone... why take out the free clothes etc that were in the closed version?). As for the 'content' that's coming next week... how much of it is actually free? How much of it is actually going to make the slightest bit of difference to the complaints that are being made?

    Sony have chosen to go a certain way with this and it's clear, even at this early stage, that it's a way which is generating a lot of resistance and, yes, resentment in the user community. I've had a PS3 for a while now and was looking forward to seeing how this all worked out but... well, let me put it this way. If Sony stick to their guns and charge you £4 to setup a club room and then a monthly charge on top of, let's say, £2... that's £28 a year which is almost exactly what you'd pay for a year of Xbox Live access. Suddenly one of the major plus points of the PS3 is gone because there's no way Sony are gonna deliver the same functionality outside of Home or they'd be killing their own revenue stream.

  • RedPanda #128 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • citizenHUNTER #129 3 years ago

    Hmm, with the Xbox they keep doing things better and better, the new interface and features they've added are really useful and most importantly work seamlessly and effectively. Sony spends a ludicrous amount of money and time on creating this, what sounds like a kind of hell of being stuck in IKEA or an arts college for too long... AND then they fail to make it work very well and miss on all the fundamentals.

    Sony are really doing my head in these days, and makes me more determined to buy a proper full HD TV and dedicated Blu-Ray player over getting a PS3 (and yes, I'm aware that'll be about 3 times the price of just getting a PS3 which I could use now). To put Sony's mind at rest tho it will be a Bravia TV :p

    Sony's like the dominant charmer bully jock who's now piling on the pounds while everyone else has realised they're a cock too. Sony's becoming a loser, but still has fans that seem a bit blind. Woop

  • mclovin69 #130 3 years ago

    Do you think they'll have christmas sales on the furniture and clothes ? ;-)

  • Killerbee #131 3 years ago

    This article pretty much sums it up for me. I probably spent longer trying to get into Home (what with all the time outs) than I did actually "playing" around in it. I made a poor representation of myself as an avatar (my Mii is a better likeness) and tried a game of bowling against some random person (which I won easily - and, incidentally, didn't have to queue for at all), then I visited the mall and realised everything costs real money, so I didn't buy anything, and then I quit.

    I can't say I'm particularly bothered about going back to it. I'd really rather play some games to be honest...

    Yes, it's a beta and as a virtual world it looked nice and all that, but unless Sony are going to implement a compelling reason to use it, it's a waste of my gaming time.

  • spammage #132 3 years ago

    SONY EPIC FAIL!

  • berelain #133 3 years ago

    The article completely echoes my own feelings of home based on a couple of hours play. It just feels lifeless, cumbersome, and, ultimately, pointless. Why wander around a cinema loading videos when I could look on a website? Why spend money on uninteresting avatar clothing when theres nothing I can do with the avatar anyway?

    In fact, why bother to boot the damn thing up in the first place, when I can access all the interesting content in there much more quickly and conveniently by looking on the playstation store, firing up the xbox marketplace, or opening up firefox and browsing the web. If I really want to chat to someone, I can use a messenger program, or meet new virtual people somewhere else. Im certainly not going to tit about in a faux-realist world dancing lifelessly.

  • RedPanda #134 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • seedaripper #135 3 years ago

    *sigh*

    conform to the norm then..im off

  • Jaffa08 #136 3 years ago

    I like the way they said "But charging for social features - especially charging fees on top of one-off payments - is a schoolboy error." whilst referring to Sony, can nobody else see that this is Xbox Live's exact model??

  • Retroid #137 3 years ago

    The difference is that at least with Xbox Live Gold, everything is included. With this, every little thing you want to do is charged for.

    Not necessarily defending Live Gold, just saying that's how it is.

  • VMerken #138 3 years ago

    Wow. Just Wow.

    First - regarding the article - I'd like to say that indeed, those photos aren't currently in Home [Beta], but they may very well be in Home sans the [Beta]. So, snide comments at an unreleased product - faut le faire.

    There ends the negativity. I've entered Home Beta for about an hour. And as the first sentence implies, I'm amazed. The Home project started at the beginning of 2005, it was announced - if I recall correctly - by Phil Harrison in march 2007 and now, 1.75 years later, I'm looking at a version which has no deeper functionality when compared to that old one? So why the 1.75 years delay?

    In fact, it's even worse than the 2007 version, because that one had a virtual PSP when pressing Start and thus gave a more coherent Sony feeling. I understand that the PS3's XMB eliminated the need for the vPSP's XMB, but: why not simply keep the vPSP image for coherence? Now, you have this sterile, I dunno, experimental-uninspired-and-ultimately-rejected smartphone design... I suspect the vPSP was removed for a reason other than the XMB.

    Anyway, Sterile. I think that word sums Home Beta up nicely. It's all so very clean and bright, and everything looks the same, especially the people. While the character editor gives you this illusion that you're creating a unique face, the sterile visuals of Home Beta forces you to look (most of the time) at your character's head (and the heads of the other characters) from a distance. This results in them looking the same. Set wrinkles to max? Don't worry, Home Beta's patented camera system ensures you'll barely ever see them.

    And Teddii, while I agree it's a man fest right now (welcome to the video gamer majority), this will undoubtedly change. Everyone
    usually takes their first steps in something like this as a character which resembles them somewhat. Once that's over, craziness sets in. However, given the limits of the character creation system, it's going to take some effort. And money. Which the sane will never ever ever spend on virtual goods.

    I've read some comments where people complain about head sets and microphones? Why on Earth would you need those? To hear some giggling kids doing their first baby steps in embarassed trash talking? I watched a few trailers in the theatres and every time, some giggly-wigglies had a ball, blurting out semi-audible lines intertwined with generous use of the terms "wanker" or "tosser" in the Queen's finest dialects. Or - always a classic - "Is anyone there? Huhhuhhhuuurrrr..."

    I've also read some comments regarding the "purpose" of Home. From what I understand, it is supposed to be a virtual/visual representation of your PS3 and the way it is connected to the other PS3s. The shopping mall is the PS Store (with extended stores suited to the environment), The theatre is basically previews/trailer part of the PS Store, your apartment represents your PS3 and multimedia collection, the bowling alley represents, umm, Start > All Programs > Games > Internet Reversi and the Home Square ties everything together. In a sense, it's a visual 3D OS of the PS3, which may make navigation easier for some, and much much harder for others.

    The only moments I enjoyed - and in this, Home Beta excels - is sitting down in a nice spot, spinning the camera and observing the happenings from a distance (Ooh look, he's being raped from behind, and why are those Zombies closing in on that girl character?). It's so sterile that you can get rather Zen in it actually, simply because the sterility clears away any secondary distractions which allows you to focus...

    In my opinion, the conclusion is: the product labeled Home Beta = Massive Fail in its current state; it devolved, even, from the march 2007 version. Maybe things will get better, but this is not a good way to start.

    On the upside, I saw an ad for LocoRoco 2. Awesome. Didn't know about it until now. Will be getting it. And maybe Watchmen could be nice. Will first be getting the Dark Knight Blu-Ray though. Well crafted movie, that.

    EDIT: Thanks Beano
    Edited by 3 at 13/12/08 @ 15:17

  • Moz #139 3 years ago

    i've only had time for a brief look at home, but so far i like what i've seen. Can see people who live in rented house shares in real life liking having a space that the can decorate as they wish even if it is only virtual, and compair to the shitty games people seem all to happy to play on facebook the home mini games seem like AAA blockbusters.

    Home is a creation for the facebook - iPod generation and they'll probably lap it up in spaces once the momentum gets going. But at the same time it does offer the hardcore a nice distraction for when your not sure what you want to play, or just want to chill between bouts of resistance and motorstorm.

  • chris_ace #140 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • sanduixe #141 3 years ago

    WTF?
    RedBull is in Home BETA, YES!!!

  • Miths #142 3 years ago

    I can't really say my brief experience with Home last night was overwhelmingly positive either - although admittedly I knew well enough in advance that I probably fall far outside the target group as I'm rather anti-social to say the least, offline and online.
    Hell, I wouldn't even know my PS3 had a "friends list" if I hadn't read about it somewhere :). I do however on occasion enjoy some anonymous multiplayer murdering in CoD etc., and I have spent a few months here and there over the years in various MMORPGs - playing solo 99% of the time.

    What surprised me the most was just how very little content the current version of Home has. Yes, I'm well aware of the "it's a beta!" thing, but it's been in closed beta for how long?
    Unless they've got another 10-15 areas - or extensions to current areas - already completed, I really can't fathom what they've been spending all that development time doing. Particularly since the actual underlying features and interface aren't exactly mind blowing either, quite the opposite in fact, as this Eurogamer article also points out.

    But hell, I even went ahead and bought an extra shirt for my avatar. I guess I'll take a closer look at it the next time I log in - which I imagine could be as soon as a few months from now :p.

  • nikobe #143 3 years ago

    I don't get why you would want to go into Home, its seems pointless.

    Feels to me like buying a Sunday paper and instead of reading the paper and all its juicy articles, reading the first glossy advert leaflet to fall out when you shake the paper.

    I don't want to be force fed adverts, let alone pay money for them (I mean the extra content before anybody tells me its "free";)

  • MiniAmin #144 3 years ago

    Hmm. It's a Friday night (any old Friday night, not tonight). After a week of studying/work/job hunting/looking after the kids, I finally have a couple hours to spare.

    Should I:

    A) Play LittleBigPlanet with friends

    B) Play Gears of War 2 with friends.

    C) Play Super Smash Bros with friends.

    D) Watch a Blu-ray film with friends.

    Or

    E) Explore Playstation Home...

    You loser! You thought this was going to be an apologue on how great all the systems are...Yeah right.

    I'll be spending many a Friday night as my female avatar in Home. It's hilarious having these losers follow me around.

  • Les #145 3 years ago

    Like others have pointed out already, what amazes me the most is that after being in closed beta for a year or something, they still managed to release such an extremely boring product in the end. Did they for some reason only invite extremely boring people for the closed beta or did they decide to do absolutely nothing with their feedback?!

  • Terminal #146 3 years ago

    Sounds like Home is the biggest flop since the PS3. Wait a minute..

  • bad09 #147 3 years ago

    "The Beta for Playstation home is now available to everyone, and now you know what I know: this is what happens when your marketing department tries to make a game. Here is everything you need to understand about Home, if you should accidentally launch it from your XMB: press and hold the Playstation button in the center of your Dual-Shock or Sixaxis controller. From the menu that appears, select Quit."

    LOL that made me chuckle (as did pathetic little home when I tried it!)

    / goes back to GAMING.

  • db3 #148 3 years ago

    Seems to be full of errors so I can't login to check it out.
    Although, can't help but think the whole thing is pointless.

  • darkangelizer #149 3 years ago

    it sucks.... buy a xbox360 instead

  • makeamazing #150 3 years ago

    Yeah as that has kid like avatars...or perhaps try the wii with its Mii's.... Its free to use at basic level, its something different, no one is forcing anyone to use it.. .if you dont like it dont use it.. .simple.

  • GamerG #151 3 years ago

    Time line

    Day 1 - Sony announce Home much to fanboy fanfare - 2008 to be year of PS3 because of Home

    1 year later MS announce NXE

    3 months later MS NAIL NXE does the important stuff Home wanted to do and much more,

    2 months further on Sony release home "beta" does not do the stuff it was supposed to and is basically shit


    What does this say about each company?

  • woodyrulesok #152 3 years ago

    Some brilliant comments here for and against Home, thanks for everyone who brightened up my morning.

    My 1penny. I love my ps3 but Home is dire, should have been canned a long time ago.

  • chris_ace #153 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • yerawldda #154 3 years ago

    its just a chat room with graphics at the moment. they shouldnt have released it as it is. once user-made stuff is in there it should be a lot better. i could have came up with better ideas then whats in it just now. beta or not, how long did it take to make a few rooms?! must be a lot of shit held back from the beta.

  • IneptPercy #155 3 years ago

    "that sony try new things and microlol just copy whoever is on top?"

    You will find that all 3 take ideas from each other, you will also find most of sony's ideas over time actually started at nintendo... including the original playstation itself...

  • yerawldda #156 3 years ago

    also can you invert the analogue?! its the opposite of GTA just now i.e. shit.

  • Sweetmate #157 3 years ago

    When I first read about Home I thought it was pointless. Two years later, its still pointless.

  • ParanoidZombie #158 3 years ago

    I checked a few websites to read different opinions, and it looks like the younger users (ie teens) rather like Home in its current state, while adults tend to hate it. Since the average PS3 owner is 30 years old, I guess sony has missed the target by a good 15 years.

  • dominalien #159 3 years ago

    @yerawldda: you can. first thing I did.

    @ParanoidZombie: where'd you get the age statistic for PS3 owners?

  • #160 3 years ago

    Im more disappointed that Fart and Mig haven't commented yet tbh.

    Where are they when you need a flame war to start ;)

  • makeamazing #161 3 years ago

    For the guy that is complaining they shouldnt have released it now.. oh come on, how much grief would they have got if they had not released it before 2009. Even more grief i suspect.

  • VMerken #162 3 years ago

    To the "Don't worry people, this is just the bare bones structure, content will follow and it has so much potential!" group:

    Potential is one thing, actually realising that potential another.

    Don't you think that after showing the bare bones structure in march 2007, the devs would have used a large part of the 1.75 years after it to actually get all that content into place? Don't you remember Home was delayed twice because Sony thought "the Home service wasn't 'there' yet"? That it still needed to grow to become a truly worthwhile product?

    But, I'll let Kaz Hirai/Sony jog your memory, he says it much better than me. Take it away, Kaz!

    (november 2007, quote) “If anything, we believe the delay would have a positive effect. I personally am not satisfied with the current version of Home. This is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our hearts content. We hope everyone will look forward to its spring release next year.”

    (july 2008, multiple quotes) "I'd much rather make sure we take the time to have a great service rather than rush something into the market - only for consumers to say: "This is not enough for me." I want to avoid that"

    "If we have the right service, it doesn't matter when we launch - so long as it's in a reasonable timeframe."

    "Whether our competitors decide to follow what we've done with Home or not follow us, that's up to them. Given the fact that I've delayed the launch of Home twice - for which I've apologised - I think I've done it for a very good reason, and that's because I want to bring the very best service possible to consumers around the world".

    "We're very confident in when we do launch the open Beta service, it's something that will really resonate with the consumers."

    Note that he IS talking about Home Beta there, and its launch. Confidently, one might add.

    So, now that Home Beta is launched, where is that "very best service possible" (with functionalities beyond the march 2007 version, because that obviously wasn't good enough for Kaz) which caused all the delays? Where's that "resonance"? Where is the content? If it's there, how long do we need to wait for it? Is there a time table when new content will arrive and if so, what content exactly?

    I'm not seeing answers to those questions, and I don't think we will. All that we can do is wait. And wait. And wait. And see. And then wait again. And dream of Home Beta's awesome potential. What it might be. Or not.

    EDIT: 2006 -> 2007. Thanks Beano.
    Edited by 7 at 13/12/08 @ 15:18

  • Beano #163 3 years ago

    Oli Welsh returns and lives up to his reputation.

  • Beano #164 3 years ago

    "3 months later MS NAIL NXE does the important stuff Home wanted to do and much more"

    Really?... I'm still wondering what's the use of avatars on NXE. It was fun and cute to play around with for about 30 min. Now I don't care and mostly use the new guide menu to look at my friends list and start my games.

    Besides NXE and Home are TOTALLY diffent concepts.

    NXE is for communicating better with the friends you allready have while Home is for meeting new people.

  • Beano #165 3 years ago

    "Don't you think that after showing the bare bones structure in march 2006, the devs would have used a large part of the 2.75 years after it to actually get all that content into place?"

    It was announced march 2007

    [link url=http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_Home
    ]http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation...[/link]

    Otherwise I agree... they should have focused more on getting more content from day one. Beta og no beta, people don't care if there is nothing to do or see.

  • Dan234 #166 3 years ago

    It is not a beta, it's unfinished. The two things are different. Of course, it wouldn't be as cool if it was called PlayStation Home Unfinished.

  • GamesConnoisseur #167 3 years ago

    Playstation Home: Welcome mat not to be found!

    I tried to log in on 3 separate occasion the past 24 hours but no luck so far, so relying on the comments of others at the moment but really cant be arsed to faff about as the setting is already set to NAT open for PS3, X360 and so presume that the server is full up or summat.

    Not panicking or anything as seem a slow burning thing and lots of 'hopes' expressed that Sony will fully support and ensure Home will have various features added in to caters to everyone's taste. Problem 1 for me is my style doesnt cater to the 2nd Life, Sim genre as I just always want to get to the meat of gaming without any faffing about.

    I dont dispute that its will have its fans, but for me it ll be something I ll occasionally dips into but deffo not THE reason to own PS3 for!!

    NXE on X360 is just a stylised menu, and the avatars are just animated gamertag but the main thing its doesnt interfere too much with my main needs....games.

  • Beano #168 3 years ago

    "NXE on X360 is just a stylised menu, and the avatars are just animated gamertag but the main thing its doesnt interfere too much with my main needs....games. "

    Neither does Home :)

  • wobbly_Bob #169 3 years ago

    At first I was a bit miffed when I didn't get the invite to the closed Beta a couple of weeks ago. Sony said that only the loyal owners would be rewarded... I SOLD my 360 games, leads, pads, power pack ( not the 360 because it was broken just like the other two that I had owned - enough was enough. ) and have been gaming on the ps3, happily, for over a year. Now, if that's not loyal I don't know what is!

    After experiencing Playstation Home I understand. I am loyal, I am special! They DIDN'T invite me to home becausae they wanted to reward me. They wanted to spare me the pain. I understand now, Sony. Thank you. Although, you could have warned me it was such an utter pointless pile of cack once it was relased. You could have slipped us loyal PS3 fans an email letting us know not to even bother with it since it's shit. Don't waste your time lads, your eyeballs and brain will be raped ( not to mention pockets ) by bland advertisement space.

  • Les #170 3 years ago

    Great thread for polishing up the ignore list BTW. Home has a use after all... ;)

  • TRUTH #171 3 years ago

    Personally I think it's 2ys to late - nothing that made me jump with joy!...I suppose I was hoping for something really special with all the hype - it just was bland, and unexciting.

  • Gradius #172 3 years ago

    Yeah...shame it won't let me connect... To be honest I doubt this is worth the 3077MB on my HDD anyway so I may just delete it..Meh!

  • JackB #173 3 years ago

    Home is Sarah Palin. It can only get worse from here on out when the honeymoon is over. 15 million PSN users and 100 on Home by the end of January.

  • Dogs-in-Hats #174 3 years ago

    I've just spent an hour with Home.
    To be honest I was wasn't sold on the idea from the start, It all sounded a little naive and ill conceived.
    I've tried to keep an open mind though, But seriously what were SONY thinking? Its shockingly bad
    I'm struggling to understand how this got made.
    Every time I turn on my ps3 I get a sinking feeling, and its called disappointment.

  • Collymilad #175 3 years ago

    LET THE CHARGING BEGIN!!!

    After all the years of the moaning about the XBL fee and people saying Sony would just start doing it slowly through the back door. Who woulda thought it would actually happen?

  • mooseman721 #176 3 years ago

    I've had home for ages and i struggle to see the point in it all tbh. Actually, the ps3 leaves me feeling a bit like that of late. And you cant even connect now the beta is open to all.

  • BobsUncle #177 3 years ago

    I had a go last night.

    It's full of fuckwits following around anyone who made themselves look like a girl.

    I made my avatar a fat wrinkly old man,and wandered around saying stupid things like "Gaystation3" and "Xbox rules". Yes I know it was immature, but it made me laugh trying to wind up the fanboys.

    I was told to "fuk off" by one guy sitting down who I kept running over. I really did laugh when he did that.

    I would go and try again but I can't connect anymore.

  • HardCoreGamer999 #178 3 years ago

    Home is dumb , i say so , IGN ps editors and many others are saying the same thing...

  • Bumhug360 #179 3 years ago

    Its not all bad, the video adverts look and sound really good and urm well thats about all I can think of.

    Its been said so many times before but there is just no point to it, some nice ideas but poorly executed. Its the sort of thing that will appeal to more women than men but its just a giant sausage fest. Sony have stupidly built something for an audience it doesnt have yet, if this was on the PS2 would be a huge success the PS3 though is still too much of a "boys" toy. What they need to do is put in a shop where you can buy blackjack tables, poker tables, a nice bar, stripper poll then watch the money roll in as club houses become the best thing to happen to consoles since... well since ever

  • VMerken #180 3 years ago

    Even non-xbots come to the conclusion that Home [Beta] is a sterile, barren collection of rooms and advertising. It's not pointless, but the point it's making doesn't make it a system seller. It has potential, but: when will that potential be realised? All we can do is twirl our thumbs.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/08 @ 01:28

  • Les #181 3 years ago

    Home's biggest problem is that the vast maojority of people out there are people you don't want to meet, ever, anywhere. Same goes with online games. Guess the facebook generation might like to make millions of 'friends' but for everyone else the more anonymous the idiots that you compete with online are the better.

  • patchbox360 #182 3 years ago

    playstation homo

    sorry

  • AusFreelancer #183 3 years ago

    Heh, and NXE got rave reviews here for what.....doing what the 360/ps3 can already do. Funny cause Home BETA does something different. In saying that its not my thing, but i'm sure others will love it when its more complete. Its free and its there.

    Another thing why give this to a reviewer, who like me, doesn't like this sort of thing? It happened in the MGS4 review.

  • Beanie #184 3 years ago

    read like a 10/10

  • Sp3ct3r #185 3 years ago

    so... not as good as Halo?

  • Tomo #186 3 years ago

    Very nicely written preview. Good job.

    It sounds absolutely shit to be frank. I can't understand for the life of me why anyone would want to waste time on something like this anyway, even if it was all well implemented and crafted.

  • Elfish #187 3 years ago

    Wow, Home stinks. Anyone surprised? No.
    Sony has its head up its arse to think anyone would pay ongoing fees just to hang with their friends in this sterile 3D waiting room.

  • DarkBytes #188 3 years ago

    maybe

  • SpyroViper #189 3 years ago

    I don't understand why people hate Home so much. I already bought a summer house and some clothes (pretty cheap really, unless your poor) and I had a blast chatting to friends and some real cool people. We went outside and formed trains of different dancing moves to songs and went bowling etc. It's pretty good atm but it's alot better than M$ shitty NXE with stupid queer looking avatars.

  • jimmyjimbob #190 3 years ago

    I'm soooo glad it sucks as much as it looked like it would.

    Installed it the other day, endured with the continual "this area needs to be downloaded" till I'd downloaded all the areas. So, to play any of the games like bowling or arcades, you have to queue?? WTF?!?

    Anyone how to uninstall it so I can get the 3gb back this POS takes up?

  • wingzerosys #191 3 years ago

    Typical fanboys flooding the comments again, Home isn`t too bad and it`s free, some people complain about anything these days.

    Look Home ain`t for everyone so stop complaining, so what if you don`t like it other people might, some people are into virtual worlds/catrooms/mmo`s, so to them it`s somewhere to hang out.

    I have been on it a few times and my opinion (sp) on it so far is that it`s pretty bare but what do you expect for a Beta?

    I also tried the US version which has the Uncharted and Far Cry 2 themes, the Uncharted theme is pretty cool, you start off in Sully`s bar and there are doors which you input codes to gain access to new rooms, I just hope Sony add more/better spaces in the near future.

    I`ll probably keep using it in the near future as it ain`t too bad.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/08 @ 13:46

  • Pinewood_Groves #192 3 years ago

    LOL

    sorry.

  • BobsUncle #193 3 years ago

    "pretty cheap really, unless your poor"

    Exactly the kind of comment that makes me hate some PS3 owners. The type that think they are more elite than a 360 or Wii owner because "their console" is so expensive. I was 'talking' to some guy last night in Home and he said the only peole who are complaining about the PS3 are the poor. What a cock.

    It wasn't you was it Spyro?

  • bad09 #194 3 years ago

    "I already bought a summer house and some clothes (pretty cheap really, unless your poor)"

    MUG ALERT!! MUG ALERT!! ;)

  • danodynamo #195 3 years ago

    Home, gotta be the most idiotic thing about the ps3. Why the hell would I want to buy virtual clothes. Home is a steaming pile of cow dung. Anyone who likes it is a nob ! - PS3 is fantastic for one thing only, blu-ray movies. love the machine, super quiet.

  • SpyroViper #196 3 years ago

    Actually I have a 360 as well. I'm just responding with that comment about some people here complaining about 3.99 or 79p for clothes. Is is NOT a lot of money at all.. My lunch costs more than that when I'm at work

  • wingzerosys #197 3 years ago

    @Danodynamo.

    Wow nice comment, so people who enjoy Home are nobs huh? Why don`t you go back to your 360 and mess around with the Avatars idiot.

    So what if people want to buy virtual club houses, clothes etc does it hurt you that much? Idiots pay out £40 for xbox live which imo is a waste of money and proves that Microsoft are greedy, I have to pay to be able to play demo`s and some content, fuck you MS.

    Before I get accused of being a fanboy, I am not in the slightest (even if I do sound like an hypocrite), I`m just sick of people finding faults with a pacific (sp) console they have no intention of even buying, just stick to your console of choice an STFU.


    I on the other hand own all 3 and switch between them regulary (360 an ps3 more than the wii) and hardly have faults with any of them (the only one is xbox live), Home is free afterall (unless you want to pay for dlc, which even the 360 charges for) and is there for a certain person to mess around with, but to some idiots that`s not good enough.
    Edited by 2 at 14/12/08 @ 16:05

  • bad09 #198 3 years ago

    @ wingzerosys

    So? I owned all three and think differently from you. Sold the turd wii, thinks Home is utter crap and Live is a SERVICE (not a useless clubhouse) worth paying for.

    No point getting all snotty with people about owning all 3, it's still only YOUR opinion....

  • wingzerosys #199 3 years ago

    I`m not being snotty, I`m just saying I own all 3 so I don`t get accused of being loyal/a fanboy to a certain console, a lot of the people who are writing in this comment page are loyal 360 fanboys who have nothing better to do than slag off the ps3 every way they can, I bet half the people who have wrote in haven`t even been on Home and try to find as many faults for the ps3 as they can.

    I`m sick of all these negative comments about the ps3, I`ve heard things like "it has no games" "it sucks" "Sony suck" etc and now Sony finally release a Beta for Home and people still aren`t satisfied, atleast they`re trying something new other than MS releasing the shit NXE update which imo has ruined the 360 with its rip off mii like avatars.

    I`m not loyal to any of the companies I just mainy use the consoles to play games or watch dvd`s/blu ray`s, there is no need for any of this fanboyish nonsense, where does it get you? MS, Sony etc are`nt going to congratulate you or give you free products, they only care about getting money off you.

    Now if you had to pay for Home then I wouldn`t be happy, but seeing as its free, what`s there to complain about? Atleast its a big gaming community where you can chat, have fun and play games etc, where as with Xbox live you have to pay £40 a year just to play online and play demo`s early.
    Edited by 3 at 14/12/08 @ 16:25

  • mister_moo #200 3 years ago

    I think this forum is missing the main point.

    The fact of the matter is, what type of complete prick spends money on virtual clothes in order to impress people online?

    Get a life, not a home.

  • wingzerosys #201 3 years ago

    The same pricks who buy skins/costumes etc for games.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/08 @ 17:19

  • GamesConnoisseur #202 3 years ago

    Would Sony be better off if they let Home project be shelved away? Will the rants die down and people accepts its just something there for some section of PS3 owners who would go into this sort of thing? Opportunity for Sony to add revenue streams and use the money to invest in PSN?

    Personally unfortunate that its been delayed long past where people expectations got to the point where they expect something much more solid and although still only a Beta and not the complete software but opinions seem to be more divided than it was previously.

    I only know that its confirmed my opinion as something I m not going to bother much with and others are entitled to think differently.

  • bad09 #203 3 years ago

    "But that's fanboys, and Eurogamer is probably one of the most renowned Fanboy sites in the whole of the known metaverse."

    Never gone over to Gamespot then?

    @ cthulhu_steev

    Sold sir!

    My mugs are by diesel and are £29.99, you can't drink out of them though, you display them in your summer house while line robot dancing in diesel T-Shirts waiting for that PSP TV advert to load.... ;)

  • markypants #204 3 years ago

    SpyroViper: "I already bought a summer house and some clothes (pretty cheap really, unless your poor) and I had a blast chatting to friends and some real cool people. We went outside and formed trains of different dancing moves to songs and went bowling"

    o_O

    SpyroViper: "Dear Santa. For Xmas this year... PLEASE COULD I GET LAID. kthanxbye love SpyroViper xxx"
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/08 @ 18:47

  • miiiguel #205 3 years ago

    Pretty soon the whole universe will be a fanboy who points the faults of PS3, Sony bosses included.

    The worls is against PS3, the world must be wrong, and it's probably MS's fault.

  • Lamont #206 3 years ago

    >>A little consultation from MMO arm Sony Online Entertainment could surely have avoided some of the many simple pitfalls Home tumbles into.

    Judging by rubbish like Star Wars: Galaxies and Everquest I wouldn't be so sure.

  • SpyroViper #207 3 years ago

    @ Markypants. I actually have a GF thanks, been almost 2 years. But I'm so sorry to have 3 days off of work because of annual leave (obviously you don't get those in burger stands eh?). So obvioulsy I have had the time to fully try Home out.

    So grow up and STFU about what you know nothing about in the slightest.

  • davisorle #208 3 years ago

    When i was saying that Home is gonna be a let down some fucking kiddos, that am sure are running around the forums looking for reactions, kept up their bullshit. When i said that it's gonna be a cheap and poor / limited imitation of Second life I had more reactions. When i said they would try to drain money ( yeah in SL too from clothing space etc. ) for this piece of shit again the same.

    So it's been supossed to be released how long now? Its still called Beta for them and you included right? And the results so far?

    For once more ill say my fucking opinion and the obvious. You paid for that pieceOcrap. Eat shit and stop bitching about other consoles... Pls try to play something or go out now. Staying "Home" so much aint healthy.

    Peace

  • dave.k #209 3 years ago

    Home isn't too bad. As a place to meet and chat with friends, it's pretty good. The mini-games are good fun. The video screens are pretty cool, except for their repetitive nature.

    Sure, there's much that needs work, but it really isn't as bad as everyone seems to be making it out to be.

    For the moment, the only thing that will keep me coming back are the mini-games. In the future, I can see myself visiting the game themed rooms, wanting to chat about that game, or asking for hints to get me past a point I'm stuck at.

    I'm disappointed that there's no decent variety in the initial clothes set, or that you can't change the colour of them. For the things that you can change colour, like hair, I'm disappointed with the lack of a colour wheel. It'd be nice to be able to inject some originality into the avatar. There's too many 'clones' on the system.

  • j1m.ch053n #210 3 years ago

    The problem with all of these Mii, avatar, home things are that there aimed at the wrong market. I dont put my console on so I can look at little animated characters doing nothing. I want to drive, i want to shoot and i want to punch. I want to explore, i want to be amazed by the cinematic experience and i want to be gripped by the story lines. In other words i want to play games not mess around on a home screen. enough of my gaming time is spent going out to work, i dont want to waste anymore!

  • anomagnus #211 3 years ago

    the comments about the NXE avatars are pathetic

    OMGZZZZ?!! TEH AVATARZ R TEH GAYZZZZZ

    you don't NEED to look at your avatars you muppets, just use the guide button

    fuck me, even if there was no guide button, how long are you looking at them for, five seconds, ten? I want someone to explain to me, STEP BY FUCKING STEP, how an avatar that you see for less time that it takes to scratch your ass ruins:-

    1) The Xbox
    2) Live
    3) Your games

    Grow the fuck up. Home forces you to endure your pathetic, key demo look a like avatar for how long?

    Home is a product with no function, its a fucking marketing mans wet dream.

    On another note

    3.99 for the club house, LOL, yea, go fuck yourself sony.

    Edited for the pedantic people out there


    Edited by 1 at 15/12/08 @ 11:21

  • JYM60 #212 3 years ago

    Agree with most of the article.

    Just thought I'd say that voice chat isn't poor quality though, at least the people I've heard.

  • mcbi4kh2 #213 3 years ago


    I do agree with you though amongoose, Avatars in no way get in the wat of the 3 points you mentioned. Same can be said of Home though, it in no way gets in the way of
    1)The PS3
    2)PSN
    3)The Games
    So having a bash at either of the free, non-obtrusive updates, is rather silly.

  • metalnut #214 3 years ago

    "The worls is against PS3, the world must be wrong, and it's probably MS's fault. "

    Bizarre logic - it's MS's fault that Home isn't going down that well with the gamer crowd? Hmm.

    IMO Home was _never_ going to go down well with anyone who doesn't already like to spend time in the likes of Second Life, Animal Crossing et al. I may be off base here, but most gamers who are willing to pay £300-400 for a console (depending on when in the lifetime you bought the PS3) are not hugely likely to be in this demographic. I've used Second Life all of 2 times, and both times I just could not see the point. However, the world was full of people who could, and spent lots of time and money there. I can't fathom that at all, but hey, it's a free country. People who like to chat and virtually dance, and flirt with people they *think* might be girls will like it I'm sure. So the teen crowd and swingers? ;)

    So, derision from gamers isn't necessarily the death knell for Home, but it's also not going to be a strong unifying force for the user base. If anything I think it throws more confusion over what the hell Sony wants the PS3 to be.

  • mcbi4kh2 #215 3 years ago

    "The worls is against PS3, the world must be wrong, and it's probably MS's fault. "

    Bizarre logic - it's MS's fault that Home isn't going down that well with the gamer crowd? Hmm.

    Hmm, sarcasm not your strong point eh?

    I do agree with the rest of your post though, Home at the moment does seem pretty, well... meh.

  • Les #216 3 years ago

    "The problem with all of these Mii, avatar, home things are that there aimed at the wrong market."

    No they're aimed at the right market (the one where money is to be made). It's just that PS3 and 360 as platforms were developed for a different market. Hence the fact that avatars and home don't go down well, while Mii's do.

  • 4thVariety #217 3 years ago

    I guess that week after week we will get some update from Sony what new and fabulous pixels we can now soend our cash on. Week after week people on the forums will hate on Sony for doing that, until the day Home is just a joke and worthless as a brand.

    Meanwhile features like building a group and inviting friends to a game is something either the media crossbar should do or at least the game. If the functionality boils down to being either a chatroom or a conference call, then just include chatrooms and conference calls in the mdeia crossbar. Why bother trying to find random co-op players in home. Any game can just randomly group me.

  • anomagnus #218 3 years ago

    @mcbi4kh2

    my problem with cost is separate from the avatars issue

  • Farzlepot #219 3 years ago

    And to think, I almost bought a PS3 to play this!

    Actually, not really. I haven't played it as I don't have a PS3, for most of my money is splurged on my multitude of self-destructive habits these days. But if it really is as bad as some are saying... so what? It's a free, optional download which you are under no obligation to pay any attention to whatsoever. I don't see it having any impact on PS3 sales, future game development, nor your enjoyment of the platform as a whole, so it's not like it's affecting your lives any. Short of Sony doing something truly ridiculous like replacing their entire XMB with this three-dimensional interface, which I don't see as being particularly likely, Home can essentially cease to exist in your eyes if you don't like it.

    But if Sony can somehow make money out of it, enough at least to cover the costs of the PSN, that can't be a bad thing surely? And if history has taught us anything, it's that there are plenty of muppets out there who are all-too-keen to shell out their shiny moolah in exchange for gooey crud. So the way I look at it is... if enough people buy bland, virtual objects that Sony is able to make a profit, and can then inject that cash into the PSN, then technically all of you who don't bother with Home can benefit from their gullibility. Right?
    Edited by 1 at 15/12/08 @ 11:42

  • BobsUncle #220 3 years ago

    "And to think, I almost bought a PS3 to play this!"

    That would have been the worlds biggest slap in the face if you had!

  • iokthemonkey #221 3 years ago

    Cant see the attraction of having fancy virtual appartments myself,wreaks of SAD imo.

    ----

    Why do so many people spend hours customising their myspace page or downloading new wallpapers and themes for their PC?

    It's all about personal expression.

  • StooMonster #222 3 years ago

    what do you expect for a Beta?
    A "beta" is feature complete and is being tested for bugs.

    An "alpha" on the other hand is a work in progress, i.e. has functionality or content missing.

  • Farzlepot #223 3 years ago

    "That would have been the worlds biggest slap in the face if you had!"

    And that's saying something, considering just how many times I've been slapped in the face!

  • Muppet64 #224 3 years ago

    Definitely aimed at the 'MySpace' look-at-me generation.

    I tried it in the invited Beta for about 20 minutes, then left thinking "and...?"

    Agree with the article 100%

    Why do so many people spend hours customising their myspace page or downloading new wallpapers and themes for their PC?

    Uhm, 'cos they've got nothing better to do?
    Edited by 2 at 15/12/08 @ 14:36

  • aphexstwin #225 3 years ago

    i find home ok, i take it at face value; if i cant be chewed to get my steering wheel or drumkit out, nor get into the mindset of a fastpaced shooter after a long day, i can have a game of pool and chill.

    without reading 257 comments, and hoping someone from sony is reading i'll add this -
    make everything free, clubs, homes, clothes, furniture. you'll attract more people to home. that means more people to see adverts/go to gamespaces/red bull etc. that means you can command more money from the advertisers. which pays for home.

    sony could make a killing out of home and they do need the dosh. but your regular gamer will not be party to being fleeced for nothing or no new functionality. thats what separates xbl to home.

  • iokthemonkey #226 3 years ago

    Uhm, 'cos they've got nothing better to do?

    ---

    It's all about "personal expression."

  • Muppet64 #227 3 years ago

    It's all about "personal expression."

    Ah yes, that's the best excuse you have for unimaginative people foisting their uninteresting and unpleasant "personalities" on the general public is it?

    God, if I see another pillock in a fake Andean Llama herders hat, looking like Noddy on acid, just because the ambient temperature has plummeted by 0.75°C and they want people to believe they're a well travelled and really interesting person, I may just scream!


  • iokthemonkey #228 3 years ago

    You're cool.

  • MaxiSleep #229 3 years ago

    After downloading this turd last night I can only ask - how did it take so long?

  • KreyAtiv #230 3 years ago

    Can't even get logged into the thing.

  • onyxbox #231 3 years ago

    I guess stuff like Facebook, Twitter, Second Life and Playstation Home just aren't aimed at people like me.

    The fact that the gaming press can't get their head around this nor can we 'the hardcore'... probably means Sony are right on the money.

    :-)

  • sneetch #232 3 years ago

    @Muppet64
    "God, if I see another pillock in a fake Andean Llama herders hat, looking like Noddy on acid, just because the ambient temperature has plummeted by 0.75°C and they want people to believe they're a well travelled and really interesting person, I may just scream!"

    Be fair, Noddy on acid would be awesome.

  • fletch273 #233 3 years ago

    It's as glossy, whitewashed and empty as an episode of Laguna Beach, a non-place where non-people have non-conversations.

    This sentence sums up the whole article.

  • SEVQA #234 3 years ago

    "Why do so many people spend hours customising their myspace page or downloading new wallpapers and themes for their PC?

    It's all about personal expression. "

    I think it has more to do with a 'conspicuous consumption' coined by Thorstein Veblen.

    He defined conspicuous consumption as the waste of money and/or resources by people to display a higher status than others.

    He defined conspicuous leisure as the waste of time by people to give themselves higher status.

  • dryden555 #235 3 years ago

    fodder's comment is best

  • Rash' #236 3 years ago

    well, having read a well researched article on the social networking space and finally sampling some of the offerings of the software i can see the appeal. the product evidently has been modelled around the social trends on the net with the ambitions of second life level of interaction. the fundamental thing to understand about this software is the its experience will be defined by the content on offer and the users that engage with that content. the interaction in this world is less about the pad and more about the people you meet.

  • thinred #237 3 years ago

    Before launch, I used to think Home was an idiotic idea. Now that I know it's so poorly executed, I can't be bothered installing it to see if I can be proved wrong.

    What a shambles, Sony. Seriously.

  • Arwin #238 3 years ago

    Anyone see the Killzone costumes for Home offered as a bonus for when you pre-order Killzone 2 on amazon.com? Or read about how much money Home already made in its first four days?

    I think anyone dismissing Home at this stage is short-sighted. But there are plenty of short-sighted people around ...