Sony Unveils 'PlayStation Home' Service

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.betanews.com/article/Sony_Unveils_PlayStation_Home_Service/1173292145' target='_blank'>http://www.betanews.com/article/Sony_Unveils_PlayStation_Home_Service/1173292145</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Sony is betting its latest creation, PlayStation Home, will help to quell criticism that the console falls far behind its rivals in online support. Executives for the company announced the service at the Game Developers Conference Wednesday during a keynote address. Sony is banking on the new offering, to be available globally in the fall, as a way to differentiate itself from its competitors. Like Xbox Live, users would be able to unlock achievements in the games they play. However, adding upon that concept, gamers would also be able to display their achievements in a virtual world, along with personal video, pictures and other digital media. The service would take on a Second Life-type feel with virtual avatars and virtual homes, and will be offered as a free download from the PlayStation Store. However, PlayStation Home will not replace the current PlayStation Network, as many had initially anticipated."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/856.jpg" /> <br /><br />Wow, Sony's really reaching here. Frankly, I like the simplicity of the current Xbox Live service. I don't go on Live to chat with friends or check out their acheivements, I log in to play games, and download videos and demos. Sony, here's my advice: don't muck things up by creating some mash-up of Xbox Live, MySpace, and Second Life. You're jumping the shark.

[Felix Torres]

What do you do when you're engaged in a discussion and the other side scores a point you have no answer for? You could concede the point, grin and bear it and admit you were wrong.
Or, you can try to change the subject, raise a smokescreen, muddle the conversation...
If you're Sony, you announce a beta of Home.
Lotsafanfare, lotsa media hype, and "pay no attention to the naked emperor or the lack of games".

Home does nothing to change the PS3 gaming experience now or in december when it finally comes out. All it does is change the subject, divert attention from the fact that PS3 is supposed to be a gaming console, but it is a gaming console that is a better bluray player than it is a console because it has a grand total of two desirable exclusive games (more or less) one of which doesn't even do online gaming. Gaming is no exactly PS3's forte right now. Someday, maybe. But they're asking us to spend today's money for tomorrow's games ans we're not buying into their story. So they're reaching out and trying to spin a different story...

With all the constant foot-shooting Sony has done in the last two months they needed something positive they could point to and this was the best they could do.

Speaks volumes all by itself, doesn't it?
I forsee more laughter-induced injuries at Microsoft and Nintendo...

[Jeremy Charette]

Microsoft has captured the hearts and eyes of hardcore gamers, and Nintendo is sweeping up the rest. Sony had better come up with something, and fast.

Despite reports to the contrary, I think the Wii will outsell the 360 and the PS3 combined.

[Jason Dunn]

What a goofy concept - the type of people that play Second Life in their underwear for 18 hours a day are not the same type of people that purchase $600 gaming consoles...

[Felix Torres]

Despite reports to the contrary, I think the Wii will outsell the 360 and the PS3 combined.

This week?
Maybe.
Next november? I doubt it.
Look to the history of Nintendo launches; they're all front-loaded.
MS will get no less than a tie for first in this go-around.

I see more of a 45-35-25 split, myself.

[Jeff_R]

Going to have to respectfully disagree with the sentiments here... I think, in a world where people hold virtual funerals in MMORPGs, risk their jobs with MySpace blogs about bosses, and make their actual living selling virtual real-estate, there is much more of a home for this sort of thing than the other posters believe. It doesn't appeal that much to me, because gaming is a peripheral aspect of my life (when you run your own film production company, it sort of has to be! 8O ) but I can certainly see its popularity and I think it's a good first step. Without Ultima Online, there wouldn't have been any World of Warcraft.

[RenesisX]

I'm the biggest skeptic, but I think they're onto a winner here.

It seems to combine the best bits of Second Life and Habbo Hotel.

It almost makes me want to buy a PS3. And it's the only thing so far that's made me feel that way.

[Felix Torres]

Simple question: how does this improve PS3 gaming?
How does this sell PS3 *games*?

Sony loses money on every PS3; on the order of $250...
Increasing console sales without increasing game sales is increasing corporate losses. (Plus, Home doesn't kick in til the fall at the earliest.)

This is like taking a car that leaks oil to get repainted; it'll look prettier but it doesn't stop the leak. And if you keep running the car too long without oil...

Sony needs to take care of the basics before dabbling on the fringes. Ignoring the basics (games, games, games) for the launch got them into trouble; ignoring them for a whole year...

This is dangerous. They may not *get* to 25%...

[Jeff_R]

Microtransactions, for one, could substantially add to the bottom line for Sony. In-world advertising will be another. For example, lets say a company wants to advertise their upcoming game with a massive event, including a skyscraper. They pay. Attendees pay some minimal amount, say $0.10 or $0.25, for a shirt that shows they attended for their avatar. Or they buy a monthly package that gives them all the virtual swag from such events. Or companies buy searchlights with their logo sweeping the sky. These are some minor ways to generate revenue from Home, to address the corporate loss side.

The thing that some people are missing is that Sony isn't trying to make a PS2 with faster graphics and better sound. They are trying to change how consoles are perceived. Sure, games are the base of it, but they are working to evolve beyond just games. VOD through a virtual interface is just one example. Personally, I'd rather go to the movies, but I'm a big fan of new avenues to get films to people.

Now I know some people hate Sony, and there are reasons for that, but the idea has generated a great deal of publicity and it has a LOT of people excited, both in the gaming public and in the press. How will it sell games? The same way that XBox Live does, by making the gaming space more attractive, for developers and for gamers. Sony has problems, sure. Corporate arrogance is the kindest way to phrase it. But I definitely see Home as a good thing for the PS3.

[Jason Dunn]

It's really interesting to see how people have responded to this concept - I wonder how the mass-market in general will respond and will it drive more PS3 sales?