Relying on people to download an optional product, buy an optional accessory which isn't a practical solution for 90% of people. Im typing with a Blu Tooth keyboard on my lap, its not exactly the most ideal solution. So no, its not an obvious solution.

Without a high adoption rate -> Home is worthless to most people -> Without buying a proper communications device it isn't worth it for most people -> Without a high adoption rate -> home is worthless to most people. Do you see the circular nature of this?

MMOs only work when your friends use them, but if they are other factors preventing them from using it then adoption is even slower.

NXE doesn't look like anything more than MS stealing a little of this (Miis) and a little of that (iTunes Cover Flow) from Nintendo and Apple. Par for the course for MS.

Home, on the other hand, is a full blown MMO with every aspect of your PS3's local file system representable as avatars and objects that can be shown-off and/or shared in the MMO universe.

Apples and oranges.

Now, as for the 'look' specifically, I do think Home looks bad, and I don't mean bad as in kewl, but bad as in awful. That's just my personal taste. I would have much preferred a more cartoony/casual look like the NXE avatars and not the realistic art design of a Second Life. Frankly, I'd rather have LBP Sackboys be the 'official' avatar of Sony's brand.

The irony of the realistic vs not-realistic debate is that it's easier to get a Nintendo Mii or Microsoft NXE avatar to achieve a close resemblance to yourself thanks to the nature of them being caricatures. Anyone that has lost themselves for an hour screwing around with the sliders and RGB color values for hair in something like Tiger Woods or Fallout 3 knows what a waste of time it is, since after an hour or more changing your cheekbones and the protrusion of your chin and the depth of your eye sockets, your damn avatar STILL doesn't look anything like you!

I don't think many people understand exactly what Home is :P That's a big part of the problem right off the bat. Simply put, Home and NXE aren't aren't anything like each other. NXE seems more like re-convening that you have friends, whereas home seems like a way to interact with friends AND entirely new people. Look at it this way.

Instead of getting tossed into a multi-player match with 7 people you don't know at all and are put there randomly on the fly, with intention of just "figuring it out", you can enter a virtual lobby of sorts, where you can form parties, interact with other players, talk to people that have a similar goal, put clans together, find some "chick" that you think is totally into you and drag her to your house for some private chat ;) Who knows! It's just an area where you can interact with people on a more personal level.

They have "movie theaters" where you can go check out some new trailers, stand around the screen and make dumbass comments :P If your undecided on what it is you want to play, just stroll about town checking out some of the various game worlds they've set aside, go play someone in a game of chess :P Bowl! Who knows, after all, you surely don't at that point :)

The NXE seems like a step up from what it was before, but it still seems as blind as ever. Home seems so much more personalized. Well that's just my 2c :P

Home = The most boring Beta I have ever played.

@Sega, well good lord I would hope so :P It's like beta-ing a chat lobby xD Home is merely an interactive interface for a community based on playing games :P I think I might change "playing" to interacting, and as a service, I'm not really sure how it could be "boring" xD It's not a game LOL

I have a Bluetooth Cellphone headset ready for Home, but has anyone tried this yet?



How well do the touch sensitive keys work as a mouse replacement (for webbrowsing)?

Yes it is old to me. It is just a Second Life Sony-style. I am still occupied with my first ;)

@Halo, second life was a game :P Home is not. You took up your free time to "Play" second life, you don't "Play" home, you "use" home to enjoy playing your games more :P There's a major difference. Many people you'll find in home didn't go there just to be in home, they went there to interact with other players on games they're about to play. Home is a tool.

@Chrono I know. Being a Game Art Design student, I always try to think in terms of implementation and biz. Sony is implementing their new tool off of the revolutions of SL and WoW to maximize profit based on what has come before and what they think gamers will gravitate to. I try to think revolutionary, not evolutionary.

Ahh see but to me, this is exactly what the gaming community has needed in a long, long, time :) The only way I've managed to interact with other players, or meet new people online, is by playing with them ^^ The chances of me meeting up with someone completely awesome is so low xD Any person that's played Halo 3 online knows what I'm talking about :P For ever 1 cool person, theres like 1019234792384239784 totally childish asshats :P

Now us here at VGC are probably better off than many, because we all have a common meeting place, but I think it's a HUGE step as far as gaming community is concerned, and as a free service, I'm more than pleased with the direction they're taking.