fter many months of the US December Open Beta release, Sony is finally showing us what Home can do.
One of the most intriguing things that always stuck with me when I first saw the Playstation 3 back at E3 many years ago was the concept of a little thing Sony was putting together called “Home”. We saw the press conferences with Jack Tretton and Phil Harrison showing off what Home could do. How we could send an image from our cell phone directly to Home and have the images displayed on a picture frame hanging on the wall. We saw some amazing things that got everyone excited about what this online community could do.
I actually had early access to the closed Beta, but if you were one of the hand full of PS3 owners that had the closed Beta you know that Home had seen many changes. We had changes in terms of looks, graphics, voice chat changes, etc. I could go on forever on the various changes made. The Home community made many suggestions and slowly but surely Home was molded into what was to be the Open Beta release. After many delays, the public finally had access to Home on the PS3.
December 11th 2008 the open Beta of Home in the United States. When it was released we got was something that was pretty bare. The Mall stores were empty, there were very few spaces to visit, and the game had some hiccups. Some were really intrigued to see what Home had to offer. But the problem was after a few hours or a few days of playing people got bored. So gamers were left with a useless Home icon on the Playstation 3 XMB.
After months and months of hard work I am happy to say that Sony is really starting to show what they had set out to do in the beginning. Within this article I am going to go over what I believe are the important things that makes Home really worth playing now. The pieces of the puzzle that were missing are now are starting to fall firmly into place.
The first thing you will notice if you are just now returning to Home is the additional spaces on the world map. Companies like EA have thrown in great new spaces like the Godfather 2 space where you can sit at the bar or play some cards at the card table. The the EA Sports Complex features a ton of new things to do. You can race Go-Karts around a large indoor track or you can play some Texas Hold’em at the card table. Capcom also has a new space complete with the Resident Evil 5 Studio Lot. If you are a fan of Warhawk, Far Cry 2 and Uncharted you can now visit spaces devoted to those games.
If you are into the survival-horror genre Home now offers the SIREN space which is very popular in Japan. This space offers the game “Ward of Despair” which you will be able to play with other Avatars waiting in line. You will play a mini-game in an abandoned Hospital and set out to try and survive the Shibito (zombies). Once you achieve this you will be able to unlock free outfits from the SIREN game. One downfall is that is is impossible to get into a quick game. When you walk in there is usually a ton of people waiting to play. Hopefully this will die down and everybody will be able to experience this, as its one of Homes coolest-looking spaces to visit.
There’s also a ton of upcoming Home spaces in development. Soon we will have a brand new Killzone 2 space as well as a space devoted to your PS3 game trophies. Third-party companies like EA will also expand on their EA Sports section with new sections devoted to Tiger Woods and NASCAR Racing. I am also hoping that Namco brings its Japanese space over to US soil as well. Namco has some very cool things to offer in Japan.
There are also spaces that offer challenges such as the Xi Hud. With the addition of this space you will have to find various items around Home and solve puzzles. Xi has taken on a life of its own since launching. If you succeed in some of the tasks you will be treated to cool things like a party at Jess’s Apartment where you can hang out, dance or just chat with others under the glowing moon on the back deck near the lake.
I am also finding that more people are now hanging out in every space. I have had no problems whatsoever chatting with people and making new friends in Home. I usually hang out at the Plaza or just sit and relax at my Lakeside Cabin. I find myself going to the Mall more as well spending cash on new items and clothes. The Home stores are starting to build up on some pretty cool items. You can buy items related to Street Fight 4, Resident Evil 4, Resistance 3 and Killzone 2. I am hoping down the road companies like Activision jumps into the Home mix and offers items from Call of Duty: World at War and Modern Warfare 2. Could you imagine having some really cool Nazi Zombie figures or maybe a Nazi Zombie outfit that you could buy. As the weeks go by, more game companies are jumping on-board.
The Chamber Apartment - Offered this week only!
The Mall also has the Real Estate store which you can now purchase a few new spaces. Right now they are offering the Chamber Apartment for free. Once the 21st of this month rolls around it will be gone and I doubt you will be able to purchase it in the future. The Lakeside Cabin is $4.99 but worth the price. It features two huge rooms and a very large outdoor deck that looks across a beautiful lake. You can also purchase the Studio which is also $4.99, this space allows you to make your own films and movies via-editing software and video capture. Grab a few friends and set up your apartment and make a cheese-flick. You can change backdrops and also have access to a green-screen. The Studio has a lot of nice little items such as flat-screen TV (non-working at the moment), a stereo receiver, new speakers, a large refrigerator as well as some other items.
Clubs are also starting to grow in Home as well. I just joined a club devoted to horror flicks. To start a club you will need to pay $4.99. I think down the road if you own a club you may have to pay monthly club fees to keep it running. I am not sure what the deal with that is but we should know more soon about these fees. I am hoping that they really put some new things into the Club scene to make it worth while. Something like club chat or being able to watch movies together on that big TV in the clubhouse. Having the ability to stream your own media would kick ass.
Home also has a very bright future. Things like picture frames will soon be accessible in the Mall. Having the ability to put up pictures from your PS3 would be a very welcome feature, just as long as people do not abuse it and start posting inappropriate things. There is always some jack-ass out there that does something stupid like that and it ends up ruining it for others. Either way, I am pretty excited about the upcoming picture frames.
Other things to be very excited about is Sony has some very big plans for E3 and Home. I’m not sure what will happen but you can bet that Home users will be able to access some kind of section that will be devoted to E3 2009. The possibilities are pretty endless if you think about it. I would love to be able to log onto Home and see what is happening at E3. Maybe we will be able to get some free E3 items such as E3 shirts or E3 items we can place in out home spaces. Hopefully we will also be able to stream video of new games and possibly have access that hooks to the PSN Store so we can download and launch demo games from E3.
No matter what Home should be very interesting in the next coming weeks. This Thursday Home will have a 1.21 patch that will fix a ton of things as well as adding a few new things. All those people using the floating glitches will be disappointed. Once 1.21 hits they will no longer be able to do such things.
So in closing, I really believe that Home is starting to be what Sony set out to make it be many years ago. If you log on today you actually have a ton of great things that you can do. Home is really starting to get me addicted as well. I have found myself playing it for many hours in the evening after a long days work. Many months ago I would have never dreamed that I would be buying things from the Mall, but the last few days I have been sinking some cash into clothes and items. And to me the price of buying 3-4 items of clothes at .49 cent is just the same as buying a cheeseburger at Mickey D’s. Now if only Sony can take a page out of Animal Crossing’s book and allow you to try on before you buy.
If you have lost your way from Playstation 3’s Home the last few months my suggestion would be to go back & check it out. Home is a completely new world right now & it will only continue to get better as time goes on. Home is quickly becoming a wonderful, easily accessible social network for PS3 owners to enjoy.
