The strange, sterile Second Life type world of Playstation Home has been missing something. No, not a soul or anything like that. It’s been missing virtual car dealerships. And Ford decided it was time that particular problem was addressed. → Read More
In the US, Playstation Home is rather mundane. Other than additions like voice chat and in-network game launching, it has been the same since its 2008 launch. That’s about to change according to statements made at this year’s GDC by Masami Kando, head of the Home project at Sony. → Read More
Sony isn’t giving up on PlayStation Home anytime soon and PS Home Online Community Specialist Locust_Star has detailed the upcoming fall update, v1.3, and it’s serious business, people, or as Locust_Star points out, “This is the for real deal upgrade!” Yeah, sure, whatever you say, dude (or dudette). → Read More
We don’t typically cover PS Home updates at the ‘Gear, but the Sony PS team just dropped a tiny morsel of goodness and I feel compelled to tell you about it. The Movie Theater in Home is getting revamped with a 10-screen layout that PS Home Community Manager CydoniaX says could one-day stream full-length TV shows and movies. Nothing is set in stone so we’ll throw this one on the backburner for now. → Read More
Today, Activision and Sony announced “Backstage with Guitar Hero” for PlayStation Home so players can congregate and accost each other virtually while watching GH videos and sharing their own greatest hits. There’s a GH themed mini-game that tests your mind, body and soul. Heh. Actually, it’s more like Simon Says where you have to follow a lead guitarist and mimic what he/she does by matching notes and colors, which sounds exactly like what the game makes you do. Anyway, check it out tomorrow when it launches in Home. Check out the rest of the details at the PlayStation Blog. Hit the jump for a video preview. → Read More
Good afternoon, PlayStation Owners-
Just wanted to keep you abreast of some happenings that will go down on Home in the coming months. Nothing that’s going to knock you on your buttocks, but there’s a handful of things worth mentioning. Hit the jump to see what’s going down. → Read More
Playstation Home is having problems again after a rough start. Following numerous delays and a less than smooth rollout, Sony’s new virtual world is still far from perfect. Some users are having issues with the censoring system, like this gamer from Norwalk Connecticut who is unable to start a gay-straight alliance club because words like “gay” and “lesbian” are filtered out. Even the word “hello” is filtered because it starts with “hell.” Fail much? → Read More
PlayStation Home has been hacked. It’s a fairly benign hack, one that lets you upload your own posters (to decorate your “apartment”) and videos. Sony doesn’t permit the uploading of third-party content to Home since it could leave them liable to some type of lawsuit. That, or Sony is made up of a bunch of jerks. Take your pick. The hack involves installing apache and modifying a handful of files (where to point Home to find your content, etc.). We’re still waiting for the “Make PlayStation Home Fun” hack. via Hack a Day → Read More
The video is totally SFW, but you might lose a few brain cells by watching it PlayStation Home for the PS3 could be the absolute dumbest thing ever produced in the history of human civilization. (Penny-Arcade doesn’t like it either, and their voice carries the same weight as Walter Cronkite’s did during the Vietnam War.) But not only is it wretched—the Wii has avatars, the Wii is selling well, therefore we need avatars to sell well, too—it’s also offense to women! It’s a one-two punch of mediocrity! The video embedded here, and there’s plenty more (though that one’s actually hilarious) where that came from, shows a so-called “female avatar” (which is more than likely just a dopey kid toying with others’ emotions), being surrounded and harassed by a pack of “male avatars.” It’s among the sorriest things you’ll find online today. My only hope, for Sony’s sake, is that PlayStation Home didn’t cost too much money to develop, because, frankly, it’s rubbish. via Silicon Alley Insider → Read More
The Playstation Home Beta started hitting eager PS3′s today, but there seems to some issues. Network downtime, games not working properly, all sorts of stuff that’s generally happens whenever a company issues a large update. It’s fun living in this world of modern technology, eh? The official word is they are working on it — really? would hope so — with no ETA in sight. More as we get it. → Read More
What does Microsoft think of Sony’s PlayStation Home service? Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku the following: “What Home to me feels like is Second Life for hardcore gamers. It doesn’t feel like it broadens the experience and invites people in. When they unveiled it, it seemed innovative. I think what’s happened is now here we are a couple of years later and we feel beyond that. It feels like 2005 tech in 2008. I’m not sure that’s what people want.” → Read More
http://www.viddler.com/simple_on_site/17671819 It’s been nearly two years, but the time is coming, friends. The folks at the Playstation blog announced that starting tomorrow Sony would be rolling out Home to everyone in an open Beta. Director of Playstation Home Jack Buser encourages those who haven’t been privy to Home to snuggle up to the veterans to get tips on how to navigate through Home. Or you could just watch the tutorials they have, which I’m bound to do even though I oppose these avatar creatures everyone is hyped on. That’s right, I finally got a PS3 and it’s surprisingly comfortable. Kind of like coming home as they say. I was one of those crazy kids who got a PS2 on launch day many years ago. So, yeah, don’t be accusing me of being an Xbox fanboy any longer. It’s kind of funny because I wired in my PS3 to update the firmware not remembering that it had built-in Wi-Fi. Then I went to the Playstation home page to check out accessories and find a Wi-Fi dongle and immediately cursed Sony for not having one. It dawned on me mid-curse that the PS3 had built-in Wi-Fi. Awesome. So, PS3 fanboys sound off in comments and let me know of any cool things I should be aware of. Tips and tricks, basically. Thanks in advance. Anyway, there are going to be wild parties, tournaments and assorted events constantly going on in Home, so check out the Forums to keep abreast of what’s happening in your virtual world. → Read More
The UK’s Times claimed yesterday that Sony would be launching the highly anticipated/delayed Home service within the next nine days. To try Home, which is slated for release in the next 10 days, players must download a piece of free software from Sony’s PlayStation store onto their own PS3. One would assume that Microsoft’s recent launch of the New Xbox Experience has spurred the launch of Home, but it’s been in Beta for close to two years now. Like Microsoft’s avatar nonsense, I do not look forward to Sony’s Second Life clone. → Read More
Joining the PlayStation Home beta couldn’t be easier, provided you’re in North America or Europe. Those of you in North America, all you have to do is install the just released PlayStation Home theme. Consider that your application to join the beta. Europe has it even easier. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe will send out beta invites to the most active users of the PlayStation Network. Don’t call us, we’ll call you. That is all. → Read More
Sony’s virtual world, Playstation Home, has been delayed multiple times since it was first announced in July of 2007. But an outreach for beta testers in Japan should give Sony PS3 owners a glimmer of hope here in the US. It’s unclear why the beta testing is being limited to Japan, but hopefuls can apply starting today until August 11. Sony plans to offer 10,000 gamers access to the virtual world in the latter half of August. An open beta test is expected to roll out later this year for other markets. Beta testers will be privy to a suite of Bandai Namco games that include Pac Man. We’ll see if this actually happens. There has to be something wrong for Sony to have suspended the testing for over a year, right? → Read More
Sorry, PS3 fanboys, but Sony is bending you over, again. This morning Sony announced that they will be extending the closed beta testing for Playstation Home through the summer with open beta testing to commence in the fall. If you recall, Sony was supposed to launch Home this spring. “We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PLAYSTATION Home. Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation® tradition.” → Read More
I told you last month that Sony would be opening up a closed Beta trial of Playstation Home this month and it’s finally here! 15,000+ lucky users started getting emails last night that read, “Home is ramping up for its debut, and we’re inviting you to sign up for a very special beta test. Space is extremely limited.” Did any CG readers get one? The only downside is that you aren’t guaranteed a spot even if you received the email, which is a huge bummer. I just checked the Beta homepage and nothing has changed. Keep your fingers crossed and if you get in, let us know how it is! Regardless, the schedule is on point, so you won’t have to wait that long if you aren’t one of the lucky few (thousand). Sony sends out PS3 Home Beta trial e-mails [TG Daily] → Read More
According to “third party relations” Q&A document released on the Sony Developers site we’ll be seeing Playstation Home in October. Closed Beta testing will begin in April going through August with 15,000 users. Open Beta will be available to 50,000 users starting in August until its Live launch in October. Other tidbits worth noting include the size of the initial download, which will be fewer than 500MB. Sony is aiming for weekly content updates from all sources involved in Home. PSP owners will be happy to know that Sony wants your device to be able to interface with certain Home features in the future as well. Check out the PDF for all the details. Sony Q&A [via Game Industry] → Read More
If you loved the preview of the Playstation Home we gave you yesterday and want to know more about it then check out the official Beta site. You’ll need to check it everyday because registration hasn’t started and they will surely go quick. Beta Trial [via Giz] → Read More
