Sony's PlayStation Home Beta, launched in December 2008, is free to use on the PlayStation Network where users can create their own 3D avatar or personal character who lives in a life-like virtual environment.
Users can customize their avatars to make them look like themselves – or anyone for that matter – from what kind of pants they wear to the detailed wrinkles on their forehead. Each avatar starts off in his or her own apartment with basic furniture and can buy more accessories to spruce it up at the local mall.
Exploring your Home neighbourhood
As users take their first steps outside their apartments, they are introduced to the Central Plaza – the main meeting place for all Home users. Here people can interact with each other and explore other nearby attractions. At the moment there isn’t much to do in the Plaza.
Most people gather around the Listen@Home dance floor where they can listen to a looping playlist of songs and dance with other users. There is also a single player Saucer Pop game and a video billboard showing PlayStation Network content.
PS3 users can communicate with each other in real time through text messages that appear over their heads in balloons. Typing messages can be a burden sometimes since users must use the on-screen keyboard and enter each letter with the X button.
However, plugging in a wireless PC keyboard into the PS3's front USB port makes chatting a lot easier and faster. Otherwise, users can buy a PS3 keyboard accessory. Users can also use the voice chat feature with a compatible headset, though the PlayStation Network has limited where and when you can use this feature in order to avoid abuse.
As with other games, private messages can also be sent and received with others, even when not logged into Home through the Friends menu in the PlayStation’s XMB interface.
The main hotspot in Home seems to be the Bowling Alley. Here users can play a game of bowling with up to four people, as well as arcade games and a game of pool with a buddy. The Mall in Home has two floors with stores selling virtual merchandise such as Diesel clothing, Ikea-like furniture, and even property.
All merchandise in the Mall can be purchased with real money via a credit card or PlayStation Network Card, with the exception of a few freebies offered here and there. As users explore the Mall they can also interact with others and play a game of chess or watch the video screen on the second floor showing movie trailers and reviews of PS3 games from the PlayStation Network.
The third big attraction in Home is the Theatre. The look and feel is just like a real theatre, except the only thing that is missing is the movie. Currently, Sony is only streaming movie trailers which unfortunately are on a continuous loop. However, since Home is still in Beta at this point, additions to Home may enhance the user experience in these and other locations.
PS3 Users React to Home
As expected, there are a few drawbacks to Home’s functionality since it is still in Beta. The biggest concern through word of mouth on Home seems to be that people often get bored of Home too soon once they see and do everything. This is probably because most of the users who have used Home since it was launched have not seen any major additions to the game.
Another grudge that some Home users have is that Sony has gone to great lengths to censor their text messages of any inappropriate or offensive content. This means that seemingly innocent words can be replaced with asterisks, which often leads to confusion during a discussion.
PlayStation Home's Future
The potential for Home to be more than just an online hangout is enormous. Sony is a versatile company that dips its hands into several different industries, including music, motion pictures, and gaming consoles. Now that Home is up and running, there is a good chance that Sony may introduce these industries to PlayStation Home. For example the dance floor in the Plaza could feature songs under Sony's BMG label in order to appeal to its target audience.
Likewise, the Theatre could eventually show more than just movie trailers and usher in a pay-per-view service and offer full length movies to view at a fixed rate. Product placement is already ubiquitous in Home with the inescapable ads for Twilight, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans appearing in almost every corner.
It would be wise to eventually stream full-length movies under Sony's Columbia or TriStar subsidiaries, although this would require a significant commitment from Sony. Home is still in its early Beta stages and small changes are taking place week by week. Through more beta testing and user feedback, Sony can gradually enhance the virtual world and keep users coming back Home.
Joe Lofaro - Joe is a Communication graduate from Canada who appreciates living in the information age and loves every minute of it. His interests lie ...
