PlayStation Home

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This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future software. The content may change as the software release approaches and more information becomes available.

PLAYSTATION Home
Developer	SCE London Studio
Type	Online community service Simulation[1]
Console	PlayStation 3
Website	Home Beta Trial

PLAYSTATION Home (also marketed and referred to simply as Home^[2]) is a community-based service for the PlayStation Network which has been in development since early 2005. Home allows users to create an avatar for their PlayStation 3 console. This avatar will get their own virtual apartment space, which can then be adorned with items users can receive in several different ways. In the future the service will also expand, allowing players to have more sorts of clothing or bigger apartments. Sony wants to give people the tools to create their own things, but they also want a safe place for younger users to feel comfortable.^[3]Sony is aiming for the initial download to be under 500MB. Home was announced at the Game Developers Conference on March 7, 2007^[4] with a scheduled global public release in September or October 2007.^[5] During the Tokyo Game Show 2007, Home's full release was announced to be delayed until "Spring 2008".^[6] On 21 April 2008 Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Home would be delayed further and the closed beta would be extended until "Fall 2008"^[7]. However it was confirmed that more PlayStation Network users would be invited to join the closed beta during this time. An announcement on the Official PlayStation Europe user forum confirms that invitations to the closed beta will be offered to winners of a weekly Warhawk online gaming event^[8]. Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, said that "Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition."

Environment and Layout

An early picture showing the speculated "Home" category which may have now been dismissed because of the new PSN category. The beta is under the game menu as shown in this video http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=1109

Photographs and video released by Sony show Home users meeting in a plaza/town square type of area. They also show users in their own apartments with their own choice of decor and furnishings. Users can also invite other users to their apartments.

In the world outside of the player houses, players can meet and chat with other community-members. One can invite their friends, hang out and communicate via voice chat, or normal text chat, listen to music, play a game or exchange content. People who enter each other's "home" (called a "HomeSpace") can stream the host's music and videos from their HDD. Videos are viewed via virtual Sony TVs, such as the BRAVIA. Photographs can be viewed via a virtual picture frame.

Every user has a private apartment space that they can modify and change over time. The basic apartment is free and will offer users lots of options for customization and personalization. In the future, Sony will provide tools that will enable users to have an even greater ability to create their own Home spaces and content.

At time of release, the user's "home" will be streamed from their own PlayStation 3, meaning that if the user logs out of Home, then access to this user's apartment no longer exists until the user logs on again. According to Sony, they are looking for new ways to get around this issue.

The world of PlayStation Home will not only consist of players' houses, but there will also be arcade-games that can be played, as well as games like pool billiards and bowling.

The look of the avatar, decorations, where to travel, settings, etc. can be controlled on a virtual PlayStation Portable. Sony has said it will be strict on spamming of the Home system. They have told gaming website GameSpot that they will be able to block a user's console and IP address so that they cannot connect to the service.^[9]

In time, Home will play host to many types of events such as exclusive game previews and developer interviews. It will be organized by Home and its affiliated content providers. Live events such as sports and concerts may also be broadcast within Home. These will all be pre-paid using the Sony Wallet System.

Home will also contain a virtual cinema which will screen films that have been released on DVD/Blu-ray^[10][11], the seating areas containing other Home users will be seen and the screen is viewable ^[12], there will be an option to select full screen mode so the content playing will appear the same as any other video, DVD, or Blu-ray played from the PS3 System. This is widely seen as Sony's answer to the Xbox Video Marketplace used on rival console Xbox 360, it is unknown if the cinema will also screen TV shows which are also available on the competing service.^[13] Content will likely have to be paid for but there may be free promotions on some material, no pricing plans have been announced.

In addition to the main public areas offered by Sony and the personal apartment area, many game developers will open their own spaces showcasing their products, developers that have created spaces for home include; EA, Activision, SEGA, Ubisoft, Rockstar Games and THQ. Individual games will also be allowed their own space.

In the future areas can be developed by major companies outside of gaming, SCEE Phil Harrison stated that locations built around famous coffee companies, famous drinks companies, clothing companies, record companys, major retailers and so on could feature depending on whether these companies felt it worthwhile to create something for Home.

Hall of fame

There will be a 'Hall of Fame' which will include a Trophy Room. The Trophy Room is a Home Space where users are able to display their gaming accomplishments. Players will be able to earn Trophies when they play games that support the Trophy system. The more Trophies a player has dictates which games they own and how skilled a player they are. Publishers and developers will be able to support Trophies by building them into their games' architecture, and existing games may be updated with patches to support it, as evidenced with Lair.

Communication

There will be at least four ways to communicate with other users in the environment. Users will be able to type on the virtual keyboard, a USB or Bluetooth keyboard, talk using a USB or Bluetooth headset, and use e-motions, which are movements such as waves or a dance. These e-motions are based on emoticons. For convenience, there is also a library of textual messages to choose from via the controller or keyboard, such as "Hi" or "How to do.. ".

Updates

Playstation Home will feature updates that expand the social and gameplay aspects of Home. The closed beta has received an update from Sony that have given the users the ability to access their patio and upload photos inside their virtual space^[14]. Another feature of the update is a purple and blue building outside in Home Square was recently opened to reveal the Home Marketplace. Other features, such as the much speculated monorail transport system as well as Home Trophies, have yet to be released to the beta testers. Sony will, in the future, release more updates to expand Playstation Home into a larger, more interactive world. SCEE Phil Harrison said that in the future pets and more robust clothing will be available on the service.

History

An online-based service has been the subject of speculation since the launch of the PlayStation Network. Sony has expressed interest in such a system, specifically the achievements, for first-party titles, though they never released any specific information regarding it.^[15]

PlayStation Home, as a feature, was first mentioned in an interview with NG-Gamer^[16], detailed by Kotaku ^[17], and finally confirmed by NG-Gamer^[18]. It was officially announced by Phil Harrison on Wednesday March 7, 2007, during his keynote speech at the 2007 Game Developers Conference.

Commerce and content

Although the service itself will be free of charge, content will be available on the PlayStation Store, such as clothes, furniture and game specific accessories, which can be purchased, but some might be available free of charge. Content can also be unlocked on specific games. Larger apartments can be purchased that come with games such as billiards or a swimming pool.^[19][20]

Advertising will be a big part of Home, and Sony expects retailers to create their own lobbies and deploy them for commercial purposes. At first, Sony will stream advertising from their own Home servers. Later, other companies will be allowed to insert their own ads into the network, including dynamic advertising targeted at particular users.^[21]

All transactions within PlayStation Home will use the Sony Wallet system within the PlayStation Store, although ultimately transactions will be possible without leaving Home.

Users will be able to make money in Home by using an auction service that will be implemented which will allow users to sell their Home assets and user-created content to other users. In a 2007 keynote speech, Phil Harrison described Home as a "Game 3.0" game.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to content sold, users will be able to earn certain content based on certain milestones in a game.^[22]

Release date and availability

• Closed beta: April 2007
• General beta testing: November 2008 ^[23]
• Projected release date: TBA

External links

• Playstation Home Beta Trial

References