Sony offered the first post-GDC explanations for its secret project called HOME, giving also a few hints about how the app will work with the company's other popular product, the PSP.
Basically, Sony's new online service called HOME is a free 3D environment where PS3 owners get to meet virtually using their avatars, get to show off with their game achievements and, of course, get to play. From what Sony demoed at GDC, HOME is a 95% imitation of the "Second Life" game and of web-sites like GoGoFrog (http://www.gogofrog.com/), that let you create and personalize your own virtual 3D space.
According to Sony's press release "Home is a real-time online 3D, networked community available on the PLAYSTATION Network. It allows PS3 users to interact, communicate, join online games, shop, share private content and even build and show off their own personal spaces to others in real time. Home will be available as a free download from the PLAYSTATION Store and will launch directly from XMB (XrossMediaBar) on PS3.
With an avatar uniquely customized according to each user's preference, users can explore the 3D community that is Home – a sleek, modern environment featuring spacious common areas; custom spaces dedicated to specific games; and personal apartments. Each user is assigned an apartment in Home where they can invite others to join them as they show off their own style in an area they can personalize themselves with furniture, art and other items – even a different view from their windows. They can also show their personal video, pictures and other digital media content found on their PS3 hard drives in their apartments. Very rich interactive communication with others is achieved through built in text, audio and video chat, along with sophisticated emotional animations for each character.
Sharing continues in the "Hall of Fame," where users can display new 3D trophies that will be unlocked through in-game milestones for the games they own as well viewing the trophies of other users across the PLAYSTATION Network and for other games they've yet to purchase."
"This is a significant step forward in the area of user community services and emergent entertainment experiences," said Izumi Kawanishi, Corporate Executive and CTO Software, SCEI. "While the 3D graphics demonstrate the power of PS3 and the PLAYSTATION Network, the most impressive feature in Home is the variety of ways in which multiple consumers, as well as our third-party partners, can experience the next generation of communication by interacting and sharing among each other. I feel strongly that this unique blend of community, user-generated content, collaboration and commerce will expand the future of computer entertainment."
HOME will debut this spring for beta-testers and it will launch at full speed later this year, which raises the question of whether the delay will still make the service enticing for gamers, considering that by then they will have improved versions of Second Life, Mii and Xbox Live as alternatives. The fact that it will be free could attract PS3 owners, though there is no guarantee that Sony's investment in its 3D environment (which is said to have been in development for about two years) will remain free in the future.
"Technology innovation is part of the culture at SCE as evidenced by our influence on real-time 3D computer graphics and the optical disc format in the 1990's, to the more recent innovations such as Cell Broadband Engine computing and the use of Blu-ray in PS3," said Phil Harrison, president, Worldwide Studios, SCE. "Our vision for the future, Game 3.0, will continue our track record of industry advancement by leveraging the convergence of technologies, from broadband and video chat to supercomputer-speed processors, to make gaming more interactive and dynamic than ever before."
In a Q&A interview with Sony officials, Threespeech got some interesting answers to some burning questions. When asked about why exactly they built the HOME environment, Sony responded:
"The power of PS3 and the Network afford us the opportunity to create a unique user service that will define the future of community on computer entertainment platforms. We feel it is important to foster not only user-interaction, but increased, ongoing contact between users, first and third party publishers and other partners. […]The ambition is to create a highly interactive 3D environment that will bring millions of people together from around the globe to share common interests, build friendships and explore the world of SCE PlayStation."
As mentioned earlier, HOME "is free to download and free to use. The user will be able to purchase items from the Store (Home supports the Playstation wallet) to further customize their Home Space, as well as make purchases from other third party partners."
When it will launch at full capacity later this year, HOME will be a global community, supporting multiple languages like Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. But "because it is a network service, it is easy to extend the language support in the future after the initial beta trial. In the full service, we will support local languages consistent with the way we localize our game titles."
One of the most interesting questions asked by Threespeech was about the resemblance between HOME and other services like Xbox Live. In response, Sony boasted with the potential of its new service, laughing at Microsoft's counter-part: "Home is a first of its kind 3D community that allows for open interaction between consumers, SCE and third party partners. It is a truly interactive, global community of users. Xbox Live is a static, 2D, text-heavy environment that can't match the rich community features found in Home. Xbox Live community interaction is much more passive and limited to the members on that friend's list."
When asked also about the obvious similitude with Linden Lab's Second Life game, Sony said that "Home is a much more rich, user friendly experience than Second Life, allowing for ease of entry and use, as well as being fully-functional with the technology and capabilities of PS3."
Concerning the monetizing issue for the PS3 HOME environment, Sony declared that "The business model for Home is based on a combination of ecommerce and advertising revenue, but we will not discuss the exact details of our business model."
Third party developers and Sony's partners will also have their place well defined in the HOME eco-system. They will be able to custom entire lobbies to promote their products to gamers from the PlayStation Network, they will have their own space where they will provide downloadable content to users and where they will implement different e-commerce models. "Advertising options will also be made available through Home, in addition to sponsorship of in-world events and Home real estate."
The difference between HOME and PS Store is that "Home is a real-time online 3D, networked community available on the Network, while the Store offers free and premium digital goods delivered directly to your PS3."
Sony also said that the HOME application will take around 500 MB of your PS3 hard-drive: "The Home download is targeted to be under 500 MBs."
PS3 owners are not the only ones favored in the HOME environment, as the PSP owners will also have access to the network, probably through a future firmware update. Sony said that "your Virtual PSP gives you access to all the navigation, features and options of Home."
From the screens provided by Threespeech PSP owners will apparently be able to move the furniture present in their space, will have a world map and will also be able to customize the character's face.
No comments:
Post a Comment