Fez
06-06-2007, 07:21 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Ps3_playstationhome_logo.jpg
PlayStation Home (trademarked as "Home™") 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 apartment, which can be adorned by items players can receive in several achievements. In the future the service will also expand, allowing players to have more sorts of clothing, as well as hold pets. When it is available, Home will be launched via its own category in the XMB between the "Game" and "Network" category. This service will be free of charge. Sony is aiming for the initial download to be under 500MB. Home was announced at the Game Develpors Confrence on March 7th It is expected for release in October 2007
Environment and Layout
When first launched, the player first starts out in a main lounge where other people can communicate and play each other in various mini games in the lounge. From there a person may visit their own apartment or travel around to other places set up on Home. Also, people can invite others to their own apartments.
In the world outside of the player's house, players can chat and meet other community-members. This will create a Second Life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life)-like experience, where 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 "homes" can stream the host's music and videos from their HDD. Videos are viewed via virtual Sony TV's, such as the BRAVIA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BRAVIA). As well, pictures 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 PS3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS3), meaning that if the user logs off of Home, then access to this user's apartment no longer exists until the user logs on again. According to Sony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_billiards) and bowling. Sony will also install cinemas that allow players to watch and download new content and trailers. It is not yet known if this feature will cost money.
The look of the avatar, decorations, where to travel, settings, etc. can be controlled on a virtual PlayStation Portable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable).
There will be a Hall of Fame (similar to the Xbox Live Achievements (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamerscore)) 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 win Home Trophies when they play games that support the Home Trophy system. Publishers and developers will be able to support trophies by building them into their games' architecture.
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.
Communication
There will be at least four ways to communicate with other users in the environment. You will be able to type on the virtual keyboard, a USB or Bluetooth keyboard, talk using a Bluetooth headset, and use e-motions, which are movements such as waves or a dance. This e-motions are based on e-moticons. For convenience, there is also an array of pre-ready textual messages to choose from via the controller or keyboard, such as "Hi" or "How do I..".
History
A community-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.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-0)
PlayStation Home, as a feature, was first mentioned in an interview with NG-Gamer[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-eups3launchinterview), detailed by Kotaku [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-1), and finally confirmed by NG-Gamer[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-2). It was officially announced by Phil Harrison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Harrison) on Wednesday March 7th, 2007, during his keynote speech at the 2007 Game Developers Conference (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiards) or a swimming pool.
All transactions within PlayStation Home will use the Sony Wallet system within the PSN 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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Harrison) described Home as a "Game 3.0" game.
In addition to content sold, users will be able to earn certain content based on certain milestones in a game.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-3)
Release Dates
The Home System is currently in the Closed Beta stage (approx. 15,000 users): In July there will be an Open Beta, with a public release scheduled for September 6.
Advertisement
Retailers will have a presence in PSN as they can create their own lobbies and deploy these for commercial operations. Tools and SDK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development_kit)'s will be provided to 3rd party developers, that runs through Alias Maya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alias_Maya), allowing them to put in their own custom content, which can even be direct assets from their original games.
Advertising will be a big part of Home. At first adverts will be fed through the Home advertising servers, but ultimately Sony may allow 3rd parties to integrate their own advertising engines into the service. Dynamic advertising will also be implemented, allowing Sony to direct specific targeted ads at particular users.
PlayStation Home (trademarked as "Home™") 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 apartment, which can be adorned by items players can receive in several achievements. In the future the service will also expand, allowing players to have more sorts of clothing, as well as hold pets. When it is available, Home will be launched via its own category in the XMB between the "Game" and "Network" category. This service will be free of charge. Sony is aiming for the initial download to be under 500MB. Home was announced at the Game Develpors Confrence on March 7th It is expected for release in October 2007
Environment and Layout
When first launched, the player first starts out in a main lounge where other people can communicate and play each other in various mini games in the lounge. From there a person may visit their own apartment or travel around to other places set up on Home. Also, people can invite others to their own apartments.
In the world outside of the player's house, players can chat and meet other community-members. This will create a Second Life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life)-like experience, where 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 "homes" can stream the host's music and videos from their HDD. Videos are viewed via virtual Sony TV's, such as the BRAVIA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BRAVIA). As well, pictures 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 PS3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS3), meaning that if the user logs off of Home, then access to this user's apartment no longer exists until the user logs on again. According to Sony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_billiards) and bowling. Sony will also install cinemas that allow players to watch and download new content and trailers. It is not yet known if this feature will cost money.
The look of the avatar, decorations, where to travel, settings, etc. can be controlled on a virtual PlayStation Portable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable).
There will be a Hall of Fame (similar to the Xbox Live Achievements (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamerscore)) 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 win Home Trophies when they play games that support the Home Trophy system. Publishers and developers will be able to support trophies by building them into their games' architecture.
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.
Communication
There will be at least four ways to communicate with other users in the environment. You will be able to type on the virtual keyboard, a USB or Bluetooth keyboard, talk using a Bluetooth headset, and use e-motions, which are movements such as waves or a dance. This e-motions are based on e-moticons. For convenience, there is also an array of pre-ready textual messages to choose from via the controller or keyboard, such as "Hi" or "How do I..".
History
A community-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.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-0)
PlayStation Home, as a feature, was first mentioned in an interview with NG-Gamer[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-eups3launchinterview), detailed by Kotaku [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-1), and finally confirmed by NG-Gamer[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-2). It was officially announced by Phil Harrison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Harrison) on Wednesday March 7th, 2007, during his keynote speech at the 2007 Game Developers Conference (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiards) or a swimming pool.
All transactions within PlayStation Home will use the Sony Wallet system within the PSN 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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Harrison) described Home as a "Game 3.0" game.
In addition to content sold, users will be able to earn certain content based on certain milestones in a game.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Home#_note-3)
Release Dates
The Home System is currently in the Closed Beta stage (approx. 15,000 users): In July there will be an Open Beta, with a public release scheduled for September 6.
Advertisement
Retailers will have a presence in PSN as they can create their own lobbies and deploy these for commercial operations. Tools and SDK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development_kit)'s will be provided to 3rd party developers, that runs through Alias Maya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alias_Maya), allowing them to put in their own custom content, which can even be direct assets from their original games.
Advertising will be a big part of Home. At first adverts will be fed through the Home advertising servers, but ultimately Sony may allow 3rd parties to integrate their own advertising engines into the service. Dynamic advertising will also be implemented, allowing Sony to direct specific targeted ads at particular users.