PlayStation Home -- there's no place quite like it
by Nick Doerr 
{ Mar 2nd 2007 at 11:00AM }
Surely many of you have heard of the whole Kotaku vs. Sony debacle. I did, but found it useless to talk about because when I found out about it, Sony had already pulled a "oh, nevermind... we're cool, right?" and it all blew over. With that in mind, we can feel fairly confident in reporting on the initial story that spawned the whole business: the PlayStation Home.We'll just use the quotes Kotaku used, since that's where the news is at: "Basically, you get to make an avatar for your console (like a Mii) and this avatar has a room. As you play games and accomplish certain tasks, you will receive items with which to adorn the room that are specific to the game (achievements). The kicker is that this is going to be a new requirement for every PS3 game..."
"So we move from product based to service based, starting with packaged product augmented by downloadble content. We'll enhance this with social networks, the MySpace experience, this will be a key part of the PlayStation3 going forward. What brings it to life is the voice chat, the text chat, the video, the social features we're building in for the future." We've already seen that video and voice chat is implemented (albeit poorly), so seeing this new version will be pretty, ah, shibby. Dude, Where's My Car reference. I'm not making that up.
That's about all we can glean from the article, but this is a pretty big deal. Since all I play is Virtua Fighter 5 for now, expect a lot of weird martial arts crap in my room. What do you think your room would look like?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ndoerr @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:25AM
@ Rob Holiday -- look at the quote you used: "you will receive items with which to adorn the room"... I dunno about you, but I don't think using a wall of text is necessarily "adorning a room". I would like to believe it'll be a 3D room your friends can visit/explore... think of a lobby or something in an MMO game. On a much smaller scale. Phantasy Star Universe has individual rooms you can customize and I imagine it'll be like that.
Joe @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:38AM
I think this sounds good. From what I have heard this is going to be a way for Sony to answer to animal crossing.
Plus if that is true Sony already has started the Home feature in Japan. At least almost there is a game you can download with a cat and you can make stuff for you room and put up different things.
So I have to wonder if that game would come out for the US servers.
samik @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:27AM
I think you did right ignoring kotaku. They deserve contempt and nothing else. And rubbish about "freedom of expression" it seems not anyone can login to kotaku and post - you need to be "invited", and are kicked off if you are critical of them. You see, kotaku are above "freedom"
Kotaku: We heard a rumour, can we post it on so that our "invited" xbot readers can twist it into negative news
Sony: politely request you not to publish this as a friend, given all the support and access we have given you despite all the fact that you bashed our console so much?
Kotaku: fu.
Sony: Cool. But since you dont want to be friendly, we should take away the privileges that a friend gets
kotaku: whines cries bitches in public
Sony: okay, since you are going to be a bitch about it, at least we can behave like a grown up. So post your little "scoop" and feel happy about it bitch.
Anyway, the amount of good news on the PS3 is reaching staggering proportions.
1. PS1 games playable on PS3
2. 1000 PS2 games BC
3. The prospect of force feedback - in time for GT5 / MGS! Shows that Sony listens
4. Possible fixing of scaling issues (not sure about this)
5. Other small neat additions, such as improved browser feature
5. And now this
And drowning xbots are desperately trying to find a negative spin. Some of the best ones:
1. force feedback: dig out some old comments for the old "Sony lies: stuff, or accuse Sony of the grave crime of bringing out a new controller (of course MS would never do that).
2. Sony "copied" ideas for home: of course its ok for MS to copy Sega's online, copy Sony franchises like GT and well, Ninty are the great innovators: their big titles are the next Zelda, Mario, Metroid P and mario ware.
Frosty @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:32AM
Just curious what everyone on this board thinks of how Sony handled the Kotaku incident? What are your thoughts?
rfom @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:43AM
I think Sony (and PS3fanboy) did right ignoring kotaku. They deserve contempt and nothing else. And rubbish about "freedom of expression" it seems not anyone can login to kotaku and post - you need to be "invited", and are kicked off if you are critical of them. You see, kotaku are above "freedom"
Kotaku: We heard a rumour, can we post it on so that our "invited" xbot readers can twist it into negative news
Sony: politely request you not to publish this as a friend, given all the support and access we have given you despite all the fact that you bashed our console so much?
Kotaku: fu.
Sony: Cool. But since you dont want to be friendly, we should take away the privileges that a friend gets
kotaku: whines cries bitches in public
Sony: okay, since you are going to be a kid about it, at least we can behave like a grown up. So post your little "scoop" and feel happy about it.
Anyway, the amount of good news on the PS3 is reaching staggering proportions.
1. PS1 games playable on PS3
2. 1000 PS2 games BC
3. The prospect of force feedback - in time for GT5 / MGS! Shows that Sony listens
4. Possible fixing of scaling issues (not sure about this)
5. Other small neat additions, such as improved browser feature
6. background downloading
7. And now this
And drowning xbots are desperately trying to find a negative spin. Some of the best ones:
1. force feedback: dig out some old comments for the old "Sony lies: stuff, or accuse Sony of the grave crime of bringing out a new controller (of course MS would never do that).
2. Sony "copied" ideas for home: of course its ok for MS to copy Sega's online, copy Sony franchises like GT and well, Ninty are the great innovators: their big titles are the next Zelda, Mario, Metroid P and mario ware.
Tyler @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:40AM
@4 That's something different, Mainichi Isshou is a seperate game all together
@5 Well, at first I was happy, seeing Sony's reaction gave some credibility to the rumor.. which i think it going to be an amazing update for the playstation network..
As for all games "requiring it" Dont see why they would have too.. Just a little something to throw in? I'm pretty sure FFXIII will have some of that.. just look at the Pirates Den from FFXII.. Its a room..where you get achievements o.O
The thing i'm most excited for is being able to go to your friend's 'houses' and listen to thier music, watch thier videos, and voice/video chat with them.. I'm gonna go out and buy a Blue-Tooth headset for this.. Should I just get the eyetoy?
GRT @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:46AM
"Just curious what everyone on this board thinks of how Sony handled the Kotaku incident? What are your thoughts?"
Companies 'embargo' news all the time, but since this news didn't come direct from Sony I'm not sure they had a leg to stand on, morally. If they'd gone to Kotaku and told them about this new service and asked to hold the information until it was announced (and this kind of thing happens all the time) and Kotaku still published it, then I'd be behind the 100%. But since Kotaku got the info from a leak at Sony...
On the other hand, maybe Sony DID give them this information, but then they also got it from a 3rd source and so felt that the embargo no longer applied. We really don't know all that happened.
I don't feel real good about Kotaku airing all this in a public post. That seemed rather narcissistic. Rather than reporting the news, they decided to make themselves the news. It really read like a plea for attention/sympathy/congratulations.
Kalent @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:55AM
As far as the whole Kotaku vs Sony incident, I'd say both sides handled it relatively well.
Obviously you have to respect Kotaku for sticking to their guns and standing up the "big bad corporate entity" although they may have had a legitamate warning from Sony not air the rumor in the first place. I think they also deserve props for being honest about the whole thing as far as how it developed and admitting some of the guilt as far as ignoring the warning.
And on Sony's part they may have overreacted towards Kotaku's actions, but at least they had the gall to see that such a manuever though possibly justified did them no good and would only perpetuate the "Sony hates me and wants to %!@%$% me in the $%#$%@# with their 6 zillion$ price tag" jargon that's popular nowadays. Yay for everybody.
Raycer @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:01PM
I think Kotaku was dumb to sour their working relationship with Sony for this news. Instead of trying to look like protectors of the 1st amendment, which they are far from, they just look like a typical attention whore. As a partner, maybe Sony was hoping for a little help from Kotaku to keep the big annoucement under wraps until a time where its impact would be better appreciated.
As for PSHome, I think it sounds great. I love the idea of being able to have a visual representation of my gaming achievements as well as my creativity in the design of my "room"
Andir3.0 @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:03PM
"I don't feel real good about Kotaku airing all this in a public post. That seemed rather narcissistic. Rather than reporting the news, they decided to make themselves the news. It really read like a plea for attention/sympathy/congratulations."
/Agree
OrganicShadow @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:11PM
Another question is, how come other items that get leaked like this don't have the companies that the info was leaked from going nuts about it? I think that in itself indicates that Sony DID give Kotaku the info. If it was leaked, which happens a lot in the industry, then Sony would be frustrated about it, but if they actually gave the info to Kotaku and THEY leaked it, then Sony would be mad. I think it makes sense, and im going to stick to that theory personally.
Also, I don't think it would take much for current games to release patches to include these features. They could simply release a patch that looks at how much you have done, and has a list of items available, and then just assigns them based on what you have done. It's much simpler than a patch to include rumble, or so it seems.
Another big question is, and IF Sony and Immersion are collaborating, when we will see a retail SIXAXIS on store shelves with rumble in it. When will devs get their hands on devkit updates to incorporate it into their games? I think it's crucial that they try and get this tech into devs hands by at least mid-summer during the annual summer game famine, so that all the big Fall/Winter/Holiday blockbusters have rumble in them.
I would hate to see a bunch of awesome games slip by without any rumble because the devkits didn't get updated until a few weeks too late.
Frosty @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:18PM
They could go ahead and start building rumble into games now even if rumble controllers won't start until many moons now. What really sucks with this is all those people that bought 4 controllers without rumble will have to repurchase 4 more controllers. There goes 200 bucks.
Maybe they will do some kind of replacement program.
DarkTravesty @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:36PM
seriously just drop the whole kotaku incident its over that is all.
gt:DarkTravesty
psn gt:DarkTravesty
GRT @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:19PM
I'd hope they'd start packing a Sixaxis w/Rumble into ever PS3 sold as soon as they can. We all know how hard it is to get support going for 'purchased separately' features.
BTW, going back to the Kotaku issue, I was just over there and now they have a post up that is nothing but a selection of comments from the other posts about this debacle. Respect -1
SlavedHeart @ Mar 4th 2007 4:54PM
Ahem... I don't want to bring this to anyone's attention, but the next version of Grand Theft Auto is going to be using RAGE (rockstars advanced game engine) ever wonder if they might license a creative version to sony to use as the basis for playstation home? As if the world of PS3 could become one big, wildly customizable sandbox? You come over to my P-partment... look at my stuff (like the mansion in GTA:VC, various places in SA, your room in bully etc...)
Ok, It's just a thought, and probably a bad one, but I'm actually a little interested in that being one of a variety of available representations available (like the ability to view it as text, 2d, or 3d, depending on what you were feeling like) But again, thoughts, This kind of seems likely to me, since the engine is out there to be used and sold, and obviously already performs....
DarkTravesty @ Mar 2nd 2007 12:43PM
oh and grt the article is called Multi-Tap which is a week in comments picked from articles posted and seeing as how that was the big thing thats what all the comments are about. dont tell me you respect this site more than anything else.
Sam D @ Mar 2nd 2007 1:21PM
Wow, Playstation Home you say...? I think the name PSMiiLive sounds far better as it's a hideous mutant child of all three formats. Do Sony think they can get away with ripping off their competitors?
As for the Kotaku thing, they were right to think of their readers ahead of their PS3 Dev Unit and some (recurringly predictable) interviews. Do Sony think they can manipulate the world to dance to their tune? Obviously IGN and EGM will, but Kotaku is an independent web log and they came out on top of this.
Sony don't need a PR team any more, they need a specially trained damage limitation squad.
alienclay @ Mar 2nd 2007 1:38PM
i don't like the word "achievements" it's so xbotty. because insomniac as a first party dev, lets use "skill points" instead.
for some games i'm sure a backwards patch will be made. for resistance, this will be a non issue as it already has a good single and multiplayer skill point system in place. but, before i get my hopes up or all speculative about what gona happen, (i hope this does happen, this kinda thing is what came to my mind 3 weeks ago playing gears with a friend of mine,) i'm just going to wait and see what sony says at GDC.
as for kotaku, they need to shut up. i'm sure they would like to have "the scoop","extra! extra!" and the "you heard it here first" skill point on this one, but weather or not it is true, (it either sets up huge expectiations for a let down, or steals the thunder from under sonys feet.) they are not truly doing playstation3, ps3fanboys, or sony any favors by talking about this. esp when all we have to wait is one week for the offical word and maybe some pictures to go along with it.
rfom @ Mar 2nd 2007 1:45PM
"Do Sony think they can get away with ripping off their competitors"
Why not? MS has done that all its life!!!
mcloki @ Mar 2nd 2007 3:20PM
I love this idea. More a "trophy room" than anything else. Maybe they can extend it to show album covers of every album you have and Blue ray covers of the movies you've watched. There's a Mac program that does this, it's kinda nice. I'd like to go over to someone else's "House" and see they won the Stanley Cup 07 and the Super Bowl 08. A horse named Argo, Sepheroth doll. A slime.
Next-Gen-Gamer @ Mar 2nd 2007 3:22PM
I can't believe what I'm reading. First off, Sony never told them they couldn't report on it. Had they done that, it never would've come up. Second, they already knew Kotaku was reporting on it, because THEY CONTACTED SONY to get an answer.
#1 Sony said that they don't comment on rumors.
#2 Sony contacted them back long after they were contacted about it.
So I ask you, why was there a problem? Kotaku called it a rumor, Sony said they don't comment on rumors, and everything was nice. This wouldn't be the first time a company doesn't comment on rumors that turn out to be true.
So what happens? They send a response back to Kotaku. They had already said they don't comment on rumors (it says "rumor" numerous time on each Kotaku post about this), so why the sudden change of heart? All it did was put a ton of credibility on the rumor (which I think is what they were trying to avoid).
And for those of you who plan to come back at me, saying Sony was justified, just keep in mind one thing. Sony and Kotaku "settled" their differences. Care to guess what happened? Kotaku doesn't have to do anything (everything stays posted), and Sony re-invited them to do interviews and be in their media event.
Press doesn't need Sony. Sony needs press.
bootsielon @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:56PM
All the Xtards are screaming "RIP OFF!!!!11!!1!" LOL.
Anyway, yes, Sony CAN and WILL "rip-off" their competitors, just like Microsoft has done to make every cent, dime and nickel they've made, and just like Nintendo has had to do in some ways to keep up. You're jaded if you think Nintendo didn't make N64 to be "sleek" as a Sega Genesis, or if you think nintendo didn't "copy" the fact of having optical storage for their home consoles, the gamecube controller being modeled after PS1 and PS2 controllers AND Dreamcast's analogue buttons, online play, and so on. It's called business 101, morons.
The funny thing is, Xtards feel screwed now since whatever "advantage" they seemed to tout has completely gone, but sadly the advantages PS3 has can't be tacked on to 360 (i.e. next-gen drive for games, HDD out of the box, more complete media and backwards compatibility libraries, etcetera). The only thing they have now is price; but hey, you get what you pay for, right? At least for a while. I mean, we all know price advantage worked for the ol' cube and the dreamcast.
A similar case applies to Wiitards.
Maury Povich @ Mar 2nd 2007 5:14PM
Rob Holiday - both your posts have been semi trolling on the PS3 and their tactics thus far. Are you trying to rile people up or sad that the PS3 actually is shaping up to contain more features than whatever system you own, assuming you do not own a PS3.
"At least MS had the foresight to require this before ANY 360 games were released. Sony has had at least a year and a half (since this was announced for the 360) to get this going. Why are they late?"
Wow...foresight. You mean to tell me if they did not have it pre-installed and wanted to install it later, you would not take it? Come on now.
"ow this big announcement will always be marred by this incident."
Do you really think that when the keynote is given by Harrison at the GDC, people will be mumbling about Kotaku..no, it is a minor and unfortunate blip for both parties. You are a fucking moron if you believe otherwise. No system ever sold les because a BLOG had a tiff with it. Jesus, I want to smack you in the face.
Mr Khan @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:54PM
@ bootsielon
I always assumed you were a 360 fanboy for some reason, wierd
On topic: This whole concept could either come off as an excellent mash-up of Mii+Achievements or as a horribly half-assed attempt to copy the competition
Sony should be VERY careful about how they execute this, including how "realistic" they make the avatars, and i don't think "forcing" this on a developer is a good idea, but i also think that forcing developers to use the Achievement system is a good idea either
nick @ Mar 2nd 2007 8:25PM
I think Sony handled themselves poorly, and have no choice but to make nice with Kotaku, after cutting off all ties with them, and disinviting them from their GDC event.
Sony over-reacted. Period.
It's my understanding Kotaku received a rumor, had a source, contacted Sony, Sony asked them not to report the rumor or their would be consequences. Now, if Kotaku were under embargo or contract not to report information they received directly from Sony, then I can understand Sony's position. But that was not the case. Kotaku was following up with Sony based on a rumor they received from another source. There was no embargo or legal reason to not report the rumor, other than Sony requesting that it not be published. Kotaku being a blog, did the right thing and published the information they had, with the notation that it was a rumor. Rumors happen all the time, right?
Now because of the way Sony acted, it only seemed to lead credence to the rumor.
Sony sending a letter to Kotaku, basically acting on the threats they mentioned earlier was wrong on Sony's part. Now the matter is blown out of proportion. And Sony's actions overshadow the rumor.
Then they make nice, which is the only thing Sony could do, because if they didn't, it's only more bad PR.
Sony is a PR nightmare.
And yes PS3fanboy should have reported on this issue, whether or not it was over, as it is news pertaining to: 1) Sony's rumor new "home" service and 2) Sony's handling of a fellow blog simply reporting a rumor of a new feature.
Let's not lose sight of what Kotaku was doing. Is publishing a received rumor such an evil? If all rumors were under such scrutiny, would blogs even publish rumors in the future? Do we not want to know about what's going on in the gaming world?
bmac @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:38PM
Lets look at the whole kotaku thing. Lets say your buddy comes to you, and says "hey, I heard you blah blah blah..."
You say to your buddy "don't tell anyone about that, I don't care where you heard it from."
They go out and tell anyone who will listen.
Are you not going to be upset with them? Kotaku has to realize they were on Sony's good side, and were obviously in a position to get, and to verify, sensitive information. What happens when Sony, although "good" with kotaku again, decides to give another blog the scoop and support for upcoming news?
I'm looking forward to seeing what we'll hear next week. Not overtly so about the whole myspace sort of thing since that side of the web really doesn't do much for me, but from the standpoint of features and support that it will add to future games.
btw, I'm loving this whole "Why isn't Sony's setup more like Microsoft and Nintendo's? Oh, it's going to be? Why the hell is Sony ripping-off Microsoft and Nintendo??"
bootsielon @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:17PM
Khan:
The only thing I am a fanboy of is of being an anti-fanboy.
Anyway, "PS3 covered in dust" makes sense in the fact that they'll be playing their next-console by the time PS3 gets everything right. You know why? Because in May Xbox 360 is finally becoming complete: Getting an HDMI port, and being able to add a bigger hard drive. That's not to mention that they'll get so many more games, I mean, HALO 3 is probably the second coming (third I mean) of first person shooters, which should be enough... everything else is just a bonus. Who needs so much variety in every genre when you can have an overcrowed genre, of course, "the best genre of all"?
Meanwhile, PS3 owners will ONLY be able to play tons of PS2 games, and almost every PS1 game (and even download and play them). They will also ONLY get some innovative games that actually make the Sixaxis look like it has potential (such as flOw, rub a dub, blast factor, calling all cars, and so on). And of course, simply a few games on every genre, instead of having LOTS of games of the "best" genre of all. Poor, POOR, PS3 owners for having already FULL games on demand, that's just way too ahead of its time and nobody wants that (Tekken 5? Warhawk? why can't I buy those games on discs for full price like I can on 360?).
These library will suck because it isn't infested with something First Person or Shooter (or both) related: Lair (flying with dragons), Warhawk (flying), FFXIII (JRPG), FFVersusXIII (JRPG&Action), White Knight Story (JRPG), Monster Hunter 3 (JRPG), Kingdom Hearts 3 (Action JRPG), MGS4 (Tactical Espionage Action), GT5(Racing), F1(Racing), Motorstorm (Racing), Heavenly Sword (3rd Person Action), Ninja Gaiden Sigma (3rd PA), Devil May Cry 4 (3PA), God of War 3 (3PA), L.A. Noire (Sandbox style 3PA), Getaway (Sandbox 3PA), Naughty Dog game (3PA), Resistance and its sequels (FPS), Killzone (FPS), Tekken 5 (Fighting), Tekken 6 (Fighting), ICO Team game (Adventure), SOCOM (3rd Person Shooter), Singstar (Music; iTunes meets Youtube meets MySpace), Buzz!(Music), Afrika (Nature game).
Man, what a shitty list; those game won't even come out on PC! It's a shame it doesn't have: Gears of War and all its sequels (3rd Person Shooter), Lost Planet (3PS), Bullet Witch (a remarkable 3PS), BioShock (First Person WRPG), Halo (FPS), Halo wars (RTS), Alan Wake (FPS), Mass Effect (WRPG), Fable 2 (WRPG). The best thing about this games is that they'll all be on Vista, AND that they are the same old games you get on PC, except on a smaller scale (which makes it feel more "exclusive"). You see? The main key for a successful console is to put these words together: Either "First Person", or "Shooter" or "Western". Or, more abstractly, "PC games". That's the key to make a great console, and that's why the first Xbox succeeded originally.