Home integration for Resistance, Uncharted & Warhawk sounds awesome

by Jem Alexander { Feb 27th 2008 at 7:40PM }

There's been a lot of Home news recently, which is fine by us. We're happy to learn anything that makes the service appear to be more than just a Second Life clone. If what Kotaku says is true, then Home will be much, much more than that. Their sources have revealed to them exactly what Insomniac, Naughty Dog and Incognito have planned for Home integration and it sounds totally awesome.

Both Uncharted and Resistance will allow you to explore empty levels from the game as your Home avatar (hopefully, with your friends - that would make it extra cool). Resistance will also have a game-space in which we'll be able to explore unseen areas of the game as well as listen to extra content from the game in the form of "intercepted radio transmissions" which will expand on the storyline.

Uncharted is pegged to have a Contra-style 2D side-scrolling shooter based on the game, available in its gamespace. Warhawk, on the other hand, will feature full game launching from within Home and a "war room" which will allow players to draw out battle plans on a virtual sandbox map of the level. If this all comes true, then Home will be even better than we ever imagined. Sony is apparently using these games to show third parties and other developers the potential of the service. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this will all come true.

Read - "How Resistance: Fall of Man makes Home really, really cool" @ Kotaku
Read - "How Uncharted: Drake's Fortune makes Home really, really cool" @ Kotaku
Read - "How Warhawk makes Home really, really cool" @ Kotaku

Tags: Home

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

The Sound @ Feb 27th 2008 7:47PM

WarHawk war rooms for the win.

Hashbrown_Hunter @ Feb 28th 2008 4:16AM

Definitely the coolest feature out of all of these.

Home FTW.

bAssackwards @ Feb 27th 2008 7:48PM

This is a great idea, building communities around specific products. I like the idea if just being able to hang out with other people interested in the same game and do related activities centered around it, outside or inside the game. Now if they would freakin' hurry up so I can get my Home on!

bAssackwards @ Feb 27th 2008 7:50PM

Oops, I mean "I like the idea of" not if.

FatalisticDread @ Feb 27th 2008 7:48PM

No offense, but would they please stop talking about how cool it's going to be and just release it? The PS3 has been a work in progress this whole time, why not Home? The Beta has been running for how long now? Give us a taste and we might be more apt to mess around with it instead of running 24hrs of Folding@Home per day.

ck @ Feb 27th 2008 9:37PM

From the sound of these features I can understand why it's taking so long.

My interest level in Home just went from "Meh" to "Holy Shit".

P @ Feb 28th 2008 1:53AM

There isnt all that much to do in there right now though, saldy its little more than a dolls house where you can play dress up and move furniture around for a bit.
Ok, so you can play a couple of basic games, but thats pretty much where it ends, a lot of the features which people want and would start to make Home what its hyped up to be just arent ready, and if you launch a half product people start to slate it because its lacking this that and the other.

Cornerman8 @ Feb 28th 2008 5:02PM

I think its because of the expectation most consumers have. We expect consoles to grow mainly with respect to game library. We know it can get better. With software its a different story. If you release software and the initial impression is lackluster, bare bones, or not awe-inspiring, then people don't hang around for the growth. They write it off as a failure and never come back. And if they do come back, its likely less people than before and its only for the few new advancements you've made...they quickly consume that experience and its dried up again. Home needs to have plenty to do initially, it needs to be good enough to keep you hooked at the beginning, that way you're enjoying your experience so that when they add something new, you're further entrenched into the experience. Would you agree?

Ty @ Feb 27th 2008 7:49PM

The other day I was down on Home but if this is true and game developers are able to really incorporatate into Home then it will be way better than I thought it could be.

sean @ Feb 27th 2008 7:50PM

this stuff is crazy. is home comin out soon with all this news being announced? i hope so. 1 year anniversary for europe is next month and home is being made by sony europe. so lets hope.

Chris Rah Osiris @ Feb 27th 2008 7:54PM

Man this would be great if it comes to fruition. I want this to be true

x silence x @ Feb 27th 2008 7:58PM

This is sounding much better!

Stef Geiger @ Feb 27th 2008 7:58PM

Getting to walk around empty Resistance maps as my home avatar? HOW is this appealing? Why wouldn't you throw in the ACTUAL game (I'm sure Home would require you to anyway in order to access this feature) and PLAY it? Honestly, every single aspect of Home sounds to me a like a gimmick that people have yet to realize will get old the third time you play around with it.

What's next? Getting to walk around Gran Turismo maps instead of driving through them? Why PLAY the game when I can do something far less exciting through Home?

dartmerc @ Feb 27th 2008 8:27PM

Wow, that's the greatest idea i've ever heard. Imagine being able to walk around the track in GT5 and watch a good multiplayer race from the grandstands. They could also project some of the race from 'cameras' into home for people to watch that don't even own the game. Holy crap thats a great idea, being able to watch multiplayer matches of games that you may not even own, imagine if you didn't own COD4 (just try and imagine), and weren't sure if the multiplayer was your cup of tea. You could watch a few matches streamed to your home TV and get an idea of what its like before forking out for the game.
Just a thought.

dartmerc @ Feb 27th 2008 8:20PM

Thats a great idea, imagine being able to walk around the track and watch a live multiplayer race from the grandstands!

John @ Feb 27th 2008 8:40PM

It's interesting to me from an artistic viewpoint. Getting to explore the art, and all, seeing without fear of dying what all the developers put into great games. As the reply below suggests, if they can find a way to stream this and let you be in it, without having to purchase, it would be like remote viewing, or being in a dream. Then you have an experience of being in the game, and are more educated on whether to buy it.

Ruben @ Feb 27th 2008 11:33PM

Well stef the way I see it, is how these other guys are saying, it is an artistic point of view, and also, you could use theese maps as a much more interesting chat room. Instead of being in just home square, go to the uncharted 2nd level and talk about your experiences there, or give tips on how to pass such level by doing a demonstration with your avatar (example: cover here, jump here) like that. Its all about the community. Maybe you are not enthusiastic about home, but you should give it a chance. Hope to see u there.

Binaryfiend @ Feb 27th 2008 11:38PM

Maybe you want to show a person something in a game, a place where treasure is stored but you need to show him exactly where. Or just the idea that you could use the game as your personal chat room to talk to friends.

kentuckyfried @ Feb 28th 2008 6:34AM

That's a major thing that people haven't been able to enjoy thus far. Yes, it's fun playing MGS4, but imagine if you had a free-roaming camera and were able to view/record it just as if you were a third person watching a trailer?

That's golden. =D

Zim @ Feb 27th 2008 8:02PM

Oh dear another jellous Xbot

Chris Rah Osiris @ Feb 27th 2008 8:11PM

exactly

Aaron @ Feb 27th 2008 8:53PM

yep. Xbots suck.

rd2000 @ Feb 27th 2008 8:23PM

Stef do you get a boner from being such a negative person all the time ?

dartmerc @ Feb 27th 2008 8:32PM

Well when your console of choice breaks from general use, it's hard to have a positive outlook.

Stef Geiger @ Feb 27th 2008 9:01PM

Ah, right. I don't like Home, so I MUST be a Microsoft fanboy.

Surprise! I abhor Microsoft and the 360. I'm happy to own a PS3 and no other system. My PSN tag is S1CKLE_C3LL if you want to verify how much I play COD4 on the PS3. I'm just a gamer, and Home, well, it doesn't look like there's much appeal.

And all I'm doing is expressing my opinion. I'm not bashing people for not sharing my viewpoint, I'm just saying that I think the idea is stupid. This is a forum to DISCUSS PS3 news. I said what I said because I wanted to see if there are any other people out there who have the same opinion. Simple as that.

Johnny Kielbasa @ Feb 28th 2008 8:28PM

I don't think they are just going to plop you in some world without having you DO SOMETHING. I agree that it would be boring...even watching other players.

Still I can see the potential there...having "war rooms" in Warhawk...or clan walkthroughs to prepare for missions. Or maybe sneak peeks at upcoming scenes with you in the scene. That would be cool.

Eggy @ Feb 28th 2008 7:59AM

It's optional though Stef, it's not like you have to use it. I think it's a great service eventhough I probably won't be using it much. I don't have the time for it. When I have some spare time I'd like to put in a game and jump right into the action. With a child on the way my gaming time will be reduced even more in the future.

John @ Feb 27th 2008 8:37PM

I personally would have never thought of these enhancements to games already out, accessed through Home. I'm impressed when companies can generate this sort of new interaction-- I'm not aware of anything like this on any other platform.

Andy @ Feb 27th 2008 8:47PM

This announcement alone makes Home seem 100X more awesome. To be honest, I wasn't all that excited for Home. I figured it'd be cool, but kinda like Second Life (ie. boring after 5 minutes). But this sounds really awesome. Additional content for my games? Very yes!

Lars @ Feb 28th 2008 1:17PM

People constantly compare Home to Second Life, yet they seem completely different to me (well, OK, there are some similarities).

The thing that Second Life brought to the table was creationism. You can literally create ANYTHING in Second Life, write scripts to power stuff, even create new animations for avatars. The other unique thing it brings to the table is economics on a whole 'nother level. You can actually convert Lindens to USD, and vice versa, anytime you want.

People keep saying Second Life is not a game, and I suppose that's true, it's really the ultimate sandbox. Everyone can have a completely different experience. You can create games to play IN Second Life. There are zones dedicated to war games where you can get weapons and kill eachother if you want. It's kinda like browsing the internet, there's just about everything you can imagine in SL. From porn to Jehovah's witnesses, from war games to furries, from social networking to retailers. It's what the internet would be if, instead of mimicking viewing papers, it was based on reality (2D vs 3D).

Anyways, I really admire Second Life for being the ultimate sandbox, even though I don't use it. I've only gone in and checked it out a few hours here and there.

taz10_remix @ Feb 27th 2008 9:37PM

How cool would it be to not only browse empty levels from those games in a museum-like fashion but to get Valve-like DVD commentary as you're passing by certain areas. I know its asking for too much but if developers were to put just as much time into their Home exibits, I'm all for it. If developers were smart (and had more time), they'd ditch the bonus disc and port assets over to Home, making it an online extra.

In the end, I have to take 1UP Yours' word for it when many developers complain that they have so little time to churn out a game, let alone a fully structured exibit for Home.

Lars @ Feb 28th 2008 1:22PM

Dude, what your talking about is really cool. They did something similar in Ratchet & Clank. You can turn on in-game developer commentary and when you visit various levels these little bots show up sprinkled throughout the levels that you can activate and the developers will tell you some interesting tidbits usually relating to that level.

Andy @ Feb 27th 2008 9:39PM

The war room sounds really fun. I can see this being really beneficial to clans or people who are good team players. I have a feeling though, that plans on the sandbox will not be strictly followed.

For the most part I still think home is a bit of a gimmick as well. I like dartmerc's grandstand idea though. It would be wicked fun to be a spectator on the sidelines, laughing at all the other racers with friends.(Motorstorm 2?) It'd be really cool if you could clap or cheer or hold up a sign. Wow. When you really think about it,there is almost limitless possibilities with home.

dartmerc @ Feb 27th 2008 9:54PM

Yeah, this announcement really opened up possibilities.
I mean we knew that some crazy stuff could be achieved through home, but actually listing a few things like this has sort of taken it to the next step; where people previously would have thought this kind of stuff as the limit of home, it's actually just the first step (and will presumably be ready for launch). Imagine what home will be doing in another 8 or so years.
Some pretty amazing stuff.

Chris Rah Osiris @ Feb 27th 2008 9:58PM

I can understand the initial though that it is a gimmick. But as you yourself can see, it can really turn into something if developers really put something into it. I'm sure that the 1st and 2nd party support will be strong. If 3rd party developers start to see the attention being played to Home, then other titles will follow suit and Home could become something great. That's my hope at least.

Volomon @ Feb 27th 2008 10:42PM

Not really interesting to me since I thought we all knew this stuff was coming to fruitation in Home. I'm still more interested in the standard features of Home than these extras.

Leonhart @ Feb 27th 2008 10:46PM

Wow!
Now my question is how will microsoft justify charging $50 a year for a service with far inferior features?

bAssackwards @ Feb 28th 2008 7:40AM

Barring the in-game community features, it doesn't. The servers still lag and break. You still have to see ads as a paying member. The firmware updates are significantly more infrequent than my PS3. They even made it so that if you aren't a paying member you have to wait a week before you can download demos, citing that the artificial early access is a paid membership benefit.

Home is a partial step in the right direction with the community aspects but the big one will be in-game XMB.

Kenneth H. @ Feb 28th 2008 12:44AM

Stef,

If you really wondering if other people were just as underwhelmed about as you are then I might've been able to agree with you when I initally heard about it....living in a virtual world makes me want to go outside and enjoy real life. But I have to say that over these last few months hearing about Home and especially hearing about other peoples excitement about Home I'm finding it more and more interesting. I think the potential for enhancing the interaction between gamers (community) is def. a good look. Being a Warhawk fanatic, this kinda Home integration sounds pretty fukkin cool....all in all...we're just goin to have to wait and see....but I really like that Sony is taking risks (rightly or wrongly) and pushing the envelope....I bought as Ps3 because I felt that Sony was going to really change the game and blow our minds this generation...their excecution has been somewhat flawed but we're starting to see now the fruits of Sony's long-strategy. Home I think could revolutionize gaming with the same magnitude the Wiimote did....by making gaming more of a communal as opposed to solitary experience. Home doesn't seem to be the end all an be all but a large move in the right direction.....in any case I digress.....go Sony!!!

Binaryfiend @ Feb 28th 2008 3:32AM

I have all these games. Score big for me :) I can't wait to explore Home. But yeah, the waiting game is killing me. Hopefully it will be worth the wait. It sure sounds like it will. I hope I will be able to use my "real" PSP to interact with it somehow. That would just be icing.

NineT9 @ Feb 28th 2008 3:33AM

Enjoyed reading all the positive comments on here, thanks for that everyone! Home is going to be amazing, I'm very excited for it :)

Fraser JK @ Feb 28th 2008 9:41AM

Don't worry Stef you are in a Fanboy Zone, anything said that sounds remotely negative will cause an uproar.

I too have my doubts about this, I think the latest news makes Home sounds better, but I won't be impressed until I try it... just a matter of time!

By the way, now that Phil Harrison has left Sony, I'm afraid things might go in weird directions man... you can tell that this dude was driving the whole online/community thing at Sony and they were too stubborn to listen. Possibly why he left. But yeah it's just a matter of time!

maverick_saturn_626 @ Feb 28th 2008 7:43AM

Leave stef alone, he has a point, don't slam someone and mark them immediatly cos they dislike a feature.

The way I see it is this, Sony has a VAST amount of potential for this, if its another better graphics version of www.HabboHotel.com more so then I would say Second Life, then it WILL get old unless you use it like MSN and have all your gaming mates in your room often to play the games you play, if you are not a walk and chat type person, this would be boring.

Where Sony could distinguish itself with Home and even destroy Live in every way, is if it were to do what someone mentioned, allow you to watch GT5 in the grandstand, WWE matches in the grandstand, imagine this, walk into the WWE arena and it tells you which matches are on, for royal rumbles and such you can pick up your virtual ticket, go to the arena and watch the match. Heck, even add people to you friends list as you watch them play.

Its the perfect way to find out:

1. If the game is good
2. Other ways of making friends
3. Seeing the competition will tempt you too to want to buy the game and play, thus making PS3 games more profitable.

Being able to block people is fantanstic, but going into bland areas made to look like levels of games will become dull the moment you find youself wondering into the Genji room or Locoroco room due to the fact you've seen all the others and they weren't all that special.